Full title: "Seventh Singularity - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia [Chain of the Heavens]". Written by Kinoko Nasu.
The final singularity is in ancient Babylonia, 2500 BC. At the peak of Wise King Gilgamesh's rule, an alliance of three goddesses: Tiamat, Quetzalcoatl, and Ereshkigal threaten to overwhelm the kingdom of Uruk, therefore nipping civilizations in the bud. Spearheading the forces of this Alliance is Enkidu, King Gilgamesh's best friend, carrying a mission from his "mother".
In preparation to combat the teeming monsters the goddesses have as an army, Gilgamesh has summoned several Heroic Spirits from legendary magus Merlin to stalwart defender Leonidas, and recruits Chaldea into the fold after learning their mission, dispatching the protagonist and Mash on several operations to help fight off this divine threat.
Unbeknownst to the protagonists, an ancient being slowly rises from her long slumber...
In 2019 the chapter was adapted to an animated series by CloverWorks.
Tropes:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: The final battles turn the odds massively towards your favor. Not only does your party get blessed with various permanent buffs from Ereshkigal as well as being constantly healed by Merlin, you also get to use maxed-out versions Lv. 100 versions of Merlin, First Hassan and Archer Gilgamesh as Support Characters.
- Anyone Can Die: By the end, literally the only survivors other than Mash and the protagonist are Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Warrior, Merlin, and King Hassan. Every single other person in Sumer has been killed by Tiamat and her Chaos Tide, up to and including King Gilgamesh (though he manages to temporarily cheat the grim reaper by using his own death as a catalyst to summon his Archer form as a Servant), while Ereshkigal burned herself out giving the heroes the blessings they need to stand up to Tiamat. Even the survivors are not unscathed, as Quetzalcoatl burned up most of her Divinity holding off Tiamat, Merlin lost his dream avatar, and King Hassan had to sacrifice his status as Grand Assassin in order to join in the fight.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Averted for King Gilgamesh. When Tiamat attacks Uruk, Gilgamesh pushed the protagonist out of the way from one of Tiamat's stray beams and is mortally wounded as result. Gilgamesh actually thanks the protagonist for this as his clairvoyance revealed that Uruk would be lead by a new king after the Singularity ended, realizing that he would have to make way for the new generation. Throughout the singularity he was worried that he might have to kill himself to do so but found the idea disgraceful thus he is relieved that he would die a more respectful death defending Uruk instead.
- Bittersweet Ending: They defeated Tiamat, seal what remains of her and impress Solomon to enter his singularity but the Sumerian civilisation is on its last legs, Ushiwakamaru, Benkei and Ereshkigal can't return to the Throne of Heroes after their death, King Gilgamesh, Ana and the copy Merlin are dead, those who are still alive at the end didn't came up unscathed (Quetzalcoatl has burned most of her divinity and First Hassan has sacrificed his Grand status to inflict the concept of death on Tiamat) and Mash is nearing the end of her life.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: They managed to kill Tiamat and reseal whatever was left of her remains back in the Abyss, but nearly every named character as well as the entire population of Uru has been killed.
- Call-Back: Many elements of the previous singularities show up, one way or another.
- Like Orleans, the first conflict, the Absolute Demonic Battlefront Babylonia is against a host of monsters that threaten to destroy the land of Sumeria.
- As with Nero in Rome, the Gilgamesh that appears in this story is still alive thus the king of Uruk and not a servant summoned to fight.
- In a similar manner as Okeanos, the crew stumble upon the Grail in the early part of the story, there being two Grails in existence in the current Singularity; and, like Jason before him, Kingu is eventually betrayed by those he considered his allies.
- Ereshkigal's method of annihilation is an illness that will eventually kill off the Sumerians, much like London's Demon Fog.
- Much like Cu Alter before him, Enkidu/Kingu is a servant enhanced by the Holy Grail that's subservient to the "mother" of the enemy armies.
- Many of the enemy leaders in the story have various attributes in their fights tied to their story, much like the Knights of the Round Table and, like goddess Rhongonmyniad in Camelot, the enemies to confront are Divine Spirits, with the distinction of being the real deal and not a Deity of Human Origin.
