Slay the False Emperor! (Continued)

Only...

Although Gilgamesh sounded very confident, would things really go so smoothly? Was it really that simple?

Rovey always felt that King Gilgamesh was up to something big, but for some reason hadn't told him. Merry also keenly noticed some flaws in these plans, but those flaws weren't insurmountable; however, they would require a price to pay, and it seemed that only...

"Humans are so selfish..."

Suddenly, Merry spoke up, or rather, she couldn't help but mutter something under her breath, her eyes carrying a hint of coldness.

"What's wrong, Merry?" Rovey vaguely heard her voice and turned around to ask, "Do you have any other thoughts?"

"Nothing much... I just felt a little uneasy about some of the content, so I wanted to make some adjustments. But it seems like it's still a long way off before any adjustments are made. Let's just do as Gilgamesh said for now." Merry smiled slightly and then answered casually, her expression revealing nothing of her thoughts.

This is her true nature; a fairy-like girl must hide her emotions, and her enigmatic nature is what makes her even more captivating.

"Alright, let's do as King Gilgamesh says."

Although he found Merry a bit strange, there was no time to think about it now. Rovey nodded slightly and then continued to ask for more details, as well as information about Lily and their location.

Gilgamesh's answer to this question was quite straightforward. Compared to Merlin's series of Clairvoyance, his Clairvoyance was much more useful, so he didn't hide anything and mentioned three special locations, which coincidentally overlapped with the implementation of the plan.

Black Lancer Artoria currently in the temple of Ishtar, the dark Tower of the End is proof of her existence; Lily is in the rainforest of Ur, and is not in danger; Nitocris was captured for trespassing into the Underworld, but the goddess is not a bad person, so she has not made things difficult for her and is currently helping out with some work.

Whether it was fate or coincidence, aside from the Beast Goddess, Lily and the others happened to encounter the other Three Goddesses. On the path to obtaining the Holy Grail from the Three Goddesses, they were able to reunite with them.

Gilgamesh also said that this might be fate's arrangement. After all, many of the hardships he experienced were not without reason; they were all arranged by someone. Rovey naturally neither agreed nor disagreed with this, but there was no doubt that the Three Goddess Alliance still had to visit each of them one by one, and that the Holy Grail and the people had to be brought back.

"Okay, then."

After explaining everything that needed to be explained, Gilgamesh pondered for a moment, and then continued, "Because I have to take care of political affairs and cannot leave, Ushiwakamaru, Leonidas and the others still have to fight on the front lines and cannot leave their posts without permission, so the only ones who can do the work are the three of you."

He glanced at the three people in the room— Rovey, Anna, and Merry —and said, "The three of you will go and conquer the Three Goddess Alliance. Bring back your lovers along the way, after all, they are all good helpers. We'll talk about the rest when you get back. Let's arrange it like this."

"Huh? What about me?"

Suddenly, Merlin appeared out of nowhere, pointed to himself, and asked, "Should I go with them too?"

"You?" Gilgamesh sneered and said, "Go and find the Tablet of Destiny that I lost!"

"Ugh!? Why do I have to do such a boring thing?"

Merlin asked in silence.

"Enough with the nonsense. In this situation, aren't your eyes more useful than mine?" Gilgamesh his arms and said, "That's settled then! If you don't want to go, you can continue to work overtime with me."

"All right."

Merlin sighed.

Not long after, on a major road in Uruk.

The petite Anna was exploring ahead, while Rovey followed behind on his Sand Sphinx, with a wooden wagon pulling behind them. Merry, meanwhile, was leisurely lying in the wagon, enjoying this hard-won journey.

Because the Sand Sphinx that Rameses II gave to Rovey had already formed a contract with him, it usually just hid on Rovey's body, existing in the form of a handful of colorful starry sand without showing itself. If needed, Rovey could still summon it and infuse it with magic to help it take shape and become a big cat.

Although the summoning incantation was still incredibly embarrassing, Gilgamesh couldn't resist his admiration for this treasure and wanted to buy it from Rovey. After all, it was a divine entity from Egypt mythology, a unique treasure; it was a living being, not an object, so even the Gate of Babylon didn't have it. More importantly, how could anyone not like such a large, colorful cat? And it looked so cool, perfect as a king's mount. However, the Sand Sphinx disliked Gilgamesh's scent, and Rovey couldn't possibly sell this gift from his friend. So, Gilgamesh gained another coveted possession.

