He was imprisoned in Nibelungen for a thousand years, only to find out upon his release that he was

During the lockdown, all regular quests (accepted by civilians) will be suspended and the process halted. For special circumstances, please report or inquire separately at the quest lobby.

During the lockdown, a larger number of troops will be concentrated in the eastern urban area, and routine entry and exit requests will no longer be accepted. For your safety, please also avoid other peripheral urban areas.

[That's all. Please do not panic, remain calm, maintain order, and evacuate quietly.]

[To reiterate, this is to inform all residents of the eastern urban area...]

"Evacuation notice?"

Tini was surprised.

Wasn't this all too sudden?

She frowned. She had originally intended to accumulate enough experience and prove her worth by completing these commissions, before making contact with the higher-ups and probing for information...

At that time, Gilgamesh's words, "Odin is not Odin," lingered in Tini's mind, almost unforgettable. Intuitively, she felt that this clue might hold the truth behind everything...

However, plans never keep up with changes.

Ritsuka and Mashu exchanged a glance, neither showing any surprise.

They had anticipated this when they witnessed that scene outside the city. After all, they had already experienced it once before in the Seventh Singularity.

Rather, it's a miracle that the incident only came to light now.

During the Seventh Singularity, it was Merlin who consistently delayed Tiamat's progress in the early stages.

I don't know how people managed to delay for so many days, given this anomaly.

"..."

Cú Chulainn stood silently in thought.

Urgent notice?

It looks like the situation is very urgent.

However, what's slightly strange is that it specifically emphasized that "a large number of troops will be concentrated in the eastern urban area".

Does this indirectly suggest that the military strength in other urban areas is weak and their defenses are insufficient? And that they would have difficulty reacting if other hostile forces caused trouble?

Who is this implying?

Is it because they suspect that there are spies or traitors among these newcomers?

If that's the case, then this seemingly urgent evacuation notice is a trap.

Cú Chulainn shook his head.

Is this the level of leadership in this group? Their organizational structure is so crude.

If it were him, he would be an enemy of the city's ruling class.

Unless... we can actually witness the decisive battle in the eastern city.

Otherwise, he would not be able to take any substantial action.

Heh, that's it?

Cú Chulainn, relaxed and holding his wand, slowly walked towards Ritsuka and the others.

He began to ponder how to persuade the girls to stay out of this ridiculous mess and focus on gathering intelligence, and to find a way to contact the high-ranking official who seemed to know the truth.

"By the way, have you heard about that mutual aid organization's speaking event? I heard that some high-ranking members have given their testimonies."

Just then, Tini casually mentioned what Ishtar had come up with. Actually, she hadn't wanted to choose it.

This kind of small-scale, stingy organizational gimmick is obviously not something that could be orchestrated by a top leader; the so-called leader is at most a minor leader.

What kind of truth can a junior manager, or to put it bluntly, a middle manager who has been promoted, possibly have access to? Can they have a correct understanding of things?

That's almost impossible.

Therefore, this is not what Tini initially expected. At best, it's a last resort, a desperate measure left for herself.

Now, things have changed, and this event seems to be past its prime; it looks like we can't miss it.

"There are some."

Upon hearing Tini mention this, Mashu hurriedly took out the promotional brochure she had received earlier.

She had already flipped through this booklet countless times. It was a free gift that came with the registration, and the contents were mostly about things to note for new members. It was quite practical, and then it introduced new activities, such as this speech by the leader.

But strangely, the time and location information was completely blank.

"Huh? The handwriting... I don't know when it appeared?"

Mashu glanced at the words that had appeared on the booklet, a fleeting trace of magic flashing by: "Time, tonight; Location, at..."

'The handwriting is somewhat similar...'

Cú Chulainn was also in high spirits and took out his share.

To the average person, the similarity of these handwritings is not apparent, but at his level, what he sees is not the appearance, but the 'texture'.

This mark, while based on the conventional alchemy of the human magic world, is imbued with a subtle mystical quality, employing meticulous manipulation and concealment.

"The texture is exactly the same as what was mentioned in that booklet when we first entered the city."

'That high-ranking official first gave hints to the newcomers to the city, then extended an olive branch like this, even eagerly mentioning the time and place when the notice was issued...'

Judging from his attitude, he doesn't seem to agree with conspiracy theories, which contradicts public opinion. So, is that person hoping to quickly win over people through his speaking engagements?

'That's true, it aligns perfectly with my goals,' Cú Chulainn secretly decided, 'Tonight will be the night...'

Tonight is a perfect opportunity to avoid the staged events in the eastern district and meet with that high-ranking official!

'Moreover, this girl Tini is a crucial witness who possesses the information that 'Odin is not the true god,' so we can't let her slip through our fingers...'

As Cú Chulainn was deep in thought, the three girls' tone shifted to one of argument.

"But! The city and its surroundings are about to be attacked by foreign enemies. We can't just sit idly by!"

Ritsuka seemed to have a different opinion and tried her best to offer a convincing perspective.

She witnessed firsthand how terrible the calamity unleashed by Tiamat in the Seventh Singularity was.

"As a resident of Jia... as a member of the city, I feel I should help them! After all, if the city falls, we who live inside will suffer along with them—"

"That's not necessarily true, little girl."

