King Gourd lost the Holy Grail, his power greatly diminished, unable to even fly. Several Lahmus surrounded King Gourd. King Gourd, with all his might, escaped into the dense forest.
Seeing this, Siduri rushed after him, disregarding her own physical condition. Li Xing sighed helplessly and followed Siduri.
...
Although King Gourd was fleeing, he kept thinking in his heart that he was his mother's child, a new human created by his mother. Even without the memories of this body, without a trace of emotion, King Gourd still firmly believed this.
But... this was the outcome, an abandoned child.
At this thought, King Gourd stopped running and leaned against a tree, a death wish already forming in his heart.
Several Lahmus slowly pursued him. They had been playing around the entire time. Seeing King Gourd no longer fleeing, one of the Lahmus extended its sharp hand and stabbed towards King Gourd.
"No!" Siduri, with strength she didn't know she had, suddenly blinked in front of King Gourd and used her body to shield him from the attack.
Even Li Xing didn't react to this. Where did Siduri get her strength? Had she received the protection of a Star God? Had he not done anything extra?
"Tch! A Flash of Lightning!" Li Xing instantly dealt with all the Lahmus present and then walked to Siduri's side.
King Gourd looked bewildered. "Why? Why did you save me? I am your enemy..."
"Enkidu, thank you. May you find happiness, my dear friend... Enkidu... it was you... who bestowed life and path upon that aloof king... Everyone... laments your death... Everyone, has not forgotten your death, and neither have I. Everyone... May you find happiness, Enkidu, the beautiful... verdant one..."
Siduri stroked King Gourd's hair and spoke with a tremor, words that sounded like a final testament.
"Really, it's too early to speak of a will. You're quite the worrier." Li Xing reached out and embraced the fallen Siduri, taking her into the Infinite Domain and using the power of a Star God to heal her.
"It's all my fault for being talkative. I told you you were the sole Heavenly Lock of Heaven and Earth. You're on your own now, King Gourd." With that, Li Xing flew towards the Persian Gulf, leaving King Gourd alone and bewildered beneath the tree.
"What's going on? What is this?" Tears streamed from King Gourd's eyes. He didn't understand why. What was this feeling?
...
By the Persian Gulf.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others caught up to the flying Lahmu. However, a Servant emerged from the sea, Ushiwakamaru, who was completely corrupted.
Ushiwakamaru held back Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others, allowing the Lahmu to deliver the Holy Grail to Tiamat. Although Ushiwakamaru was temporarily defeated, it was too late.
Li Xing finally flew over. Seeing only Li Xing, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly asked about Siduri. Li Xing remained silent. Siduri could not be released for the time being; if she were, she would inevitably stay with Gilgamesh, and both would die at the end of Uruk.
Seeing Li Xing's silence, Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes showed self-blame for not saving more people.
However, there were more important things to do, and they couldn't waste time here. They entered the observatory and used remote communication magic to speak with Gilgamesh.
Since the Holy Grail returned to Tiamat, the black mud had increased dramatically, and Lahmus were appearing in endless streams. The water level was also rising, and it was predicted that the observatory would be submerged in three hours.
If the black mud submerged Uruk, human history would be over, and everyone had to make a decision.
"Tiamat is in that sea. If we can eliminate Tiamat there and then reclaim the Holy Grail, this singularity can be repaired," Roman, from Chaldea, detected Spirit Base reactions in the sea and guessed that Tiamat was at sea and heading towards Uruk.
"Then let's go! Eliminate Tiamat!" Fujimaru Ritsuka made the decision, and they all flew towards the sea together.
...
At sea.
They flew into a thunderous cloud and saw a colossal figure on the black mud, with two downward-curving horns on its head.
"That's... Tiamat... Its feet are shackled? Then this is our chance to defeat Tiamat." Fujimaru Ritsuka, from high in the sky, clearly saw Tiamat's appearance. Tiamat couldn't move freely, so this was the best opportunity.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Tiamat continuously uttered this phrase in a very gentle voice. Li Xing, however, thought Tiamat was singing, calling out to her child.
As they dived down, Tiamat suddenly looked up. A mere cry was enough to paralyze everyone and prevent them from advancing. Magic surged violently, stirring up storms on the sea.
"This magic is comparable to a hydrogen bomb. If it's unleashed, it could destroy Uruk from here!" Roman immediately observed Tiamat's condition.
Ishtar flew in front of them, telling them not to approach. Fujimaru Ritsuka understood and clenched his fist tightly.
"Use a Command Seal! Please! Ishtar!"
Empowered by the Command Seal, Ishtar felt refreshed and instantly tore open a rift in the sky with a wave of her hand. Everyone saw the starry sky. "Leave it to me! Open the gate!"
From the star gate opened by Ishtar, a planet descended, finally condensing into a sphere. Ishtar imbued the concept of Venus into Maanna.
"This is all my power! Shatter it! The Mountain-Shaking Tomorrow's Fuel!"
A powerful beam of magic shot out, hitting Tiamat on the sea, causing a violent explosion. The shockwave pushed Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others' pterodactyls backward.
When the explosion subsided, they could no longer see Tiamat, only a huge void left on the sea.
Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly asked Roman about the situation. Roman had confirmed Tiamat's Spirit Base had collapsed. Now, they only needed to retrieve the Holy Grail to repair the singularity.
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu breathed a sigh of relief. However, Li Xing broke the atmosphere. "Do you remember what I told you? Tiamat's body is immense, so vast that you can touch the sky with your hand."
"Are you saying that wasn't the Mother? Impossible, that was definitely the creator goddess, Tiamat," Ishtar immediately denied Li Xing's words.
Li Xing shook his head. "I'm not saying she isn't Tiamat. I'm just saying that the Tiamat we saw earlier was just her head. The real Tiamat is coming."
As Li Xing finished speaking, the void on the sea quickly formed a vortex, and the water level rose rapidly. Everyone was startled and immediately ascended, distancing themselves.
Then, two horns slowly rose, each horn larger than the previous entity by countless times. Finally, the complete Tiamat revealed itself before them.
"Ha... Ha..." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the colossal being before him, his breathing becoming ragged. Although he had heard Li Xing's description, seeing it with his own eyes still filled him with fear.
"Let's go. We should return to Uruk to discuss this. We can't even scratch Tiamat at the moment," Li Xing advised Fujimaru Ritsuka to return first, at least to come up with a plan.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was unwilling but had no choice. They could only return to Uruk for now.