IBHJ Chapter 930

Tiamat looked down at the chains, her eyes widening as she saw faint, ancient words inscribed onto the reformed links. Tiamat stared at the markings, a flicker of recognition in her eyes. "Runes?" she murmured.

Enkidu knew nothing about these markings, but judging by the state of the chains, it was these ancient words that had somehow restored them and allowed them to bind Tiamat.

Was this the King of Knights' secret weapon? As Enkidu turned to look, she saw strange symbols flashing with light between Shirou's eyebrows. They were the same symbols as those on the chains.

— The Rune of Wisdom!

It worked! Shirou breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the rune-strengthened chains bind Tiamat. After the record exchange with Artoria, all of Eternal King's skills and Noble Phantasms were sealed and couldn't be used, but three skills remained untouched.

The first was the Invisible Vortex that was still maintaining the record exchange, the second was Evil Blossom, and the third was the Rune of Wisdom. It was an ancient wisdom that the great god Odin had obtained by sacrificing one eye to drink from the Well of Mimir. With this knowledge, he created the Runes. Like the Invisible Vortex and the Dark Vortex, it was a relic from ancient times. Therefore, even though his and Artoria's bodies and records had been swapped, the Rune of Wisdom still resided within his soul.

The Rune of Wisdom's effect was simple, yet profound. It was an ancient magical technique that surpassed Primordial Runes and all known spells in terms of enhancement and enchantment.

He used the Rune of Wisdom to imbue the chains with "Anti-Divinity" and "Indestructible" properties, greatly enhancing their ability to resist divinity and making them virtually unbreakable. This allowed them to bind Tiamat without breaking.

While the chains held Tiamat captive, the adventurers unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks. They knew their efforts alone couldn't truly harm her, but they had to fight back, to show defiance in the face of overwhelming odds, to cling to the slimmest hope of survival.

Tiamat watched the incoming fireballs, arrows, and spells with calm indifference. "It's no use, children. Your attacks are too weak to harm me. You still haven't learned anything."

"That may not be true."

A smile tugged at the corner of Shirou's mouth, and the Rune of Wisdom between his eyebrows pulsed with light. Runic words appeared on all the attacks, whether magical or physical.

[Strengthen], [Break Defense], [Pierce]... a series of enhancements were applied through the Rune of Wisdom.

The adventurers' attacks slammed into Tiamat's body, and for the first time, she flinched.

-79347

-27491

-337981...

Damage numbers hundreds of times greater than before erupted from Tiamat's body.

"Owowow...!"

A look of pain crossed her face.

"How did my attack...?" The adventurers stared at their hands in disbelief. They could hardly believe they were capable of inflicting such massive damage. It was unreal, almost like they had activated a cheat code.

Enkidu also stared at her hands in shock. Had she really caused that much damage? It was unbelievable. Since when could she even restrain the Goddess of Beginning?

"Don't just stand there, keep attacking!" Shirou yelled.

Most of the adventurers were natives of this world, so their wavering was understandable. But for Enkidu to be dazed was truly surprising. Of course, he couldn't fully understand Enkidu's feelings. Just as during the Fuyuki invasion, he couldn't comprehend the emotions of Arjuna, Karna, and others who were fighting for his buffs.

The sheer joy of such a breakthrough, of shattering limits, was a difficult sensation to describe. It was like a corporate drone working day in and day out, living a dull, meaningless existence, suddenly gaining unimaginable cheat power. It was enough to make anyone feel dazed.

Shirou's shout snapped them back to reality. They looked at him, then hurriedly resumed their attacks. Despite being the lowest level, he now held the most credibility in their eyes. It couldn't be helped. Credibility wasn't earned through strength alone, but by demonstrating the ability to influence the outcome of the battle.

This was how leadership was born. And in this regard, Shirou excelled.

As the Rune-enhanced attacks rained down on her, Tiamat, unable to break free from the chains, desperately tried to summon her authority for defense. She could no longer afford to ignore attacks imbued with Runic words. But as the planets symbolizing her authority began to materialize, black hands formed from Evil Blossom rose from the ground around her, ready to inflict confusion at any moment.

Tiamat looked helplessly at the encircling black hands. She had no choice but to withdraw her authority. If she used it, there was a 50% chance it would backfire.

"You are such an annoying child." Tiamat glanced at him unhappily.

She had never despised gods or humans before, not even Marduk who had killed her. In fact, up until now, she had only disliked two beings. One was Fujimaru Shirou, the brother who held a special place in her child Sakura's heart. Now, another one was added to the list.

Of course, she didn't realize that the person she now disliked was, in fact, the same Fujimaru Shirou.

Moreover—

"You deceived me," Tiamat said with displeasure. "Having inherited the Rune of Wisdom, how could you not understand how to use the legacy? I dislike dishonest children."

This was truly unfair, he groaned inwardly. While he had inherited the Invisible Vortex and obtained the Rune of Wisdom from Odin, he was completely clueless about the ancient legacies she spoke of. In fact, this inheritance had dragged him into major events involving the Council and the Dark Vortex, causing him immense suffering.

However, one thing was clear: Tiamat was also deeply connected to this ancient civilization.

By using Evil Blossom to suppress Tiamat's powers, the Chains of Heaven to restrict her movements, and the Rune of Wisdom to amplify their damage, victory seemed within reach if they proceeded step by step.

But just as this thought crossed their minds, the ground began to shake violently, throwing everyone off balance and disrupting their attack rhythm.

"What's happening?"

"Is the boss entering a second phase?"

"Watch out! She might summon minions!"

The adventurers speculated wildly, but Shirou knew they were falling into the trap of experience-based assumptions. Tiamat hadn't changed form or entered a second phase. The real change was in the ground beneath their feet—the Heaven's Corpse!

"As expected..." Enkidu murmured.

Shirou glanced at her. Enkidu had also sensed that Altera was losing control of the Heaven's Corpse. No, it was more accurate to say that Altera had done an incredible job of holding it back for this long. It was a miracle achieved through Illya's magical energy and the nature of the Holy Grail.

However—

He looked up at Tiamat's daunting health bar and sighed. It still wasn't enough. Even with the Rune of Wisdom amplifying their attacks, defeating Tiamat through brute force would likely take hours. Altera couldn't hold out that long. Once her magical energy was depleted, the Heaven's Corpse would overwhelm her.

This could not be allowed to happen.

With a determined expression, he turned to Enkidu. "Enkidu, I'm leaving Tiamat to you."

The only way to save Altera was to obtain the divine fragments and complete the quest before her strength gave out.

Enkidu was momentarily taken aback by Shirou's request, but she quickly understood his intentions. She nodded with a serious expression. "Leave it to me. Go do what you need to do, King of Knights."

Enkidu knew Shirou wanted to bypass Tiamat and claim the divine fragments immediately. Although they were both after the same goal, Enkidu and Shirou belonged to different factions. Normally, Enkidu wouldn't agree so readily, but drastic situations called for drastic measures. If they didn't act quickly, even if Tiamat didn't kill them, the Heaven's Corpse would consume them all.

At this moment, only Shirou's black mud and the Rune-enhanced Chains of Heaven could restrain Tiamat. Even with the enhancement, the chains were barely holding her back. If not for the constant barrage of attacks from the adventurers, also empowered by the Rune of Wisdom, Tiamat could easily break free with a little more effort.

Enkidu couldn't move from her position. As an existence created to counter Gilgamesh, she understood this fact rationally and comprehended the gravity of the situation.