If I Don't Betray Them Again, I'll Become the Boss 1/3
The atmosphere at the Royal Palace Divine Tower was solemn.
The four goddesses— Feathered Serpent God, the Jaguar Man, Anna, and Ishtar —entered the Shepherd Priest holding the Royal Seal into the great hall.
The Great Sage Merlin, representing the three forces of the Astrology Platform, the sacrificial site, and the army, along with the High Priestess Siduri and Spartan King Leonidas, all nodded in respect.
Faced with Samael's overwhelming divine favor, the priestesses and priests naturally bowed their heads in sincere admiration.
In fact, they would rather surrender to "their own people" than face King Gilgamesh in order to change their current marginalized status.
"Wang is intercepting Lahmu in the direction of the Fir Forest and trying to find Apsu's weakness."
"At present, I accept the appointment and will temporarily assume the monarchy."
Samael stepped forward, holding the Royal Seal, but did not ascend Gilgamesh's throne. He merely stood on the steps, turned, raised his arms, and let out a heart-stirring shout.
"My friends, the time of our end has come; this is the time to bid farewell to the gods!"
Even if Uruk is destroyed, the gods cannot erase the achievements of humankind!
"The name of Sumer will live on forever! Our resolve will permeate this land!"
"At this moment, in the name of humanity, we declare war on destiny!"
It must be said that the whispers of the ancient serpent were quite provocative.
What is even more commendable is that he did more than he said, and the achievements he made earned him the admiration of everyone present.
Gazing at those Cross Star Pupils, everyone felt their blood boil and beat their chests in salute.
However, though the ancient serpent appeared calm on the surface, it was actually filled with resentment in its heart.
How did I, the divine child of Tiamat who was supposed to guide the destruction of the world, inexplicably become the king of Uruk? Could this be considered the ultimate achievement of an insider?
The few people, including Siduri, who still had doubts, nodded to themselves as they looked at the steps beneath Samael's feet and the empty throne behind him, feeling a sudden sense of unease.
"Oh no! The situation is urgent. Report the battle situation immediately!"
After a brief silence, Samael led everyone to the sand table to begin a war discussion.
"Currently, there are three issues that need to be addressed."
"The investigation into Apsu's whereabouts, the consolidation of Uruk's defenses, and the worst-case scenario plan for a deteriorating situation."
"First of all, judging from the current situation, the Black Tide has only temporarily retreated. Apsu is hiding in the abyss along the Fir Forest line, continuing to digest the Holy Grail and waiting for his power to be restored."
The old swindler Merlin turned his gaze toward the Fir Forest, his expression somewhat grave.
Quetzalcoatl frowned, crossed his arms, and stepped forward, his eyes flashing with deep apprehension.
"To be honest, this is nothing to be ashamed of, because next time we will probably be facing the Primordial God in its complete form!"
Samael nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
"The calmer things are now, the more devastating the storms will be later..."
"Therefore, we must make full preparations in advance in order to have even a slight chance of winning."
The Jaguar Man scratched his head, disgustedly shaking the rainwater off his hands, and muttered something under his breath.
"The storm has been raging all along, hasn't it? Felines hate water the most."
Ishtar glanced at the torrential rain outside and hummed softly.
"That proves the situation is even worse. The God of Darkness has no patience at all and is too lazy to even hide."
"The torrential rain that fell during his digestion of the Holy Grail was to prepare him for his later ascent to the surface."
Anna squeezed through the crowd, her small face becoming serious.
"That's right, Tiamat represents the saltwater of the ocean, Apsu represents the freshwater of rivers, lakes, and underground Abyssal Layers ..."
"The continuous torrential rains will accelerate the water cycle on the Mesopotamian landmass, allowing Apsu to recover as quickly as possible."
"At the same time, this also allows Him to use water to achieve domination and regeneration of the world!"
"Moreover, the Black Tide can also go upstream, and at that time, not only the Nabisthin's Tooth, but even the walls on both sides will no longer be an obstacle."
Samael first gave Anna an approving look, but as he lowered his head, a strange look appeared in his eyes.
It seems that this girl has gained something from that Gorgon divinity.
"Then, is there a way to defeat or seal Him again while Apsu is weakened?"
Siduri clearly understood the hidden meaning in Anna's words.
The longer the rain drags on, the heavier the downpour, and the slimmer humanity's hope becomes.
When the whole world is submerged, even without Apsu's intervention, Mesopotamia will be destroyed by the flood.
The best course of action right now is to trace the source and find out the Primordial God controls the torrential rain, and then punish him in advance.
"King Gilgamesh stayed near the Fir Forest to do this."
Samael raised his arm, splashing cold water on Siduri's illusions.
"But in my opinion, there might not be a result over there..."
"On the one hand, Ereshkigal and I searched the area north of Kusa and Uruk in the Underworld for three days, but we were unable to detect any reaction from Apsu's divine core."
"On the other hand, even Gilgamesh's strongest Gawain's Sword, Ea, could only shatter his agglomerated liquid form, but could not cause him any real damage."
"Therefore, I suspect that if Apsu really does have a divine core, it may not necessarily be in the Fir Forest!"
Immediately, the man narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone becoming somber.
"Since Wang is in charge of the north, we can start our investigation from the south. Hopefully, we can find something before this great catastrophe comes."
With the order given, everyone could only try their luck and turn their attention to finding Apsu's weaknesses towards the direction of the demon.
"So, before we get to the second question, I'd like to ask how much fighting force Uruk has left?"
"There are 5,000 soldiers, but if you add Magecraft, priests, and priestesses together, you'll be lucky to have 1,000."
Samael listened to Leonidas's report with some disbelief and turned to look at Siduri.
"What about ordinary residents?"
"Approximately 15,000 people..."
"How many people are currently living in the entire Mesopotamia?"
"A rough estimate is around 50,000..."
After carefully checking the reports from each city on the clay tablet, the high priest looked at Samael was standing there dumbfounded, with some confusion.
"Is there a problem, Your Excellency Shepherd Priest?"
"So many of them survived! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!"
"Ah?"
Samael, who had been muttering to himself, snapped out of his reverie and realized his own words. His expression immediately turned serious, and he looked pleased.
"I mean, you did a fantastic job, the results were much better than I expected!"
"Now, I am even more confident in defying this so-called destiny!"
Upon hearing this, the astonishment in everyone's eyes gradually subsided, and they felt quite proud of their admiration for this Shepherd Priest.
Phew! I finally managed to fool them!
Samael secretly breathed a sigh of relief, wiped away his cold sweat, and after calming his mind, his eyes gleamed with a strange light.
It's a miracle that 20,000 people survived in Uruk and 50,000 people remained in Mesopotamia!
To be honest, in my memory, at this point in time, Uruk was almost completely wiped out, with only about 500 people left.
As the ancient serpent's gaze repeatedly examined the sand table, it roughly understood the reason behind it, and its shock subsided slightly.