If Andy had a nickel for every massacre of civilians she had borne witness too, she would have about four, which wasn't a lot. But it was fucked up how it had happened so many times to her. Like the universe just seemed to enjoy throwing trauma in her face.

That were the thoughts the demi-human had as she and the others defended the surviving ones from the most disgusting creatures she had seen so far only; Bluebeard and his tentacle beasts could compete. But they were at least quiet, these things seemingly spoke a language that the Babylon Piece around her neck could not translate, but in her mind, it sounded as if someone made keyboard smashing into spoken words.

"Disgusting things. Their words are incomprehensible. But I can tell they are taking joy in this." Nezha spoke as her blazing spear cut one of them down, as more and more people were let into the Ziggurat.

"Thank you for the assist," Semiramis said as she assisted with spells after one of the creatures had managed to take one of her arms before they had arrived.

"Of course," Andy said in response to the Assassin as she finally cut down another with Shatterthorn. These things, these monsters, humanity's successors or what have you, were ludicrously tough, to the point where her blade had gotten stuck in their rubbery flesh multiple times. "Hey Azzy, you think a Doot could help here or no?" She called out as she engaged another of the seemingly endless flow of fucked-up creatures.

"I don't think they are magic, but it could shake-uh?" Astolfo said in confusion as suddenly all the creatures just froze, and a second later they began to repeat a sound as they all ran at insane speeds out of Uruk.

"Huh they are running away, did they reach the limit of their function?" Mash asked.

"No I do not think so, and from what I saw they have no chain of command, it more like one of them got bored and told the rest, and they just decided to leave like children get bored of frying ants with a magnifying glass," Da Vinci said from Andy's armband.

"Well, I suppose that's a good thing, for now, right? Since it gives us time to try and regroup and refortify the Ziggurat at the very least." Andy said, trying to see the bright side of the rapidly approaching 'darkest night' level shitshow.

And they entered it to find Gilgamesh giving orders to everybody telling his soldiers to escort all the remaining civilians to the Northern Wall, and have only the born warriors stay in Uruk. "The day of destruction is upon us, we have almost two to three days remaining. That fool Merlin hastened the destruction I foresaw by a few days. But there is no need for you to die along with if you can make it Nippur, perhaps you can survive. But if you wish to fight, you can stay," Gilgamesh told the soldiers and civilians within the Ziggurat. "Welcome back Chaldeans, looks like you succeeded in defeating Gorgon. Hmm, you don't look so good. Did you see too many things you wish you hadn't?"

"I've seen things that would make a normal woman insane," Andy stated. "I might already be insane, even. And yet those things are…" She shivered as she began to actually process what she'd been seeing and doing. "Just, please tell me Paul is alive at least?"

"I am fine Miss Andy, I've been staying here," The small giant said as she appeared from behind the throne.

And was then quickly scooped up into a hug by Andy.

"Hmm, Now then Chaldea, rest while you report to me what happened at the Demonic Front," Gilgamesh ordered.

"Right," Andy said, shifting to holding Paul on her hip, the small giant seeming to accept her new lot in life. "Gorgomots dead. Tiamat's awake, and apparently one of the 'Seven Evil's of Humanity'. Merlin's dead from the backlash. Ana-" Her voice hitched, and she immediately moved to the next point. "Other goddesses are all alive. Kingu is using the Grail we need as a core, thank you for mentioning his mana reactor, by the way, wouldn't have realised without that. Aaand...uh, the things that were attacking are apparently supposed to be the next iteration of humanity, made by Tiamat to replace us. I think that's everything, right?"

"Yeah that is pretty much everything," Ishtar said. "As for what the creatures are, I believe they are Lahmu, the last children that Mother supposedly gave birth to."

"Yeah they are the ones of Mud, and you do mean Evil of Humanity correct?" Gilgamesh asked.

"Yes your majesty, though what exactly does that mean?" Mash asked.

"You do not know? I thought you would have learnt of those on your journey. The Seven Evils of Humanity, as the name suggests, are humanity's stigmas. A series of disasters that destroy humanity. The more humanity develops, the stronger they become, like a cancer eating at society from within. You could call them stagnant pools within human history," He explained.

"Do you mean those who seek revenge, like Gorgon? Beings who would destroy humanity through animosity?" Da Vinci asked.

