Sword of Damocles

When the Insect Ape's lifespan was nearing its end and Gilgamesh was about to die of old age, he used the Blood of Power. After narrowly escaping death, he returned to a youthful body and lived a second life, once again becoming the brave, hot-blooded Hero King of his youth, leading his tribe back into war.

Another ten years passed.

The settled tribal era had lasted for generations. Their Wooden Houses decayed and fell apart, so under Gilgamesh's leadership, people began building homes from stone, officially entering the Stone Age to resist the giant beasts.

Gilgamesh possessed the White Ant Gene. He could easily uproot century-old trees that took four men to embrace, leap seven or eight meters with ease, and wield strength mighty enough to move mountains.

He led his people against the giant beasts, fighting continuously. Finally, thirteen years later, with his momentum at its peak, he chose to challenge the most terrifying hundred-meter giant beast on this land, the legendary beast Fenba!!

The giant beast Fenba was like a towering mountain range when it lay prone.

Its body stretched across the entire Smirkal Giant Tree Forest.

When it slept, its breathing created gusts of wind within the lush forest, making countless giant trees sway.

A single snort from it was enough to blow an Ala Giant Beast away.

It was the terrifying, invincible giant beast Xu Zhi had seen before, as enormous as a kitten.

It was the ruler and king of the entire age of giant beasts.

The battle lasted three days and three nights. The earth split apart, canyons crumbled, and countless giant beasts fled through the forest.

On this day, Gilgamesh returned bathed in blood, his body toned and powerful. He held the Damocles Sword in one hand and dragged the corpse of the hundred-meter giant beast Fenba with the other.

With one hand alone, he could drag Fenba's corpse, a hundred-meter giant beast comparable to a towering hill. Countless tribespeople took pride in him, shocked beyond measure.

Countless people wrote songs in his praise, glorifying his strength. He was the strongest Hero King in history.

"I want to found a nation."

At the moment of his return, he looked at the people of the Stone Age tribe and suddenly said this.

The tribe erupted! They wept with joy and embraced each other in tears. They knew clearly that under the leadership of this great and handsome Sumerian Hero King, their wandering days were over. They no longer needed to fear the savage giant beasts.

A new age of civilization had begun! History was written by the victors. Gilgamesh did not record the atrocity of killing his son, but instead recorded his valor in Genesis.

The historical records of the Sumerian Dynasty stated: Gilgamesh consumed the Blood of Power, slew the legendary giant beast Fenba with his sword, founded the Sumerian Dynasty, moved massive stones to form an encircling wall, and built the first city-state in history, Uruk City.

Time continued to move forward.

Gilgamesh, invincible across the entire land, began devoting himself to developing civilization.

He governed diligently, was valiant and immensely charismatic, yet also tyrannical and arrogantly overbearing.

He created currency, refined language, and built cities. Yet he cruelly divided people into ranks of high and low, established slavery, and exhausted the people and treasury by dispatching large numbers of warriors to explore the boundaries of the world.

He was the people's great Hero King, but also an out-and-out tyrant.

In the eighty-seventh year of the Sumerian Dynasty, Gilgamesh was one hundred and twenty-seven years old.

Uruk Royal City had finally reached the terrifying population of over ten million.

Countless slaves were traded here. Beast-fighting arenas had even been built, where nobles had slaves battle giant beasts for their amusement, laughing loudly.

The tribespeople from those days had long since passed away. Nearly a century had gone by, and their grandchildren no longer remembered the hardships and struggles of their ancestors, gradually sinking into decay amid comfort.

Yet the Sumerian king of old remained valiant.

The Uruk Royal Palace was dark and gloomy.

The arched ceiling was carved with intricate, delicate patterns. Pale wall lamps cast a faint glow. On either side stood circular stone pillars decorated with golden wreath-like designs, while the floor was covered by a scarlet carpet made from the hides of powerful giant beasts.

A tall, handsome man sat calmly upon an exquisite throne of white bones. At his side was the legendary sword that never left him, the Damocles Sword.

"Great King of Sumerian, Lord of the city-state! Your Majesty Gilgamesh!! We have finished exploring the entire land." Dionysius, a palace minister, bent slightly at the waist and fervently recounted what they had seen over the years.

"What is our world like?"

Gilgamesh, as handsome as a Greek statue, sat upon a throne made from Fenba's remains, as though he could see through the palace walls to the endless azure sky beyond.

