The Great King Has Passed Away

After all, there aren't many things in the world that can make this kid act so pretentious. He now wants to know what happened that made him speak to him in this manner.

"Okay, then wait a moment."

Seeing Gilgamesh's serious expression, Rovey sighed. He knew this matter absolutely couldn't be kept from Gilgamesh, as the subsequent plans depended on his arrangements. So Rovey asked Anna to go out and bring Tiamat and Kingu over, hoping that Gilgamesh and Kingu wouldn't fight too fiercely later.

As Anna hurriedly left, Gilgamesh on the throne couldn't help but become curious.

What on earth is going on that requires such secrecy? Is it really necessary? I haven't even been afraid of the Mother Goddess Tiamat, so what in this world could possibly frighten me?

He muttered to himself.

Gilgamesh couldn't imagine anything more terrifying than Tiamat, whom he was about to face. Why did Rovey feel he couldn't accept it?

The answer is, of course, no!

Gilgamesh remained confident until Anna returned with a beautiful woman with dragon horns and long, light blue hair.

"You... you're not..." Gilgamesh stared incredulously at the pale blue figure that had appeared below him more than once in his nightmares. His voice became rapid, and he could barely speak.

"Aaaa, aaa."

Tiamat responded enthusiastically, but Gilgamesh couldn't understand her at all and could only look at Rovey to the side.

"Um."

Rovey glanced silently at Tiamat beside him, then began to translate her words, which roughly meant. "I am your mother, Tiamat."

"That's not the point at all! Since you're Tiamat, the source of all this chaos, why are you standing here?!"

Gilgamesh couldn't help but question, "Shouldn't you be waiting for me to open the rift before you come out? Your timing is clearly off!"

"Aaaa?"

Tiamat tilted her head.

"Isn't it obvious? I betrayed them."

Rovey continued translating.

"Treason? That's such an obscure term..."

Furthermore, the final boss's betrayal is even less common.

If everyone hadn't known about Tiamat beforehand, they would have definitely suspected that Tiamat herself was preparing to infiltrate their ranks.

After hearing Rovey's account, everyone turned their gaze to Gilgamesh on the throne, waiting for the invincible King Gilgamesh to come up with a solution. However, King Gilgamesh was currently looking quite troubled.

Even after living for so long, he never expected things to turn out this way, and many plans would have to be changed.

My precious vacation is completely ruined!!

Gilgamesh looked at Rovey with a pained expression, his eyes burning with a desire to devour him.

Chapter 247 The King Has Passed Away

"Is this really the right thing to do? There are so many things going on outside, and we also need to consider adjusting Tiamat's current situation..."

"Shut up! You bastard, isn't all this your fault? According to my plan, everything should have been flawless, but who would have thought you'd cause such a mess! What am I supposed to do?"

After forcing himself to accept the current situation, Gilgamesh waved his hand and directly asked the others who were in the way to leave for a break. Although he said "asked them to leave," judging from his twitching face at the time, it would be more accurate to say that he "kicked them out."

"Cough cough!!"

Inside the palace in Uruk, Gilgamesh, standing at the very front, holding a book and a giant axe, was trembling with rage.

"Hey, wait a minute! Let's talk things out one by one today."

"But haven't things already become very clear? I've even exceeded my usual performance and brought you so many unexpected gains."

"Get out! First, let's talk about your purpose in going to Mount Ebih. It was to find out the attitude of that useless goddess Ishtar, and then try to use the treasure I allocated to you to buy the Holy Grail from her. At the same time, you were to try to win her over to our side, and pick up your little lover along the way, right?"

"Um."

"Alright, let's continue with what's going on with the Tiamat you brought back? And what's the meaning of these nearly two thousand refugees?! That's almost a fifth of Uruk's total population! Are you trying to force all residents to sleep in pairs or groups of two or more?! Being grouped together, regardless of whether the genders are the same or different, is very dangerous!"

Gilgamesh looked at the new clay tablet that Siduri hurriedly handed back, and the news that that fool Ishtar had brought back everyone without missing a single person. Then, he used his Clairvoyance to look at the massive procession registering outside the city gate, and his veins bulged on his forehead.

Rovey: "No, are all guys of your generation this open-minded?"

"——"

Gilgamesh continued to stare at him.

Those scarlet eyes that were looking over made Rovey subconsciously take a few steps back, while he thought to himself, 'There are really an absurd number of perverts in this era. This guy in front of me seems to be someone who doesn't discriminate between good and bad.'

"No... Actually, I hadn't considered these people either. They are all refugees from different city-states far away, forced to seek refuge on Mount Ebih because there's no decent farmland there to provide food. Besides, if Ishtar and Lily leave, they're likely to be wiped out by the Demonic Beast coming up the mountain if they stay there. I think transferring them here during this lull is the only way. Although food is a big problem, with Uruk's current resources, we can manage to last a week, which should be enough to get through the Demonic Beast Front, right?"

"You rascal, although you always manage to cause me a lot of trouble and unexpected problems in other ways, and you seem completely unaware of it, your understanding of the situation is as comprehensive as ever. You've even figured out Uruk's food reserves. So, how about becoming my chief steward of internal affairs?"

