Chapter 281
"Under Siduri's leadership, the priests have successfully evacuated the vast majority of Uruk's citizens to the Northern Wall defense line."
Gilgamesh looked at the now-empty city of Uruk before him.
"Now, only we remain in the city."
"Hey, Chaldea! Start being useful already and spit out your intelligence!"
"Alright, Mash, lay your shield flat!"
Hearing this, the Doctor also rallied himself.
"I'll send the data over!"
Mash immediately lowered her great shield, and Fujimaru Ritsuka constructed a communication Cursed Technique. Records displayed on light screens were transmitted over one after another.
"A living factory capable of movement."
The Doctor spoke with a serious tone.
"A magical energy reserve sufficient for interstellar travel, vast life seeds stored within its body, a divine ark humanity won't be able to achieve for several hundred more years."
"This is the true nature of Goddess Tiamat."
"Hah? You bastard!"
Gilgamesh exploded immediately upon hearing this.
"Are you on Tiamat's side or something? Why isn't there a single record of a weakness in there?!"
You're the strongest member of the Clairvoyance Club. Can't you get even this much information?
"I'd love to write a strategy guide too!"
The Doctor slammed the table and stood up excitedly.
"But that's reality! That is a perfect existence with no flaws, physically or mythologically. With our current strength, there is absolutely no way we can oppose her!"
"Now, now, don't get so worked up."
Da Vinci patted his shoulder.
"Although this hypothesis requires further verification, my data shows that Goddess Tiamat was born without the concept of death."
"Because she is the Mother of Life."
The Doctor continued.
"The fact that we are alive is itself proof of her existence. As long as living beings remain on the surface, Tiamat will never die."
Mash froze upon hearing this.
"Then we can't defeat her at all!"
"To defeat Goddess Tiamat, all of humanity would have to die, right?"
"Yeah."
The Doctor nodded heavily.
"Then there's no point."
Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed.
"Jaguar Man."
Gilgamesh looked toward the orange-colored creature nearby.
"What do you think of Tiamat?"
"That?"
Jaguar Man adopted a thoughtful expression.
"She was huge. And honestly, wasn't she super cool?"
"Idiot!"
Gilgamesh shot her a glance.
"I'm not asking for your human reasoning. Speak from instinct. Your instincts as a beast!"
"Oh, that aspect."
Jaguar Man scratched her head and cheerfully replied,
"At that speed, she'll probably reach Uruk in about two days."
"Two days. As expected, that's fast."
Gilgamesh crossed his arms.
"Looks like we have no choice but to intercept her."
"The only question is how long Kiana's defense line can hold."
"Gilgamesh!!!"
At that moment, a muffled voice echoed from underground.
"What's happening up there? I've already gathered all the souls on my side!"
Hearing this, Gilgamesh raised his hand and Summoned a mirror.
Ereshkigal was already waiting.
"Goddess Tiamat is currently advancing toward Uruk."
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at Mesopotamia's Underworld Goddess.
"If we cannot defeat her, Mesopotamia will be destroyed."
"But as long as life still exists on the surface, Goddess Tiamat cannot die. That's the problem troubling us."
He studied Ereshkigal carefully.
"Ereshkigal, do you have any ideas?"
"Unfortunately, I don't."
Ereshkigal shrugged.
"Are you sure?"
Gilgamesh glanced at her sideways.
"...Wait. The Underworld is a place where only death exists."
Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly realized.
"And Tiamat can't die as long as life exists around her... During the Age of Gods, the Underworld and the mortal world were directly connected!"
"Exactly."
Gilgamesh nodded in satisfaction.
"You really are clever. You arrived at the same conclusion as this king."
"Ereshkigal!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at her excitedly.
"We need your help. We need Tiamat to fall into the Underworld!"
"Huh?"
Ishtar froze.
"Wait, isn't that plan way too unrealistic... No, hold on, it might actually work?"
"If she can't die in a world where life exists,"
Gilgamesh crossed his arms.
"Then we simply make her fall into a world without life!"
