Chapter 531
But judging from your direction, that doesn't seem to be the direction of Goddess Tiamat either.
"I have something to take care of."
"Something came up?" Siduri frowned suspiciously.
Shirou smiled slightly, "You could say that this is my last Yorozuya request in Uruk."
As for the client...
Shirou raised his arm and showed Siduri the chains wrapped around it.
"Is this Mr. Kingu?"
"It's another individual."
Siduri covered her mouth. "Enkidu..."
"Ah, Enkidu asked me for a favor."
The chains, which had been hanging down naturally, began to sway as if in some kind of resonance.
The wedge at the front of the chain points in a certain direction.
That place was not the Persia Gulf ruled by the Goddess Tiamat, but rather in the north—
"That's the direction of the cedar forest... Could it be Humbaba?"
The high priest stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Shirou, feeling the resonance emanating from the Crimson Divine Mark, spoke:
Even if Gil and Kingu approve, I haven't approved of you yet!
If you wish to become my master, if you truly are the savior of Uruk--
Please go and liberate her soul...
"Enkidu from your area is provoking me like this. He's even worse than Kingu, that guy."
"Huh?"
Siduri was suddenly pulled up by the waist, and her face instantly turned red with embarrassment.
"Perfect timing, I'm short a tour guide... Miss Siduri, I'll be borrowing you tonight."
"Wait, wait a minute! Shirou!"
Shirou, carrying Siduri, transformed into a shooting star and flew towards the cedar forest.
Volume 7: Chapter 339 Shirou's Last Work: "Nighttime Sowing?"
Shirou forcibly brought Siduri to the long-lost northern forest.
The courtyard of the goddess Ishtar, the cedar forest of Lebanon.
Although they are called cedar trees, the plants growing in this forest are actually pine trees.
Those are towering trees that can grow to nearly 50 meters tall, and can be used as materials for building ships.
By the 21st century, such vast forests have almost disappeared from the Earth's surface.
And in this Forest of the Gods, it is said that a Magical Beast once lived.
The guardian of the cedar forest, Humbaba, is also known as Humbaba.
In Mesopotamia legend, it was a monster that terrified even the young tyrant Gilgamesh, and once attacked him to the brink of death.
However, it was ultimately defeated by Gilgamesh and Enkidu with the help of the Sun God Utu (Shamash).
After Humbaba was killed, his monstrous nature permeated the world and spread widely throughout later Greece, influencing many other monsters such as the Gorgon.
Upon entering the forest, Shirou began to disperse Uridimmu and Ugallu, who had gathered there.
Because they had lost their mother (the goddess Gorgon), the Magical Beast would naturally perish once their magic power was exhausted, even if left unattended. Therefore, Shirou did not slaughter them all.
To be honest, after witnessing the brutality of Lahmu, these Magical Beasts all seem quite adorable.
"Miss Siduri, Humbaba... what kind of Magical Beast is it?"
The spacetime in Mesopotamia became unstable due to Singularity, and in addition to the existence of gods, other phenomena also emerged.
Now, something new seems to be happening in this forest—
Humbaba, the guardian of the forest, has returned.
Upon hearing Shirou's question, Siduri wore a complicated expression. "Actually, I... don't know what that is either..."
"?"
Shirou frowned slightly. Was there something even Siduri didn't know?
According to the City of Uruk, Siduri had met King Gilgamesh a boy, and in fact, they knew each other even before the king and Enkidu met.
Wait a minute...
Gilgamesh prime and has entered old age.
How old is Siduri this year?
Perhaps it's better not to delve too deeply into this...
"Shirou? You seem to be thinking something very rude."
"N-no, no, hahaha! Hahaha! Whew... a woman's Instinct is truly terrifying."
Siduri hesitated for a moment before saying, "Humbaba was Enkidu's first friend, and you could also say he was raised by his parents."
"Hmm, I have heard of that."
Shirou crossed his arms and said indignantly, "Isn't Enkidu going a bit too far by killing his old friend who raised him for an important new friend?"
"No! Enkidu is..."
Siduri bit her lip and lowered her head. "... Shirou will understand once he sees it."
