Awakening (254)

Enkidu did not desire for Ainz to win. Kingu did not desire it either. Yet, under the current circumstances, one could say that Ainz’s trium

Enkidu did not desire for Ainz to win. Kingu did not desire it either. Yet, under the current circumstances, one could say that Ainz’s triumph had already been realized.

Enkidu and Kingu, together, possessed the only remaining trump card — a power surpassing even the Age of Babylon. However, Enkidu doubted whether this ability would prove effective enough to stake their remaining offensive potential on. If it failed, Enkidu would fall entirely under Ainz’s control, stripped of any means to resist.

It was a gamble.

Ainz had already dismantled the Age of Babylon in mere seconds — an ability the gods themselves deemed the pinnacle of skill and power, one even Gilgamesh could only stalemate against, never overcoming Enkidu’s strength. Of course, Ainz hadn’t confronted that power head-on, opting instead for a simpler workaround – but wasn’t that the essence of victory? 

In this regard, Ainz was more terrifying than Gilgamesh. Where the King of Heroes needed to fight at his full strength, Ainz could sidestep with ease.

Thus, Enkidu had no choice but to lock eyes with Ainz and reach a unified decision with Kingu, their forms merging seamlessly — a testament to their absolute agreement at this moment.

“I’m listening.” They would listen to what Ainz was trying to propose.

“I truly could destroy the world… Or at least, I believe I can,” Ainz took a few steps, positioning himself opposite Enkidu’s. “But I don’t wish to. That is why I require assistance.”

Enkidu and Kingu blinked in perfect synchronicity, though they often struggled to parse their own emotions, their astonishment now was unmistakable. “Pardon?”

“I’ve grown accustomed to my actions being interpreted as either catastrophically evil or part of some grand scheme — usually both,” Ainz’s bone-white face remained expressionless, but Enkidu detected a weary chuckle escaping his throat, or at least, where a throat might be, given the lack of a neck or vocal cords. 

“Naturally, I’d prefer you believe that I genuinely want to save the world, but that may be too much to ask. I’ll settle for you assuming this is merely a step in my alleged plan for world conquest… Regardless, I have no desire to destroy the world, and I’d gladly discuss ways of avoiding that outcome.”

Enkidu pondered Ainz’s words. Could such an unholy creature truly be the hero he’d implied himself to be – one acting out of pure altruism? Perhaps there was a twisted logic to it, a being of Ainz’s nature and power was so far removed from human understanding that such reasoning might make sense to him. 

Of course, Enkidu couldn’t verify Ainz’s sincerity, nor rule out the possibility he’d turn on the world immediately after saving it, but Enkidu was in no position to refuse, and so he could only nod. 

“Very well. Talk.”

Enkidu and Kingu had a feeling that Ainz was sending them a wry glance, but, lacking in the ability to parse emotion as they were, they are probably wrong.

“I’m certain you’ve misunderstood me regardless, but demanding universal comprehension seems excessive — even for me. Frankly, I’ve made peace with it,” Ainz sighed, but his gaze remained steady as he outlined his plan. 

“I intend to defeat Tiamat…” Before Enkidu or Kingu could interject, Ainz continued. “But not kill her! I’m confident I can destroy her, yes, but her death would create catastrophic repercussions for the world. Instead, I seek to seal her away and restore the world’s natural order. I'm certain this is possible — but I’ll need your knowledge to accomplish it.”

Enkidu froze, then, both halves of his being twisted into identical smiles as they laughed. 

How could he not laugh? 

Enkidu and Kingu were reflections of each other in a warped mirror, but this did not make them each other’s opposites. Rather, they complement one another as a single entity, they were not Enkidu and anti-Enkidu. Instead, both were versions of each other. 

Enkidu was the rebellious puppet of the divine, while Kingu was the loyal son of Tiamat. Their battle arose from their differences, yet their divergence was not absolute. They clashed over countless themes and questions, but both were certain of one thing – the world must continue to exist, and Tiamat must not be utterly destroyed.

