"Impossible, impossible, impossible! After receiving my blessing, how could Ushiwakamaru's Usumidori still fail to cut through the Mother Goddess of Beasts' scales? Could it be..."
The visions in his dreams were possibilities of the future. In the future Merlin saw most often, Ushiwakamaru easily severed the snake hair and successfully delayed the Gorgon with her Noble Phantasm, creating an opportunity for Mash, Ritsuka, Merlin, and the others to retreat to the Absolute Demonic Front.
But the dream's vision no longer matched reality; the real Mother Goddess of Beasts was clearly stronger than the one Merlin had foreseen.
Did the Demon God King grant her more power? Or did the true Mother Goddess of Beasts strengthen her further? Or perhaps the Demon God King's Holy Grail now resides within this deranged 'Mother Goddess of Beasts.'
These three hypotheses flashed through Merlin's mind as he immediately activated his Noble Phantasm to strengthen Mash, Ritsuka, Anna, Ushiwakamaru, Musashibo, and the numerous quickly trained Knights.
Otherwise, upon witnessing the 'Mother Goddess of Beasts,' not only would the horses they rode tremble in fear, but most of the Knights would have also suffered a complete collapse in morale.
Meanwhile, the Mother Goddess of Beasts' appearance and name were also relayed to Dr. Romani and the others at Chaldea. They confirmed her Spirit Origin was indeed Divine Spirit-rank but also instantly pointed out that she was not the true Mother Goddess of Beasts, Tiamat.
"Merlin, are you going to keep hiding the truth and playing dumb?"
Mash's shield blocked the 'lasers' erupting from dozens of snake mouths. Ushiwakamaru, Anna, and Musashibo leaped across the Mother Goddess of Beasts' body, but unfortunately, their combined threat was less than that of either Guinevere or the King of Knights alone.
"One of the Gorgon Sisters, the Gorgon Medusa—that is her true name! In this state, she is completely blind, completely a monster
"Everyone, give it your all! We must kill her here and rip off the veil that blinds her!"
His staff tapped lightly on the ground, and a sea of flowers bloomed beneath the allied forces. In addition to the staff, a third Holy Sword appeared in Merlin's right hand.
However, as a half-human, half-incubus, Merlin was unexpectedly vulnerable to Gorgon's Mystic Eyes of Petrification; he refused to let his thoughts freeze for even a single instant.
The sword in his hand was the one he used to slay the horde of Magical Beasts that had appeared with Gorgon, protecting Mash as she guarded him.
"Ushiwakamaru, you don't need to delay Gorgon. As the Knight Order's commander, I need you and Musashibo to lead the Knights and draw away the constantly spawning hordes of Magical Beasts!"
From Gorgon's appearance to Merlin issuing this order, less than a minute had passed.
Guinevere and the King of Knights had been delayed in the City of Nippur, allowing Gorgon to launch her attack on Merlin's group. In reality, more than five minutes had elapsed between these events.
Therefore, if Merlin's group wanted to hold out until Guinevere and the King of Knights arrived, they would need to endure for several more minutes.
The half-hour distance Merlin's group had maintained, originally a precaution, had now become the bait to lure Gorgon.
A miscalculation? Perhaps a slight one, but Guinevere and the King of Knights never imagined Merlin's group couldn't even hold out for a few minutes.
Look, upon Merlin's command, Ushiwakamaru and Musashibo leaped from Gorgon's body, and after being covered by Mash, they immediately pursued the Knight Order.
During the first minute of engagement, the Knight Order had formed a defensive circle, but they were utterly bewildered.
Only when Ushiwakamaru and Musashibo returned did they regain their resolve, as if their commander had returned!
As the nearly five-hundred-strong force broke through and retreated from the battlefield, most of the Magical Beasts instinctively pursued them.
Merlin had long known that the Magical Beasts' attacks on the Absolute Demonic Front were not driven by orders, but by the primal instinct to hunt for flesh.
Furthermore, they weren't hunting for themselves, but to use the captured flesh as nourishment for the next generation of Magical Beasts.
In other words, unless Gorgon or Kingu specifically directed them, most of the Magical Beasts would inevitably chase after the Knight Order.
Blood splattered and Mana surged, but during the breakthrough, some members of the Knight Order fell from their horses; it was an unavoidable loss.
So, would Gorgon truly let them go without pursuit? Was Kingu merely watching from somewhere?
At this very moment, the only servant still fighting on Gorgon's body was Anna, empowered by Merlin's Noble Phantasm.
The Immortal-Slaying Blade, a vaguely familiar appearance and eyes; though Gorgon couldn't recall who she was, she instinctively pursued and attacked Anna.
And Anna? She was herself, her immature self, who despised her fully matured form.
Because of this connection, even with the three "enhancements" Merlin had speculated Gorgon possessed, Anna's scythe easily sliced through her scales.
"No, I can't let Mother keep fighting this little girl. She'll regain her own will..."
In an unknown land, Kingu stared intently at the battlefield, his gaze even forgetting Guinevere and the King of Knights aboard Vimana, who were about to arrive.
After this thought, his figure emerged directly from the mouth of a snake-hair, catching Anna completely off guard with his Chains of Heaven, a weapon specifically designed against divine beings.
As the immature Gorgon, before being cursed by Athena and forced to become a snake-haired monster, Anna still possessed Divinity on the level of the Gorgon Sisters, and even a Goddess's Divine Core.
Thus, Anna could only be suspended in mid-air by the Chains of Heaven, unable to break free even with her Monstrous Strength.
"Cath Palug!"
"Fou! Fou!"
What exactly is Fou, who has lived in Chaldea for a long time and been Mash and Ritsuka's pet since the Human Order Restoration Journey began?
In the world of Type-Moon, there are seven great calamities rejected by Human History, collectively known as the Beasts. Born from human civilization, they grow stronger with humanity's development, yet they destroy civilization from within, like cancerous cells.
Fou, or Cath Palug as Merlin calls him, is the Fourth Beast, holding the Logos of Comparison, though in an extremely weakened state.
And what is Comparison? It is a conceptual ability that grants Fou the power to always be stronger than his opponent.
Because of this Logos, even though he was as weak as an ordinary monstrous cat pet, he managed to rescue Anna just as Kingu's chains were about to pierce her body, bringing her back behind Mash's shield.
This brief delay was all it took: the King of Knights' sword struck Kingu, and Guinevere's sword struck Gorgon's eye.
Guinevere had already declared she would bring death to Gorgon, and she would fulfill that promise.
Crimson mana coiled around her holy sword, and her Rank A+ Mastery of the Blade granted her the ability to more easily discern an enemy's weaknesses.
Right in front of Gorgon's face, facing her nearly one hundred striking snake hairs, Guinevere first unleashed the Sword of Destined Judgment!
A crimson beam cannon bloomed, directly engulfing half of Gorgon's body and stirring up a dense, billowing mist of blood.