It was the thing that spoke of the beginning, of heaven and earth separating, of the formless being opened up, of the world being cleaved apart.
This sword itself possessed tremendous destructive power, and now Gilgamesh had poured all the Mana from Gate of Babylon into it. Who in this world could possibly withstand this strike?
"Heavenly Mandate turns, the bright moon hangs high, the people's hearts guide my path."
The moon in the sky grew ever brighter. As the moonlight shone, the sea seemed to respond. The reflection of that bright moon appeared to be called by some kind of "gravity," forcibly scooped up by an invisible giant hand.
Two moons hung in the sky.
"Face Moonfall's Judgment."
Fujimaru Kyoya pressed his hand downward, and the two bright moons in the sky came crashing down. At the critical moment, Gilgamesh finally poured all his Mana into Enuma Elish.
"Primal matter mixed and solidified, weaving the stars that create all things. Behold death—Enuma Elish, the Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth!"
Violent scarlet Mana erupted from Enuma Elish. It was power that seemed to originate from before heaven and earth had been formed. That overwhelming Mana directly held back Fujimaru Kyoya's strongest attack—no... it was even stronger than Fujimaru Kyoya.
The two moons initially resisted the powerful torrent of Mana, but gradually became covered in cracks and began to be forced back by that immense power.
Was he going to lose?
Fujimaru Kyoya knew he would not.
Because everything had only just begun...
Just as Enuma Elish's Mana broke through the attack of the two moons and struck Fujimaru Kyoya, just as Gilgamesh was about to claim victory, a cold flash streaked past.
An arm flew into the sky, blood trailing behind it, and that hand was still gripping... Enuma Elish.
"It finally... came."
Gilgamesh endured the pain. The true battle had only just begun.
Adversity?
"Wait, why did I..."
Enkidu stared at Gilgamesh's severed arm, then at the blood on his own hand. What had he just done?
"Gil, I..."
"I know. You didn't do it on purpose."
Gilgamesh retrieved Enuma Elish into Gate of Babylon in time, because in the next instant, that arm was targeted by an attack from afar and blasted into nothing but scraps.
It completely cut off any possibility of Gilgamesh reattaching his arm.
"Enkidu, as a creation of the Gods, how could they not have left some 'back door' in you? Especially with that precedent."
Gilgamesh glanced at Fujimaru Kyoya.
After taking a "bath" in Enuma Elish's radiance, his armor had shattered beyond recognition, and even his crown was riddled with gaps. Yet his brilliance had not diminished in the slightest. Though severely wounded, he had not abandoned his original plan.
[Your injuries are severe, but if you wish to fight, you can still unleash tremendous combat power. This comes from your "Infinite Martial Arts" ability.] [You sense more and more Gods approaching, even more than last time. Clearly, Anu has mobilized everything.] [Your plan is still proceeding.]
"Enkidu, why did you defy my command? That strike could have instinctively pierced Gilgamesh's heart."
Anu's dissatisfied voice came from the sky. That had clearly been the best opportunity to kill Gilgamesh. How could he not regret missing it for nothing?
"No, I..."
"My friend, am I not still alive? Isn't that the best proof? You did not kill me. That was your own choice."
Gilgamesh did not blame Enkidu. As he said, the fact that he was still alive was proof of Enkidu's personal will.
But... what would become of Enkidu, a creation of the Gods, after defying their command?
There was a reason Gilgamesh had told Enkidu not to come.
"Trash will always be trash. But since you are no longer useful, I will not trouble myself over you."
Unlike the Divinity required for the previous two Heaven's Wedges, Enkidu had entered this world as a simple weapon. He possessed no Divinity, so naturally the Gods could control him as they pleased.
A crack appeared on Enkidu's body, followed by a second, then a third. Though Gilgamesh had long been prepared, when the moment truly came, he could not help but feel sorrow.
He grieved for the death of a friend, for the passing of a noble soul.
"Enkidu."
Gilgamesh wrapped his remaining arm around Enkidu, but it could not stop death from continuing its course.
