Chapter 741: The Plan to Eliminate Gorgon Was Set by Kingu
Was there a mole in Uruk? Had their whereabouts been leaked?
This was Fujimaru Ritsuka's first thought.
Because he had never seen this woman in Uruk before, and the Wise King hadn't hinted at any reinforcements when they departed... Moreover, she had emerged from the city of Kutha.
How could it be such a coincidence that two visitors would arrive in this lifeless city on the same day and coincidentally meet at the city gates?
But soon, Fujimaru noticed a flicker of surprise in the woman's eyes. Clearly, she was equally taken aback by the boy's appearance at the city entrance.
It seemed she wasn't here for him.
Fujimaru had just breathed a sigh of relief when his nerves tensed again.
"Boy from Chaldea..."
Despite this being their first encounter, this elegant woman had immediately identified his origins!
"Who are you?!" Fujimaru activated his Class Card without hesitation, ready for battle. Yet the woman merely glanced at him and let out a scornful laugh.
"You think you can use that against me? How laughable."
Despite her words, there wasn't a trace of killing intent emanating from her. Instead, she took two deliberate steps forward, yielding the city gate to Fujimaru. "You'd be better off saving your strength for the creatures lurking in Kutha."
"But I don't see any signs of battle on you," Fujimaru retorted, still rooted in place.
To this, the woman responded with a haughty sneer. "Would mere insects dare challenge a god?"
"Fujimaru, the scan results are in. The person standing before you has a Spirit Origin signature—she's undoubtedly a Servant."
"How strong is she?" Fujimaru whispered. "She claims to be a god... Could she be one of the Three Goddess Alliance?"
"Hah, no way, Fujimaru. You're overthinking it," the doctor chuckled. "This Servant's energy is strong, but nowhere near divine-class. At best, she's first-rate. In my opinion, she's just an unaffiliated Servant summoned by this land."
"That still doesn't explain how she knows about us," Fujimaru muttered, maintaining his guard as he stared intently at the mysterious woman.
But the alluring Servant said nothing more, meeting his gaze with equal intensity, her eyes brimming with mockery and provocation.
Dare to walk past me, Chaldean?
"Maybe we should retreat for now and wait until this Servant leaves..."
"No, Doctor. We don't have that kind of time," Fujimaru firmly rejected the suggestion. Under the woman's enigmatic gaze, the boy took a step forward, walking toward the city gate as if completely unguarded.
"The Demonic Beast Frontline is on the verge of collapse. The power of the Tablet of Destinies is crucial. The sooner we return it to Uruk, the more lives we can save."
"But this Servant—"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Passing through the gate, Fujimaru murmured without looking back.
"Don't worry, Doctor. I'm strong enough."
Yet, even as the boy's figure vanished into the depths of Kutha, the mysterious and beautiful woman made no move to follow. She simply stood there, lost in thought for a long moment before finally letting out a cold snort.
"What a sharp kid."
With that, she flicked her long hair and strode forward on her slender, straight legs, crushing an about-to-expand Class Card underfoot before disappearing once more into the fog-shrouded dead city of Kutha.
She wasn't out to make trouble for Chaldea. Before the kid and those two monsters found her, she had her own objectives to accomplish.
Yet whether by pure coincidence or fate's cruel jest, as she turned a corner, a familiar figure appeared before her—leading to an unavoidable collision.
Thud!
The dull impact made the woman pause. She looked down, her eyes immediately darkening with irritation.
"Get off me already."
At her sharp command, Fujimaru finally snapped back to reality and hastily stepped back, extracting himself from the softness he'd collided with, an embarrassed expression unavoidable.
The phrase 'curves in all the right places' might as well have been coined for this woman—and Fujimaru had managed to collide directly with her most prominent feature...
"Sorry Fujimaru, the death energy here is too dense—it's interfering with detection," the doctor apologized, though his tone sounded suspiciously like he was enjoying this.
Whistles and muffled laughter drifted from the command room's peanut gallery. Under their amused scrutiny, a red-faced Fujimaru offered a proper apology: "I'm sorry..."
"Just stay away from me." Fortunately, the woman didn't press the issue. She merely gave Fujimaru a disdainful glance before walking off with her nose in the air.
"Oof, seems you got rejected, Fujimaru."
"How unusual. I thought Fujimaru's charm worked on everyone regardless of gender."
"Enough already, Doctor. And you too, Da Vinci." The boy's face darkened. "At least this proves we're not her target."
