Chaldea and the others witnessed a battle beyond anything they'd ever imagined.
A violet storm enveloped Tiamat, and all around that wall of wind, countless smaller tornadoes dangled from the sky like chains, piercing through the gale and plunging deep into Tiamat's body.
Simultaneously, violet lightning and meteors rained down madly from equally violet thunderclouds gathering overhead. They couldn't harm the Mother Goddess, but they slowed her steps.
Far, far away—directly above Uruk—the Dragon-Serpent appeared again, its size expanded from the scale of a temple to something capable of covering the entirety of Uruk. It unleashed a breath of magical energy that surged outward, swelling into a violet sea of energy. Crossing that vast distance, it collided head-on and restrained Tiamat's chaotic tide through sheer force.
Ophis herself hovered roughly a hundred meters before Tiamat. The red patterns on her robe blazed brilliantly. Her arms stretched straight ahead, hands open, aimed directly at Tiamat.
"To suppress Tiamat's Divine Authority with pure magical energy… Is that even possible?"
Through the communicator, Dr. Romani muttered in disbelief.
None of this resulted from a spell manipulating nature.
This was brute-force magical energy—replicating nature's might.
The required power escalated geometrically, and the destructive force grew countless times alongside it.
Ophis gazed solemnly at the colossal Mother Goddess before her.
This was the first time she'd unleashed her full strength in the truest sense.
Previously, she'd held back, fearing to awaken the monster now before her.
Earlier in the Underworld, the loss of Infinity had destabilized her internal energy. Even equipped with a Mythological Mystic Code, the calculations needed to regulate that energy became exponentially more complex. But back on the surface, with no boundary between worlds, Ophis could draw directly from her Infinity—almost restoring her peak strength. Now that Tiamat had awakened, there was no reason for caution.
Yet even now, the enemy before her was the strongest she'd faced in her lifetime—save Great Red. This was partly because Ophis's intrinsic offensive capabilities weren't particularly high. If the Mother Goddess truly went all-out, she might even surpass Great Red… considering Merlin had been crushed to death by Tiamat in a dream.
Thankfully, aside from the chaotic tide—almost purely instinctive—Tiamat had barely exercised her other Authorities. If she truly fought at full strength, Ophis would struggle even to hold her ground, much less protect Uruk.
Even now, though Ophis appeared dominant, that was merely appearance. She'd gotten this far solely because the Mother Goddess refused to fight back. Ophis's attacks achieved little beyond slowing Tiamat's march.
"Aaaaaaaa——"
Watching Tiamat continue forcing her way forward—taking yet another step through a barrage dense enough to obliterate all Mesopotamia repeatedly—Ophis frowned and curled her open palms, as if grasping something invisible in the air.
Then, in the most literal sense…
Heaven and earth shattered apart.
Space descended into chaos. The boundary between sky and ground blurred. Thunderclouds fragmented into jagged shards, and the earth broke into floating slabs, black sludge cascading off their edges like waterfalls.
When Tiamat took another step forward, Ophis's eyes sharpened. Her fists clenched.
In the next instant, the floating earth and shredded stormclouds pulverized, and a thick violet pillar of light erupted from nowhere, engulfing Tiamat entirely.
"Aaaaaaa——!"
Tiamat's cry echoed again—this time, finally tinged with pain.
"H-Hey… wasn't that single blast more than half the magical energy inside Tiamat's body…?"
Romani's voice trembled, shaken as he spoke from the edge of the battlefield, having narrowly avoided the aftershocks.
He'd never witnessed anything like this. Ophis wasn't particularly efficient with magical energy, yet through sheer quantity alone, she'd forced its scale beyond estimation.
Even more terrifyingly—despite already expending well over one and a half times Tiamat's total energy, Ophis showed no hint of fatigue.
In all his lives, he'd never encountered anyone who treated a creator deity as a mere unit of measurement.
Ophis, naturally, had no attention to spare for Romani's amazement.
If an energy lifeform had sweat glands, she'd be drenched by now.
Tiamat's power greatly exceeded her expectations. Even as Ophis continuously poured energy into the attack, the pillar's binding force already neared collapse.
In the next moment, overwhelming pressure burst outward from inside the pillar. The ultra-dense column couldn't withstand it for even half a second before exploding.
Simultaneously, a dark-red beam fired from Tiamat's forehead—piercing straight through Ophis in the blink of an eye!
"Ophis-chan?!"
Ritsuka lurched forward in panic, only for Quetzal to yank her back.
"Calm down. Look closely."
Only then did Ritsuka see—Ophis's body had somehow become insubstantial, and when the beam faded, not even a trace remained.
She'd phased out, dodging Tiamat's attack within perhaps a billionth, or even trillionth, of a second. Ophis spread her clenched hands again: her left remained aimed at Tiamat, while her right moved to her side as if supporting something unseen.
Above Uruk, the Dragon-Serpent suddenly boosted its output. The sea of magical energy surged, overwhelming the chaotic tide momentarily as it flooded toward Tiamat's feet.
Ophis curled her left hand again. Instantly, immense magical energy rushed upward, wrapping around Tiamat's body.
At the same time, the magical energy from the exploded pillar began condensing at terrifying speed near Ophis's right hand.
"Aaaaaaa——"
Despite the magical restraints enveloping her body, Tiamat's advance couldn't be halted. Withstanding relentless meteor and lightning strikes, she stepped forward once more… two steps… three… three and a half—
Then, under crushing strain, the restraints finally snapped. The Mother Goddess of Creation burst free, shrugging them off.
Right then, Ophis hurled the enormous sphere gathered at her right hand—so vast it obscured the sky—straight toward Tiamat!
"Aaaaaa——"
The violent momentum halted Tiamat's unstable advance mid-step, driving her back five paces.
This was the first time Tiamat had retreated.
Then the sphere detonated. The shockwave swept across half of Mesopotamia, only halted upon reaching Uruk—blocked by the barrier.
Ophis had driven the Mother Goddess nearly back to her starting point, yet couldn't relax for a moment.
She could feel it—Tiamat's resistance to her power was steadily increasing.
Was this the adaptability of the Mother Goddess of Creation?
The pace was slow, and the Ouroboros's perfection meant Ophis's strength also gradually increased as the battle continued. Yet that only guaranteed greater collateral damage. Even if Uruk survived behind its barrier, its people wouldn't last on an isolated "island" cut off from the world.
Ophis frowned, watching as Tiamat's shattered body rapidly regenerated.
A fusion of creator goddess and Evil of Humanity…
Direct combat was impossible after all.
Then she'd have to shift her strategy.
"I'll seal you beyond the boundaries of this world."
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T/N: heres ur updates :3 meeting the 4 chaps a week quota :3
bonus chaps
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300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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