"Right! You're all here! I see you've returned with refreshed looks on your faces. Excellent!"
The one laughing most merrily was the Wise King sitting upon the throne. His skin glowed with health; he looked vibrant in every sense of the word.
"There before you lie the clay tablets of the people's gratitude! It is your reward—take your time looking through them. Now, answer me! Is Uruk a fine city?!"
""YEAH!!""
"Have you grown to love it? Have you spent enough time here to resolve that not a single citizen shall be lost?!"
""YEAH!!""
"Do you love Uruk?!"
""WE LOVE IT!!""
"Hmph! Then all is well! You have served well during your month-long stay. The sprouting of that spirit is exactly what I desired—that 'Love of Homeland' which you all lacked!"
The Heroic King, watching from the side, threw a piercing barb at the Wise King laughing on the throne.
"Their home is Japan—Chaldea—is it not?"
"Silence, my foolish self! Uruk is the home of everyone's soul! Even Masked Lamassu here should have a say!"
—Uruk… Ah, Uruk…! I will protect it! I swear! I won't let anyone die!!
Seeing the spirit-form Ea huffing with determination, the two Kings smiled with satisfaction.
『I was waiting for that resolve, Princess. Now… the stage is set.』
"Indeed. This bizarre stint as 'Masked Lamassu' shall surely become a legend in Uruk's history."
（It seems my efforts in doing something so out of character were worth it.）
Fou returned to his usual mascot mode. (Later, Fou would become a legend in Uruk as the Great Sage who introduced the concepts of 'beans and sake,' but that is a story for another time.)
—Let's walk through Uruk together again, Fou!
（But of course!）
Patting the two satisfied companions, the Heroic King finally spoke.
"We have recovered our strength in full. It is high time we addressed the remaining thirty percent of our problems. Lay out the plan, my 'wise' self. Since you are the one occupying the throne, leave the acting out of whims to me and get to work."
The Heroic King stood with his arms crossed, looking up at the throne. Normally, the act of 'looking up' at someone would be an unthinkable indignity for him, but his current mood was so 'Gorgeous' that he didn't bother to take offense at such trifles.
"Hahaha! Bold words! Very well! Profligacy, desertion, and wandering shall be your roles! As for the rest of you—it is finally time to launch our strike against the Goddesses!"
He slammed his hand against the armrest of the throne and crossed his legs.
"First, the North! The disgrace of Mesopotamia who has taken up residence on Mt. Ebih! I order the disposal of that woman, Ishtar! She is a useless personification of incompetence—impossible to handle, impossible to reason with, and talented only in inflating collateral damage! Have you grasped the objective, Rikka?!"
Rikka cracked her knuckles.
"You mean we need to go reach a mutual understanding, right? Got it!"
"…Ideally, she is a goddess I would have preferred to incinerate with Marduk first and foremost. It was a blunder. 'Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today'—the ancients truly left us with profound wisdom…"
The Heroic King slumped his shoulders, letting out a heavy sigh of disappointment.
—I feel for you… Ishtar-sama, the Heroic King, and Enkidu-san are like cats and dogs. I doubt there's a drop of goodwill between them…
（The Mesopotamian gods are far too doting. Why did they leave their daughter alone until she turned out like that?）
Fou shook his head in exasperation as Ea tried to comfort the dejected King. Amidst this, Siduri stepped forward with a word of caution.
"My King, do you truly mean to 'defeat' the Goddess Ishtar? I find that difficult to accept. While her conduct and the damage she causes cannot be ignored, she is the patron deity of Uruk. To turn our blades against her is…"
The Heroic King's disappointment deepened further at those words.
"If it were that simple, I would not be so despondent. That woman is a lost cause, yet while she is an eyesore to keep alive, she possesses something far too valuable to simply discard."
"Huh? What do you mean…?"
The Wise King pressed his fingers to his brow in frustration.
"…It means that for a perfect conclusion, we require the 'thing' she possesses. In the final hour of this war, that object will be indispensable."
"That object…?"
—The thing Ishtar-sama has. Could it be…
Ea, having read the Epic of Gilgamesh and touched upon the myths, realized the truth and turned pale.
"Indeed. Only Ishtar can command the scorched-earth weapon, 'Gugalanna.' It is the strongest Divine Beast in Mesopotamia. That catastrophe, which even the gods could not tame, Ishtar controls at will—through her strict, and occasionally strict, and sometimes strictly strict management."
（She's just using a whip. She's a demon.）
—Heroic King, you don't mean… you intend to unleash Gugalanna? For real?
"In addition to Marduk, if we are to ensure an ironclad victory, one more decisive push is essential. Marduk will likely not lose, but to neglect preparation is the height of folly. Well, my personal feelings aside, that is the only value I find in that Ishtar woman."
Using Gugalanna—a pure, high-altitude natural disaster—on top of the Heroic God Marduk…
Ea realized once again: the scale of this battle was a myth beyond all others.
"We are not killing her. We are taming her. Like a wild beast. And naturally, the one who shall earn the title of Beast Tamer is you, the Evil Dragon Rikka!"
The Wise King pointed directly at Rikka, nodding in agreement with the Heroic King.
"It's here! The Negotiate Phase is here! Victory is mine!"
『…I wonder if it will be alright. Gods cannot be measured by human morals or values. If she throws a tantrum and goes on a rampage…』
"That won't happen. My other self and Marduk will keep her pinned under our gaze. I shall prepare the seat for negotiations. Everything beyond that is your job, Master."
As the conversation progressed, Ea timidly raised her voice.
—As I mentioned before, King Gilgamesh and Ishtar-sama are bitter enemies. Is it truly going to be okay? It's like mixing a hamburger and a parfait—they just don't go together, do they?
Both Kings nodded in unison.
『Of course. And even after making her an ally, there is no particular benefit to her company.』
"In truth, she is filth that defiles my very vision… but considering the cause and our enemy, we cannot afford to be choosy. If there is even a shred of utility in her, we shall use her until she is a tattered rag."
—A marriage of convenience. Personal feelings are one thing, the job is another. Right?
"Exactly. However, we must provide her with a suitable 'welcome.' I will not do something that fails to amuse me even if it kills me, but once I decide to act, I am thorough."
The King's face, which had been full of annoyance and boredom, shifted instantly into a confident smirk befitting a ruler.
"We shall now depart for Mt. Ebih, the nest of that useless goddess! We'll have this settled in three hours! My wise self, stay here and keep yourself cool with a fan while you wait!!"
He snapped his fingers.
"Wh—?!"
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