"The opposite inventor. The Evils of humanity are not evils that destroy humanity. They are evils that humanity destroys," He told her.

"Evils that humanity destroys?" Mash asked.

"Like...living trials?" Andy asked, trying to make sense of the typical cryptic bullshit.

"Indeed. Let a more appropriate person explain when the time comes. Just know they are disasters that threaten human history. Humanity's self-destruct system and safeguard… and the basis for Heroic Spirit summoning. The Seven Evils of Humanity manifest and exist as Spirit Origins. They are seven disasters, created by humanity's bestial nature. Thus, their class is Beast. This what the Mage King has awoken. One of them, at any rate," Gilgamesh explained. "Though it seems that it was half-assed, and so Tiamat, the Primordial Goddess of Sumer that has become a Beast, has not yet fully awakened. You're getting no readings right Chaldea?"

"Yeah, you're right, Your Majesty. We can not detect a Spirit Origin or Saint Graph, that powerful in all of Mesopotamia," Da Vinci said. "Though it is very obvious to guess where it is currently hiding."

"The Persian Gulf?" Andy supplied.

"Yep it is from there the Lahmu are being spawned as that sea has become the Primordial Sea, though we sadly don't know a lot about them, but Romani Archaman have you analysed them?" Gilgamesh asked.

"Yeah, we have finished our readings of them. They are as their names imply made from mud, the Mud of the Gods that created everything in the world of Mesopotamia, it is the bedrock of its foundation. And so they do not exist in our genealogical tree. There is no female or male, so they reproduce asexually, either mitosis or by converting other life forms. And going by their internal structure, they are in a larval state. Meaning they have the capability to evolve even further than they currently have. The closest comparison I can make is that they are like mass-produced Enkidus," Roman explained.

"Wait, they can convert people into more of themselves?" Andy asked, her old zombie phobias picking up on that part. "Like, human people? Like people-people?"

"Possibly," Gilgamesh said with a grim face. "Sidu- no captain tell the soldiers to burn the corpses killed by the Lahmu for extra security," Gilgamesh told one of the soldiers.

"Is...is Siduri…?" Andy asked, heart, sinking at the near confirmation she may not have just been resting as Andy had been (hopefully, delusionally) imagining.

"Forget about Siduri, we need to focus on the Lahmu. I am getting reports from other cities that the Lahmu are also kidnapping people and taking them to Eridu. They seem to have made the city their nest already now that Quetzalcoatl has left."

"Well, I guess I have to launch a complaint with them," The Winged Serpent said in a cold tone.

"No don't forget about Siduri, is she accounted for or unaccounted for Gilgamesh?" Andy asked.

"She tried to save the citizens and got taken by the Lahmu," Gilgamesh explained.

"...I see."

"Well, thank you for telling us we're going to save her now," Ritsuka said.

"Well said you fool, then I order you to go to Eridu. I can't spare my own forces, but I never considered you a part of it, so you can all go!" Gilgamesh shouted at them. "But I can only give you the rest of the day to do it so work fast!"

As it clicked that it wasn't an immediate zombie-style transformation, Andy immediately perked up. "Right. Let's move! We got people to save!"

"Wah! Miss Andy, I am still in your arms!" Paul shouted as she got dragged along for a brief amount of time.

"Yes? And?" Andy asked. "It's probably the safest spot in Uruk right now."

"But you're about to leave!"

"And?"

"I need to help the remaining children!" She said.

"...Okay," Andy said, putting Paul down, but keeping her hands on her shoulders for a moment as she kneeled down to get to Paul's eye level. "Just...just stay safe, okay sweetie?"

"I will," Paul Bunyan replied as she grew to a larger size after having been put down.

"Okay," Andy said, standing and giving the much bigger lumberjack one last hug. "See you soon."

"We will."

Xxx

"Okay, we are at Eridu how are we going to go about it?" Ritsuka asked as they landed outside the city's walls after having flown for two hours.

"Stealthily," Andy said, unravelling Hades' Cap. "As long as everyone holds on to this, we'll all be invisible so we can sneak around."

"Good idea, we can detect about six hundred humans within Eridu and about two hundred Lahmu, and they are all currently within the city's centre," Roman told them.

"So the plan is simple then. We head straight there, create a distraction, use Big Boy to take out a good amount of them hopefully with the distraction, and then fight off the ones who stay by the people and escort them all away." Andy said, plan having formulated on the way there.

