The moment Selene saw the valiant Central American samba goddess assume her long-prepared stance, she knew—she had been caught off guard.
The opponent's timing was pushed to the absolute limit—and executed flawlessly.
As Selene pinpointed the position of the axe handle within the spiraling storm unleashed by the descending giant axe, she reached out. The instant her palm made contact—buzz—!!
Like the roar of thunderbeasts, the axe—its body resembling both metal and stone—was engraved with dense layers of runic inscriptions. The moment it sensed the undying magical power flowing between the scaled armor of Selene's beast-transformed hand, crimson energy erupted instantly.
Crack—
The anti-divinity, anti-giant slaying effect—born from god-killing and beast-hunting—activated immediately, shattering the magical barrier Selene had cautiously spread over her body!
And this was only the first layer of Chaldea's offensive—because this axe was none other than the Axe of Marduk!
Who was Marduk?
In Mesopotamian mythology, Marduk was the patron god of Babylon and its supreme deity.
Legend said he defeated the eleven monstrous beasts born of the primordial mother goddess Tiamat, as well as Kingu. He also gravely wounded Tiamat herself—the very mother who brought chaos into existence—by severing her throat with this very axe!
Thus, Marduk ascended as the king of gods!
Clang—!
As if blades and axes sang together and the war drums of the Age of Gods resounded, bloodstained runes burst forth upon the axe blade—symbols of the great deed sung by mortals and gods alike after being bathed in Tiamat's blood.
"Aaaaaaa—!"
The fragment of Tiamat's Saint Graph within Selene let out a piercing wail. Her hand, which had touched the Axe of Marduk, trembled violently and was forced away. Under the disturbance of her Saint Graph—"Ugh..."
Selene's magical defenses fell into disarray, and even the countless serpent-like tendrils of hair—automatically seeking and attacking targets—froze momentarily.
And for Chaldea, who had been watching Selene closely—this was exactly the opening they had been waiting for!
The next moment—buzz—!!!
"This body shall become burning rock—transform into a comet and strike down the earth—!"
Accompanied by the shouted incantation of a Noble Phantasm, blinding flames replaced all light. The atmosphere burned, the roar of air overwhelmed all sound, and scorching heat surged violently, searing Selene's face.
Under the overwhelming inferno—like a solar storm—the countless serpent-hair constructs Selene had spawned were reduced to ashes almost instantly.
There was no time to think.
"Aaaaaaa—!"
A roar born of the primordial mother goddess—instilling fear into humanity, Heroic Spirits, and even gods themselves, as the source of all life—shook the heavens. Enduring the crushing pressure like a falling sun, Selene, who had remained stationary until now, finally moved.
Crack!
Violet-red imaginary energy surged through her body. Every scale shimmered with a ferocious, icy bloodlight as she forcibly suppressed the unsettling instability within herself. Enduring the destructive force and mental interference of the Axe of Marduk, Selene roared in fury:
"I am not Tiamat!"
Clang—!
With one hand, she knocked away the Axe of Marduk, ignoring the blood bursting from her arm. Beneath her, her colossal serpent tail—stretching thousands of meters like a moving mountain range—rose violently into the air.
At the same time, from the sky, a kick empowered through layered dimensional leap formations finally descended—
"—Ultimo Tope Patada!!!"
Boom—!
First came a deep, resounding collision that echoed through the heavens—followed by a deafening explosion that shook the entire earth!
The attacker, having transformed into a meteor, struck Selene's raised serpent tail with overwhelming force. The immense, condensed scorching magical energy exploded instantly.
BOOM!!!
The impact poured down violently. The air howled, the ground twisted and rippled like a dragon turning beneath the earth. Soil scattered, seawater surged backward, and eruptions of fire burst forth...
In less than a second, the destruction engulfed the several kilometers of terrain beneath Selene—and continued to expand outward with accelerating ferocity.
In almost an instant, Lancer Karna and Rider Achilles—both already battered and struggling against Selene—could no longer even see her.
Because a towering shockwave, carrying shattered fragments of earth, surged outward like a tidal wave—blasting them several kilometers away in a single moment!
Only Karna—with his divinely bestowed golden armor—and Achilles—with his body tempered by the waters of the River Styx and the divine shield forged by Hephaestus—were able to withstand it.
This clash had already drawn a boundary—a chasm—between those who could enter the battlefield and those who could not.
For ordinary Servants, even the aftershocks alone would be enough to kill them!
