It Clearly Tastes Like Mom

"Has the situation really gotten that serious?"

Rovey feigned surprise and said, "They're all magical Demonic Beast conceived by the Beast Goddess..."

"It's all the work of the Beast Goddess."

Anna silently gripped her scythe, her anger intensifying as she stared at the wall—a stretch of brick and mud wall that stood across the plain, one side a massacre of warriors and the other a horrific scene of countless Demonic Beasts. The sins committed by Gorgon became clearer to her, and her resolve to fulfill her mission strengthened.

Kingu: "That's right, as you two can see, this is the Absolute Demonic Front, Babylonia —a breakwater made of blood and flesh, a front that has repeatedly blocked the endless attacks of the Demonic Beast!"

"Can we really... hold on like this?"

Looking down at the scene below, which was even more devastating than the ISIS war, Anna couldn't help but ask a question.

"Well... actually, it's been going on for a long time, to the point that it's starting to bother me."

Kingu clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "I really want to end all of this as soon as possible!!"

If his mother hadn't stopped him from attacking the humans in this Singularity, he would have already increased his forces or taken matters into his own hands to break through this ridiculous defense line.

"... I'm sorry, I misspoke."

Noticing the increasingly strange looks from Rovey and Anna, Kingu shook his head.

"I just feel that humans and Demonic Beast are both living beings, and I'm tired of this meaningless war."

Kingu shook his head, while urging the two to continue forward.

Before leaving, Rovey turned his gaze to the Demonic Beast Front ahead and suddenly noticed two strange figures, one green and one yellow, on the battlefield. However, due to the distance and the presence of Demonic Beast everywhere, he could only make out some blurry outlines.

"... Lev?"

The name came to mind subconsciously, but Rovey quickly shook his head and dismissed the absurd idea.

The Demon God Pillars are all busy Humanity Incineration during this time, so they shouldn't be coming to this Singularity. Therefore, he shifted his attention back to Kingu, preparing to give him an unexpected surprise when he betrays him later.

At the same time--

Just as Rovey was figuring out how to firmly capture Kingu, somewhere along the Demonic Beast Front, the biggest traitor among the Demon God Pillars, Lev, was sitting on a strange rock, his arms crossed and staring straight ahead, deep in thought.

"Hey, Lev, you've been sitting here for almost an hour. Is something wrong?" Although Ibaraki-dōji didn't want to disturb the green-hatted man who was deep in thought while cosplaying, she was about to swing her spiked club and start shooting sparks. This was the main battlefield, and if Lev did this, she would be the one who suffered.

You should know that she initially chose to escape because she was dissatisfied with being banished to such a place by Gilgamesh. Now, after wandering around, she jumped from Gilgamesh's hands to Black Lancer Artoria's hands, and now she has been recruited by Lev. She is a complete traitor, and after all this time, she has come back.

If that's the case, what was her motive for running away in the first place?!

Disturbed of his mood, Lev frowned and glanced at Ibaraki-dōji with displeasure. Sure enough, such a lowly creature from the countryside couldn't possibly understand his feelings. But he still needed someone to do the hard work, so Lev patiently explained, "I'm here sensing the king's aura, don't worry."

"The aura of the Magic King? Where is it?"

Because of the different regions, Ibaraki-dōji, though unaware of Solomon's identity in life, naturally heard of the renowned Magic King after becoming Heroic Spirit, and knew that he and the Demon God Pillars before her were the scoundrels who instigated the Humanity Incineration. However, she dared not reveal her true thoughts. This Demon God Pillars, who addressed Solomon as "My King," would absolutely not tolerate anyone daring to insult Solomon. If she were to truly voice her feelings, she would most likely be beaten to death by this seemingly frail but incredibly powerful green-haired turtle.

"Oh? I didn't expect that even a lowly demon from the countryside would have heard of my king's name? You truly are a great king."

Seeing that Ibaraki-dōji actually knew the name Solomon, Lev's mood suddenly improved a lot. "I just sensed the king's presence nearby!"

"Nearby? You mean... Solomon is passing by us!?"

Ibaraki-dōji thought that Lev had lost his mind.

"It really surprises me. Although the demon from the countryside is ignorant, he does have some wisdom. No wonder, otherwise you would not have been able to escape from Minamoto no Raikō with your meager strength."

"—Damn it, can't this cuckold talk properly? I have to do all the work for him and then put up with his taunts?!"

Although Ibaraki-dōji still wore a sycophantic expression on her face, she was cursing him inwardly. This guy in front of her was like a lunatic, constantly talking about King Solomon, and acting like a child starved for love whenever Solomon was mentioned. It completely shattered her worldview.

"That's right! Your Majesty, you were just here!"

