Tiamat's song rang out once more. Each time it did, layers upon layers of mana spread outward like sound waves. The tides of the Sea of Imaginary Numbers rolled in one after another, black mud blanketing the sky and earth. Just watching from afar was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
But Lan Ze felt no fear. He was a gamer.
Whether this game was real or virtual, his identity was still that of a gamer. A gamer was the kind of person who, regardless of whether he was a level-one newbie or equipped with trash gear, could kill even a god as long as you gave him a basic sword and let him chip away at the BOSS's health bar.
Besides... his current weapon was no basic sword!
The instant Excalibur blasted apart the black tide again, Lan Ze drew a second weapon from the Gate of Babylon.
He had far more than one weapon. The Gate of Babylon contained countless Noble Phantasms, including divine weapons he had forged himself in the Dreamscape every day half a month ago. He had originally made them just for fun, so he would have an excuse to replenish mana, but now they had become crucial weapons.
Gáe Bolg, Scathach's demonic spear, also known as the Spear of the Death Piercing the Heavens. Lan Ze could not unleash its Noble Phantasm to Scathach's level, but when he hurled the spear, its power tore through a layer of the Tide of Chaos. As he advanced, another Tide of Chaos formed from the Sea of Life surged toward him.
Golden ripples spread through the treasury behind Lan Ze, and he expressionlessly drew a third weapon.
Gungnir!
He hurled Odin's divine weapon!
The mana in his body rapidly drained away, while the Holy Grail's mana was being squeezed dry at a frantic rate. If the Holy Grail had been a person, it would probably have been crying out, "No!" right now.
Because every weapon Lan Ze threw was a divine armament, a weapon feared in mythology. Yet he was now tossing them out as disposable consumables.
That required enormous amounts of mana, and after he threw Gungnir, the Holy Grail began supplying it.
The God-Slaying Spear that guaranteed destruction in a single strike!
This was Karna's weapon, said to destroy anything in one strike, yet it was completely swallowed after breaking through only two layers of the Tide of Chaos.
The many Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon fired together. They had only just blasted open a Tide of Chaos when, the instant Lan Ze stepped through, it had already repaired itself.
The Sea of Life surrounding Tiamat had far more than just a few layers!
Even now, he could not see its end, much less Tiamat's body.
But Lan Ze could no longer worry about that. He had not even considered what would happen if he failed. This was not merely a game; he had known that ever since entering Tiamat's Dreamscape.
Yet he could not be bothered to think that much—or rather, he did not dare to. There were things that, once missed, would leave one regretting them for life. He would rather make a mistake than do nothing at all.
He swung Excalibur again. The holy sword rapidly siphoned the mana from his body, while the Holy Grail in his inventory continuously supplied him with more.
He swung the holy sword once more. Golden light gathered within it, and with a boom, it blasted open the Tide of Chaos rippling with black waves.
But even that was nowhere near enough.
"--Aaaaa--"
When Tiamat's song rang out again, the Sea of Life rose with it, forming a Tide of Chaos that covered the heavens. Rather than an attack on Humanity's Order, it was more like a barrier—a layer upon layer of protection wrapped around Tiamat's surface.
This woman still did not wish to harm humanity, even now. The Lahmu had not been created by her own hand; they were monsters automatically mass-produced after her awakening.
Subconsciously, she wrapped herself in the Sea of Life, trying to suppress her own strength.
But this foolish woman seemed not to have considered that she was now a Beast rather than the Creation Mother Goddess. The Sea of Life no longer had the authority of a source of mana that nurtured children. It was poison, deadly poison to every Heroic Spirit and human!
Lan Ze looked up at the slowly repairing Sea of Life before him and swung Excalibur again. However, the Holy Grail's mana supply could no longer keep up with his insane consumption.
System, do something for once, will you? Are you useless?! Lan Ze roared inwardly.
He had no choice but to retreat. Though the Tide of Chaos could not assimilate him, he could not casually endure its physical impact either.
However—
This system had principles. It could not simply intervene whenever it pleased, and it did not answer Lan Ze.
Watching the Tide of Chaos slowly heal, Lan Ze instinctively tightened his grip on the holy sword.