Gilgamesh glanced at Rovey briefly, then spoke with malice.

"No way! The reason I know so much is because you showed me all the mud tablets of Uruk that night, didn't you? Even though I can't fix the roof, it would be too embarrassing if I didn't even know basic arithmetic and statistics."

Rovey shook his head repeatedly in reply.

"Oh, that's a real shame..."

"However, you are not wrong. Very well, I will temporarily send people to make arrangements for these miscellaneous cultivators, but do not forget Uruk's creed—I will never keep idle people."

When King Gilgamesh said this, he gave Rovey a glare. Because a certain Avalon otaku was still working overtime and hadn't returned, Merlin's perverted, flirtatious voice wasn't around, so Gilgamesh felt a little uncomfortable.

However, he is now more worried about whether Merlin can find his lost clay tablet, which contains some important records about the future.

In reality, his prized Clairvoyance had been rendered useless due to the intrusion of a certain individual into the Singularity, resulting in the loss of both his past and future visions. Currently, he only possessed a present-day vision similar to Merlin's. What was supposed to be a predetermined end had become unobservable due to that individual's presence. This was why he so urgently needed the Tablet of Destiny to understand the subsequent situation and gain a greater sense of certainty.

"You don't need to worry about that. Although it's a bit sad to talk about, over 80% of their team is male, and all of them are physically strong. They're more than capable of both manual labor and combat. As for the reason..."

At this point, Rovey's voice became somewhat low, and Gilgamesh, of course, understood what he meant, so he spoke directly, "Of course I understand. It's because different teams set off from the city-states, crossed the wasteland, climbed Mount Ebih, evaded the pursuit of Demonic Beast, and witnessed the goddess's battle. Teams that survived all these experiences must have been selected through a process of natural selection—those who were slow, lacked stamina, or had weak wills all embraced the Underworld. The remaining ones are the best of the best, right?"

"So you knew what was going on, huh?" Rovey nodded.

When he met the refugees at Mount Ebih, he personally examined their bodies and confirmed this.

Humans living in the Age of Gods possessed exceptional physical strength and willpower far surpassing that of modern sheltered children, not to mention the profound experiences they had all undergone.

—A perilous journey through Demonic Beast warfare, across wastelands, facing the gods, and finally reaching Uruk.

If it weren't for the Singularity caused by the Humanity Incineration, coupled with the lack of sufficient records and decisive narratives to leave behind legends, these people would have had the opportunity to become special Heroic Spirit.

Gilgamesh could not deny this point either; the indomitable will and golden spirit that filled these refugees were also an important reason why he did not reject them.

"Then, the second point—that poor, sour-smelling girl next to you, holding up a 'Debt Collection' sign, is clearly a useless, good-for-nothing goddess who only annoys me. Didn't you explain things to her clearly?"

"Finally looking me in the eye? You damn Gilgamesh! And what do you mean by 'poor goddess'? Explain yourself!"

"Although I am indeed much poorer now, don't forget, you still owe me 20% of your treasure. I'm not here to fight you today, so pay me back now!!"

Having just brought back the two thousand refugees, Ishtar rushed to his divine tower, holding up the clay tablet he had written on. After standing there for half a day, Ishtar saw that Gilgamesh had finally paid attention to him, and angrily shouted, intending to demand revenge from Gilgamesh.

"Ha, what a fool! The one who owes money is the boss, Ishtar. Can't you even understand such a simple principle? Besides, it's not that I didn't want to pay; I said I would only pay after everything was over. What were you thinking, asking me for the full amount right from the start? If I had given it to you, you probably would have run away long ago!"

Gilgamesh glanced at Ishtar, his eyes filled with mockery.

He might bicker with Rovey at most, but with Ishtar, he wouldn't hold back. He could yell at her however he wanted; after all, the fact that they were talking to each other without a fight was already a testament to his magnanimity.

For him, Ishtar was a bigger grudge than Tiamat and Goetia; it was a true feud over the theft of a friend, an almost irreconcilable hatred.

"You--!!"

Seeing this, Ishtar frowned, her clear eyes instantly turning gold, and she immediately wanted to fight Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, not to be outdone, gripped his golden axe to show his stance. If it weren't for Rovey standing between them, a real fight might have broken out here today.

"Alright, stop arguing. You're all on the same side now, all for Uruk, for humanity... no, one of you is after the treasure. Anyway, since you're comrades now, put aside your past grievances for now. Of course, I'm not asking you to forgive and forget, but rather to be patient for now and bring it up later."

Rovey said to Gilgamesh, "We've come this far, you must know the difficulties ahead. You must consider the bigger picture, Gilgamesh."

"Hmph! You don't need to tell me. I, the king, would never lower myself to fight with this useless piece of trash!"

Upon hearing this, Gilgamesh, who was already in a bad mood due to a bunch of troubles, immediately calmed down when he saw Ishtar and put away his axe, sitting back on his throne.

"You say who lowered whose status, but you, Gilgamesh, are still as arrogant as ever! I am a goddess, the greatest goddess of Mesopotamia!"