"I do not think that could work, for while the cap makes us invisible and immune to magical detection it does not prevent sounds from being made, and they have seemingly super senses, though maybe we can be lucky enough," Ishtar said.

"...Does Maana make noise when it moves?" Andy asked. "I haven't noticed anything, so maybe we could ride that in?"

"Maanna can't expand that much," She said.

"Damn. So we can chance it, maybe having the least stealthy folks riding the boat? Or maybe just in astral form?" Andy said, trying to come up with some way of getting in safely.

"Yeah the Servants can just go into astral form while I go into your shadow while you and Mash use the Cap, don't you have something that can dampen your sounds, for I think the biggest source will just be your feet meeting the ground," Ritsuka said.

"I do have something that dampens sound, it's called Assassin Training," Andy said snarkily. "And yeah I suppose that could work. So we all know what to do then?"

"We do," They all said at the same time.

"Alright, then. Let's get down to business then."

Xxx

The walk towards the centre of Eridu was both quiet and loud at the same time as the streets were empty, but in the centre of it, they could hear the sounds of pained screaming and the gurgling of blood. All the while, Andy was having the silkie-clone get ready with the Big Boy.

Though Andy's and Mash's approach was stopped as before them stood a singular Lahmu, and Andy could tell it knew exactly where they were since it tracked their movements.

But instead of doing anything threatening or even calling for the others, it just lifted up one of its leg claws and just began to spin it around, like it was waving something.

Andy, tentatively, very carefully, raised one hand and waved back, confused and frankly disturbed.

And it just continued to wave its leg, acting like it was surrendering.

Andy, having a terrified inclination as to what might be going on, removed a small white sheet of fabric from her storage and placed it down between them, before backing up quickly.

"Senpai, what are you?" Mask asked as the Lahmu picked it up and began to wave it. "No, no, no."

Andy let go of the cap and slowly approached the Lahmu, still waving the flag. "...Siduri?" She asked quietly.

"Save...the..one...of…green..." The Lahmu spoke as it walked away.

Andy stood there, stock-still, so still, she looked like she was dead, not breathing, not blinking, just staring after Siduri as she walked away.

"Senpai we need to go, just we need to go now," Mash said as she took Andy's hand.

"..." Andy's silence was palpable as she grabbed the cap, her other hand still firmly holding Mash's as they continued on in silence.

And then they came to the town centre where they saw the Lahmu and the rounded-up humans, and there they could see that the Lahmus were forcing the humans to fight and kill each other for sport. Laughing all the while as the humans tried to live for a little bit longer.

Andy's heavily strained patience snapped at the sight, and the faker on the opposite side of the town from their position began its dance of destruction, which is to say it began detonating runestones and making as much noise as possible.

Except it didn't work, the Lahmu just continued on with what they were doing and were now killing the survivors off the match.

Or some of them were, as Andy took a page from Ushiwakamaru's book and, in a move literally like lightning, decapitated a number of them in one motion, interposing herself between another Lahmu's claws and one of the civilians, her body sparking wildly, and the M.E.S.S. in her chest glowing brightly as she then disarmed and decapitated that Lahmu too.

The Servants and Ritsuka quickly joined in as they materialised and began to cut down the Lahmu and the people began to run in response. "Dammit, are these things defective? They keep trying to kill the people and ignore us!" Ishtar shouted as she blew up three of them.

"Design, not defect, I'd bet," Andy said coldly between slashes as she continued to carve through the Lahmu like butter at literal lightning speeds, Shatterthorn little more than a flash of red as she moved around and through and against the Lahmu as best she could.

And then things took a turn for the worse as Kingu landed among the Lahmu, though the words that came out of his mouth were surprising enough to stay Andy's blade. "Stop it, why are you all rounding up these old humans?" He asked the Lahmu, and they came to a stop. "You're all children of Tiamat, the successor race, that is beneath all of you. I will not allow such pointless behaviour from my brothers. Damn Mother might have slipped a bit in making you after waking up so suddenly, but still, you are my brothers, and so I will not let you die," Kingu said as he scolded them.

"Kingu you're not their brother. Tiamat might have made you, but you're not born of her like them. You're just a mind possessing Enkidu's body," Ishtar told him. "You're nothing more than a synthetic Demonic Beast meant to wake her up."

