The Lahmus. Creatures born from the sea produced byTiamat. A putrid and terrifying liquid that gave birth to what is known as the new humanity while assimilating other life-forms for its own. With the prime beings being born are the new humanity called Lahmus. Beings that should not exist and yet do, and have come to claim the world as their own with Tiamat as their mother.
Stepping outside the Sea of Life, the Lahmus ran to find humans, learn from them, and then kill them for fun. Laughing as they rushed to find any remaining humans in this broken world known as a Singularity. Taking steps forward is another 'child' of Tiamat. A former Servant known as Rider, or as she is known as now Berserker, Ushiwakamaru. Born from the chaos tide that has altered her body to the cellular level and Saint Graph.
"Come my 'siblings'." The corrupt Ushiwakamaru says as she stomps towards where the humans were. Wishing to kill them for the humiliation of killing her multiple times. The Lahmus gladly following her. "Let us go and start killing the remaining humans, and the final Master!"
The Lahmus laughed and giggled. All of their twisted mouths opening up as they enjoyed the thought of slaughtering the supposed hero of the world. Believing they would turn him into a pile of meat once they got their 'hands' on him. Ushiwakamaru herself also felt the same, though was more interested in getting that foolish so-called sage instead. He should be near the Master and that pathetic Demi-Servant.
Ushiwakamaru then moved to see if she can find her targets, with her the Lahmus and even copies of her came. However, before they could continue on the leader of the group Ushiwakamaru stopped.
"Huh?"
The Sea of Life has spread quite a bit in this Singularity. Yet...why was the Sea of Life in front of them?
"Did mothers sea spread this far already?" One of the Ushiwakamaru said as she looked at the approaching liquid.
"Impossible." Another Ushiwakamaru said to her copy. "It can't be in front of us already."
"Doesn't matter." Ushiwakamaru then moved forward. "We must continue the mission and capture those against our mother." She then rushed over the liquid. "Kill the Master and-augh!"
Then, to the Lahmus and the other Ushiwakamaru, they saw Ushiwakamaru get dragged into the liquid. This made them slightly cautious. Mothers authority shouldn't have done that. They were already part of the Sea of Life as her children after all. So the sea shouldn't have done that...right?
One Ushiwakamaru narrowed her eyes at the scene, feeling something was off. So for just a bit, the group waited.
...Splash!
Then bursting out of the sea, something came out and Ushiwakamaru raised her blade and stopped the attack...only to gasp as she saw her blade was used against...Ushiwakamaru!
"All hail...the God of Darkness!" The enemy Ushiwakamaru says while grinning. It was then Berserker saw the differences between her and this new Ushiwakamaru. While she still has red eyes, she now donned bone armor of all sorts covering her, a bone mask on her face, and a putrid liquid dripping off her. Then, to Ushiwakamaru shock, more of these false Ushiwakamaru came out from the liquid that had captured the first. All having the same bone armor like her, and yet they weren't alone.
"Graa!"
"Shra!"
"Krrr!"
Bursting from this liquid like their mothers Sea of Life, different lifeforms came out. Demonic Beasts of all sorts. Like the corrupt Ushiwakamaru, they had bone armor and came in all forms of sizes. Werewolves. Boars. Bears. Gorillas. Elephants. Some that weren't even animals and all stared at the Lahmus and Berserker Ushiwakamarus. Both sides string at one another in a stand off.
"GRAAA!"
Bursting from the forign and invasive liquid that opposed the Sea of Life, a massive Wyvern then burst and shrieks at them.
"Kill them all! For mother!" Berserker Ushiwakamaru yelled as she, her copies, and the Lahmus then rushed at these invaders.
"Come Grimm!" The Grimmified Ushiwakamaru grinned as she held her blade. "For the God of Darkness!"
Like so, both sides collided!
"Ow!" With the same being said for the battle between the Brother Gods and Tiamat. The God of Darkness himself having attempted to slam into Tiamat only for the colossal Divine God to create a barrier strong enough to block him. In retaliation, the God of Darkness let an unnatural ooze come out of his mouth. Ooze that fell but soon formed into none other than Grimm. Nevermores, Griffons, Manticores, and other types that launched themselves at Tiamat.
"Uuuuooohhhhhh!" Tiamat then gave a beautiful yet terrifying sound and from her Sea of Life flying Lahmu came out all as strong as a Servant and are known as Bel Laḫmu. Ordinary Grimm stood no chance.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
"Ku?" Which is why the God of Darkness decided to change the game a little.
"While humanity is rather unworthy of my gifts," The God of Darkness says as he overlooks his own children battling Timat's little brats. "My Grimm shows otherwise."
