Chapter 775: The Uncannily Coordinated Tactical Home Invasion
The recovery of Fujimaru was undoubtedly good news, but the intelligence that followed immediately afterward sent morale plummeting back to rock bottom.
"Fujimaru, are you certain you didn't missee?" Gilgamesh drummed his fingers on the armrest of his throne, unable to conceal his agitation. "Tiamat shattered space before launching her attack on you?"
"We've verified this repeatedly at Chaldea as well," Da Vinci said gravely, scanning the report. "At the exact moment Fujimaru was attacked, there was indeed an 'echo of the world'—on that point, Sakatsuki would be the most qualified to speak."
"To put it plainly, it's a [Reality Marble]," Sakatsuki chimed in, having stayed in the palace after treating Fujimaru. "It seems Mother has carved out a new bounded field using Nega Genesis and is hiding inside, continuously producing Lahmu—needless to say, this was probably my idea."
Gorgon's [Pandemonium Cetus] was nothing more than a degraded imitation of Tiamat's Authority, replicated countless times. In terms of monster production efficiency, a hundred Gorgons couldn't compare to the Mother Goddess herself.
She didn't even need to lift a finger—the endless tide of Lahmu would sweep away every living thing in Mesopotamia.
"Tch…" Gilgamesh pressed a hand to his forehead before roughly running it through his golden hair. Such uncharacteristic behavior was rare for the king, yet no one found it strange—in fact, they all felt like tearing their hair out too.
After all, this was about as bad as things could get.
"If Tiamat just stays holed up in her Reality Marble, we'll never find a way to win…" The doctor slumped back in his chair with a sigh, staring at the ceiling. An open bottle of blood pressure medication sat on the desk. "I'd almost prefer it if Tiamat marched on Uruk herself."
Fujimaru thought for a moment. "Then, is there any way to make Tiamat move toward Uruk?"
"Don't be naive, Fujimaru," Gilgamesh said, still looking drained. "Ask that chef over there—do you think he'd let Tiamat leave so easily?"
"Countering a game plan is tough, especially when it's my own," Sakatsuki muttered before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I have at least three theories about Mother's current state, but one thing's certain—if we just sit around, we'll be dancing to 'my' tune."
"Then get out there and scout, you fool. Preferably drag Tiamat out of her nest while you're at it."
"Fine—" Sakatsuki rolled his eyes, drawing out the word. "But am I going alone?"
"What else?" Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. "Want me to lend you my goddess strike team?"
"Hey, Goldie, since when are we under your command?" Ishtar-Rin shook her fist in protest, but both Sakatsuki and Gilgamesh ignored her, continuing their discussion.
"What's this about a goddess strike team? Ereshkigal can't leave the underworld, Ishtar is in charge of city defense, so all I can mobilize are little Anna and Quetzalcoatl."
"Isn't two enough?"
"Come on, we're breaking into the enemy's real stronghold here. You can never have too many hands on deck."
"Then count me in too."
"Enkidu? No, your mission is to protect me—"
"Not me, Gil." The green-haired beauty beside the throne shook their head, emerald eyes turning toward the youth approaching from the palace entrance. "Ready to raise your weapon against that mad mother, my brother?"
"I'll verify Mother's condition myself. And don't address me with those obsolete human terms." The youth with bewitching violet eyes maintained his haughty demeanor. After speaking, he ignored Sakatsuki's wave and leaned against the wall, feigning sleep. Seeing this, Sakatsuki withdrew his hand sheepishly and snapped his fingers instead:
"Alright then, the four of us will form the Red-Green-Blue Tri-Card Team."
"What kind of name is that? Sounds terrible just hearing it." Anna deadpanned, the winged serpent coiled around her neck nodding vigorously.
"Hmph, you wouldn't understand. This is the romance of FGO newbies." Sakatsuki stuck out his tongue before turning back to Gilgamesh. "Don't forget who the real enemy is. While we're away from Uruk, make sure to hold the fort."
"Tch, spare me your nagging." The King of Uruk waved impatiently. "In terms of combat strength, Uruk far surpasses your little quartet. We'll outlast you even if you all perish."
"Oh~ Is that so~~"
"Enough chatter, cook! Get out of my sight!"
After this hurried farewell, the team of Sakatsuki, Anna, Quetzalcoatl, and Kingu embarked on their expedition. Yet the moment they left Uruk's gates, a pressing dilemma confronted them.
"How do we get there?" Anna gripped her scythe tightly, eyeing the distant swarm of black Lahmu. "Do we charge straight through?"
Quetzalcoatl also wore a troubled expression: "Full disclosure—my divinity's below half now. I'm not as formidable as you might think."
As both goddesses voiced their concerns, Kingu merely crossed his arms with a cold smirk. Though silent, his expression unmistakably challenged Sakatsuki—Well? What's your move now?
