To become a king and a magician

"Hey! Meryl!!"

Seeing that Meryl had ruthlessly exposed her disguise, Ishtar was immediately filled with shame and indignation and was about to unleash a torrent of abuse on Meryl—there was no way around it, ever since she heard that she wouldn't have to pay back half the money, the consciousness of her body had suddenly become active, and as the possessed Servant, she really couldn't just leave it alone.

“Well done, Flower Magician. I have just finished negotiating with Ereshkigal, and Fujimaru Ritsuka has also sent back good news.”

"So that means the three goddesses have all reached an agreement, right?"

“That’s right. Next, we just need to wait for Ereshkigal to move the Underworld onto Tiamat’s inevitable path, and then shoot it down into the Underworld. The first phase of the battle will be complete,” Gilgamesh said. “The problem is the second phase.”

The Grand Assassin, the Old Man of the Mountain.

Even with Merlin and Merlin's keen eyesight, they couldn't find his trace in this singularity. Therefore, it can be inferred that the Counter Force did not summon him into the real world.

Without him, the most powerful ally who could imbue death with his power, Tiamat could not be killed, and the second phase of the battle would be impossible.

"Leave this to me."

Mei Li smiled and said, "I know a benefactor who can do something similar. Although she usually doesn't take action, this time, she might be able to do it."

"A distinguished person...?"

Gilgamesh frowned.

A benefactor capable of doing what only a Grand-rank assassin could do...

"I understand. Then this matter will be left to you, Meryl."

"Tiamat will arrive in Uruk in four days. Make sure all preparations are completed before then!"

60. Countdown to the Future

Kanbuko City, Japan, 2015.

In this era where the burning of human reason has already been established, this is the only era that has not been affected by it.

This situation is not caused by any special characteristics of this era, nor by any special events that have occurred here; it is simply because there is a person here.

When the burning of humanity occurred, that person used his own power and many treasures from the King's Treasury to resist the effects of the burning of humanity, creating a pure land in this already burned world.

Not only that, she went on to hide the existence of Guanbuzi City. Apart from Chaldea, no one else knew about the current situation of Guanbuzi City. Even the Demon King Goetia could not realize that such a huge variable had appeared in his plan.

That person's name was Ryougi Shiki. Born into the Ryougi family, she was a being whose physical body and origin were connected from birth. Originally, she was a noble person with whom there was absolutely no chance of encountering her.

And now, Mary is sitting right in front of her.

"That's rare."

He looked directly at the nightmare before him with a primal gaze.

"You've come before me; is this the first time we've met?"

Merry and Ryougi Shiki had met before; they probably met more than thirty times in the past twenty years. After all, Ryougi Shiki rarely leaves Japan, and even rarely leaves Kanbuko City, while Merry rarely leaves London either.

But as for the Root, those two had never seen it even once. Back when Natsukawa Tora was in a parallel world, Merry had tried to talk to the Root once, but received no response at all.

It is precisely because maintaining peace and tranquility in Kanbuko City requires Gengen-shiki to remain awake for extended periods; otherwise, the two of them probably wouldn't be meeting now.

He picked up his cup of fragrant tea, took a sip, and said with a smile, "You came here this time because of that child, right?"

"You really can hide anything from me."

Merry has already met three people connected to the Root. Among them, Sajou Rei and Sajou Aika lost this characteristic ten years ago. Although they have been gradually recovering since then, it is impossible for them to truly return to their former omnipotent state.

However, the current source is different. She has never given up her power, and even now she can still do anything and is almost omnipotent.

This applies even to events that occurred in the distant age of gods.

[In order to defeat Tiamat, we need someone who can give her the concept of death]—the Root might be the only one who can solve this last problem that Meryl and the others face.

"So, can you do it?" Meryl asked. "With your Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, can you give the concept of death to the Mother Goddess?"

"Yes, you can do it."

Genji pointed to his eyes: "However, as a price, one of these eyes might go blind?"

Only by abandoning the crown position can the concept of death be given to the old man in the mountains.

Even though Root Style is omnipotent, she still has her limits in a certain sense—she does everything only at a price she can accept.

Losing one Mystic Eye of Death Perception—that's the price to pay for the Root Cause.

Of course, it can be restored later, after all, it's just blindness, and for the root cause, restoring it is not difficult.

"So, can I take this as you accepting our request?"

Genji nodded: "Yes. But if I leave here, this city that I'm maintaining will also turn to ashes under the influence of the burning of humanity—is that alright?"

“It’s alright,” Melly laughed. “After all, once the Human Order Burning is lifted, the fact that we were burned will no longer exist, and everything will be restored to its original state. So it’s okay to die temporarily for now.”

If we have to talk about the impact, it's probably that after the events of the Seventh Singularity, Fujimaru Ritsuka won't be able to go home to visit her family and rest. However, after this last singularity ends, the final battle will soon follow, and she can go home after the victory.

Therefore, after rounding up, Genji's temporary departure from here will not have any impact on the outcome of Kanbushi City.

“I understand. After you all cast the Mother Goddess of Creation into the Underworld, I will go there to give her the concept of death.”

