]
"Not a big problem!"
Thanks to his immense vitality, Alaric ignored all the injuries caused by the combined assault of Gorgon and Kingu. Almost simultaneously, he flipped up and stood back on his feet.
Even Gorgon's petrifying beams did not affect him. The ever-flowing crimson magic within him ground away the foreign magic power in an instant, obliterating it.
Tap. Tap.
As Alaric stood up, Kingu landed not far away, staring at him from a distance.
Behind Kingu, the looming figure of the goddess seemed to blot out the sky as she crushed the earth beneath her. Her golden wings consumed all light, leaving only the countless serpentine strands of hair writhing wildly. The crimson eyes of the snakes stared directly at Alaric as if preparing for the hunt.
Since being forcibly knocked to the ground by Kingu, Alaric had been faced with the daunting task of fighting against two god-tier beings simultaneously.
Yet Alaric, filled with unyielding confidence, could not retreat. The citizens of Nippur, led by Fujimaru and the others, had only just begun their evacuation.
"ROAR!!!"
As Gorgon approached, deafening roars echoed like thunder, accompanied by the ground-shaking sound of stomping. It was as if a tidal wave was crashing toward Alaric.
Countless demonic beasts surged forth from the blood-soaked temple, stampeding toward Alaric!
As the goddess of monsters, Gorgon naturally commanded an endless army of demonic beasts to fight on her behalf.
Seeing the incoming horde, Alaric's lips curled into a grin.
If Gorgon had deployed most of her forces against him, then Fujimaru and the others would have had a much easier time. At the very least, there would be no civilian casualties.
"This is quite the challenge!"
Alaric cracked his neck and smiled leisurely at Kingu and the approaching Gorgon. The dragon's blood within him boiled fiercely.
Kingu had already deduced the limits of Alaric's holy judgment, but Kingu's maximum firepower had yet to be revealed.
Was the Age of Babylon Kingu's limit?
Alaric didn't think so.
Kingu's strength was evident even in his posture—his sheer presence was terrifying.
But it was this challenge that made Alaric's blood race with excitement.
"Kingu! You're as strong as I thought!"
Even when facing innumerable enemies, Alaric laughed heartily. Under Kingu's watchful gaze, the holy spear in his hand dissolved into scattered light.
Seeing this, Kingu's lips curved into a faint smile, his demeanor calm and composed, like a victor addressing a defeated opponent. "Former human, you've finally decided to give up. If you submit to me and reveal the truth about Mother, I might spare your life and refrain from casting you into Gorgon's lair."
Initially, Kingu had planned to throw Alaric into Gorgon's lair, using the authority of his mother to transform him. But now, it seemed that Alaric was proving to be too troublesome.
Were it not for Kingu's absolute confidence, Gorgon alone might have fallen to Alaric.
"Tiamat? Honestly, I don't understand it either."
At these words, Alaric shook his head and sighed. "I'd love to know why Tiamat has any connection to me."
Before his words had fully landed, light began to flicker in Alaric's hand.
[Projection]
With a surge of magic, a golden holy sword reappeared in Alaric's grasp.
Though it was merely an imitation, its hardness was comparable to a low-grade Noble Phantasm, making it an excellent weapon.
"Ah, using swords feels much better!" Alaric's eyes gleamed like gemstones, as the concept of inevitable death flooded his mind. He lowered his stance, raised his sword, and stared at Kingu. "I am the first assassin of Uruk. Do you dare meet my gaze for 30 seconds?"
Even the Chains of Heaven could not escape the inevitability of death.
Enkidu, after all, was granted death by the gods themselves when he and Gilgamesh jointly defeated the Bull of Heaven, unleashed by Ishtar to devastate civilization.
And as Enkidu's successor, Kingu could not escape the boundaries of mortality either.
Compared to the holy spear Rhongomyniad, Alaric preferred sword-type weapons. Perhaps this preference was a mark left by his experiences over the past six months.
Moreover, when utilizing the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, swords and daggers were far more suitable for slicing the lines of death, unlike the cumbersome spear.
"You… stop looking at me with those eyes!"
Seeing Alaric assume a battle-ready stance once more, Kingu, feeling as though he had been mocked, grew even more enraged by the presence of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Golden runes glimmered beneath his feet once again!
Behind him, Gorgon finally arrived with an unending tide of demonic beasts surging beneath her. They swept past Kingu and charged toward Alaric in unison!
Buzz!
Almost simultaneously, the hundreds of serpentine strands of Gorgon's hair unleashed blinding magical light, empowered by the Holy Grail, seeking to turn Alaric into stone—to grant him eternal life as a statue.
The apocalyptic scene unfolded before Alaric, darkening the azure sky as though eternity itself had descended into silence.
Boom!
With a muffled explosion, Alaric moved like a swimming dragon, weaving through the horde of beasts. His icy sword aura slashed through everything in its path, cutting down all who stood before him!
Splatter!
Scarlet blood mist filled the air, painting the incoming golden weapons with a macabre hue.
Buzz!
From the counterfeit Gate of Babylon, crimson lightning surged continuously, purging the blood mist and intertwining with the golden radiance.
The resulting shockwaves shattered the beams of petrifying light, preventing them from touching Alaric at all.
Alaric's body twisted and turned, skillfully evading the golden weapons and Gorgon's magical beams that his holy judgment couldn't neutralize.
Having realized the limits of his holy judgment, Alaric devised a strategy:
Compensate with skill.
If his holy judgment couldn't block everything, then he would simply cut down what remained with his sword.
With a steady supply of magic, Alaric could now unleash his power more boldly, without worrying about running dry. Even on his own, he could intercept most of the attacks!
Time passed swiftly. Out of caution over Alaric's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Kingu refrained from engaging in close combat. Instead, he continuously unleashed [Age of Babylon] to attack, summoning an endless parade of silver magic bullets that roared across the sky. Their magical beams obscured all of Alaric's sight.
The already-ruined land, devastated by Alaric's holy judgment and Kingu's Noble Phantasm, suffered further destruction. The desolate battlefield was flooded with crimson blood, as though a river of gore had emerged.
Some demonic beasts, caught in the magical light of Gorgon's petrifying gaze, were turned into statues, frozen forever in their moment of death.
Clang! Clang!
When the last demonic beast fell, only the unrelenting golden radiance and magical beams remained in Alaric's path, preventing him from advancing even a single step.
The closer he got to Kingu and Gorgon, the more intense and overwhelming the attacks became. Realizing the current strength of Alaric's defenses, Kingu began summoning A-rank Noble Phantasms through [Age of Babylon], each capable of inflicting severe damage if they hit.
Even though Alaric could heal himself, these attacks could not be ignored!
Just as Alaric struggled to break through, and as neither side could gain the upper hand, the arrival of another goddess broke the stalemate.
A goddess occupying the skies hurled radiant beams of light without hesitation, shattering a heavenly vessel bound by the Chains of Heaven hundreds of meters away!
The moment the vessel was freed, it soared into the sky and positioned itself above Alaric, lifting him back into the aerial domain!
Though he didn't know why Ishtar had done this, Alaric felt compelled to thank her.
"Ishtar, you're such a kind goddess!"