"In the Underworld, Tiamat would become the only living being," Fujimaru Ritsuka added excitedly. "Then she could be defeated!"
"Hah. You're not stupid after all."
Ereshkigal nodded.
"That's right. I was wondering how long it would take for you all to remember me."
"Goddess of the Underworld, Ereshkigal!"
Gilgamesh stepped forward and loudly declared:
"In the name of the king, I command you! Open the Gates of the Underworld throughout all of Uruk and bind that disaster beast calling itself Goddess Tiamat beneath the earth!"
"This is punishment for your past misconduct as one of the Three Goddess Alliance!"
"And your only chance for redemption!"
"You know, King of Uruk."
Ereshkigal spread her hands.
"Under normal circumstances, that's completely impossible. You're basically asking me to move the entire Underworld beneath Uruk, aren't you?"
"Do you know how much time and effort that requires?"
"No. You definitely have the ability to do it."
Gilgamesh answered without hesitation.
"Otherwise Kiana wouldn't value you so highly."
Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly realized something.
"Wait... Big Sister Kiana tried so hard to recruit you... Don't tell me she already foresaw this day?!"
"Hmph. Do you think a death pit capable of covering all of Uruk can be prepared that easily?"
Ereshkigal spread her hands.
"This is a massive project."
Fujimaru Ritsuka asked anxiously,
"How long do you need?"
Ereshkigal shook her head.
"Originally, it would have taken ten years to barely accomplish."
"Ten years?"
Gilgamesh frowned.
"That really is a bit long... Hmm? Originally?"
"Uh, well..."
Ereshkigal's gaze wandered as her Fingers intertwined.
"Because I hated Uruk so much before, I already had plans for something like this."
"So now I only need about three days to finish preparing."
"Hmph..."
Gilgamesh's expression stiffened, and the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably.
So you're saying this was originally meant to be used against me?
Mash, meanwhile, looked genuinely impressed.
"That's amazing, Miss Ereshkigal!"
"Really?"
Ereshkigal became somewhat embarrassed.
"Then I guess all those nights spent cursing people in the tunnels were worth it."
Ishtar's mouth twitched.
"That's not exactly something worth blushing over..."
"Fine. Well done, Ereshkigal."
Gilgamesh finally couldn't maintain his composure any longer.
With a snap of his fingers, he dismissed the stone mirror and pointed at her.
"But this king is going to have a talk with you later."
Ereshkigal wasn't afraid in the slightest.
She simply waved goodbye to everyone.
"In that case, the problem now is time."
Quetzalcoatl spoke up.
"Ereshkigal's Gates of the Underworld require three days to prepare."
"And Tiamat will reach Uruk in two days. So we need to buy one extra day... If that defense line can just—"
"No."
Gilgamesh immediately rejected the proposal.
"Kiana's defense line cannot be used to stop Tiamat."
"Her dependents need to conserve their strength to prevent at least two hundred million Lahmus from landing. They're already at a numerical disadvantage."
"If she diverts them to stop Tiamat, those two hundred million Lahmus will simply bypass Uruk and head straight for the Northern Wall to attack the civilians."
"As for Kiana herself... Hmph. She's probably the one person who most wants Tiamat to break through. And her allegiance is still questionable. We cannot place all our hopes in her hands."
"So we still need to buy at least one more day?"
Ishtar sighed.
"But how? Marduk's Axe is already broken. We can't use it."
"Why are you pretending?"
Gilgamesh crossed his arms and grinned at Ishtar.
"Can't you already see the path to victory?"
As an enemy, the Bull of Heaven was a nightmare.
As an ally, even if it couldn't defeat Tiamat, it certainly had the ability to hold her back.
"The answer is you, Ishtar!"
Gilgamesh pointed directly at her.
"Yes, you!"
"Me?"
Ishtar froze.
"Hahahahaha! So you actually know how to hide your trump card?"
Gilgamesh walked over and patted her shoulder.
"How hateful. Truly hateful."
