Chapter 266: Xia Yu: The Chicken Soup Is Here!
"So everyone is actually fine? They're still alive after being treated like that?"
In front of the city of Eridu, Mash stared wide-eyed at the familiar soldiers before her.
"Yes, we find it strange too," the leading soldier said, looking down at his own body. He had clearly been grabbed by the neck by that terrifying goddess and hurled right through a wall...
"To think we wouldn't even die from that..."
"Exactly, exactly," Jaguar Man said with great pride. "At first glance, it looks like you were killed, right? In fact, she really did deal a fatal blow. But the moment Kuku delivers an instant-death level strike, she simultaneously grants an Instant-Death Level Resurrection!"
"In other words, there are zero casualties?" Mash's eyes lit up.
"But why go through such a troublesome process?"
"It must be Kuku's principle," Jaguar Man scratched her head. "If the opponent challenges her with a resolve to die, she fights back with all her might."
"But if they are someone who hasn't prepared themselves, she saves their life."
Hearing this, Mash looked at the surrounding walls. "But everyone seems to be trapped here."
"That goddess is the one preventing us from returning to Uruk," a soldier whispered, glancing at Jaguar Man.
"I can't just let you go," Jaguar Man crossed her arms and shook her head. "For the moment that is soon to come, you all need to become Kuku's soldiers."
"We are soldiers of Uruk!" the leading soldier shouted emotionally. "We have a reason why we must return to Uruk! Our families... everything we have is there!"
"Oh dear, oh dear, it's all the same," Jaguar Man waved her hand. "You can be very happy in Ur too."
"'Some people will work hard, while others won't. Some can fight, while others cannot. This wide range of tolerance is a unique characteristic of human society.' That's what Kuku says."
"Kuku..." Da Vinci of Chaldea pondered aloud. "The one who appears as a God-King in Toltec is Quetzalcoatl, and in Maya, she is the King of Conquest, Kukulkan. Though she is a deity, she always manifests in the form of a king of humans."
"Is that why she brought the soldiers back? How can a king exist without subjects?"
"Whew," Ishtar rolled her eyes. "Are the deities of other lands always this diligent?"
"This is tricky," Merlin sighed. "Clearly, Quetzalcoatl is a goddess who decided to destroy humanity despite fully understanding what humans are. Trying to talk her out of it..."
"No, it can be done." Fujimaru Ritsuka turned to look at the soldiers, recalling the information Big Sister Kiana had given her last night.
Quetzalcoatl is the pinnacle of goodness.
Without a doubt, she is good.
And these soldiers... Heh, would a goddess who truly wants to destroy humanity resort to such convoluted methods? Wouldn't she just act like Gorgon?
"I think that's impossible, you know," Jaguar Man said with a grin. "If she reveals her true nature, she's even more terrifying than Gorgon. Kuku is a monster who is absolutely obsessed with fighting!"
"You won't defeat her with mere words."
"I know," Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes lit up completely. "I didn't plan on negotiating with simple words either."
Besides... a monster obsessed with fighting, huh?
Fujimaru Ritsuka recalled the passionate gaze Quetzalcoatl had directed toward her, and the annoyance Big Sister Kiana had mentioned...
'Perhaps I've already found a way.'
Inside the Ziggurat of Uruk.
Gilgamesh stared at the mountain of stone tablets piled in front of him. Holding his forehead, he murmured, "This is truly... terrifying."
Whether facing the cross-examination of the gods or the assault of the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh had never felt fear.
But looking at the towering pile of stone tablets now, he was truly at his wits' end.
'Why didn't I summon a few civil officials back then?' he reflected, beginning to regret his choices.
Every single Heroic Spirit he summoned was a combat enthusiast. The only one who could count as a civil official was Merlin, but the vast majority of his energy was tied up keeping Tiamat at bay...
As a result, the entire weight of Uruk rested squarely on his shoulders.
"King Gilgamesh?" Seeing him holding his head, Siduri anxiously rushed up to the throne, asking with concern.
She knew that the King had not rested for nearly a month.
"Hmph, hmph, hahahaha!" Hearing her voice, Gilgamesh forced himself to cheer up and laughed out loud, holding up a stone tablet to show off. "This King has finally completed the blueprint for the Dingir!"