Those warriors who had ventured outward had traveled in every direction. Only after a massive undertaking of more than twenty years, with countless deaths and injuries, had they finally completed a round trip and learned the shape of the entire world.

Throughout Earth's history, every great ancient king had possessed a powerful thirst for knowledge about the world, as well as ambition.

Dionysius respectfully gestured with exaggerated movements. "Our world is round in the heavens and square on the earth. The sky is an infinitely high arc, while the land is a perfect square. At the center lies a vast ocean, surrounded by mountains and rivers.

"Across this incomparably vast, endless land, even riding the fastest Finchira Giant Beast in a straight line from one end of the world to the other would take more than twenty years at full speed."

After a moment of silence, the greatest king in the world said, "Enough. You may leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Dionysius rose and left.

Then he suddenly paused and turned back, gazing at his king with longing and reverence. This great Hero King had led them out of caves, opened the age of tribal farming, brought them into the Stone Age, and now advanced them into the City-State Era.

He had slain Fenba, the most terrifying king of giant beasts, and was leading civilization after civilization forward.

More than thirty years ago, Dionysius had still been a youth, a well-known wandering swordsman in the city-state. His Majesty had summoned him to the palace and ordered him to investigate the geography of the entire world, granting him the great mission of his lifetime—to draw a map of the city-state's geography.

Thirty years later, when he returned to Uruk Royal City after completing his mission, he was no longer a youth. He was a trembling old man with cloudy eyes, and he did not have long to live.

Yet His Majesty was still young.

Just as when Dionysius had first come before him as a wandering swordsman, his face remained incomparably handsome and perfect. Time seemed never to have left a mark upon it.

"What a great ruler!"

Dionysius's body trembled with fervor.

For more than a hundred years, His Majesty had no longer revealed his strength. No one knew how powerful he had become. Perhaps in the future, this long-lived, immortal king would lead the Sumerian people into the next age of civilization.

"Our world is round in the heavens and square on the earth."

Once the palace was empty, Gilgamesh let out a long sigh. Then he slowly drew the Holy Sword he had carried with him all these years, the Damocles Sword. Its blade was intricate and refined, gleaming with the cold brilliance of steel.

His fingers gently caressed it, as if it were a lover who had accompanied him through endless years.

"The power of the Torch has already been mastered, and I now completely understand the Blood of Power's effects. Yet I have searched the entire world and still failed to discover how the Damocles Sword was forged."

Gilgamesh murmured as he touched the blade in shock. "What material is this? What kind of giant beast's bones are these? Or what manner of civilized craftsmanship created it?"

Unfortunately, this world was not a real world after all.

There were no mineral veins, no copper mines, no iron mines. Xu Zhi had not deliberately buried any ores here. This place had originally been an ordinary farmland and orchard, with nothing but soil beneath the ground. Thus, they could only remain forever in the Stone Age. In their understanding of the world, the word "metal" would never exist.

To this world, this glittering, hard, indestructible material was mysterious, powerful, and unique.

"They found the end of the world, yet they still never found that great Wisdom Giant Beast from long ago. Where in the world does he live?" Gilgamesh took a deep breath.

The civilization possessed by the Wisdom Giant Beast was simply impossible to comprehend.

The weapon he had given Gilgamesh, the Damocles Sword, was a priceless treasure that had opened the path to civilization. Yet was it not also warning him? He had only grasped part of civilization's power, while all the rest remained unknown. Even the secret of how this sword had been forged filled him with deep fear and trembling!! The Damocles Sword was like a Sword of Damocles, its tip hanging high above his head.

This sword had brought him the power of civilization—powerful and mysterious—and enabled him to create glory. Yet it was terribly unsafe. At any moment, its tip could fall and take his life.

"The power of civilization... It truly is irresistible."

Sitting upon his throne, like a sleeping lion that had lain dormant for too long, he slowly gazed into the distance. It was as though he could see across the long years to that forest from a hundred years ago—to the towering figure he had encountered then, a colossal giant tens of thousands of feet tall, radiating white light, sacred from birth. That giant's broad palm had carried his young self, overlooking the mountains and rivers below, and had given him the three treasures of civilization.

"Unfortunately, my life is nearing its end again. The Blood of Power no longer has any effect on me. Great Wisdom Giant Beast, I want to live a third life. I want to see you again!"