To hold back Tiamat, two things must be done.
First, stopping the expansion of the black sea beneath her feet, known as the Chaos Tide.
At the current rate of expansion, it would only take half a day to reach Uruk, and Uruk would soon be swept away. Previously, Gilgamesh had managed to hold it back using the Nabishtin Fang, but the current Uruk no longer had that barrier in the south.
In any case, compared to the original situation, Tiamat's manifestation had occurred more than half a month earlier. There wasn't enough time to fully construct the Nabishtin Fang.
In addition to protecting Uruk, halting the expansion of the Sea of Life would also delay Tiamat's movement.
"I see it."
Naoki and Arcueid flew together over the sea. On the sea surface below them, a figure immediately caught their eyes.
It was a woman.
With an extremely alluring figure, she wore thin clothing made of dragon-like scales, covering only a few vital areas. Her skin was as white as pearl, radiating purity and maternity.
Her hair extended as long as the sea, reaching her ankles, appearing very thick yet without a single tangle.
On the head of this beautiful woman were a pair of large horns resembling those of a dragon or fierce beast, and her eyes shone deeply, reflecting a starry sea.
"That... is Tiamat?"
Arcueid was slightly puzzled seeing the Goddess in the midst of the sea. On the way here, when seeing the Lahmu, she had imagined Tiamat as a ferocious evil Goddess.
However, the reality was not like that; in fact, the opposite.
Arcueid, who had never had any particular opinion about her own appearance, now felt slightly inferior.
"This isn't Tiamat in her entirety; this is only her Head Body."
Naoki explained.
"Head Body?"
"Yes, if it must be explained, it's equivalent to a single strand of hair on the head of the real Tiamat. The true Goddess Tiamat is far larger than this."
"Not the main body, so this is the easiest time to confront her?"
Naoki nodded: "Correct. Look at her hands and feet; they're bound and can't move freely. Now is the last time we can act without interference, so we must seize this moment to complete the most important task—Arcueid, use Marble Phantasm with me to manifest a mountain, blocking this sea."
"A mountain?!"
The overly extravagant request from Naoki's mouth startled Arcueid: "Naoki, are you serious? Even for us, manifesting a city with full power is already the limit; it's impossible to manifest a mountain?"
After all, to unleash full power meant Arcueid would have to use the strength she employed to suppress her blood-sucking urges. What would happen afterward wasn't a joke. If not careful, it could lead to a situation where both Arcueid and Tiamat attacked Naoki.
"No need to manifest a complete mountain. And though I said mountain, what's important is something that can seal the gap from the Persian Gulf to the mainland. A barrier, a mountain, a structure... anything will do!"
"Ugh.... then it's no problem!"
"Then, I'll take the left side, you take the right. Use all the power you can muster right now to halt this sea's expansion."
Saying this, Naoki closed his eyes, concentrating fully on Imaginary Manifestation for the first time. With two people, each only needed to cover half. However, even so, this would be the largest Imaginary Manifestation he had ever performed.
*CRACK!*
In a distant plain, without any warning, the ground suddenly split into a massive crack, and within that crack—
An ice wall emitting bone-chilling cold air rose from the earth. It stretched like an iceberg all the way to the distant mountains!
On the other side, as Naoki had said, in the section not covered by the iceberg, like a mirror image of the iceberg, another nearly identical ice wall emerged from underground. The two icebergs merged, instantly forming an ice mountain barrier longer than the Defense Line, forcibly isolating the world on both sides of the iceberg!
"Hah... hah... Huff~~~~"
Quickly taking several breaths to regulate his breathing, Naoki looked at Arcueid: "Are you okay, Arcueid?"
"Mmm... A bit tired, but it'll recover soon."
Even as Fairies possessing the highest-spec Imaginary Manifestation, manifesting this iceberg had drained a great deal of their power at once. Especially for Arcueid, who could originally only use thirty percent of her power, and now she had expended all thirty percent in one breath.
