Uruk City.
Tiamat had arrived in the real world she had long wanted to see. As she looked at the busy humans around her, she found them fascinating. These humans did not possess the overwhelming power of the gods, but they carried a vigorous, upward-striving spirit.
So this was humanity?
She was also very interested in the little items being sold at the stalls, looking left and right with obvious curiosity.
What part of this looked like the Mother Goddess of Creation? She was more like an innocent little girl.
Tiamat hid her unusual horns, so no one found her strange. Instead, the vendors warmly introduced their goods to her.
Tiamat had no money, so after browsing for a while, she headed to where Koji and the others were staying.
"Master, be careful."
Arthur stared gravely at the suddenly arrived Tiamat. She looked harmless enough on the surface, but she made his Saint Graph tremble.
The golden blade wrapped in Invisible Air appeared in his hand at once. It was pure reflex.
What kind of existence was this?
"No need to worry. She's our friend, Tiamat." Koji had Arthur put away his sacred star-blade.
In her juvenile form, Tiamat would not be able to withstand Arthur's Excalibur.
"Tiamat? The Tiamat I'm thinking of? The Mother Goddess of Creation?" Arthur's voice turned dry.
No wonder she carried that kind of aura. The Mother Goddess of Creation was absurdly powerful, and her undying nature was even more troublesome.
Still, something felt off. She definitely had that presence, but her strength seemed to fall short of the real thing by quite a bit.
He had never seen the true Tiamat himself, but he knew she was overwhelmingly powerful, the kind of being that could bring about the end of the world.
"It's the very Mother Goddess of Creation you're thinking of. This is just a divine fragment she manifested from, so she's nowhere near as strong as the main body," Koji said with certainty.
"Master, why would Tiamat come looking for us?"
Arthur found it utterly unbelievable. Was this even normal?
"Lady Tiamat? No way, across this Singularity..."
Romani suddenly had a very bad feeling. Surely they would not have to deal with Tiamat herself to resolve the crisis of this Singularity, right?
If that were true, then this Singularity was basically hell difficulty. How were they supposed to fight Tiamat?
"Doctor, can I go back now?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked as a joke.
Tiamat was a god out of myth itself, the Mother Goddess of Creation. Was she really something a tiny Master like her could fight?
Accidentally run into Tiamat. Fight with everything you have. Die an unjust death.
Just imagining it was despair-inducing. There was no way to beat something like that.
"If you want to, then come on back."
Romani knew Fujimaru Ritsuka was joking, so he played along.
After spending so much time with her, Romani knew exactly what kind of person Fujimaru Ritsuka was. She was not someone who gave up easily, even when faced with an obstacle that seemed impossible to overcome.
It was precisely because of that kind of tenacity that she had managed to get through one Singularity after another.
"Forget it. Since we're already here, let's at least see what happens first." Fujimaru Ritsuka shrugged. Leaving just like that was not something she could bring herself to do.
The pressure was enormous. Even with a strategy guide, this would still be a nightmare.
The Temple of Uruk.
The moment Gilgamesh saw Tiamat, he snapped to attention. He was not trembling in fear, but the respect that ought to be shown was still there, even if this was only a divine avatar.
"Mother..."
Gilgamesh's expression was complicated. He knew of this Mother Goddess of Creation, but he had not expected to meet her here so soon.
Life truly was unpredictable. Clairvoyance was not omnipotent. There were still things even it could not see.
"Aaaaah—"
Tiamat looked at Gilgamesh. His presence felt familiar to her.
"Tiamat says, 'Kid, when did you dye your hair blond?'" Koji said, acting as her interpreter.
"?"
"What exactly are you translating?"
Gilgamesh's eye twitched. What did he mean, dye his hair blond? His hair had always been this color.
He refused to believe that was something Tiamat would actually say.
Koji spread his hands, and Gilgamesh could only fall silent. Forget questioning him to his face.
That was not cowardice. That was giving Tiamat the respect she deserved.
Gilgamesh was helpless as well. He had not expected Koji to bring this one straight to him. It really had caught him completely off guard.
He had to handle this carefully. If anything happened to this avatar here and the real Tiamat was alerted because of it, then they would truly be finished.
Since she was here, then he absolutely had to let Mother experience the customs and atmosphere of Uruk and treat her properly.
Siduri's mouth twitched when she heard that. "Your Majesty, shall I put it on your treasury's account?"
"Yes. In any case, satisfy Mother's needs as much as possible." Gilgamesh waved his hand grandly.
Siduri let out a faint sigh. This was something she had to handle personally.
This was the Mother Goddess of Creation, a being even more exalted than the goddess Ishtar. There could not be the slightest negligence.
...
"Eula, your swordsmanship is beautiful, but your speed is lacking," Artoria said as she instructed her.
There were traces of Eula's ceremonial dance in her style. It was not unusable in combat, but against true experts, its shortcomings became obvious.
"I know. Lia, when did you start practicing swordsmanship?"
Artoria thought about it. "When I was very young. Later, Merlin guided my training."
"That's right. Want Big Brother Merlin to give you a few pointers, Master of the King?"
Eula hesitated for a moment. Merlin really did not look very reliable.
"Eula, a friendly warning: you'd better not. Merlin isn't exactly dependable," Artoria said.
Though Merlin genuinely had the real skills, whether he would actually teach seriously was another matter entirely.
"King, that's a bit harsh," Merlin said resentfully.
"Haha. Compared to the Lady Merlin I know, this Merlin's personality is actually a little better," Arthur said with a laugh.
Just thinking about Lady Merlin gave him a headache. She was simply impossible to deal with.
"What, the Lady Merlin where you're from has an even worse personality?"
Artoria could not help smacking her lips in amazement. Merlin's personality was already bad enough. She had not expected there to be an even worse version.
"There definitely is."
Arthur nodded. Most people would not be able to endure Lady Merlin's personality.
That did make sense. She was not human, after all, so how could she possibly have the same sort of empathy humans did? And when it came to laying hands on Lady Merlin, there was no need to hold back. Just hit her and be done with it.
Merlin laughed wryly. To think he had received praise from King Arthur only because he was being compared to another version of himself.
Still... ah, ah, ah...
If he could meet her someday, it would definitely be interesting.
(End of Chapter)
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