Chương 354: 354: The Approaching War
Chapter 354: The Approaching War
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Uruk enjoyed a grand feast of countless Mesopotamian food. The warriors who took part in the recent battle were the ones who were treated with all sorts of unheard-of food, as Sisty helped the cook with modern recipes.
Finally, a few hours after sunset, the festival slowly died out. People went back to their homes and the girls returned to the Fortress of Babylon.
Now that the rush from the party had eased, the girls felt tired and sleepy. They wished to sleep, but more than that, they wanted to ask Neji a question.
So instead of taking their leaves after meeting Neji, they all gathered before the throne and stared up at him. Neji sat on the throne like usual, while the short-haired Rumi sat sideways on his lap. She would often grab a grape kept meters far from them, using her portals, and feed it to herself and Neji.
To the throne's side, two girls were present. The other girls nearly quirked their eyebrows as they shot a glance at one of the girls, a mage, and at a Sisty who was busy shrugging.
"So many white-haired girls…"
Ishtar muttered under her breath, while Quetzalcoatl looked at Neji.
"Anata, who's that on your lap?"
She pointed a finger at Rumi while wearing a frown.
"You do seem close. What about the two other girls on the side?"
Neji blinked. "Ah yes, we have a few new recruits. For starters, the pink-haired girl there is Ana. Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl, and Ereshkigal may notice the similarities between her and Goddess Gorgon. I will just say it is as you think it is."
Ishtar looked a little annoyed at the presence of another Medusa, however, Quetzalcoatl didn't seem to care. She just stared at Rumi. It was only Eresh who gave the new Medusa a smile.
Speaking of Ereshkigal, Kurai was resting on top of her head. As a proud Goddess, Ereshkigal wouldn't usually participate in a human feast. But the Cat-God on her head didn't care, she dragged the blondie all over the place and enjoyed herself to the fullest, and Eresh couldn't refuse.
Kurai, a creature of the Nergal race, naturally had multiple connections with Ereshkigal. In that, the original Nergal and Eresh had kind of a romantic bond.
"By the way, Kurai, did Ereshkigal treat you well?"
"Emm, she did. I like her."
"That's good. Thank you, sister."
Ereshkigal gave a short nod, before she asked, "Can I ask… how? How is she a Nergal? It doesn't make sense. Nergal is not a race. It's a person, right?"
"Well, uh,"
Neji hummed. He had actually asked Lady Luck about it a long time ago. He was curious about the topic too, so he knew the explanation. Thinking of how to word it correctly, he explained.
"Multiple universes mean while I, Gilgamesh, maybe a male, there are odd timelines where I am a female. Just like that, there are timelines where the death god, Nergal is a female. A long time ago, a male and a female Nergal met. As they had become the pinnacle of their own verses. They met and they mated, giving birth to a child who issued the start of the Nergal race."
"Ah…"
"Yes."
"Brother, can we talk about something later?"
Ereshkigal proposed and a part of Neji caught on right away.
In actuality, Nergal was the God of the Sun, War, Death, Diseases, and Plagues in Mesopotamian mythology.
Nergal was sought after by Ereshkigal, who desired his Authority over the sun in order to improve the Underworld. However, Nergal tricked her even in defeat by giving her the half of his Authorities that governed diseases and plagues instead.
Now that Nergal was gone, there was no God of the Sun around to help Eresh with her goal. Sure there was Ozymandias, but that person was a stranger to Mesopotamia.
So, if Neji's guess was correct… Ereshkigal wanted Kurai to accept Nergal's legacy, so that she could attain sun and war authority, besides her current powers.
"We can talk about it right now, actually. Because I don't think we will have the time to discuss anything else afterward."
"Ohh." Ereshkigal hesitated. "It's about Nergal's Legacy, in his abandoned temple-"
"All right then. Is there a dungeon? Sisty, there should be a dungeon right? I am sure there is a dungeon for this situation. Like the temple of Nergal that will turn into a dungeon. So I say Ereshkigal and Kurai should leave for the dungeon right away."
