Night fell.
Dozens of bonfires were lit in the central square of Uruk.
The aroma of barbecue, beer, sweat, and laughter mingled together, filling the air of the city.
The soldiers took off their armor, put on coarse cloth clothes, and sat around the fire.
Someone raised an earthenware cup and filled it with cloudy ale.
Someone was gnawing on a roasted, charred leg of lamb.
Someone put their arm around their companion's shoulder and sang a tuneless song loudly.
In the center of the square, several Uruk people were playing drums.
The drumbeats are simple and direct, with a very strong sense of rhythm.
The people around them stomped their feet, clapped their hands, and twisted their bodies in response.
Nobody cares whether the dancing is good or bad, and nobody cares whether the singing is good or bad.
Today they won a battle they thought they would surely lose.
That's enough.
"Come on! Drink!"
The old soldier, his face covered in stubble, raised the ceramic cup above his head.
A tribute to those who couldn't come back!
"Respect--!"
The soldiers raised their glasses in unison.
Boil it down in one gulp.
Some people turn their cups upside down after finishing their drinks to prove they haven't left a drop.
The people around them clapped and cheered.
The entire city of Uruk was bustling with activity.
Only a few sentries remained on the city walls to keep watch.
But even the sentries' gazes would occasionally drift towards the campfires inside the city.
He held a spear in his hand, but his ears were perked up, listening to the songs coming from the square.
Tomoe Gozen sat around a bonfire.
A plate of roasted meat and a glass of ale were placed in front of him.
Sitting opposite them Ushiwakamaru and Leonidas.
" Tomoe Gozen, today is such a special day, why are you so gloomy?"
Leonidas tore off a large piece of roasted meat and stuffed it into his mouth, asking indistinctly.
"Not sullen at all."
Tomoe Gozen smiled.
"I was just thinking... there's probably someone eating alone in their room right now."
Ushiwakamaru tilted his head slightly.
"Oh--that redhead."
Leonidas remembered it too.
"Is that the guy who cleaved the Scorpion Man in two with one axe strike?"
"Um."
"Isn't that guy coming to celebrate?"
"She doesn't want to come."
Tomoe Gozen took a sip of the beer.
"I invited Kotori before."
"Then what?"
"I was decisively rejected."
Tomoe Gozen's tone carried a hint of helplessness.
"I absolutely refuse to come."
That's really...
Leonidas scratched his chin.
"However, that guy's personality really doesn't quite fit the situation."
"She's a good person."
Tomoe Gozen spoke these words with great seriousness.
"I'm just not very good at handling crowded occasions."
"That's true."
Ushiwakamaru nodded.
"After all, he still looks like a child."
At the same time.
Inside a mud house in Uruk city.
Kotori Itsuka sat cross-legged on the earthen bed.
Several dishes were laid out on the stone table in front of them.
Grilled fish, stewed meat, wheat pancakes, pickled vegetables.
Everything was prepared by Tomoe Gozen before she left.
Kotori picked up a barley cake and took a bite.
He picked up another piece of grilled fish and ate it quietly by himself.
The only sounds in the room were the sound of her chewing and the faint drumbeats coming from the distant square.
"... It's so noisy."
Kotori muttered something to herself.
Although the nights in the Age of Gods are cooler than the days, the houses are still stuffy because they are not well ventilated.
So she didn't close the door.
I took another bite of the grilled fish.
tasty.
Tomoe Gozen's cooking skills are truly excellent.
Kotori finished the last bite of the pancake.
Then he lay down on the earthen bed, put his hands behind his head, and looked at the ceiling.
The sounds of singing and laughter could be faintly heard from the square in the distance.
She turned over and closed her eyes.
No matter how exciting the outside world is, it has nothing to do with her.
She absolutely didn't want to go to those crowded places; just thinking about it made her scalp tingle.
"Sleep."
In the following days.
Kotori stayed inside the house and didn't dare to go out.
The reason is simple.
The people of Uruk were so enthusiastic.
They've gone completely mad.
