Kingu.
The direct subordinate of the Magecraft King and Goddess Tiamat, entrusted with the Holy Grail by the Magecraft King and occupying Enkidu's body.
The successor unit to Enkidu.
Honestly, Naoki hadn't expected the other party to show up here.
Especially since his arrival was so sudden, moving at a super speed of 500 kilometers per hour.
Almost the moment their gazes met in the air, Kingu, hovering above, dove down with divine speed, transforming his arm into a blade and slashing at Naoki with incredible swiftness!
*BOOM!*
Instantly, a column of sand erupted from the beach.
Standing amidst the falling sand like rain, shielding himself with wind to avoid being covered, Naoki blocked Kingu's attack with his hand and stared at him from behind the arm that parried it.
"Quite a unique way to greet. Since this is our first meeting, how about we keep things a bit more peaceful?"
"Good point."
Kingu said this with a gentle smile and tone, but a second later, a chain shot out from behind him, whipping fiercely toward Naoki!
*CLANG!*
Just as the Chains of Heaven were about to hit Naoki, a thick chain suddenly materialized from the air, colliding with the Chains of Heaven, sending them flying, and then turning to whip at Kingu!
*BAM!*
A massive crack split the beach from the force of the chain's strike.
In the distance, Kingu landed lightly on the ground, staring at the chain that slowly vanished beside Naoki: "Hmm, it seems you do have commendable strength. Not many warriors can duel with me."
"From your tone, it sounds like you came specifically to test me?"
Naoki's question made Kingu smile: "No, I just happened to spot you on my way here and had a sudden idea. After all, you, a foreigner, nearly wiped out our monster forces on your first day here, giving us a full three days of rest. Naturally, I can't ignore such a significant disruption."
"It'd be even better if I could finish you off here."
Kingu's words were brimming with confidence, as if, in his eyes, Naoki wasn't a serious threat—just an object he could easily deal with.
Perhaps his origins gave him such confidence.
His body was the ultimate masterpiece created by the gods, a perfect Divine Weapon, and now he also possessed the Holy Grail personally sent to this era by the Magecraft King. In terms of combat ability alone, Kingu currently surpassed even the original Enkidu and Gilgamesh.
Combined with the Chains of Heaven, even among all the Goddesses, Kingu should be the strongest in this Singularity Point, aside from Tiamat.
That's why he underestimated Naoki so much. The strength Naoki displayed now only seemed like something requiring a bit of seriousness in his eyes.
*SHUA!*
Like the opening of the Gate of Babylon, ripples of light appeared in the space behind Kingu. However, unlike the Gate of Babylon, what emerged from the ripples wasn't a variety of treasures but a vast number of Chains of Heaven.
"This amount should be enough, right?"
As he said this, the countless Chains of Heaven transformed into wild horses breaking free, charging toward Naoki with divine speed nearly invisible to the naked eye!
It looked like a frenzied dance of silver serpents.
However—
*KRAK!*
Just as the Chains of Heaven surged forward, a sudden cracking sound rang out, and the countless chains inexplicably froze in midair, turning into blocks of ice that crashed onto the sand!
Enveloped in a chilling aura, Naoki stood on a frozen plain and exhaled a cold breath: "Huuuuh~ That was intense. Let's not make a big ruckus at night—it'll disturb people's sleep. Quiet down a bit."
(Freezing all the chains in an instant… That's the ability that froze the plains beyond the Northern Wall.)
Being able to freeze the Chains of Heaven so quickly was indeed a noteworthy ability, but in Kingu's eyes, it was merely decent. Chains were nothing…
*SWOOSH!*
The frozen chains vanished into the ice, and even more new chains extended from the ripples in the air.
Kingu himself was the Chains of Heaven—he had as many as he wanted.
A massive number of Chains of Heaven were once again hurled toward Naoki!
"This feels like fighting Gilgamesh."
Freezing all the chains again with a blast of cold air, Naoki couldn't help but say: "Ten years ago, when I fought him, he kept throwing Noble Phantasms like this too. Whether I dodged or burned them, it was useless. Are you two really this wasteful?"
"It's just the most effective use of this body." Kingu sneered. "Turning myself into blades and firing them endlessly is the fighting style best suited for this body. That foolish King of Uruk is merely imitating me."
In response to Kingu's words, an even greater number of Chains of Heaven surged toward Naoki like waves, one following the other!
Though the chains froze instantly upon nearing Naoki, the growing number of ice pillars began to limit the space for freezing around him.
Seeing Naoki gradually surrounded by his ice pillars, Kingu smiled and said: "What's wrong? Your freezing speed's slowing down. Are you starting to falter, foreigner from Chaldea?"
"No, I'm just thinking about something."
As he said this, Naoki suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the Chains of Heaven.
"Gilgamesh once told me that if I met you, I didn't need to care about his feelings or thoughts—just destroy you completely. Regardless of his true intentions, 'destroying the Chains of Heaven' is actually a bit tricky."
Kingu's body was made of clay, a puppet created by the gods. He could recover instantly even if injured, so the concept of wounds didn't apply to him. To destroy him completely, the only way was to extract the Holy Grail within him, making him lose his power source and heart.
But even then, Kingu wouldn't die immediately.
So, Naoki was thinking about how to utterly annihilate Kingu.
And the conclusion he reached was—
"Tell me, do you have a soul now?"
Releasing his Mystic Eye Killer, Naoki revealed his Mystic Eyes after years and stared sharply at the puppet before him.
At that moment…
"Ugh—!"
Ishtar, standing behind Naoki, suddenly shivered for no reason!
A sensation screaming [Something terrifying has arrived] surged into Ishtar's mind without warning. Though she didn't understand why she had such a thought, she at least knew that the feelings and thoughts she had now were pure and unfeigned!
Kingu felt the same.
"Ugh—!"
A sensation like an electric shock instantly spread through Kingu's entire body!
His body, which shouldn't feel pain, suddenly experienced intense pain without warning under the gaze of those eyes! It was as if his body was being chewed apart bit by bit by a ferocious beast!
(No, that's wrong—it's not my body. The source of this pain is… my soul!)
His soul was under attack—Kingu realized this immediately.
(Those eyes… are they Mystic Eyes? Mystic Eyes that target the soul?)
The longer he lingered in the range of those Mystic Eyes, the more dangerous it was!
In just a few seconds, thoughts not his own began to emerge in Kingu's mind. If he stayed here any longer…
"Tch! Damn it!"
As if cursing Naoki and himself, Kingu, who had ascended into the sky, immediately fled from Naoki's line of sight at full speed! In an instant, he vanished into the horizon!
Watching Kingu's retreat, Naoki reactivated his Mystic Eye Killer: "He ran, huh? Makes sense. If he didn't, he'd have died here. That's surely an outcome he couldn't accept."
Kingu's encounter with Naoki this time was merely a coincidence and a spur-of-the-moment idea, not a deliberate attempt to target him. Naoki guessed he had come to the Persian Gulf to check on Goddess Tiamat's condition, only to spot Naoki along the way and think, [Let's see if I can take him out while I'm here], before launching an attack.
Instead, he suffered a major loss in the face of Naoki's Mystic Eyes.
"Thirty percent of his soul has been eroded. Though I don't know if there's a way to repair a soul in the Age of Gods, this should buy us some more breathing room."
While it wasn't impossible to chase and completely eliminate Kingu, well…
(I need to inform Gilgamesh about this first. Though he said I could destroy him decisively, in reality…)
Thinking this, Naoki turned to face Ishtar: "Alright, my business here is done—Why do you look like a frail girl scared by a bug? Did something shock you?"
Ishtar: "..."