Undoubtedly, that arrogant king had indeed been defeated.
Inside the ultra-luxurious presidential suite of the Crystal Hill Hotel, the young woman in a pure white dress, Tiné Chelc, deeply realized this fact. She collapsed onto the sofa like a puppet whose strings had been cut, clutching her forehead tightly with both hands. Between her fingers, violently trembling pupils and the disbelief and extre terror hidden within were clearly visible.
"How is this possible… The King actually…"
Faint sobs and barely suppressed screams echoed through the empty suite.
That had been the unparalleled heroic spirit who reigned at the pinnacle of the Holy Grail War — the invincible Hero King.
Yet on the night of the second day of the war, it had ended in tragedy.
Thud.
Just then Tiné heard a very faint sound, like the claws of a large wild animal gently scratching the glass door of the terrace. She looked up unconsciously and was shocked to see a giant synthetic silver wolf with mithril-like lustrous fur standing quietly before the terrace. On its back sat a beautiful woman with green hair wearing a pure white robe.
Tiné stared blankly at the pair and muttered, "You are… the King's best friend, aren't you——"
She rembered the person before her. On the first night of the Holy Grail War he had evoked Gilgash's words and had been the only true friend in the life of that arrogant tyrant… the Divine Weapon, Enkidu.
But… why had he appeared here? The King had already…
Enveloped in soft, pure green magical light, Enkidu's figure quietly passed through the glass door and stepped into the luxurious room. With the white robe fluttering slightly, he walked barefoot across the soft carpet, passed by Tiné with light, elegant steps, and headed straight to the back of the room.
"'The oldest Hero King' exerted his tyrant's nature and tried to drive away the mother who had regained her power… The arrogant personality Gil displayed at this ti was sothing even the people of Uruk once feared and loathed."
Enkidu muttered to himself in an extrely mysterious voice.
He walked step by step to the King's soulless corpse and stood quietly. Not long ago, after being pierced head-on by Tiamat's Sea of Life, the heroic spirit Gilgash had already left the stage. What remained on the bed now was rely an empty shell that would eventually turn to dust because its spiritual foundation had disappeared.
He quietly examined the miserable golden-haired corpse and, as if sensing sothing, a barely perceptible emotion flashed in his eyes. The green-haired beauty turned and looked at the powerless girl collapsed on the floor.
"I see… Even before this defeated, empty shell, you continued to pour magical energy without pause, and in the end even forcibly extracted and converted your own life force?"
A hint of regret colored Enkidu's voice. "As a subject, such unwavering loyalty is truly admirable."
In truth, Enkidu had originally had no intention of intervening in Gilgash's predicant. This was the Holy Grail War. Since they had lost, they should accept death calmly. He had rushed here tonight only to see his beloved friend one last ti in this corrupted era.
But now… seeing the human girl before him willing to risk her life to protect the King's wounded body, he changed his mind.
Enkidu's erald eyes quietly gazed at Tiné.
"Tiné Chelc… Do you really want to bring him back?"
He paused, his tone incredibly solemn. "Understand this: even if you forcibly pull him back from the brink of ruin… when he awakens again, he may no longer be the King you know. Even so… do you still wish to save him?"
Faced with these two heavy questions, Tiné paused for a mont. Then, in an instant, the terror in her eyes turned to determination and she nodded forcefully.
"As a subject… I only wish for His Majesty the King to live. Even if… His Majesty no longer rembers ."
Enkidu stared at the girl as if confirming the weight of her resolve. Then he quietly averted his gaze.
"Understood… Then…"
The green-haired beauty in the white robe slowly stepped forward and gently placed her white hand on the soulless King's body.
Without Tiné's resolute decision, Gilgash would likely not have survived until Enkidu arrived. His spiritual origin should already have completely turned to dust.
On the first night he ford a contract with Tiné, Gilgash, in high spirits, had casually gifted the young subject a bottle of the Elixir of Immortality from the royal treasury. Tiné had not accepted it at the ti. But when the King later faced a fatal crisis, she unhesitatingly gave it to him and desperately overdrew her own magic circuits to keep his collapsing body alive.
