"Your Majesty, King of Ur."
In the Ziggurat, Siduri, still busy at work, set down her clay tablet upon seeing Roy's arrival, a faint smile gracing her face.
"Welcome back."
"Yes, I'm back."
Roy nodded slightly at Siduri but didn't pause, striding deeper into the Ziggurat. As he passed her, he spoke.
"High Priestess Siduri, compile a list of all the wounded in the Ziggurat. I have important work to do."
"Why would you…"
Siduri, puzzled by Roy's command, couldn't grasp his intent.
Her gentle expression faltered, and she turned to ask further, but Roy's figure had already vanished into the Ziggurat's depths.
Only his gentle words echoed in her ears: "Tell the warriors injured in this war that the ascension ritual calls. I shall heal all their wounds, and they shall be reborn."
Incomprehensible words, unclear intentions, yet a deep unease stirred in Siduri's heart.
She wanted to press further, but Roy was gone, leaving only the dim flicker of torchlight in the Ziggurat.
"Hm…"
Suppressing her unease, Siduri pondered briefly, then nodded, her gaze resolute.
Clutching her clay tablet, she followed Roy's steps into the darkness, hurrying to catch up.
…
Deep within the Ziggurat.
Once a sacred space for divine rituals, Gilgamesh had converted it into a medical ward for the wounded.
The priests here, while fulfilling their duties, had taken on the sacred task of caring for the injured.
None complained.
"Good grief… what a mess…"
"I knew it would be bad, but seeing it with my own eyes is still hard to accept…"
Roy gazed calmly at the chaotic scene inside the Ziggurat's chambers, makeshift clay beds and warriors sprawled across the floor, leaning against walls and bedframes.
Among them were Uruk's soldiers and many from Ur, grievously wounded during the trek across Mesopotamia.
Though mortal, these were elite soldiers of the Age of Gods, not to be underestimated despite being no match for gods or Servants.
Each warrior could take on multiple demon beasts, Gilgamesh's pride, the backbone of the Demonic Front.
Yet this army, armed to the teeth, forged through training harsher than Sparta's, embodying human will and spirit, had lost its dignity. They lay helpless on the Ziggurat's cold floor, staring at the dim ceiling.
How utterly wretched…
In this moment, many soldiers, missing limbs and stripped of combat ability, couldn't hold back their tears.
Last night, they fought heroically on the Demonic Front's walls for humanity. Now, they lay like corpses, tended by priests.
Not only had they lost mobility, but they'd become burdens to Uruk.
The stark contrast was unbearable.
Some cursed the beasts' cruelty, others their own powerlessness.
Why hadn't the beasts devoured them, ending their pain? Why were they left in broken bodies, awaiting death in the Ziggurat? Why couldn't they have been braver, dying gloriously with their comrades last night?
Some prayed to Mesopotamia's underworld mistress, Ereshkigal, begging her to take their souls and end their suffering.
Sorrow, pain…
A myriad of emotions filled the Ziggurat.
The scene was heart-wrenching.
"High Priestess Siduri, report the situation here…"
Even Roy, who had anticipated the grim reality, fell silent at the sight.
Many had died, more were wounded, and now, utterly incapacitated, these warriors, tormented by their drastic fall and physical agony, had largely lost their will to live.
They begged Siduri to grant them a swift death, to spare them this half-dead existence, a burden to Uruk.
Yet no matter how they pleaded, Siduri refused.
She gently comforted each warrior, preparing food and water, urging them to endure and never abandon hope.
But she knew her words couldn't solve the crisis.
For these warriors, returning to the underworld might indeed be better than lingering in pain… but Siduri knew such thoughts were wrong and never relented to their pleas for death.
"Your Majesty, due to the recent beast assault, thousands of wounded from the Demonic Front are housed across the Ziggurat… along with the injured from Ur who crossed Mesopotamia. They're receiving treatment on different floors…"
"We're now in the Ziggurat's depths, where the most severely injured are kept. As you see, many are on the brink of collapse… constantly praying to Lady Ereshkigal for death…"
As Uruk's High Priestess and the Ziggurat's overseer, Siduri knew every detail, having swiftly arranged and transferred all the wounded. She was truly Gilgamesh's most capable aide.
"I see…"
Nodding, Roy turned to Siduri. "High Priestess, can you gather all the wounded quickly?"
"Gather them? What… are you planning?" Siduri asked, confused.
"It's complicated to explain. Just summon everyone."
"I'll grant these warriors unmatched power and new life, giving them a chance to make the beasts pay in blood."
Roy had no time to elaborate, glancing at the mostly maimed soldiers before speaking coldly.
"No need for questions or doubts. Just do it. You'll understand soon."
The coldness in his tone felt foreign to Siduri, but Roy's presence here implied Gilgamesh's approval.
As the King of Ur's command, all she could do was obey.
"Yes…"
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