Neji interrupted Ereshkigal right away and ordered their leave, making Sisty add to his words right away.
"Every world is supposed to have dungeons, yes. However, just like what happened in the Naruto World, I merged all the dungeons in the form of a Tower. The 'Tower of the End' that is hidden under the Holy City of Camelot is actually the tower of this world. Do you want me to separate Nergal's Floor from there, and put it where it was?"
Neji looked at Sisty impressed, as did Rumi though she didn't understand much of it.
"You can do that, Sisty? Then please go ahead."
"Yeah, that's the Sisty girl you talked about a few days ago. Your spiritual twin, huh? She is hot." Rumi added as Neji ignored it, sending a mental note to Sisty to not reply to the remark.
Sisty nodded and vanished in thin air, going back to her true form in his head and focusing on the job at hand.
"Hey, Papa!"
Kurai jumped from on top of Ereshkigal's head and appeared on Rumi's head, looking at Neji.
"You're sending me away after we met for the first time in two weeks?"
Neji lifted her up by her arms. "Hey, it's a dungeon. It will take you a few hours at most."
"Oh…"
"You can bring Ereshkigal too. Actually, take Ishtar with you too. With her light powers and Ereshkigal's dark powers, it should be easy to clear."
Neji was glad Kurai had this opportunity. Kurai didn't have the benefit of a Class or Sub-Class, her mini-system of the party feature didn't give her those. However, with this gain of Sun Authority, she would have a similar status to his Lumomancer and Voidmancer powers.
Obviously, someone had a complaint about this. Ishtar appeared flustered as she yelled.
"H-hey, why must I go? I have other s-stuff to do."
She was lying. She just didn't want to go with Ereshkigal. In fact, she was shell-shocked when she saw Ereshkigal in the outside world. How did she leave? She obviously didn't question it openly—she was happy for her other self, who by now was so different that she could be called a twin sister.
Still, their history made it awkward for her to work with Ereshkigal. And that's precisely why Neji was sending her instead of Quetzalcoatl. They needed to talk things through.
[…I am done, Master. The floor of Nergal has been severed from the Tower, and placed in the temple of Nergal.]
"Too late, my cute Goddess Ishtar. I will make it up to you later, so you better shut up and leave with them."
"You-"
"Bye, Papa!"
Kurai didn't have any complaints now that she knew it'd only take a few hours.
She said farewell to Neji and Rumi, and jumped back at Ereshkigal and Ishtar. Kurai grabbed the two of them and activated her [Karma] that she got from Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. She used the Byakugan to locate the temple. She already knew its location thanks to Ereshkigal showing it to her earlier when they were strolling. So she easily opened a portal there and appeared on spot with the two twin Goddesses.
….
Now, Rumi went back to feeding Neji since their little kitten wasn't here to see and get corrupted. That meant Quetzalcoatl's stare continued, given she hadn't yet been answered.
"All right, let me introduce the others. That white-haired gorgeous beside Ana is the great mage Merlin. She is the personal mage of the Lion King's royal court, actually. I summoned her with the Grail, earlier."
The others shot fascinated gazes at the girl, and Neji could even hear the loud blabbering of Chaldea Lab from the equipment that Fujimaru wore. They understood the weight of that person—whose soul origin was so strong.
"Nice to meet you."
The girl bowed, and Neji continued.
"The cat and this bunny aren't summoned, and neither are they servants. When I said I am a soul that merged with Gil, I meant I have a life outside this. These two are two of my closest people from that life. The cat is my lovely familiar, and this bunny is nothing short of my wife."
Calling Rumi 'one of my girls' wouldn't do her justice. Now that he had a relationship with so many girls, he needed to make it clear who was on the lead. Rumi certainly was one of the leading girls.
"Ah. That's…"
How was it that this surprised them more than Merlin's appearance did? Mash even looked speechless, while Fujimaru looked nearly heartbroken. No, why did she look heartbroken when she already saw him fuck Vinci? What was this situation?
