The Underworld
"I am simply doing my job. It isn't as if I'm doing this because I wasn't invited or anything like that."
"...It's not like that at all! Don't you dare pity me—!!"
The Ziggurat of Uruk
"My King! The Chaldean party mentioned by the club members has finally arrived!"
"Finally. Though it seems our enemies have been waiting just as eagerly. They intend to wipe them out with everything they have."
"Shall we send reinforcements immediately...?"
"No. If they cannot overcome this, then that is the limit of their worth. —Let us observe their handiwork, shall we?"
The Ambush of the Three Goddesses
"I have no need for idle chatter or tedious conversation. You will die here, and Uruk will fall shortly thereafter. A truly efficient conclusion. —Farewell. Thank you for traveling so far just to fail. This is where your journey ends in disgrace!"
The entity inhabiting Enkidu's shell spoke with cold derision, manifesting a sky-filling array of top-tier Noble Phantasms.
[To think the defenders of the Human Order were so insignificant... It would wound my pride as a goddess to exert my full strength against insects. —I shall kill you simply, and without mercy.]
The monstrous goddess—the Composite Divinity Gorgon—reared her head, her serpentine hair glowing as she prepared to fire a barrage of lethal beams.
"Ohohoho! It looks like your karma has finally caught up with you, Gilgamesh! Don't expect any sympathy from me! This is poetic justice! If you're ever summoned again, try doing some good deeds for once! Though I suppose that's asking the impossible from a man like you!"
Ishtar, the Devil of Venus, laughed as she loaded her jewels with magical energy, aiming her sights directly at the Hero King.
"Goddess of the Sun! I apologize for the personal request, but I would love to have a 'chat' with you later! Would that be acceptable?!" Rikka shouted toward Quetzalcoatl.
"Senpai?!"
（! ...She said 'later.' ...Could it be, this girl...）
For a fleeting second, the Goddess of the Sun showed a glimpse of her rational, intellectual side, before her face broke into a radiant, cheerful grin.
"I understand! A Luchadora never turns down a challenge! I shall wait for you in Eridu, deep within the southern jungle! If you survive, let us meet again! Ciao! ☆"
With a joyous cry, Quetzalcoatl vanished from the battlefield at a speed that defied the laws of physics, leaving only a trail of golden light behind.
『A goddess has left the field! Wait, are they all goddesses?! Rikka-kun, nice job, but now what do we do?!』
"Tch. It seems her brain was made of nothing but muscle. There is no pawn more useless than one who deserts at the critical moment."
"Is that so?" Gilgamesh sneered at the entity known as Kingu. "My assessment is that she was the only one among you with any sense. To think the gods have fallen so far as to be led by a counterfeit like you."
"—Gilgamesh. You have a lot to say for a dying man. ...Fine. Let those be your last words. —Farewell!"
In an instant, the storm broke. A rain of countless Noble Phantasms descended—the combat style of the Hero King himself, utilized by the weapon designed to be his equal.
[If this is enough to destroy you, then you were never worth the effort—become fertilizer for the earth...!!!]
Gorgon's serpentine heads unleashed a synchronized volley of heat-rays. Each beam carried enough power to incinerate a human being instantly—a literal wall of vengeful fire.
"Don't think I'll forgive you even if you beg for mercy in tears! —All batteries, fire! Reflect on your sins in the depths of the abyss, you jerk—!!!!"
Ishtar's jewel-fire descended in an elegant but devastating carpet-bombing, blanketing the Chaldean party in an explosion of celestial mana.
『None of us can tank that! Not even a Servant! Everyone—!!!』
Before Roman could finish his cry, the onslaught was complete.
Noble Phantasms, heat-rays, and magical bullets had torn the earth asunder. The ruins of the city were gouged into a landscape of raw, smoldering craters.
"—It's a shame to see a human city vanish, but a small price to pay to eliminate Chaldea and him—"
Kingu allowed a smirk to play on his lips—a moment of mockery tinged with a faint, lingering sentiment—until a voice cut through the smoke.
"Oh? And who exactly did you think you were 'eliminating,' Kingu? Only the weaklings of Ur would fall to such a gentle breeze."
A voice, overflowing with regal authority and sovereign might, rang out from the center of the devastation.
"—What...?!"