From a Nevermores flaps gust of ice came and froze some of the Bel Lahmu. Griffons shot streams of purple lasers. Down below Beringel Grimm enveloped their fists in fire. Beowolves covered their claws in fiery flames. The Lahmus surprised by this new threat, as up until now they have had their way with killing the humans. Now, they faced a new threat that while lacking the malicious intent they possessed, wielded raw savagery and the desire to kill all sapient life.
"Okay. That's cool." With the final Master Ritsuka looking at the battle in awe. Seeing the Lahmus face these Creatures of Grimm that were apparently magically powered up. Mash herself also watches the fight between two different species and is more than...surprised.
"What...what are those things?" Mash asks aloud as she sees, in her view, black bone armored Demonic Beasts being killed while killing Tiamat's children. Also seeing the God of Darkness trying to kill Tiamat, though not without problem. Da Vinci and Roman having a field day analyzing the new creatures.
"This is...this is incredible!" Roman says as he analyzes the new liquid that clashes with the Sea of Life. "All the readings here we're getting is that this liquid the God of Darkness is making matches Tiamat on some level. Producing offspring of all sorts but of a different breed!"
Da Vinci gave her own input on the creatures. "They seem to be composed of negative energy as well and possess no soul at all. Not to mention they wield traits similar to the Lahmu and need no form of sustenance like them."
"That's because my brother has made them this way." Mash and Ritsuka looked up and saw the God of Light floating above them. The higher being watching as his brother fought the massive Goddess with some success though causing no form of fatal damage. Explaining a bit of the Grimm the heroes are now seeing. "They are the Grimm. Creatures made to hunt the living and annihilate those who wield the aspect of life. A desire to wipe out humanity, which includes this new 'humanity' that Tiamat is making."
"Hold up." Roman then asks while also observing the fight between the species. Seeing the Lahmu tear apart a pack of the elephant Grimm while a Sphinx rips the head off some Lahmu while the snake tail shoots out lightning. "Your brother made them to kill humanity?"
"Of sorts." The God of Light decides to be more specific. "After the two of us created humanity, my brother let the Grimm to hunt humanity to challenge them, make them grow."
"That...sounds like something a God would do." Mash says where nearby, Ishtar nods as she makes her shots at the Lahmu coming at them. Having read tales of how the Gods, for good or petty reasons, would send beasts to attack humanity for their own reasons.
"On the bright side, at least these things are on our side." Ritsuka says as she sees that while the Lahmu were killing a lot of the magically empowered Grimm, the Lahmu were not entirely happy in facing an enemy that can actually hurt and kill them. Didn't help that the Lahmu had no magical powers at all while the Grimm did.
"Maybe so, but…" Ishtar then looks to see the God of Darkness. Who was getting rather tired of facing a foe that could block his attacks frustrating him. Flying high above her, the higher being then hissed.
"Fine." He says as he looks straight at Tiamat's eyes, who does the same to him. Hostility seen in both their eyes. "It seems I'll need to get more serious." With such words said, the God of Darkness flew high into the air above Tiamat. His mouth began glowing ominously, where he then pointed it directly at Tiamat and a flash was then seen.
FWWWWW!
Where everybody but the God of Light and Tiamat covered their ears and their eyes were blinded by a beam of highly destructive purple energy that was wide enough to cover Tiamat. Beast two screeched as the beam hit her entirely and the Lahmu near her incinerated to nothing. An attack so powerful, that back in Chaldea many sensors that were observing the fight between two powerful Gods instantly were destroyed as they were overloaded by the sheer energy.
"Damn!" Ritsuka shouts as the light starts receding. "What the hell was that!?"
"That was my brother using his destruction." The God of Light responds. "It seems he decided to get serious as Tiamat is showing more resistance than he expected."
"Serious!" Roman yells over the communications. "Your brother just sent enough energy to power an entire city for several centuries."
"Doesn't matter." Da Vinci interrupts Roman as she starts observing the aftermath. "With this, maybe Tiamat has been...oh come on!"
It wasn't just Da Vinci that felt this. Mash, Ritsuka, Ishtar, the God of Light, and naturally the God of Darkness himself showed shock as once the light faded, it showed Tiamat more or less alive still. Granted, it was clear the attack did much damage as she was scorched all over and the Sea of Life around her was gone.
"Uooooaaahhhhhh!" Yet even then she still lived and unleashed her own power against the God of Darkness who hastily dodged. A few beams hit him though and made the God of Darkness hiss at such destructive hits.
"I better help him." Ishtar turns to the God of Light in slight surprise.
"Wait, then why haven't you before?" She then asks. Something the God of Light answered.
"While I can fight, I'm a being of Creation, attuned to it." He answers with Ritsuka's understanding now. Before Gilgamesh's death protecting her, he did mention a little fact about the Gods themselves. Of their positions in the world.
"You can mainly create while your brother mainly destroys." Her answer caused the God of Light to nod.