Meow~!

The big cat growled in displeasure. Being summoned not for battle, but as a mount was bad enough, but to be used as a delivery errand boy was even worse—this was blatant disrespect to a divine beast! It was a pinnacle among Egypt mythical Phantasmal Species, comparable to the evil Dragon Kind Fafnir. In its adult form, its strength rivaled that of Egypt god. It was one thing for Rovey not to use it for battle, but to always run errands. And this time, it was even being used as a mule! Therefore, the Sand Sphinx was extremely unhappy.

Even though it was unhappy, it didn't resist. It just walked around panting, forcing Rovey to release more magic to comfort it. After all, even big cats need to be stroked.

With each step the Sand Sphinx took, the wheels of its chariot creaked and groaned, accompanied by a mesmerizing tinkling sound.

The Sand Sphinx was pulling a cart laden with exquisite jewels and abundant treasures, all originating from Gilgamesh's treasury. Lying on it, Merry was admiring these fine artifacts, occasionally trying them on and asking Rovey if they looked good on her.

Of course, the reason Rovey's carriage contained so much treasure was not because Gilgamesh generously shared it with him and Merry as a gift, but because Rovey wanted to use it as capital to win over a certain foolish goddess.

"Hmph, although that guy isn't a member of the Three Goddess Alliance, the easiest person to win over in all of Mesopotamia is definitely that money-obsessed idiot goddess. Just take the treasure I gave you there and tell her that if it works out, I'll share 40% of the treasure with her, and that fool will definitely come and surrender obediently."

With these words, Gilgamesh gave Rovey the treasures and showed him the way.

His meaning was quite clear: buying the Holy Grail was far more practical than going through the Holy Grail of snatching it from Baal. After all, the Demon God King's Holy Grail was just a mass of magical energy; it didn't have the ability to turn lead into gold or conjure wealth out of thin air. Goetia must have been out of her mind to give it to that idiot Ishtar. Gilgamesh even suspected that the girl would lose the Holy Grail soon enough. So, bidding for it was the most suitable option. For him, anything that could be solved with money wasn't a problem.

The King of Gigi Kingdom's bottom line is to give up 40% of the treasure. How to reach an agreement is up to Rovey. He can also accept the excess portion. As for how much to accept, it depends on his own ability, as long as it does not exceed 40%.

Upon hearing this request, Rovey was also taken aback by King Gilgamesh's extravagant spending. So, on the way, he began to ponder how to swindle Ishtar's Holy Grail. Based on the goddess's unreliable nature, about 20% would suffice: Issei for the Holy Grail, Issei for Ishtar herself, and he planned to keep the remaining 20% for himself. Of course, adhering to the principle of "everyone gets a share," Rovey asked Anna and Merry, but both of them replied that they didn't need it.

Anna had no interest in human treasures, and Merry even bluntly stated that she would use them as part of her dowry.

"What's yours is mine, so there's no need to separate us."

Although Rovey felt that this guy was taking advantage of her again, she didn't continue arguing with him, after all, 20% of the treasure was indeed a lot.

Riding the Sand Sphinx, Anna sensed its temperamental Sand Sphinx due to its Demonic Beast aspect and asked, "Would you like me to pull it?"

"Meow?!" Its eyes suddenly lit up, and it looked at Anna with great joy.

However, with a mount around, why would Rovey let Anna pull him? He tapped the sphinx on the head and said, "Don't think about anything else, get to work."

Seeing this, Anna nodded without being coy; she was simply worried that the lion might cause trouble.

Rovey continued riding his sphinx, and at the end of the road was the blue gate of Uruk.

Anna stood on a large rock, barely making sure she was the same height as Rovey. She glanced at the city gate in the distance, then frowned, looked at Rovey, and said, "There are two strange figures walking this way."

"Two figures?"

Upon hearing her reminder Rovey frowned, then stopped the sphinx and looked in that direction.

"Huh? What are they doing here..."

