At the center of the Uruk City-State.
A vast, magnificent palace stood there.
The golden people had built many spectacular temples for the gods, yet none seemed to compare to the Golden King's palace before them.
The palace was cast entirely from gold. Its style was similarly rugged, yet it displayed luxury and grandeur to the fullest.
Jiang Yang followed Enkidu into the palace. Looking at the treasures scattered throughout it, he sighed in admiration.
"As expected of the Golden King."
"Does even the Sun God envy the king's wealth?"
Enkidu asked with interest.
"I don't envy it. I'm merely marveling."
Jiang Yang smiled gently. He truly felt no envy. Now that civilization had already faded away, what use were these treasures?
The two continued onward and finally entered a Vast Gold Hall.
Great stones served as pillars, and gold paved the floor.
A golden throne stood high atop steps half a person's height, with a majestic, noble king seated upon it.
He was tall and broad, his upper body bare, revealing firm, powerful muscles.
He had handsome features, golden hair, and red eyes. Like the golden people, his pupils were vertical slits, inspiring awe in all who looked upon him.
His kingly bearing was as deep as an abyss, as vast as the sea, yet he lounged lazily on his throne. A group of golden serving maids knelt beside him, attending to him with all their hearts.
This was Gilgamesh, the Golden King, the first rebellious king to arise among the Golden Humans!
Gilgamesh was arrogant and conceited.
When he saw Enkidu and Jiang Yang enter the hall, he merely glanced at Enkidu and nodded to him, while treating Jiang Yang as though he did not exist.
Like a tiger watching a rabbit trespass upon its territory.
Contempt and indifference!
Jiang Yang could sense that Gilgamesh thought nothing of him from the bottom of his heart, just as he regarded the "gods" in the Sumerian Shelter.
Damn it, ignoring your daddy here?
Jiang Yang's brow creased slightly.
Just then, Enkidu approached the foot of the throne, dropped to one knee, and spoke respectfully.
"My king, this is the Sun God under the God King's command."
"Enkidu, stop calling them gods. You give them far too much credit. They're merely a band of homeless wretches clinging to their last breaths from a bygone age."
Gilgamesh had long since seen through the true nature of the old human civilization.
He looked down at Jiang Yang and spoke in a condescending tone.
"God King Mar fears me. Has he finally come to his senses and sent you here to pledge his loyalty?"
Yet Jiang Yang paid him no heed. Instead, he strolled around the palace with his hands clasped behind his back, studying the images on the walls and clicking his tongue in wonder.
The walls depicted Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven, so lifelike that the scene seemed to unfold before his eyes.
Seeing Jiang Yang utterly ignore his question and instead admire the palace as though strolling through his own garden.
Gilgamesh could not help narrowing his eyes.
The gods all feared his mighty reputation. They could not possibly put on such an act before him, so confident and at ease.
To put it bluntly, he had shattered the confidence of the Sumerian gods. Before him, they could only feel fear; they could never be so composed.
He had only seen this bearing of the Sun God before him decades ago, in the Fire God and the God of Light, who had likewise been sent by the Sumerian Divine Court to call him to account.
Those two gods had also been this composed at first, but he had soon defeated them. Now he no longer even saw those two in the Sumerian Divine Court.
Still, this bearing irritated him even more than those two gods had. Only a beating would vent his anger.
As Jiang Yang admired the murals nearby, he praised their craftsmanship inwardly, but he was also somewhat displeased with Gilgamesh's attitude.
Sure enough, only a beating will vent my anger.
At this thought, he finally turned toward Gilgamesh on the throne.
As it happened, Gilgamesh also leaned forward to look at him. The two kings' auras began to clash.
A brilliant, fiery aura and a domineering, razor-sharp aura rose at once. The space around them seemed to twist faintly, submitting beneath the presence of the two kings.
Golden eyes and red, slit-pupiled eyes met like lightning, neither yielding in the slightest. Yet the thoughts in their minds were astonishingly alike.
He needs a good thrashing!
Around the Uruk City-State, the other city-states all sensed the clash of auras coming from within Uruk.
Countless powerful golden warriors were shocked.
"Who's opposing the king now? Have those two, the Fire God and the God of Light from decades ago, returned?"
"No, this aura is entirely different from theirs. It's stronger, more domineering, more unrestrained!"
At the Sumerian Shelter, Mar stood in midair, sensing the auras in distant Uruk, admiration filling his heart.
As expected of Jiang Yang. Even after sleeping for a thousand years, he's still humanity's God of War.
Inside the royal palace.
Jiang Yang and Gilgamesh clashed with their auras from less than ten meters apart.
The attendants around the palace had long since been forced to their knees, while the maids who had been serving Gilgamesh earlier had already fainted.
Enkidu had also retreated far away. This was not a battle he could join.
The two fierce, surging auras collided violently, beginning to turn into raging winds that swept across heaven and earth.
Gilgamesh could sense, however, that Jiang Yang was far stronger than the Fire God and the God of Light before him, and was on par with himself.
Looking at the rare formidable foe before him, he suddenly burst into excited laughter.
"What a Sun God! After all these years, the Divine Court has finally found someone worthy!"
Hearing his words, Jiang Yang's golden eyes shone even more brightly. He spoke softly, yet his voice rang out clearly, majestic and noble.
"Gilgamesh, I hereby declare you a rebel. Today, I shall subdue you and bring you before the gods to answer for your crimes!"
The moment he spoke, his voice carried across the entire Mesopotamian Plain.
All the Golden Humans heard him.
A god was going to punish the rebellious king, Gilgamesh.
"Hahahaha! If you can do it, then come, unfamiliar Sun God!"
The rebellious king's laughter echoed across the plain, his lofty spirit soaring to the heavens.
Looking at Gilgamesh's face, so full of fighting spirit, Jiang Yang suddenly smiled as well.
"An opponent like you is more than I could ask for, Gilgamesh!"
With that, he drew a Platinum Longsword from the void, stepped forward, and slashed at Gilgamesh.
The Golden King wasted no words either. He reached out to grasp the air, and a golden ring of light appeared behind him. Drawing a Spiral Sword from it, he joined battle with Jiang Yang.
Sword qi spilled in all directions, and savage energy swept across a thousand li.
Both possessed extraordinary combat instincts, and their battle carried them from the earth into the high skies.
Countless clashes of fists and feet, countless exchanges of blade against blade, countless collisions of flame and gold.
In midair, a world of flames manifested behind Jiang Yang, staining half the heavens red-gold!
Opposite him lay an ocean of weapons formed from sabers, swords, spears, and halberds, casting the other half of the sky in golden light!
Magnificent and vast, grand and majestic, this was a true battle of gods!
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