- Finally, the effects of Tiamat's Chaos Tide, an even more powerful variant of the the Mud of the Grail, eventually consumes most of Sumer, leaving behind a hellish landscape, just as in the first Singularity in Fuyuki.
- Cerebus Rollercoaster: The story will veer between gut-bustingly hilarious (Gilgamesh dies from overworking while doing some paperwork and the party has to go bring him back to life, subjecting Ishtar to various humiliating trials as they explore the Babylonian underworld) to overwhelmingly dark (it's shown in vivid bloody detail just how exactly Lahmus kill and are created). The music of the map also showcases this change: the first theme is a quick, upbeat tune not unlike Orleans's; once Tiamat is unleashed, the theme changes to a forebodding one, reflecting the desperate struggle against the Primordial goddess.
- The Corrupter: Tiamat's Chaos Tide, which is a stronger version of the mud of the grail, will turn whatever it falls into it in one of Tiamat's children. It's so potent that it even corrupts the Sumerian underworld.
- Debut Queue: Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Warrior, and Gorgon can be summoned in the story gacha after story completion.
- Do Not Go Gentle: At the latter part of the story, Gilgamesh reveals that he knew beforehand that Uruk would be destroyed in six months, with nothing in his power to prevent it, and announced it to his people, giving them the choice of how they wanted to die. All of Uruk, Gilgamesh included, chose to fight to the bitter end.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Ishtar, one of the main characters in this chapter, debuted in the Christmas 2016 event beforehand. Her sister, Ereshkigal, also appears here as a NPC before her inclusion in the Christmas 2017 event. Merlin and King Hassan also appear as supports in this chapter.
- Eldritch Abomination: Tiamat, but Downplayed. She is a Indestructible Primordial Goddess with more power than she knows what to do with but does not look like a typical Eldritch Abomination until the final battle. Other than that, the only thing that is truly eldritch about her is her thought process; Every lifeform on earth is her 'children' and she loves all of them, but she can only express that love by breaking them down and stuffing them back into her womb so she can give birth to them again.
- At the same time, she despises humans for abandoning her to a lifeless void, only wishing to be loved by her children. What makes this truly sad is that some part of Tiamat knows that her nature as a beast, the way she expresses love etc. is not good for humanity which is why she binds herself and only debuffs you when you first fight her.
- Her alignment is also
Chaotic Evil but that is less because of her hatred of humans and more because of her nature as a beast.
- End of an Age: In various ways.
- The Seventh Singularity itself takes place at the end of the Age of Gods, when mortals and divine alike walked the earth, and the beginning of the separation of the human and supernatural planes.
- Tiamat's final battle is, appropiately called, Childhood's End, because mankind will finally leave the grasp of their Primordial mother by killing her.
- Finally, Gilgamesh reveals that this is also true for the first dynasty of Uruk, as well as the rest of Sumerian civilization, for even if the foundation of humanity is restored, those that died will remain dead, with their cause shifting to a more mundane reason.
- Eviler than Thou: What the Lahmu eventually pull on Kingu when the latter chastises them for being needlessly cruel, crossing with You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
- Fling a Light into the Future: The ultimate reason behind Gilgamesh and Uruk's fight against the goddesses and Tiamat later on, they know that Sumeria as a civilization is doomed to die, but they can still die in a manner that allows the next generations to continue on with their knowledge and legacy.
- Freudian Slip: Enkidu says earlier on that "Truly, they shed needless blood as well. There is no need to annihilate everything. They will die off on their own, so it is useless." He says that it refers to the Demonic Beasts who have emotions as well. It turns out, Enkidu here is in fact, Kingu, who is in league with the Big Bad. He finds it unnecessary to destroy all humans. However, even he finds this current situation distasteful.
- For the Evulz: Most of the Lahmu: at first they seem mindless beast that are far more sadistic than the other children of Tiamat, then you learn that they are actually sentient and enjoy causing horrific deaths to humans or making them suffer, going as far as killing fleeing civilians in the face of combat or forcing people to fight to the death for their amusement.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The most notable amongst the seven Singularities since a good deal of the cast dies that way.