The first desired this as Tiamat’s son. He wished to preserve her as his mother and the world as a place where she would endlessly birth her children. The second desired it as humanity’s protector and Gilgamesh’s ally, to safeguard Tiamat so as not to annihilate the source of all life on Earth and the world itself, which sustained all living beings. Including Humanity.

Ainz’s invasion into Enkidu’s mind had served only one purpose, to force them into a unified decision, to merge back into a single personality and attempt to destroy him. Yet after demonstrating that this was impossible, Ainz presented them with a choice: he would either annihilate the world, or both Enkidu and Kingu would agree to aid his mission to defeat Tiamat.

In the end, while Enkidu might have consented to oppose Tiamat to preserve humanity, Kingu, steadfast in his loyalty, would not. However, if the conditions dictated that Tiamat’s defeat was inevitable, and Kingu had already merged with Enkidu into a unified self, the revelation that the choice lay solely between Tiamat’s destruction or her survival at the hands of such a formidable foe left no doubt. 

Kingu would choose the latter and assist in its realization – if only to prevent Tiamat’s demise.

It was blackmail, pure and simple, and a successful attempt of it at that. Enkidu was uncertain but fully acknowledged that an opponent who had so effortlessly dismantled both his incarnations, Enkidu and Kingu, and forced them into a merged form to reach an agreement… Such a being could achieve this. 

After all, while destroying the world was unimaginably difficult, even for the most powerful of Servants, it was not impossible. If it were, the Counter Force, the power required to preserve Humanity and their world, would have no need to exist at all.

“Very well,” The two halves of Enkidu reached a consensus, feeling themselves begin to merge. 

Ultimately, the core reason for Enkidu and Kingu’s division and opposition had been their opposite stance toward Tiamat. Enkidu viewed the world through the lens of humanity’s ally, seeking to protect all life. Kingu, however, wished to aid Tiamat in her awakening and her mission to eradicate humanity, paving the way for a new race and civilization to rise from its ashes. 

Now that both had aligned their intentions regarding Tiamat and humanity, the cornerstone of their conflict vanished. All other differences became mere traits that could coexist within a single personality.

And so, Enkidu could only marvel at how Ainz, this entity who had emerged from nowhere, had unraveled the conflict that had tormented his mind for so long so easily. In mere minutes, with only a handful of actions, Ainz had resolved it all. 

Enkidu made a mental note — no matter who Ainz truly was or what hidden goals he pursued, underestimating his intellect was absolutely out of the question.

***

Ainz observed as Enkidu’s body reconstituted itself before him, splitting into two halves before merging again. This time not merely rejoining into one like when both Enkidu and Kingu had decided to fight against him, but interpenetrating one another, forming an entirely new entity in their place.

Ainz himself was certain of two things. 

First, that this transformation held profound significance, though beyond the visual spectacle, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. And second, that his interaction with Enkidu would inevitably feed into his ever-growing legend as an ‘absolute genius that is juggling a million grand plans at varying stages of execution. 

Nothing is farther than the truth, but Ainz had grown accustomed to such developments, so he didn’t dwell on it. What was one more impossible feat added to his mythos after so many already achieved?

When Enkidu’s reformation concluded, Ainz dispelled the binding spells restricting their movement and stepped forward, more to check if there would be a trap than for any other reason. After a deliberate pause, where nothing happened, and he let go of his silently pre-casted [Time Stop], he finally spoke.

“How exactly can Tiamat be defeated without destroying her?”

Enkidu lifted their gaze in response.

“How exactly can you kill her?”

Ainz grimaced internally at the question. He had no desire to reveal his trump cards to someone who, mere moments ago, had been an adversary intent on stopping him. Though to be fair, it was to stop him from ‘destroying’ the world, even if Ainz himself had never planned to do so, so he wouldn’t be that put out. 

Yet, withholding information would sabotage any chance of collaboration, and so, he opted for ambiguity instead. To say a lot, but actually saying nothing at all – he at least has a lot of practice for that.