The ground, nearly submerged in molten heat, erupted into massive chunks of earth, sending dark smoke and vaporized sand into the sky—tens, hundreds, even thousands of meters high. The ring-shaped shockwave walls that had barely formed collapsed instantly, breaking into countless grains of sand that howled through the storm, sweeping across the world.
Rumble—!!!
The trembling of destruction and spiraling shockwaves spread through the dust like layered waves of fire. Even though Jeanne and Mash had rushed forward immediately to erect an unbreakable barrier, Ritsuka Fujimaru could still feel the merciless shockwaves rattling his internal organs.
The earth trembled—and so did the hearts of the people.
But unlike Selene's fury, Ritsuka, lying on the ground, slammed his hand forward with excitement—almost leaping to his feet.
"Phew... hey, kid—is this the reinforcement you called after buying time?"
Blasted into a miserable state, even with smoke rising from his mouth, Rider Achilles gritted his teeth behind his shield as he asked.
"Yeah. Her name is Quetzalcoatl."
"A goddess—chief deity level."
Karna, his solar-like shoulder armor radiating a barrier that blocked the impact, stood with his body covered in violet-red corrosive marks yet remained unmoved. His expression was solemn as he stared toward the center of the storm.
"But more importantly, it's that axe. Because of it, the Saint Graph of 'Black' Rider has become unstable... Master, how could you be certain she would choose to reach out and touch it? If she had used a magical cannon instead, what was the backup plan?"
"That's thanks to Miss Jeanne..."
...
A few minutes earlier, elsewhere.
"Based on the detailed account of the Romanian Holy Grail War provided by Miss Jeanne, and analyzing her behavior, the supreme ruler of that foreign divine nation—Selene—is a tyrant driven by greed and dominance."
Beside the composite summoning magic circle, the white-haired, sharp-eared man secretly glanced at a certain golden figure and smiled with amusement. "This is her character flaw."
"After being summoned by Lev and bestowed with Tiamat's Beast II Saint Graph, I believe she must also understand that, upon devouring it, she would inherit some of Tiamat's mythological weaknesses..." His tone briefly turned contemplative.
Then, suddenly, Merlin's voice grew firm.
"But! Even so, with her unrestrained and overbearing personality, I can assert this!"
"Even when faced with the Axe of Marduk—the very weapon that once gravely wounded Tiamat—she would not dodge. Gods are arrogant... ah, ah, sorry, sorry—not talking about you..."
As the ground beneath him suddenly sank, Merlin maintained a radiant smile while repeatedly apologizing to the ground, as if soothing a certain overworked and adorable goddess. Then he coughed lightly and cleared his throat.
"Ahem... especially for a supreme ruler like Selene, rather than evading, this foreign god would likely want to claim the Axe of Marduk as her own."
"Let's put it this way—using a divine weapon that once gravely wounded oneself as a medium, and then turning it against its wielder—or their descendants and followers—wouldn't that be the perfect triumphant display of a conqueror's pride and authority?"
Leaning on his oddly shaped flower staff, the Flower Magus struck a pose as if listening for applause, his tone full of self-satisfaction.
Unfortunately, the kindhearted kouhai was busy tanking damage at the frontlines—no one applauded.
"Tch, what a vile god."
A Servant from the Lawful Good alignment commented.
"Hahaha... I, Iskandar, actually find that god-king quite to my liking."
The burly red-haired man in armor laughed heartily, pounding his chest. "If she weren't an enemy, I'd love to drink and debate with her."
"Oh? Iskandar, planning another banquet of kings? Hah, wake up. I don't even have the heart to mock you. A divine banquet... hmph, hybrids like us probably wouldn't even catch her eye."
The long-haired 'queen consort,' who usually acted meek before his king, surprisingly spoke with rare firmness. "Enough. Our priority is to defeat Selene. Lady Scáthach, I leave it to you..."
...
"Feathered Serpent God—Quetzalcoatl!!"
Rapidly suppressing the instability of her Saint Graph, Selene ignored the tearing pain in her body and forcefully mobilized her magical power and spiritual musculature. A terrifying destructive force began to gather within her.
She could no longer afford to play around.
In her current state—her Beast II Saint Graph not yet fully restored—if she didn't get serious, those clairvoyant Grand candidates in Chaldea might seize an opening. If that happened, she might very well become a laughingstock—"a disastrous start, reckless arrogance, and a premature downfall."
Before touching the Axe of Marduk, Selene had indeed cautiously coated her arm with Honkai energy—but her mindset had been somewhat careless.
