Chapter 772: Crisis on Both Ends
"Evacuation is this way. Please assist the elderly and children."
In the city of Nippur, the graceful high priestess stood atop a platform, guiding refugees with her gentle voice. Under her direction, survivors helped the old and carried the young as they boarded donkey carts one by one, heading toward Uruk—humanity's last remaining city.
"Lady Siduri, we've detected magical echoes of Lahmu from the south," a messenger hurried over and whispered urgently. "They'll reach Nippur in approximately three minutes."
"So the Lahmu's assault has begun..." Siduri paused briefly. She had sensed this before setting out, but she hadn't expected the monsters to arrive so quickly. "No wonder the King tried to stop me from coming..."
Even she felt fear in the face of such terrifying creatures. Yet, seeing the messenger trembling but suppressing his terror, she smiled softly, her voice as calm and composed as ever. "You've worked hard. How much longer until Nippur's evacuation is complete?"
The messenger took a deep breath. "Apologies, the western district hasn't been fully evacuated yet. We need at least ten more minutes. Lady Siduri, should we retreat first—"
"No. We cannot stop as long as even one citizen remains." Siduri rejected the suggestion. After a moment's thought, she handed the messenger the ceremonial tablet symbolizing her authority as high priestess.
"Lady Siduri! This—this is—!" The messenger stared at the sacred object in his hands, frozen in shock, as the priestess spoke gently.
"I will buy time. Gather Nippur's citizens quickly and leave."
"You can't, Lady Siduri!" The messenger's lips trembled, unable to hide his distress. "That's a horde of Lahmu! Even with divine protection, you won't come out unscathed!"
"That's why I'm entrusting the tablet to you. In my absence, you must make decisions together."
As she spoke, the high priestess lifted the hem of her robes and stepped past the still-shaking messenger, heading toward the direction of the approaching Lahmu.
Only her voice lingered, reaching the soldier's ears.
"If you return safely to Uruk, please return this tablet to the King for me."
"L-Lady Siduri..." The messenger clutched the tablet tightly, whispering the priestess's name. Unbeknownst to him, tears had already welled in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Siduri, bolstered by divine magic, swiftly reached the city walls. In the distance, she could see the surging tide of Lahmu, dark as a storm cloud.
"Though I said I'd hold them back..." Alone now, the high priestess rubbed her temples in frustration, revealing a rare, almost girlish expression of worry. "But how exactly should I do it?"
Having already cast aside thoughts of survival, the only thing troubling Siduri now was how best to protect Nippur's citizens.
After a brief moment of contemplation, her veil fluttered despite the absence of wind. Closing her bright eyes, she began a soft incantation. In an instant, radiant divine magic manifested one after another—not just shields and barriers, but also illusions like mirages rising in the air. Countless phantom figures turned their backs to the fleeing citizens of Nippur and instead ran toward the southwest.
A gust of wind swirled up, carrying the pale-faced high priestess as she leaped down from the city walls, landing at the forefront of the blurred figures.
"Now, the Lahmu will chase after me." Siduri pursed her lips. In the face of impending death, she too felt fear. But when she saw the last citizen of Nippur board the donkey cart and the soldiers standing ready, a surge of joy welled up in her heart, smoothing away all unease.
"Death is truly terrifying."
The priestess smiled carefreely. "The King is really something. If I had known in advance, wouldn't it have been even more sorrowful?"
The Mesopotamian wind lifted the hem of the high priestess's robes. She took a deep, lingering breath, then strode forward without hesitation, leading the illusionary figures created by divine arts as she raced southwest without looking back.
Just as she had anticipated, the Lahmu soon noticed the large group abandoning the city and collectively turned direction, swarming toward her in a dark mass while the real evacuation convoy was left behind.
Using no offensive or defensive divine arts, Siduri poured all her faith into speed alone. Though ordinarily average in swiftness, she now swept across the land like a gale. This unprecedented sense of lightness made the priestess widen her eyes in delight, momentarily forgetting even the rapidly approaching storm of death.
"So this is the freedom the King and Enkidu saw," she murmured to herself. "I think I finally understand why the King was so determined to break with the gods..."
Her words were scattered by the wind, but the wind itself was suddenly pinned in place, unable to move. As the illusions behind her shattered one after another, the high priestess, her faith exhausted, came to a stop. She turned calmly, then frowned.
"How hideous," she remarked bluntly.
Hovering above her like a plague of locusts were monsters clad in eerie black skin, their gaping mouths dripping with saliva. If a god had descended then to declare these as the new form of humanity, the high priestess would surely have laughed them off along with the deity.
