A golden aura erupted violently across the region, shaking the physical plane as an immense surge of power was unleashed.
Gilgamesh's crimson eyes blazed, his golden hair seeming to glow brighter with the sheer magnitude of power radiating from him.
Seeing this, Alester merely smiled as an equally vast but profoundly dark aura began to emanate from his body.
In an instant, Gilgamesh charged, his speed nearly instantaneous as he appeared before Alester, his arm raised and glowing with divine silver power as he activated his [Silver Arm].
Alester reacted just in time, crossing his two swords to defend, but the absolute cutting power of the [Silver Arm] was unstoppable, slicing through and shattering both of the reincarnated man's blades.
Yet Alester leaped back, unscathed.
"Seriously? Those were my favorite swords!" the black-haired youth exclaimed in a childish tone.
Gilgamesh ignored him completely, his gaze shifting to Sebas. Seeing the butler's condition, he touched his chest.
A green healing aura enveloped Sebas instantly, his wounds vanishing in a flash.
With a calm smile, Gilgamesh transported Sebas to the [Imaginary Room] of [Azathoth, God of the Void], a completely secure location.
Gilgamesh rose calmly, his furious gaze turning to Alester, who wore a mocking smile.
"Who are you?" His voice was a whisper, but it carried an overwhelming amount of hatred.
Gilgamesh restrained himself only because Raphael was calming his emotions to prevent the [King of Wrath Satan] from activating.
The last thing he needed was to lose his sanity for power.
He needed to stay composed to torture the man before him to death.
"I am Alester Baltazar, a reincarnated being like you," the boy said, giving a mocking bow.
Gilgamesh's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Of all things, this was not what he expected. He knew the Goddesses were scheming, but for another reincarnated being to confront him like this…
"I hope you're not surprised. You didn't think you were the only one 'blessed' with this, did you?" Alester said in a taunting tone.
"Why are you doing this?" Gilgamesh asked seriously.
Even in such situations, he needed to stay calm and gather as much information as possible, as Sebas had taught him.
"Hey, Gilgamesh, do you think we're the only ones?" Alester asked, his expression visibly serious.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we weren't the only ones reincarnated by those Goddesses. Before us, there were others, and when we die, they'll simply replace us. We're like disposable pieces in their game. I don't know about you, but I don't like being a mere pawn," Alester said, his smile widening.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. He knew this and, reluctantly, agreed with Alester.
To the Three Goddesses, they were toys to be discarded when they lost their appeal.
"And you think they'll just let you walk away from their little game?" Gilgamesh asked.
He knew he was far weaker than the Goddesses and was merely their pawn for now.
In response, Alester laughed.
"That's exactly what I'm counting on. I want everything to go up in flames! Either they'll try to destroy me, or I'll destroy them!" Alester declared with a wide grin.
Gilgamesh understood his personality from this.
Alester, though displeased, didn't care either.
All he wanted was to see the circus burn.
He was willing to bet on the outcome, and regardless of the result, it would be fine by him. He simply didn't care.
"I see," Gilgamesh said, closing his eyes. "That was a foolish question."
Without a gesture, the [Gate of Babylon] opened behind him.
Dozens, hundreds, then thousands—an endless number of golden ripples appeared around him, enveloping him in a sea of gold, opening the Babylonian treasury as he had never done before.
From it emerged his treasures: blades of wisdom; suffering or salvation. There were dragon-slaying longswords; cursed swords that brought ruin; spears to kill heroes; formless lightning; darts that destroyed fortresses; swords that felled gods.
They rained down on Alester. The originals of every Noble Phantasm ever held or created by human hands were unleashed mercilessly. An infernal deluge of humanity's legends, fired from every conceivable angle.
Seeing the storm of weapons, Alester merely smiled and extended his right hand.
"Consume everything, Beelzebub."
From Alester's hand, a massive black mist shot forth, enveloping his body in all directions like a dome.
As the weapons struck the black mist, Gilgamesh's eyes widened at what he saw.
The mist consumed his weapons, and Gilgamesh could no longer sense his connection to those absorbed.
With a thought, the [Gate of Babylon] closed instantly, the weapons vanishing in a golden dust as he narrowed his eyes.
He recognized it immediately.
"That's… an [Ultimate Skill]," Gilgamesh said, narrowing his eyes.
As the mist dissipated, Alester was revealed, still smiling.
"You didn't think you were the only one with one, did you?" Alester said, grinning.
Gilgamesh braced himself. If his enemy possessed an [Ultimate Skill], this would complicate things.
"Raphael, analyze him and his ultimate abilities."
[Understood.]
"But I must say, those weapons… [Gate of Babylon] is truly an impressive ability, as expected from someone with the powers of the King of Heroes," Alester said with a smile.
Gilgamesh merely narrowed his eyes. His reincarnated counterpart loved to talk.
