Chapter 760: Find That Bastard Who's Controlling My Body Freely!
["Leave the contract with that woman to Fujimaru. Though I hold no expectations for Ishtar."]
["But the Bull of Heaven, Gugalanna, under her command is another matter entirely."]
["That thing is a superweapon capable of annihilating cities in an instant. It will undoubtedly be used in this final battle."]
["Thus we must recruit her as an ally. Naturally, you shall be the beast tamer for this endeavor, brave Fujimaru!"]
The donkey cart moved swiftly despite its leisurely pace, carried by the wind. Fujimaru recalled Gilgamesh's words in the palace and couldn't help but glance at Sakatsuki.
"Is that Bull of Heaven, Gugalanna, really that powerful?"
"It's not just about being powerful." Sakatsuki smiled without answering, leaving the doctor to respond instead. "In mythology, the Bull of Heaven ravaged the entire land in just one week, bringing severe drought. It took both Gilgamesh and Enkidu working together to defeat it—undoubtedly a divine-level combatant."
"Moreover, current theories suggest the Bull of Heaven wasn't a physical entity," Da Vinci chimed in. "Rather, it was a super weather weapon from the Age of Gods, capable of environmental destruction on a catastrophic scale."
"A super weather weapon..." Fujimaru swallowed hard as they imagined the Bull of Heaven's form. "No wonder the Tablet of Destinies guided me to recruit Goddess Ishtar. So Gugalanna is that formidable?"
Hearing this, Merlin gave Sakatsuki a strange look.
"Hey, did you not tell the King that the Bull of Heaven was lost by that goddess?"
"Did I not?" Sakatsuki pondered casually. "Maybe I forgot."
"This isn't something to joke about!" Merlin was shocked. "You can sense it too, right? The terrifying 'gift' the real Tiamat has prepared... If I hadn't desperately maintained the illusion, the final battle would have started prematurely!"
"If we wait until the last moment to tell the King, we won't just be cleaning sheep dung—we'll be coming out of a sheep's rear end!"
"Ew, vulgar."
Seeing Sakatsuki's indifferent expression, Merlin frowned in thought before suddenly widening his eyes. "Wait... you couldn't possibly—?!"
"Shh—" Facing the sage's disbelieving gaze, the young man raised a finger to his lips with an enigmatic smile. "Some things lose their magic when spoken aloud."
"..." Merlin nodded silently. Even he couldn't help feeling shocked upon understanding Sakatsuki's implication.
Who would have thought that something even gods couldn't accomplish would be achieved single-handedly by a human...
"Excuse me, do you two have a moment?" Fujimaru knocked on the carriage window while steering the cart. "I'd like to discuss Goddess Ishtar. Though the King said, 'Recruiting that woman is like transporting an uncapped bottle in a cargo cart,' she is still a deity. Not to mention, she might summon that mysterious robed figure again..."
The black-robed figure who had made a fleeting appearance in the palace yet displayed astonishing dominance—even now, with the Moon Spirit King's card in hand, Fujimaru still couldn't see a clear path to victory.
Sakatsuki and Merlin exchanged glances, with Merlin speaking first: "Rest assured, Fujimaru. That black-robed figure won't appear again. I guarantee it."
"Huh?"
"More importantly, you should focus on another issue," Sakatsuki smoothly redirected the conversation. "Ishtar is hardly a reasonable goddess. She's the kind of woman who, angered by her father's advice, pierced the sacred Mount Ebih with her spear—capricious, willful, and utterly unreasonable... That's the troublesome individual you're about to face."
"If our goal were to defeat her, things would be much simpler," Merlin sighed in agreement. "The problem is, our objective is to negotiate with her and make her an ally of Uruk."
Hearing this, the doctor couldn't help but turn to Da Vinci and remark, "If I recall correctly, the reason for the Bull of Heaven incident was the conflict between Gilgamesh and Ishtar, right?"
"Indeed. The Queen of Heaven, Ishtar, professed her love to Gilgamesh, only to be harshly rejected. In her fury, the goddess sought her father's help and personally unleashed calamity upon the mortal world..." Da Vinci blew lightly on her coffee. "Under such circumstances, convincing Goddess Ishtar to join Uruk is undoubtedly a hellish challenge."
Perhaps because Sakatsuki was present, Gilgamesh didn't hand over any clever stratagem to subdue Ishtar as he had in the original timeline. As a result, even the two masterminds of Chaldea found themselves at a loss.
"Can we go back and ask King Gilgamesh for advice? Since he has the Gate of Babylon, surely there's something in his treasury that could sway Goddess Ishtar?"
"Of course there is. But the real question is—would the Golden King be willing to part with his treasures?" Sakatsuki doused their wishful thinking with cold water. "Since ancient times, it has always been the king's prerogative to bestow gifts upon his subjects on a whim. Never has it been acceptable for subjects to brazenly demand treasures from their king."
"Moreover, King Gilgamesh cannot leave his throne now—not spiritually, but due to his workload," Merlin added. "It's not just Uruk; he's overseeing all the cities of Mesopotamia, handling military preparations and wartime issues. On top of that, after the crushing defeat at the Northern Wall, he must also prepare for the demonic beast invasion."
"In this Singularity, we can't expect him to join the battle. Even now, he's teetering on the brink of death from overwork."
This left Fujimaru silent. Having spent so much time with the King of Uruk, he had witnessed firsthand the overwhelming burden of duties. Even Siduri, who had taken on a fraction of the workload, had nearly ended up reporting to the underworld.
If they went running to Gilgamesh for help just because things were difficult—
Fujimaru could already picture someone pointing at him and shouting, "How selfish can you be?!"
Ahem. "As the saying goes, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's just hurry and set off."
Fujimaru puffed out his chest, trying his best to appear fearless—though the cold sweat trickling down his temples betrayed his nerves. "Even if negotiations fail, we still have the invincible Sakatsuki with us. We can always just tie Ishtar up and drag her back..."
"You've already thought of a way out, huh, Fujimaru?" Sakatsuki said with a deadpan expression, teasing.
"Sh-shut up!" Fujimaru retorted, flustered. "I refuse to believe that the four of us—master and disciples—can't handle a mere goddess!"
"You're all insane..." Anna sighed, rubbing her temples, already done with these three men whose thought processes had strayed far beyond Mesopotamia.
And so, with one carrying the load and another leading the horse, the group soon arrived at the summit of Mount Ebih, where the temple of the goddess Ishtar stood.
After presenting Uruk's request, they steeled themselves with utmost vigilance to face the goddess's challenge.
The result, as expected, was something they could hardly handle—
"Join Uruk, you say?" The goddess, her jet-black hair cascading like a waterfall and a crown upon her head, lifted her drowsy eyes and let out a big yawn, as if barely awake. "I accept."
"Since you didn't agree, don't blame us for being impolite... Huh?!"
"But! There's one condition!" Ignoring the stunned group, the goddess raised a single finger, her face finally showing a fierce expression.
"Find the one who's been freely manipulating my body!"