"Rumble!"
A massive wave surged from the Persian Gulf, hundreds of meters high, rolling forward with unstoppable force. In the blink of an eye, it covered the horizon.
Because it came so suddenly, some of the survivors still stranded on the open ground hadn't made it to Noah's Ark. They turned in horror to see the flood rushing down upon them.
"Aaaaa!!!"
Just as despair consumed them, a sharp, resonant chant rang out from Tiamat's lips.
In an instant, the raging tide miraculously parted around the survivors, leaving them unharmed, before roaring forward again and crashing down upon the Mother of Origin herself.
"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!"
The sound was like water striking red-hot iron, sharp and ceaseless.
At once, the golden-red curse marks on Tiamat's wings and along the scales of her back—marks born from the corrosion of freshwater divinity—began to wither and vanish.
At last, those parasitic maggots of curse were completely scoured away by the sea's relentless waves.
Damn it!
Marduk, who had been wavering before, now froze in shock. His expression twisted as he seized the Holy Grail, intending to open the Great Hollow to the divine realm.
"Mother Goddess, now!"
Samael's pupils narrowed sharply as he shouted.
Tiamat beat her wings and rose into the air. The cross-shaped pupils in her eyes shimmered with blue, red, gold, and black light. Her emerald scales, infused with the power of Origin, rippled with radiance, energy surging toward her maw.
"Aaaaaaaah!!!"
Her colossal jaws opened wide, unleashing a torrent of red-and-black Ether. It carried the will to annihilate all, lancing across the sky to strike directly at Marduk.
Noble Phantasm—Nammu Duranki: O' Child, Abide the Laws of Creation!
"Don't think I fear you! Get out of my sight!"
The King of Kings, forced to the edge, roared and abandoned every shred of hesitation. With one hand he raised half of the Tablet of Destinies, with the other he swung his axe. Lightning and storm surged forth, crashing down in a flood of divine power!
"Boom!"
The beams collided in midair, the detonation shaking the heavens. Space itself twisted and collapsed, rifts to the void tearing outward in every direction as the entire world trembled.
The earth caved in, the sky fell apart, the sun, moon, and stars dimmed and perished.
I stand at the Origin and have unified all within this world. How could I lose to a beast of calamity whose very divinity is incomplete!
Marduk's veins bulged, his face distorted in rage. With a furious swing of his axe he tried to cleave apart the torrent of Ether and destroy the enemy he had long regarded as his nightmare.
"Crack! Crack!"
But at that instant, shrill fractures rang out from both his weapons.
Under his stunned gaze, Marduk's axe and half of the Tablet of Destinies shattered into pieces.
The Ether torrent only paused for a breath, then surged with even greater ferocity, piercing straight through the golden god's chest.
This… impossible!
Marduk looked down at the gaping hole in his chest, trembling, disbelieving. His pupils contracted violently as he fixed on the red-black aura seeping from the bite mark on his palm.
Mother of Genesis… saltwater divinity!
He had abandoned his Apsu aspect, wielding freshwater divinity to curse Tiamat. That was what had given him absolute advantage.
But instead, this serpent had slipped Tiamat's saltwater divinity into his body, planting a hidden mine that exploded at the critical moment.
Saltwater and freshwater—born together, but in conflict. Those who calculate will themselves be calculated against!
"Damnable serpent! I curse you! I curse you!"
His triumphant momentum crumbled in an instant, victory overturned. Marduk's eyes split wide with fury as he unleashed his bitterest curse.
Then his golden form exploded, scattering into countless motes of light.
We won! We finally survived!
Within the raging flood, the survivors aboard Noah's Ark looked to the sky as the clouds dispersed, revealing warm sunlight long unseen. They embraced one another, weeping with joy.
The Heroic Spirits and goddesses, too, slumped to the ground or deck, breathing long sighs of relief. The shadow that had loomed over them at last dispersed.
Samael, his nerves finally unstrung, collapsed in exhaustion. He lay flat, unwilling to move even a finger.
Marduk's might was unquestionable. After consolidating Mesopotamian divinity, he had nearly reached the pinnacle. Even against the Mother Goddess Tiamat, if he fought without regard for his life, the outcome would have been even odds.
But this King of Kings was too greedy. Harvesting humanity's pastures, erasing Tiamat—he calculated everything, wanting it all.
Yet that very illegitimacy of power gnawed at him, leaving him forever suspicious, forever doubting.
Samael had judged him well: quick to panic at small changes, but hesitant when faced with decisive action.
A man who wanted everything was destined to collapse once the chain of events spun beyond his control.
So a certain wicked serpent exploited that weakness, weaving rumor and speculation to sow turmoil.
Marduk, flustered, wavered endlessly between action and inaction, between staying and retreating, never choosing.
And so Samael, dancing on a knife's edge, bought enough time—until the tsunami summoned by the Mother Goddess Tiamat swept away the curse of freshwater.
Had the King of Kings truly resolved to fight a godwar to the death, humanity's odds would have been less than forty percent.
It was fortune—but victory remained victory.
Looking at the familiar faces around him, all collapsed in relief, Samael covered his eyes with his hand. A smile spread across his lips, laughter spilling free.
"Buzz!"
But before he could even catch his breath, a strange tremor ran through sky and earth alike. The Great Hollow that split the heavens was still widening.
And worse—everyone realized with a start that the Holy Grail sustaining Marduk's descent was gone. So too were the fragments of the Tablet of Destinies.
"Boom!"
Thunder detonated, rending the sky into a shattered mirror. The land heaved and split apart, chasms yawning to the abyss below.
The world itself was breaking apart!
"The world… ending…"
"The war of the gods… is coming…"
A sharp, muted whisper came from behind.
The ancient serpent turned in shock. From the rifts of heaven, countless beams of light converged onto the towering dragon form of the Mother Goddess Tiamat.
Her wings began to fold and wither, her massive body shrinking. Under the baptism of divine radiance, she condensed into the form of a green-haired goddess, earth's touch crowning her brow.
"Mother Goddess, this… what's happening…"
Samael stared, aghast. Around him, all eyes widened, pupils shrinking at the overwhelming upheaval of heaven and earth.