"Look at that miserable face of yours. I thought you looked pretty cool when I saw you charge into the Sea of Life just now."
At that moment, a crisp, arrogant voice suddenly sounded beside him, like sunlight breaking through the gloom.
As Lan Ze slowly turned his head, Ishtar, riding Ma'anna beside him, curved her lips into a sultry smile.
"Watch carefully and see just how magnificent the Goddess of Heaven's Noble Phantasm is!"
Her hair flew wildly in the gale. She raised her proud chin as Ma'anna shone with brilliant red light.
"Shatter, Ma'anna's Noble Phantasm!"
At that moment, the mana of the Noble Phantasm rapidly gathered within Ma'anna, the Goddess of Heaven's vessel. Using her Administrator authority, she loaded the concept of Venus into Ma'anna's chamber, and then—
When the mana reached its peak, Ma'anna's gathered beam of light erupted!
Lan Ze stared blankly at the goddess in midair.
It was only then that he truly felt it.
She really was a goddess.
Like a deity appearing before people when they were at their most desperate—high above them, yet radiating dazzling light that made people yearn for her.
"W-What?! Why are you looking at me like you're so surprised that I'd actually help you?!" Ishtar noticed Lan Ze's gaze, and her cheeks abruptly flushed. "Let me make this clear first, I'm not helping because of you. It's just for Mother..."
"Ah—?!"
Ishtar suddenly cried out. The shattered Tide of Chaos high above came crashing down toward her, and she screamed as she rode Ma'anna away.
Fine, this goddess apparently would not always be reliable... dropping the ball was her passive ability.
But this time, she had not dropped the ball.
While Lan Ze was still stunned, Ishtar suddenly turned and shouted:
"You want to bring Mother out, right? Then what are you standing around for?!"
"Get in there, bring Mother out, and beat that sneak-attacking bastard senseless!"
Lan Ze jolted, then abruptly turned and stepped deeper into the Sea of Life. At the same time, the roar of another god rang in his ears.
The Feathered Serpent God was originally a chief deity. The power she unleashed now far surpassed Lan Ze's imagination. Enormous flames followed as she kicked the Tide of Chaos, the blazing fire seeming ready to burn the entire black sky into twilight.
The barriers formed by the Tide of Chaos shattered layer after layer. Black waves like a tsunami splashed high into the air. The Feathered Serpent God glanced back at Lan Ze with a brilliant smile. "Big sister can only help you this much."
As she spoke, an incredibly fast... jaguar suddenly leaped out beside her.
The jaguar swiftly scooped up the Feathered Serpent God, sprinted a hundred meters, then twisted around and leaped out of the Tide of Chaos.
One Heroic Spirit after another ventured into the Sea of Life. After squeezing their mana almost completely dry, they quietly departed.
Lan Ze watched the Tide of Chaos being blasted apart again and again. Only at this moment did he finally gain a tangible feeling.
He was not alone.
The only idiot was the system... no, the system merely issued missions according to circumstances.
Which meant everything could be changed... as long as he could meet Tiamat, as long as Tiamat could recover even a trace... If she regained even a little sanity, there might still be hope.
His mana had fully recovered from the Holy Grail's recent supply. Lan Ze drew Excalibur again, raised his head, and stared at the target that seemed almost within reach.
As mana gathered, he slowly raised the holy sword. The soft black strands over his forehead gradually lifted.
"It is time to truly awaken from your slumber, Mother!"
Lan Ze fiercely swung the holy sword.
Golden light illuminated the blackened surroundings as he stepped forward again. Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon shot out one after another.
His Illusion Manifestation was activated once more. He created weapons on the spot and hurled them out like worthless trash.
"Just a little more..."
Lan Ze stared fixedly at the enormous body that was almost faintly visible. It was Tiamat. She was actually asleep within the Sea of Life, suppressing the time of her rampage as much as possible.
But... his mana had run dry again.
Lan Ze had plenty of mana, but he could not keep releasing Noble Phantasms like this, not even with the Holy Grail's support. Though she was now so close, though only a tiny bit remained—
His mana was completely exhausted.
At that moment, the Tide of Chaos generated a repulsive force. It seemed to possess awareness. Just moments ago, it had been trying to devour Lan Ze, but now it intended to push him out from the core of the Sea of Life.
Under that repulsive force, Lan Ze's body retreated uncontrollably. His eyes slowly widened, but he could only watch helplessly as the target that had been within reach gradually moved away from him.
"Just a little more..."
Boundless darkness slowly swallowed Lan Ze, as if it were devouring his consciousness and vision along with him.
Since the day he was born, Lan Ze had never felt this kind of regret. He was just an ordinary person. An ordinary person might go an entire lifetime without having to make an important choice, but he had made one.
And he had failed.
Just a little more, and he could have broken through the Sea of Life's barrier... Yet that tiny distance now seemed incomparably far away to Lan Ze.
He remembered being forced to take part in a school marathon. The three-thousand-meter race had been easy at first, but the farther he ran, the harder it became. His strength gradually gave out until, at the very end, though the finish line was close, that tiny distance felt impossibly far to his exhausted body.
He had encountered the same situation again... but this time was different. If he failed this time... he could not bear the consequences.
This was not just his problem... How much courage had Gilgamesh gathered to support him with everything he had?
And those Heroic Spirits... Even after leaving the Sea of Life, they might still have to fight the Lahmu. They might even already have...
In the pitch-black darkness where he could not see his hand before his face, Lan Ze felt drowsiness slowly creeping over him. This was what happened when mana was exhausted. The Holy Grail's supply required him to draw upon it himself, but as the Sea of Life's repulsive force pushed him away, it seemed to push his relentless momentum out of his body as well.
"If you give up so easily, what will you use to save anyone?"
At that moment, Lan Ze vaguely heard a high, inspiring voice at his ear, and then—
A beam of light accompanied by a terrifying roar descended from the sky in the distance. Dazzling light flickered over Lan Ze's eyelids. His muddled mind gradually cleared a little, and he slowly opened his eyes.
It was Gilgamesh!
Gilgamesh, covered in blood, stood beneath the sky as EA slowly turned in his hand.
Warm scarlet blood flowed from his chest.
A huge hole had been torn through his chest, and blood gushed from it.
When Lan Ze charged into the Sea of Life, Gilgamesh had commanded Uruk's soldiers, stopped the Lahmu, guarded against the King of Magecraft plotting in the sky, and protected his people.
At this moment, the King of Heroes was practically no different from the dead.
It was hard to imagine that, in such a state, he could still stand. His upright figure even made one wonder, Was this king really severely injured?
"Your wounds..." Lan Ze said blankly.
"A mere mortal wound is not worth mentioning!"
Gilgamesh's voice rang out loudly, as though commanding heaven and earth. He raised EA again.
"What are you standing around for?"
As Gilgamesh raised EA and blasted the Tide of Chaos again, the blood in the King of Heroes' chest had nearly drained away. He panted, yet let out an unrestrained laugh.
Those scarlet eyes, like a serpent's pupils, stared at Lan Ze. At last, he gave his command in that resounding voice:
"Bring 'Mother' out. This is this king's final command to you!"
The instant those words fell, Lan Ze fully awakened. The last thin barrier of the Sea of Life was completely shattered, and the Holy Grail began functioning again.
He looked at the core of the Sea of Life, now nearly close enough to touch with an outstretched hand. Quietly clenching his fist, he stepped into the center of the Sea of Life.
Lan Ze did not look back even once.
As though Gilgamesh were still standing proudly in the sky.
As though the King of Heroes had never fallen.
The Sea of Life was a deep, endless black. With Gilgamesh breaking through the final barrier of the Tide of Chaos, Lan Ze finally entered the core of the Sea of Life.
He looked up into the air and saw that enormous body. Her once beautiful, delicate skin was now covered in vicious, terrifying scales.
He walked forward. The sky was entirely covered by the black mud of the Sea of Life, while sparks drifted through the air around him. Lan Ze took another step and suddenly felt as though he had stepped on something sticky.
He looked down. A black swamp churned across the ground. It did not pull him under, but it made it difficult for him to move forward and approach Tiamat.
"Damn it, are you ever going to stop?!"
Before you continue