"Mother."
Within a grotesque space filled with writhing masses of flesh, Kingu—bearing Enkidu's appearance—respectfully bowed towards the serpent-woman, who was currently buried within pulsating tissue, recuperating.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! What was that!? How could anyone possess such power!?"
The serpent-woman angrily lashed about with her still-regenerating tail, roaring in frustration.
Kingu remained expressionless, entirely unaffected by the fury or oppressive aura radiating from this being she called 'Mother.'
To her, this outcome had been inevitable.
Her 'mother' had never stood a chance against Ophis from the start.
Not even this body's own records had fully grasped the extent of Ophis's power. If even Kingu—the 'child'—had no confidence in defeating her, how could her mother possibly hope to succeed?
"And you! What was with that explosion earlier!?"
At this accusation, Kingu felt inwardly helpless.
Even she hadn't anticipated that drawing upon the Counter Force's special attributes would amplify her own strength beyond her ability to completely control.
Although it had remained barely within manageable limits, when Ophis abruptly sliced the spear in half, naturally the balance of power collapsed catastrophically.
"My sincere apologies. It was merely an unforeseen accident. It won't happen again."
Kingu didn't bother explaining further to her 'mother.'
Trying to reason with an enraged woman of this temperament was pointless; better to just apologize and end the matter swiftly.
"Hmph."
The serpent-woman snorted irritably, not pressing further.
Kingu's sudden explosion had indeed forced her into retreat, but it wasn't the root cause of her current condition. If she hadn't already been weakened, that violent surge of energy would never have inflicted serious damage.
Still…
Does Kingu's power also have a special effectiveness against me…?
A flicker of caution rose in her mind, but she quickly dismissed any suspicion.
After all, Kingu was a monster crafted by her own hands…
But she couldn't help feeling curious about the scope of that special attribute.
"Mother, now that you're severely wounded, those filthy remnants of humanity will surely seize the opportunity to attack. It would be prudent to prepare."
"Hmph. Those worthless insects…"
The serpent-woman paused mid-sentence, recalling those unusually powerful Servants and the mysterious King of Uruk. Her teeth clenched.
She wasn't foolish. Having cooled off from her earlier fury, she realized that in her current state, her chances against them were practically nonexistent.
"You could order the demonic beasts to launch an all-out offensive against Uruk, forcing them onto the defensive. If we're lucky, perhaps we'll even destroy them completely."
Seeing the serpent-woman's frown deepen, Kingu's lips curled slightly, suggesting calmly.
In truth, Uruk had also suffered considerable damage. Although their top Servants were largely intact, morale among the rank-and-file soldiers was probably collapsing.
Their only advantage lay with that young witch's healing capabilities—but Kingu had her own cards to play…
Yet, the serpent-woman hesitated.
"My child…wasn't the original plan to preserve the beast army's strength so they could withstand attacks from the other two goddesses once Uruk falls? Our forces haven't yet reached sufficient scale to withstand both goddesses simultaneously. If we expend them now in assaulting Uruk, won't we be vulnerable?"
Hearing this, Kingu secretly rolled her eyes.
As if mere numbers alone could stand against divine beings.
But she conceded the point: ideally, if forced into a battle with two goddesses simultaneously, they would rely on the beast army to stall one goddess while concentrating their efforts against the other.
The critical flaw was that…Gorgon was too weak.
Certainly, Gorgon possessed considerable strength. With her composite divinity, she stood among the strongest of gods. Yet now she faced one goddess who represented the apex of goodness, a chief deity in her own right.
Kingu herself could perhaps engage Quetzalcoatl directly if she truly pushed herself—indeed, she probably had no choice—but she'd prefer to avoid such a confrontation if possible.
Today's sudden assault had caught Kingu off-guard, but it wasn't enough to ruin her overall plans.
With Ophis still present, breaching the Northern Wall was nearly impossible.
Even though Ophis seemed to deliberately avoid fighting at full strength, defeating the serpent-woman hardly required her full power. In fact, excluding Quetzalcoatl and herself, Ophis probably held enough strength in reserve to prevent any collateral damage to Uruk no matter whom she faced.
The reason Ophis hadn't yet killed the serpent-woman was likely because she'd already figured things out…
But certain outcomes were inevitable.
Looking at the being she called 'mother,' complicated emotions flickered briefly in Kingu's eyes before she bowed her head.
"We no longer have the luxury of debate. Even if it delays our assault on Uruk slightly, we must restrain them with overwhelming numbers right now."
"Very well. Has your body recovered fully?"
The serpent-woman closed her eyes as she asked.
"Yes."
Kingu nodded calmly.
With 'that' as her core, unless it was directly destroyed, Kingu practically possessed regenerative abilities rivaling Ophis in her prime…
In fact, without it, Kingu could never have unleashed power surpassing her own control limits.
"Then, I leave delaying Uruk to you. Preserve as much of the beast army as possible—once I recover, I shall crush Uruk personally!"
"Leave it to me."
Kingu respectfully bowed and exited the disgusting chamber, a subtle hesitation crossing her face before she finally sighed quietly.
If she and her 'mother' remained united, their enemies would truly have no hope of victory.
But at the very least, she would seriously obstruct their path.
Until that moment arrived, she would continue playing her role as the obedient 'child.'
...
"Thanks to Lady Medea's Noble Phantasm, all injured soldiers have been healed. Excluding those who've lost the will to fight, we have approximately three thousand soldiers still battle-ready on the Northern Wall."
"For unknown reasons, the demonic beasts have temporarily retreated. The wall's damage has also been fully repaired by Lady Medea's Noble Phantasm."
"Our engineers have already proposed countermeasures based on the latest attack…"
One after another, reports reached Ophis within the Northern Wall.
"A temporary retreat, huh…"
Ophis nodded slightly, turning to Jeanne.
"They're probably preparing for a full-scale assault next."
Jeanne smiled bitterly.
Facing a concentrated attack by the demonic beasts would be extremely challenging for Uruk at the moment.
Morale held together purely because of Jeanne's charisma.
"Has Arjuna fully recovered?"
Ophis turned toward the white-clad Archer, who nodded.
"Thanks entirely to Miss Medea."
"Hehe."
Leaning on her staff, Medea lightly giggled.
"Altera, Jeanne?"
"We're fine, thanks to your timely assistance earlier, King Ophis."
While Altera remained silently watchful, Jeanne responded warmly for both of them.
Ophis nodded once, raising her palm slightly. Purple mist gathered swiftly, eventually forming a serpent biting its own tail—an ouroboros.
"I'll have to rely on you once more… Therefore, accept this—my serpent's power."
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