He pushed the blueprint in front of Siduri. "Admire it, and be dumbfounded!"
"This is This King's masterpiece!"
"This... this is simply the grand work of a genius!" Siduri looked at the blueprint and said excitedly, "My King, perhaps you could consider expanding your path toward becoming an architect!"
"Stop praising me," the corners of Gilgamesh's mouth curved upward in pleasure. "This King might actually take it seriously."
"Hmm? What's so amazing? Let me see, let me see!" Suddenly, a crisp voice echoed in the Ziggurat.
"Kiana..." Gilgamesh's body froze when he heard the voice, and he turned around.
Sure enough, Kiana walked over quite familiarly while carrying a small basket, righteously holding out her hand to Siduri. "Let me see!"
"My King..." Siduri held the stone tablet tightly and looked at Gilgamesh.
She also knew how awkward the status of this 'guest' in front of them was.
"Hmph, since you desire to revere This King's genius creation so much, take it!" Gilgamesh generously reached out, pulled the stone tablet from Siduri's arms, and handed it to Kiana.
The latter took it and focused her gaze on the stone tablet.
She couldn't understand it.
Sigh, that's just how Age of Gods magecraft is.
"It's barely passable," Xia Yu handed the stone tablet back to Siduri. "But you can forget about expecting him to become an architect."
"What? Do you look down on This King's talent for architecture?" Gilgamesh said, highly displeased.
Xia Yu shook her head. "It's not that I'm qualified to look down on you, it's just that I really haven't done much research in this field."
"But I do know that if you don't rest any time soon... tsk tsk tsk, you're probably going to fall asleep and never wake up again." She set down her basket and pulled back the cloth covering it. "Ta-da! The chicken soup is here!"
"This is chicken soup I stewed for you to nourish your body."
"Last night, Ritsuka begged me for ages before I agreed to help out. Even someone like her who isn't always in Uruk noticed it. Do you really not intend to take a break?"
Gilgamesh looked down at the small pot of aromatic soup, remaining silent.
"It just so happens that I haven't eaten breakfast either," Siduri stepped forward quite considerately. "Could you serve me a bowl first? Miss Kiana's cooking is truly magnificent; this scent is just too enticing."
"Just say it outright if you're afraid I poisoned it," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her, then materialized a bowl, ladled a full portion from the pot, and handed it over.
"Hmph, you aren't the type to resort to underhanded schemes," Gilgamesh grumbled.
Siduri had indeed misunderstood. He wasn't worried about poison; he just felt frustrated that his physical condition was actually so easy to see through.
"Tsk, you better not have thought that," Xia Yu chuckled, looking at the mountain of stone tablets nearby. "Yo, looking at this workload... sigh, aren't you genuinely afraid of sudden death?"
"Hmph, how could the body of a king be so fragile!" Gilgamesh glared. "This is a mere pittance of work. If it weren't for the urgency of drawing the blueprints, how could it pile up so much!"
"Um, King Gilgamesh," Siduri felt quite awkward. Holding the bowl of chicken soup and gathering the stone tablets, she bowed and said, "I will deliver these to the armory first. I'll finish my breakfast on the way."
"Also..." She gave Xia Yu a conflicted glance before speaking up. "Mhm, after you finish your meal, please take this opportunity to get some proper rest."
After saying that, she hurriedly walked out of the Ziggurat.
Meanwhile, Gilgamesh slowly sat back onto his throne. "The throne is a place to convey decisions, not a place to rest..."
"But I see you really are about to drop dead," Xia Yu pushed the chicken soup in front of him with a smile. "Are you really not going to take a bite first? This is Ritsuka's heartfelt sentiment, you know."
"Hmph, This King will..." Gilgamesh's eyes felt as if a thousand-pound weight were pressing down on them, repeatedly wanting to close.
"The throne cannot... forget it... if it's just for a moment..."
"Tsk," Xia Yu smacked her lips at the sight, walking over to Gilgamesh who was holding onto his last breath. "Look at you. You refused to take a bite no matter what, and now you're actually kicking the bucket. You aren't even a well-fed ghost. Tsk tsk tsk, how pitiful."