"Your… wife?"
Of course, the craziest reaction of all was granted by Quetzalcoatl. Who looked as if she had just lost her sanity. Her body shook and she looked at Neji and then at Rumi. Soon, her eyes focused on Rumi and grew into a glare.
"Huh, is that lizard jealous?"
"She's a snake, not a lizard. Different kinds of dragons."
Neji explained as Rumi shrugged. She moved closer to him and given their position, it meant she shoved her chest into his face.
"Forget that. Did you just call me 'wife' – hm? Why don't you give me a ring before announcing that? I will take a child instead if you are willing."
"It's not time for that yet."
"You—woman!"
Suddenly, the mad Dragon yelled. She brought her weapon, a spiked club machete, and glared at Rumi.
"Come, duel me! You can't take him away from me without winning!"
"What's up with her?"
Rumi jumped off Neji's lap and approached Quetzalcoatl. She was not the type to back off from a battle, after all.
Due to their unique clothes, their muscles were visible to each other's eyes. Their strength was gauged by their senses, as they stood before one another.
However, it was clear who'd win.
Rumi was 6", while Quetzalcoatl was 5"11. The difference started from there and ended at their huge Tier difference.
With her hand on his waist, Rumi looked down at the woman who stared back. They were both old, and they were both fighters. They were similar in multiple ways, but there was one undeniable factor.
Rumi was a mere prey at the beginning. A rabbit was always hunted. Now, she was a predator that could go against the Gods. In turn, Quetzalcoatl had been a predator since birth.
Now, a Moon Rabbit was a mythical creature just like a Dragon. That was further amplified by her Ōtsutsuki body.
There's nothing that Rumi lacked, and the undeniable factor was that Rumi was simply too strong. Racial differences didn't matter to her at this point.
"I like her,"
She smiled softly, looking down at Quetzalcoatl.
"Sure, she was born a dragon, but those muscles don't come from lazing around. She worked hard. How about I take your duel offer after you're back at your full power, though? We both know I will win regardless if we fight right now."
"...."
"Something wrong?"
Quetzalcoatl thought she was just mocking her at first, but at her tone she sighed and pointed at Neji.
"Tell him that. I can't regain my full power without his help."
"Huh? Neji?"
Rumi looked confused as she turned at Neji.
"What does that mean? Why haven't you brought her back to full power if you can?"
Neji smiled awkwardly. "Erm, I am on a diet."
"Huh? AH- wait, I get it now." Rumi looked stunned. "You're crazy. Is it because of what I told you last time? That you were enjoying yourself too much? You know, it's fine as long as it fulfills a good reason right? If it makes her stronger, it's good for us."
It's been nearly two weeks. Neji had slept with three women. That was a record in recent times. Record of the lowest number.
Neji sighed. "I don't want to make her feel like I'm sleeping with her just for that, though. Also, it'll take weeks, she said. We don't have that much time at hand."
"Huh," Rumi shrugged. "Didn't take you to change into such a morally nice person. Bending her over on the spot is more of your stuff."
Neji sighed aloud and shook his head. "Now, let's stop talking about it. We are leaving for New Egypt. An Omni-copy of myself is there already, after that we will discuss the attack plan and proceed to Holy City. Let's leave."
Neji didn't want to continue this conversation and so he waved his hand. That wasn't really a motion needed for his Kamui to activate, as space twisted in and out of itself, and dragged everyone to New Egypt, where the other Neji had used Kamui as well.
Now, while he waited for Kurai to return, the plan should be made on the other side.
In the meantime, he should go visit the underground prison and talk with the three nights.
* * *
In Jerusalem, far from both Camelot and New Egypt, there was something called the Eastern Mountain Village.
That's the third force in this game of chess. Led by the Hassan of Cursed Arm, and protected by the legendary Old Man of the Mountain, the group was now stronger than ever thanks to the Knight Bedivere, the wielder of Excalibur, joining forces.
"With that said. I believe we shall attack the Holy City already."
A three-way war had just begun.
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