"Merlin!?"
"Mr. Merlin!?"
As they watched Merlin's body begin to dissolve into motes of light, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
Because this phenomenon told them one thing—Merlin's Saint Graph was disintegrating.
That's right.
Merlin could no longer continue living.
"I thought I could keep her asleep forever, but in the end, this calamity couldn't be avoided after all."
Merlin spoke with a wry smile, turning his eyes to the group.
"You must return to Uruk immediately."
"Tell King Gilgamesh—what should never have awakened has finally awakened."
"That is the true evil of this Singularity."
"That is humanity's real threat."
"That is the Beast of Restraint, an existence beyond even the Mage King Solomon's reach—one that cannot be opposed without gathering all seven Grand Servants."
"Remember this—don't think of her as the being recorded in myth. She is no longer merely the Sea of Life, the Primordial Mother. She is one of the Seven Evils of Humanity…"
"—Beast."
Leaving behind these words, Merlin completely dissolved into light and vanished from this world.
"Mr. Merlin!!!"
Mash was the first to cry out, followed by everyone else in unison.
Even Artoria [Alter] watched this scene, her eyes flickering, her expression deeply conflicted.
No one had expected that the great Magus of Britain would disappear just like that—silently exiting the Singularity.
Yet no one here was so naïve as to fail to grasp the situation.
Clearly, something abnormal was occurring.
Something beyond even Rozen's expectations.
"Senpai…"
Mash supported Rozen, her face clouded with confusion.
"Haa…"
Rozen, still clutching his head with one hand, gritted his teeth as he stared in the direction Merlin had vanished.
From Kingu's state and from Gorgon's, Rozen had already anticipated there must be a true mastermind behind them.
And he had already guessed who it was—the true Primordial Mother Goddess, Tiamat.
By peering into that black sea, Rozen had always known that he and his companions would ultimately have to confront Tiamat.
He had long been prepared for it.
But now, Rozen understood—the Tiamat he had to face was not simply a goddess.
"Evil of Humanity…"
"Beast…"
The words Merlin had left behind echoed in his mind, impossible to ignore. Forcing himself to endure, Rozen once again activated his Mind's Eye to observe this era.
Through it, he saw that the temporal quake had ceased.
Yet at the edge of Mesopotamia, toward the sea, endless mana and ominous aura were churning.
From there, Rozen beheld a vision almost beyond belief.
And the same vision was observed by Chaldea.
"Rozen! Rozen! Can you still hear us!?"
Through the communicator, Roman's frantic voice rang out—blurry at first, but quickly becoming clear.
"Doctor!"
Mash quickly responded.
"Thank goodness! The transmission had just been cut off—I thought it would never reconnect!"
Roman exclaimed in relief.
But at once, his voice turned urgent, nearly panicked.
"Listen to me—this is bad! Very, very bad!"
As Roman's words came through, Da Vinci's voice also followed.
"Listen carefully—don't let this scare you stupid."
For once, Da Vinci's voice carried tension and haste, her words rapid: "According to Sheba's observations, ever since Gorgon was defeated, the Persian Gulf has shown massive mana reactions."
Reactions so massive they nearly burned Sheba out, severing Chaldea's monitoring altogether.
"If the data isn't wrong, then the sea of that era has already been completely polluted by cursed mana beyond comprehension, and from within it countless lifeforms have emerged."
"Lifeforms similar to demonic beasts, yet also close to humans—existing somewhere between humanity, beasts, and even gods. From their reactions, we can detect traces of nearly every species on Earth, and yet they are not of Earth. Utterly incomprehensible."
"What's worse is their quantity—and their quality."
"Analysis shows that each individual's mana surpasses even that of Ugar, and their number exceeds one hundred million, still multiplying without end."
"This is disaster. A disaster humanity cannot possibly withstand."
Each word struck them like a tolling bell, echoing in everyone's minds.
"Enemies stronger than Ugar?"
"And more than a hundred million of them?"
None could believe their ears.
And yet, no matter how unbelievable, this was fact.
Rozen himself had seen it through his Mind's Eye.
In Mesopotamia, the sea was indispensable.
The sea, called the source of life, was Tiamat's very symbol—the womb from which gods and life had been born.
At Mesopotamia's edge lay the Persian Gulf, and beyond it the Indian Ocean.
Now that ocean was visibly, rapidly being tainted by cursed mana, becoming a black sea.
And within that black sea, countless lifeforms appeared.
They were filled with curses and malice, revolting and grotesque, triggering visceral revulsion even in Rozen.
And yet these lifeforms, though vile, were terrifyingly numerous—each one's mana exceeding Ugar's, far beyond the reach of ordinary Servants.
Already, these grotesque beings were beginning to crawl ashore, swarming across Mesopotamia like locusts.
Rozen knew with certainty—their arrival was a calamity for mankind.
But compared to the existence at the center of that black sea, this calamity was almost trivial.
Rozen could feel it—clearly.
At the heart of the black sea, a figure emerged.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!"
A shriek, like song yet piercing, reverberated. Through Rozen's Mind's Eye, the shock slammed into his brain with crushing force.
"Ugh…!"
Rozen clutched his head again, his voice strained with pain.
"Senpai!"
"Rozen!"
"Master!"
The others were thrown into confusion, not knowing what to do.
Gritting his teeth, Rozen forced out words.
"Let's go—we're heading back to Uruk first."
Hearing this, and seeing no other option, the group could only follow Rozen's lead and set off for Uruk.
This day was destined to be a catastrophic one.