“I have multiple methods for that, but some abilities risk excessive collateral damage, while others are too dangerous to test. But broadly speaking, I possess a vast arsenal of offensive spells and summons for any scenario. I can suppress a foe’s divine nature and command powerful allies, Servants, and goddesses alike.”

“Hm.” Enkidu studied Ainz before shaking his head. “That is insufficient information – your power may suffice to kill her, but if your methods are too destructive… Defeating Tiamat without irreparably damaging this world would be nearly impossible.”

Ainz tilted his head slightly, prompting Enkidu to continue.

“Tiamat in her primal form — the Mother of Monsters, the primordial goddess, embodies divinity itself. Or rather, divinity itself, is a reflection of her essence as all life was shaped in her image. I am aware of the Servants in this Singularity,” Enkidu added. “Gilgamesh, Quetzalcoatl, Ishtar, Ereshkigal… even myself. We are powerful among Servants and deities, yes, yet utterly inadequate against Tiamat. She might be wounded, delayed, forced to retreat momentarily — but, even if every Servant here, no, even if most of the Servants in the Throne of Heroes, struck simultaneously… It would merely wound her.” 

Ainz was about to interject, before Enkidu continued speaking and Ainz had to shut his mouth.

“A tactical defeat, not a strategic one. Tiamat would recover – a second, a millennium, it wouldn’t make a difference, she would return. Even if she was somehow destroyed, she’ll simply choose a new vessel and return that way. Every lifeform in this world carries a seed of what could become Tiamat – eliminate her current form, and a new lifeform would simply inherit her role. Even suppressing her divinity would only destroy the current container, not the concept of Tiamat. Tiamat is the world itself.”

“That sounds quite problematic.” Ainz had gotten exactly what he wanted, information – now he simply needed to make use of it. 

In YGGDRASIL, he had mastered the ability of killing opponents reliant on various forms of resurrection — [True Death], one of his favorite spells, was tailored for such a purpose. However, if Tiamat’s ability of resurrection operated under different principles here, such half-measures would be meaningless. Enkidu’s description of Tiamat reminded Ainz too much of the World Enemies from YGGDRASIL, whose destruction, in cases like the Seven Deadly Sins, required fulfilling specific conditions. Such as possessing the Heart of the World Devourer to seal such beings preventing their rebirth.

Which gave Ainz an idea.

“If we seal her during her rebirth…” Ainz proposed the rather familiar tactic and to Ainz’s relief, rather than discounting the method immediately, Enkidu fell silent for a moment, then nodded. 

“That… That could work.”

Before Ainz could revel in finding a solution, Enkidu hurried to temper his optimism. “It would be possible, yes… That is, if Tiamat were to be fully unsealed and then resealed. If she were in her natural state as a Goddess, yes. But Tiamat has become a Beast, sealed under Merlin’s seal in an eternal, restless slumber. Should anyone end her suffering… she will awaken anew, her wrath boundless.”

And, as if to rain on his parade even more, Enkidu continued.

“Sealing Tiamat, then, had required the combined strength of all the gods, and done when she was weak and passive. And, even if sealing her current form were possible… No one possesses such power now, and even if such power existed…” Enkidu shook his head. “No one would have the time. Her nature as a Beast will drive her forward relentlessly.”

“So the crux lies in her nature as a Beast, hm?” Ainz paused. “What if… instead of destroying Tiamat, we destroy the Beast itself?”

Enkidu blinked, then stared at Ainz as though awaiting a punchline to a poor joke. Ainz stared back, and the silence lingered until, with a creak akin to un-oiled hinges, as if he was wrestling against himself, Enkidu finally nodded. 

“I suppose… it’s possible?”

He seemed startled by his own words before turning to Ainz. “But even if done… The original vessel, Tiamat herself, now one with the Beast, must be destroyed. During her rebirth, she must be separated from her Beast nature, then resealed. Meanwhile, her Beast nature must be eradicated… Each step is near-impossible by itself — together, they are utterly inconceivable.”

“Is that so?” Ainz paused, then a thought struck him, prompting a grin to appear on his face, one that he had to hide. “It seems that… I’ve finally devised a plan.”

