"So, she's awake after all? Is there really no miracle in the best-case scenario?"
More than half a year ago, shortly after arriving in Uruk, Merlin had already seen several possible futures for this Singularity, and he was currently in the process of selecting the most stable branch among them.
But among the many branches, regardless of how stable they were, there was one thing Merlin had to do: use his abilities to put the soon-to-arrive Tiamat to sleep, thereby buying time before Guinevere and the others from Chaldea arrived.
And precisely because Merlin caused the Goddess Tiamat to fall into a deep slumber, and Kingu was unable to awaken her, Kingu resorted to means to synchronize Gorgon with Tiamat, allowing Gorgon to obtain Tiamat's True Name and Authorities, while having her sanity obscured.
"According to what I've seen, there is no future without Guinevere and the King of Knights. Only after Gorgon's death would Tiamat awaken due to the shock of that death and formally regress from the Imaginary Number Space."
"For this reason, and for greater certainty, I guided Anna to defeat Gorgon both in Spirit Origin and mind, in the hope that Tiamat would not awaken."
North of the Absolute Demonic Front, Tiamat's awakening caused the entire Singularity to tremble, and also made blood trickle from the corner of Merlin's mouth as he sighed. His Magecraft had been broken, and he suffered a severe backlash from it, which would cause him to temporarily leave the scene just as he had seen in the future.
"What a pity. Even though Gorgon was merged and not truly dead, Tiamat was still awakened, forced awake like breaking through a shell."
Kingu, after being spared by the King of Heroes, used his entire life force to unleash his Noble Phantasm upon the slumbering Tiamat.
His single strike did not break through the dream Merlin had cast, but his death and his love for his mother were fully conveyed into Tiamat's dream.
Kingu did not know whose child he truly was, whether he should obey the "fatherly love" and side with Uruk, or obey the "motherly love" and side with Tiamat. Therefore, he chose his original conviction: to escape reality through death, and to follow his true heart through death.
"In Mother Tiamat's dream, Kingu received a hug and eternal sleep."
As an Incubus and the caster, Merlin witnessed Kingu's final moments before Tiamat's waking rage shattered the dream.
For Kingu, such an ending was the ultimate fulfillment.
But for Tiamat, she finally learned that there was still a child who hadn't betrayed her, who still loved her, and then came this adorable child's death.
"Mash, Ritsuka, tell the King of Heroes that there's absolutely no possibility of convincing Tiamat anymore. Tell him to proceed with the plan as scheduled.
Also, Anna, Ishtar, Ushiwakamaru and the others, you probably don't have time to be sentimental here, please hurry to Guinevere and the King of Knights' side, even if they don't really need your help.
And, I will be back very soon."
During the process of Merlin disappearing and leaving his final words, the space continued to tremble, and among the silent mourning of many Servants, only Fou on Mash's shoulder was waving his paws and calling out "Fou" in extreme happiness.
And as Merlin said, none of them had any time to waste. Ishtar took Mash and Merlin, and Anna took Ushiwakamaru and the others; they rushed towards the Persian Gulf coast with all their strength.
At the same time, Chaldea...
"Doctor, SHEBA 02, 06, and 09 are broken. A space-time tremor is detected. A space-time fracture is occurring in Mesopotamia."
"Doctor! Doctor! Please look at this! The sea in this Singularity, centered on the Persian Gulf, is being continuously stained red, and a super-multiple number of Mana reactions have been confirmed to be born."
"The number... exceeds one hundred million, and the count is still continuously rising!"
"Doctor, the Beast that devours Human Order, the Sea of Life, the Primordial Mother, one of the Seven Evils of Humanity, the Beast of Original Sin—Beast II—as prophesied by Merlin and the King of Heroes, has awakened. We..."
"What's the panic? Isn't the Grand Saber, the wielder of the Holy Sword of the Planet, right there?"
In the Command Room of Chaldea, Dr. Romani, Da Vinci-chan, and the others observed Tiamat's awakening.
But just as the King of Heroes still had the composure to act on emotion, Romani and the others were not panicked either.
At this moment, Merlin, the Grand Mage who did not hold the Grand title, temporarily withdrew from the scene. The King of Heroes, who had returned to Uruk in advance, was directing the people to take refuge in the Underworld...
Because of the presence of Guinevere and the King of Knights, the Underworld was no longer the planned site of the decisive battle, but the planned shelter for the people.
By gathering the people of Uruk into the Underworld and thereby protecting their survival, Miss Ereshkigal could also be considered to have fulfilled her wish.
"Lia, I'm counting on you. Please strip Tiamat of her ability to resist as much as possible first."
"Guinevere, leave it to me. And not just me."
Guinevere and the King of Knights had already risen from the reef, facing the Lahmu Swarm that surged in like a tide.
The Grand Servants were originally created by the Counter Force specifically to deal with the Seven Evils of Humanity.
Although Guinevere and the King of Knights jointly held the Grand Saber title, if counted separately, neither could be considered a Grand in their own right.
"This is the Breath of the Stars, the light of hope that illuminates the land, witness it! Excalibur!"
The golden Mana radiance flowed like a river, blasting a massive gap in the tide. With a single strike, at least over ten thousand Lahmu were instantly vaporized.
But just as Chaldea had observed, the number of Lahmu was simply too vast and they were continuously multiplying. Killing them individually was completely meaningless.
Therefore, after using the [ Sword of Promised Victory ] to say hello, the King of Knights decisively sought more Mana from the King of Heroes, hoping to sustain the activation and release of the Holy Sword of the Planet.
"Restraint Release, Round Table Resolution begins..."
"Guinevere, I hereby declare in my true name: This is a battle for the continuation of the world!"
"Lancelot, this is not a battle against faeries!"
"Kay, this is a battle for survival!"
-
"I, Artoria Pendragon, hereby fight for the sake of saving the world!"
It was not the first time, and the release of the Thirteen Restraints was exceedingly smooth. Facing the Evils of Humanity, a Beast that devours the Human Order, even one as pure as Galahad could loudly declare his agreement.
Perhaps because they were in the Age of Gods, and because this battle truly fought for the salvation of the world, the King of Knights' strike even received the blessing of the Human Order.
Thus, when the golden radiance descended, this sword severed space, crushing everything in its path, crossing a distance of tens of kilometers to directly smash the massive upper half of Tiamat floating above the Sea of Life.
Just as Guinevere and the King of Knights had anticipated, the Holy Sword of the Planet with its Thirteen Restraints released was enough to easily kill Tiamat more than once, temporarily halting her Regression.
Yet, just as they also expected, even the Holy Sword of the Planet still could not kill Tiamat, who had no concept of death.
"No need to worry, everything is going according to plan."
Because of the Lahmu's density, millions of Lahmu were annihilated in a single strike. Tiamat's Regression would be delayed for several more hours until the Mana of the Holy Sword of the Planet faded from her remaining body.
So was it now the opportunity for Guinevere to transform into a dragon, seize Tiamat, and head for the inner side of the planet? The answer was, of course, no; Tiamat's sorrowful wailing continued.