Mesopotamian Singularity, Uruk.
Beneath the vast and magnificent palace, a funeral was being held.
The legendary Wise King stood at the head, silently watching the man about to be laid to rest in the earth, a faint ripple in his eyes.
Several people in strange attire stood beside him, but no one said anything.
Gilgamesh looked toward the side of the coffin.
There stood the descendants of the deceased who was about to be returned to the earth. They wept bitterly, unable to bear watching their elder return to the underworld.
The name of this man, who had died from age and illness, was—
Adekate.
In his early years, King Gilgamesh of Uruk had established, together with the hero Annanu, a force to protect the city-state from Demonic Beasts and bandits. Its name was—
The army.
And Adekate had been the army's first commander—the first—
General in human history.
He had not been a hero from myth, but a commander belonging solely to humanity. Now, burdened by human troubles, he was about to die.
Among the oddly dressed people standing behind Gilgamesh, a woman let out a soft sigh.
Gilgamesh stepped forward and looked at Adekate's ashen, aged face, silently shaking his head.
"Now—"
He spoke, intending for the funeral to proceed.
Uruk was already in a period of low morale. Adekate's death at such a critical moment would undoubtedly deal it another blow.
Even so, Gilgamesh would still give this old warrior, who had fought for Uruk his entire life, a dignified funeral.
After all, what was about to happen next—
Gilgamesh's expression darkened involuntarily.
Buzz—
Just as Gilgamesh spoke those two words, something unexpected occurred.
Before the stunned eyes of everyone present, including Gilgamesh, a summoning circle appeared out of thin air.
Directly above Adekate's corpse.
Gilgamesh:?
The