Sakatsuki simply met the defiant homunculus' gaze calmly before suddenly smiling. "Relax, we'll arrive shortly. Just brace for impact."
"Hmph, how exactly? The Lahmu aren't just powerful—their hides nullify magecraft and even Noble Phantasms. Even if you tried bypassing them, any teleportation spell would get disrupted—"
"Oh? Really?"
As crystalline light blossomed in the young man's palm, Kingu's eyes bulged like a strangled chicken's. "How... is this possible?"
He couldn't be mistaken—this was unmistakably Sakatsuki's signature spell, the hallmark of his Transposition Magecraft!
No, wait—even with Transposition Magecraft, where could they possibly go? The path to Mother's location was completely encircled by endless Lahmu. Not even a mage of heroic spirit caliber should be able to breach it!
However, Sakatsuki's next words easily shattered Kingu's delusions: "The location is set in the eastern part of the Demonic Beast Forest, the area where Fujimaru was attacked. The jump distance is 145.3 miles. The target point has been locked via the leyline. The large-scale displacement magecraft is about to begin. Please sit tight and hold on to prevent any possible jolts during the catapult launch..."
Hearing this, the two goddesses and Kingu all fell into a panic. Sit tight and hold on? But where were the handrails? Where were they?
They certainly didn't want to fall behind during the teleportation and end up as dinner for the swarming Lahmus!
"Hiss~" The winged serpent leaped out and landed on Sakatsuki, shaking its head cheerfully. Seeing this, Anna's eyes lit up, and without caring for ladylike restraint, she quickly wrapped her arms around Sakatsuki's waist. Quetzalcoatl also had a sudden realization and, without any shyness, pressed close, gripping Sakatsuki's arm tightly against her chest. As for Kingu... after a moment of hesitation, he too followed his instincts and extended the Chains of Heaven to bind himself to Sakatsuki.
Then, in the next moment, amidst Sakatsuki's excited cheers and the others' screams, the thrilling Aoko Journey·Revised·Golden Deluxe Edition launched!
The teleportation began at an incredible speed and ended just as quickly. When the goddesses snapped out of the sword-clashing-like wind noise, their faces were flushed with an alluring rosy hue. Fortunately, the divine physique far surpassed that of ordinary humans—otherwise, the result of being torn apart by space would have been... well, just refer to the unfortunate souls in the Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II.
"Eh, where's Kingu?" Everyone looked around and finally spotted the dust-covered boy in a pit a hundred meters away. Though they didn't know what had happened, the dirt-stained white robes told a story.
"Sakatsuki, you damn—" Under the young man's amused gaze, Kingu swallowed his words and changed his tone. "How did you do this?"
He couldn't comprehend what level of magecraft and how vast a magical energy reserve would be required to break through so many Lahmus and instantly traverse a hundred miles.
Not just him—even Anna and Quetzalcoatl, the two goddesses, turned their gazes toward him. The more powerful the being, the more terrifying this teleportation seemed. In their hearts, they knew that even if they burned their divine cores, they couldn't achieve such a staggering feat.
Faced with their bewilderment, Sakatsuki merely clenched his fist lightly—the sudden sonic boom made Anna and the others' pupils contract.
"I haven't been idle all this time, you know," the young man sneered meaningfully, brimming with anticipation. "Thanks to Tiamat, I'm now so strong that even I find it frightening..."
As if hearing her true name being spoken, space-time cracked like shattering glass. Twisted horns, sharp as blood-red blades, pierced through the void. A hollow, sorrowful song began to echo, and a pair of crimson cross-shaped eyes peered through the world's barrier, locking onto the four figures in the forest.
Just meeting that gaze felt like a thousand, ten thousand worms writhing and burrowing into their brains, screeching and howling, nearly shattering their sanity and plunging them into the abyss of madness.
"How laughable... how pitiful!"
Silver hair cascaded like moonlight as Sakatsuki once again faced his former enemy, the mother of old, and sighed softly, "Your child has returned. Do you still recognize us?"
"Laaaa—" A wail-like roar served as the mother's welcome to her long-lost children.
[Analysis complete]
[True form confirmed]
[Mother Goddess · Tiamat]
Only this time, Kingu refused to believe the judgment of this body. His ears rang as his imagined mother overlapped with the monster before him, leaving him utterly stunned and horrified.
His mind went completely blank.
"This... this is..."
"Ah, yes. This is the mother you've longed for day and night, the one you'd willingly give your life for." Sakatsuki glanced back at him with pity. "It's normal to feel terror. Unlike that lovely girl from Uruk, what you see now is the malicious shell Tiamat has forged over countless years."
She was their mother, yet also the Beast that would destroy humanity.
She embodied human love, yet was drowned in the twisted desire to become the mother of all creation once more.