"Indeed. Still," The God of Light then gazed at the Grimm. "I can help change the tide a bit." The God of Light's eyes gleamed for a bit and from there, the battle changed again.
"Die!" A Lahmu chitters as it and it's brethren slaughtered another Grimm . While doing so, a Beowolf howled and ran at it's target. Throwing it's clawed hand at it, a burst of water came and slammed into the Lahmu and sent them away. Unfortunately one Lahmu came from behind laughing wildly and sliced the poor Grimm into several pieces.
"Weak! Weak!" The Lahmu declares turning away. "Not strong! Borning! Boring!" However as it turned to kill another Grimm, it suddenly felt something grab it's leg. Looking down, it then saw none other than the same Beowolf it had slain, pulling itself back together and soon back into one good piece again. Which then proceeded to howl as it then used it's magic to turn it's claws to electricity and slice through the Lahmu's chest. The Lahmu only has one thing to say. "Eh?"
It then died.
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
Suddenly, the Lahmus all over were being confused. As the Grimm they slayed wouldn't stay down at all. Didn't matter if they crushed them, bisected them, tore them up, clawed them, or anything of the sort. The Grimm they faced just pulled themselves together and with red glowing eyes, roared and kept on attacking and attacking.
"What is this?" The daughter of Tiamat Ushiwakamaru yells as she slices down the Grimmified copy of her. Only for said copy to reattach her torso and grin. Taking her blade and slamming it against Berserker Ushiwakamaru, she laughed.
"Our Master's brother has gifted us!" She yells as Berserker Ushiwakamaru stabs at her head. Yet instead of dying or turning to black smoke like previously, this version still lived. The Grimmified Ushiwakamaru just kept on running despite the blade in her and stabbed her own weapon into Berserker Ushiwakamaru who gasped as she was run through, and now dying off. "For we are immortal."
The Lahmu were powerful, and by technicality were also immortal. By age only though. As while they were very resistant and needed a lot to take them down, the magically empowered Grimm and Grimmified Ushiwakamaru could still kill them while thanks to the God of Light, the Grimm were now incapable of dying off this time anymore. With the Lahmu themselves now feeling something they hadn't felt until now.
Frustration.
"Die." One Lahmu says as it tears the head of a Creep off. Only for the head to regenerate. "Die!" the Creep roared as it rammed into the Lahmu. The perverse human tearing at it only for the Grimm to regenerate again. "Die. Die. Die. Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Dieeee!"
The humans had been fun to kill. To mess with. So weak. Pathetic. Fun to mess with them before slaughtering them. These Grimm though, they were different. Relentless. Unfeeling. Cold. Nothing they did seemed to even bother them. It didn't matter how they tore at them or ripped them up even when they regenerated. They just kept attacking and attacking.
No form of self-preservation.
No sign of actual intelligence.
Just beasts made to slaughter them.
This frustration in the Lahmu. It made them angry. Disgusted. A feeling of putrid started to affect them, as they faced an enemy that wouldn't wail or beg. An enemy that could fight them back, kill them, and just wouldn't. Damn. Die!
"Why won't you die!?" Many Lahmu shrieked as they began attacking relentlessly themselves as this new horrible feeling enveloped them at their enemy. The Grimm in turn just kept on going as their master told them to. Who at the moment was becoming angered himself at Tiamat and her inability to be properly killed.
"Brother." The God of Darkness communicated to Light. "Tiamat. I cannot seem to kill her properly. Damage her, yes." The God sent a stream of energy at the Bal Lahmu that came close to him while commanding his flying Grimm to deal with them. "But there is something that makes her incapable of taking a true death."
"That's because of the Paradox surrounding her." A sound could be heard and suddenly beams of light came and slammed into Tiamat's face. The God of Darkness's head turned to none other than Ishtar, flying with him with her own Boat of Heaven Maanna. Who was now helping him.
"Explain." The God of Darkness demanded making Ishtar scowled. Though she relented since he was probably their greatest weapon against Tiamat, being a true God and not a Divine Spirit.
"To dumb it down, Mother cannot die unless all life on this world is wiped out." Ishatr explains while shooting down Bal Lahmu and avoiding Tiamat's attacks with the God of Darkness. "Otherwise, she cannot be killed even with attacks like yours."
"Is that so?" The God of Darkness chuckled. "Why didn't you say so earlier. I can extinguish all life forms of this world." A purple orb appeared in his hand. One that made Ishtar shiver as it was a power that a vast majority of Servants wouldn't be able to reach. "Yes. This will do nicely!"
"Hold up!" Ishtar then yells at Dark. "You can't wipe out all life here!"
"Pretty sure I can."
"I mean literally!" Ishtar shouts. "We're trying to save the world. The people in it. Not finish Tiamat's job!"
"My brother can bring them back."
"Yeah well-..." Ishtar then paused. "Wait...what?"