Ishtar wasn't particularly bright or eloquent, was furious. She immediately reached into her pocket, wanting to pull out some gems to attack. Although she didn't know where her pockets came from with her revealing clothes, Rovey grabbed her smooth arm and said.

"That's enough. Your treasure will be divided among you after everything is over. Don't cause trouble until then. Think back to what I said before. Do you want the agreed-upon 20% of the treasure to be reduced to Issei?"

"I... well, wasn't it this annoying guy who started this trouble first?"

Rovey's words struck at Ishtar's weak spot.

The mere mention of treasure quelled her already explosive temper; she shrank back slightly and gave a haughty snort.

"Alright, I'll give you face this time and not bother with this Gilgamesh bastard, but—!!"

Ishtar narrowed her eyes and looked at Gilgamesh on the throne again, then threw a blank clay tablet at him from the ground.

--Bang.

Gilgamesh raised his hand and easily caught the mud tablet that Ishtar had thrown at him. He then looked at her with disgust and said coldly.

"What? Are you so poor that you don't even have the jewels to attack me?"

"Who wants to attack you!"

"So what are you trying to do?"

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes slightly, then glanced at the clay tablet.

"I don't believe what you're saying. You need to write me an IOU first!"

Ishtar put her hands on her hips and said seriously.

"Ha?"

Upon hearing the condition that he be asked to write an IOU, Gilgamesh on the throne was momentarily stunned.

He clearly hadn't expected that this useless goddess would actually make him sign an IOU.

He's definitely grown up...

——

In the end Gilgamesh, in order to get rid of this idiot, wrote an IOU, which stated. "[Ishtar must cooperate with his plan. He will only release 20% of his treasure to fulfill his promise after the disaster ends.]"

After receiving the IOU, Ishtar carefully put away the clay tablet, then skipped away without realizing what was about to happen.

After a couple of cold laughs, Gilgamesh paused the pointless farce, dragged out Merry who had been hiding in the corner shouting, "Fight! Fight!" and kicked her out before starting to discuss with Rovey how to deal with Tiamat.

"First of all, according to Tiamat, the Beast will appear in ten days at most. At that time, the Beast without any self-sealing will appear on this land. And it won't be the kind of situation where we release it and we can predict its trajectory, but rather it will break out of control on its own. You should understand the meaning of this even if I don't say it, right?"

Gilgamesh, sitting on his throne, covered his head and said something that truly gave him a headache.

After all, his plans for Tiamat were already crystal clear.

Tiamat is sealed in place, will not return without external interference. He only needs to prepare to break the seal during this period and find a way to allow Rovey to communicate with Tiamat's spirit again.

As for the method, it doesn't matter whether it's the simplest talk therapy, normal interaction, or even a harmonious life, as long as Tiamat is stabilized, the goal is achieved. There's no need to awaken her rationality; just make her focus on Goetia when Goetia arrives, and then release her when Goetia comes out.

However... the original unlimited time limit has been changed to ten days to complete all preparations, and Tiamat's seal has completely failed, making it impossible to guide her anymore, which has given Gilgamesh a great headache.

How can they fight the Beast of Return, who hasn't fully returned and hasn't self-sealed, without being able to guarantee its appearance alongside Goetia? How can they win?

"——"

Upon hearing this, Rovey nodded. He was the most qualified to speak about Tiamat's terrifying power, having personally witnessed the Tiamat in the sealed prison who had not sealed herself.

Even if he were a god-like being, possessing numerous miracles and special abilities such as the Sacred Right, he still didn't believe he could defeat Tiamat at present.

Because Tiamat is a true creator god, and the mother of the planet. Even if she cannot compare to the unique god of the Christianity, she is still a supreme creator god of a pantheon. If she truly wanted to destroy humanity, she wouldn't need any Humanity Incineration. She only needed to walk around in her most primordial form, and the Seventh Singularity would naturally collapse, thus destroying the foundation of Human Order, and Goetia's plan to destroy Human Order would be automatically completed. Fortunately, the contradictions within her suppressed this destruction, thus buying humanity a chance.

However, this last chance will soon be completely gone, and they will have to face Tiamat, who could destroy the world with just a casual stroll.

"..."

Gilgamesh looked at Rovey and asked, "Now that things have come to this, what can you do? You must have some backup plan than I do, right? If it comes to a situation where we have no choice but to face it, can you bring yourself to do it?"

Seeing his original plan ruined, Gilgamesh was very unhappy and embarrassed, but he knew that there were more important things waiting for him to solve than his pride.

As an opponent, partner, even friend, and child, he genuinely wanted to help Rovey, and even Tiamat, achieve a good ending, but only within his power and within the bounds of the situation. If he could do that, it would naturally be best, but he still clearly remembered his identity and role. His responsibility extended beyond just Rovey, someone he respected; it extended to Uruk's trusted subjects and the entire Human History.

In situations where the situation is unstoppable, he will no longer fantasize about offering salvation—such a luxurious and fairytale-like idea. Instead, he will focus on winning, achieving victory, and leading everyone to victory—this is his mission.

Now the key to victory is in Rovey's hands, so Gilgamesh wants to see what he thinks, as this will determine the future course of everything.

"Able."