Chapter 48: Son of Man, Play Your Song!
Thunder spears fell from the heavens and nailed themselves into the earth.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu did not need anyone to explain what that meant. Hangovers were for ordinary people, not for a King and a divine construct.
Enkidu, however, suddenly twitched her nose and looked at Rowe with calm suspicion.
"It feels like something has been here?"
Rowe turned his eyes away, a weird and totally inconvenient sense of guilt crawling up his spine.
Is that really what we are focusing on right now?
Gilgamesh only grinned, as if he found Enkidu's question adorable rather than alarming.
"Let's go." He stood, wine and sleep already forgotten. "Follow behind this King, my friend. It is time to complete the great undertaking of us three."
Enkidu rose without another thought.
Rowe exhaled quietly and followed.
The sky kept rumbling. Since ancient ages, every pantheon in every land had understood one thing about thunder.
It was the gods' wrath made audible.
And now, beneath that roaring sky, humans and non humans alike could feel the naked killing intent pouring down from above.
The gods would no longer show mercy to those who dared to defy them.
A bovine bellow rolled from the east of Uruk.
On the banks of the Euphrates, a cage of black Underworld aura broke apart with a low hum. A golden hooved foot pressed down from the clouds. Massive horns hung in the daylight like twin bridges of gold, gleaming with undeniable divinity.
At the same time, west of Uruk, at the edge of the Demonic Beast Forest, the earth groaned. The chains Enkidu had left to seal the strongest beasts snapped one by one.
Black mist surged upward. Giant vines shot into the sky, spiraling as they spread. Ancient trees shook violently, then swelled and twisted into a dense, pitch black Cedar Forest that blotted out the horizon.
The Bull of Heaven, Gugalanna.
And the Cedar Forest, Humbaba.
At the decree of the Sky God, they fully manifested in the hazy daylight.
One was divine punishment, cold and bright.
The other was demonic fury, choking and deep.
Yet both cast the same crushing shadow. Their forms towered into the clouds. Even a careless sway could tear the land apart.
One in the east, one in the west, left and right of the world, they advanced together toward the center.
Toward Uruk.
Even from a thousand miles away, their silhouettes were clear to the naked eye.
On Uruk's great wall, armored soldiers stared upward and swallowed hard.
"Is that the monster the King spoke of? The one sent by the Sky God to destroy the world?"
Amazement. Fear.
Not only the soldiers. Women, elders, children inside the city began to stir, panic spreading through streets that had only just learned how to breathe again.
Everyone understood the difference.
A tide of Demonic Beasts could be resisted by numbers, by walls, by courage.
But these two were not a tide.
They were calamities wearing bodies.
Humans were dust before them.
Can ants topple a statue?
Can a mosquito cross the sky?
The answer was painfully obvious.
"haahah hahaha!"
A thunderclap of laughter exploded across Uruk.
It came from behind the frontline, from the heart of the royal city, from the highest palace rising like a pillar at the world's center.
The three had returned.
Gilgamesh stepped onto the palace stairs, Rowe and Enkidu just behind him.
They stood together under the blue sky.
They stood together in the hearts of the people.
"My subjects."
Gilgamesh clasped his hands and let his gaze sweep the city below, near to far, until every face felt pinned by those crimson serpent eyes.
"Are you afraid?"
In the streets, people froze and looked up. An old man trembling a moment earlier steadied himself as if a hand had settled on his shoulders. Mothers pulled children out of doorways, not to run, but to look. Soldiers on the wall inhaled and found their breath again.
The King's prestige was a weight that grounded the soul.
Still, Gilgamesh, Rowe, and Enkidu all knew this alone was not enough.
Prestige could calm fear.
It could not erase the despair that would come the moment Gugalanna and Humbaba drew close.
Courage right now was real, but it was also fragile.
That was why they were here.
To seize this moment and forge it into something that could halt the advance of gods' beasts.
"Ahahaha hahaha!"
Gilgamesh laughed again, sharper, more biting.
"Are you pretending to be calm? Feigning bravery? Do you think you can deceive the great King who wields authority over heaven and earth?"
"You rabble."
He stepped forward from the palace doors to the very edge of the stairs. Golden armor had already wrapped his upper body. His hair swept back, exposing a face too sharp to belong to anything human.
He spread his arms wide, arrogant and untamed.
"This King is the King of Kings. The Lord who governs all phenomena. Under my rule, all order stands, and even the most useless things have their proper place."
"And now, this King will pass judgment on all things, on you."
His voice poured over Uruk. His will threaded into every alley and rooftop.
"Advance, and fight, my subjects."
"You may die. You may not withstand this world ending catastrophe."
"But this King promises you here."
"Your deeds will be recorded for future generations. Your glory will be sung by those who come after. Your existence will be carved into history."
"This is a battle to protect your home."
"This King will stand here with you."
"This battle is acknowledged by the King, permitted by the King, and borne by this King."
Yes, the people were afraid.
But they also knew something simpler than fear.
Under monsters large enough to crush the world, none of them could escape anyway.
Whether their hearts chose terror or courage, it did not change the fact that they were Uruk.
This was their home.
That was their King.
The one who would bear their lives, permit their choices, acknowledge their struggle.
"Now roar your rage to the heavens!"
Gilgamesh lifted his arm.
In answer, the colossal walls ringing Uruk shifted. Thousands of magic cannons, manned by soldiers, slowly raised their muzzles toward the dome of sky the King pointed at.
Boom.
Ten thousand cannons roared at once.
The entire city shook.
Rowe stepped forward. A shimmering light flared in his eyes as the Key of Heaven surfaced.
Its power unfolded.
Invisible concepts were drawn from unseen gates and fused into the cannon fire.
In that instant, the barrage was no longer mere leyline energy.
It became humanity's struggle.
Humanity's courage.
Enkidu closed her eyes.
Her white robe snapped in the wind, and the Chains of Heaven manifested.
Invisible chains spread outward from her body, linking every person, every flicker of resolve, every spark of light inside Uruk.
She made the flames rise.
Then she made them fall.
A rain of human fire swept outward toward the world ending behemoths.
The clay made divine construct praised loudly, her voice carrying like a hymn across the plain.
O Son of Man,
Sing loudly to the gods.
Let them hear that humanity's anthem is an anthem of courage.
Gilgamesh laughed, as if delight and fury were the same breath.
Rowe watched the falling fire, the Key of Heaven gleaming faintly in his eyes.
He knew the gods were watching too.
Their eyes had returned.
They were no longer afraid of being shattered by backlash.
But Rowe no longer pinned his "death" on some cross dimensional heavenly strike.
A normal death only meant the Underworld.
And with Ereshkigal there, he still could not truly die.
So he wanted something else.
He wanted the gods enraged beyond restraint.
He wanted to drag out their final power, even if it meant burning the heavens' patience to ash.
Rowe smiled.
Then he lifted his hand toward the sky, and his provocation rang out clear as a slap.
"If you have the guts, come down."
Gods: "…"
Damn it. Still this trick?
How many times is he going to say that?
What is wrong with him?
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The main character is Orochimaru's disciple, and I'll say this upfront: he is also a scientist and just as evil as his teacher.
So for those who don't like evil or morally dark main characters, you might want to skip this one.
The fanfic is titled Naruto: Orochimaru's Disciple.
You can search the title directly, or just click on my profile and you'll find it there.
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