At this moment—
Chaldea.
Staff dispatch was underway.
Two were to depart: one was Gudako—Ritsuka Fujimaru, and the other was Mash Kyrielight.
"Are you ready? This time we're traveling through time and space!"
"Mm."
"Ready."
Fou padded after them.
With a stream of light threading the tunnel of time, they headed to the Seventh Singularity—Ancient Mesopotamia, 2655 B.C.
The scene flipped.
The two, with a cute Fou,
fell from the sky.
Before they could unfold their Noble Phantasms, Ishtar swept them up onto the Heavenly Boat Ma'ana.
"Huh… you are?"
"My name is Ishtar, a believer in the Eternal God."
!!
Chaldea.
Hearing Ishtar's report, they were stunned.
When did Ishtar join someone else's faith—and what was this "Eternal God"?
There was no record in history.
Staff scrambled through the archives.
No entry for "Eternal God."
"Hey… Ishtar, over there—are you really the goddess Venus?"
"As real as it gets, friends from Chaldea. Shall I lob a Mountain-Shaking Star your way to prove it?"
"…"
What a joke.
If she fired that, a city would vanish!
Chaldea fell into silence. An unprecedented situation had arrived—what should they do next?
Before they could ask again,
the other side spoke first: "I know everything about Goddess Tiamat and all that will follow. You can come with me now."
"You know what happens next? You know the history?"
"Yes. A virtuous king returned from another time and space—so now Uruk is truly unbreakable!"
Virtuous king?
That meant Gilgamesh!!
What did "other time and space" mean?
Led by Ishtar, Mash and Ritsuka Fujimaru came before Gilgamesh.
Only after his explanation
did Chaldea understand.
Some timelines had disappeared.
More precisely, they had been taken up by a god and integrated into a complete world.
The virtuous king Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu had both come from that timeline,
and knew exactly what would occur here.
Mash asked in astonishment: "So, as long as we eliminate Tiamat ahead of time, this time-space can return to normal?"
"No, it isn't that simple. What truly ruins time and space and seeks to destroy the world is that tonnage of black mud. That is the end of the world."
Gilgamesh answered her,
and in passing displayed all that had transpired:
they had poured in all resources and manpower to blast Tiamat down into the underworld, and then slain her.
The cost—
just hearing it made Mash and the others' scalps prickle.
"This is terrifying… what should we do? Please give us your instructions…"
Ritsuka Fujimaru asked,
her expression firm.
Quetzalcoatl said, "The easiest way is to invite the Eternal God to descend and take this world away entirely, but… for reasons of believers and other matters, that isn't possible for now."
"The matter of believers—Enkidu and I are already working on it. Now we wait for Merlin to appear, and then we go to Tiamat together. As for you in Chaldea, I have a request."
"What is it, King Gilgamesh? Please tell us."
"If we are to restore peace to the world completely, relying on humans alone won't suffice. Will you join the ranks of God's believers?"
Join the God's religion—
that was no small question.
They were silent for a moment, then asked, "If we join, can we truly obtain peace?"
"You'll know when this worldline is concluded. Come, Mash—I recall your body is on the verge of collapse. Let me show you a taste of God's grace first."
Gilgamesh placed the concept of Eternal Meditation into her mind.
All looked on, smiling.
She studied it—
and began to meditate.
In mere moments, Mash felt her shattered body knit back together at speed,
and her strength began to soar.
This exceeded all projections!
"Mash's numbers are skyrocketing—no… the computer is acting up, it can't compute…"
Boom.
A puff of blue smoke rose.
The instrument used to monitor Mash's vitals sputtered out and died.
The sight was shocking.
There was no way to trace the source, no way to query a result.
All the staff shared a single thought: this is the power of God.
Untouchable.
"Do we need to report this?"
"No… leave it at that for now. King Gilgamesh, might we discuss joining the faith?"
"Of course. After all, traitors have already appeared among you in Chaldea."
"Yes."
…
Half an hour later,
Mash surfaced from meditation. She moved a little—no stiffness, a perfect fit.
Even that old sensation of her flesh tearing had vanished.
This body—
was wonderful.
Ritsuka Fujimaru hurried over, anxious. "Mash, how do you feel?"
"Very good. I've never felt so comfortable."