At the same time, when he finally saw the true faces of the two unexpected figures walking towards him, Rovey couldn't help but feel puzzled.

After all, this combination is just too strange no matter how you look at it, and they shouldn't be here.

"The Demon God Pillars, how could it appear in a place like this? And..."

"Long time no see, Ibaraki-dōji. Didn't you say you were going to become the bandit king? Why are you back? Did you change your mind and come back to take the job?" Merry greeted Ibaraki-dōji with a smile, looking at her distressed expression.

Upon seeing familiar faces, Ibaraki-dōji sighed helplessly, "It was the Boss who brought me back. Um... Gilgamesh probably doesn't know I'm back, right?"

"You guess?"

She asked cautiously, but was met with a meaningful smile from Merry.

They didn't dwell on the fact that Ibaraki-dōji had returned, since the problem with the Demon God Pillars in front of them was more significant than Ibaraki-dōji.

His attire was so elaborate that few could rival it except for Green Lantern and Green Arrow, and his voice reeked of treachery. Anna, who was barely an old acquaintance of Lev, immediately raised her weapon to block Rovey's path. She clearly remembered that back in the Fuyuki City Singularity, it was this guy who gave King Arthur the Holy Grail and corrupted her as Medusa, so naturally, she had no friendly expression.

"You are... Gorgon? No, you are a special individual, distinct from Medusa and Gorgon. I thought that fool Gorgon had actually sent a clone to infiltrate the King's side. It's all for the best that this didn't happen. As for your question..." Ignoring Anna's hostility, after an unknown amount of time spent on the run and staking out the city gate all night, Lev finally found his target and walked step by step to Rovey. He then gently removed his hat, knelt on one knee, placed his hand on his chest, and bowed respectfully, saying...

"Of course, they've come here... drawn by the scent of our king!"

"Follow the king's scent?"

Anna was slightly taken aback upon hearing this answer.

Putting the green hat back on, Lev didn't stand up. Instead, he raised his hands high as if to hold his own heart and shouted passionately, "That's right! As the king's most loyal servant, as the most loyal of the 72 Demons of King Solomon, I, Flauros, can feel the king's presence no matter where I am in the world, and I will follow the king without hesitation!"

Rovey: "..."

Looking at Lev, who was acting crazy in front of him and seemed to want to swear allegiance with a cane, Rovey felt that something was not right about how things were going.

He had initially thought that Lev was sent by Goetia to tell him that he had arrived at this Singularity and that he would definitely make him pay the price. However, he did not expect Lev to pull such a big stunt as soon as they met, which completely blocked the question he was about to ask or left him speechless. This development was somewhat unpredictable.

So...

You truly are a traitor, a double agent.

Meeting you is truly a miracle for Goetia. With only one person missing from the seventy-two, he won't need to use his complete form this time.

"Liar! Demon God Pillars, your lie is so clumsy. Are you trying to say that this living being, Rovey, is the long-dead Magic King?"

Anna immediately dismissed Lev's nonsense. Although she disliked humans, she could clearly see through the goodness of people like Rovey. There was no way he could be associated with the legendary, extremely ruthless Magic King.

Rovey, on the other hand, felt even more speechless at this StarCraft player. He had thought that after fooling Goetia, the Demon God Pillars would simply revisit the story and discover the flaws, then find a way to kill him, the fraudster. He never expected that someone would actually believe him. This infamous Grand Bomber, this Grand Rank Traitor, actually mistook him for Solomon?

At this moment, Rovey truly understood the feelings of a certain immortal king: seemingly always as steady as a rock, but in reality, he was constantly panicking inside. In short, he was figuring out how to get through this.

Exposing him directly is impossible, and killing him is also out of the question. After all, without Lev, Goetia can't be in its complete form, drastically reducing the difficulty. Therefore, he must find a way to keep this guy in check.

"Hmph, in the end you're nothing but a pathetic cripple from the mythical era. How could someone long since obsolete understand the King's greatness? Standing right next to the King, yet unable to perceive his radiance, is your Mystic Eyes just for show?" Lev jumped up from the ground, itching to throw his hat like a frisbee at Anna. "Hmph, you Demonic Beast driven by evil to devour your two sisters, just stay on the Shapeless Isle and face your end! The King doesn't need a good-for-nothing like you!"