"My brother is attuned to creation." The God of Darkness explains himself. "He can just bring back all life after I've wiped them out. I can also do it myself, and while not as great as him, resurrection is no big deal."
That should be impossible. As the rules go out, once a person dies they stay dead. Yes there are methods to cheat death, extend one's life, or find a way to reincarnate in some form. However the fact is that once a person dies there's no coming back as the soul is absorbed back to the origin, the Root, and then reincarnated in another form in another time. Yet this guy was saying they can bring them back to life.
'Now that I think about it?' Ishtar thought suspiciously. "These two aren't even from around here." As in they had no human origin or myth of them. They came from beyond the stars, hell, they weren't even part of the order of Gaia. Because of this reason, this may be the cause of why their abilities and powers were so different. Still, "Doesn't matter. We can't kill all life. Besides, we have another plan." Ishtar points down at the ground.
The God of Darkness looks confused, and he had a freakin skull head with no muscle or flesh. "Am I supposed to understand what's happening?"
"Guh!" Ishtar swears a little. "Listen. My sister has an idea to bring Mother into the afterlife, where there is no living beings at all. From there that stupid paradox surrounding her should vanish and she can then be killed."
"Meaning I can wipe her out." The God of Darkness then gives what Ishtar believes is a smile.
"Exactly." She nods, glad the God of Darkness won't wipe out all life in this Singularity. Because who knows what the consequences would be if all life in this unstable Singularity would be if that did happen. "We just need Tiamat to step closer to Uruk so my sister can collapse the ground and have her fall into the afterlife."
"Or." The God of Darkness interrupts. "I can do this."
Then with speed and the destructive might of a meteor, the God of Darkness enveloped himself into energy that launched towards Tiamat. Or at least what Tiamat thought, as instead of hitting her Dark instead slammed so hard into the ground that the entire land surrounding Tiamat cracked and quite literally shattered all around her. If the God of Darkness can break the moon with no problem, then breaking the ground was below child's play.
Everyone watched as Tiamat was unable to do anything as she began to fall into the Underworld.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Ereshkigal yells as she sees her home begin to become more of a mess than it has in centuries. Rock and Lahmus along with these Grimm falling all over with Tiamat coming down like a rock. While Ereshkigal knew that the plan required for Tiamat to enter the Underworld, she hadn't even been in the spot to make her fall and now all this was happening.
"Sorry sis!" Suddenly Ishtar came from above with Maana as she came to her. "We had an impatient one quicken the process."
"Impatient. Impatient!" Ereshkigal pulled at her hair. "The Underworld was already super gloomy. But now it's a huge mess. Get me the jerk who did this and I'll-"
"You'll what?"
Ereshkigal then squeaked as behind her she saw a goat skull with no eyes and a dragonic body looking at her. Though before she could do anything she saw some figures far above the hole where Tiamat fell in. Thanks to being a Goddess, she could hear them just fine.
"Is everything alright down there?" None other than Ritsuka. Oh. How she was so sweet alongside the girl Mash who also waved.
"I'm good." Ereshkigal smiles with a slight blush on her.
"Good." She then yelps as another dragon, this one being gold, comes in. "In that case, I assume we can now deal with this plan to stop Tiamat once and for all?"
"...wh-who are these two?" Ereshkigal then asks, observing these two strange, and very powerful, beings in her home. Both emitting energy that rivaled Tiamat and quite frankly, made her nervous. Ishtar sighed while she sent Maana to pick up Ritsuka and Mash and waved her hand at the two Gods.
"God of Light. God of Dark. Ereshkigal, my sister."
"Whatever."
"A pleasure."
"Right…" Ereshkigal says deciding to just forget about this whole thing. If they weren't attacking her, then they must be allies of sorts. Though it seemed the two looked a bit uncomfortable for some reason. "Is...something wrong with you guys?"
"We're fine." The God of Light says. "It's just, there seems to be something off about this place."
"Off." The God of Darkness scoffs. "I can feel myself weakening here! Is there some fool trying to attack us? If so…" His mouth began glowing with Ereshkigal slowly stepping away.
"Don't worry about that." Coming down on Maana, Ritsuka came in with Mash. "According to what we were told, all Gods aside from Ereshkigal are weakened on her turf."
"Weakened!" The God of Darkness didn't like that.
"There's also the fact that while the will of Gaia is weakened, it likely senses both you and your Brother as 'threats' and trying to suppress your powers." Mash adds in making the God of Darkness in a worse bad mood while the God of Light comes to a slight understanding.
"Perhaps that is why the others use mortal hosts then?" He said getting everyone's confusion, though in his brother's case, anger.
"Oh no. No!" Dark then spitefully says as he reverts back to his humanoid form with Light doing the same. Dark then pointed a finger at Ishtar. "I refuse to reduce myself to their level. Do you not remember what happened to the flower!?"