At that mont, within Enkidu's palm, gentle forest-green magical energy quietly flowed into the core of Gilgash's wounded soul. It represented the concept of God creating the earth — the primordial power capable of repairing all things.
As the magic was injected, Tiné watched in joyful surprise as the golden king's figure, previously illusory, gradually materialized.
The King… was really coming back?!
The girl eagerly awaited the day the arrogant, invincible tyrant would open his eyes again.
But the next mont, sothing unexpected happened.
Tiné was shocked to see that the symbolic golden armor covering Gilgash did not return even after his body was repaired. Instead it rapidly dissolved into countless golden particles of light. It was the fusion of the Elixir of Immortality and Enkidu's soil that had reconstructed Gilgash's spiritual foundation.
Ignoring the surprise of the two, the peeled-off golden armor quietly transford into the magnificent priestly garnts exclusive to the ruler of Uruk. In his right hand appeared an ancient, heavy astronomical observation stone tablet.
The golden-haired king slightly furrowed his brow, then slowly opened his eyes. His crimson pupils had lost the arrogance that once deed everything worthless and now carried the depth and gentleness that only a wise king should possess.
"I never imagined the ans of reappearing in this world would be to forcibly seize this broken body. That thing is truly a slacker… Still, when facing a powerful enemy, such ergency asures may conform to the rules of the Holy Grail War."
As Gilgash muttered to himself, Enkidu finally recovered from his shock. His eyes trembled slightly.
"You are…"
"Hmph… You still don't understand ? Well, perhaps that's to be expected."
The golden-haired king raised his face and silently gazed at the green-haired beauty before him. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"After all, by the ti I was still the tyrant who only knew how to waste power, you had already returned to the earth, my beloved friend."
Hearing this, Enkidu finally seed to realize sothing. His body trembled slightly.
"So that's how it is… The effect of that elixir might not be re rejuvenation… Perhaps it forcibly pushed the tiline of your spiritual origin back to the stage when you obtained the elixir of immortality?"
Enkidu had originally expected that even if Gilgash drank the elixir and survived, he would likely revert to the form of the young Gilgash from his childhood. He had even prepared himself for the possibility that his beloved friend might completely forget him — after all, Gilgash had not yet t Enkidu in his youth.
But he had never expected that after the spiritual origin reconstruction, the one who ultimately accepted the summoning would be himself.
In the legend of Uruk, after the death of his best friend Enkidu, the tyrant Gilgash felt fear. If soone as powerful as Enkidu could die, then he too would soday die. Driven mad, he abandoned his holand and wandered in search of the elixir of immortality. After countless hardships he finally found it in the abyss — only for it to be stolen and eaten by a poisonous snake beside a pond.
Gilgash was not angry. Instead he laughed from the heart, laughing at his own foolishness and at how all his efforts to pursue so-called eternity had been in vain. At that mont he completely released his fear of death and accepted the fate that all people must die.
In his later years Gilgash no longer flaunted military might and completely suppressed the arrogance and tyranny of his youth, becoming a wise king who worked himself to death for his country and people.
"There is no need to be so surprised, Enkidu. If possible I would not want this position, nor would I wish to be dragged into the chaos left by that fool."
Gilgash's tone carried unconcealable contempt. His deep eyes seed to hold the power to foresee the future as he looked across the terrace at the dark night sky outside.
"However, since that arrogant , blinded by hubris, led Mother to our doorstep, as King I naturally have the duty to ensure the survival of human order."
Hearing this extrely clear, responsible, and justice-filled speech, Tiné and Enkidu were stunned as if struck by lightning.
This… is the tyrant I know?
Enkidu forcibly suppressed the sense of absurdity in his heart and blurted out, "Just now you said the survival of humanity — what exactly do you an?"
Gilgash said nothing. He simply gazed quietly at the sky where intense changes were occurring.
After a while, under Enkidu's trembling gaze, the wise king Gilgash slowly spoke.
"That mother has… found an exit from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers."
…
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