"You're asking for it!"

Hearing this, Anna was completely enraged. The experience of being controlled by evil thoughts and devouring her two older sisters, becoming Gorgon, was a nightmare she could never shake off, a past she absolutely could not acknowledge. This was also the reason why she wanted to kill the Gorgon. Now, Lev's words were deliberately provoking her.

Whoosh!

The purple scythe was drawn directly, and Anna was about to cut off Lev's head to quell her anger. However, the moment the scythe was raised, Anna found that the weapon in her hand could not move at all. She looked up and saw a large, crimson hand firmly holding her scythe. Then she saw Rovey's gaze, which was completely different from before.

"You are no match for him, Anna," he said calmly.

Lev is bad, but it depends on what you compare him to. Compared to Rameses II, Gilgamesh than him, but compared to Anna, Lev is definitely not inferior.

"Do you understand now? Demonic Beast, the King, prefers me!"

When he saw Rovey blocking Anna, Lev was overjoyed, taking it as a sign of the king's favoritism.

"Hey, Brother Flauros, didn't you come here to see the Magic King? Fighting here is such a waste of time, isn't it?"

Seeing this development, Ibaraki-dōji, who was following behind Lev, could no longer contain herself. She was already afraid of being captured and brought back by Gilgamesh, and if a fight broke out here, she would have nowhere to hide today. However, she was no match for Lev, and if she ran away or betrayed him, she would only die in vain, except for returning to the Throne of Heroes ahead of time. Therefore, Ibaraki-dōji was usually the most hot-tempered, could only calmly begin to discuss Lev with him.

Fortunately, although Lev looked down on Anna, he understood that he had to be mindful of his attitude before the king; fighting here would be far too impolite. Therefore, he ignored Anna's impotent rage and instead respectfully looked at the Sand Sphinx, thinking to himself—

'As expected of a king, he can even control Egypt's top mythical beast so easily...'

'But without us by his side, the King must be incredibly lonely and isolated. To have come this far as an ordinary person, he must have suffered a great deal... Those Demon God Pillars believed Goetia's evil deeds, instead of focusing on finding the King, they were busy with some kind of Humanity Incineration, it's truly too...'

'I've failed in my duty!'

The thought of Rovey's solitary journey filled Lev with immense pain and a bitter taste. He felt perfectly justified in shifting all the blame onto Goetia, since, no matter what, it was all Goetia's fault.

Unaware that Lev's inner thoughts were so rich, Rovey pushed Anna away and then asked in a pretentious manner.

"So, Flauros, what brings you here to see me?"

"Ah, the great king..."

Lev let out a long, emotionally charged chant.

"..."

This shout made Rovey's eyelids twitch. Couldn't this guy speak properly? Why did he have to use that tone? Was he going to sing a song for him in some Indian mythology later?

"I've come here to return the treasure that rightfully belongs to you to its rightful owner!"

As he spoke, Lev reached into the inside pocket of his clothes and pulled out nine gold rings.

"Please reclaim that former glory!"

As he spoke, he knelt down again, raising the nine rings in his hand high before Rovey.

"This is--?!"

Upon seeing the nine Gilgamesh rings, not only Rovey but also Merry beside him was completely stunned. She couldn't help but think, "Did they really go this far?"

At this moment, Lev's face was full of smugness.

' Goetia! And the remaining seventy-one fools, the position of First Demon God finally belongs to me Flauros!!'

And at this very moment, in the Temple of Time.

Unaware that someone had secretly slipped away, the Demon God Pillars, still relentlessly attacking Goetia in a relentless barrage, continued their fierce battle, creating a chaotic scene of demons dancing wildly.

"Charge, brothers!"

"Down with the false emperor, welcome back the true king!!"

"Let the Temple of Time burn fiercely!!!"

"Our king is calling! Defeat the traitor!!"

Seventy-one Demon God Pillars: "Aaaaaah, battle!!"

Looking at the seventy-one Demon God Pillars in front of him, which were in full swing, dying and resurrecting one after another, Goetia was surrounded in the very center, began to twitch wildly.

"Damn it! Are you guys out of your minds?!"