To call Ainz’s plan ‘good’ would be a lie, even calling it ‘insane’ felt too generous. Yet…

“I can count on your aid then, Enkidu, yes?” Ainz smiled, his mind settling into the calm, methodical rhythm of a veteran Player closing in on solving a perplexing Quest. He nodded to himself as Enkidu returned the gesture.

If all his prior plans, all equally insane, against all odds, had somehow succeeded… Why not this mad scheme?

***

The Gorgon and the small Medusa… He’d have to come up with a name for her other than ‘small Medusa’ eventually, as Ainz didn’t want to confuse her with all the other versions of Medusa he knew. Well, future confusion aside, the both of them remained exactly where he’d left them. 

Sealed in eternal combat with one another, surrounded by the sound of rolling thunderous roar, the weapon of the younger Medusa, a scythe, as far as Ainz could tell, still lodged in Gorgon’s torso.

Judging by Gorgon’s unceasing scream, her agony hadn’t diminished for even a moment while Ainz had been elsewhere battling Enkidu. Teleporting to the Gorgon’s body and hovering near her, Ainz sighed as he placed one hand on the younger Medusa’s shoulder and the other on the Gorgon’s form, before sharply wrenching the two apart.

The younger Medusa and her weapon were pulled violently from the Gorgon. The scythe, almost looking toy-like compared to the monstrous Gorgon’s size, slipped free, leaving behind a bleeding gash that seemed trivial against the creature’s colossal frame. 

With the sudden change in circumstance, the younger Medusa blinked, for the first time since Ainz had encountered her, now seemingly showing awareness of her surroundings. The Gorgon’s agonized roar likewise shifted pitch before abruptly ceasing, the sudden silence so intense it felt like the air itself had been sucked away, creating a momentary vacuum…

Before the younger Medusa could lunge forward again, scythe raised to pierce the Gorgon’s side again, Ainz’s grip tightened on her shoulder, stopping her. She jerked like a puppet, her legs flailing, as her attention then snapped to the new figure now standing beside her.

“Let me go!” The young Medusa shouted, her face flickering between rage and panic. “If I stop attacking the Gorgon, then Tiamat will consume her! Everything would be swallowed by the Black Sea!”

As if to confirm her words, the Black Sea, slime-like of Tiamat pooling at the Gorgon’s feet surged upward, engulfing her body bit by bit. Though, given the monstrous Medusa’s sheer size, however, the absorption process looked agonizingly slow.

Still, judging by the panic in the young Medusa’s face, it was as if the World was ending. She was one step away from screaming in panic.

Seeing this, Ainz shook his head and sighed. “Enough. You’ve completed your mission.”

“Let. Me. Go!” Medusa twisted her scythe now toward Ainz, forcing him to release her, it seems that the Young Medusa was done asking, she was going to continue with her duty. Only for Ainz to teleport behind her, hand clamping onto her once more.

Meanwhile, the Gorgon, finally regaining awareness after her immeasurable moments of torment, turned her gaze to Ainz and the younger Medusa, figures that are no larger than gnats to her. 

Her massive hand rose, ready to obliterate them, to slap them into splatters of gore.

Ainz teleported away with the young Medusa, evading the strike before reappearing above the Gorgon. Once again, he had to restrain the young Medusa from charging at her monstrous counterpart.

“Let me go!” Medusa writhed in his grip, trying to force herself free from Ainz’s grasp. “She’ll destroy everything!”

“It’s all under control.” Ainz replied, though his own conviction wavered. His plan was nothing but madness, he could at least admit that to himself. And if it failed, he’d have to resort to extreme measures, something he desperately wished to avoid. 

He certainly wouldn’t voice this, of course, even if he knew he’d already pushed the young Medusa too far. “I… We have a strategy to destroy Tiamat.”

"I'm not talking about Tiamat!" The young Medusa, despite hearing Ainz’s best effort of reassurance, however, continued to struggle. 

"She… No, I will destroy everything!"

