Chapter 249
"A half-baked byproduct like you... isn't needed at all!"
Kingu raised his hand like a blade, rapidly hacking and slashing at Gilgamesh, but every single strike was parried just in the nick of time.
The combat instincts inherited from Enkidu backstabbed him at this moment; Gilgamesh was simply too familiar with his moves.
"Look at how much he's losing his composure, not to mention that face of desperately wanting to prove something," Xia Yu pulled out a handful of melon seeds upon seeing this and handed them to the two Chaldeans beside her. She bumped her shoulder against Fujimaru Ritsuka's and gossiped, "What on earth is going on in this counterfeit's head?"
"The way he looks at King Gilgamesh... it's filled with a thousand twisted sorrows," Fujimaru Ritsuka took the melon seeds and said enthusiastically. "There's definitely a reason for it."
The more serious Mash looked at the two who were still locked in combat, then at the melon seeds in her hand, but in the end, she couldn't set aside the worry in her eyes.
The junior's sense of morality was still too high.
She couldn't gossip along with the other two.
"This isn't very appropriate, Senpai..." she said weakly.
"What's inappropriate about it?" Xia Yu patted her head upon hearing this. "Mash, you have to learn to read the atmosphere!"
"Don't you see that the way those two look at each other is full of history? If you really barge in right now, believe it or not, those two will turn your history into a medical history."
"Exactly, exactly," Fujimaru Ritsuka also patted her junior's head. "Don't worry too much, Mash. That's King Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk. What could possibly happen to him?"
"We don't know what's going on with that counterfeit right now either, but looking at it... there should still be a connection to the real Enkidu."
Otherwise, when Gilgamesh saw someone impersonating his dearest friend, would he still fight with such restraint?
Given the strength of those two, this back-and-forth offense and defense was practically just a warm-up.
"Really..." Mash was still highly worried.
"Really. Gilgamesh is at least a man who bid farewell to the Age of Gods, a demigod hero of Mesopotamia," Xia Yu explained upon hearing this. "Did you really think he could only handle administrative work in the Ziggurat?"
"He's a hero who actually defeated the Bull of Heaven; probably eighty percent of the gods in the Mesopotamian Pantheon can't fight as well as him."
Xia Yu said pointedly, "Remember? On the day we first met, he took out that Holy Grail to use as bait to fish for you guys. What did I tell you then?"
"That it's just a carrot dangling in front of a donkey?" Mash said uncertainly.
"Yeah, it's just a piece of bait. He won't give that Holy Grail to you," Xia Yu shook her head. "Did you know? As a demigod hero, his Magical Energy reserves are beyond what ordinary people can imagine. But what about the current Uruk?"
"He has summoned so many Servants, acting as the Master to supply them with Mana. Though that massive defensive citadel of Uruk is tall and grand, you don't actually think those structures alone can block the Demonic Beasts, do you?"
"The entire citadel is a defensive spell formation. As long as the perimeter isn't breached, nothing can infiltrate from either the sky or underground. He supplies the Magical Energy for such a massive Bounded Field all by himself."
"For this reason, he had no choice but to seal his strongest weapon, and unless an accident occurs, he absolutely will not leave the Ziggurat. And then there's that Holy Grail; he's relying entirely on it to sustain himself right now, so how could he possibly give it to you?"
Xia Yu took the opportunity to speak ill of him behind his back, "This Gilgamesh is incredibly wicked. Don't be fooled by him."
However, Xia Yu wasn't lying either. Take Ea, for instance—the might of that thing could not be underestimated, and this Gilgamesh was alive, a genuine hero of the Age of Gods.
The strength of Heroic Spirits varied wildly, but basically, heroes prior to the Age of Gods were generally stronger when they were alive than after becoming Heroic Spirits. Because they were essentially related by blood to the gods... their strength naturally required no elaboration.
But after the Age of Gods, especially leading up to modern times, people who underwent Heroic Spirit transformation were definitely stronger than when they were alive.
Take Napoleon, for instance. The Napoleon in actual history was absolutely not as strong as the Heroic Spirit Napoleon; a Heroic Spirit's strength came entirely from the Noble Phantasm crystallized from legends.
Whereas Age of Gods Heroic Spirits completely relied on being strong enough in the first place to gain renown; the two weren't even on the same track.
As a demigod, Gilgamesh was definitely stronger when he was alive than as a Heroic Spirit.
Of course, if you descended to earth with a Grand Spirit Origin, then consider what I said retracted.