Mash smiled sweetly.
Gudako, who had never seen her smile like that, was stunned.
So Mash's smile could be that moving.
"All right, no more chit-chat. You two—once we return to Chaldea, we'll explain in full… For now, we go to the sealed land of the goddess Tiamat."
"Merlin—him?"
"I am here!"
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.
With flowers whirling all about, an elegant man appeared before them.
"Chirp…"
When Fou saw Merlin, he launched a dropkick without hesitation.
Fou would never forget this guy.
Damn him!
Throwing Fou out of Avalon—could he still be called a person?
Facing Fou's attack,
Merlin was at a loss.
The two tumbled around for a long time.
At last Merlin rubbed his messy hair and sat up.
His wise gaze locked onto Golden Sparkle.
Then he looked to Enkidu.
"It seems you truly came from a different timeline, for at this point in this one you should have just returned from seeking immortality, and Enkidu should already have died.
"Since Mr. Enkidu is here, that proves enough.
"However—if you want me to take you to Tiamat, what will you use to persuade that goddess?"
Without seeing a complete solution, Merlin would never guide them there,
lest they wake her too soon.
Golden Sparkle and Enkidu exchanged a glance,
then laughed.
"You lot are too small-time at present—what is there to persuade?"
"Then what are you preparing?"
"Enough to offer directly to the God!"
Gilgamesh's words shocked everyone present.
Sacrifice Tiamat directly—
no one had thought of that.
So ruthless.
Worthy of the King of Bling!
"Then why are you recruiting us goddesses too? Don't tell me you plan to sacrifice us…"
Quetzalcoatl stepped back, face uncertain.
Enkidu shook his head with a soft sigh. "When you see the true face of the God, you'll know what greatness is. Let's go…"
They lifted into the air on the Heavenly Boat Ma'ana and flew toward the sea.
Tiamat's consciousness was sealed outside this time-space.
Though summoned,
she remained bound by Merlin's seal.
Once she awakened,
her power would return in full—and she would lose all reason.
"At present only Gorgon's agents are laboring for the black mud, so we must be quick; my people can't hold out much longer…"
"So it turns out you planned to have us build the altar before recruiting us goddesses. You really have us dancing in your palm!"
"Heh… you won't say that in a moment."
Upon arriving at the destination,
Merlin began weaving spells.
Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl, and Mash threw themselves into altar construction at a frantic pace.
Pressed for time—and with this being the very center of the sea—
the altar was done in haste,
so humble it looked like a mere stone hut.
Mash's eyelids twitched as she stared, and she couldn't help whispering: "Your Majesty… shouldn't we at least paint it, or something?"
Just a few stones,
and a handful of carved lines.
Could one really invite the greatest God with this?
No matter how she looked at it, it felt far too crude.
Golden Sparkle donned his golden armor, took the lead, and knelt before the altar, murmuring gently: "What the Eternal God values most is the believer's heart. This altar is all I can do—please look upon it."
As he knelt,
Enkidu knelt swiftly as well.
Seeing this, the others knelt to either side of the long steps.
Though Gilgamesh was not a Chief Priest, as an authorized believer present, he was still qualified to summon the God.
A mark within his body responded.
"Great Eternal God—your believer, Gilgamesh, offers up the world's oldest goddess—Tiamat—as sacrifice…"
Type-Moon Plane.
The Seventh Singularity—Time and Space.
Suddenly, a wave of energy bloomed.
Chaldea.
"At the ocean's center—the site of Tiamat's seal—there's a super-energy reaction… and it's expanding at an extreme rate!!!"
"Is it the black mud? Is the world being polluted?"
"No… none of that!"
The female observer peered at the instrument, aghast. "What kind of energy is this? A holiness we've never recorded!!!"
On the map, a point of light swelled rapidly.
They'd already swapped in their strongest instrument,
but even so it began to squeal—
and put out smoke.
Just when everyone thought the device would explode,
a voice issued from within:
"This world did not exist when I was born…"
An ethereal tone resonated from the depths of the soul.
Everyone in that Chaldean control room—
for some reason, a starfield unfolded before their eyes:
splendid beyond telling, mysterious beyond measure, sacred beyond doubt.
All were thunderstruck.
A single thought rose:
God is manifest.
This is the God's world.