Perhaps she had been holding back, treating this as a game while waiting for Goetia, intending to ambush him—resulting in her being cautious, yet not cautious enough.
After taking such a heavy blow from this 'passionate' goddess, Selene finally recognized the severity of the situation.
She is strong!
After the runic strike from the Axe of Marduk shattered Selene's magical defenses, the goddess who launched the attack was named—Quetzalcoatl.
The name itself might not be widely known—but what about the Feathered Serpent?
The Feathered Serpent God was the supreme deity of the Aztec civilization in Central and South America, governing life and harvest, culture and storms, among many other domains.
Due to her unique mythological form and ever-changing authority, there was even a period where she was associated with the sun. Some said she came from Venus—and like Ishtar, she was also a symbol of that celestial body.
As a pinnacle deity within her mythological system, Quetzalcoatl's status was in no way inferior to Zeus of Greek mythology, Marduk of Mesopotamian mythology, or Odin of Norse mythology.
In fact, due to the cyclical destruction and rebirth inherent in Aztec mythology, the Feathered Serpent embodied both creation and destruction. She ushered in the golden age of gods—yet was also deeply tied to the downfall of the Aztec people.
It could be said that her authority surpassed that of most chief deities across the world.
In the Seventh Singularity, Babylonia, had Quetzalcoatl not stood with Chaldea, victory would have been impossible.
Later, after attacking Gorgon's temple and violating the Three Goddess Alliance's oath of non-aggression, Quetzalcoatl lost half her divinity, greatly weakening her power.
Even so, she remained Chaldea's irreplaceable primary damage dealer!
And now, the one standing before Selene—was Quetzalcoatl at full divine power!
BOOM—!
Amid the air-rending shock, Selene's massive body visibly tilted.
This level of power... not enough—still not enough! To break through her defenses, this level of energy output alone is insufficient!
Her long golden hair fluttered wildly. Beneath her Mesoamerican Mayan-style attire, her skin—illuminated crimson by the blazing sky—was drenched in sweat, tracing perfect curves along her body.
Just as Selene immediately recognized Quetzalcoatl's strength and grew serious, Quetzalcoatl's assessment of Selene was the same.
This opponent is absurdly strong!
As expected of a foreign supreme god who had devoured both Tiamat and Gorgon's Saint Graphs. Aside from not yet fully obtaining the Beast II attribute of "Return," removing the concept of death from herself—in every other aspect, she surpassed Tiamat!
Tiamat never possessed Selene's agility or ferocity.
"Ha—!"
With a deep breath, the divine markings on Quetzalcoatl's face glowed ever brighter. In the next instant, even more violent flaming magical energy erupted!
Though her attacks were beginning to show slight fatigue, and her breathing had grown heavier, her expression only became more radiant.
After all, beyond her many benevolent legends, Quetzalcoatl also embodied a fierce war god. With a love for wrestling, beneath her gentle and heroic appearance lay a deeply hidden battle maniac!
"Ha—!!"
A collision between heaven and earth—under the clash of two Servant-formed deities whose immortal essences were strikingly similar—their opposing forces ground violently against one another, producing an even more ferocious impact. The destruction it wrought was earth-shaking.
The land split apart, mountains collapsed, seas overturned. Blazing flames boiled oceans and scorched mountains. The landmass of Honshu itself began to fracture and disintegrate. Countless fissures spread in all directions, while nearshore tsunamis surged upward.
Those who had fled far from Fuyuki wailed in despair. Surrounding cities visibly trembled as the shockwaves spread. Honshu shook. The Yukimine of Mount Fuji crumbled. Everything resembled the ominous signs of an approaching apocalypse, as countless disasters manifested before humanity's eyes.
Crack—!
At this moment, Selene's colossal body—large enough to blot out the sky—visibly began to topple. The dawn of victory seemed to be shining upon Chaldea...
Suddenly—buzz—!
This was the sound of Saint Graph output recovering. The immense magical pulse produced a violent hum, causing even Merlin's expression to change.
"That's far too fast. The divine power of Marduk is being suppressed."
"Ereshkigal! Are you done yet?"
"Stop rushing me!!! You people really know how to boss others around!"
A voice strikingly similar to Rin Tohsaka's echoed from beneath the ground, tinged with fatigue and tsundere irritation.
"And this isn't even the Mesopotamian Underworld! Maintaining the Netherworld barrier is already troublesome, and now I have to stabilize the continental plate underground as you requested—it's such a pain!! There are magical veins everywhere down here—w-whoa—! It's collapsing!"
Her panicked cry was followed by a rumbling like a landslide.