"True enough. Let's make haste, Fujimaru." The doctor dropped his joking tone. "I've got a bad feeling this city will become extremely dangerous after sunset."
"Tell me something I don't know, Doctor."
Pushing through some brush, the boy examined a fragment of bleached bone protruding from the soil and nodded thoughtfully.
"Seems this city still holds many secrets..."
Yet after wandering a while longer, that familiar figure once again entered Fujimaru's field of vision.
Violet hair cascading to the ground, the woman crouched in a pose that accentuated her figure. She looked up expressionlessly, locking eyes with the boy.
Stare—
Seeing identical exasperation reflected in each other's gaze, Fujimaru suddenly burst out laughing.
"Sorry, I don't know why, but you feel strangely familiar."
"Oh? Is the little brat trying to hit on me?" The woman's lips curled into a cold yet bewitching smirk. "How childish."
Unfazed, Fujimaru simply extended his hand. "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. I don't know what you're searching for, but... want to team up?"
"What a foolish invitation." Rising to her full height, the woman fixed Fujimaru with a piercing gaze, like a serpent testing the air with its tongue. "Aren't you afraid I might devour you?"
"Still better than us constantly bumping into each other, right?" Fujimaru replied with undiminished cheer.
For a city as vast as Uruk, running into each other three times defied probability.
Whether by fate or someone's design, Fujimaru considered this fortunate either way.
Even if the Tablet of Destinies couldn't be found, gaining this Servant as an ally and adding another combatant to Uruk would make this trip worthwhile.
"Hmph... fine." The woman clearly had no intention of staging another 'chance encounter.' She glanced at Fujimaru's outstretched hand and coldly brushed past him. "Then you lead the way."
"I still don't know what your objective is."
"You don't need to know." The woman paused mid-sentence, giving Fujimaru a meaningful look. "It doesn't conflict with your goals anyway."
Having been outright rejected, Fujimaru gave a dry chuckle and obediently took the lead.
As for where they were going? They'd leave it to fate.
The woman followed leisurely behind the young man, her eyes flickering with thought.
She hadn't lied—she had indeed come here for personal reasons, and running into Fujimaru was purely accidental.
Her goal was simple: nothing more than to meet the Goddess of the Underworld face to face.
But despite that woman having spread her divine authority here, she couldn't even locate the gates to the Netherworld with her own senses.
"Of course... if it were that easy to find, those two monsters would have already stormed into the Underworld by now..." she muttered under her breath before refocusing on Fujimaru.
Though she had once been blinded by rage, single-mindedly bent on destroying Uruk and exterminating humanity,
after experiencing this and that, she had come to her senses. Disillusioned, she naturally noticed something amiss with her two 'sworn sisters.'
They had all agreed in unison to wipe out humanity together... yet behind the scenes, they were all slacking off, not a single one taking it seriously!
Those fake sisters!
The thought alone made her blood boil, but she had no right to criticize. After learning she was nothing more than a replacement—even having her life force forcibly drained under threat—she had already fallen into utter despair.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have fled the temple and come to this place.
"Ereshkigal..." she whispered, recalling the figure from the Three Goddesses' meeting.
"If it's humans trespassing into your divine domain... you'll definitely leave traces behind."
After all, just like that Sun Goddess, you're a goddess who cares for humanity.
Unlike me...
The woman tilted her head slightly. The setting sun cast its glow at the end of the road, stretching her shadow diagonally until it nearly swallowed everything behind her.
Like a monster.
"By the way, I still don't know your name."
"Gorgon." The woman snapped out of her thoughts. At the boy's question, she curled her lips into a hollow smile.
"My name is Gorgon."
"Gorgon..." Fujimaru repeated thoughtfully before breaking into a cheerful grin. "Then let's go, Miss Gorgon!"
Their exploration of Kutha resumed, though luck didn't seem to be on either of their sides. Even as the last rays of the setting sun faded, they had found nothing.
Tch.
Holding a lit torch, Fujimaru stepped out of an empty house, shook his head helplessly, and turned to enter the neighboring courtyard gate.
The woman who called herself Gogh watched his actions with cold eyes—inspecting the lawn, moving the water vat, opening wooden crates, lifting the mattress... Despite being the last Master of Chaldea, Fujimaru Ritsuka searched house by house like a bandit raiding a village, leaving no stone unturned.
Even for someone searching for something, this was excessively meticulous.
"At this rate, you won't finish even by tomorrow morning," Gogh finally spoke up, unable to hold back. "Are all humans as tedious as you?"
"Just trying to avoid oversight," Fujimaru replied without turning his head, still focused on the search.
