A golden ripple swirled beside Gilgamesh as he retrieved a treasure from his [Gate of Babylon] and handed it over. "Here, a gift for you."
"What is it?"
Ishtar instinctively took it.
Expecting something like jewels or gold, her face lit up with delight—until she saw the cuneiform inscription carved on it:
[I am a useless goddess!]
???
Ishtar froze for a second before instantly flying into a rage. "Aaaah! You arrogant, half-naked king, I'll kill you!"
This damn King of Heroes had actually preserved her black history from 4,600 years ago, all the way from the Age of Gods in Uruk, until now!
And this was being broadcast live to the entire world.
Just when countless viewers had nearly forgotten the events of that Singularity, he had to bring it up again.
As if afraid people would forget!
Just how much black history did this bastard have stored in his [Gate of Babylon]?!
"This is a memento. Naturally, I would never forget," Gilgamesh replied with immense satisfaction.
Not just this useless goddess's shame.
He also had the entire recorded footage of him and Souma teaming up to drown Merlin in his female form.
All these black histories would be preserved forever.
Now that was true entertainment!
As they bickered.
Attila gazed at the blooming flowers around her, her eyes filled with awe. "Flowers of hope, born from death... You always exceed my expectations, Master."
"From now on, I hope you'll join me in protecting this hope," Souma said with a smile.
Disaster loomed, and it was time to grind once more.
Why was retiring and taking it easy so damn hard?
Attila's face broke into a firm smile. "I'd be honored. After all, all I'm good at is destruction and battle."
As the enemy of civilization, her sole purpose for existing was endless combat.
But this time.
She would no longer be a mindless weapon, enslaved to annihilate everything—she would fight to protect!
The battle was over.
One by one, they left the Underworld and returned to the world above.
Atilla gazed at the rising sun with a grave expression. "Sir, in my memories, there is an even more powerful deity among the Olympian gods who seems to dwell within the sun!"
"You mean the Primordial Father, Chaos?"
Souma also looked up at the blazing sun.
The Olympian gods originated from the far reaches of the cosmos.
When their homeland was devastated by attacks from some terrifying creatures in the Oort Cloud, the Primordial Father Chaos expended 97% of his power to transport them to the solar system.
Their goal was to transform Earth into a new Olympian homeland.
After the twelve Olympian gods were defeated by Atilla, they chose to become deities of Greek mythology.
But the Primordial Father had long since vanished without a trace, beyond even the gods' ability to contact.
These were the latent threats that Athena had revealed during their previous conversation.
Athena speculated that he was likely within the sun, undergoing prolonged dormancy.
Once he awakens, humanity on Earth will surely be enslaved or even slaughtered!
The entire planet might face destruction!
"It must be him."
Atilla's expression was extremely solemn.
As the supreme mothership of the Olympian gods, he possessed the terrifying ability to traverse the universe instantaneously.
This was something even his creators, the [Wandering Star], couldn't achieve!
The [Wandering Star] could only travel at light speed, searching the cosmos for life-bearing planets capable of spawning civilizations.
Atilla continued, "Besides the Primordial Father, the most pressing threat would be the planetary consciousness of Mercury. It arrived even before the Olympian gods!"
After humanity's birth, their reckless destruction of Earth made the planet's consciousness perceive them as a threat.
It began summoning the Ultimate Ones (UO) from across the solar system—the strongest beings of each planet—to unite in eradicating humanity.
Later, the [Wandering Star] descended, sending him to devour and destroy Earth.
The planetary consciousness [Gaia], forced into cooperation with [Alaya], nurtured the first Holy Sword Wielder, who defeated him with a single strike.
He had indeed failed.
But humanity's threat continued growing stronger.
Moreover, Earth's consciousness [Gaia] merged with the Demon God King who ignited human history, effectively declaring humanity as enemies that must be eradicated.
While humanity could resist invaders like him...
They stood no chance against Earth itself.
Unless humanity abandoned their home and fled the planet!
"The giant spider in South America has already begun awakening," Souma sighed softly.
The Wandering Star's vanguard on the moon had been defeated and recruited by him as an ally.
This was all in preparation to face the enemies on Earth and within the sun.
