Staring at the familiar creature before him, Jiang You couldn't immediately recall where he'd seen it. Aside from the Demonic Front, he hadn't encountered many Magical Beasts. And since this thing couldn't be used in a card game, it hadn't left a deep impression on him.
"Hold on a second."
Jiang You racked his brain, trying to remember where he'd seen this thing before.
Seeing Jiang You lost in thought, Semiramis assumed he had recognized the creature. Bašmu, a legendary Magical Beast, possessed power on par with a first-rate Servant. Combined with its terrifying venom—potent enough to kill even gods—most Servants without corresponding resistance would suffer greatly against it.
"Bašmu, one of the Eleven Beasts of the Creator Mother Goddess Tiamat. It seems your poison resistance isn't very good. So how dare you appear directly before me?"
"Bašmu?"
It finally dawned on Jiang You. Hadn't Tiamat summoned this thing during a card game before? He immediately greeted the giant Magical Beast.
"Remember me?"
Bašmu: "?"
Technically, if they were to get chummy now, Bašmu would be Jiang You's older brother. But Jiang You couldn't bring himself to call it that directly. So, he pulled Jalter over. Jalter had a deeper connection to Tiamat, so he figured she'd have no qualms about it. "Look, this is your big brother. Say hi."
Jalter: "?"
"Seriously, are you insane?!"
Jalter, who had been ready for battle, couldn't believe Jiang You was still in the mood to joke around at a time like this. Even if he lacked any sense of urgency, couldn't he at least let her finish a fight properly? She hadn't managed to complete a single battle from start to finish.
"You're saying this Great Serpent is my brother? Have you lost your mind?"
Bašmu, however, did catch a familiar scent from Jalter—the scent of the Primordial Sea. But that didn't change their hostile stance. It wasn't unheard of for the Eleven Beasts to be summoned and forced to fight each other. As long as it wasn't a battle against their Mother, such things didn't matter.
Semiramis also thought this servant must have something wrong with his head, still joking around at a time like this.
"There's no need to stall for time. Let's just start the battle."
Bašmu let out a roar and was about to use its massive body to launch the first attack, but Jiang You stopped it again.
"Are you sure? Are you sure you want to side with them?"
Bašmu glanced left and right, finally realizing Jiang You was indeed speaking to it. It didn't understand. Why would he say that? Hello? I was summoned by her Noble Phantasm. Whose side would I be on if not hers?
"Is that so? Then take a look at who this is."
Jiang You decided it was time to give Semiramis a little Beast-level shock. He directly summoned Tiamat.
"!!!"
As the girl with large horns suddenly appeared in front of Jiang You, Tiamat's immense, battle-ready aura instantly swept across the battlefield. Everyone on both the Black and Red factions took a step back in unison.
"Wait, what's going on?"
Feend realized this Beast seemed to be a summon of the Eastern Servant. This joke had suddenly gotten way out of hand.
"Could he be the true mastermind behind all this? But what kind of servant can summon something of this caliber?! Are you kidding me?!"
"What's the point of complaining now? Does it change the outcome?"
Gordes glanced at Siegfried, who stood protectively in front of him. "Saber, will your special trait be effective?"
Siegfried stared intently at Tiamat. "Master, the enemy does indeed possess the Dragon trait... but I'm sorry. I fear I won't be able to suppress her. The power gap is simply too immense."
"Even you can't do it?"
Gordes swallowed hard. Among all the servants present, only Karna could be said to definitively overpower Siegfried. Even against someone of Karna's caliber, Siegfried could still put up a fight. Yet, facing this Beast, Siegfried was explicitly stating that even with a type advantage, he couldn't gain the upper hand. The sheer absurdity of their opponent's strength was clear.
Meanwhile, when Bašmu saw Tiamat, the entire Magical Beast tensed up, its body going rigid with anxiety. It now remembered for certain where it had seen Jiang You before. Mother had summoned it and its siblings under similar strange battle rules back then. While it was genuinely happy to see Mother again, they seemed to be on opposing sides now. Am I really going to be stuffed back into the Primordial Sea for a do-over?
"Bašmu?"
Semiramis watched her trump card behave strangely and suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. A Magical Beast of this caliber shouldn't react with such terror, not even when facing a powerful enemy or a god. After all, they were created specifically to oppose the gods.
"So, which side will you choose?"
Jiang You asked Bašmu before Tiamat could speak. While his side didn't strictly need Bašmu's combat power, why pass up a chance to mess with the enemy's morale?
Bašmu glanced at Semiramis, then at Tiamat. Was there even a choice here?
True, it was a summon created by Semiramis's Noble Phantasm and was under her control. But this summoning wasn't absolute. With its self-awareness, it could sever the link, though at a significant cost. But if it attacked Mother... what would become of it? Its connection to Semiramis was already tenuous; for the most part, it was still strongly bound to Mother. It couldn't even imagine the consequences of angering her.
And so, Bašmu lowered its head like a chastened puppy, trotted over to Tiamat's side, and defected on the spot.
Semiramis and both the Black and Red Factions: "?"
"Is that your summon?"
Astolfo pointed at Bašmu and asked Semiramis. The situation was so absurd he couldn't suppress his curiosity and had to ask.
"Are you sure you're not a mole sent by their side?"
Still reeling from shock, Semiramis was in no mood for pleasantries. Astolfo had just touched a very sore spot.
"Do you really need to ask?!"
Semiramis desperately tried to command Bašmu with her Noble Phantasm, only to find that it had already severed the connection. Without the magical power supplied by her Noble Phantasm, a Magical Beast of this level couldn't maintain its existence for long—it was essentially suicide. Bašmu had made it clear: it would rather die than help her again. The realization made her so furious she nearly coughed up blood. This was her Noble Phantasm! Could Servants no longer even trust their own Noble Phantasms?!
Seeing Semiramis's frustrated expression, Jiang You felt quite pleased.
"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce her. This is the Avatar of the Chaos Tide, the Primordial Mother, the Progenitor of All Beasts, the Ruler of the Abyss, the Guardian of the Endless Sea, the Demonic Dragon that Forged Heaven and Earth, the Supreme Goddess of the Imaginary Number Sea—Her Excellency, Tiamat!"