She would never believe that such calamities—existing only for slaughter and disaster—could surpass the era where humans joined hands in unity.
"Come, then." Siduri spread her arms openly to welcome her end. "I am your only spoils of war, you failures."
This unrepentant pride in the face of death enraged the Lahmu, creatures that fed on fear. They roared in fury, diving down to pierce the high priestess's chest with their sharp, clawed limbs.
Yet in that final instant, a cold, sharp light flashed from east to west. A sword's radiance poured forth like a cascading river, tearing every monster around the woman to shreds.
A black robe fluttered as a young man wearing a stern bone mask materialized high above, his rainbow-blue eyes scanning each Lahmu as if seeing through their flickering lines of death.
Then, he swung his arm down.
"Unlimited Blade Works—Continuous Overwrite."
The dragon's heart pulsed heavily, sending tides of magical energy coursing through his limbs before gathering in one arm, tracing miraculous patterns. As the magus's will descended, tempered steel emerged from the void into reality, transforming into a dazzling meteor shower of weapons!
Blades, spears, swords, halberds! Axes, dagger-axes, hooks, and forks!
Like a fully armed army, they closed in on the Lahmu in an instant. With the swing of their weapons, the monsters' limbs were expertly severed as if carving up an ox with the skill of a master butcher!
Splat! Splat! Splat!
The sound of severed limbs crashing to the ground was incessant. By the time Siduri snapped out of her shock, the sky had suddenly cleared, leaving only rapidly dispersing blood mist and the twisted corpses scattered across the ground as testament to the brutal slaughter that had taken place here.
These were Lahmu—monsters that made humans pale at the mere mention of them. Yet in the hands of the black-robed, bone-masked youth, they seemed like insignificant scraps, effortlessly swept away in the blink of an eye.
"Hey, Miss Siduri," the black robe fluttered as the youth removed his bone mask, the chilling illusion dissipating to reveal his handsome, radiant smile. "It'd be such a waste if you died here. I was still looking forward to eating your handmade butter cake."
"...Lord Sakatsuki." Even someone as strong-willed as Siduri couldn't help her heart racing wildly after this brush with death. A blush crept up her cheeks as she lowered her gaze and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for saving me."
"Now that's being too formal. Even though I've been interacting with you all in Enkidu's guise, you shouldn't act so distant, right?" The youth scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled at the high priestess's excessive courtesy.
"Not at all, this is just proper gratitude." Siduri rose with a smile, extending her hand toward Sakatsuki. "Now, please take me back to Uruk. Since I've miraculously survived, I should return to bearing the responsibilities for our king."
"Breaking free from fate's ending, yet still determined to be Gilgamesh's tool..." Sakatsuki muttered as he took the high priestess's slender hand. Instead of using high-impact magecraft, he simply soared into the air, flying swiftly toward Uruk.
He didn't tell Siduri what would have become of her after being captured. As a traveler from another world who came specifically to change that tragic outcome, why bring up those sorrowful possibilities now?
"I can't help it. After all, I am that king's high priestess—it's my duty to assist him." Siduri covered her mouth with a light laugh, her eyes sparkling with amusement at Sakatsuki's complaint. "Like your arguments with the king in the palace—I was quite worried about those."
"Ah, that matter." Sakatsuki shook his head with a wry smile. "I don't look down on Gilgamesh at all. On the contrary, I deeply admire the wise king of this Singularity and genuinely love this Uruk."
"Then why—"
"Precisely because of that, I couldn't agree with his thinking." The youth responded. "Watching the sunrise alone would be far too lonely. How much more wonderful would it be if the entire city could celebrate victory together? Moreover..."
His voice grew somber: "Gilgamesh was right about one thing—all of this is my fault. I was the one who prematurely released the Beast, yet failed to take responsibility for destroying her, forcing Uruk into this situation."
"As expected, Lord Sakatsuki is truly kind-hearted."
"Me?" The youth turned back in surprise. Against the wind, the priestess's veil fluttered up, revealing her gentle, lovely smile:
"I, on behalf of Uruk, thank you for your assistance. Please do not feel guilty, Lord Sakatsuki. This was also our choice, made together with the king. We are prepared to follow him even unto death."
"...Really now." Faced with Siduri's words, Sakatsuki could only smile wryly. "Just what kind of charisma does that king possess to make you all so willing to follow him to the bitter end?"
"The power of faith, of course." The head priestess blinked playfully. "Isn't it the same for you, Lord Sakatsuki? I can sense that you too seem to be following someone's shadow."
"Is that so..." Sakatsuki responded before suddenly falling silent.