However, Lev didn't take Ibaraki-dōji, such a lowly creature, seriously at all. He looked towards the cliff where Rovey Wei had just left, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Hmm—that's it! The King just passed by there and turned his gaze toward this battlefield! And there seemed to be several different scents around him... Hmm? A woman, who looked like a child, and another one that was neither male nor female, and seemed to be made of clay...?! And that's not all...!"

"Ha?"

Ibaraki-dōji didn't know how to evaluate the guy in front of him who could spout such a long string of words without even blushing or panting. But one thing he was certain of was that this seemingly serious and upright guy, who could play both a hero and a villain, was actually a pervert! And a pervert of an extremely high degree.

She was a little scared, but also felt some sympathy for the king he was talking about; having such a subordinate was truly a sin he had committed in eight lifetimes.

"Hmm? No! That androgynous, earthy smell seems to carry a malice towards the king!!"

Suddenly, Lev, who delivered an epic-level performance, seemed to realize something and once again uttered a top-tier statement in front of Ibaraki-dōji.

"Let's go! Follow the aura to greet the king! Do a good job, you lowly creature. When the time comes to save the king from the dragon's wrath, I'll give you one-fifth of the credit!"

With his eyes shining, Lev paid no attention to Ibaraki-dōji's feelings at the moment. After determining the direction, he unhesitatingly dragged Ibaraki-dōji onto the journey to find the king once again.

Ibaraki-dōji:

"Waaaa, I've done such a terrible thing!!"

Chapter 233 It's Clearly Mom's Taste

"That... person, Master, I feel like this path seems a bit..."

"It feels like we're getting further and further away from Uruk, doesn't it?"

"Um."

The two followed Kingu forward, Anna growing increasingly wary along the way. Similarly, the ominous premonition she'd felt earlier was intensifying, as the direction was filled with the scent of Gorgon.

She wanted to remind Rovey again, but when she tried to call him, she realized that she didn't seem to know Rovey's name. However, calling him by his name would seem suspicious, so Anna addressed him as Master.

As for the question in her heart, Rovey had already anticipated it when he arrived.

"..."

He looked ahead at the forest filled with the stench of blood, his gaze gradually turning silent.

After leaving the cliff on the Demonic Beast Front, the two of them arrived at a jungle led by Kingu. Because of the strange Leyline in this place, people who got close to it felt uncontrollably uncomfortable. In particular, the increasingly strong Gorgon aura in the vicinity made Anna, who was like a cat with its fur standing on end, grip the scythe in her hand and couldn't help but want to cut Kingu in the back.

Unlike Mash and Gudako, who were deceived by Kingu in the original story, Anna is a girl living in modern society with very upright and simple moral values. As a special being from the mythological era and a monster that the gods called to be defeated, Anna would have died long ago if she didn't have this sense of vigilance. Therefore, she did not take Kingu lightly at all. If it weren't for the special feeling she had with Rovey that made her subconsciously trust him, Anna would have already started a war with Kingu.

However, despite her reminder and the obvious tension in her heart, Rovey did not rush to take action, but instead conveyed the message to her to wait for the time being.

At the same time, noticing Anna's nervousness, he deliberately moved closer to Anna, holding her small hand to prevent Anna from doing anything rash that might alert Kingu.

'So soft, it feels small and smooth to the touch.'

The moment he grasped Anna's small hand, this was what Rovey felt in his heart.

"Ugh..."

Anna's body trembled involuntarily as her hand was gripped. She looked at the hand that was holding Rovey, and suddenly felt a warmth she had never experienced before, and...

The feeling of being touched by a human.

It's warm, but it's just so strange...

The warmth from the human made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but she couldn't break free at this moment. She could only lower her head and let Rovey hold her little hand and continue forward.

During this time, Rovey noticed that Anna seemed a little uncomfortable. He had a brief private chat with Anna about some trivial matters, including that she didn't need to call him "Master" so formally, but also not to refer to herself as "human, human"; she could just call him by her real Rovey.

"Hmm, Rovey Wei..."

While this might seem like a trivial matter to most, it was quite strange to Anna. At least, exchanging names with a human was something she, as a banshee and a being scorned by the world, would never have dared to imagine. It was a feeling of acceptance. Unlike Merlin and Merry, who clearly only saw her as a tool, Rovey treated her like a companion, even like a child.

"The smell is getting stronger, Rovey. Don't you really need to ask the other party first, or..."

After advancing a distance, they had entered the central area of the forest. Anna frowned slightly and asked Rovey with some uncertainty.

After so long, Gorgon's presence was now very close. She could even vaguely sense that the Beast Goddess was at the edge of this forest, and this guy was clearly leading them to his lair to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"..."