"You know, my requests were a bit different. I asked the Goddesses for the powers of Rimuru Tempest and Sung Jin-Woo," Alester explained calmly.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. That explained the strange black shadows—the power of the Shadow Monarch.
"But they screwed me over. Instead of giving me their powers at their peak—beings capable of annihilating planets and more—they gave me their base states. From Rimuru, I got only [Predator] and [Great Sage], and from the Shadow Monarch, just the ability to revive the dead as my shadows," Alester said, shrugging.
"But my last wish made it worthwhile—a dungeon."
"A dungeon?" Gilgamesh blinked, surprised.
After all, he too had a dungeon, and the longer Alester talked, the more time Raphael had to analyze his abilities.
"Yes, but mine was special. My dungeon houses a copy of every being from all universes, like Naruto, Goku, and others. All I had to do was fight and defeat them," Alester explained, smiling.
Gilgamesh understood his enemy's ability. If Alester defeated someone and used [Predator], he would gain all their abilities.
[Analysis of the ultimate abilities of the individual "Alester Baltazar" completed.]
Gilgamesh gave a mental nod as Raphael relayed its findings.
[Confirmed presence of four "Ultimate Skills."]
["King of Gluttony Beelzebub," with capabilities: Predation - Stomach - Mimicry - Isolation - Corrosion - Soul Consumption - Food Chain.]
["King of Investigation Faust," with capabilities: Thought Acceleration - Appraisal - All of Creation - Probability Manipulation - Truth Seeking.]
[The other two "Ultimate Skills" could not be identified.]
Gilgamesh frowned. Two powerful [Ultimate Skills] and two unidentified ones.
This was troublesome.
"So? Did Raphael analyze my abilities?"
Alester's question made Gilgamesh pause and look at him in surprise.
"Don't be shocked. I said I inherited [Great Sage], which evolved into [King of Wisdom Raphael] when I became a [True Demon Lord]. But my skill became a [Manas]," Alester said, smiling.
A Manas—a skill that developed its own consciousness and ego, a personality of its own.
"I named it Velda, after Yuuki Kagurazaka's Manas. Who would've thought the Raphael I discarded would become your Ultimate Skill?" Alester said, laughing cheerfully.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, mentally ordering Raphael to analyze all of Alester's abilities.
"But enough talk, right? Though we can't fight to the death now, we can have a clash," Alester said, smiling.
But despite his words, Gilgamesh had already charged, the Axe of the Lion King manifesting in his hand as he appeared before Alester and struck.
It was a blow reinforced with magical energy, pure brute force, and overwhelming power combined to crush his enemy.
Yet, with a smile, Alester swung the broken hilt of his sword against Gilgamesh's axe.
"Full Counter."
Gilgamesh's eyes widened as a flash of light occurred, and he felt his own attack rebounding against him.
A massive gash appeared on Gilgamesh's body, nearly cleaving him in half as blood sprayed everywhere.
But in an instant, time seemed to stop.
And then it rewound.
Without Alester noticing, it was as if the world had turned back. The gash on Gilgamesh's body vanished, returning to the moment before he struck Alester with his axe.
As time resumed, Gilgamesh's strike advanced toward Alester, who smiled and swung his broken sword again.
But just as it was about to happen again, Gilgamesh's axe vanished in a golden dust, surprising Alester.
With a swift move, Gilgamesh braced himself on the ground and kicked Alester's chest, the divinely empowered kick sending him flying.
With a quick display of skill, Alester recovered, smiling.
"A good hit… but something felt off," Alester murmured, smiling.
Gilgamesh sighed, touching the now-nonexistent wound.
Using the Ultimate Skill [King of Space-Time Yog-Sothoth], Gilgamesh had successfully evaded the attack by "recalling" the memory of the future attack.
After experiencing the event once, he returned to the past.
In other words, remembering a future event.
To his opponent, it seemed like Gilgamesh made a "lucky" choice to dodge, but it was far from that.
The ability to rewind time and alter his own fate was almost invincible, as no one could definitively counter someone who knew the future.
Gilgamesh didn't hesitate and charged again, his fist surrounded by a quake bubble.
Alester responded in kind, throwing a punch.
But what shocked Gilgamesh was that Alester's fist was also surrounded by a quake bubble.
The impact was deafening, the air shattering as their fists collided.
Knowing the outcome, Gilgamesh immediately retreated as the entire area shook and began to collapse violently from the impact.
As he landed, Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes.
"So you have the [Gura Gura no Mi] too," the King of Heroes said seriously.
Alester laughed, eyeing the quake bubble curiously.
"Actually, I just got it," he said, surprising Gilgamesh. "But this ability of mine is quite useful…"
Then Gilgamesh saw Alester's eyes glow.
"The [Eyes of the Lord] of the Father of Humanity."
Gilgamesh's eyes widened, recognizing the ability of the first man.