This was the dark incarnation of the mother goddess who had nurtured and protected humanity!
The sound of countless strings snapping echoed as Tiamat's eyes glowed crimson. Stars in the sky extinguished one after another, shattering like glass.
A sense of impending crisis surged through Sakatsuki. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, summoning no weapon—against Tiamat's attacks, even the sturdiest Noble Phantasm would be doomed to destruction.
Destructive light coiled around his knuckles as the young man stomped the ground, shattering it beneath his feet. He threw a heavy punch toward the crimson light descending from the sky.
Squelch—!
As if piercing through the core of a pillar, the light beam capable of annihilating an entire city was split down the middle. The destruction scattered into sixteen separate paths, yet still embedded themselves into the ground along their trajectories. After a brief pause, they erupted, sending up a hundred-meter-high wave of dust—only for flames to surge skyward moments later, devouring the spectacular dust waterfall whole!
Whoosh... The flames illuminated the stunned expressions of the group. When Anna finally snapped out of her daze, she took a deep breath and looked at the young man at the forefront, his hair fluttering in the wind.
"Back then... according to what that king said, it was you who severely wounded Tiamat, forcing her to recover only now... Is that true?"
Hearing this, Sakatsuki showed no pride, merely nodding slightly.
"It was me," he said.
Amid the forest now transformed into a fiery hellscape, the young man spoke calmly. "My recklessness back then led to Mother Goddess Tiamat's awakening and Demon God King Goetia's trans-temporal appearance. And yes, I did repel both of them..."
Seeing Anna's lips part slightly, her expression one of utter shock, Sakatsuki felt little joy. Instead, he shook his head with a bitter smile.
This achievement might seem glorious, but what was the cost of playing the hero? What price had been paid?
—Tiamat had skipped several stages, directly assuming her Jurassic-level draconic form. Though Goetia had retreated, Sakatsuki had fallen into the Sea of Life, only to be controlled by Tiamat, causing immeasurable damage to Uruk. Not to mention the "scheme" from back then still haunted the people of Uruk to this day.
"Save your confessions and humility for Uruk. What should we do now?" Having discerned the true nature of the Tiamat before them, Kingu had completely given up hope. He warily watched the colossal entity within the bounded field, his expression grim.
"Sakatsuki, use that technique you employed to gravely wound Mother back then—quickly!"
Hearing this, Sakatsuki couldn't help but spread his hands open. Violet-black particles clung to them, bestowing intoxicating power while also instilling fear like the abyss itself.
The power of the Umbral Star's vanguard, the substance that trampled upon and wantonly destroyed worlds—Anti-Cell Particles.
How ironic and laughable it was that the resolve to protect the world now required relying on the very power that could destroy it. This thought never failed to evoke a bitter sense of mockery.
But regardless of Sakatsuki's feelings, in Mesopotamia without Draco present, to defeat the Beast that stood against all humanity, he had no choice but to grasp this dangerous double-edged sword.
"Using Anti-Cell Particles comes at a cost. I can't afford to squander them recklessly." The young man raised his eyes, making a swift decision. "A bounded field is nearly impossible to breach from the outside. I'll hold off Tiamat's attacks here. The three of you must immediately enter the World Egg and destroy Tiamat's location!"
"What about you? What will you do after we enter?"
"I'll use this power that once gravely wounded Mother to try corroding the 'Anti-Genesis' bounded field from outside. If the Lahmu hordes and the yet-unseen Baal Lahmu attack you from within, Anna and Kingu will hold them off. Quetzalcoatl's Noble Phantasm will be used to destroy the bounded field."
Hearing this, Kingu shot Sakatsuki a cold glare. "Aren't you just afraid of death, you bastard? Pushing all the dangerous work onto us."
"Which side has it worse remains to be seen." Sakatsuki chuckled, patting Kingu and the other two on the back. "You've been buffed—now go die!"
Despite their grievances and doubts, the goddesses knew this wasn't the time for arguments. As Sakatsuki raised his fists to clash with Tiamat, the three transformed into streaks of light and crashed into the bounded field.
They had expected to face an overwhelming tide of Lahmu and even their former 'siblings.' But when Kingu opened his eyes and surveyed their surroundings, he was stunned to find only an endless expanse of emptiness, with the sea of black mud surging yet devoid of those grotesque monsters.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a relief, but Kingu's expression twisted into one of horror. He immediately shouted toward the rift in the world where Sakatsuki stood:
"Something terrible is happening—send word to Uruk at once—!"
Unbeknownst to them, in the northern regions, several monsters radiating divine-class energy waves were leading massive hordes toward the last illuminated city in Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, in the forest of demonic beasts, Sakatsuki's pupils constricted as he heard Kingu's cry.
"The main Lahmu forces bypassed our route—they're probably heading straight for Uruk!"