Multiverse: Ragnarok's Beginning - The Hero King's Path

You see, during this period, the people of Sumer were quite reverent toward the gods.

Yet now, looking around, most people no longer hold any reverence for the divine at all.

How were they brainwashed to this extent?

"Sister Brunhilde, how will King Gilgamesh defeat the Bull of Heaven?"

Though the Bull of Heaven before them didn't seem to be at full strength—it was restricted to some degree, and they were worried it might cause too much of a disturbance, alerting gods from other pantheons—

But even at this level, it wasn't something people of this era could kill.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Just watch and you'll find out."

Brunhilde was also quite curious about how Gilgamesh would manage it.

Then, they saw Gilgamesh say something to a few of his personal guards, and those men ran back toward the temple.

It seemed Gilgamesh had already instructed these men to prepare something beforehand, and now they were going to make the final arrangements.

As for what exactly was prepared in advance, Brunhilde didn't know either, because they hadn't watched every single moment from the Goddess's appearance until now—they had been skipping through time.

It was like watching a movie, dragging the progress bar to jump ahead, so sometimes they missed certain plot points.

Hm? They were evacuating the residents near the temple? Nearly half the city was being cleared out.

And a large door at the base of the pyramid-like temple had opened—it was a sturdy storage room, sometimes used as a shelter.

Was this to let the residents take refuge?

Of course not—if that were the case, they wouldn't be keeping the residents away from the temple.

Then could it be that they planned to lure the Bull of Heaven inside and trap it?

Even if the walls were thicker than the city walls, it wouldn't hold for long before being smashed through.

So, what level of force would be needed to seriously injure or even kill the Bull of Heaven?

If they could produce an explosion powerful enough to reduce this pyramid-like temple to rubble, that should be enough to kill the Bull of Heaven in its current state.

Hm?

Wait, could it be—!

Seeing something, Brunhilde showed an expression of disbelief!

Does this guy actually understand this?

Chapter 009: Dust Explosion, Cook It!

After destroying the agriculture, it finally charged toward the city.

It was indeed troublesome—even the full force of his punch, which could pierce through city walls, only managed to hurt it.

As for using weapons, the effect was minimal; he could barely cut through its thick hide, but it healed quickly.

And the weapons of this era were only that effective—under his strength, they broke after one use.

But since he could already injure the Bull of Heaven to this extent, it seemed his preparation should be enough to kill this beast that brought drought to the land.

As for that power he mentioned that could pierce through thick city walls?

That would probably require the force of a modern tank shell to achieve—and a human could reach that level?

Normally, that was impossible.

This was another benefit granted by his Imitation System: as his completion rate increased, his physical abilities were also enhanced.

Perhaps "enhanced" wasn't the right word—it was more like further unlocking his body's potential.

"Come on, you stupid cow!"

At this moment, he was seated on the throne atop the temple tower, taunting the Bull of Heaven, which had been provoked and chased him here.

"Huff—!"

Its nostrils spewed hot air, and its front hooves scraped against the floor, as if gathering strength to charge.

The next second, with a heavy, dull sound of the floor shattering, the Bull of Heaven charged at him with force that seemed capable of shaking a mountain.

With every stomp, the stone slabs cracked in a radial pattern.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between them had halved.

At that moment, he curled his lips into a smile and pressed down on a handle on the throne, which sank like a mechanism.

In that instant, the floor where the Bull of Heaven was about to land suddenly collapsed, and it fell straight down, dropping into the bottom of the pyramid-like temple.

Following the furious roar of the Bull of Heaven as it fell, a terrifying energy quickly swelled inside the temple.

If you looked closely into the collapsed hole, down at the ground below, you would see terrifying flames and light surging out, like a volcano about to erupt.

"Boom—!"

A sound like thunder—no, louder than thunder—echoed throughout all of Uruk.

Countless people, their heads ringing as if struck by a club, stood dumbfounded, staring at the massive temple.

That was the king's palace, and it had just been rocked by a cataclysmic explosion, a colossal pillar of flame rising, painting all of Uruk red.

Countless fragments of rubble sprayed in all directions, but because the King had given strange orders in advance, the surrounding area had long been evacuated, so there were almost no casualties.

So, what was that?

The bewildered people of Uruk, thinking it was a divine punishment sent by the gods, momentarily panicked.

"Br-Brunhilde, Sister Brunhilde, wh-what's going on?"

Goll, whose soul had nearly fled from the sheer terror of the explosion, let out a flustered voice after confirming she was unharmed.

She was no longer in the temple either, having been moved to the edge of the city wall, and now stared dumbfounded at the massive blast.

"Dust Explosion. Looks like you didn't study hard enough."

"Dust Explosion?"

She seemed to have heard the term before, but Goll had never bothered to learn the principle behind it.

"I didn't think he'd actually use this."