The ability belonging to Adam from Shuumatsu no Valkyrie, representing Adam as one created in God's image, allowing him to copy any ability and execute it with greater speed and strength than the original wielder.
This fight would be bad for Gilgamesh—the longer it lasted, the more Alester could copy his abilities.
But even so…
"I see. But if you haven't copied my [Gate of Babylon] or any of my Ultimate Skills, it means there are limits," Gilgamesh said astutely.
The fact that [King of Space-Time Yog-Sothoth] wasn't detected or copied by the [Eyes of the Lord] was proof.
"Indeed," Alester said, smiling. "Your [Gate of Babylon] connects to the King of Heroes' treasury and summons its weapons, which I can't copy. Nor can I copy abilities derived from weapons, only inherent ones. And Ultimate Skills are unique—due to their superior nature, even the [Eyes of the Lord] can't copy them. Only another Ultimate Skill could."
Gilgamesh easily understood Alester's explanation, but the way he spoke about Ultimate Skills suggested he had one capable of copying them or something similar.
Gilgamesh's [King of Pride Lucifer] could do that, so one of Alester's two unidentified Ultimate Skills likely had a similar effect.
But there seemed to be conditions.
"And from your question, I assume that strange feeling was an Ultimate Skill capable of controlling time," Alester said, smiling.
Gilgamesh's eyes widened.
"But what if time doesn't exist?" Alester asked, raising his hand.
"The World."
And then, the world stopped.
It was now isolated, a world in indefinite suspension.
By the authority of one of its rulers, all laws of motion ceased.
All, except for the two who continued to move in this suspended world.
Gilgamesh and Alester.
Even in a world where time stopped, they could move freely.
In a world where normal vision was meaningless, where even light particles halted.
In this frozen world, they perceived the situation through energy reactions.
Be they Heroes, Demons, or Gods, as long as they were bound by the world's laws, they couldn't act.
Yet both Gilgamesh and Alester transcended this.
This showed they were not bound by the world's laws, having become, at least partially, spiritual lifeforms.
The problem for Gilgamesh was that with time stopped, his Ultimate Skill [King of Space-Time Yog-Sothoth] was useless.
His skill allowed him to "recall" future events, but in a world where time was frozen, there was no "future" or "past," rendering his power ineffective.
This was one reason Gilgamesh avoided stopping time—it made [King of Space-Time Yog-Sothoth] useless.
Not to mention the complications of stopping time.
In a world where time was halted, even defensive power became zero.
Simply put, all connections between inherent energy and substances were severed.
In other words, all substance movement stopped, down to molecular bonds.
When interrupted, any external force could easily cause collapse.
Even steel or the world's toughest material could be destroyed by a gentle breeze.
The same applied to superior armaments and Noble Phantasms.
Gilgamesh quickly summoned a sword, reinforcing it to the maximum, as Alester discarded his and summoned another.
A flash of clashing blades followed.
It was a metaphor, as such phenomena couldn't occur in a world without light.
But it was the only way to describe their movements.
In this frozen world, the air wasn't vibrating.
They had to carve a path through molecules with their bodies.
This meant it was impossible to gain momentum by pushing off the ground. Impacts struck the earth directly, making shockwaves impossible.
The laws of physics didn't apply in this frozen world.
When magic was nearly impossible to activate.
Even magic couldn't function in this suspended world.
Thus, it was reduced to a physical confrontation.
As Gilgamesh and Alester faced each other, both knew this would lead nowhere.
Having evolved into a [True Hero] and Alester into a [True Demon Lord], they gained [Physical Attack Nullification], rendering all physical attacks useless.
If they used magic, this could be bypassed, but in a world where magic didn't work, they were at an impasse.
Even if magic worked, their [Infinite Regeneration] would heal them.
A fight between them was a battle of attrition, one that could last a long time.
And Alester clearly knew this.
"Well, I think that was a nice first meeting," the black-haired reincarnated said, smiling as he stepped back from Gilgamesh.
"But I'll have to go. I have some matters to attend to," Alester said, grinning.
"And why do you think I'd let you?" Gilgamesh asked seriously.
"Who knows… Do you really think I'd attack you and your butler without a plan? Have you forgotten my shadows?" Alester said maliciously.
Gilgamesh froze. He knew about the shadows—immortal beings as long as Alester had magical power, and their strength was unknown.
That thought made Gilgamesh pause for a second.
And that was all the time Alester needed.
"See you next time!"
Gilgamesh's eyes widened as Alester vanished without a trace.
One moment he was there, the next he was gone, undetectable even by Raphael.
Gilgamesh clenched his fist as time resumed.
"Damn it!" With a curse, he immediately scanned the entire city with his senses.
He detected no anomalies. He had fallen for a bluff.
Pushing his thoughts aside, Gilgamesh rushed back home.
There were many things to do now.