"Nonsense, even if it was true, why would it matter? She still gave me life, and so I am her son. I know nothing of Enkidu, he is nothing to me. I am Kingu, just a puppet that serves Tiamat, now I will-." And right as Andy was about to attack Kingu, a thing happened she had not expected to occur.

Namely, Kingu's speech was cut off by a Lahmu stabbing him through the chest with one of its legs, beating her to the punch. "We do it because it's funny, Kingu, hahahahahaha!" It laughed, and so did the others.

"Oh my god!" Andy heard Ishtar say in shock at the scene.

"Why?" Kingu asked as blood stained his white clothes, and Andy saw the look of utter hurt and betrayal in his eyes. Like the situation was not properly registering to him, this had not been a thing he had thought possible in his mind.

"Kingu, we have no use for you anymore, you will not be the one to bring Mother the Grail," The Lahmu said as it pulled its claw out of Kingu's chest and dropped him to the ground and on the end of its leg and Andy saw a shining golden object.

"The Grail!" Mash shouted as the Lahmu ate the Grail.

Or at least, tried to, as Andy had already removed its arm, head, body...everything, really, from each other, and was holding the Grail, the look of what was previously pure murder now tempered by sympathy and pity. "No." She stated simply as the M.E.S.S. went out from the sheer amount of Mana she had put into the move.

And just a moment too soon.

"Senpai!" Andy heard Mash shout as the nearby Lahmu jumped her, and the hand she was holding the Grail with was eaten by another one. And she immediately got pulled backwards by Astolfo's sword wrapping around her waist and dragging her backwards.

"Couldn't have been a second quicker there Azzy?" Andy said as she remembered she had armour and deployed it, both for protection and to easier stem the bleeding stump.

"And you could have worn that a second earlier, I had to kill ten before I could get to you," He responded in a worried tone as they watched the Lahmu that had eaten the Grail transform into a flying form.

And it took off.

And on the ground, she saw that Kingu was gone, a trail of blood leading towards one of the town's exits.

"Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck, do you guys think we can take that thing down?" Andy asked, the instincts of 'fucking supermonster' temporarily overwriting everything else she was feeling at the moment.

"Yeah, if we can catch up to it before it reaches the Gulf," Quetz said as the evolved Lahmu had already left their field of view. "And thankfully the civilians have been evacuated now we don't need to worry about them, or these Lahmu here or Kingu."

"We need to get that thing, now. Speed is of the essence, if that thing reaches the Gulf we are most likely seventeen ways to fucked, Quetz, you're the fastest flyer right now, you should go ahead and try and stop it or slow it down, or hell take it out if you can while we catch up, I do not want to know what the unholy fuck Tiamat will do with the Grail proper." Andy said rapidly.

"I hear you, do you wish to come along so I can fit three on one of my Serpents?" She asked as the remaining Lahmy were eliminated by a pissed off Raikou and Parvati.

"Yes, sure, fine, we just need to slow it down. Nobu, you're an Archer, you come too." Andy said, panicked adrenaline filling every inch of her veins and pounding through her skull.

"Right, Rituska you okay with that?" Nobu asked.

"Yeah, just go on, we'll catch up on Maanna," He responded.

"Go on Senpai we will come on Hippogriff," Mash said.

"See you in a bit," Andy said, giving Mash a quick hug as Quetz summoned her Quetz.

"Come on," The Mesoamerican Goddess said as she jumped onto her creature of flight.

Andy was on it right behind her, Nobu right behind her in turn. "Speed is of the essence. Andale andale, arriba arriba." Andy said, her mind growing delirious and spouting the first thing related to 'speed' she could think of.

And at that, they took off and went after the Super Lahmu, and they were indeed speed as the dino broke the sound barrier. And soon after the Super Lahmu was within viewing distance and they were gaining on the fucker.

And as soon as it was Nobu began to open fire, and Andy shot fire runestones from her undamaged smaller hand, holding on with her larger ones instead as her shots went wide.

And her idea to fuck with the air currents worked as the Lahmu slowed down a bit as it had to adjust, which allowed them to catch up the second that they reached the beach. "UARGH!" Quetz roared as she swung her macuahuitl at the Lahmu and sent it straight into the sand. "Yes got it now let's go down and finish it off."