Confirming that Ereshkigal was nearly in position, Merlin, Gilgamesh, Waver, and Romani on the communication screen exchanged glances and nodded.
"Lady Scáthach, Ishtar, Artoria, Sir Mordred, Her Majesty Semiramis, Lord Avicebron... everyone, move ahead of schedule!"
"Waver, contact Chaldea—prepare the mana supply."
"Fujimaru, ready your Command Spells to amplify magical power..."
...
"Aaaaaa—!!"
Completely suppressing Tiamat's rampaging Saint Graph and devouring the divine power of Marduk running wild within her body, Selene spread her wings wide enough to cover the sky. Her serpent hair writhed wildly as she let out a roar filled with brutality and exhilaration in her massive Demonic Beast Goddess form.
"I must admit, Chaldea—you have made my blood boil for the first time in a long while!"
"I shall apologize. Treating you as insects that could be crushed at any moment, holding back just to prolong the fun—was a misjudgment. I will now go all out to show you the respect you deserve."
"In my world, the greatest respect for an opponent—is total annihilation!!!"
It was as if countless thunderclaps exploded beside one's ears!
Saint Graph—released!
Authority of the Beast—activated!
Nega Genesis—activated!
Sea of Imaginary Numbers—activated!
Honkai Dimension—connected!!
...
A radiant, gem-like rainbow brilliance burst forth from Selene's crimson eyes, instantly forming a massive blood-red magic circle over a thousand meters in diameter.
"Ah, this is how it should be—yes, this is right!"
"Selene, although I did not wish for a sneak attack, this is not wrestling. This is Fujimaru—this is the survival of humanity! Tactics are part of battle, unavoidable."
"Allow me a proper introduction—I am Quetzalcoatl! Here and now, I declare war upon you!"
Spreading her arms, Quetzalcoatl abruptly canceled her kicking Noble Phantasm, bent her knees, and shot upward thousands of meters in an instant. The flames surrounding her grew ever more condensed.
"The past is here. The present is here. The future is here!
"O winds, arise! O lightning, descend!
"As the Morning Star shines, let all know that the Sun's light reaches every corner of the Earth!
"—Piedra del Sol!!"
After an overwhelming burst of crimson light, Quetzalcoatl continued ascending while still ablaze. High above, a golden-red rift suddenly tore open the sky, and a fierce solar wind poured out from the 'gate.'
Whoosh!
A small, ancient circular stone drifted down, transforming into a streak of golden light as it shot toward Quetzalcoatl.
The stone was tiny—far smaller than even a sparrow, let alone Selene's colossal form. Its appearance was crude, like a pebble by the roadside, utterly unremarkable. Yet the intense, blazing heat it radiated was impossible to ignore.
This was the Sun Stone—symbolizing the prosperity that nurtures life, and at the same time, the destruction of all things.
Buzz—!
"War? Hmph. Then let me witness the measure of Chaldea."
On the surface, as Selene activated her composite Noble Phantasm, the magical particles around her surged violently, becoming visible to the naked eye.
"Take on a colossal form—tear the earth apart, erase the sky, melt everything—!"
The high-density magical circulation within her Mystic Eyes distorted the surrounding space, twisting all light descending from the sun.
Rumble—!!!
In an instant, the soil around Selene collapsed violently, turning into countless fragments that scattered into the air. Crimson chaotic tides surged outward, grinding everything into darker, finer dust.
And the tide did not stop—it spread outward in all directions. Centered on Selene, the land was transformed inch by inch into a crimson sea, as ominous magical energy rose into the air.
At that very moment, Selene realized something was wrong.
Within the cracks of space torn apart by overflowing magical energy, there was a pure white world.
An endless expanse of flowers—no sky, no ground, no boundaries. Upon a silver-white grassy field bloomed countless vibrant blossoms.
"Avalon... the illusion of a dream demon!"
Which meant—from some unknown point onward, everything she had perceived was false. It had all been deception!
"Forceful Sealing—Pandemonium Cetus!!"
Without hesitation, a dark crimson magical cannon fired from the magic circle within Selene's Mystic Eyes, instantly reaching immeasurable heights and slicing through the dreamlike space.
Rumble—!
The pure white world shattered like a mirror, fragment by fragment, reflecting Selene's narrowed, diamond-shaped pupils.
"Cough, cough—puh... although it only confused me for a very brief moment, it's enough! Everyone, I'm counting on you!"
Tactics, Quetzalcoatl... so this is what you meant by tactics.
Hmph. Then come!!