On the noisy, bustling streets, Rozen, Mash, Merlin, and Anna dashed forward at full speed.
At the end of the street lay the plaza where the Divine Tower stood.
Rozen and the others charged straight in, brushing past hurried soldiers and civil officials as they ran toward the Throne Room.
The atmosphere around them felt far heavier than usual, clearly indicating that something serious had occurred.
Even the staff from Chaldea hadn't continued communication, apparently not daring to interrupt and clearly quite anxious.
Under these circumstances, Rozen's group arrived at the Throne Room and saw Gilgamesh.
At that moment, Gilgamesh sat on the throne with his arms crossed and eyes closed, deep in thought.
Siduri stood beside him, holding a clay tablet, her face full of worry.
The surrounding soldiers and officials stood anxiously by, not urgently reporting affairs or awaiting commands from Gilgamesh as they usually would. Instead, they had left space and time for someone else—
For the other guests residing in the Chaldea Embassy.
"You're finally here! I've been waiting forever! Hahahaha!"
Nobunaga, draped in military robes and carrying a matchlock rifle, laughed heartily as she saw Rozen and the others enter—completely devoid of any tension, as though this weren't a serious crisis at all.
"Good morning. Haven't seen you for two days. It's such a relief to see you all safe."
Okita, with her sheathed sword and fluttering scarf and haori, gave Rozen's group a gentle smile.
"I heard you went off to do something very important and dangerous yesterday. I'm glad you came back safe."
Ushiwakamaru also smiled warmly.
"Lady Ushiwakamaru was sulking, regretting not staying longer at the embassy. If she had, she could have gone with you to the Cedar Forest."
Benkei stood like a guardian statue as always, but though his wrinkled face bore a frightening appearance, his attitude was gentle, and he smiled.
"Everyone's back?" Mash asked in surprise as she ran over.
"Even the Servants stationed at the northern wall have returned? You really have guts, abandoning the demonic beast front line like that."
Merlin, panting and out of breath, said in an exhausted tone.
"..."
Anna quietly stopped in place without saying a word. The expression beneath her hood seemed especially heavy.
No wonder.
"I heard the Three Goddess Alliance launched a full-scale assault on Uruk. Is that true?"
Rozen's eyes swept across everyone present before finally landing on the group of Servants who should have been guarding the northern wall.
Though their demeanor hadn't visibly changed and remained as carefree as ever, Rozen didn't believe they were just that clueless.
…Well, maybe they were somewhat clueless—these four were all the free-spirited types—but even if they looked the same on the surface, there was a subtle shift in the atmosphere around them.
That change alone was enough to give Rozen the answer.
Siduri couldn't help but speak up beside them.
"This is the report we received this morning," Siduri said, voice heavy with concern. "According to messages from the watchtower and scouting troops, as night faded and dawn broke, large-scale disturbances erupted both in the north and south."
What kind of disturbances?
"Possibly due to the large-scale destruction of the Cedar Forest in the north, the magical beasts that had dwelled there swarmed out this morning, attacking the front line. Their numbers are estimated at around 30,000 to 50,000, with reinforcements still appearing. The intensity of the assault is at least ten times stronger than before—likely far more."
Siduri reported gravely.
"At the same time, from the southern jungle—previously quiet and never aggressive—a horde of draconic beasts and beastmen suddenly charged out at dawn, launching a coordinated attack from the south."
This was an extremely serious development.
Until now, just holding off the magical beasts from the north had nearly exhausted Uruk.
But now, not only were the northern beasts launching a tenfold fiercer assault, the southern jungles were also spewing out enemies in large numbers.
Uruk was being flanked from both sides, and the situation was dire.
To make matters worse...
"Before dawn, while it was still dark, we received partial sightings from the northeast—large numbers of undead-type monsters appeared, especially skeletal soldiers. Their numbers were said to be like mountains and seas. In addition to those, there were wraiths, vengeful spirits, ghosts, and even sightings of Garula Spirits."
Siduri's words caused everyone's expressions to shift.
"Garula Spirits?"
Rozen frowned deeply.
Garula Spirits were messengers of the Underworld, akin to psychopomps—beings that carried the souls of the dead into the afterlife.
These underworld messengers were essentially omnipresent. Wherever mass death occurred, they would gather in great numbers. In the Age of Gods, they could even appear en masse on darkened streets. To people of this era, they were symbols of terror and dread.
The fact that such entities were appearing was a terrible omen.
Rozen immediately connected it to the miasma he had observed enveloping all of Uruk and the undead that had appeared throughout the city.
Those undead were likely the Garula Spirits.
As for the miasma, if he wasn't mistaken, it was likely death energy.
Anyone exposed to this death energy would rapidly weaken, making sudden death highly probable.
In other words, Uruk was now under threat from death itself.
And the death toll would not be small.
Siduri confirmed this.
"After dawn, all the undead-type monsters from the northeast vanished, and the Garula Spirits seemed to retreat as well. But they haven't disappeared—just hidden, unable to act in daylight."
As undead beings, of course, they couldn't appear brazenly during the day.
But once night fell, it would be a different story.
Those undead monsters had traveled under the cover of darkness, heading straight toward Uruk—clearly indicating that Uruk was their target.
Which meant, once night came, these monsters could suddenly appear and launch an assault.
However...
"Why did undead-type monsters appear? Isn't the northeast under Goddess Ishtar's control?"
Merlin asked in confusion.
With the power of his Clairvoyance, Merlin could see what was happening in the north and south, but he hadn't seen anything about the undead's attack.
That was because he had been sound asleep at the time and had no idea an undead army had made such a move.
But that wasn't the real problem—the real issue was, as he pointed out: why had so many undead appeared?
In truth, the answer wasn't hard to guess.
"That's likely the army of Goddess Ishtar."
Siduri's troubled tone left everyone speechless.