"Hmm?" Ainz blinked at such bluntness before pausing for a moment and nodding internally, he could now see the full picture. It seems that there was a reason that Merlin had chosen two versions of the same Servant to trap in this endless cycle of violence and suffering. 

As only Medusa truly knew the Gorgon best, including what she was capable of.

"You betrayed me! All of you wanted me dead!" The Gorgon's voice was low, and given her colossal size, bone-chilling, as if her voice was resonating at infrasonic frequencies causing the very air itself to shake. 

"Don’t you dare call me a monster!"

The Gorgon’s strike was remarkably swift for her size, but to Ainz – accustomed to faster foes and armed with teleportation, it posed no threat. He simply Teleported aside of the Gorgon’s strike.

"You are a monster!" The young Medusa shouted, thrashing again in Ainz’s grip, though her efforts were much weaker this time, as if she was resigned to her inability to break free. 

"All you crave is slaughter, devouring, destruction!"

"They struck first!" The Gorgon whirled, attempting another swipe with her massive clawed limb, but Ainz teleported clear from it, if he could dodge the deluge like attacks of Enkidu and Kingu, the Gorgon’s vastly telegraphed attacks is child’s play in comparison. However, the sudden surge of her hair, now transformed into a swarm of serpents at its ends, forced him to teleport twice more. 

"I was only defending myself!"

"By devouring your own sisters?! You Monster!" Finally, perhaps thinking that it was futile, the young Medusa barely struggled anymore, allowing Ainz to focus beyond restraining her. He needed the thinking space, as the story of the Gorgon reminded him of the story his girlfriend had told him. Ainz recalled Medusa’s confessions in Chaldea, her story of how she’d been cursed, transformed into a monster, and how in the end she had consumed her sisters… And how those sisters had forgiven her even in death.

"Then why didn’t they fight back?!" The Gorgon roared, yet she oddly refrained from attacking, as the black sludge of Tiamat, already engulfing half her body, began climbing faster. "If I’m a monster, why did they surrender their lives for me?!"

Ainz, observing this, couldn’t forget Medusa’s words, and her conversation with the two Gorgon sisters, Stheno and Euryale. 

"Because they loved you," Ainz stated, and despite the fact that the void was noisy with the sound of the Gorgon struggling, she heard it very clearly.

The Gorgon froze as if she was struck, while the young Medusa, still in Ainz’s hold, went rigid. 

Then, in unison, both cried out. "Lies!"

"Oh?" Ainz blinked, realizing these versions of Medusa seem to have never been reunited with their sisters or have any knowledge beyond this Singularity. Ainz, of course, was more than eager to clear that up. 

"It’s true, they told me themselves, in Chaldea… far beyond this place."

"Lies!" Both of the Medusa snarled in unison, momentarily united against Ainz as their expression dissolved into rage. The young Medusa not seconds ago had become placid, now struggling again, trying her best to swing her scythe through Ainz. Which made it quite hard to dodge the Gorgon’s now continued assaults.

"They hated me! I am a monster!"

"Didn’t you deny being a monster mere seconds ago?" Ainz teleported again, evading effortlessly as the Gorgon staggered, stunned by his retort, but not it was the young Medusa’s turn to make Ainz’s life hard. Ainz had to let the young Medusa go lest he actually harmed her with how much she was struggling.

Of course, a second later, the young Medusa started swinging her scythe at Ainz, and he now had to dodge against two combatants.

"She is no monster! She loved her sisters! She was consumed by madness!"

"And you changed your testimony too, as soon as I said something about it," Ainz replied with mild irritation, teleporting away from the attacks before glancing at the Gorgon, it seemed he’d find common ground with her faster… As strange as it was, saying that about a colossal monster. 

"You hear what she’s saying, don’t you? She agrees that you’re not a monster, you loved your sisters, right? Yes, what you did was horrific. I won’t pretend that no one, including me, would condemn it. But it happened regardless… and they forgave you. No, perhaps it’s more accurate to say they never held resentment over it. All that’s left is to accept what happened… and keep living with it."

