"Oh my, so this is the King of Uruk? It's my first time seeing you up close~"
Seated upon the throne, Ophis stared impassively at Ritsuka and the others, allowing Quetzalcoatl to continuously pinch and poke at her cheeks.
"Ha... hahaha…"
Ritsuka could only respond with an awkward laugh.
Finally, Ophis sighed.
"Explain."
...
"I see…"
After listening to Ritsuka's explanation, Ophis gave a slight nod.
To summarize: Quetzalcoatl had never intended to oppose humanity. Her purpose in joining the Three-Goddess Alliance had been to seize the Holy Grail first and use it to restrain the other goddesses, thus protecting humanity. The 300 warriors earlier had not actually been killed but were instead safely taken back to Quetzalcoatl's sanctuary.
After Ritsuka's group successfully infiltrated, various events unfolded, resulting in Quetzalcoatl developing an intense affection toward Ritsuka and agreeing to become her Servant, siding with Uruk.
"Hmm… you don't seem very surprised?"
Ritsuka asked hesitantly, noticing that Ophis's expression remained unchanged.
"Did you perhaps expect this from the beginning?"
"No."
But Ophis calmly denied it.
"As long as the probability isn't zero, there's no reason for surprise."
Rather, it would be more logical if the goddess considered the pinnacle of good did something virtuous.
"I-I guess that's true…"
Ritsuka's mouth twitched slightly. If it wasn't impossible, there was indeed nothing to be surprised about. Thinking carefully, it actually made sense…
"Now that Quetzalcoatl has joined our side, we can proceed with many things, right, King Ophis?"
Hearing Merlin's words, Ophis's expression briefly flashed with confusion.
"Merlin, you didn't know?"
"Hm?"
Seeing Merlin's genuine bewilderment, Ophis shook her head.
"No… it's nothing."
Merlin furrowed his brow, falling into thought, when Dr. Roman's voice came through the communicator.
"If we have Quetzalcoatl's strength, we should be able to handle the northern goddess, right?"
"Oh, certainly~"
Ishtar nodded, though her lips twisted slightly.
"But... Quetzal is undeniably powerful. Even the Beast Goddess probably wouldn't be a match. However, due to the Alliance's pact, comparisons of strength aren't really meaningful here."
"Huh? So even with Quetzalcoatl, we can't deal with the northern goddess?"
"No."
This time, it was Ophis who gave the denial.
"The Axe of Marduk—it should still be in Eridu, correct?"
"Oh precisely~! So that's your plan, King Ophis~ By the way, I feel something similar coming from you. I wonder why?"
Quetzalcoatl continued cheerfully poking Ophis's cheek as she spoke.
"But now isn't the time for such topics~ Regarding the Axe of Marduk, since I expected some developments, I brought it here myself~!"
"Good."
Ophis gave a faint smile, nodding.
Originally, she had planned to retrieve it herself. If it was already here, things were simpler.
"I see. The Axe of Marduk was the weapon used by the god Marduk to defeat Tiamat in mythology, correct? If legends hold true, it should deal significant damage to the Beast Goddess, given her connection to Tiamat's divinity."
Dr. Roman's excited voice echoed from the communicator.
"Indeed. How exactly you'll use it against the Beast Goddess is up to your own discussion… But the timing is perfect."
Ophis gently brushed away Quetzalcoatl's hand and rose from her seat, looking toward the temple's entrance.
"Siduri, have you finished what I requested?"
The head priestess respectfully bowed.
"Yes, the task has been completed successfully."
Ophis nodded again, turning her gaze back toward the Chaldea group.
"There will be plenty of time on the way. For now, let's head to the northern wall."
...
"This…"
The Chaldea group stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before them.
The vast plain ahead was utterly swamped by a tide of demonic beasts. Even the sky above was blanketed by flying creatures circling ominously like dark storm clouds.
"A rough estimate, including those lurking within the Cedar Forest, puts the enemy forces at over one hundred thousand. However, they don't seem intent on committing all their forces at once; the initial attack wave is approximately ten thousand."
Jeanne's expression was grave as she reported, following behind Ophis.
"Currently, after reinforcing and reorganizing, our northern wall troops number around five thousand, which is essentially all of Uruk's remaining forces. If we're facing only ten thousand, we should be able to hold the wall. But we can't be certain if their true intention is to breach the wall immediately. Another wave may follow…"
"Wait! Surrounded by that many beasts, how are we supposed to reach the northern goddess's location!?"
At this, Ritsuka spoke up in panic, plunging the group into momentary silence.
Initially, their plan had been for Uruk to launch a diversionary strike, allowing Ritsuka's group to slip through into the Cedar Forest where the Beast Goddess resided. But now the northern wall was entirely besieged—never mind infiltrating, even breaking through seemed impossible.
"Then we'll force our way through."
"K-King Ophis!?"
Ritsuka stared wide-eyed, while Merlin thoughtfully stroked his chin.
"Does King Ophis intend to personally take action?"
"Huh?"
Everyone else froze momentarily.
Indeed, if it were the same type of attack Ophis previously demonstrated, numbers would probably be irrelevant…
No, actually—if Ophis acted personally, numbers genuinely wouldn't matter. In fact, wouldn't even their presence from Chaldea be rendered completely unnecessary?
If Ophis alone could defeat the Beast Goddess, why were they even here!?
However, Ophis shook her head.
If she were to fight personally, it would become a decisive battle between her and the goddess. She had neither time nor interest for that right now.
"Is that unit ready yet?"
As she asked, Ophis turned toward Jeanne, who nodded firmly in response.
"They're fully prepared."
"I see…"
Ophis looked toward a certain spot among the sea of demonic beasts.
"Then let's use them here."
...
Standing atop a bipedal wyvern, Kingu surveyed everything atop Uruk's northern wall.
"So, you've appeared…"
She landed softly on the ground and gently raised her hand forward.
"In that case, let's test you with this—to see if you're truly qualified to confront 'Mother.'"
With an earth-shaking roar, the demonic beast army began its assault upon the northern wall of Uruk.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl