Chapter 29: Let's All Fall into the Dreamscape Together!

Above, the once gloomy horizon was completely covered by a sea of reversed life.

Tick-tock.

A single cold raindrop fell on this city built at the edge of the desert. At first it was just one drop. Then a downpour began, violently striking the asphalt roads.

Inside the amusement park, a thick, fog-like steam spread.

Alcides's eyes, burning with the flames of vengeance, were locked onto the blue-haired goddess before him. For a moment he even doubted his own perception.

As a monster straddling two top classes—"Archer" and "Avenger"—Alcides should have possessed extremely sharp perception toward "divinity."

Yet when he stared at Tiamat before him, he felt not a single trace of god-like aura.

To be precise, ever since she had still been a small girl, he had been able to sense that nauseating ancient divinity. But when she regained her true mature form—

He could no longer perceive it.

She displayed none of the arrogance or brilliance expected of a god. It was as if the being before him was not a real god, but the very sea that had given birth to this planet.

"How truly interesting."

Alcides gripped his massive bow tightly, a dangerous light flickering in his indifferent eyes.

"Despite being such a detestable god, I cannot sense even the slightest trace of the stench unique to gods."

There were usually only two reasons one could not perceive divinity.

One possibility: the opponent was not actually a god.

The other: the opponent's status was so high that their presence covered the entire world, creating the illusion of nothingness.

Clearly, the blue-haired goddess before him belonged to the latter category.

Yet Tiamat still showed no intention of replying.

Behind her, the ebb and flow of the sea symbolizing the origin of life quietly unfolded.

"You still don't intend to reveal your true name?"

Alcides took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, his arm muscles bulging. "Then that regret will become you drowning miserably in your own sea, nameless goddess!"

"Nine Lives: Shooting the Hundred Heads!"

With a ferocious beast-like roar, his true name was released. The ultimate martial art he had honed over a lifetime to slay the Hydra transformed into a single sacred strike capable of destroying the world.

The thunderous vibration of the bowstring drowned out even thunder and rain. Nine crimson tornadoes that seemed to pierce heaven and earth erupted from the bowstring with a roar, completely sealing off Tiamat's escape routes.

Faced with Alcides's repeated provocations, Tiamat finally seemed to reach the limit of her patience.

She slowly raised her head and sang the song of creation.

"Ahhhhhh~"

Amid the mystical yet sorrowful hymn of creation, the sea of life behind her plunged into chaos.

BOOM!!

Two world-destroying forces collided with an ear-splitting roar.

Fierce winds blew violently in all directions like sharp blades.

Yet the ultimate strike said to be capable of killing even undead monsters only created a tiny ripple upon touching the tide of life before being completely swallowed and erased by the endless tsunami.

However, this great hero who had overcome twelve unreasonable trials had clearly foreseen all of this.

The Hydra's roar had been nothing more than an extremely exaggerated feint.

Amid the strong wind and moisture, Alcides somehow closed to within ten steps of Tiamat. A cold smile finally appeared on his icy face.

—Reincarnation Pandora!

This was a distorted Noble Phantasm that the original Heracles had never possessed.

It was an extraordinary ability created using the black mud of the Holy Grail his master had brought back from Fuyuki City, three Command Spells forced upon him to corrupt him, and the reversed nature of the Avenger class.

Its sole purpose was to forcibly seize others' possessions and use them for his own benefit.

As long as the opponent used a Noble Phantasm he could see or touch, he could steal it with the black mud and turn it into his own trump card.

All the merciless attacks Alcides had unleashed from the beginning were merely a pretext to conceal this fatal blow.

Alcides suddenly opened his left hand. Ominous black mud erupted from his palm and violently pierced the tide of life surrounding Tiamat.

Buzz!

Almost instantly, Tiamat's movements seemed to freeze for a split second.

"Success!"

Alcides suddenly yanked the chain of black mud's power, trying to forcibly tear away the sea of life he had stolen from her body.

But the moment he exerted his strength, the heated expression on his face instantly froze.

Something was wrong.

He immediately realized that by leaping into the black mud of the sea of life, he not only failed to comprehend the concept at all—he was instead being rapidly assimilated by something extremely terrifying. Terror shook him.

No… this was not assimilation at all.

It was the moment a single drop of water tried to swallow the sea, only to be crushed by an even greater principle!

Meanwhile, Bazdilot, who had been observing the battle from the abandoned factory, suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with a mix of shock and unease as he looked around.

In this snowy city, he was one of the few who knew exactly what the black mud was.

That black mud was the absolute evil thought known as All the World's Evil, an incurable substance capable of instantly corrupting even the most noble and virtuous minds.

But at this moment… when the black mud touched Tiamat's sea of life, instead of causing corruption, it was directly swallowed?!

Why…?

Was the sea not a Noble Phantasm?

Bazdilot's eyes lit up. He issued a firm order. "Alcides, retreat now… That woman is definitely strange."

"UOOOOOH—!!"

But at this moment Alcides was clearly enraged.

He let out a beast-like roar and, instead of retreating, charged straight toward the tide.

Damn it!

Bazdilot cursed under his breath and unconsciously reached for the back of his hand, only to remember that he had just used up all three Command Spells.

Tiamat's expression remained unchanged throughout.

She simply stood there quietly while the flow of life quietly surged behind her.

Water splashed—

With the sound of approaching waves, the sea of life suddenly transformed into a massive tsunami that covered the sky, threatening to completely swallow Alcides.

But right after that…

In the shadows, a pale-faced young man wore a triumphant smile.

…François!

He smiled and spread both arms as if embracing the world. "Come, everyone—welcome to the Sunken Spiraled City that never existed."

The moment those words were spoken, all color in the world suddenly turned into an eerie black-and-white.

Time seemed to stop.

Tiamat slightly furrowed her brows.

For the Mother Goddess of Creation, an illusion of this level should naturally pose no harm. Yet she suddenly realized something was missing beside her.

As if she had suddenly understood something, she violently turned her head toward him.

Then her red eyes slowly widened.

…He had vanished.

Matou Yuu, who had been following closely beside her disappeared together with his aura into the rainy night darkness.

…

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