The Sword of Separation Ea can also be called the Sword of Beginning, while the Sword of Ending Enki is more fitting.
The concepts of beginning and end correspond to creation and destruction, respectively, in the Ouroboros.
Thanks to the Ouroboros's characteristics, Ophis's compatibility with these two weapons—or rather, these two sets of weapons—is much higher than that of Gilgamesh!
Even the supreme hero-king Gilgamesh cannot fully grasp Ea's true power, but Ophis, who embodies the same concept, has this potential. The same goes for Enki.
If there's one thing Ophis looks forward to in this change of fate, it's undoubtedly these two weapons that are perfectly suited to her.
Ophis even suspected that the automatic selection mechanism Qi mentioned chose this identity just to obtain these two weapons.
Ea and Enki actually refer to the same god, Enki, the Sumerian god of water and creation. Ea is the Babylonian name for the same deity.
The two weapons, Ea, the Sword of Separation, and Enki, the Sword of End, correspond to creation and water, respectively.
…It's fair to say that Ea, in a sense, corresponds to water as well.
All in all, these two weapons have no original names that are known… at least no one knows what their original names were, so Gilgamesh gave them names based on the god of creation.
Ophis had no intention of changing these names.
She couldn't think of anything better herself.
Moreover, Gilgamesh's names are indeed concise and powerful.
If you want to fire a flare cannon while holding the Sword of Separation, all you have to do is shout "Ea!"
Given Ophis's personality, during future battles, she might just stand there with a fire stick pointing forward, chanting "Ea, Ea" repeatedly.
If the name were too long, like Solomon's "The time of birth has come to correct everything" (Ars Almadel Salomonis), it would try to highlight its style with length.
Ophis might not articulate well, and in an animated version, the enemy's attack would have to be delayed to allow her to finish reading before continuing.
Of course, Ea can be further liberated.
'Enuma Elish' is the first line of the creation epic inscribed on the creation clay tablet. It is also the name of the epic itself, meaning 'the height of the sky.'
However, Ophis didn't care how high the sky was, and it had nothing to do with Ea. The real power of this phrase lies in its role as the name of a creation epic.
Using these words, Ea's true power to create the world can be unlocked.
Of course, that's in theory.
We also have to consider Gaia's feelings, right?
And, most importantly, one's own strength and compatibility with the weapons.
Ophis is quite confident about this. Though not yet perfect, she should be able to fully unleash Ea's strength after some time and practice.
That said, it still depends on Mother Gaia's mood.
Without touching the Sword of Separation, Ophis waved her hand and the two Swords of End fell into her grasp.
As soon as they touched her hands, the originally golden Sword of End seemed to darken, turning black from the point where Ophis held it.
"Have you acknowledged me?"
The Sword of End can sense her will, right?
The black tone suits me better... though that's not the main reason.
To Ophis, the Sword of End is, as its name suggests, a weapon of destruction.
This is its role as a civilization treasure.
It will accumulate power for seven days before destroying the world with a flood.
Unlike the Holy Sword that guides people to hope or the Sword of the End that signifies the world's beginning, the Sword of End is purely for destruction.
Destruction isn't something glorious enough to be praised. If it had to be represented by a color, it wouldn't be gold.
Black is indeed more fitting.
Ophis remained expressionless. She waved the two swords around, familiarizing herself with them, and then placed them back.
In the future, she would probably use these treasures sparingly.
She had no reason to wait seven days to destroy the world. A simple instant release from her magic cannon could produce a similar effect.
However, in terms of hardness and sharpness, the Sword of End is an EX-level Noble Phantasm, just as formidable as the Sword of Promised Victory.
It would be useful for occasional use in battle.
After all, in any profession, knowing a few tricks can make one invincible in close combat.
Dragons, being naturally strong, often put effort into close combat, ensuring they don't get close enough to use their Thirteen Black Tiger Heart-Ripping Attacks without a way to fight back.
Putting that aside, Ophis reviewed the information that flowed into her mind after holding the key.
[Gate of Babylon]
It has collected many treasures and can fire them as ammunition, automatically recover and repair them, and consumes very little magic power.
While the process involves three steps—opening the door, loading, and firing—it is still much faster than Ophis's current magic cannon.
The power varies with the level of the projected treasure, but it is more concentrated, though less effective for wide-scale destruction compared to the magic cannon.
In fact, the most valuable aspect of the King's Treasury is not the treasures themselves but the concept of human wisdom. The King's Treasury can deduce and recreate treasures based on this concept, even reconstructing those that are completely destroyed.
Creating something from nothing would take immense time, which no human could afford, but Ophis, with her endless time, can manage it.
Overall, this was a significant harvest.
Not to mention the two highly compatible weapon sets, Ophis's preferred fighting method is long-range destruction.
However, magic cannons have too many limitations.
As Qi mentioned, against enemies with high energy resistance or energy immunity, this method becomes nearly useless, at best blowing away like Shinra Tensei.
Although such enemies are rare, Ophis often finds herself unable to use large-scale attacks due to various reasons.
With the King's Treasure, which offers concentrated power and physical properties, these difficulties can be mitigated to some extent.
The very low mana consumption also allows Ophis to focus more on other aspects.
For Ophis, though, these are secondary concerns.
────The ability called self-reference is a feature of the Ouroboros, a bug that surpasses the concept of infinity.
This ability allows the Ouroboros to read and integrate useful information from its environment, essentially self-improving.
The reason Enkidu caught Ophis's attention was probably due to this instinct of self-reference… After all, Enkidu was valuable in this regard.
But now, with these treasures, things are different. Given enough time, Ophis's instincts can integrate some of the treasures' abilities with herself…
One characteristic of self-reference is that if the reference object shares similar traits, the effect is multiplied.
Ophis's greatest concept is infinity. If her image were defined by symbols, she'd be a simple ∞, meaning she is relatively weak in concepts related to beginning and end.
Thus, obtaining Ea and Enki, which are highly compatible and complement her abilities, made Ophis very happy.
It seems this journey has yielded excellent results...
With this feeling, Ophis left the Golden City.
But…
When Ophis walked out of the cave, she was greeted by Enkidu's usual smile.
Seeing that smile, Ophis felt a bit confused.
────Perhaps this smile is the best treasure she has gained on this fateful journey?