"Do you need me to buy you some time to compose yourself?"
Fujimaru Kyoya slowly rose to his feet. This situation was not as optimistic as the last one. Gilgamesh had already used up his injury-recovery medicine in the previous battle. In other words, this time, he would have to face the Gods with a wounded and exhausted body.
"I can still provide support from afar."
Gilgamesh had lost an arm. He could no longer wield Enuma Elish freely, much less confront the Gods at close range. This time, Gilgamesh did not force himself, because he understood what Fujimaru Kyoya intended to do.
"Even at this point, you still refuse to surrender? What a pity. I had wanted to repay all the humiliation you inflicted upon me in one go."
Anu had intended to torment the two of them thoroughly and let them die in agony, but it seemed that goal could no longer be achieved. He could see the resolve to die in both their eyes.
Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
They possessed the wisdom to see through everything, yet they still could not change the situation. This was humanity's incompetence—walking into death for the sake of so-called character and convictions.
The poison of power had taken root even more deeply...
"The poison of power has taken root in our bodies even more deeply. Is that what you were about to say?"
"What?"
Fujimaru Kyoya exposed Anu's thoughts. His mind wavered briefly, but he quickly steadied himself. This time, he had brought everyone except Ereshkigal, who remained in the Underworld.
Neither Fujimaru Kyoya nor Gilgamesh had any means of recovering. This was clearly a guaranteed victory. There was no need for panic.
"You used the simplest scheme, exploiting the desires in people's hearts. As long as we remained attached to power, as long as we regarded each other as enemies, we would inevitably fall into your trap."
Fujimaru Kyoya understood. This was a simple Prisoner's Dilemma. Both he and Gilgamesh could see through the scheme, and the key to breaking it lay in whether they could trust each other.
Could people trust one another?
Hehe~ If they could, what would AT Fields be for? The Human Instrumentality Project would have been completed long ago.
"But I am willing to trust. To trust someone I hate, to trust someone I regard as an enemy. Since you used the simplest scheme, I will break it with the simplest method."
At that moment, iron chains sealed off the sky. None of the Gods knew where they had come from, but they could sense the God-Sealing trait upon them. It greatly suppressed their Divinity. As long as these chains remained, they could not escape.
"This feeling... Enkidu, a mere tool, actually betrayed us."
As Enkidu's creator, if Anu wished to have him fight Gilgamesh without granting him sufficient Divinity, then he could only put effort into specialized advantages.
That God-Sealing trait had been designed specifically to counter Gilgamesh. The stronger the enemy's Divinity, the stronger its God-Sealing power became.
"Enkidu was never a tool. He had his own thoughts and a pure soul. He was nobler than all of you."
Gilgamesh held a length of chain in his hand. It was a remnant left behind after Enkidu's body shattered into dust—the tool Anu had originally intended to use to bind Heaven's Wedges: the Chains of Heaven.
"This was his own choice. I will not permit you to insult him."
Gilgamesh's rage had reached its limit. It did not come from the arrogance of the Gods, but from the death of his closest friend.
For the first time, he truly understood how those people who had lost what mattered most to them because of a careless word from him had felt.
Did it hurt this much?
Had what I once did truly been no different from these Gods?
"Die."
Curtains of light unfolded in the sky. Gate of Babylon fired at full force, leaving none of the Gods any chance to escape.
At the same time, the bright moon hung high overhead. Ignoring his injuries, Fujimaru Kyoya soared into the sky. Today, they would make sure the Gods were no longer a problem.
The two of them would solve a problem that had plagued the ages.
"Anu, this is our answer. Even enemies can join hands—not for power, but so that more people may live peacefully in this world."
The bright moon hung high, then descended.
The Sacred King of the Bright Moon now fought for future generations.
I'll Blow You Away, Blow All of You Away
Just how many things were stored within Gate of Babylon?
Sorry, but even Gilgamesh, its owner, could not answer that question. It contained the crystallization of humanity's desires and wishes throughout history. Even as its owner, he did not know how many things it held.
Now, he was staking everything on this battle.