As the dust cleared, the hope of humanity stood tall.
"Sir Galahad... thank you for your strength!"
Mash stood before the fortress of the white castle—Lord Camelot—which had manifested to shield them.
[I think this is the first time I've used this! Thank you, Achilles!]
Rikka stood back-to-back with Mash, holding the Hero King between them. She had deployed Akhilleus Kosmos. By invoking its True Name, the miniature "World" stored within her bucklers had expanded, negating every ounce of the goddesses' assault.
"Your destructive power has increased, but your situational awareness is pathetic," Gilgamesh remarked, his eyes filled with disdain. "To call yourself Enkidu with such a lack of insight... it's laughable. You truly are a clown worthy of the name 'Kingu.'"
Kingu's face contorted with rage. "How dare you... You dare insult the name my Mother gave me? You, a mere relic of the old model...!"
"I insult it because your lack of follow-through is fatal. —If you had truly decided to finish us, you should have unleashed your Noble Phantasm without hesitation. You should have shown us the power of the Enuma Elish and Bound us then and there. That was your only chance."
（...This Goldie sure talks a lot. He's looking at us and he isn't even hiding his annoyance, but he isn't angry? In fact, he's been smirking this whole time... Is this really Gilgamesh? I've never seen him this... happy.）
Then, the King made his declaration.
"I will credit your ability to track and surround us. This moment—where we were caught off-guard and potentially vulnerable—was the single moment where the fate of this Singularity hung in the balance. In a sense, it was the greatest hurdle we had to face. ...What a pity you wasted it, you wretched filth."
Gilgamesh raised the Bab-ilu high into the air.
"You failed the finishing move. You aimed for 'Me' when you should have aimed for the 'Master.' You mocked the insects, unaware that you were insulting a Dragon. Here and now—by my name, I declare that the survival of humanity, our victory, and the prosperity of the Fifth Dynasty of Uruk are assured! Tremble! You have just fallen from your thrones as goddesses—"
He swung his hand down, tearing through the fabric of space itself.
"—And became nothing more than the sacrifices for Our debut!! BUHAHAHA!! HAHAHAHA!! HAA—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Pray, Air! The Hero-God shall answer your devotion!!"
—"Yes!! ...O Primordial Divinity who carves our path, manifest your divine might here and now...!"
Air folded her hands in prayer, and then—the world changed.
[—What is... this?]
It began with the wind. A light breeze that swirled, accelerated, and became a roaring gale, forming a protective storm around the Hero King and the Chaldeans.
"Wait, what is this wind?! This divine pressure—Gilgamesh, you...!!" Ishtar's eyes widened in pure shock.
It was impossible.
It was impossible for Gilgamesh to "call upon" a god.
It was impossible for a god to "lend" Gilgamesh strength.
It was impossible for Gilgamesh to define anything other than Uruk as his "City."
...It was simply impossible.
"You—you aren't Gilgamesh—! Aaaaaahhh!!"
Before she could grasp the truth, Ishtar was caught in the primordial gale and blown away like a leaf in a hurricane.
"Buhahahaha!! The useless goddess has been swept away! And the main event hasn't even begun! I can't tell if she's lucky or cursed, buhahaha!!"
"—I can't stop shaking. This divine aura... it can't be..."
Kingu understood instinctively. He knew what was coming. He knew what this being was to their kind. And that very intelligence, that wisdom, became his downfall. He froze for a single, fatal second.
"GAH—!!!?"
A fist drove straight through Kingu's chest. Blood sprayed across the parched earth.
"It won't do to be careless on a battlefield. If you leave yourself open like that, you'll get stabbed from behind. ...Hehe, are you listening, Gil?"
The voice was the same as the shell, but the soul behind it was entirely different. Mash and Rikka's faces lit up.
"Enkidu!!"
"Enkidu-san...!!"
The real Enkidu waved his clean left hand at them.
（Where have you been, Enkidu?!）
"My Rayshift ended a bit faster than yours. I had about three minutes to kill, so I decided to get some chores out of the way. I've wiped out ninety percent of the Demonic Beasts roaming Mesopotamia, destroyed the production plants in the Blood-Saturated Temple in the mountains, rescued the captives, and half-demolished that weird temple on Mount Ebih. —And,"
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