"Huh, guys we're detecting the Saint Graph of a Servant near you!" Roman shouted from the armband.

"I will not allow that, Wandering Tales of Shana-oh, Act 2...Usumidori," Came the voice of Ushiwakamaru. Suddenly their dino-bird lost its head, and they crashed to the ground. They were met with Ushiwakamaru, but she was looking very different. "Sorry that Grail will need to go to Mother," The corrupted looking Ushiwakamaru spoke as she stood in front of the Lahmu and the dark ocean that the Persian Gulf had become.

"No, no no no no no no, come on, come on not this, not this," Andy said rapidly as her brain began to shut down a bit, since this was literally one of her biggest long-standing fears: friend or loved one being converted into an enemy that she has to put down. "Ushi please, please don't do this."

"Oh but I want to, and I have to, Mother needs the Grail, but if you want to come alongside it I happily cut off your head," She spoke in psychotic glee as she took out her katana.

"Like I let that happen!" Quetzalcoatl shouted, and the sand beneath her feet exploded as she launched herself towards the corrupted Ushi, who blocked the wooden weapon with her own blade. And while it was in blade lock, Quetz grabbed Ushi's head and crushed it between her fingers. And soon after the rest of the body dissolved into black mist. "Now for the Lahmu," She said, and Andy just looked at the brutal display as Nobu tried to kill the thing with her guns.

But the thing kept regenerating as it tried to get, away.

"Not going to be that easy," Spoke the voice of Ushiwakamaru once more as she jumped from the dark ocean alive once more. "For it will take more than to kill us," She said as ten more Ushiwakamarus walked out of the sea.

"Andy, going by analysis Ushiwakamaru has become one of Tiamat's children like the Lahmu and so as long as the core of her Spirit Origin exists within that Sea, she can be spawned endlessly!" Shouted Roman's voice from the armband.

"That is correct so long as the Sea exists I will forever serve Mother, and to destroy you would need something as strong as the bands of light that exists in the heavens," Ushiwakamaru spoke as they let the Lahmu start to fly away.

"Parvati," Andy said, Command Seal flaring as the Lancer was summoned to her. "We need to stop that thing, do whatever you need to do to either clear these enemies or kill/pin that thing, Do it."

"Understood Trishula Shakti!" She said as summoned forth two clones that pointed their spear towards the heavens and manifested forth a large bolt of lightning that crashed into the beach area and annihilated the place with the might of Shiva. "Hello Master, what was with the Ushis?" She asked.

"No time, we need to find the Grail now before it falls in the sea, where did it go?" Andy said frantically as she began desperately searching the sands for the golden cup.

"It is in the hands of the great Primordial Goddess, you were distracted when Ushiwakamaru cut off the head of your beast of burden you didn't notice that the Lahmu had been with a creation of mine," Spoke a voice Andy hadn't heard in months. "Well you can't blame yourself as you didn't know I was here," Said Archimedes as he became corporal, and Andy saw that a part of his body had undergone the same corruption as Ushiwaka but not to the same degree.

Andy immediately lunged at him blade-first, her mind beginning to go numb from the rapid emotional whiplash she'd been dealing within the last hour on top of everything else that had been happening that day.

And his head fell from his shoulders. "You know this is kinda pointless now, Mother wants to keep me around," His decapitated head said as it vanished.

"What a bastard but what he said is true, the Grail's signal has vanished, and we can now detect a brand new Saint Graph in the Gulf. But don't be mad Andy, we could not have predicted it, the King of Mages tried very hard to stack the deck against us," Roman said.

"..." Andy's lack of response was audible as she walked over to Quetzalcoatl and handed her a sphere roughly the size of a basketball with the words 'BIGGER BOI' boldly emblazoned on the side, before pointing out towards the middle distance of the Gulf and miming throwing it.

She didn't say anything and just threw the bomb into the sea.

Andy watched silently as the ocean proceeded to turn into a massive fireball, watching the blackened mud shoot into the sky or be vaporised outright before raining down.

"Senpai!/Hubby!" Andy heard Mash and Astolfo shout as they landed the Hippogriff on the beach and jumped off the animal.

Andy did not respond.

"Senpai what happened?" She asked in concern as Ritsuka, and the others arrived.

Andy did not respond.

"It's okay, it's okay," Mash said as she wrapped her arms around Andy.