- Ushiwakamaru falls first by deflecting Gorgon's attention, allowing the Protagonist and company to escape from her. She doesn't actually die from this, but she ends up captured and converted by Tiamat's Sea of Life into a willing servant.
- Leonidas dies next, protecting the group from Gorgon's ''Eyes of Petrification''.
- Ana, AKA Medusa willingly falls down a massive hole in the earth to ensure that Gorgon dies for good.
- Siduri gives her life to protect a defenseless Kingu despite having been turned into a Lahmu.
- Quetzalcoatl burns away to delay the advance of Tiamat, Downplayed latter on as we learn that Jaguar Warrior saved her, though the former did burned away a good deal of her divinity.
- Ana, now inhabiting the body of Gorgon gives her life next to further deter Tiamat's path.
- Benkei sacrifices himself to finally defeat Ushiwakamaru Alter once and for all.
- Kingu gives his life latter on to buy Chaldea more time and prevent most of Uruk's destruction.
- Gilgamesh takes a shot directed at the Protagonist, and allows himself to be killed both to allow Uruk's eventual destruction to shift to a more mundane reason as well as to serve as catalyst for his Archer counterpart.
- Ereshkigal also perishes in the background to give Chaldea as much help as they need to finally defeat Tiamat.
- Irony: For Gilgamesh, in the Unlimited Blade Works route of Fate/stay night Archer Gilgamesh attempted to use Aŋra Mainiiu's grail mud to cull modern humanity and lead the survivors in a new kingdom, but in this singularity Tiamat's Chaos Tide, which is stated to be the very same grail mud, instead kills such a huge number of his remaining subjects that Caster Gilgamesh admits the first dynasty of Uruk has fallen.
- The Juggernaut: Tiamat is an unstoppable abomination that can't be deterred by any physical means, even the Chain of Heavens, said to grow stronger according to the Divinity of what it restrains, can only stop her for a few moments.
- No-Sell: This singularity is unique in that it is chock full of battles you are not expected to win nor do you win. For example when up against Quetzalcoatl, while you technically win the battle, you only manage to distract her long enough to get to the top of her temple by which point she has wrecked all non-Divine Spirits. It is called the Age of Gods for a reason.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The Foundation of Humanity is restored but of those who survived from start to finish everybody except you, Mash, Hassan, Jaguar Warrior, and Quetzalcoatl is deadnote , the Sumerian Civilization is on its last legs and even the Sumerian Underworld is either heavily damaged or corrupted. Of those who died, about 90% of them died rather horribly.
- Serial Escalation: The first half of the story surrounds a war against three fully incarnated goddesses, in comparison to Camelot where the Lion King's status as a Divine Spirit is revealed latter on as consequence of Rhongonmyniad's influence; the second half is a fight against a Primordial goddess that acquired the status of "Evil of Humanity" and is practically unkillable.
- Slice of Life: One particularly long early chapter has about 8 segments dedicated to the crew doing mundane quests for the people of Uruk for a month.
- Wham Line: A couple of notable ones.
- Merlin: Tell the King that...The Sea of Life. The Primordial Mother. One of the Seven Evils of Humanity, and one of the Beasts of Original Sin... is awake.Gilgamesh: You were told that once a Singularity is undone everything returns as it used to be...well, that's a lie, everyone that perishes won't be brought back to life, history will only change their manner of death.
- Willfully Weak: Tiamat. When she finally materialized in the Indian Ocean, a grail was needed to make her surface. And even after that was achieved she refused to do much of anything except provoke you into action by threatening to blow up Uru with a Wave-Motion Gun then proceeds to simply debuff you as you fight her. It is implied that she would have simply have stayed in the ocean had the grail not reached her.
- Even after Femme Fatale was killed it can be argued she wasn't truly dead since instead of just simply beam spamming Uru into oblivion she started to walk towards Uru.
- Except Gorgon and later Tiamat after you kill Femme Fatale, pretty much all the Divine Spirits you face hold back their Authority when you face them, but even then you still get wrecked.