"Oh right, remember to say hello to Ereshkigal for me when you go down."
Hearing this, a final doubt flickered in Gilgamesh's consciousness.
'Who is Ereshkigal?'
And then... then he could no longer perceive any consciousness whatsoever.
"This is truly like a dream, Senpai!"
Outside the Ziggurat, Mash looked at Quetzalcoatl beside them, feeling it was completely surreal.
Not only had they won over a top-tier ally like Quetzalcoatl, but they had also secured a necessary divine tool like the Axe of Marduk.
"By the way, Senpai," Mash asked curiously, "how did you convince Miss Quetzalcoatl during that final moment up in the sky?"
"Hahaha, well, about that..." Fujimaru Ritsuka scratched her cheek, turning her head away.
'Can I really say that I sold out Big Sister Kiana for a good price to buy her over?'
There was no helping it. To win over Quetzalcoatl, she had to find something the goddess cared about.
Combining all the pieces of information—Big Sister Kiana saying she was the pinnacle of goodness, her own statements about loving heroes, the fact that the soldiers who should have died were actually instantly revived by her... and her own admission that she was called here by Mother to destroy humanity!
Layering all these clues together led her to an astonishing conclusion: Quetzalcoatl wasn't truly on the side of the Three Goddess Alliance.
Otherwise, with her strength, destroying Uruk wouldn't require such convoluted methods. Furthermore, as the pinnacle of goodness, it was even less possible for her to commit the evil act of destroying humanity.
Add to that Big Sister Kiana saying Quetzalcoatl was constantly pestering her, and Jaguar Man saying Quetzalcoatl was an absolute battle maniac... so Fujimaru Ritsuka came up with a bold idea.
"You said both Big Sister Kiana and I are heroes, right?" Standing at the top of the temple back then, she had spoken to Quetzalcoatl. "But you see, I don't have that kind of self-awareness."
Fujimaru Ritsuka raised her arms, flexing her muscles. "Look, I barely have any strength. Being able to make it this far is entirely thanks to the companions along the way. Compared to me, Big Sister Kiana looks much more like a hero, don't you think?"
"She is so beautiful, and so powerful!"
"Oh? What exactly are you trying to say?" Quetzalcoatl looked at her with a face full of surprise.
"Hey, you want to fight Big Sister Kiana, right?" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at her with a piercing gaze. "Compared to a powerless person like me, don't you think she's a much better target?"
"Don't you call her big sister?" Quetzalcoatl tilted her head at her. "Is this... placing justice above family?"
"I must save Human History," Fujimaru Ritsuka placed a hand over her heart. "No matter how filthy my actions have to be!"
"Besides... Big Sister Kiana is destined to stand in my way. Perhaps she has her own hometown to save as well, but if only one of our two worlds can survive..."
She grit her teeth and said, "Then I am willing to be the executioner!"
"So, come to my side," Fujimaru Ritsuka extended a hand to Quetzalcoatl. "Big Sister Kiana keeps refusing to fight you, doesn't she? I can help you get what you want."
"And if you refuse, what glory is there even if you defeat a weakling like me? Would that really satisfy you?"
"Now that thoroughly satisfies me!" The big sister's eyes shone brightly upon hearing this, and she swept her into a tight embrace. "Don't look down on yourself, you are a hero too!"
"A hero certified by me, Quetzalcoatl! Besides, you aren't as powerless as you think. As a Master, your Servants are your strength!"
"You agree, right?"
"Mhm, from now on, Quetzalcoatl is your Servant."
Whew... Fujimaru Ritsuka finally breathed a sigh of relief.
'I'm sorry, Big Sister Kiana! I sold you out...'
'But then again... you've already planned to give us a beating anyway, haven't you? Hmph, last time we had absolutely no choice, but this time I won't just sit around waiting to die!'
Back in the present, Fujimaru Ritsuka's group looked at the stumbling Siduri and asked, "What's wrong? Miss Siduri?"
"Something terrible has happened!" Siduri said in a panic. "The King... the King... has passed away!"
"What?!"
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T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me! But for faster responses, please notify me on my discord server instead (link is in my profile). Thanks!
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