A fleeting, graceful figure surfaced in his mind. Though the face was indistinct, the radiant and dazzling holy sword became the perfect annotation of that silhouette.
"Who would have thought my first thought would still be of her." Sakatsuki couldn't help but chuckle softly, clearly pleased with himself.
"Well, of course. I am a Knight of the Round Table after all—how could I bear to see commoners in tears?"
Ahead, the majestic city of Uruk came into distant view.
————
With Merlin's magical assistance, Fujimaru and the others successfully bypassed the patrolling Lahmu hordes and infiltrated Gorgon's Demonic Beast Temple.
The cruel and bloody scene reappeared before their eyes. Even as the Lahmu birthed by the Mother seemed endless, demonic beast offspring continued to emerge one after another from their cocoons, staggering about aimlessly.
"Unbelievable. Isn't Gorgon, as a goddess, the only one who should be able to produce these demonic beasts?" The doctor's voice came through the communication bracelet. "Even though she chose to join Uruk, why has the Demonic Beast Workshop started operating again?"
"Perhaps it's involuntary." Fujimaru refused to believe Miss Gorgon would willingly return to the side of the demonic beasts. Recalling the look of shock in Gorgon's eyes at that time, he became even more convinced of his speculation. But beside him, Anna sighed like a little adult.
"Don't trust that woman too much, Fujimaru. She's a cold-blooded monster, after all."
"Is that really something you should be saying about yourself..."
"Drop dead, Merlin. Shut up." Anna's face flushed as she glared fiercely at the white-haired sage before pulling up her hood.
She was just reminding Fujimaru to be careful!
Fujimaru could certainly sense Anna's awkward concern. Smiling, he patted the girl's head, only for her to shake him off irritably. The three ventured deeper, following the divine traces left by Gorgon—the guidance of the winged serpent—until they accurately reached the temple's core.
Her wings folded, violet hair cascading like water onto the ground, the Demonic Beast Goddess lay with her eyes tightly shut. Her divine energy fluctuated unstably, stirring invisible tides. Under the catalysis of her Authority, one demonic beast after another was rapidly born, grew, matured, and under guidance, rushed toward the temple's passages.
"So, she's being controlled?" Fujimaru noticed the pained expression on Gorgon's face. Exchanging a glance with Merlin, the latter understood and waved his staff. Pink petals rained down, enveloping even Gorgon's massive form. As magical fluctuations surged, countless startled demonic beasts charged into the chamber, only to find the Demonic Beast Goddess had already vanished.
In the forest clearing where a magic circle had been prearranged, four figures materialized. The moment Gorgon opened her eyes in surprise, Fujimaru stepped forward excitedly:
"Miss Gogh, we've come to save you—"
"Fujimaru, look out!"
Anna's pupils contracted as the Hunting Snake Scythe materialized in her hands. Gripping it tightly, she swung with all her might, severing the serpentine hair that had lunged at Fujimaru's back.
But when she turned around, countless strands of serpent hair writhed in anger, several of them opening their maws as destructive magical energy gathered deep within!
"G-Gogh?!" Fujimaru stood frozen, staring at the goddess's icy expression, still unable to believe the truth. "Aren't we comrades? We already rescued you from the temple..."
"Enough talk, Fujimaru." Gorgon's merciless voice snapped Fujimaru back to reality. "My mission is to kill you here."
Hearing this, Anna gritted her teeth. "I knew it... I should never have spared you!"
"My, how peculiar." Merlin studied Gorgon's expression with interest, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. But when Gorgon's murderous gaze turned toward him, he raised his staff. "Well, no helping it. If you intend harm upon my Master, then this big brother won't hold back either!"
"Hmph, all the better." Gorgon's eyes darkened as her serpentine hair lashed out relentlessly, pursuing the three figures without mercy.
Within moments, Anna's scythe was knocked away, and Fujimaru suffered an arm injury from the sudden assault.
Pain sharpened their senses, driving home the brutal reality—Gorgon truly meant to kill them!
"Fujimaru! No more hesitation—you can't fall here!" Anna rolled aside, retrieving her scythe as she shouted at the defensively crouching boy. At last, the young man raised grief-stricken eyes.
"Why... did it come to this...?" he murmured softly, yet his hand never stopped reaching for the card case.
[SET]
[Shielder·Data Lost]
The card flipped with a gentle white glow, as if offering solace.
Photon particles gathered as the shield-bearing youth clenched his teeth, glaring at the frenzied Beast Goddess and roaring her true name:
"GORGON—!!!"
[Ready——Fight!!!]