"I do." Light answers while everyone wonders who they're talking about.
"Let's also recall that fool which started the whole bio-mecha crap!" Dark adds on. "Or that stupid bird and the ice! Either way, I refuse to inhabit a mortal vessel!"
"Not like having a human is all bad." Ishtar mutters with Ereshkigal feeling the same.
"Um...Guys?" Suddenly from Ritsuka's communicator a voice came out. It was Roman, who looked very nervous. "Look. I get you're all talking, but…" Instead of continuing, Roman just pointed to the left.
"Uuuoooooaaaahhhhh!" Everyone then turned, and from there saw none other than Tiamat rising like the colossal titan she is. No, it was even worse than that. Like the first time, Tiamat began transforming once again. Her body shifting, her body morphing. Roman himself freaking out as he explained what was going on with everyone becoming shocked.
SHNNN!
Only for a blast of purple energy hitting her and making her collapse. Interrupting the transformation.
"..." Everyone then looked at the God of Darkness who then just said one thing.
"Are you all fools?" He raises his hands and energy bursts out. Shocked that everybody was doing nothing in front of the enemy. "Kill her!"
In that instant everybody turned to face Tiamat. Rather than let her finish a transformation into a form that even the Brothers felt would be troublesome, instead they had to fight very, very fast. With no Lahmus coming to Tiamat's aid, and her fall weakening her in the Underworld, they had one shot at this. As such, while reluctant, the God of Darkness decided to...uh, share.
"Woah!" Ritsuka then felt a rush of energy, and from her fingers sparks came out. Mash reacted the same way as she felt a surge of power coming off from her. Ishtar and Ereshkigal also felt their magical energy increase as the God of Darkness connected to them and began filling them with more pure magical energy than what Ritsuka herself could supply them with.
"This is only a one time deal." The God of Darkness tells them as he himself deemed this situation an emergency to defeat Tiamat. The God of Light himself also acted too. While these weren't his humans, at the very least he felt protective enough to aid them against Tiamat.
Like with his brother, the God of Light gave Mash and Ritsuka a gift alongside the magic. One that shocked them both when he said, "If something bad befalls you, you will resurrect."
"Eh?" Mash says as she couldn't believe her ears. Roman himself flabbergasted as he saw Mash's readings.
"No way. Both of you...you're i-immortal." Not to mention, as Roman didn't wish to say aloud, Mash's lifespan was...she was no longer at risk of dying prematurely! Fou himself blinking at this as he stood near Mash.
"Uh, deal with this later!" Ishtar yells as she and Ereshkigal ready themselves. "We have a Beast to kill!" In that instant the entire group acted. The God of Darkness shot forth massive energy beams that could wipe out buildings with ease. Ishtar sent countless Gandrs that could destroy the skulls of any Demonic Beasts in a gory mess. Ereshkigal sends forth waves of magical copies of her spear. Ritsuka herself also sent waves of her newly gifted magic at Tiamat alongside Mash. Granted, compared to two Gods and two Divine Spirits it wasn't actually as damaging but hey, every effort counted.
Tiamat, screeched as everybody began assaulting her. Incapable of even transforming as the damage of all those attacks interrupted the process. The pain affected her badly. However, even then her durability was impressive as those attacks still weren't leaving any form of fatal wound. Not to mention she did have an ace up her sleeve that helped.
"Uooaaahhhhhh!" She still had her vocal cords.
From above countless Lahmus came downward. While some were grabbed by the Grimm, unwilling to let them get past them, most just bashed them and shoved forward. It seemed Tiamat had every intention to use them as back-up. All the Lahmus heading toward the group to kill them all.
"I think not." It was then the God of Light made his move. While not as good a fighter as his brother, that didn't make him any less useless. Silver eyes stared at these so-called humans and then made a gesture towards them in his dragonic form.
Any Lahmu that came into his sight, instantly began dissolving into light. Like he did to a certain hero eons ago, the Lahmu deconstructed into nothingness as the God of Light got rid of them.
Tiamat screeched as her very children were reduced to nothing.
"Okay. That's a handy power." Ishtar admits as she sees the God of Light manipulate matter itself and destroy the enemy without even fighting them. She smirks as she then utilizes her Noble Phantasm, where with the power of Venus she then vaporizes as many Lahmu that dared to come down. Yet even with such victory her eyes then refocuses on Tiamat and scowls. "Still, there's a problem. How is it that Tiamat isn't dead at all!?"
Yes she had insane durability even for most Gods. However, all four Gods were throwing a lot of power at her yet she still wasn't dead. Not to mention the electricity surrounding her from intruding in the Underworld. What was going on? Yet when those words were said, the God of Light realized something.
"You mentioned that as long as something is alive, she'll be forever immortal?" He asked.
