Among the gods, goddesses had always been terrifying beings.
Even though they were all incarnations of natural phenomena, the gods manifested through the faith of living beings differed somewhat in their behavioral patterns because of the forms they took.
Gods with male forms were rational and steadfast, but prone to stubbornness.
Gods with female forms were emotional and gentle, but comparatively more likely to go to extremes.
Especially when everything was going wrong for them.
The goddess Aruru was very likely in such a state at this moment.
Therefore,
Rovi had to find her.
Mock her.
Enrage her.
Then, keep escalating the situation through battle.
Make her... kill him.
Make himself die in a battle against a god.
Rovi turned his head toward the soldiers within the wall and called out, "I'm going deeper in to take a look."
"By the king's decree, you are not to move without further orders!"
"Yes!" After witnessing that shocking scene, the soldiers inside the wall naturally would not dare disobey Rovi again.
Even their leader now revered Rovi like a god.
In his heart, Rovi's status was already second only to Gilgamesh.
After giving his orders, Rovi pursued the demonic beasts as they receded into the dense forest like an ebbing tide.
A moment later, Rovi stood atop a tree trunk and gazed into the distance.
"Looks like it's even deeper in."
Before him stretched lush greenery, tangled vines, and dense canopies like clouds flooding the world, sealing the earth beneath them so tightly that not a crack showed through.
The vast mass of demonic beasts moving within still kicked up dust and made an astonishing racket, but compared with the forest as a whole, they seemed insignificant.
This Monster Forest was unimaginably vast.
But on second thought, a forest capable of housing such huge numbers of demonic beasts naturally had to be this large.
Still, Rovi knew that no matter how large it was, it had its limits. After traveling for so long, he should be close to its depths.
Sure enough, the commotion in the forest began to weaken and fade.
The demonic beasts' pace visibly slowed.
Seeing that, Rovi immediately opened the Treasury of Babylon, grabbed the iron chain extending from a golden ripple, and swung from the tree toward the center surrounded by the flood of demonic beasts.
Then he saw demonic beasts resembling ordinary wild animals, yet possessing strange features such as bone spurs and wings, each far larger than any normal beast.
They had stopped moving through the forest, and every one of them was sprawled on the ground.
Even as Rovi passed over their heads, he failed to provoke the slightest reaction.
Rovi looked ahead again.
At the center of the demonic beasts' prostrating formation lay an open clearing without trees, untouched by the forest's shade.
Sunlight blazed there, and the ground bore obvious blackened scorch marks. It had not caved in, but with one glance, Rovi could tell that it was where Enkidu had fallen.
After all, anyone who was not blind could see the figure standing there.
A beautiful "woman" with loose black hair, a flowing white dress, and fair, full skin.
Her exquisite face radiated divine brilliance.
Without question, she was the goddess Aruru in her Possession State.
Beside her lay a mass of "clay."
Without question, that was Enkidu, who had not yet fully taken shape—well, she had not yet been "born" and did not have that name, but Rovi would call her that for now.
Rovi stopped atop a tree, his feet planted firmly against the thick trunk, and watched the troubled expression on the beautiful face of the goddess Aruru.
He knew he had been right.
Aruru truly was troubled over how to shape a perfect appearance for Enkidu.
Since Enkidu was a Humanoid Weapon jointly created by the gods to oppose Gilgamesh, her appearance naturally could not be inferior to that young king of Uruk.
Yet Gilgamesh, as the unusual existence of a demigod, possessed looks that were rare even among the gods.
Aruru could not think of a template that would produce an appearance equal to his.
To some extent,
the rampage of these demonic beasts had also been deliberately ordered by her—for the purpose of finding inspiration for a suitable "form" among those Uruk soldiers.
As for how many people died because of it,
the gods did not care.
To the gods, everything in the human world was merely a tool to sustain their existence... even Gilgamesh and Enkidu were no exception.
Of course, although she was troubled, a goddess was still a goddess.
While Rovi observed her, Aruru instantly sensed him and raised her dark eyes from beneath her thick curtain of hair, looking toward him.
She tilted her head, her bright red lips parting slightly.
As if asking... who was he?
As the being currently controlling countless demonic beasts here, Aruru's movement naturally caused the tens of thousands of demonic beasts around her to lift their heads and stare at Rovi.
Awoo...
Wolf-like demonic beasts howled. Lion-like ones ground their sharp teeth, flashing cold glints, while demonic birds perched on branches beat their wings, their feathers gleaming like steel beneath the sunlight.
Yet the stares of those countless crimson beast eyes could not compare to the pure green gaze of the goddess.
Who am I?
Rovi understood the goddess's look and smiled.
Then he slowly pulled back his robe, exposing his slender arm, and extended the fingers of his hand.
He offered the goddess who had descended through possession a gesture of "welcome."
Rovi... raised his middle finger!
It was contempt for a god who viewed humans as tools, and even... mockery.
"..."
The scene instantly froze, as though time itself had solidified in that moment.
A wolf's jaws hung open before it could close them, and saliva visibly dripped from its mouth, corroding the ground. A lion bit its own tongue, spraying blood, while a demonic bird spread its wings only to freeze in midair.
Even dumbfounded was not enough to describe the scene.
They were not human, much less transmigrators, so they did not understand the meaning of Rovi's gesture.
But demonic beasts were still demonic beasts, creatures with extraordinary abilities. They could clearly sense goodwill and hostility from the outside world.
And from the human in that tree...
they sensed a strange... ridicule.
It was not hostility, yet it was a mockery even more infuriating than hostility.
So they all froze.
After all... even they, as demonic beasts, could sense that mockery.
As for Aruru, there was even less need to say.
Damn, damn, damn...
Why did you have to provoke this ancestor!?
Wouldn't it have been better to let her finish what she was doing and go back to the heavens!?
If they could speak, the demonic beasts would probably have burst into curses in that instant before tearing Rovi apart alive!
They might not have been human, but this human was truly a bastard...
But in only an instant,
they crawled back down, unable to make even the faintest sound.
Because the crisp cry issuing from Aruru's mouth suppressed every possibility of movement.
"Are you mocking me... mortal!?" Her voice should have been calm, yet it carried sternness, like a babbling stream suddenly transforming into a torrent that swept away everything in its path.
The troubled goddess had been angered by this provocation.
She was very unhappy.
Very upset!
And what should she do now?
Naturally, vent it!
The understanding of a god who stood high above all else had always been simple.
She wanted to... kill Rovi.
But before the goddess could act, Enkidu, the God-made Clay formed from the power of the gods at her side, moved first.
She crashed toward Rovi.
As though she had sensed something close to her... she blocked the goddess's path.
Rovi: "???"
Who are you? Are we close?
Don't come any closer!
Before you continue