Originally, Enkidu had appeared before Rozen with a singular purpose—to eliminate him.
From his perspective, Chaldea's Master had only just arrived at this Singularity, was accompanied by only a few Servants, and was at his weakest. Added to that was his intrinsic disgust toward this so-called Chaldea. Since Rozen had come here to repair the Singularity, it only made sense to eliminate him immediately.
And yet, Enkidu hadn't anticipated this: this Master of Chaldea, though just a human, was far from ordinary. He was not only accompanied by Servants of remarkable caliber, but also protected by what appeared to be a divine presence, even allowing him to soar freely through the skies.
This made Enkidu wary, unable to draw Rozen into his own faction's territory for a group ambush. In the end, he could only leverage Ishtar's presence to provoke a battle and wait for an opportunity to strike.
But who would have thought—not only did Rozen not struggle against Ishtar, he cleanly and efficiently captured her alive. Worse yet, he had seen through Enkidu's disguise from the very beginning and used him instead to extract information.
No wonder Enkidu's face had turned so unsightly.
Still, Enkidu reined in his emotions.
After all—
"He's already cleared six Singularities. It's not that surprising he wouldn't be easy to eliminate."
Enkidu straightened, his gaze toward Rozen brimming with murderous intent.
"As I suspected, you are the one who must be destroyed the most. If someone like you teams up with that foolish King of Uruk, you'll become a dire threat to Mother."
At that, Rozen ignored the murderous aura and looked intently at Enkidu.
"Mother… is it?" Rozen stared deeply, as though attempting to pierce Enkidu's soul.
"From the way you speak, it seems the so-called Three Goddess Alliance is real. But you clearly aren't Uruk's Enkidu. So—who exactly are you?"
Rozen's question was answered not with words—but with laughter.
Enkidu laughed—a mocking, condescending laugh.
"I am the one destined to be the human of a new age—one who will replace you relics of the old."
Enkidu spread his arms wide, his voice ringing out boldly.
"My mother is the Beast Goddess, Tiamat. I command the beasts. You may call me… Kingu."
——Kingu.
This name was not unknown to Rozen.
Nor was it unfamiliar to Mash, or anyone from Chaldea.
For in Mesopotamian mythology, there existed a god by that name.
Like the other gods, Kingu was a child of Abzu and Tiamat. But unlike the others, when the gods plotted to kill Tiamat, he was the only one who opposed them. Not only did he refuse to conspire with the gods—he reported their plot to Tiamat.
Angered and disillusioned, Tiamat birthed eleven Beast Children and declared war on the gods.
Kingu became the commander of these Beast Children—Tiamat's right hand, even known as her second husband. He stood against the gods until the very end, dying alongside Tiamat in the final battle.
Now, the man resembling Enkidu had claimed that very name.
In other words, he was a follower of the Beast Goddess Tiamat, and the commander of the beast army that had seized the northern lands of Mesopotamia.
The only question left—
"You say you're Kingu—but how do you possess the same powers as Enkidu?"
Rozen pressed on coolly.
Unfortunately, Enkidu—no, Kingu—had no intention of answering.
"Who knows?" he sneered.
"Maybe once you become food for the beasts—one of us—I'll tell you."
The moment he spoke, unrest spread through the area.
"Master!"
Mash raised her shield immediately, guarding Rozen.
"They're here."
Altera remained composed, her eyes scanning the surroundings.
Rozen said nothing.
He had already sensed the disturbance long ago.
Before they knew it, beasts had emerged from all directions, surrounding them.
And these beasts were not just the lion-shaped ones they had encountered before—serpentine, draconic, octopoid, and even chimeric creatures cobbled together from various animals appeared. The variety was overwhelming.
As he looked around, Rozen—who hadn't paid much mind to them before—suddenly realized: these creatures bore a striking resemblance to the Eleven Beast Children of Tiamat.
The lion-beast they'd seen repeatedly resembled Urudimmu, the lion-dog beast.
Others included the Furious Snake Musmahhu, the Seven-headed Serpent Mushmahhu, the Three-horned Lion-dragon Ushumgall, the Sun Lion Ugal, and more. The monsters surrounding them now all shared distinct traits with these legendary beasts.
Of course, they only resembled Tiamat's children—they weren't the genuine article.
If these were truly Tiamat's eleven, they would be on par with gods—not mass-produced monsters swarming like insects.
No—these were likely weakened, mass-produced versions, created by drastically lowering the original's strength to increase their numbers.
"If that's the case, then the Beast Goddess in the north really might be Tiamat… That's bad news."
Even worse—Kingu had appeared himself.
Though he bore Enkidu's appearance, in this age of the gods, he was no different from a divine weapon, commanding a vast beast army.
"Come. Let the war begin."
Madness began to creep into Kingu's expression.
The surrounding beasts responded in kind, exuding violent, murderous auras as they slowly advanced on Rozen and the others.
The Chaldeans behind them dared not make a sound.
Because the monsters had all turned their attention here—thousands strong, and their numbers were still growing.
In such a situation, none dared distract Rozen from his fight.
"Master!"
Mash looked at Rozen.
"What should we do?"
Even Altera turned her gaze to him, awaiting orders.
And Rozen's answer needed no further elaboration.
"Break through."
Rozen declared with steely resolve.
"This time, you have my permission—annihilate every last one of them and take your time walking out."
Before anyone on their side could respond, a new, unfamiliar voice cut through the air.
"That won't do. If you go wild here, the beastfront might suffer. So no, absolutely not. We can't have a final-battle-tier brawl right now, Chaldea's Master."
This voice rang in everyone's ears—clear as day.