"Correct." Ereshkigal nods. "Which is why we brought her here in the Underworld where there are no living things."
"But," The God of Light then brings up the obvious. "What about us two? And the Lahmus? Aren't they living beings in the Underworld, including my brother and I?"
"..." Upon hearing that, Ereshkigal paused with Ritsuka also having her eyes widened while Mash gasped. They brought Tiamat here because there was no life, only the dead. Ereshkigal made an exception for Ritsuka, Fou, and Mash. Yet, what about the two Brothers who are more than alive and far from dead. Meaning by extension, Tiamat's paradoxal protection is still in place.
"That...was an oversight." Roman then admits as they certainly didn't think of that. Then again, they didn't expect two Outer Gods to come but still.
"Ya think!" Ishtar shouts at them.
"In that case," Da Vinci then spoke up. "We have the Brothers and everybody else can then deal with all the Lahmu coming down from entering. Allowing Ereshkigal to finish Tiamat off."
"And that would have been a good idea." The God of Darkness then says. "Except we have a problem."
"Hm?" Ritsuka then looks at Dark. "What do you-oh crap!"
In a final last ditch effort, Tiamat focused her power and sent a mass concentration of energy at them. The God of Light instantly teleported everybody away from the blast that caused immense damage to the Underworld. While everybody reappeared again nearby, the time that was used to teleport them was the time Tiamat needed to transform.
With her roar, her body morphed and changed like the Brother Gods. Unlike them though, her transformation emitted pure raw power. Even the Brothers were shocked by just how much energy she was gaining with this new form. Everyone was unable to stop Tiamat as she became something...that defied all reason.
"UUUUOOOOOAAAHHHHHHH!" With a massive body that also made whatever feminie charm it had go down to zero and great wings, everybody stood on guard against Timats new form. It became clear that Tiamat has become something that no mere being can ever hope to face. Those in Chaldea freaking out at the new form Tiamat had while those in the Singularity saw all wounds vanish away.
"Well this is bad." The God of Light says as he turns into his humanoid form. "This is a power that matches those of genesis."
"She's...she's become something that almost nothing can face." Ereshkigal freezes up at the sight.
"Can we...can we even stop her?" Ritsuka then asks aloud. As she and Mash watch Tiamat rise and face them. More Lahmu coming down with the Grimm unable to stop them. The latter were powerful, but they were still outnumbered from the start and immortality didn't exactly help in stopping them.
The two Brothers themselves looked at each other.
Technically they could kill Tiamat...at the cost of destroying this planet, or Singularity which would cause a massive backlash on the earth which would do nobody no favors. Meaning...everybody was stumped. Didn't help matters when Tiamat began producing her Sea of Life in the Underworld within the Underworld making Ereshkigal freak out. Nobody had a clue on what to even do.
"I have to say, this is a story certainly worth watching." Then, to everyone's shock, the very Sea of Life began turning into flowers of all things. Where from the sky came none other than-
"Merlin!" Mash and Ritsuka shouts.
"Yep. I'm here!" The Caster Class Servant smiles. "And I must say, I certainly didn't expect this wonderful tale to have two interlopers." Merlin then gives a grin at the two Brothers. "Thanks to you two here, you have stalled Tiamat quite a bit allowing this situation to happen rather wonderfully. Giving enough time for them to show up."
"Him?" Mash says as Merlin then just points up. One where far above at the top of the hole were two individuals. One who looked like an old man, and the other who was-!
"Gilgamesh!" Ritsuka gasps with everybody else, aside from the two Brothers, surprised at seeing what was supposed to be a dead king.
"Mwahaahaha!" Gilgamesh laughed as he watched everyone and their expressions. "As if death could stop me from witnessing this final battle between us and the bringer of all life in this world." His eyes then narrowed at the two Brothers. "And while there are some intrusive guests here, the King will ignore it out of kindness."
The God of Darkness did not like that tone. Though ignoring that, Ritsuka then saw someone else and had to take another look. "Kingu!"
"Hmph." Kingu looks away. "Honestly, to think you fools couldn't even beat her despite all the advantages you had. And to think I planned to sacrifice myself just to slow her down."
It wasn't just him either though. Being nearby is also none other than Benkeii and Grimmified Ushiwakamaru. "You didn't think I'd miss this, did I?" The Grimmified Servant chuckles darkly yet seems to be less hostile than the Tiamat copies. Benkei himself just watched silently but satisfied. It seemed everybody had gathered for here and now, to finish off Tiamat once and for all.
"Yes. It seems we have all gathered here on this day." Merlin says as everybody looks at him. "From Servants, to Gods, to the final Master of humanity. Versus the Mother who has become Beast two." Merlin waves his cape as he sets his eyes on Tiamat. "An evil of humanity has come, and thanks to you Fujimaru, the conditions have been met."