"So I guess the Grail got to Tiamat? Great let's go up to that observatory and plan our next move," Ritsuka said.

Andy did not respond.

Xxx

"You're late Chaldeans!" Gilgamesh's holographic body said after it had appeared before the group after they had entered the observatory that they had taken Gil to a few days ago. "What happened? Tell me everything!"

"You're kinda looking see-through," Ritsuka commented.

"Hmm. So it's not quite perfect, huh? I thought it would be boring to copy Chaldea so I went and made my own more refined communication system. But it seemed I didn't get it quite right. But it is very good for something done in a rush, right? You have my permission to praise my prowess as a mage. So again, what happened?" Gilgamesh asked.

"The Grail ended up in the hands of Tiamat, they betrayed Kingu and Lahmu went to transport it back, we knocked it down. But Ushiwakamaru and an unknown Servant have been converted into her children and stopped us from taking control of it, and now we are rather boned," Nobu reported in a serious tone of voice.

"Ushiwakamaru is working for Tiamat? How? I thought she died against Gorgon?" Mash asked.

Andy, who had simply been standing there with them all silently, suddenly inhaled sharply at that before going quiet again.

"She must have survived the encounter and got captured by Gorgon and then thrown into the Sea of Life," Gilgamesh spoke. "That black seawater is Tiamat's Authority, it infects those who touch it and, Tiamat's Authority is copied onto their cells and makes them into her slaves. The Lahmu who were born of it are immune to its effects. But anyone else, Servant or human, that touches that black mud will be absorbed by Tiamat," Gilgamesh explained.

"Yes, that explains how Yoshitsune became our enemy," Raikou said. "You can not touch that black sea, if you do, then it is the end."

"That's right… Mother… I mean Tiamat's Authority includes self-modification, multiplication, and bio-fusion," Ishtar began to explain. "But her most powerful one is the 'Amino Geas' or cell compulsion. Once they are inside that mud, it will Darken any Servant."

"Yes in the world of Magecraft such a substance is called the Mud of the Holy Grail, a substance that corrupts Saint Graphs, and Spirit Origins. Though a more pressing matter is that we can detect the fact since Tiamat got the Grail the water level has been rising, and in about three hours, the observatory will be swallowed, and the black sea will overflow onto land," Gilgamesh said. "This will be the worst flood ever."

"Yeah if that were to happen, Uruk and Human History would be finished," Roman said as he interjected.

"So," Andy spoke up for the first time since Archimedes' arrival, immediately drawing everyone's attention. "What. Do. We. Do. About. It." She asked, voice stilted. It was very clear she was doing her best to focus on the task at hand for just the moment.

"To stop Tiamat's black sea, the Chaos Tide as we have named it. We need to stop Tiamat, we seem to have an opportunity as her Spirit Origin has not moved at all since it appeared," Roman spoke.

"Well, it seems that this is going to be my time to shine," Ishtar said with a smile. "My Noble Phantasm should be able to annihilate her Saint Graph before she fully regains her abilities. Though I am going to need both of you to come along, and give me the magical energy to use it."

Andy nodded. "Now?"

"Now," Ishtar responded. "And are you going to do anything about that hand of yours?"

It was at this point that Andy realised she was still missing her left hand. "...Later. I'm fine." She said.

"If you say so," Ishtar said. "Now come along we need to go now," The Goddess of Fertility and War said.

Andy nodded, following the goddess.

Xxx

"Guarg!" Hippogriff screeched as they flew towards the centre of the Persian Gulf. Andy and Ritsuka were sitting on the beast behind Astolfo as they flew besides Ishtar towards the singular beam of sunlight that broke through the dark clouds that covered the sky.

"Ahhhhhh!" A beautiful voice sung as they got closer and standing on the dark ocean surface was Tiamat. "Ahhhhh!"

"Here," Andy said as they came to a hover nearby and Ishtar got close, placing a hand on the goddess's shoulder and transferring literally all of the Mana she could spare and then some into her.

"So that is Tiamat?" Ritsuka asked as he also transferred all the Mana he could directly into Ishtar.