If not for the fact that both were now facing a Human Evil and receiving support from the Planet, this attack alone could have left them temporarily incapacitated.
However, with this, the expansion of the Sea of Life was temporarily no longer a concern. At least until this iceberg was swept away, the Sea of Life absolutely couldn't invade Uruk, and its size would be limited to the side of the iceberg facing the Persian Gulf.
This also meant that as long as the iceberg existed, Tiamat couldn't step over it. After all, unlike the human-sized Head Body, Tiamat's main body was too massive. Her two legs couldn't support her body to stand and walk; she could only move through the Sea of Life.
The existence of the iceberg was equivalent to temporarily restricting Tiamat's range of movement.
(Her movement is restricted. The next step is to reduce the pressure on Uruk as much as possible. And the best solution for that is...)
"Aaaaaaaaaaa~~~~~"
Right as Naoki pondered the next step, Tiamat in the Sea of Life suddenly opened her lips and sang a strange song.
*BOOM!*
The song seemed to transform into sound waves, triggering a storm and causing terrifying vibrations in the atmosphere. The sea waves surged layer by layer, and in an instant, the shockwave from the song shook toward Naoki and Arcueid!
"Ngh—!"
"Uh..."
As if assaulted by a category ten typhoon, Naoki immediately lost control of the wind around him, and together with Arcueid, they were completely flung away!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!"
Tiamat's singing didn't stop. The continuously echoing singing voice triggered sound waves and sea waves repeatedly, continuously shaking the entire space around them.
In a flash, the entire sea seemed struck by a storm, becoming violently turbulent!
"Ngh.... Arcueid!"
After being flung a hundred meters away and finally stabilizing his body, Naoki immediately flew back to Arcueid's side and embraced her—unlike him, Arcueid couldn't fly, nor control the wind to make herself fly.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay, just flung away. But... this isn't good, Naoki."
Just the singing voice alone could cause such terrifying physical impact. If the opponent were truly free to attack them, Arcueid felt she would have to unleash seventy percent of the power she used to suppress her blood-sucking urges.
Otherwise, she would be completely useless, and they wouldn't have a chance to win.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!"
Tiamat's singing sounded again, a powerful blast and storm assaulting the two once more. Naoki hurriedly erected a shield in front of him, but even so, the two were still flung uncontrollably dozens of meters.
And right as the blast stopped—
*BAM!*
As if their hearts were hammered by a sledgehammer, Mana so vast it momentarily stopped Naoki's breathing suddenly erupted from Tiamat's body, pressing down on him and Arcueid.
Both their faces immediately paled.
(This Mana intensity—)
Previously in the Tokyo Singularity, Naoki had seized a Holy Grail Bomb whose power was enough to reduce the entire Imperial Capital to ashes. And now, the Mana intensity emanating from Tiamat was nearly equivalent to that Holy Grail Bomb!
If this Mana were released, it would all be over! Blocking it would be meaningless; Tiamat could destroy the entire Uruk from this distance!
"Stop her—Arcueid!"
"Oh! Naoki!"
Naoki and Arcueid's hands reached toward the sky simultaneously. The sky, which had become extremely gloomy due to Tiamat's manifestation, was at this moment suddenly pierced by blazing red light!
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
The atmosphere let out a scream.
Space let out a cry.
Accompanied by the manifestation and fall of two deep red celestial bodies in the blood-red sky, as if the entire world would shatter, an immense pressure descended on every individual under the sky. The waves caused by Tiamat's singing were forcibly suppressed under this pressure!
Marble Phantasm!
Moon Fall – Double Moon!
" "Fall————!! " "
In the angry roar of Naoki and Arcueid, two Crimson Moons from the blood-red sky, like divine punishment降臨 from heaven upon the Beast, fell toward Tiamat bearing blazing flames!
And after a moment—
*BOOOOOMM!*
A blast comparable to world destruction swept across the entire Sea of Life!