Soon, everyone in Chaldea reached a consensus.
The plan was simple: sneak into the enemy's base, then launch a full-scale attack.
"Well… sneaking in should be a bit easier now."
As the discussion wrapped up, Ophis suddenly interjected.
"Could it be that just now…"
Ritsuka, being a seasoned Master, quickly caught on.
"Yes," Ophis confirmed with a nod. "I just said hello."
"Wait… by 'greeting,' do you mean that massive beam cannon?"
Ignoring the way Ishtar's mouth twitched at the memory, Ophis continued, "That attack didn't hit the city directly, but the aftermath was close enough to the edge of Uruk. With this level of damage, even a god like Quetzalcoatl will need time to recover. Now, if we bypass the damaged area, we should be able to sneak into their territory."
In truth, a direct hit on the city might have been more effective, potentially even destroying the symbolic items outright… However, Ophis hadn't confirmed if all the citizens of Ur and Enridu were truly gone, so she wasn't willing to risk an indiscriminate attack unless absolutely necessary.
The range of Ophis's attack had been precisely within her sensory capabilities. Her original intent was to catch Quetzalcoatl off guard, but it seemed that hadn't worked out.
After all, attempting a precise snipe at that distance relying solely on perception was difficult, and a wide-area bombardment would have dispersed the attack's power too much.
Still, while the results weren't as impactful as hoped, Ophis was satisfied that her strike at least disrupted Quetzalcoatl's plans.
"Indeed, that makes our mission safer," Merlin said with a light clap, drawing everyone's attention.
But despite the faint smile on his face, there was no warmth in his eyes.
"However, there's still a problem…"
Suddenly, Ophis tensed.
"It seems that King Ophis has sensed it," Merlin remarked.
Ophis didn't reply, her brow furrowing deeply.
This was the first time such a serious expression had crossed her face since her encounter with the Red Dragon God Emperor. Of course, back then, she hadn't been able to make any expressions with a dragon's head.
"What's wrong?" Ritsuka asked, tilting her head, while Mash beside her frowned.
Though Mash couldn't sense anything specific like Ophis could, she felt the looming presence of something huge and menacing.
"Emergency report from the north wall! Urgent news from the north wall!"
Outside the temple, a loud shout echoed from afar.
Although the North Wall was a considerable distance from Uruk, Ophis had set up a treasure that allowed for communication, enabling instant contact with a small expenditure of magical power.
A soldier rushed in, holding a transparent orb in his hand.
Ophis sighed. The temple was really busy today…
"King Ophis, Tiamat… The goddess Tiamat has suddenly appeared! The North Wall is about to fall!"
"…"
After a brief silence, Ophis realized she wouldn't get much useful information from this visibly shaken soldier and turned to Chaldea and the others.
"Stick to the plan. I'll handle the situation at the North Wall."
With that, Ophis discarded her robe, preparing to leave.
"Wait!"
Ritsuka suddenly grabbed her sleeve.
"We should go too."
Ophis turned back, meeting Ritsuka's determined gaze. She frowned.
"Compared to the gradual threat Quetzalcoatl poses, the danger at the North Wall is immediate, right? If we can't stop it, all of Uruk will be destroyed."
"…"
Ophis remained silent.
"Of course, this isn't to say we doubt you, King Ophis, but given the situation, the more power we have, the better, right?"
Seeing Ophis's narrowed eyes, Ritsuka quickly added.
"Alright, you can come, but observe first…" Ophis suddenly smiled, nodding. "This is different from Quetzalcoatl's earlier skirmishes, where I couldn't even sense the energy leaking out. This… this is the true power of a god."
In front of the northern wall of Uruk, a massive "monster" loomed.
The upper body of the creature resembled that of a human female, beautiful enough to be called a queen—if you ignored the fact she was about ten meters tall. Her lower body was that of a serpent, stretching over a hundred meters long.
The snake-woman was in a terrible mood.
Although the prolonged skirmishes were partly a game to toy with her prey, they also served as preparation for something greater.
But now, her patience had run out. She decided to take matters into her own hands and breach the seemingly invincible North Wall.
Yet, something she hadn't anticipated happened...
Just a few mere humans, yet they managed to stop her, the Mother of All Beasts, the goddess Tiamat!
"That's enough. Even if you are a god, I will not let you pass," Jeanne declared firmly, holding her holy banner.
Beside her, Altira stood with sword in hand.
"Such impudence… you will die!"
The snake-woman's eyes widened as she fixed her gaze on Jeanne. But Jeanne stood firm, her body only slightly weighed down, with no major effects.
Altira, however, wasn't so lucky—part of her body turned to stone.
Almost immediately, a silver-white magic circle appeared beneath the two of them, and in the next moment, they returned to normal.
The snake goddess's face darkened as she glared at the figure hovering in the air, clad in a translucent lavender robe.
"Is that the power of a Noble Phantasm… capable of restoring damage, removing curses, or…?"
Before the snake-woman could ponder further, a flash of tricolored light slashed across her vision, leaving a massive gash on her abdomen.
"How dare you…!"
The snake-woman was furious.
The injury itself was nothing—she would recover quickly. But the fact that her opponent had dared to harm her was intolerable.
If this had been a game, where she allowed her prey some false hope before crushing them, the snake-woman could have accepted it. But now, she had been genuinely hurt in battle. That, she could not forgive.
Unbeknownst to her, she had begun to see the humans before her as true adversaries, not mere playthings.
With a roar, the snake-woman's long purple hair suddenly transformed into countless giant serpents, all lunging at Altira, who had just leaped up to attack and was still mid-air!