"Yes, I've never seen her myself, but those horns symbolise land, her eyes reflect the stars of the inner sea. That is the Goddess of Creation, Tiamat. Her womb was the soil of life itself, then it was cast after fulfilling its purpose of creation. In myths, they say she was killed by the gods, but in reality, things were slightly different. She was abandoned. She was abandoned by the entire world, by all of the children she brought forth. After the planet's environment settled and life was established, she was deemed unnecessary and exiled. She was not sent to the Reverse Side of the World, but the sea of Imaginary Numbers, the World of Void. For to those that ruled, she was too dangerous as she possessed the ability to create an entirely new world. So they sealed her off. Infinitely. And now, she has returned. And now see to send her back to where she belongs, as she no longer belongs to this world anymore," Ishtar said.

"Thank you for the backstory Ishtar, but we're detecting a large build-up of energy in her body, she is about to fire off an attack with the strength of a hydrogen bomb, and it is aimed right at Uruk," Roman chimed in.

"I hear you, there are various seals still on her body, so she won't be able to dodge," Ishtar said as she flew up into the air. "Gate Open!" Ishtar shouted as a massive golden portal opened up above her, and the image of the cosmos could be seen as Venus came slightly through it. And a second later it shrunk into a much smaller ball that went into Maanna and turned into a massive purple arrow. "An Gal Tā Kigal Shē!" Ishtar shouted as she fired the arrow and Tiamat was destroyed alongside a good chunk of the ocean as there was now a giant hole in the Gulf.

"Holy shit we did it," Andy said in relief as she slumped against Astolfo, finally allowing some of the tiredness to settle in. She knew as soon as they were back on land she'd be having a breakdown, but this was good enough for now.

"I don't know that felt a bit too easy, like it felt like she was letting us destroy her," Ritsuka said.

"Wait, wait something is wrong, we're detecting the reconstruction of Tiamat's Saint Graph beneath the ocean, and it is massive. How can something be so big!" Roman shouted in panic. "We made a mistake. What we destroyed was her brain, and now the real body is coming up. You need to leave that airspace!" Roman told them, as beneath them they could see a massive shadow even in the black sea.

"Okay, we're booking it back to the others!" Astolfo shouted as they immediately began to fly away as the sea exploded and out of it rose Tiamat's true body, and it was utterly massive.

"AAHHHHHHH!" She sang, and it shook the world.

"What the fuck?!" Andy screamed.

"Yeah, what the fuck," Ritsuka repeated as they continued to fly away from Tiamat who was also slightly moving, by gliding across the sea slowly. Which was now rising rapidly and had quickly overflown and moved across the land at a rapid pace.

"Senpai what happened?" Mash asked as she and the others came flying on Quetz's Quetzalcoatlus.

"It's bad, we're running."

"Yeah that is obvious, we need to get back to King Gilgamesh," Quetzalcoatl said.

"Yeah, we need to move as fast as we possibly can. She's moving slowly right now, but I do not want to let that make us complacent." Andy ordered, a second wind of sorts coming to her from the near-literal pants-shitting terror of seeing the uncannily off massive mother.

"We hear you, Andy," Ritsuka said in a tone of voice that was filled with frustration.

Xxx

"Glad to see that you're all back," Gilgamesh said as he sat on his throne, and Andy could tell that situation was getting to the King of Uruk.

"Tiamat's unbound, has the Grail, and is heading straight here. We're fucked. How much time do you think we have?" Andy asked about as bluntly as a bomb.

"About three to four days, going by her slow movement," Gilgamesh replied. "I wanted to have a briefing, but we're still assessing the damage so we will have it this evening, for I can tell you need to unwind," Gilgamesh said.

"Might not be the right word for it, but thank you King G." Andy said, the adrenaline finally starting to slow its pounding flow.

"Then leave and return this evening, have this moment of respite. The defences Semiramis have reinforced is keeping the Chaos Tide at bay. And I think Bunyan is in your Embassy waiting for you," He said.

"Oh, good," Andy said with relief. "Just a heads up King G, I may not be in any state to actually do the briefing later, my entire body is currently on fire, and I still need to replace my hand." She said as she now finally, with the confirmation they weren't in danger, stored her armour away and then indicated her missing hand.

"Then we can save it for the morrow then if you're that damaged," He said in response.

"Thank you, I'm going to go check on my baby now," Andy said, not waiting for a dismissal or any acknowledgement by the King before leaving and heading straight for the Embassy.

And she didn't give Bunyan time to respond as the second she entered, she gave the little giant a large hug.