Brunhilde couldn't help but let out an admiring murmur.

The door that had been open at the very bottom earlier was actually for ventilation, allowing air to circulate inside.

And such doors weren't the only ones—there were plenty of other vents, ensuring the originally sealed interior had enough air.

Then, after scattering finely ground wheat flour into the space, when the Bull of Heaven was lured up, they sealed each vent shut one by one.

Afterward, when the Bull of Heaven fell down, the high temperature it emitted ignited the powder mixed in the air.

The rapid combustion caused a sharp spike in temperature and pressure, resulting in that earth-shattering explosion.

As the roar faded, a figure gradually emerged from the rolling smoke and dust—King Gilgamesh himself. It seemed even such a massive blast had left him fairly injured.

He must have braced himself for the impact, or else he might have been killed as well.

Suddenly, the pile of collapsed rubble behind him began to shift as something pushed its way out.

With the stones shoved aside, a horribly battered monster appeared, its body riddled with countless metal fragments.

It glared at King Gilgamesh with blood-red eyes, then charged toward him in an unnatural lurch, intending to pierce his body with its one remaining unbroken horn.

Faced with this, King Gilgamesh didn't turn to look, nor did he seem to plan on dodging.

Was it because he was too badly hurt to move?

Not at all—it was because he could tell from the Bull of Heaven's footsteps that it was in its death throes.

The closer it got, the slower its pace became, and its open eyes gradually began to close.

When it reached just a meter behind him, it collapsed completely.

At that moment, the people of Uruk, who had been worried for their King, froze for a beat before erupting into thunderous cheers.

This was the power of their King!

"Set up a great cauldron for this King."

The King issued this proclamation, and one and all roared in response.

And so, the Bull of Heaven was boiled for ten days and ten nights.

On that day, a god who sensed something amiss descended.

The night sky, once glittering with stars, became a starless night.

Black clouds rolled in, a sky-scraping tornado touched down upon the earth, and thunder like a herald of the apocalypse roared.

"The Sky God of the Babylonian Pantheon—Anu!"

Gazing at the howling sky, the Valkyrie Brunhilde murmured to herself.

"The Sky God—Lord Anu. That's a chief god. Should we hide?"

Goll shrank nervously behind her sister. Ordinary gods might not detect them, but a chief god was another matter.

"No need!"

Her gaze shifted to the figure seated on the throne, showing not a trace of fear.

He curled his lips into a smile—a smile that sent a chill down Brunhilde's spine.

His Ruby Eyes, like malevolent stars threatening to light up the night sky, opened wide, and the gaze within them carried a killing intent that seemed to have tangible weight.

He wanted to kill a god!!!

At that moment, Brunhilde was both thrilled and tense.

She was about to witness a human slay a chief god!

Chapter 010: Chief God Anu Descends

Anu was a deity symbolizing the sky, serving as the chief god in Babylonian mythology.

Always dwelling in the highest reaches of the Heavenly Realm, he rarely descended to the lower world.

Sitting quietly on his divine throne within his own temple, he slowly opened his eyes. Within his pupils flickered an unusual light, as if countless bolts of lightning were converging within them.

Today marked the tenth day since Ishtar borrowed Gugalanna. Why hasn't it been returned yet?

Of course, Anu was well aware of the purpose behind Ishtar's borrowing—she had been insulted by the humans of the earth and wanted to descend to punish them.

Though what she said was true, what right did mere mortals have to look down upon the gods?

Thus, he lent Ishtar the Bull of Heaven to descend to the mortal realm and discipline that arrogant human, to teach him the true meaning of divine majesty.

Of course, it was also necessary to rein in Ishtar's wanton behavior somewhat.

She must not go too far in the lower realm and intrude into the domains of other pantheons, causing their own pantheon to become a laughingstock among the others.

Summon the Bull of Heaven, Gugalanna, back.

And so, Anu issued his command to the Bull of Heaven.

Hmm? What's this? Unable to contact the Bull of Heaven?

This lack of contact was not a matter of the Bull of Heaven ignoring his command, but rather that his command could not reach it at all—as if the Bull of Heaven were outside the range of communication.

His brow furrowed. Could it have truly trespassed into the domain of another divine system? That would be troublesome.

With a wave of his hand, an image appeared before him. First, let him see how things stood in the region where the Bull of Heaven had descended to mete out punishment.

As the image grew clear, he saw a city that was quite magnificent by human standards—the City of Uruk.

Hmm? A collapsed temple?

On a newly cleared, seemingly sacrificial great altar, a massive cauldron was set up, and something was being cooked within it.

Beside the cauldron, on a throne, sat a figure radiating arrogance—that appeared to be the human King of Uruk.

What was he gnawing on? Eating beef?

Beef?

Inside the boiling cauldron, there seemed to be a bull.