"Ophis!!!"
Enkidu rushed to Ophis's side and caught her fallen remains. But to her surprise, Ophis wasn't bleeding. Instead, bright purple light continued to gather around the wound, and Ophis was slowly recovering.
Suddenly, Ophis's left hand, which had just healed, pushed Enkidu aside and slightly upward, obscuring her view.
"!?"
Enkidu turned in shock and saw the serpent's tail, which had avoided her chains, biting Ophis's arm.
"Ophis!"
Enkidu tried to move in again, but Ophis used her right hand, which had just healed, to pull Enkidu behind her. She then drew a sword, swung at the poisonous snake, and threw it at Humbaba before jumping back with Enkidu.
───Boom boom boom
Magic cannons that had been prepared for a long time fired in a barrage at the stationary Humbaba.
"Ophis, are you okay?" Enkidu finally managed to ask, her anxiety evident.
Everything had happened so quickly that Enkidu hadn't realized Ophis had been hit until now.
Enkidu was still shaken by the speed of events...
Looking at the bite mark on her hand, which was turning black, Ophis shook her head.
"It's fine."
While dragons aren't born naturally but rather emerge from phenomena, most aren't true creations of nature. As a being born from dimensional cracks, Ophis was minimally affected by poison.
The numbness she felt would only slightly impact the battle...
Ophis tilted her head thoughtfully, then used her right hand to draw a sword, cutting off her own left hand. The severed limb slowly reformed amidst the gathering purple light.
"Hmm…"
Even Enkidu was taken aback by Ophis's casual approach to handling injuries.
───Although, she, made of mud, often uses similar methods.
"But Ophis was able to recover so quickly... She's really amazing..." Enkidu wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, still shaken.
"Yes, because I am infinite."
Ophis used her energy to reassemble her robe, which had been made of energy. She touched her side, where a small wound remained.
───Although it was minor, the damage to her infinite form was noticeable.
Ophis knew why.
───A Noble Phantasm that has a bonus against dragons.
Fortunately, despite the opponent's sharp combat instincts, it lacked the intelligence to fully understand Ophis's nature. If all the weapons used against her had been dragon-slaying weapons... though she wouldn't die, Ophis would be unable to continue fighting.
Maybe it would be faster to die and revive?
Ophis regretted being careless.
Without sufficient intelligence, one might mistakenly think an opponent has only the abilities they've demonstrated.
After all, Ophis had little experience in life-and-death combat.
The fight with Enkidu was more of a game. Perhaps neither of them had taken it seriously?
Experience is crucial for such situations.
Luckily, her Ouroboros nature allowed for more mistakes than usual.
"Roar—"
As expected, a monster with high energy resistance like Humbaba took little damage from the saturation fire.
But Humbaba, forced to retreat, jumped away and repositioned, with three spears emerging from the mud to replace its previous spot.
Enkidu, with a grim expression, stepped in front of Ophis.
Even Humbaba, reduced to primal instincts, seemed to retreat in fear from Enkidu's presence.
───Or perhaps, the animalistic nature of Humbaba made it detect the instinctual fear?
Enkidu's expression softened as she sighed.
The one who hurt Ophis had enraged her, but she managed to control her anger.
The monster before her was once her friend...
But…
Enkidu gazed at Humbaba with a complex expression. She understood the tragedy of losing one's reason, having experienced it herself. She could see that Humbaba was no longer rational.
There was no way to awaken the monster now.
She didn't know why this had happened, but she was determined to end the suffering.
"Ophis, help me."
Enkidu smiled gently at Ophis.
Ophis nodded silently.
Turning back, Enkidu's face was now serious.
Without making a move, Humbaba suddenly leaped and dodged the chains that shot out from the soil.
Enkidu raised her hand, causing a mud wall to rise behind her. Numerous weapons of various types formed and shot out from it.
Humbaba retaliated with weapons fired from the seven rays of light. The two sides' weapons collided mid-air, causing explosions.
Then, Enkidu appeared in front of the monster, swinging upwards with a blade. Although Humbaba reacted in time, it was struck in the right eye.
"Roar—"
The furious monster roared but couldn't stop Enkidu's next attack. Enkidu raised her feet high and slammed them down hard.
Boom!!!
Humbaba was driven from the air into the ground.
───Enkidu's skill, Transfiguration, allowed her to not only change forms but also redistribute her physical abilities.
She could sacrifice attack for defense, durability for speed, or concentrate all attributes into one. This ability temporarily doubled one attribute.
Enkidu concentrated her speed to launch the first attack and then transferred that speed into strength for the second.
The monster made the same mistake as Ophis. It underestimated Enkidu's power due to her initial inaction and suffered greatly.
As Humbaba fell, chains shot from the ground and bound it tightly.
"Ophis!"
Enkidu didn't need to remind Ophis. At this point, more than 20 purple magic circles had appeared above her, gathering immense energy.
As Ophis confirmed the monster was restrained, she unleashed all the gathered energy.
More than 20 magic cannons formed a torrent of purple light, engulfing Humbaba, who couldn't break free from the restraints.
Enkidu landed beside Ophis and formed another mud wall in front of them.
The next moment, the aftermath of the energy engulfed their position.
Strong wind pressure spread out, sweeping across the nearby forest for hundreds of meters.