Gogh merely sneered at his diligence. "Why bother? No one cares how much effort you put in. They only care about the results."
"I'm not doing this to be noticed, Miss Gogh." Finding nothing in this house either, Fujimaru stretched his aching limbs, stealing a moment to converse with her.
"While I've been searching for the tablet, countless soldiers have bid farewell to their parents, wives, and children, taken up arms, and marched to the battlefield to fight demonic beasts, struggling beneath their claws and fangs—just to protect and survive."
"Compared to those soldiers constantly sacrificing themselves on the front lines, it would be laughable and shameless of me to treat this task carelessly."
Gogh could tell these weren't empty words—they came straight from the boy's heart.
Almost instinctively, she curled her lips into a scornful smile, ready to mock him, only to find her mind blank.
As an Avenger, she couldn't summon even a shred of venomous words.
It was as if she agreed with Fujimaru.
"...Impossible." Gogh abruptly lowered her head, hiding the turmoil in her eyes from Fujimaru. She pressed her lips together, her violet pupils eerily bewitching in the firelight.
She could clearly feel her emotions in disarray—envy, jealousy, anger, disappointment... A chaotic storm of emotions raged inside her. But for Gogh, she wouldn't dwell on why these feelings had surfaced.
She just had to kill the one who caused this strange reaction!
Murderous intent surged as Gogh snapped her head up, her eyes tracing an eerie magical circle. A beam of cursed light shot straight toward Fujimaru Ritsuka.
He was a human who opposed her anyway—killing him was just convenient!
But the next moment, Gogh's expression froze in bewilderment. She stared at the empty street before her and the torch that had somehow fallen to the ground, her red lips parting slightly in shock.
"...Where is he?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had been right there just a second ago—how had he suddenly vanished?
The next instant, two black beams of death shrieked down from the sky, violently obliterating every building in their path before screeching to a halt right before Gogh!
Dust and debris flew. Before the smoke even cleared, 'Gogh' wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"You again..."
"Keh heh heh." A grotesque laugh echoed as pincers impatiently swiped away the haze. Two Baal Lahmu emerged from the darkness, crushing the torch underfoot.
The last embers desperately illuminated the monsters' faces. The Baal Lahmu crossed their arms, saying nothing, only staring intently at the voluptuous Gogh while cackling to themselves.
The malice in their laughter was chilling.
"Just out for some fresh air, is it?" Facing a monster of divine stature, Gorgon maintained her noble and haughty demeanor, speaking coldly, "Look at you all, like drowned strays—panicking without your master, are you?"
"Heh heh heh..." The Baal Lahmus continued their eerie laughter, their boundless malice rising like a dark shadow enveloping the city of Kutha. After a prolonged stalemate, Gorgon finally sighed helplessly and turned away with indifference.
"Fine, I'll return to the temple—"
Thud.
A cold, piercing pain shot through her chest, followed by all the warmth in her body gushing out like a flood through the enemy's clawed appendage.
Along with crimson blood.
"You—?!" Gorgon's eyes widened in disbelief as massive golden wings abruptly formed behind her, sweeping violently to unleash a raging tempest.
Yet the Baal Lahmus had already taken flight, evading her counterattack with ease.
"Hah... hahaha... Kekeke kekeke!!!"
Only then did their icy, maniacal laughter erupt fully, carrying undisguised killing intent that engulfed the entire city of Kutha.
"Still blind to the truth at this point, foolish tool!" The Baal Lahmus grinned maliciously, their lips splitting as they delivered their venomous taunt to the agonized goddess. "Do you still think you're something noble? You're nothing but a biological factory churning out demonic beasts! If you won't obey, we'll simply replace you with a new one!"
"You...!" Gorgon—no, now she should be called the Demonic Beast Goddess Gorgon—clutched her bleeding chest, torn between shock and fury.
She had indeed held no illusions about the Baal Lahmus' attitude, but she never imagined that even as one of the Three Goddesses, she would become the target of slaughter for these two Baal Lahmus.
Monsters. These two insane monsters!
"What are you searching for?" The Baal Lahmus sneered, watching Gorgon's evasive gaze. "Let me guess... Could it be your dear child, Kingu?"
Pausing, the Baal Lahmus exchanged glances before bursting into raucous laughter.
"Don't tell me—don't tell me someone still expects help to arrive at this point—"
Like fighter jets, the Baal Lahmus folded their wings and dove downward, their forms twisted with menace.
"The plan to eliminate you was devised by none other than Kingu himself!"