Chapter 21: The Tablet of Destiny
Roman's voice immediately came through the communicator. "Understood, I've confirmed it on my end as well. Wait... even in the magical concentration of the Age of Gods, it's reaching speeds of 500 kilometers per hour!?"
Roman looked at the screen in front of him, his expression one of astonishment. Da Vinci quickly took over for him. "Three, two... Mash, the target is you! Watch out!"
Hearing Da Vinci's warning over the communicator, Mash's expression changed instantly. She quickly manifested her shield, preparing to take a defensive stance. But at that very moment, a long sword flew past her and shot into the sky.
In that instant, dozens of golden circular ripples appeared behind the green-haired figure that had approached the beach. From those rippling waves, chains adorned with golden wedges shot out. Those chains entangled the long sword that had surged into the sky, wrapping it into a massive ball of chains, completely surrounding it. Then, a dull, muffled sound of a Noble Phantasm detonating echoed from within.
"Did it work..." Enkidu narrowed his eyes. The god-forged Chains of Heaven had barely managed to withstand the massive mana overflowing from the shattered Noble Phantasm.
"A stray dog dares to return? Do you think being spared by me was a humiliation, so you came back specifically to seek death?"
As Shirou spoke, he stepped in front of Mash. Simultaneously, blue ripples constantly manifested, showing a vast array of weapons of various shapes. Among them, dozens of EX-rank Noble Phantasm blades gleamed, their lethality fully exposed. Shirou held back slightly, knowing that using too many EX-rank Noble Phantasms would cause too much destruction.
"Tch... you again. Must you always stand in my way...!" Enkidu frowned. Just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly raised a hand to clutch his head, his body swaying in agony.
At this moment, Gilgamesh's voice came from another direction. "When I conceived this new tactic, I was fiercely criticized for being 'extremely wasteful,' yet here you are using it yourself."
"No, that's because you—" Enkidu started to reply subconsciously, then suddenly froze, not understanding why he had said that.
"King Gilgamesh! Careful, that isn't Enkidu!" Gudako, standing with Mash, shouted immediately.
Hearing this, Enkidu's eyes widened as he stared at the man before him. "You are... Gilgamesh!?"
"Who else did you think it was, you fool?" Gilgamesh replied. "As a calm and collected weapon, where has your practiced style gone?"
Gilgamesh stepped closer, step by step, toward Enkidu, who was still clutching his head with one hand. "To actually enjoy battle—this is not like you... Enkidu." A flash of nostalgia crossed Gilgamesh's eyes. Although he knew the person before him was not Enkidu, that familiar face still filled him with longing.
"What... did you say!" Enkidu, driven to rage and shame, raised his hand and fired a beam of light.
"It seems you have obtained quite a lot of mana. Who sent you? The three goddesses?" The moment Gilgamesh raised his hand, an axe-shaped Noble Phantasm appeared in his grip.
"Silence!" Enkidu's figure suddenly vanished from where he stood, turning into a blur as he charged at Gilgamesh. A flash of lightning crackled in his hand, colliding with the axe-shaped Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh held horizontally before him.
In an instant, blinding blue lightning spilled outward.
"I am the strongest creation on this Earth!" Enkidu roared in anger. "Half-baked products like you are completely unnecessary! Foolish King of Uruk, enemy of Mother, I will kill you!"
The moment they pulled apart, Enkidu raised his hand, and hundreds of chains swarmed out, shooting straight at Gilgamesh!
"Hmph!" An open clay tablet appeared in Gilgamesh's hand. In the sky above, hundreds of golden-hued Noble Phantasms poked out their tips and fired rapidly!
The "Chains of Heaven" collided with the multitude of Noble Phantasms. Gilgamesh swung the axe in his hand, deflecting the incoming chains, but there were simply too many; he couldn't dodge them all, and his ankle was caught by a chain.
"Damn it!" Possessing extremely high divinity, Gilgamesh tried to move his leg, only to find that the more he struggled, the tighter the chain wound around him. He couldn't break free.
"Die!" Enkidu bellowed, his right hand swinging violently as countless more chains surged toward Gilgamesh!
Boom—!
"King Gilgamesh!" Gudako and Mash cried out in alarm at the sight of this thrilling scene.
The dust cloud kicked up at that moment temporarily blocked everyone's vision. But when the dust settled, Gilgamesh was standing unscathed beside several massive craters in the ground. Enkidu's pupils shrank at the sight, and a sudden, sharp pain pierced his chest.
"Damn it... just you wait!"
Having had the last word, Enkidu immediately ascended into the sky and quickly flew away from the beach.
At this moment, Roman's voice, sounding relieved, came through the communicators on Gudako and Mash's wrists. "Enkidu has retreated to the north of Uruk; I can no longer track him after that."
Da Vinci's voice followed. "Although we don't know why he retreated, we can be at ease for now."
"Thank goodness..." Gudako said, exhaling in relief.
Then, Gilgamesh walked over. "He is stronger than me. If it hadn't been for that sudden accident just now, I likely would have died at his hands."
"King Gilgamesh, you were no match for him?" Gudako asked, surprised.
"Indeed. After all, his weapons are specifically designed to counter me," Gilgamesh sighed, as if recalling something.
The current Gilgamesh could not use "Ea: Sword of Rupture." To protect the city of Uruk, he had sealed away his numerous Noble Phantasms along with Ea in exchange for a vast supply of magical energy.
"Forget it, let us return," Gilgamesh said immediately.
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