The Three Reunite

Rovi made his move.

He did not head toward the Great Wall of Uruk. He did not even move, merely standing where he was, far behind the tide of monsters, unleashing the power of the Key of Heaven, which he had completely mastered.

A massive key traced out a hazy form in the sky above.

Accompanied by a soft chime, like the ringing of bells echoing through the air, it fell into every heart.

The soldiers atop the great wall were drawn by the sound and looked up.

"What is that..."

"That is—"

"The Sage, Lord Rovi!?"

At a glance, they saw the Key of Heaven in the vault of the sky, and beneath it, Rovi's figure clad in linen robes.

"Rovi... I have been waiting for you." Enkidu laughed softly. Her voice was not loud, yet it reached Rovi's ears with crisp clarity. None of the three present lacked such basic techniques of using magical power.

Gilgamesh laughed loudly as well. "Hm-hahaha! As I thought, anyone bold enough to bark at this great king would never miss an occasion like this!"

"Enough, Golden Pikachū—this is hardly the place for trading insults." Rovi let his hands hang at his sides, his robes fluttering in the wind from his high perch. "Drive these vermin away first. We can talk afterward!"

"Hmph, just as I intended." Gilgamesh nodded. "Enkidu, how are your preparations?"

"I am ready at any time," Enkidu replied gently.

"Then—let us begin!" Rovi smiled.

Enkidu bent down and pressed both palms against the ground.

Gilgamesh slowly spread his arms, the sliver of light in his scarlet eyes as sharp as a serpent's gaze.

At that moment, ripples spread across the gates of the King of Heroes' treasury. Its radiance grew ever more intense, blades trembling within as their endless edges nearly merged into one.

At that moment, the soil beneath Enkidu's palms began to flow. Grass and trees sprang up in an instant, lush growth bursting forth in a flash.

At that moment.

The Key of Heaven hung high overhead.

Brilliant streams of light spread from above Rovi's head, linking with the radiance behind Gilgamesh and taking in the lush vitality beneath Enkidu's palms before—shooting into the sky!

Awooo...

The charging monsters all halted their advance. A vast, inexplicable fear descended upon their minds, which possessed only dim instincts, making them unconsciously raise their heads and howl.

They saw what had gathered overhead.

They saw crimson light spreading across the heavens like fire.

They saw a beam of light shooting upward, as though it would pierce the firmament itself.

Red and gold engulfed the entire world, like the scene at the dawn of creation, when Gaia, representing the force that turned the planet, cleaved through chaos and stabilized the atmosphere in the age before the elements had settled.

Of course, it was only similar. Its nature was entirely different, and compared to the primordial beginning, its scale was vastly inferior.

Even so, this was a spectacle born from the flawless cooperation of Rovi, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu.

Today, compared to their time in the Monster Forest, Gilgamesh, Rovi, and Enkidu had all grown far, far stronger.

Especially Rovi—

Though it was not what he had wanted, after that battle between life and death, his command over his own power had become stronger, more refined, and more complete in its conceptual integration.

He was no longer inferior in the slightest to the naturally gifted Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

The power displayed through their coordination was even more indisputable.

Natural, yet pure.

Such power would have been considered formidable even in the age when the gods flourished.

The entire world seemed to freeze in that instant.

The people atop the great wall stood with their mouths agape, stunned and horrified, yet also awed by the might of those three.

The surging monsters, too, could barely move beneath that terrifying pressure.

And at that very instant, after a fleeting turn of time—the thread of gold wrapped in scarlet flame fell straight down, toward the very center of the monster tide!

The momentary silence was like a flower slowly blooming in stillness.

Golden light slipped downward.

It split heaven and earth.

The instant it struck the ground where the Monster Tide stood, it surged like a raging wave. Amid its rolling undulations, monsters wailed as they were torn apart.

There was no bloodshed. It did not resemble slaughter; rather, it was like a painter using a brush to gradually wipe away an image from paper.

First the colors, then the shapes, then the lines, until even the last dots were wiped away completely.

Dust drifted for thousands of miles, while the sky remained clear as ever.

Rovi lowered his hand and looked at the scene that had become empty in the blink of an eye, raising a hand to wipe away the sweat trickling down his forehead.

Hundreds of thousands of monsters had been annihilated in an instant.

Though the cost had been immense, the power the three displayed together was enough to shake any being.

This was power that seemed capable of creating heaven and earth—

At that moment, the entire field fell silent.

"Hm-hahaha... Wielding such power truly is exhilarating! As expected of this king, and as expected of the friends this king has acknowledged!" Gilgamesh laughed heartily as he leaped down from the starship bearing his throne, landing steadily upon the land that had become as flat as a plane. His battle skirt swayed as he walked toward the center.

"Rovi, Gil..."

Enkidu smiled. She patted the pale robes she wore and walked over as well, her smooth green hair cascading down like verdant foliage.

Rovi descended from above and walked toward them as well.

The three reunited.

King, Divine Weapon, and Sage.

The three seats that ruled Uruk in both name and reality finally converged beneath the gaze of countless eyes.

And their actions... undoubtedly also declared their stance to the gods in the heavens—

At this moment, all preparations were complete.

There was naturally no longer any need to hide anything.

'The Sage guided King Gilgamesh and the Divine Weapon Enkidu, gathering their power upon himself.'

'He turned the sky crimson and gold, and from it descended light that split the world.'

'An ancient aura played a silent melody like the opening of the primordial heavens and earth.'

'People marveled at it.'

'Even the gods in the heavens feared it.'

'"Epic of Gilgamesh."'

At that very moment, high above the heavens.

After the "eyes" the gods had left in the mortal world were nearly poked out by Rovi last time, they no longer constantly watched the world below them.

Yet the power displayed by the three joining forces still caused ripples even in the divine realm that stood above the mortal world in higher dimensions.

It made them aware of what had happened below...

"The power of those three has grown stronger!"

The face of Anu, king of the gods, was grave, but his hawk-like eyes were exceptionally sharp. "If we allow this power to develop, even the divine realm where we now stand may not escape unscathed!"

"It seems... Gilgamesh has been deceiving us from beginning to end!"

"His prayers to us, claiming that he was considering voluntarily giving up one of them, were merely a way to buy time!"

"We cannot allow this to continue—"

The deceived gods were not angered, because from the beginning, they had known that Gilgamesh was very likely deceiving them.

They had indeed still placed their hopes on Gilgamesh, but those hopes had never been great.

Now that Gilgamesh had laid his cards on the table.

Then...

"We should also decide upon the final punishment!"

Anu, king of the gods, raised the scepter with which he governed the divine realm and commanded the gods, his majestic voice echoing throughout the heavens.