It was my first time going out; I just wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood to get some fresh air.
He was recognized in less than five minutes.
"It's that red-haired girl--!"
"It's her! She saved us!"
"The hero has arrived--!"
Then she was surrounded.
Dozens of Uruk people surrounded her.
Some people tried to hold her hand. Some offered her food. Some even knelt down and kowtowed on the spot.
Someone holding their child pointed it out to her. "Look, this is the adult who saved Daddy's life!"
Kotori was completely stunned.
It took her almost ten minutes to squeeze through the crowd.
Then she escaped back to Tomoe Gozen's house by flying.
From then on.
Kotori no longer dared to go out casually.
But the story isn't over yet.
The next morning.
When Kotori looked out the window, she noticed something new in the square across from the house.
A statue.
It's made of clay.
About half a person's height.
The sculpture depicts a small girl with pigtails, a pair of horns on her head, and holding a giant axe.
Several cuneiform characters are engraved on the base of the statue.
"Is he wishing for his own death?"
Kotori's lips twitched slightly.
I'm still alive.
They erected statues of themselves in advance.
Moreover, that statue was sculpted so ugly.
The twin ponytails were carved into two sticks, the cow horns looked like two bananas, and the giant axe looked like a rake for gathering hay.
"..."
Kotori drew the curtains.
In the following days, she became a complete homebody.
I stay indoors every day.
When she gets hungry, she eats the food that Tomoe Gozen she leaves.
When I get bored, I just lie on the earthen bed and space out.
Or you can play with fire by drawing circles in the air.
Tomoe Gozen would prepare breakfast and lunch and place them on the table before leaving home each day.
When I returned home in the evening, all the food scraps in the dishes had been burned away.
"Those people asked about you again today."
One evening, Tomoe Gozen returned and said something.
"Don't even mention it."
"That statue... could we ask them to remove it?"
"It can't be demolished; the people cherish it."
"..."
Kotori buried her face in the pillow.
"That's too much..."
Why do I feel you're not happy? Shouldn't most people be happy to have a statue erected around their necks?
"What's so great about that!"
Kotori lifted her face from under the pillow.
"I'm still alive!"
"They're cursing me to die!"
Tomoe Gozen suppressed a laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to them for you tomorrow."
"... Um."
Since that scorpion-man died.
The remaining large monsters were all defeated and fled.
Uruk enjoyed a few brief days of peace.
Apart from a few scattered small magical beasts, the entire wasteland outside was deserted.
It's been a long time since we've seen any large-scale monsters.
After all, this is the Age of Gods, so encountering magical beasts in the wild is normal.
But those massive, overwhelming armies of monsters have indeed disappeared.
The soldiers on the city wall began to relax a little.
People started chatting there.
Some people would secretly bring up a small jug of wine.
It felt like we had returned to a time of peace.
But will things really end that simply?
That's impossible, of course.
Deep in the Mesopotamia wilderness.
A massive Greece- style temple stands in the center of an area shrouded in black mist.
Inside the temple.
A gigantic figure was entrenched in the deepest part of the hall.
Long purple hair was spread out on the ground and walls.
Each strand of hair was twitching slightly, and the ends of the hair resembled snake heads.
Countless snake heads opened and closed silently.
Gorgon.
She showed great Wrath at the defeat of the monsters and the death of their commander, the Scorpion Man Sage Kitab Lir.
Several of the stone pillars surrounding the main hall had already been destroyed in her Wrath.
Gravel and powder were still scattered on the ground.
" Kitablil..."
Her voice was low.
It carried a vibration emanating from deep within the chest.
"My counselor."
"They were actually killed by those ants."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Then Gorgon raised his head.
Dark flames burned within its crimson pupils.
"This time, I will take action myself."
"To crush humanity's last line of defense in one fell swoop— Uruk."
"To seize the Holy Grail from Gilgamesh before the other two goddesses."
"To completely dominate this era."
Her voice echoed in the hall.
The right to this era belongs solely to me.