On screen, the perspective shifted to Ishtar.
Piloting her Ark, Ishtar arrived above Uruk.
"Siduri! Hurry up and come out to welcome this goddess!"
"Lady Ishtar… weren't you with—"
"Hmph. If they want to go throw themselves into death, what does that have to do with me?"
Ishtar swept her gaze over Uruk's palace, jewel-like light glittering in her eyes. Then she fixed Siduri with a serious look.
"Siduri, I'm going to ask you something. You'd better answer honestly."
"Goddess, as long as it's something I'm able to do," Siduri replied respectfully.
Ishtar pointed toward the palace and asked bluntly, "Where is Uruk's treasury? If Gilgamesh is going to die anyway, then everything in that vault should be offered to me—so I can bless Uruk with my protection!"
"…That…" Siduri's expression turned troubled.
"What are you afraid of? Goldie's already as good as gone. Uruk is under my authority now. Tell me where the treasury is."
Ishtar was already picturing herself bathing in mountains of gemstones.
But Siduri's next words shattered that fantasy completely.
"I'm sorry, Goddess. The King said he anticipated this—so he concealed the location of the treasury in advance."
"What?!" Ishtar grabbed at her hair with both hands and shouted.
"That bastard—does he expect me to go save him?!"
She thought the trap had been designed for her.
But Siduri quietly corrected her.
"No. The King's meaning was: if he leaves, then those riches become his grave goods. No one is allowed to touch them."
"AAAHHH!" Ishtar howled at the sky, then flopped down like a duck, staring blankly upward. "The entire treasury… how many gems am I losing?!"
Rumble—!
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.
"Huh?!" Ishtar sprang up at once, panic rising in her voice as she scanned the surroundings. "What's happening?!"
Siduri looked equally confused. Why a quake now, of all times?
The next moment—centered on Uruk—blinding pillars of light erupted into the sky, one after another, stabbing straight upward.
"Such a powerful surge… is that some kind of magecraft formation?" Ishtar felt a chill ripple through her.
"So… what the King said when he was young was true after all…" Siduri murmured—so softly it was almost only for herself.
"What did you say?" Ishtar caught the whisper immediately. "Was Gilgamesh plotting something?!"
"It's nothing… only a conjecture." Siduri stared at the array taking shape in the heavens, sorrow flashing in her eyes. "When the King was still young, he spoke of slaying the gods. He considered countless methods—until he decided he would do it himself… then seal the aftermath."
The light was so dazzling Siduri had to raise a hand to shield her eyes.
"But back then it sounded like idle talk. I didn't take it seriously. I never imagined it might be real."
"The King has always been striving where we couldn't see. He says he didn't do anything—yet he's already done everything."
Ishtar seemed to realize something, her voice turning hollow.
"Then… I'm being forced to stay in the human world?"
At that moment, Uruk's gates opened.
A large formation of soldiers surged in, assembling before the palace.
"High Priestess Siduri! We have completed the King's task. Where is the King?!"
The leader—a powerfully built man—radiated iron-blooded ferocity. His voice was crisp, decisive, without a trace of hesitation.
Siduri pressed her lips together, not knowing how to answer.
But when she saw the soldiers' eyes—like tigers, burning with the desire to report their achievement to their King—she finally let out a small sigh.
"…The King… has gone to the divine realm," she said softly.
Then, as if forcing the word through her throat—
"…to slay the gods."
"King…"
The soldiers' morale visibly dipped.
Then the leader stamped the ground once, straightened into a posture of authority, and roared:
"Uruk shall endure forever!"
"Uruk shall endure forever!"
The soldiers took up the cry in unison, their voices like the roar of beasts—driving that conviction toward the distant future.
The comments exploded across the screen:
"Uruk shall endure forever!"
"This is insane… there aren't many soldiers, but that presence is overwhelming."
"These are soldiers forged in blood and fire. They're heroes carrying out the sealing of gods."
"As expected of King Gilgamesh—he thought of everything. Even the grave goods."
"Wait, I just noticed something. Why do their stances and salutes look… modern?"
"Yeah, it's kind of immersion-breaking. That era wouldn't salute like that."
"King! You can do it—seal the divine realm! Uruk will never fall!" Illya shouted at the screen, so excited her white-stockinged feet swung as she sat on Beimu.
"So this is the King of Heroes…" Rin's beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration.
Of course, what she admired most were the gemstones.
If she had that many jewels, her gem magecraft would reach a whole new level.
"I don't know if it's just my imagination," Irisviel murmured, glancing at Beimu's profile, her crimson eyes flashing with surprise. "But that King of Heroes… he resembles Little Beimu a bit."
"Are you talking about Senpai? It really does…!" Sakura, sitting beside Irisviel, happened to hear her and leaned in.
"Heh…" Beimu felt awkward under their discussion and hurriedly tried to redirect the focus.
"It's nothing. Keep watching—King Gilgamesh is about to take the stage."
On screen, the scene changed.
Gilgamesh held a longbow formed from two uniquely shaped swords fused together, his expression grim as he faced Anu.
"Gilgamesh—gods do not die. We will return. But you… will die."
Anu's resentful voice thundered through heaven and earth.
"Hah! I told you—this King will kill you!"
Gilgamesh laughed with arrogant ferocity.
He drew the longbow with all his strength, aiming straight at Anu.
"Hahahaha—look up to the heavens!"
Before the golden bow, rings of radiant runic ripples unfurled—layer upon layer—as a pair of golden wings spread wide.