"So, we should just watch the fun," Xia Yu said earnestly to Mash. "In situations like this that clearly have a history behind them, it's generally best not to interfere."
"You might think you're charging in out of good intentions, but then the couple turns their weapons around to face the outsider together. It'll disgust you to death, you know?"
"Huh?" The innocent Mash was completely dumbfounded.
"Don't doubt it," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her. "With the mental state of these two, they could honestly do something like that."
Neither of them is very stable.
"You already saw how much that counterfeit lost his composure just now. As for Gilgamesh, did you think I was joking when I said he would drop dead from overwork?" Xia Yu scoffed. "Originally, dropping dead from overwork is something that could never happen to a demigod hero like him. But he isn't just governing Uruk day and night; his body is also expending so much Magical Energy every single day..."
"If you ask me, it's only a matter of time before he drops dead."
"Then how can we get King Gilgamesh to take a break?" Mash asked worriedly. "Otherwise, wouldn't Uruk..."
"A break? No need," Xia Yu shook her head. "Young Girl, this is the Age of Gods. It's just dropping dead from overwork; it's not like he hasn't been to the Underworld before."
"At most, it's just a matter of running back to his corpse. What's wrong with dying? He can just resurrect."
"He can even resurrect?" Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help herself either.
"This is the Age of Gods," Xia Yu said with a smile. "The wonders of the Age of Gods are beyond your imagination."
"That's true," Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded. "But are we really just going to watch like this?"
She looked at Xia Yu. "Why don't we make a plan, Sister Kiana, and try to keep this counterfeit here? No matter how you look at it, he's an enemy unit."
Hearing this, Xia Yu gave her a deep look. "Sure, do you have a plan?"
This young girl had plenty of schemes up her sleeve. What 'making a plan to keep him here'—if she really thought that way, she would have just asked Xia Yu to execute the Sword God again.
Fujimaru Ritsuka said this solely to provoke the two who were fighting, to see Gilgamesh's attitude toward this counterfeit.
This was merely to judge the counterfeit's true identity.
And just as she had judged, the two in the distance simultaneously halted their battle upon hearing this.
Kingu swept a glance over here, desperately wanting to kill that Chaldean Master.
But he saw the white-haired one's face full of interest...
Forget it, forget it, he couldn't beat her.
Therefore... he looked at Gilgamesh before him.
"Ignorant King of Uruk!" He gritted his teeth and said, "The enemy of Mother..."
He directly pressed his hand against the ground, and a Golden Light enveloped the surroundings.
"I will definitely kill you!"
At the same time, Gilgamesh also erupted with Magical Energy. Countless torrents of Mana surged forth, rushing straight into the sky. The Golden Light gathered in the heavens, whipping up tempestuous waves upon the sea. Above the massive Golden Ripples, countless chains reached out.
"When you die, this world will also come to an end!"
The two clashed together with a resounding crash. Under the collision of heaven and earth, several chains beside Kingu's feet lunged straight toward Gilgamesh.
The latter raised his giant axe, and after several slashes, those chains were entirely severed.
But this was merely Kingu's feint. The corner of his mouth curled into a grin as a long-concealed ripple suddenly erupted, appearing right by Gilgamesh's feet. The Enkidu: Chains of Heaven directly bound Gilgamesh's right foot.
Seeing that he had fallen for the trap, Kingu pressed his advantage. Several chains rushed straight into the sky, merged into one, and then slammed down ruthlessly toward Gilgamesh.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh neither dodged nor avoided it, merely standing in place with his lips pursed.
Watching him stand there as if inviting death, a scene buried in his memories suddenly surfaced before Kingu's eyes.
It was Gilgamesh's face. That Gilgamesh was still very young, with an arrogant appearance.
In that exact instant of dazing out, the chains slammed ruthlessly into the sandy beach.
"Wait, this..." The Chaldea duo was stunned. Didn't you say nothing would go wrong?
"King Gilgamesh?!" They called out anxiously, looking at the smoke-filled beach.
"What's the rush?" Xia Yu curled her lips. "Don't you know the rule of 'where there is smoke, there is no damage'?"
The smoke and dust dissipated, and sure enough, Gilgamesh was completely unharmed.
Beside him, a massive crater had appeared in the ground.
In that exact instant, Kingu had instinctively averted the attack.
The chains had fallen right past Gilgamesh's body.
He silently stared at the familiar yet strange face before him.
Meanwhile, Kingu directly bent over and clutched his chest.
In the next second, after casting a glance at Gilgamesh, he shot straight into the sky and disappeared over the Persian Gulf.
