Facing the Riot Alone

The next day.

The sky stretched like a curtain.

West of Uruk, beyond the border of the monster lands.

Endless fertile soil stretched between vast expanses of yellow sand.

From afar, Rovi could already see the lush forest standing at the edge of his sight, and the Guard Tower Stone Wall rising on the hill before the woods.

He knew that was the Monster Forest.

The journey from Uruk City-State had been unremarkable. Even with divine protection, this was still the ancient era.

Human footprints had not yet covered the earth.

Beneath his feet, all he saw was loess, and nothing but loess.

So Rovi had flown here directly using the Flying Treasure Tool from the Treasury of Babylon, a gift from Gilgamesh.

Now, he set foot on the ground.

His linen robe fluttered wildly forward in the oncoming wind.

He approached the guards stationed around the Monster Forest, who had been stopping him from getting close, and stated his purpose and identity.

"Greetings, Priest Rovi."

Before long, the leader of these guards, a tall, burly man, appeared before Rovi.

"You've worked hard."

Rovi glanced at these men, taking in their faces caked with windblown sand and dust, their armor—covering only vital points—mostly damaged, and many of them bound with blood-soaked vines and leaves.

It was clear they hadn't had it easy.

But that was fine.

"I come bearing the King's orders," Rovi said. "Leave the rest to me!"

He waved his hand.

Golden, radiant ripples emerged around him, shimmering as sharp light projected outward.

The guards couldn't help but tense inwardly.

They confirmed the identity of the visitor, and no trace of doubt remained.

"Take me to see the front!" Rovi pointed at the forest beyond the wall.

"Won't you rest first?"

The Guard Leader couldn't help but say, "Perhaps you should understand the situation first..."

"A riot is about to break out over there, isn't it?" Rovi shot him a glance and said only this one sentence, leaving the tall man unable to respond.

In fact, by the time the report reached Uruk, the Monster Forest had already seen monster riots more than once or twice. That group of monsters dwelling in the forest seemed drawn by something, madly charging the walls and defenses set up around it.

During this time, the soldiers had fought day and night, without a single moment of rest.

The exhaustion on their faces, the wounds on their bodies—all came from this.

And now, even if they didn't say it, Rovi could sense that a new wave of the Monster Tide was coming soon.

As a proper priest of Uruk's temple, he at least had that much observational skill.

Faced with this, he naturally wouldn't just "stand by and watch"—

"Sir, I think you really should understand the situation first."

Seeing Rovi ready to head straight to the other side of the wall to join in stopping the Monster Tide, the leader couldn't hold back and spoke up again to dissuade him.

He said, "You've just arrived and don't know the dangers of the Monster Forest. Inside there, mortal power is heavily suppressed."

"Moreover, it's full of all kinds of 'accidents.' Even the most skilled warrior can die from the slightest mishap..."

"Is that so?" Rovi perked up instantly.

"..." The Guard Leader fell silent.

Had this priest understood his words? Or not?

Seeing his strange expression, Rovi quickly caught himself: "Ahem, I mean... since I am the King's envoy, encountering something like this, I naturally can't just watch."

"I represent the King. Something that would disgrace the King's prestige... you wouldn't want to see that either, would you?"

Rovi invoked Gilgamesh, and the guards had no further grounds to dissuade him.

Otherwise, it would be an insult to the King's prestige.

Gilgamesh was a complete tyrant, but because of his immense power, his reputation among the guards and soldiers was still extremely high.

In the military, no one dared, nor would they, show him disrespect.

"Let's go!"

Rovi waved his hand. "Open the city gates and pull everyone back."

"What...?"

The guard was stunned again.

"I said, open the gate, withdraw the troops." Rovi let his hands fall, smiling, but his tone carried an unmistakable finality. "I alone am enough."

He spoke without the slightest courtesy: "If you stay, you'll only get in my way."

Having been caught off guard several times before, Rovi had learned his lesson.

He had to eliminate every possible variable.

Every one of these guards was a battle-hardened warrior, and their very presence could easily interfere with Rovi's plan.

After all... Rovi's design was to have himself die by accident.

History was full of such examples.

A mighty warrior, facing an opponent he should have been able to defeat, would suffer a tragic end due to the Goddess's fickle favor.

That was what he wanted.

A life like summer blossoms, a death brilliant and vivid, leaving endless regret inscribed in the annals of history.

"I speak by the King's decree." Rovi no longer paid the guard captain any heed; instead, he swept his gaze across the assembled soldiers and declared loudly: "Warriors, to defend your homes, to defend the nation behind you, you have given your all."

"You have labored hard."

"But I want you to know—you are not alone."

"You have fulfilled your duty."

"What comes next—"

"Is my battlefield."

Rumble... gears turned, and the stone gate set into the magnificent wall slowly lifted upward, driven by the mechanisms.

The soldiers stationed outside the wall fell silent. They had been gripping their long blades and spears tightly, their bodies covered in wounds, their faces etched with exhaustion, yet still watching the forest depths with wary eyes—at those pairs of scarlet eyes that swayed silently.

Before this, they had swung their swords countless times to defend their homeland, had watched their comrades and brothers fall, swallowed their grief, and taken up the fallen blades to continue fighting.

But at this moment, as Rovi stepped forward, as they heard his words, they all froze at once.

A soldier is one who defends the land.

But those who defend the land are not only you.

You have a shield behind you. You have us.

Rovi closed his eyes and stepped forward. Brilliant ripples bloomed around him in ever-greater numbers, and sharp blades in the shape of swords and sabers emerged from them, aimed at the forest opposite, at the demonic beasts that stirred restlessly.

In that scene, the morning light was warm as a rainbow, casting patches of brilliance upon the dense woods beyond the forest.

The soldiers stared fixedly at the tall, slender figure in the linen robe.

So dazzling.

Yet it was not the radiance of a god—at this moment, it shone upon everyone.

Fearless in the face of death.

Resolute against the surging tide!

Roar—

The demonic beasts that had been lurking and writhing, driven by the intense crisis of Rovi's unleashed Treasury of Babylon, could no longer hold back. They erupted in full force!

Claws and fangs bared, bodies lunged forward, countless trees were smashed aside, and great clouds of dust mixed with green leaves were thrown into the air, rising into a massive wave that shook heaven and earth, mountains and seas.

The Demon Tide surged.

This was a riot.

And one far more violent than before—an unprecedented riot!

In response to the readers' requests, a VIP membership ad-free feature is now available.