"Boom—"
A massive explosion rang out. The Gods had not expected Gilgamesh to decisively detonate his own treasures. The prototypes of those Noble Phantasms exploded directly, catching the Gods completely off guard with the resulting shockwaves.
"How was it? How powerful was the funeral salute I prepared for you?"
Even with one arm gone, Gilgamesh still laughed wildly. Even if all his treasures had to be destroyed, he would bury these Gods with them.
"Damn it."
Naturally, Anu saw the Gods' predicament. The Chains of Heaven restrained the weaker Gods, while the Self-Destruct of Gate of Babylon attacked them. Even Ishtar had to rely on the Bull of Heaven to protect herself, let alone the other Gods.
As for Anu himself...
"You still have time to worry about others? Why not concern yourself with your own situation?"
Fujimaru Kyoya clung to Anu relentlessly. The Chains of Heaven had come from Anu's own hand. Though they were effective against most Gods, they would never work on Anu.
Killing him was the key.
"You ungrateful wretches. If we had not created you, could you and Gilgamesh have been born into this world? I asked you to connect Gods and humans. Was that not a good thing?"
"For the Gods, it certainly was."
Fujimaru Kyoya did not know what the other Gods in this world were like, but judging from Anu and Ishtar's attitudes toward humanity, the Gods were absolutely not friendly toward humans.
"Even Gods have their own needs. You possess power, yet enslave humanity. You possess this world, yet remain greedy. Why?"
It was a simple principle: returning home in fine clothes was better than walking at night in brocade.
Though Gods possessed strength beyond humans, they also had a certain social nature. They sought to display their holiness before others. They needed worshippers to satisfy their spiritual vanity.
They did not covet treasures themselves. Rather, humans coveted treasures, so the Gods gathered wealth to draw humanity's envy.
"You need these things, which is why you need humanity. This is neither love nor responsibility, merely mutual exploitation. Since that is the case, how can you be so... self-righteous?"
Fujimaru Kyoya had already been severely injured after taking Enuma Elish head-on. Fighting the Chief God of an entire pantheon was extremely difficult, yet the moonlight remained as he fought without retreating even in death.
"A spent arrow still dares to spout such nonsense."
How could Anu fail to notice that Fujimaru Kyoya was no longer at his peak?
The battle between Fujimaru Kyoya and Gilgamesh earlier had not been an act. They had fought with all their strength to test each other's intentions, to see whether the other could discern their respective plans, and to determine whether the other was truly someone to whom they could entrust their lives.
Those injuries could not be faked, just like the answer they had obtained now.
A flash of light passed by. It was highly compressed, liquefied True Aether. In Anu's hand, it became a sharp blade, and with a single strike, he severed Fujimaru Kyoya's arm.
[Your arm has been severed. The intense pain assaults your nerves, but you endure it, because you know that without paying a price, it will be difficult to get close to Anu.] [A bright moon appears in your hand. Ignoring Anu's attack, you slam that bright moon into Anu's face. The effect is outstanding.]
Blood obscured Anu's eyes. It was blood spilling from his nose. A human had actually made him bleed—how could he endure such shame?
He could endure it. He absolutely could.
Because in the next moment, he would face an even more horrifying humiliation. After smashing a bright moon into Anu's face, Fujimaru Kyoya reached into his robes and pulled out the quicklime he had hidden there long ago, scattering it over Anu's mangled face.
Blood mixed with quicklime, obscuring the Chief God's vision. This humiliation surpassed everything he had endured since the day of his birth combined.
"Bastard, even Tiamat never treated me like this."
"Then let me teach you a lesson today. No need to thank me."
How could Fujimaru Kyoya forget such a useful weapon as quicklime? He had held back somewhat when facing Gilgamesh before, but there was no need to hide anything against a great enemy like Anu.
"Bastard, I'll blow you away, blow all of you away!"
A barrage of attacks struck Anu. Though they did little actual damage, they undoubtedly ground Anu's dignity into the dirt. If he failed to kill these two, then even if Anu won, he would have no face left among the Gods.
Before you continue