"And that’s it? That’s your solution!? Pretend that what had happened never happened!?" The Gorgon halted, staring at Ainz with a bitter, mocking gaze while the young Medusa lunged at him again. But, Ainz didn’t teleport away this time, but not because he wanted to get hit. 

A moment later, the Gorgon’s massive clawed hand slammed into the young Medusa’s body, driving her into the Black Sea of Tiamat beneath their feet.

"No., of course not. Not pretending that it didn’t happen, just… accepting it." Ainz met the Gorgon’s gaze, as he chuckled faintly.

Just accept what had happened, did, and move on. Such a hollow advice, as if it were so easy to flip the next page of life and keep living. How could one even do that? He had said that the Gorgon couldn’t simply erase or forget her past… But how else was she supposed to approach it? 

Just hope it would magically fade into memories, no longer stirring emotions?

"I won’t pretend that I’m wise enough to have all the answers," Ainz stared into the Gorgon’s face, her aggression seemingly disappearing. 

"And I don’t know your story, your emotions, or your thoughts from that time, not truly. But I do know the past can’t be forgotten, altered, undone, or fixed… It’s a fact of life. Joyful, tragic, terrifying — but always the most important thing. What happened. What remains."

As a person who clutched at his memories like a drowning person clutched at a lifebuoy, Ainz at least knew what he was talking about.

"Maybe you don’t know how to live with it, neither do I — I’m no all-knowing guru… Even if others think otherwise," Ainz smirked slightly.

He was likely the last person qualified to give such advice, especially about the past or personal connections. Who was he? A DMMO-RPG Player from another world who’d wasted years in a virtual sandbox, only to stumble into another world, where he now battled a grand mage across temporal anomalies alongside legendary heroes… while collecting a harem? 

No matter how he spun his life story, he shouldn’t be lecturing others. If anything, he needed advice more, especially with the looming threats like fighting the Grand Caster or explaining his lack of world-domination plans to his Servants. 

Ainz was utterly unqualified to spout wisdom at those drowning in their own struggles.

Yet, perhaps because he was buried neck-deep in problems, he could offer the one genuinely practical advice. "Start with one day."

The Gorgon tilted her head slightly, the action bird-like, as she studied him. Beneath the rage, pain, and fury in her eyes flickered a hint of surprise.

"Live through one day. On this day, you may think about what happened as much as you want. Seethe with powerless rage, spit from fury, weep from bitterness… But keep living through that day. Lie in bed, or go out and talk to people. Ask them for help or quarrel with them. Argue or make merry. The main thing is to live through a day at a time." Ainz smiled faintly to himself. 

"Then comes the second day, and everything continues, exactly the same or drastically different. The key is to live through the second day. Then the third. The fourth. Then comes a week, a month, a year… And at some point, you’ll find yourself living just as you did before. The past, the time you spent hating the world or rejoicing in new victories, interacting with others or cursing them… It will never disappear. It will remain in your memory and in your actions, but it will pass, like everything else. And someday you’ll be able to say that the memory would not seem so all consuming, leaving you with regrets or joy… But it will pass. And that’s all I can tell you."

The Gorgon, hearing this, unexpectedly snorted in response. 

"You speak as if this happened to you."

"It did. And it will happen many more times," Ainz tilted his head downward to gaze at Tiamat’s Black Sea, the one that is now already close to consuming the Gorgon fully. 

"It has nearly consumed you."

"That’s inevitable," The Gorgon replied, shifting her eyes to the Black Sea creeping up towards her throat, before locking her gaze back on Ainz. "But this, too, will pass."

A moment later, Ainz’s attention was drawn to the figure of a smaller Medusa atop Gorgon’s head, he could’ve sworn she hadn’t been there seconds ago as she was slammed to the Black Sea. 

Yet, she seemed indifferent to her current state, merely lowering her head slightly. "Thank you."

"No need to mention it," Ainz said, watching as the Black Sea surged upward, covering both the Gorgon and the Young Medusa alike.

In the next instant, Tiamat’s Black Sea swallowed both Medusas whole.