The Benevolent Dark Emperor

"Leave. The power you can gain in the Underworld is limited. The Gods left means of controlling you that I cannot remove. Those means can only control those weaker than them, not those stronger. Go to the surface and grow stronger."

The Gods feared Gilgamesh's power would slip beyond their control, so they prepared a similar "Shadow." And to control the Shadow, they naturally possessed the necessary means.

If Fujimaru Kyoya wanted to survive through his own strength, he had to keep growing stronger. The Underworld could no longer make him stronger.

"Shadow, once you leave, you will be only yourself. Live for yourself, fight for yourself. That is my only demand of you. If you remember the kindness of being raised by me, then remember it forever."

Though Ereshkigal was the Goddess of the Underworld, she loved life. As for this boy she had raised herself, she did not want him to become a tool—a tool the Gods would sacrifice for their own interests.

"If it is your request, I will remember it. But what about you?"

Fujimaru Kyoya understood the meaning behind Ereshkigal's words. She wanted him to walk his own path. Even if Ereshkigal stood before him in the future, he had to make his own choice instead of hesitating because of this debt of gratitude.

"Do not worry about me. I have the blessing of the Underworld. As long as I am within the Underworld, even my overbearing sister is no match for me."

As long as she remained in the Underworld, Ereshkigal was invincible. That was the guarantee that she would never become a hostage.

But those Gods were also her family. All Ereshkigal could do was give Fujimaru Kyoya a chance to seize his own fate. She could give him nothing more.

"Thank you."

Fujimaru Kyoya left. He departed the gloomy Underworld and stepped onto solid earth. When he saw the starlight above for the first time, he could not help falling into a daze.

It was the starry sky of the Age of Gods, entirely different from the stars of later generations.

Name: Shadow

Gender: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: C

Agility: A

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: Not acquired

Divinity: A

Backup of Heaven's Wedge. Two-thirds God, one-third human. Gilgamesh's biological brother from different fathers and mothers.

Infinite Martial Arts: A

The martial arts you learned had fused into your body. No matter what state you were in, it would not affect your ability to wield them.

First Before First: A+

Thought Before Action was First Before First: anticipating the enemy's moves, striking later yet arriving first.

Benevolent Dark Emperor: Not activated

The Heavenly Mandate had not yet arrived.

The status panel did not look as impressive as the previous one, but that did not mean Shadow was weaker than Lloyd without the Holy Sword.

Anyone who had played even a little game understood that a status panel only determined the lower limit. A character's strength also lay in their "mechanics" and "multipliers."

In Fujimaru Kyoya's understanding, "mechanics" referred to special effectiveness traits, while "multipliers" depended on the quality and quantity of one's talents.

With the boosts from Infinite Martial Arts and First Before First, without considering any Noble Phantasm enhancements and judging only by hand-to-hand combat, Fujimaru Kyoya did not think many people could defeat him.

Besides, if one truly counted the panel, the boost from Divinity would raise his otherwise unremarkable attributes to varying degrees.

But after leaving the Underworld, though heaven and earth were vast, there was nowhere for him to belong.

Fujimaru Kyoya had always believed himself to be selfish. As Fujimaru Kyoya, he wanted to protect his family. As Lloyd, he wanted to protect the Age of Gods in which everyone lived. Now, as Shadow, he had nothing and no one he needed to protect.

So where should he go?

[You left the Underworld.]

[Under the starry sky, you hunted Fantasy Species. You ate their flesh to fill your stomach and traded their pelts for currency. Gradually, your name began to spread through the surrounding lands.]

[You asked about Gilgamesh. The people around you were astonished that you did not know Gilgamesh, since he was currently the most famous Wise King.]

[You learned of young Gilgamesh's deeds. He was a wise, brave, and kind king, seemingly leaving no need to become his enemy.]

[You understood that he was perfectly fulfilling Heaven's Wedge's duty. Perhaps there was no need for you to appear at all. Living in this world as an ordinary person might not be so bad.]

[You learned that Gilgamesh intended to build a palace.]

[You learned that Gilgamesh had raised taxes.]

[You learned that Gilgamesh was seizing young women by force.]

What happened?

Fujimaru Kyoya did not understand.

Benevolent Dark Emperor

The change seemed to have happened overnight. Gilgamesh, the Wise King once beloved by the people, had suddenly become tyrannical.

At first, people only thought it was this Wise King's belated rebellious phase. But as time passed, someone quickly realized that something was wrong.

Gilgamesh's tyranny seemed endless.

Today, he wanted to launch massive construction projects to build a palace. Tomorrow, he wanted to gather beautiful women to fill his harem. No one knew why he had become like this.

Where had the former Wise King gone?

"Wise King? Fools can only see what lies before them and cannot glimpse the future."

Gilgamesh wore the Golden Armor that had just been forged and overlooked all of Uruk from the highest point of the royal palace. The tyranny, cruelty, and rage in his eyes... carried not the slightest trace of a Wise King.

"I am no puppet."

Gilgamesh had not once been like this. He had once been steady, courteous, and kind to others. He gladly accepted remonstrance, and as long as something benefited Uruk and its people, he would do it.

Two-thirds God, one-third human—this referred to Gilgamesh's divine power and wisdom, as well as his human lifespan.

With such a person ruling, there was no doubt he would lead a nation toward prosperity, and the relationship between humans and Gods would become closer than ever.

That was Gilgamesh's destiny: the duty of Heaven's Wedge.

"To hell with destiny."

Gilgamesh poured peerless wine onto the ground without the slightest regret. The Gods had clearly misjudged his power.

