Urah’s grating laughter filled the dueling grounds. He saw that Gilgamesh had given no reaction other than a steeled gaze, but even that glint within his eyes was more than there was before. “Oh? Did I upset you? Can you actually feel a sense of pride now? Hahaha! But you know… fear would be more useful.”
“I do not need to fear Marduk’s dog.” Gilgamesh’s words instantly snapped a violent rage into Urah.
“Insolent…” Urah’s jaw clenched and his fists tightened. “Alright, heretic! I teach you how to feel fear!”
“Fool.” Gilgamesh thought. Urah was one of the Named. As he possessed a unique yazata, of course he was stronger. That was why Gilgamesh taunted him. A raging boar was easier to predict than a composed snake.
Gilgamesh steeled himself. “I will show you all how far I have progressed.”
Gilgamesh dashed to the side on his Snake Tail as soon as the fight began, just in time to dodge the two yazata arms that lunged past.
“About as fast as the Training Dummy’s burst.” Gilgamesh judged. “Which means the Yazata arms have around 300 Agility. Urah is a bull-headed fool, so its Strength is likely even higher.”
Both his Shifting Sand and Steel Naga rushed towards Urah in turn. “Defense is pointless against a yazata. The only path to victory is offense. After all… You have the same weakness that I do.”
Urah’s eyes snapped to the two golems and two more arms emerged from the void. One destroyed the Steel Naga in an instant, but Gilgamesh shifted his Sand into its idle state to let the arm pass through without much damage.
Gilgamesh feinted left then dashed right, as the two initial yazata arms fell for it and missed him again. Much to Urah’s frustration. Gilgamesh feinted him out again as a second Steel Naga formed and raced towards Urah.
The Yazata was stronger than the Training Dummy in terms of Attributes, but Urah was far inferior in skill. Urah had waited till the end of the Trial, which meant he had been training. But clearly, he had only thoughtlessly leveled whatever Abilities he possessed, with no regard for true combat training.
He was no different from most of the Zoraster scions, overconfident and under-trained. The fool clearly placed too much value in raw power and the indomitable existence of his Yazata, and as such, his might was nothing more than witless brute force.
Urah’s frustration overflowed at the shame of Gilgamesh toying with him. “You worthless bastard!”
Dozens of yazata arms emerged from the void, and with a violent storm of lashes, they eviscerated the Steel Naga. And the arms then turned towards him.
Urah’s unique power was that of an agricultural warrior, one who could grow 'arms of war' in far, far greater amounts than the other scions. Against numbers of this magnitude, none of Gilgamesh’s feints would matter.
But he already knew as much, and Urah did not see the Bomber his lurking Shifting Sands had thrown until it was far too late. It exploded with fiery force and Urah’s arms could not react in time to shield him from all of the impact.
Blood stained the ground as Urah groaned and writhed pathetically, and his yazata arms writhed with him. He tried to rise but his half-mangled body gave out and he fell face-first back to the ground.
“Oh?” Gilgamesh spoke loud enough to gain his attention. Urah’s eyes wandered over through the pain to meet Gilgamesh’s own, cold and dismissive. “Is this what fear looks like?”
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Urah lashed out with his yazata arms with a rageful wail, but Gilgamesh had already predicted as much, and he moved first. His Shifting Sand sliced open a wound through his own bandages, and Red Light spilt forth.
Gilgamesh collapsed in excruciating pain as his golems broke down. But when the yazata arms touched the lightning, they were suppressed and erased. Urah stared in confusion and trepidation at the sight of his yazata’s inferiority before the Red Light.
Soon, Gilgamesh’s bandages repaired itself, and the Red Light dispersed as he rose to his feet.
“Thank you for allowing me to test that so easily.” Gilgamesh said to the still unsightly Zoraster scion. “Now I can be certain the Red Light can be used against you all.”
Urah still did not understand, not what Gilgamesh had done nor why he was the one lying injured on the ground. But he was not given time to figure it out. A Bomber rolled next to Urah without warning, one Gilgamesh had set up just out of sight before he had first spoken out to the fool. And Urah’s face fell into terror.
“Boom.” Gilgamesh whispered.
“I yield!” Urah screamed.
He vanished from the arena just before the feared explosion, but the explosion never came. Gilgamesh had never intended to detonate it. A quick death was too generous for Urah. He wanted Urah to know his own patheticness so intimately that he could never deny it, such was the depth of his resentment.
“How grand, Urah.” Gilgamesh spoke to the spectating crowd. “You have taught the whole world what fear looks like.”
[ Some gods take amusement in your wickedness. ]
[ You have completed the quest given by [ Three-Headed Snake ]. You are rewarded 5 Attribute Points. ]
[ You have completed the quest given by [ Serpent of False Mysteries ]. You are rewarded 5 Attribute Points. ]
[ You have completed the quest given by [ Mercenary Queen ]. You are rewarded 1 Attribute Point. ]
[ Handsome Monkey King ] supposes he can grant you a passing grade.
[ Warrior Maid ] would like to train you.
[ Eye of Ra ] proclaims that true vengeance is only achieved through murder.
Gilgamesh glanced at the 11 Attribute Points he had just gained, and decided to hold onto them until he learned what the next trial required of him. The Puppet Emperor held out two wooden gladiuses this time, and they were accepted automatically.
[ You have passed the Sixth Trial. ]
[ Exceptional feats acknowledged. ]
[ You are rewarded the Bronze tier traits: Mana Insulation lvl 8 and Mana Connector lvl 8. ]
[ You are rewarded 50 Attribute Points. (10 Victories, 0 yields). ]
When Gilgamesh saw the amount, he was almost tempted to allocate them immediately. But he buried all thoughtless rashness beneath a clear objective.
[ Sixth Trial Rankings ]
- Attila Atreus
- Marduk
- Ishtar
- Titon Saba
- Sereth
- Xerxes
- Vandal
- Rhys Rhun
- Dante Demonsbane
- Rama Pandava
- …
1,001. Gilgamesh
1,002. ….
Gilgamesh’s eyes glossed over the top 2, then settled upon his own ranking. Even with his victory over Urah and the fortunate win over Shenwu, he was not even acknowledged to be within the strongest 1000 heroes of the trial.
It bothered him, not because he disagreed but because of the vast distance ahead he still had to travel. However, that truth only cast oil on the flames of his ambition, and the mockery of the impossible path ahead only deepened his unfettered resolve.
"Even if I am not the Hero... Even if that was nothing more than the baseless dream of a child... Gilgamesh is my name." Unbeknownst to Gilgamesh himself, the faint embers of something grand threatened to emanate from within. "No matter what it takes. Not matter who stands in my way. I will claim that right with my own hands. Fate will acknowledge me."
Gilgamesh was still weak and he still struggled. But he was stronger than he was yesterday. And he would be even stronger tomorrow.
“The Tower is reserved for the mighty!” Nem appeared with an earth-shattering roar of the puppet crowd, louder than any other by far. He waved to them as though he were the centerpiece of the Trials.
“This Trial tested Might, and if that wasn’t obvious..." Nem’s smile curved upwards far too much. "You won’t make it past the next one~”
A gate opened up beneath the Puppet Emperor’s balcony, and Gilgamesh entered through it without hesitation to find himself within the dark stone walls of a labyrinth.
Favorite Trial so far?