Cú Chulainn suddenly interrupted.

"Mr. Cú Chulainn?"

"Although it is an emergency notice, strictly speaking, this official announcement was a prior notice, right? The wartime phase is not scheduled to begin until night, and it is only daytime now, which gives us at least half a day."

"So you mean?"

"The reality is not as bad as you imagine. The authorities should be quite in control. Otherwise, the fighting outside the city should have become unprecedentedly fierce at the same time this notice was issued."

"But look around, it's all quiet outside, not even as noisy as the taverns and markets. If the authorities aren't worried, why should we be?"

After Cu Chulainn finished speaking, he looked at the booklets in everyone's hands.

As for this event...

"Go ahead and participate, don't be nervous... In the eastern part of the city, nothing serious will likely happen."

At best, it was just a poor performance.

It's definitely impossible for a real battle to break out on the scale of a decisive war.

Otherwise, it would mean that even Tiamat, and even Quetzalcoatl, would have to strictly follow the time requirements of the city's rulers, "go to work on time," and put on a very realistic show of a decisive battle.

That's impossible.

If that were the case, he immediately suggested that Chaldea hurry up and run away with him, as they couldn't stay in this city for even a second longer.

Such a sophisticated scheme is too much for even the best experts to handle.

......

That night.

"Quetzalcoatl, I never expected that you would actually agree to pay the price and fight Tiamat with me."

"And in exchange, all I wanted was a few more exciting wrestling games."

Standing on the city wall, Lu Ming gazed at the feathered serpent god riding a giant pterosaur amidst the raging winds high above and sighed.

"The price I paid? You mean that alliance pact? Hahaha, the worst backlash I suffered was a decrease in strength... but that's not something that can't be recovered from later."

Quetzal smiled in the wind, her joy overflowing. She stood on the broad back of the giant pterosaur, gently stretching her limbs. She prepared to welcome the goddess who was also an ally, or perhaps, the returning scourge.

At the level of Quetzalcoatl, fate can no longer be arbitrarily controlled. One can only act according to the rules.

If she breaks the rules, at most her divinity will decline.

This debuff can actually be recovered through many means such as temples, rituals, and believers.

Just like Tiamat herself. She resided in Lu Ming's body simply because she chose him in the first place.

Even without Lu Ming, Tiamat's separated mind would eventually find a way to avoid the backlash, as long as she didn't succumb to her animalistic nature and the hatred she felt for humanity.

"here we go......!"

Lu Ming glanced at the Tiamat larva beside him, which seemed to sense something as the black tide surged in the distance, creating towering waves.

A colossal shadow, as majestic as a mountain, emerged from the thick, dark black tide.

Looking at the pair of enormous, coiled dragon horns, Lu Ming stroked the head of the girl beside him.

'Little Tiamat, I ask you, what is the first principle of this battle?'

For a moment, Ti Ma froze. She glanced at the super-sized version of herself that was approaching in the black tide, but she felt no tension at all.

'Aiming at weaknesses, and using 'myself' as a spinning top to whip around?'

'Wrong! Utterly wrong!'

"What we need to do most right now is figure out how to make the fight difficult, how to struggle with all our might, and how to lose."

'lose?'

Tiamat couldn't understand the intricacies of the situation at all.

"Yes, the first principle of this play is to discuss defeat before victory! And the defeat must appear reasonable!"

If we don't figure this out thoroughly, how can we fool the cunning and treacherous spies of Odin, both inside and outside the city?!

Lu Ming didn't believe that Odin wouldn't learn any lessons after his repeated setbacks.

He will certainly become more cunning and insidious, and achieve his goals in a more roundabout way.

However, it's not impossible for them to use spies infiltrated into the city to stir up chaos and disorder while he's fighting a tough battle, and even damage his own forces, severely weakening Lu Ming.

Boom!

The enormous Tiamat beast body followed the surging black mud to the foot of the city. With a light touch of its heavy horns, the city wall bricks were blasted open, bursting and shattering like a row of plastic foam!

Almost simultaneously, the vast amount of runes hidden within the inner walls flashed rapidly at this critical moment, their endless brilliance piling up towards the giant goddess Tiamat, before reaching its ultimate sublimation—

Boom—! The towering explosion and flames instantly engulfed the calamity beast, which was as tall as a mountain!

The next moment, Lu Ming, who had already flashed to the side, rushed into the smoke of the explosion, and the golden feathered serpent god also flew down.

"This defense is tough!"

Lu Ming was amazed. The runes buried in this city wall had been accumulating for at least half a month, and the number of runes at the time of the explosion even reached several thousand.

However, the commotion only left Tiamat's body with light red burn marks, and she took a few steps back.

That's incredibly powerful, absolutely terrifying!

Even with the young Tiamat providing guidance, Lu Ming felt he needed to be cautious, given the remaining reserves at the city walls...

Only a few hundred thousand runes remained!

A night raven hidden in the darkness turned its eyes, taking in the scene of the battle in detail.

At a certain point, it was confirmed that Quetzalcoatl's divine response declined significantly.

As Lu Ming also found himself caught in a fierce battle, a faint red light flashed in his bird-like eyes, transmitting throughout the city—

A silent, malevolent black curse spread from a corner of a city.

By using a pre-hidden ley line node.