He wanted to grow stronger with desperate intensity and find more powerful allies.
Only Crown-ranked Servants, Evils of Humanity, or deities could qualify as his future teammates.
"Sir, I need to return to the moon," Atilla said apologetically. "There's a device left behind by the [Wandering Star] that only I can guard. Otherwise, it might summon the [Wandering Star] back!"
As the [Wandering Star]'s harvesting weapon, the mothership naturally had systems to either receive energy upon successful harvest or send alerts upon failure.
Once He remained absent for too long, it would inevitably activate the device, thereby summoning the descent of [Velber]'s main body.
At that point, no matter how strong humanity became, resistance would be impossible.
After all, even He was merely a tool created by the other!
"Mm, you may go." Souma nodded.
Planting their own agent within the enemy ranks was naturally part of his plan as well.
This way, when [Velber] made contact, they could manage the situation.
[Velber] roamed the entire universe—intervals between contacts spanning thousands or even tens of thousands of years were perfectly normal.
A single successful deception would be enough to grant him and humanity the possibility of leaving Earth and ascending to a god-tier interstellar civilization.
As for climbing the technological tree, that would naturally be entrusted to Qin Shi Huang, Zhuge Liang, and others.
The related technology possessed by the Velber Scout would also be fully utilized, completing the unimaginable Industrial Revolution of the Heroic Spirit Era!
After Attila departed.
Ding-dong~
Souma heard his phone chime with a notification, and the entire world abruptly froze at that moment.
As if he had activated his ultimate move, [Platinum·The World].
On the phone screen, the little lolita with her pink-but-actually-black personality wore an utterly innocent smile: "Souma, congratulations on defeating your greatest enemy."
Needless to say, it was [Alaya]!
"Tch, wasn't this your assist?" Souma glared disdainfully at his scheming capitalist boss.
The Velber Scout couldn't dream.
Over a thousand years ago, it was [Alaya] who intervened with all her might to make her "dream" of becoming human.
Otherwise, according to the Three Laws programmed into her by [Velber]—
[First Law: A Velber Scout may not harm the Velber main body or, through inaction, allow the Velber main body to come to harm!]
[Second Law: A Velber Scout must obey orders given by the Velber main body!]
[Third Law: A Velber Scout must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law!]
These Three Laws had turned Attila into an utterly obedient machine with no sense of self.
And [Alaya] had exploited the Third Law.
After Souma defeated the Giant God Sefar, while the [Velber] main body had not descended, she had instilled a human heart in her for self-preservation.
That was the truth behind everything!
"As the collective self-preservation instinct of humanity, everything I do is solely to ensure humanity's survival!"
Alaya didn't deny it.
Ensuring humanity's future was her only mission.
The scheming little lolita pointed at the holy sword in his hand. "The enemies of the future will only grow stronger, so... would you like to add a new ally?"
"Oh, I'll think about it."
Souma didn't immediately agree.
The Star Holy Sword was a blade of protection forged by Earth itself.
This sword chose King Arthur as its second wielder and had been under her stewardship ever since.
A pity, though.
The will of Earth, [Gaia], held no favor for humanity—rather, it sought their destruction—which was why the sword's true power could never be fully unleashed.
Once completely unsealed, the Holy Sword would rival even Ea, possessing an inherent advantage against all threats to the planet!
"Very well, as you wish."
Alaya was surprisingly accommodating.
Click, click~
The hands of the clock began to turn.
Time resumed its flow once more.
Mordred jogged over. "Hey, hey, you okay?"
The terrifying battle earlier had forced her to stay on the sidelines, unable to intervene.
"I'm fine."
Souma turned his gaze to the Saber beside her and smiled. "So, how about it? Will you become a Grand Saber and continue fighting by my side?"
A Grand Saint Graph was, when necessary, the ultimate one-time power-up—no exaggeration!
The title of Grand meant nothing to him. Sacrificing it could unleash an attack even a Beast of Humanity couldn't withstand!
"Of course. I look forward to working with you for the rest of my life." Artoria reached out and took the Holy Sword.
Beside them,
Mordred kept glancing between the two. Why did she suddenly feel like these two were the real deal, while she was just some accidental burden fished out of the trash?