"Conditions?" Ritsuka asks in confusion with Merlin smiling.
"Indeed." He said. "Thanks to you, and all the work everybody has done, this final act can be accomplished."
"Then let us set the curtain then." Gilgamesh grins as he looks at the cloaked man. "Well oh Grand Assassin, are you not going to strike or will you bore us and even Tiamat to death?"
While the old man didn't respond, he did move. From the top of the hole did he vanish, only to reappear so fast and quickly down to Tiamat's level. The great Beast now looking at him yet was unable to make the old man feel any fear. Where at last he then spoke.
"All that begins comes to an end. So to that all lives dies find value" The old man then speaks up, as everybody, even Tiamat listens. As his form then begins to change, with everyone sensing a sinister feel to him that made even the Brothers feel a shiver. "Beast of Disaster," The man nears his speech to the end. "Evil born of humanities folly. Return to thy roots oh fallen beast. Primordial mother thou no belongs to this time. For I the Old Man of the Mountain Hassan," His entire form then reverted to what he really is. A Grand Assassin, with a face that said death itself and blue eyes that narrowed toward Tiamat itself. "And I bring death!"
Tiamat roared as she attempted to attack.
"I think not!" Only for chains to appear and grapple at her. Ensuring she couldn't attack. Chains the God of Light made to stop her, and from the sky Kingu came rolling his eyes.
"Oh please. If you want real chains...then let me show you how it's done!" Golden chains then came and also wrapped around Tiamat who roared in defiance. Her Lahmu tried to help, but Ishtar came in with a vengeance.
"Why don't you creeps just die already!" She yelled as she shot at them all.
"The king normally doesn't bother with cleaning up trash." Gilgamesh spoke as swords came out from his gate of Babylon. "But today, I made an exception." They then came out as fast as lightning, destroying the Lahmus that dared to think to pass by him.
"Yes!" Grimmified Ushiwakamaru yells as she begins another slaying of the Lahmus. "Let us end these abominations."
"As you say my friend." Benkei agrees and joins her.
As for the Old Man of the Mountain, he made his move. "Touch not the sky," He said as he lifted his blade. Ritsuka watched closely alongside Mash as everyone else began to fight. Grand Assassin enveloped in blue flames that signified an end. "For my heaven's will, I strip thee of thy wings!"
Tiamat tried to attack him with reddish black lasers.
"Not happening!" But with the chains restricting her movement, it allowed the God of Darkness to teleport above her and then land on her skull. With pleasure, Dark transformed back into his own dragonic form and produced the Grimm liquid from his mouth that burned at Tiamat, her shots missing.
Not that it would matter, as Hassan made his move. His swings struck true, and while to one's ordinary eyes it seemed he had missed, not even hitting flesh, in truth Hassan did hit something.
"Oh." The God of Light says as while utilizing his power to create numerous chains, he watches Hassan attack with unnatural flames. "Now that's an interesting power."
Immortality came in many forms. From being incapable of aging, to regenerating to the type that transcended like Tiamat. Such a gift was tough to get by. Hassan however had a way around it though. A Grand Assassin he may be, and while incapable of killing Tiamat himself as she proved too strong, he had another way to deal with her. For his attacks may not be harming her on a physical level, the results they produced were something else.
Where for a brief moment, all saw strange lines appear all around her. One that signified an end to immortality.
"Fujimaru!" Romani then shouts at Ritsuka. "Hassan! He-he did it! He actually evoked a Concept of Death onto Tiamat."
"Wait, what?" Ritsuka responds as she didn't know what this entirely meant. Da Vinci just gave a small explanation.
"It means Tiamat can now be defeated." The genius told her. "Tell the two Gods or Gilgamesh this. With the power they produce, they can kill Tiamat with ease now."
"Got it!" Ritsuka then turns as she sees how everybody is doing their best to restrain the great Mother. From chains to Ereshkigal summoning some form of pillar rocks. Tiamat screeched as she was unable to move or even escape yet doing her damn best as she to felt the concept of death invoked onto her. Ritsuka ran quickly towards those who she knew could defeat Tiamat once and for all.
Shouting, "You guys! Tiamat can be killed!"
"Killed?" If he had a proper human face, Dark would be grinning. "Now that changes things."
"We have her restrained!" Light communicates as he and Kingu stop any unnecessary movements. Ensuring she couldn't escape the Underworld for fear of getting back her immortality.
"Meaning you guys need to act now!" Ereshkigal then pleads to her sister, Gilgamesh, and Dark. Using the power she gained from Nergal to entrap Tiamat just as much as the chains were. Tiamat is Lahmu are being killed by Gilgamesh and the Grimm to ensure she got no back-up. Hassan constantly weakened her and Merlin ensuring the Chaos Tide did no harm to the Underworld. Meaning this was their only shot now.