"Thank you so much for your help. Ryougi Shiki, after the Human Retribution is over, she and Tora will come to thank you in person. The operation will take place in four days. If it were you, you should know when to make your move without needing a signal, right? I'll be counting on you then."

After saying this, Mary's body turned into countless flower petals and scattered.

————————————————————————————————————

The Seventh Singularity: Inside the Tower of Uruk.

Opening her eyes, Mary looked at the people surrounding her: "It's all settled. Although we can't come directly right now, after we send Tiamat to the underworld, they will definitely give her the concept of death."

"Whoo~~~~~~"

Upon hearing such a definite answer from Merry, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others breathed a sigh of relief, finally putting their minds at ease.

With this, preparations for the campaign against Tiamat were complete.

Natsukawa, Arcueid, Jingu, and Satya Rei delayed Tiamat's advance in the Persian Gulf.

Quetzal Koyatl, Ishtar, and Ereshkigal, the three pillar goddesses, accepted Uruk's request for an alliance.

Marduk's hand axe can greatly weaken Tiamat's power.

In addition, there's the person that Meryl has now agreed to give the concept of death.

"It went surprisingly smoothly, Master!"

Looking at the incredibly luxurious lineup gathered inside the Divine Tower, Mash couldn't help but show a delighted expression. Of all the battles so far, the largest in scale was undoubtedly the Mythical War of the Fifth Singularity, but the lineup that had gathered now was even more impressive than that.

If it were the people gathered here now, they might actually be able to beat Tiamat!

Gilgamesh rose from his throne and looked down at the crowd below.

"Alright! From now on, everyone disperse! Go and prepare for the battle against Tiamat in four days!"

"The moment Ereshkigal moves the Underworld to the designated location, the first phase of the battle will begin!"

"This will be the final battle of the mythical age! Whether the gods will destroy humanity or humanity will ultimately triumph over the gods, let this battle decide the outcome!"

.......

The final battle is about to begin, four days away.

61. While striking the enemy, strike your teammates as well.

Objectively speaking, the flow of time is constant unless it is affected by some kind of power that can interfere with time; otherwise, the passage of time should be constant.

However, from a subjective perspective, the flow of time can sometimes be fast and sometimes slow.

Time flies when you're focused on something, but it slows down when you're indifferent to everything and have no desire to focus on anything.

Now, Uruk is in the former situation.

In order to prepare for the upcoming war against the god Tiamat, all of Uruk went all out and made all the necessary preparations. In the process of making these preparations, they also fought against the constant attacks from Rahm.

Although Kingu and Sajou Rei were at the forefront to block them, not all of the Rahm were stopped by the two. Some of the Rahm escaped from their grasp and crossed the iceberg to launch an attack on Uruk.

It wasn't that the two players' defense was inadequate, but rather that there were simply too many Rahms. After all, Tiamat itself is a sea that nurtures life, and Natsukawa Tora's attack didn't completely destroy the Sea of ​​Life; it merely suppressed its expansion. The Sea of ​​Life itself was perfectly fine.

Therefore, even now, Rahm continues to be released from Tiamat's body, and even evolved during the production process, growing wings from its back to cross icebergs.

Therefore, Uruk has been preparing for war and fighting against attacks from the Rahm group for some time now.

In the blink of an eye, by the time people came to their senses, it was already dawn on the third day.

As dawn broke, Uruk faced the city gate to the south.

"Then, let's set off."

Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke to the Servants who were standing at the door to see them off.

It has now been forty-eight hours since Natsukawa went to block Tiamat. The preparations in Uruk are almost complete, and the remaining work can be done before Tiamat arrives in Uruk. Therefore, there is no need to keep Natsukawa and his men delaying them at the front.

【Bring Natsukawa Tora and the others back to Uruk for rest】—This is the task that Fujimaru Ritsuka is now shouldering, directly assigned by Gilgamesh.

Meryl smiled and said, "In terms of status, I, as his fiancée, should be the most suitable person to pick him up. However, he has to stay in Uruk to deal with Rahm, so I can only ask you, Ritsuka."

"Take good care of her, Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl."

"I know!"

Ishtar, who was floating in mid-air, nodded.

Three people accompanied Fujimaru Ritsuka: Mash, Ishtar, and Quetzalcoatl.

Quetzal smiled and said, "Rest assured, I swear in the name of the goddess, I will bring everyone back safely!"

"Okay, then be careful on your journey~~~"

After saying this, Merry turned into flower petals and disappeared before the four of them.

Ishtar curled her lip: "Tch, so it was an illusion. If I had known it was an illusion, I wouldn't have been afraid... It's not the real person."

"Ah ha ha......"

Ishtar is afraid of Meryl, a fact known to those close to both of them. It is said that the two are in a creditor-debtor relationship, which means that Ishtar can hardly hold her head up in front of Meryl—if she does, the debt will immediately be doubled.

As a result, Gilgamesh often used this to mock Ishtar, saying things like, "It's shameful for a goddess to owe money and not pay it back!"

"Then let's go. Thank you for your help, Quetzal Koyatl."