"Hmph! Humans, sinful offspring of tainted blood—you dare to tear down the temples of the gods!"
The golden giant's voice rolled like thunder, shaking the hearts of all who heard it, stirring guilt and fear deep within.
With a distant gesture, the phantom pointed toward the Temple of Ea. The cracks vanished, and the shattered stones reassembled piece by piece, as if time itself were reversing.
"However, the three storms and seven days of calamity have already washed the earth clean of sin.
Humans, come down from the ship. I forgive your transgressions. I shall grant blessings to you, the chosen, and permit you to build a new paradise here.
This is the divine decree…
I am Marduk, King of Kings!"
God of gods. King of kings. The true ruler of Mesopotamia.
The hearts of the survivors pounded violently. Under the oppressive, hell-like majesty that filled the heavens, their limbs went weak, unable to move.
In that suffocating weight, Marduk's promise of forgiveness and blessing stirred in them an almost uncontrollable urge to bow down.
Was it over?
Had they truly survived… and could they rebuild their cities and nations?
But then, the golden giant standing before the Temple of Ea turned his gaze toward Tiamat, bound in golden threads. His eyes narrowed, and his tone turned cold.
"But those who willingly fall into depravity and worship false idols must be punished.
I grant you the chance to repent. You, my sinful people, must now sever all ties with the beasts that this world will not tolerate—only then will you receive divine grace.
Those who defy the will of heaven shall be struck down!"
Abandon the goddesses? Abandon their Mother?
Within Noah's Ark, the humans crouched low, instinctively clutching the idols in their hands.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as the tension reached its peak, a storm of blades, spears, and halberds tore through the air, aimed straight at the figure before the Temple of Ea.
At the same moment, the King of Heroes appeared—left hand gripping a battle axe, right hand holding the Royal Seal. Behind him, golden whirlpools linked to the Gate of Babylon, ether swirling around his body as he stood high above, looking down upon the supreme deity of Mesopotamia.
"Pass judgment? You dare?"
"The stars in the sky, the earth and all its creatures—everything belongs to the King!
You released the Bull of Heaven, cursed my friend, unleashed the three storms, and brewed the seven days of disaster… Who gave you permission to lay your filthy claws on the King's possessions?
If there is to be judgment, then by royal authority, I will send every last one of you rotting mongrels to the execution ground!
All gods… deserve to die!"
With that fierce, cutting roar, Gilgamesh hurled the axe in his right hand toward Marduk's golden projection.
Presumptuous!
The King of Kings merely lifted his gaze. A single look of contempt was enough to halt the axe in midair before it shattered into fragments.
But Gilgamesh had already moved. In the blink of an eye, he was above Tiamat, the Royal Seal unfurling in his hand. He slashed his arm open, pouring golden-red divine blood into the artifact.
Countless bands of light, inscribed with cuneiform runes, cascaded down to envelop the Mother of Origin. The poisonous golden threads buried deep within her flesh and bone snapped and dissolved one after another.
"Gilgamesh!"
Realizing he had been tricked, Marduk roared in fury, raising his right hand to grasp the Tablet of Destinies, intent on delivering punishment.
But voices shouted out from all directions.
"Attack!"
In an instant, Enkidu broke through the air, chains unfurling from a golden vortex and weaving together to bind the King of Kings.
Leonidas burst from the Ark's cabin, sprinting hard before hurling his spear with all his might, blue-white lightning crackling along its shaft.
Ere, Ishtar, Ana, Kukulkan, and Jaguar Warrior charged in from different angles, their attacks converging at once.
The white-haired Incubus, who had been the first to cry out the battle call, was in fact the last to act—his wand sweeping in layered arcs as he cast illusions over his allies, seeking to cloud Marduk's perception.
Humans, creations of Marduk, were powerless before his divine might.
The only ones still able to fight were these Heroic Spirits and demigods.
Yet even with such a sudden, coordinated strike, Gilgamesh's brow remained furrowed.
Hovering above, the King of Heroes once again cut open his arm, flooding the Royal Seal with divine blood in a desperate bid to sever the threads of fate binding Tiamat before friend and foe could clash.
For no one knew better than him how terrifying the King of Kings truly was.
"Mandate of Heaven—disperse!"
A cold voice rippled through the air with a strange rhythm. White and pink petals scattered in midair, and the figures hidden by Illusion Arts were instantly revealed.
In the distance, Merlin coughed blood. His whole body swayed like a wavering reflection on water, unable to steady itself under the shockwave.
Clang!
Enkidu was the first to rush in, unleashing the Chains of Heaven to tighten around the King of Kings. The greater the target's divinity, the stronger the chains' restraint—a divine weapon effective even against Apsu, Father of Creation. Surely it would buy Gil enough ti—
The green-haired beauty fought down the instinctive tremor running through him, gritted his teeth, and curled his fingers forward to seize the air.
"Mandate of Heaven—strip him of it!"
But Marduk didn't even glance at the imminent threat. With a cold snort, he traced a wedge-shaped rune upon the Tablet of Destinies.
A profound, cryptic rhythm pulsed outward. The moment it touched the Chains of Heaven, their glow dulled to nothing, the divine metal turning into mere iron. Enkidu, face ashen, was dragged down along with them.
Kukulkan, astride her Quetzalcoatlus, dove at once, catching the green-haired beauty before she hit the ground.
"An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè—Kindling of Venus that Shakes the Mountains!"
"Kur Kigal Irkalla—Bellows of Kur that Tramples Ekur!"
Ishtar and Ere advanced together, bowstrings drawn and spear spinning, each unleashing their strongest blow.
"Hmph! Rebellious gods—you no longer have any right to exist!"
Marduk's gaze turned glacial as he raised his hand and erased two divine names from the Tablet of Destinies.
"Pff!"
"Pff!"
Ishtar and Ereshkigal shuddered as if struck by lightning, terror flashing in their eyes. Blood burst from their lips as the divine cores within them cracked apart and dissolved. Their divinity plummeted in an instant, dwindling to almost nothing.
Even worse—the link to their true divine selves was gone.
It was as if their godly aspect had been wiped clean from existence by the Tablet of Destinies, leaving only these Divine Spirit Descents, bearing fragments of memory and emotion.
And before Marduk, that remnant power was as frail as an infant.
"Divine Seal, Fate of All Things…?"
"So everything in Mesopotamia is under your control."
"But to toy with the destiny of all living beings like this—how vile."
Kukulkan set Enkidu down gently. The flames in her eyes blazed fiercely, her smile gone, her voice colder and heavier with disgust than ever before.
"The so-called supreme god of the Mayan world? And the pitiful insects of the Greek world? Hmph.
I gave you lost dogs the chance to serve your new master, and you dare not cherish it? You force me to personally correct the Mandate of Heaven."
"A pack of worthless trash."
Marduk's frown deepened as he snorted with contempt.
"Three storms. The Three Goddess Alliance."
"So you're the one who pushed us into hunting humans!"
Ana's pupils shrank sharply. She gasped in shock, then clenched her teeth hard as the purple light of her Mystic Eyes flared.
Because of this absurd Mandate of Heaven, how much blood had stained her hands—however indirectly?
Unforgivable. Unforgivable!
The purple-haired girl's eyes burned with rage as a violet-red light exploded from her body. Divine power surged uncontrollably, twisting her into the fearsome form of Gorgon, and in the next instant, thousands of violet-red beams rained down.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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