"Wait, what are you doing?!"
Ishtar immediately shrugged off his hand, completely confused.
"It's Gugalanna!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly realized.
"The Bull of Heaven Gugalanna! The strongest divine beast of Sumer, servant of Goddess Ishtar!"
"We'll use that to hold back Tiamat!"
"Exactly!"
Quetzalcoatl enthusiastically raised her hand.
"I heard Gugalanna could even drink the Tigris River dry."
"Now I can finally see victory. As expected of you, Lady Ishtar."
"Hah? Gugalanna isn't that incredible."
Ishtar's gaze drifted away.
Send Gugalanna to fight Tiamat?
She wasn't stupid.
It couldn't win.
There was absolutely no way it could win.
Meanwhile, Jaguar Man and Quetzalcoatl continued cheering her on, while Gilgamesh grinned like a complete fool without stopping.
The corner of Ishtar's mouth twitched.
"Gugalanna is completely insignificant before Goddess Tiamat..."
"Hm? What's wrong with you?"
Gilgamesh was the first to notice something unusual.
"The usual you would've already burst into triumphant laughter and started bragging about Gugalanna, despite it not even being your own power."
What do I do?
Ishtar closed her eyes in despair.
At this point, there was simply no way she could admit that she had lost Gugalanna.
Gilgamesh would roast her to death.
Heh. I was wondering why someone who doesn't even get along with me kept trying so hard to recruit me...
So it was for Gugalanna all along!
"Don't overestimate Gugalanna's strength."
Ishtar spoke guiltily.
"Even as Sumer's strongest divine beast, facing Goddess Tiamat... lasting half a day would already be a miracle."
"Half a day... Half a day is enough."
Gilgamesh nodded.
"Delaying her is victory! Therefore, it must be deployed within these two days. Even a tiny amount of extra time is worth it."
"Alright. Although only a brief period remains before dawn..."
He sighed.
"This is probably your last moment of leisure in Uruk."
"Go get some sleep. We do not sleep because we have abandoned hope."
"We spend this night resting so that we may live through tomorrow!"
"Alright, the two from Chaldea stay behind. Everyone else, dismissed!"
After the goddesses left to rest, Gilgamesh sat upon his throne and looked at the two remaining people below.
"The final battle is about to begin. I need an answer from you."
"Regarding Kiana... do you truly believe she can be trusted?"
"Think carefully before answering, Fujimaru Ritsuka. This concerns not only Uruk's survival, but the continued existence of Proper Human History itself."
"Yes. I trust Big Sister Kiana."
Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded seriously.
"She isn't a bad person, and she would never become humanity's enemy."
Though a beating was definitely unavoidable.
"I see... Trust."
Gilgamesh sighed.
"If cooperation was possible, why force us onto this path... Well, I can more or less guess the reason."
"Enough. Go rest."
"A great battle awaits you tomorrow."
Meanwhile, in the Underworld.
"Your current state is really fascinating."
Ereshkigal curiously poked Xia Yu's soul-like body.
"This is only my consciousness."
Xia Yu shrugged.
"Just a basic application of the Authority of Consciousness."
"Ereshkigal, how is our plan progressing?"
"Mm, almost everything is ready."
Ereshkigal looked around.
The once-desolate Underworld was now filled with the glow of countless souls.
"Honestly, my Underworld has never been this lively before."
"Tell me..."
She hesitated.
"Will there really come a day when my dream is realized?"
"There will."
Xia Yu placed a hand on her shoulder and looked directly into her eyes.
"Trust me."
"I'll free you from this lightless prison!"
"Y-you-you... what are you suddenly saying?!"
Ereshkigal's face instantly turned bright red as she stammered.
"I'm a goddess, you know! An evil goddess of the Underworld!"
"...Aren't Underworld gods usually proper deities?"
Xia Yu tilted his head.
"They're responsible for the cycle of life and death. How could their nature possibly be evil..."
In most pantheons, gods of the Underworld also served as judges of good and evil.
How could they possibly be evil gods?
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