In Mesopotamia, 2655 BCE, they met.
Without the need for intermediaries, merely through the exchange of gazes, the two understood each other—
As time passed, the gaping wound in Alaic's chest healed rapidly. The Dragon's heart reignited, its rhythm once again resonating within Alaric's body.
Miraculously, his broken magic circuits also repaired themselves. They healed seamlessly, without any adhesions that might obstruct the flow of energy as if they had never been damaged at all.
This extraordinary self-healing ability, defying all magical common sense, was fully displayed by Alaric's body. In situations where mana was abundant, Alaric possessed a regenerative ability akin to immortality.
"One minute."
When his heart was fully restored, Alaric concluded his internal timer.
It had taken exactly one minute for him to recover the Dragon's Heart, and during that time, Tiamat had not launched another attack.
It was as if the beam of light that had pierced his heart had already fulfilled its purpose.
The beam, fired from the Star Eyes, was not just an ordinary ray of light. What puzzled Alaric most was how it formed—closer to a physical wedge than pure energy.
It didn't melt and pierce his body with extreme heat; instead, it felt more like a physical penetration.
Although he couldn't discern the principles behind the beam Tiamat had used, Alaric added it to his list of threats to watch for.
If it had struck his head directly, not even Alaric could have survived.
But Tiamat hadn't pressed the attack. She didn't follow up with further strikes to prevent Alaric from fully recovering or force him into a corner where he couldn't heal.
After that single blow, Tiamat remained motionless, simply locking eyes with Alaric.
Their silent exchange of hearts was obstructed by an invisible barrier, a wall of the soul that prevented true communication between Alaric and Tiamat.
In this agonizing moment, Alaic finally made a decision, unleashing the desire buried deep within his heart—
"I'm going to devour you, Tiamat."
The desire to consume Tiamat had never diminished for even a moment. Beyond the inexplicable affection he felt for her, the strongest emotion burning within him was this intense longing to devour.
He wanted to claim Tiamat, to consume her divine body, to map her powers upon himself, and to become her child in truth—to truly integrate himself into this world.
The Last Dragon, soaring at the edge of the world, was about to rebel against the Supreme Divinity.
The [World] was here, yet the mysterious light high above it was an unaccepted [Star] beyond human comprehension.
If magic was the manifestation of things humanity could achieve—like igniting a fire, freezing water or other feats once deemed miracles in ancient times—
Then, as human intellect evolved and these mysteries became understood, the divine nature of such miracles gradually eroded.
This was why the field of magic had been hidden, to preserve its mystique and prevent it from being entirely obliterated in the tide of progress.
After King Gilgamesh initiated the EA and King Solomon met his death, the Age of Gods came to its conclusion.
Under normal circumstances, the practice of mystery (the mana in the atmosphere) would have thinned as a consequence, eventually reaching zero by the time of the Common Era (CE).
The mystery should have completely disappeared from this planet. The decline of True Ether was a symbol of the end of the mystical.
Until the eve of AD, when the First Magician was born.
This individual proved the existence of the Fifth Imaginary Element, allowing the tide of mystery to continue and enabling the mystical side of the world to persist behind the veil of society.
The silent tide continued to move forward through history.
Magecraft was achievable by humanity, but Magic was the miraculous and unachievable—power beyond human capabilities. If Alaric's existence could be described as a miracle, he was a miracle among miracles.
His body, his spirit—these were miracles that could never be replicated.
Even the Supreme Divinity, an omnipotent god, would gasp in awe upon witnessing Alaric.
An utterly impossible miracle. A lifeform that should never have come into existence.
And now, this being turned to the Supreme Mother of Origins, Tiamat, and declared:
"Do you think I'm human?"
Tiamat sought to indiscriminately destroy all life in this world.
Whether it was Gilgamesh, Fujimaru Ritsuka, or any other living being, as long as they were part of this world and bore the name of "human," they were on Tiamat's kill list.
No exceptions should have existed—
And yet, as Alaric's emotionless question echoed, the chaotic waves surrounding Tiamat finally stirred.
The silent waves of chaos rippled outward, originating from Tiamat, their undulations spreading in all directions. It was as if some lifeform was moving beneath the surface of the sea.
Seeing this, Alaric couldn't help but furrow his brow, an inexplicable feeling of unease rising in his heart.
Alaric knew far too little about Tiamat's powers. Even the events of the Human Order Incineration couldn't provide him with much information.
Tiamat was an existence abandoned after creation—a goddess who existed only in myth. Records of her were confined to legend.
Because of this, Alaric couldn't determine the meaning behind her actions.
The power of producing magical beasts that Gorgon used came from Tiamat's [Womb of Beasts], and Tiamat herself used this power to create the Lahmu.
Beyond that, there seemed to be no other abilities.
She had merely created the Lahmu, and aside from the Womb of Beasts, the only other confirmed ability was her Independent Manifestation.
Could a being with Independent Manifestation, like Tiamat, even be destroyed?
This question weighed on Alaric's mind.
At this thought, Alaric instinctively activated the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—
A power capable of seeing the death of all things: heaven, earth, trees, flowers, organic, inorganic, humans, spirits, gods—everything's destined to end, the future marked by death.
An ultimate form of future sight, a unique Mystic Eye.
This ability to perceive death had allowed Alaric to overcome countless powerful foes: Vlad III, the Lionheart King, Gawain, and others.
Every enemy that seemed invincible had been utterly killed by Alaric.
Even divine beings—Alaric could see their inevitable future, their destined death.
But this time, Alaric saw nothing.
Nothing at all.
Even when he pushed his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to their limit, blood streaming from his seven orifices, he couldn't discern anything unusual about Tiamat's pure body.
It was a body that rejected death, the very essence of life itself.