"Oh dear, oh dear… looks like I've been found."
Inside the divine tower, beneath the throne, a white-haired mage spoke in an easy, casual tone, as if he were commenting on something utterly ordinary.
He sounded like a seasoned repeat offender.
"Merlin. Did you find him?"
A voice heavy with authority came from above.
Gilgamesh sat on the throne with one leg crossed over the other, handling his daily affairs, and spared a glance toward the white-haired man below.
This white-haired man was Merlin—one of the seven Servants Gilgamesh had summoned, a mage.
A scoundrel incubus who had even been considered for the Grand Caster seat.
His favorite hobby was using Clairvoyance to spy on people, so having him locate the Tarnished was the most fitting task imaginable.
"Yes, King Gilgamesh. I found the person you mentioned. He's landed at Eridu."
"What? Your Majesty—"
At that place name, Siduri, the priestess, panicked and instantly turned toward the king on the throne.
Eridu was territory held by one of the Three Goddess Alliance—the Forest Goddess.
Even if the Tarnished was help Gilgamesh had called for, landing there was still likely to be fatal.
Yet Gilgamesh's reaction left her completely bewildered, because not only did her king show no worry, he even let out a long-unheard laugh.
"Hahahahaha! Wonderful—absolutely wonderful! Well done!"
After being in the chat group for so long, Gilgamesh was, for the first time, impressed by how considerate it could be.
He had planned to have the Tarnished deal with one of the Three Goddesses anyway, and retrieve Marduk's hand axe while he was at it.
He hadn't expected the chat group to make it so convenient by dropping the man directly where he needed to be.
It saved him a great deal of trouble.
"However, King Gilgamesh…"
"Hmm? What is it?"
For some reason, Merlin speaking up like that gave Gilgamesh a bad feeling—the kind that made his eyebrow twitch.
At the same moment, an abnormal change outside the tower drew both their attention. Their gazes shifted toward the distant sky.
From the far end of the heavens, an immense surge of magical power was approaching.
The sheer magnitude was almost absurd.
"Don't tell me…"
An indescribable emotion rose in Gilgamesh's chest. He immediately looked down at Merlin.
As if to confirm his suspicion, Merlin noticed the glance and put on a dazed, innocent grin.
Right then, a soldier rushed in, frantic and pale.
"K-King Gilgamesh, it's bad!"
"Hmph. Stop panicking. Have you forgotten your decorum? Speak—slowly."
Gilgamesh's commanding voice carried a calming force. The soldier, who had come to deliver the report, steadied himself at once.
"Yes! According to the forward watch posts, a single arrow fired from an unknown location wiped out nearly one-tenth of the magical beasts on the front line!"
"Oh. I see."
Without even thinking, Gilgamesh knew who it was.
Besides himself, only the Tarnished could pull off something on that level.
So why the panic?
"However… after destroying the beasts, the arrow did not stop. It's still flying—straight toward the divine tower!"
"Merlin…"
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes and stared at Merlin below, who was whistling softly and pointedly looking away.
Tch. You can't find a single Tablet of Destiny, and now when I ask you to locate someone, you go and provoke him.
No need to guess whose fault this was.
Gilgamesh turned his gaze outside. Sure enough, an azure arrow was growing rapidly in his vision.
He took a slow breath, forcing his emotions down. His crimson eyes sharpened with seriousness.
"Siduri. Give him three days' leave. And provide him with nutritious fruit so he can recover."
"But, King Gilgamesh—"
"It's fine. It's merely an arrow. I can block it."
As he spoke, Gilgamesh rose from the throne, and a tablet-like slab appeared in his hand.
He shouldn't have been using magical power at a time like this, but he had no choice.
By his estimation, if that arrow struck here, it would erase the entire divine tower from the map—and Uruk itself would suffer damage to varying degrees.
"Leave it to me."
Just as Gilgamesh prepared to intercept it, a childish voice rose from below and stopped his movement.
"You?"
His surprised gaze fell on the white mascot-like creature standing beside Siduri.
Little North nodded.
"Very well," Gilgamesh said, waving his hand. "Then I'll leave it to you. Don't disappoint me."
If she volunteered, she must have some confidence. Letting her try posed no issue. Worst case, he would clean up afterward.