"Very well then." A shot the God of Darkness was more than willing to take. Flying high in the air, Dark then stopped and looked down at Tiamat where for the first time he then saw her eyes. Eyes of madness. Of destruction. Of hate and fear. Yet deep within those eyes were also something else.
Love and pain.
"You really were once different, Tiamat." Dark and his brother Light have lived for eons. As such, they met other Gods before, including Tiamat. Granted, they only met her once and never even spoke to her. Yet during that brief moment of meeting, Dark saw a completely different Goddess. One who gave care for humanity, more so than even him despite the pride he once felt for humans. Who had loved them all and never truly wished to harm them. Now instead of that Goddess, she was replaced with a being who wished to kill them all and replace them with the mockery known as Lahmu.
For all of Dark's anger at humanity, and disgust, he felt repulsed by the Lahmu. They had no need for food. Were immortal in their own way. Strong and above any human. Can grow in intelligence and create strategies.
Like the Creatures of Grimm.
'Only,' Dark thoughts. 'The Grimm are meant to challenge humanity. Not wipe them to extinction.'
With that, the God of Darkness then raised his mouth where the destructive energy within him gathered up. Tiamat roared as she then attempted to use a final card. One that could overwrite this entire world. Instead she found herself frozen as Light instantly stopped time around her. It won't last forever, but it was enough. Enough for Dark to gather power that could destroy a moon and more.
"Good-bye Tiamat." Dark says to Beast two as he then gives Tiamat one last look. "I hope...you can find peace with this."
Time unfroze around Tiamat, who broke free due to the raw power she had. Kingu and Light left out of range, and Tiamat could only see a dark purple beam then head her way. She still had a chance to unleash her final move, Nega-Genesis. And yet...closing her eyes, Tiamat stayed still.
The beam then enveloped her.
A purple light flashed over all as the beam slammed into Tiamat. The Goddess of Life herself faces pure destruction with no form of defense to aid her. Her body, afflicted with the concept of death, breaking down at such might. Collapsing from head to toe as she is slowly being vaporized to the nothingness.
All this was watched by Ritsuka, who while she knew couldn't be heard, still said it anyway. "We may be leaving you Tiamat...but humans still love you."
It went unnoticed by all, yet a single tear then left Tiamat's eyes as then at long last her body gave out. With her Saint Graph then being annihilated, and at last Tiamat then vanishing away.
The battle...was done.
While I tried to figure out a way to make this smaller, this became longer than what I thought. So consider this an Interlude where next time we come back, it'll feature the aftermath of what happened here. And yeah, thanks to the Brothers' presence some sacrifices weren't made like Kingu and Benkei and capable of stalling Tiamat from using Nega-Genesis in time. Granted, it also meant Ritsuka and Mash played a smaller role.
So some good and bad things overall. With Ritsuka and Mash gaining (temporarily) cool powers and immortality. Shame that won't last but hey, cool while it lasted. Next time, we go back into the regular chapters.
The Matou house was a mess, and there were holes everywhere.
"Damn it. Damn you Rider." Shinji whines as he sits in the living room. Having seen his room which wasn't pretty at all.
Shirou himself just sits down and lies back on the sofa. Feeling so tired after all that moving with his back aching from slamming into the tree. Though he was much better off than Ozpin who felt he had pushed his body a bit too much.
"Here you go Master." Musashi then arrives with water bottles. "Best to hydrate and all, ya know."
"Um. Thanks, Saber." Shirou accepts his water bottle while Shinji knocks his away, upset at what still happened to his room. "It's appreciated."
"It is indeed." Ozpin moans as he looks at his wrist. It was a bit cracked and it'll take time for aura to heal it. He did not want to face Berserker again. That Servant was a nightmare to face.
Meanwhile, Sakura was busy in the kitchen to make them food. Shirou attempted to help but his back said otherwise and he was forced to sit down. The television was on where apparently they made the news...kinda.
"-wild polar bear ridden by some girl chasing three men. Witnesses say a brave young man crashed into the beast but the bear and girl had long since left."
Shirou turned off the television. "I don't suppose we got any plans to face Berserker, do we?"
"Nope." Ozpin says.
"My magazines." Shinji couldn't care less and was more focused on his stuff.
Shirou sighed. It seems things were going to be a lot more difficult than they thought in defeating Berserker. Hell! If they couldn't beat one Servant, then what'll happen when they face Caster and Assassin? Nothing good Shirou could bet. Especially with Caster who had undoubtedly been preparing defenses since they last met.
'So this is a Holy Grail War?' Shirou thought glumly. It seems...the path to being a hero was going to take a lot longer than he thought.
"Hey." Ozpin then spoke up. "Is it me, or do you feel like we missed something important?"
"...no?" Shirou says carefully, unsure by what Ozpin even meant.
"I see." Ozpin then shrugs. "Must be my imagination then."