That overwhelming strength was one thing, but even more fatal were his wisdom and Clairvoyance that had reached EX rank.

The Gods' schemes were laid bare before Gilgamesh's eyes. And Gilgamesh was not someone who would allow himself to be controlled by others.

Since the Gods needed a Wise King, he would become a tyrant. Since the Gods wanted to deepen their ties with humanity, he would smash their temples.

"No epic of the Gods. No praise of the Gods. No temples built for that trash. This world needs only Gilgamesh's epic. The people need only sing my praises. Statues of the king are nobler than those of the Gods."

Gilgamesh wanted to drag the Gods who sought to manipulate his fate down into the dust and reduce that predetermined destiny to ashes.

As for his own atrocities, those deliberate acts that drove a wedge between the king and his people, he disdained to explain them. He would not explain.

He had indeed indulged his private desires. Since that was the case, why dress it up in grandiose words?

Aside from dealing with those who refused to submit to him, he also wanted the people to offer him everything useful to him. Whoever refused, no matter who they were, he would not spare them.

"This is my way. This is my path."

Gilgamesh understood that there would certainly be people in this world who would not agree with him. But how could someone with such overwhelming power and wisdom be "wrong"?

"As long as this power and wisdom remain, as long as those rebels are afraid, then what could possibly be wrong with me?"

Even if he was wrong, it was the world's fault, the fools' fault, the weaklings' fault.

"Without my wisdom and power, the people of Uruk would still be living in misery, ruled by magical beasts and Fantasy Species. So whoever does not wish to die, whoever does not wish to live in suffering, must love me, respect me, and worship me."

Pledge loyalty to me... Gilgamesh.

The king's arrogant words drew peals of thunder from the heavens, yet not a single God came to punish this presumptuous man.

The Gods also understood how powerful Gilgamesh was at this moment. Meanwhile, Priestess Siduri, standing nearby, heard more helplessness than anything else.

She was Gilgamesh's close retainer and understood better than anyone that the Gilgamesh of the past had not been like this.

The current Gilgamesh rebelled merely for the sake of rebellion, resisted merely for the sake of resistance. Even if it harmed the people he loved, he had still set foot upon the wrong path.

The king's pride made him unwilling to be driven by the Gods, but was this truly right?

"O King, when you impose tyranny upon the people, one day you will suffer the backlash of that power. When that time comes, can you still persist as you do now?"

Siduri knew that the people's resistance would arrive sooner or later. But could anyone truly stand against Gilgamesh?

This invincible King of Heroes.

[You watched Uruk's soldiers oppress the people. You heard the people's cries of anguish, but it had nothing to do with you.]

It truly had nothing to do with him.

Fujimaru Kyoya watched as soldiers ignored a mother's wails and forcibly took away her daughter to become a candidate for Gilgamesh's harem.

He could more or less guess the reason for Gilgamesh's drastic change in temperament.

The plan for Heaven's Wedge had likely been exposed.

Fujimaru Kyoya had heard so much of Gilgamesh's pride over these past days that his ears were nearly callused. He also understood that this man possessed EX-rank Clairvoyance. There could be no secrets before someone like him.

The Gods understood this as well. After realizing Gilgamesh possessed EX-rank Clairvoyance, they began preparing a fake called Shadow.

Gilgamesh was implementing tyranny to lose his ability to serve as Heaven's Wedge. Then the Age of Gods would inevitably depart, the Gods would no longer be able to remain on the surface or interfere with humanity's fate, and humanity would take control of itself.

Looking toward the future, this was indeed a good thing. Since it was a good thing, there was no need to stop it.

Fujimaru Kyoya rose and left. He had no intention of clashing with Gilgamesh. He too disliked having his fate controlled by others. In a sense, he and Gilgamesh were extremely alike, but...

"Let my daughter go! The king already took one a few days ago. It has not even been half a month..."

A mother's wail pierced Fujimaru Kyoya's ears. But it did not matter. It had nothing to do with him.

"That woman has already bored the king. It is time to replace her with someone new. Being able to offer your daughter for the king's favor is a blessing for your family."

Hearing the soldier's answer, the mother wept even more heartbrokenly.

Even a beautiful young woman could only hold Gilgamesh's interest for half a month. What chance would her daughter have?

Fujimaru Kyoya ignored it all. Then he saw laborers being forcibly conscripted. News had already spread that many people had worked themselves to death at the site where Gilgamesh's palace was being built.

Being dragged away as a laborer now was practically a Death Sentence.

But this also had nothing to do with Fujimaru Kyoya.

Wailing, crying, resentment, helplessness... Fujimaru Kyoya walked from within the city to beyond its gates. These matters clearly had nothing to do with him, so why did they still trouble him?

"Ereshkigal, you said I should choose my own path, didn't you?"

At the moment Fujimaru Kyoya was about to leave the city, he looked to the sky and murmured to himself.

Naturally, no one answered him, but his heart had already given him the answer.

"I am a selfish person."

Fujimaru Kyoya reached that conclusion about himself. There was nothing to doubt about it. For those he cared about, he could become the enemy of the world.

But in this life, Ereshkigal did not need his protection. He only needed to take care of himself.

The oppressed people had nothing to do with him. He could have ignored them, but those voices entered his ears, irritating and unsettling him...

"I do not want to hear those voices."

Fujimaru Kyoya reached out and directly seized the long spear from a gate guard's hand. Ignoring everyone's stares, he walked toward the cries of anguish.

The land was filled with mournful cries, and the city bathed in blood. All it took was a single thought to save the common people.

[You followed your heart and set foot upon your own path. Your true destiny began to reveal itself.]

"Benevolent Dark Emperor"... awakened.