However, Rovey remained silent. Kingu was walking at the front, seemed to have guessed what the two were thinking and suddenly turned around with his signature smile on his face.

Then she addressed the two of them, saying, "Are you wondering why we are getting further and further away from Uruk? And why I am leading you in the opposite direction? If that's the case, then please don't worry."

Enkidu (Kingu) said, "Instead of just traversing the wilderness, there is a hidden river at the end of this forest, and there is an abandoned dock there. If we take a boat from there, we can reach Uruk more safely and faster."

Anna fell silent upon hearing this. "..."

Rovey smiled without saying a word.

"——"

Kingu's expression was also somewhat strange.

They probably never imagined that one of them was a pretense of knowing all along, while the other clearly sensed that Gorgon was at the abandoned dock that Kingu had fabricated.

The two of them had been accompanying Kingu all the way, waiting for Merlin and Merry to take a detour here to ambush her.

Moreover, even if we follow the normal world's development, Kingu probably have tricked Mash and Gudako around this point, where they encountered Anna and Merlin.

Only--

'Those two good-for-nothings have caused me trouble again.'

Rovey looked around but couldn't see a trace of Merlin and Merry. This gave him a new understanding of those two always messing things up—they always managed to get things done...

"Rovey, what do you think?"

Anna tugged at her hood and asked Rovey's opinion again, her scythe already pointed at her target.

She's ready if it really comes to a fight.

If she really had to go with this guy to find Gorgon, she could accept it. After all, it was a rare opportunity to defeat Gorgon, and she had no reason to refuse.

"I see..."

Rovey stroked his chin and thought carefully for a moment.

If the fight were to break out here, he would be over 98% confident of defeating Kingu. However, the combined power of her Chains of Heaven and the Holy Grail is simply too great. Catching her in a normal battle would still be extremely difficult. He himself lacks a highly mobile Noble Phantasm, making it hard to catch up with her. Even if he were to follow her into the Blood Shrine, he could fight his way in and out three times on his own. Furthermore, given Anna's advantage against Gorgon would be doomed the moment they met.

With their combined strength, they drove away Kingu, destroyed Gorgon, and shattered the Blood Shrine.

So, the problem is solved, right? Peace has returned to all of Mesopotamia, hasn't it?

But if things were really that simple, Gilgamesh wouldn't have engaged in an Ea war with the Demonic Beast; he could have simply used Ea to destroy the Blood Shrine with several Heroic Spirit. The reason the events of the Seventh Singularity have become so complicated is all because of the slumbering Mother of Creation in the Imaginary Number Space.

Humanity as it is today is not capable of dealing with the Mother of Creation.

Similarly, Tiamat has just sealed herself away. If the two of them were to destroy the Blood Shrine at this time, and the power in Gorgon were to return to Tiamat, the return of Evils of Humanity would be accelerated, and things would become truly serious.

Currently, the forces on the Mesopotamian Plain have not yet been united, Gilgamesh's King's Cannon is probably still under preparation, the crucial Underworld has not been moved below Uruk, and it is unknown whether King Hassan has appeared in this world yet.

There are too many uncertainties involved. If Tiamat is awakened, the entire war will be lost.

Moreover—he hasn't found a way to save Tiamat yet, so their only option when facing Tiamat is to kill Tiamat.

Therefore, under no circumstances should the Gorgon die, lest Evils of Humanity resurface at this time.

"..."

Rovey remained silent, and seeing that he didn't speak, Kingu smiled again and suggested, "Since there are no problems, please speed up your pace a bit. You've seen the situation on the Demonic Beast Front; this is no time to walk slowly. Let's hurry up and join the King of Heroes who holds the Holy Grail."

Anna also asked, "Shall we continue?"

Noticing that Rovey was hesitant, the two people in front of him and beside him were also waiting for his answer.

Now that things had come to this, Rovey knew he couldn't leave.

If Anna meets Gorgon, one of them will die.

Gorgon cannot die now, and Anna absolutely cannot die either, so even if we don't capture Kingu today, we can't let things escalate to that point.

"Wait a minute..."

Rovey shook his head and stopped the two from moving forward. At this moment Kingu and Anna's eyes were all focused on him.

Kingu feigned confusion and asked, "What's wrong, the last Master?"

Anna: "Rovey... do you have any other ideas?"

"Yes, probably some."

Rovey sighed, then looked at Kingu, whose eyes had changed, and asked, "Can Enkidu come with me for a moment? I have something I want to say to you privately."

"Me?"

"Um."

"I see... Although time is tight, it's obvious that Master has something important to tell me."

Seeing Rovey's expression, Kingu sighed, then walked to Rovey's side and said with a smile, "In that case, there's no other way. Let's go together. I also have some things to confirm with you first."

"I'm going too..." Anna wanted to go with her.