At the same time.
At the foot of the mountain, in the deepest depths of the cedar forest.
At some point, the mountain overlooking the cedar forest had transformed into an enormous temple.
After passing through the upright stone root pillars at the entrance and stepping inside, the interior resembled the ovary of an animal.
Dark purple flesh occupied every corner of the temple. Large fleshy orbs hung from the walls and ceiling. Upon closer inspection, the forms of adult humans could be seen inside. As the fleshy orbs pulsed continuously, the human forms gradually disintegrated and reshaped until, one by one, Demon Beasts emerged from the orbs.
This temple itself was a massive Demon Beast production facility.
Humans killed by Demon Beasts, corpses carried off by Demon Beasts, bodies devoured by Demon Beasts… All the remains of soldiers that Uruk failed to reclaim, as well as abducted humans, were ultimately brought to this colossal temple, serving as raw materials for the Magical Beast Goddess to create Demon Beasts.
This was why Demon Beasts could never be fully eradicated. As long as people went missing in battles against Demon Beasts, they were likely brought here to be recycled.
One human could produce three Uridimmu—with such efficiency, the number of Demon Beasts would always surpass the number of humans.
And after the daytime battle, the situation had worsened.
Inspecting the Demon Beast production conditions in the factory filled with Demon Beast eggs, Kingû's face, which had been suffering from soul erosion pain, looked slightly better.
Hundreds of corpses had been brought back from the battlefield. With this amount, the production speed of second-generation Demon Beasts could be significantly increased.
Unlike the first-generation Demon Beasts used for gathering resources, the second-generation Demon Beasts were entirely based on the Eleven Children once born by Goddess Tiamat, and their individual strength was several levels above that of the first generation.
The estimated production number for second-generation Demon Beasts was—one hundred thousand.
Originally, in Kingû and the Magical Beast Goddess's plan, the second-generation Demon Beasts were not meant to be used here. The first-generation Demon Beasts were sufficient to destroy Uruk. The second-generation Demon Beasts were prepared for the battles that would follow.
Although called the Three Goddess Alliance, in reality, the alliance among the three Goddesses would only last until Uruk was conquered. Whichever Goddess succeeded in conquering Uruk, the other two would surely launch attacks to seize the Holy Grail.
That was when the second-generation Demon Beasts would be deployed.
But now…
"Ugh!"
Pain struck again from the depths of his soul.
Kingû furrowed his brow tightly several times. Though he had gradually grown accustomed to the pain over the past few days, when it truly struck, Kingû still felt uncomfortable.
Yes.
If it weren't for discovering the power of the Holy Sword Bearer, Kingû wouldn't have planned to use the second-generation Demon Beasts so soon. But without them, with the current combat strength of the first-generation Demon Beasts, conquering Uruk would be difficult.
This could be called a forced effort.
After inspecting the production status of the second-generation Demon Beasts in the factory, Kingû headed straight to the temple's deepest chamber. Inside the mountain, hollowed out into a vast space, there was now a pool filled with thin Black Mud emitting an unsettling aura.
Looking at the colossal figure in the middle of the pool, Kingû spoke softly: "Good afternoon, Mother."
"Kingu?"
The giant figure in the Black Mud spread its massive golden wings behind it, looking down at Kingû below: "What's the matter?"
"The inspection of the second-generation Demon Beast production status is complete. I came to check on the condition of 'that' modification by the Sea of Life."
The Sea of Life.
The official name for the substance flowing from the Holy Grail, known in the magecraft world as Holy Grail Mud. The Magecraft King Solomon also called it the Chaos Tide.
This was one of Goddess Tiamat's authorities.
Anything touched by the Sea of Life would form a contract with Goddess Tiamat on a cellular level, becoming an enemy of humanity and randomly gaining abilities such as self-modification, ecological transformation, ecological fusion, and individual multiplication.
Tiamat was called the Mother of All Beasts, and this authority was a manifestation of that title.
"Oh, that. Yes, the modification is proceeding smoothly."
The Magical Beast Goddess raised her hands, submerged in the Black Mud, holding up a naked female body. Strangely, this body lacked everything except sexual characteristics. No face, no nose, no hair… nothing.
Kingû wasn't surprised by this, as not long ago, this body was merely a piece of flesh slightly larger than a palm.
It was one of the war trophies brought back by the Demon Beasts, a fragment of the body of the Servant named Tomoe Gozen, torn apart by Demon Beasts. Originally just a piece of flesh slightly larger than a palm, it had now been regrown to the size of a human body.
With the power of the Sea of Life, the individual fragment was modified, and based on that, multiplication and transformation were performed, creating an entirely new individual.
This was essentially the same as modifying a human into a Demon Beast, but since the raw material was part of a Servant's body, the resulting Demon Beast's strength was highly anticipated. Additionally, Tomoe seemed to have some non-human lineage mixed in her body. With the combination of both, a Demon Beast might be born with power surpassing the second-generation Demon Beasts.
Once released onto the battlefield, this would surely deal another heavy blow to Uruk.
What was somewhat regrettable was that Tomoe, who could have been brought back whole, managed to escape despite being severely injured and surrounded. If she had been brought back intact and placed in the Sea of Life, an even superior individual might have been created.
Lowering the human-shaped flesh back into the Sea of Life, the Magical Beast Goddess looked at Kingû: "How's your condition, Kingu? You haven't been well these past few days, have you?"
"Thank you for your concern, Mother. My body is fine now."
"Is that so? Good to hear."
The Magical Beast Goddess retracted her wings and returned to the Sea of Life.
"Keep having the Demon Beasts collect corpses and humans, Kingu. I hope one hundred thousand second-generation Demon Beasts can be gathered by the dawn of the tenth day from now, to truly destroy Uruk."
"Of course, Mother. Don't worry, the Demon Beasts are continuously collecting corpses, and I'll do my utmost to track down those who escaped. Rest peacefully here, Mother, and prepare for the day of the decisive battle."
With that, Kingû left the deepest chamber of the temple.
Ten days until the true attack of the Magical Beast Goddess.