"?"
Led by Siduri, Shirou arrived at the temple located deep in the cedar forest.
Ishtar was a widely worshipped Goddess of Heaven, with temples throughout the Mesopotamia world. Her main strongholds were her bedroom (Eanna) in Uruk and her palace on Mount Ebih.
This temple, located in the cedar forest, was clearly a corner that the young lady had long forgotten.
"What... is this thing?"
Shirou's mouth dropped open. "Who is this child?"
On the temple steps sat a little girl who looked no more than ten years old, surrounded by a mysterious mist.
The sudden appearance of such a frail girl in a forest teeming with adorable Magical Beast only made Shirou feel uneasy.
Then, the next second, something even stranger happened—
The little girl looked up at the two of them and opened her mouth.
Who exactly are you...?
Countless children's voices echoed through the forest.
The order in which they were pronounced made it confusing, but it was still clear that it was a complete sentence.
"Who exactly are you?" the girl asked.
Just as Shirou was about to say something, Siduri explained with a sorrowful expression.
That's Humbaba.
"Ah?"
"That... is Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forest."
"..."
Humbaba was a powerful monster that Gilgamesh feared, but the little girl in front of him looked harmless no matter how you looked at her.
Shirou silently channeled his magic into the Mystic Eyes.
When he saw the mountain of corpses piled up in his field of vision, he suddenly understood everything.
The truth about Humbaba.
It was Artificial Lifeform composed of the souls of thousands of human children.
Compared to the Einzbern, Origin from alchemy, they are closer to the Frankenstein type—that is, disgusting human experimentation.
However, what is assembled is not the human body, but the human soul.
Not through the technology and expectations of scientists, but through the Authority and blessings of the gods—
The "perfect human" born from the curse is Humbaba.
Whether they were experiments, failures, or something else created by the gods to create weapons (Enkidu), Shirou no longer cared to know.
These children, transformed into monsters on a whim of the gods, were eventually taken in by Ishtar, the goddess who loved humanity.
They were left in the cedar forest by the goddess as pets.
Perhaps influenced by the arrival of Ishtar in this era, they also experienced a resurgence.
However, because her power was not complete, she was not depicted as a monster, but rather as a little girl.
This little girl was probably the only one among the 3,000 experimental children who retained her rationality until the very end.
"Hum" "Ba" "Ba"
The name Siduri uttered elicited a response from the little girl, who stood up from the steps.
"Who are you?" "Who is it?" "Happy." "Who are you?" "You are..."
"Sadness," "Guardian," "Forest," "Save," "Hatred"
Hundreds, thousands... nearly three thousand voices rose up at once.
Those were the cries and wails of children.
"Destroy the forest," "Save," "Enemy," "Kill," "Ouch!"
"Ouch," "Happy," "Fate," "God," "Kill"
"Kill," "Save," "No," "Forest," "Guardian"
"Help!" "Help!" "No!" "Go to hell!"
"Enemy" was wrong. "Humans" "Gods" "Ahhh"
"Hate," "Grace," "Pain," "Why," "Dislike"
"Hate," "It hurts," "Hate, hate, kill, kill, kill," "Go to hell, kill, kill, all go to hell aaaaaaaaaaa"
"Shirou!"
Siduri shouted in a panic.
Even an ordinary person like her could sense the intense hostility Humbaba displayed through her skin.
It is said that the vocal cords of the Magical Beast in the cedar forest contain the Authority of the gods, and their roars alone can render the King of Heroes immobile.
Its claws bear the most ancient and primal curse of this land; a single strike of calamity could even instantly kill Enkidu.
The magic power is expanding infinitely, rapidly reaching the level of a god.
"They still retain such power!?"
"Miss Siduri, step back a little... I'll take care of this."
"Ah... yes, please! Shirou! Please let Humbaba rest in peace!"
"That's what Enkidu asked me to do too..."
Alright, you disobedient little brat, how should I deal with you?
Shirou took a step forward unarmed.
At the same time, a giant's arm emerged from the ground behind the little girl.
"Ugh...!!"
The defenseless boy was slammed to the ground by the giant's arm.