"So we really couldn't keep him here?" Fujimaru Ritsuka felt highly regretful. "Even if we didn't kill him, we could have pried some intelligence out of him."
"The Enkidu magical energy reaction is retreating toward northern Uruk," the Doctor from Chaldea said while looking at the monitor. "Presumably... he really can't be killed."
"That guy is actually quite interesting," Xia Yu smiled upon hearing this. "Really, very interesting."
"Hmph, This King felt it was about time for that to happen," Gilgamesh looked up at the sky. "What perfect, rotten luck."
"Actually, I think their suggestion wasn't without merit," Xia Yu spoke up to egg him on. "Looking at that appearance, do you really not want to keep him here?"
"After removing the threat, lock him away inside your Ziggurat to keep him as a hidden treasure?"
"Stop talking nonsense," Gilgamesh glanced at her upon hearing this. "You know it's impossible."
Ever since he heard that Enkidu was active in Mesopotamia again and had sided with the Three Goddesses, he knew this day would come.
That was Enkidu, yet not Enkidu.
"As for you," Gilgamesh looked toward Xia Yu gloomily. "What was that move called? You haven't mastered it yet, right? Aren't you afraid of actually blowing Uruk to pieces?"
"Aiya, I have a sense of propriety," Xia Yu waved her hand. "Didn't I avoid using it in the city?"
"As for that move, it's called the Sword God, the highest realm of the Taixuan Sword Ki that I cultivate."
"It's true I haven't mastered it proficiently yet, which is why I used a few tricky methods, and the result was a failure."
"Taixuan Sword Ki?" Fujimaru Ritsuka blanked for a moment upon hearing this. "That sounds like something from Shenzhou. But Sister Kiana, you..."
You carry the name of the Goddess Diana, you look like a European noble Ojou-sama, yet you use Shenzhou martial arts?
"My teacher is named Fu Hua," Xia Yu explained. "She is the Red Kite Immortal who has protected Shenzhou for fifty thousand years. The Taixuan Sword Ki is an unparalleled ultimate technique she created."
"Her peak achievement... well, she almost killed a Herrscher with a single sword strike, if it weren't for something blocking the blade for her."
In other words, she almost killed a beast with a single sword strike?
Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression instantly grew passionate upon hearing this.
"Then, Sister Kiana," she pitched her voice higher and tugged at the corner of Xia Yu's clothes, acting spoiled, "do you think I could..."
"No," Xia Yu rejected her without the slightest hesitation. "Trust me, you aren't cut out for it."
Of course, the main reason was that there was no Honkai Energy for her to practice with. If she used Magical Energy directly, Xia Yu didn't know if there would be any side effects.
"Is that so," Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a bit regretful.
There was nothing to be done; she wouldn't be able to cultivate anything from it. Mainly because she didn't have that much time to grind. As the Savior, grand crises came one after another. By the day she saved the world, this girl wasn't even eighteen yet.
Kiana was able to master it so quickly entirely because Fu Hua gave her a cheat code; Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't enjoy that kind of treatment.
Fenghuang Down was simply too useful.
"Alright, time to go home," Xia Yu lifted her little bucket. "Let's go back and stew some fish soup."
Beneath a sky full of stars, Kingu clutched his head and knelt down amidst a barren mountain.
"I am stronger..."
He muttered to himself, "Compared to that king, I am stronger!"
"Clearly I am superior... why does my heart..."
He selectively ignored Xia Yu's existence. The surging emotions in his heart from seeing Gilgamesh had already occupied most of his mind.
Kingu's pupils trembled continuously, and images surfaced across various corners of this machine body.
Those images were all shared with a single person.
"The memories cannot maintain order..."
"Always browsing past memories," he murmured. "I don't understand... what exactly is causing this malfunction in my heart!"
"No... that guy is someone who should be killed," he let go of his head with a dazed expression. "But we still need to talk..."
"No, there is absolutely no room for discussion. I just need to kill... kill him!"
He looked completely obsessed, "He must be killed! He must be killed!! He must be killed!!!"
"For Mother! He must be killed!"
After finally finding a reason, he raised his head, his violet eyes looking toward the starry sky.
"Because I am not Enkidu at all!"
This affection in his heart, those hesitations... did not belong to him!
Those... were merely redundant data from this machine body's past.
There was absolutely no need to pay them any mind, right?
As if he had found his path, Kingu finally let out a sigh, and then began to think of a way to destroy Uruk.
Then, he discovered an unavoidable problem.
Who exactly was that person who had almost killed him with a single sword strike?
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