It wasn't even the first time.
Under Gilgamesh's watchful eyes, Little North walked to the entrance of the divine tower and lifted her head. Those wine-red eyes locked onto the massive incoming arrow, now nearly upon them.
They called it an "arrow," but something nearly ten meters long could no longer be considered one.
Calling it a missile would have been more accurate.
Yet even facing such an attack, Little North remained expressionless.
In her childish voice, she spoke a single command.
"Destroy it."
The moment the simple words fell, missiles began dropping in rapid succession from beneath her pure white skirt.
Before they even hit the ground, they ignited, trailing flames as they surged toward the target.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
In an instant, a storm of missiles collided with the blue arrow.
The enormous arrow was swallowed whole, and a deafening blast shook the sky as dazzling azure fireworks erupted overhead.
The citizens of Uruk covered their ears, staring blankly at the phenomenon above, as specks of blue magical debris drifted down and landed across their bodies.
This was a trophy Little North had once taken from a male Reincarnator during a previous mission.
Its name was the Permanent Tail-Chase Air-to-Air Missile.
She also possessed an Uranus System, a final weapon called Apollo, and something known as the Absolute Defense Ring.
But this was her first time using the missiles.
The effect seemed… pretty decent.
Next time, maybe she could use this to force those people to hand over the Zero Fighters.
Meanwhile, on the throne, Gilgamesh watched the attack get intercepted and finally let out a quiet breath.
At the same time, the chat group's notification sounded in his mind.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "I've arrived. @King of Heroes"
Fujiwara Chika: "Eh? Tarnished, you've arrived? But Gilgamesh said he hasn't seen you. Where are you?"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Where? I don't know. It's nothing but dense forest everywhere. I can't tell directions at all."
Fujiwara Chika: "Forest? I remember Uruk might be an ancient style city-state, but it's still grand and magnificent, right? There's no dense forest at all. @Forever Seventeen, Yukari, that's true, isn't it?"
Forever Seventeen: "My, my. Looks like the chat group's teleportation bug struck again."
Inside the gap, Yakumo Yukari snapped her folding fan open with a crisp sound, hiding the smile on her face.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "What do you mean?"
Fujiwara Chika: "Um… Yukari means the chat group's teleportation system sometimes has little problems and sends people to weird places…"
Fujiwara Chika: "One time, when Yukari was on a mission, she got teleported right onto a Reincarnator's face…"
It was literal.
Face-to-face, airborne, instant collision.
Back then, an enraged Yakumo Yukari had swept the entire team into her gap, and they had never been heard from again.
One of the chat group's rare black histories.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "...But there aren't any Reincarnators here."
He climbed out of the crater he had made and looked around again.
Nothing but trees.
No Reincarnators, not even a trace of human presence.
Originally, he had intended to land near that altar-like platform, but using the great bow in midair had shifted his landing point slightly.
Fujiwara Chika: "Then… I don't know…"
King of Heroes: "I understand. I already know where you are. @Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife"
King of Heroes: "You weren't sent near Uruk at all. You were sent near Eridu."
King of Heroes: "However, before I dispatch someone to retrieve you, I wish to ask you to do something for me."
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Go on."
King of Heroes: "I want you to deal with the Forest Goddess who occupies the woodland—and retrieve Marduk's hand axe. Of course, the reward will be generous."
Fujiwara Chika: "Marduk's hand axe? The one used to kill the creator goddess Tiamat?"
King of Heroes: "Correct."
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Dealing with a goddess is fine, but it's all forest out here. Where am I supposed to find this 'hand axe'?"
King of Heroes: "It's fine. You should be able to see something in the distance—a gigantic stick-like object."
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Yeah. I see it."
Following Gilgamesh's guidance, he peered through layers of branches and leaves, and once again spotted that towering, axe-shaped object reaching into the clouds.
A terrible thought surfaced in his mind.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Hold on, Gilgamesh. Don't tell me that thing is the hand axe."
King of Heroes: "It is. That is Marduk's hand axe. And the Forest Goddess is there as well."
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "…"
He raised an eyebrow as he stared at the axe, which looked about as large as a temple.
"You call that a hand axe?"
Unlock 100+ advance chapters on Patreon — every follow inspires me to keep going!
patreon.com/legacyverse1