"Here—"
Ophis took the fruit from Enkidu's hand. It resembled the apple of knowledge and she took a small bite.
The two were now in a small woods on their way back. Unlike their hurried journey to the location, they were taking their time returning.
Enkidu needed more time to fully recover, so Ophis stayed behind to keep her company.
It was still noon. They were resting here not out of fatigue but simply because the weather was pleasant and the scenery beautiful. They could leave whenever they wanted and stop whenever they wished—time, weather, or terrain had no effect on them.
"Not sweet."
After tasting the fruit, which Ophis tentatively named an apple, she commented.
"Well… among all the fruits around here, this one is considered the best."
Enkidu smiled, sat down next to Ophis, and picked up an apple to eat.
Ophis had a preference for sweets, especially the very sweet ones. This was probably her only small whim.
In any case, Enkidu liked this fruit a lot.
"Enkidu, are you okay?"
As the apple was quickly eaten, Ophis used a simple magic trick to burn the core, all the while staring at Enkidu intently.
Faced with such a look, Enkidu was both amused and helpless.
Normally, Ophis wouldn't ask so directly.
After spending so much time together, Enkidu had a rough understanding of Ophis's situation.
Unlike her usual expressionless demeanor, Ophis was quite active in her thinking and had a high level of analytical ability. However, she generally showed little interest in external matters and was quite naive and insensitive when it came to emotions.
To put it bluntly, they demonstrated high knowledge and analytical skills in areas related to themselves, but their emotional intelligence was quite low, as they were generally uninterested in external issues.
Such an existence would likely be ignored unless something truly interesting caught their attention.
Enkidu found it incredible that she could get Ophis to respond to her.
This must be what they call fate, right?
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
With a familiar smile, Enkidu touched Ophis's head in response.
Ophis nodded, then took out a red fire stick from a golden ripple and held it in her arms, returning to her trance-like state.
For Ophis, her question wasn't meant to bring up a topic or serve a purpose but was simply an expression of care and concern.
Enkidu noticed the fire stick that had appeared from nowhere and couldn't help but smile slightly (I've been conquering for so long, but I lost to a fire stick?) (crossed out). Though curious, he didn't ask out loud. Once Ophis fell into a trance, it was difficult to rouse her unless she was directly attacked.
Enkidu didn't mind being set aside by the 'best friend' she considered. She just smiled more gently and stared at Ophis.
She needed time to think too.
Why… had Humbaba completely lost his mind?
Actually, there wasn't much to overthink about this question.
Humbaba was originally the gatekeeper of the gods' treasure and a magical beast created by God. What set him apart from Enkidu was that this magical beast had developed wisdom over its long life.
For a magical beast created by God, only the gods who made him could easily extract all his wildness, right?
The problem was… Enkidu couldn't think of any reason why the gods would do such a thing.
Even though Ophis didn't fully fulfill her role as a wedge, she didn't completely deny this responsibility either. Enkidu felt that Ophis might not even be aware of it.
According to the gods' sense of time, drawing conclusions in just a few months, let alone taking actions that further alienate humans from the gods, seemed impossible.
…wait.
Enkidu suddenly realized this was a misunderstanding caused by his own perspective.
The assumption that people would become more alienated from the gods depends on the idea that 'people know this is the gods' doing.'
But in reality, even Enkidu, who is closest to the gods, has no conclusive evidence and can only guess.
Besides, even if people knew, they would still acknowledge God's power and retreat.
People of this era are resilient, but that doesn't mean they are indifferent to controlling their own lives and deaths.
Do the gods want humans to pray to them in times of disaster?
Or, by using Humbaba's erosion of nature, do the gods slow human growth?
These are possibilities. Even Uruk, protected by Ophis's power, was affected to some extent, resulting in some deaths, not to mention other city-states.
Humans becoming more dependent on gods is a likely outcome after facing such disasters.
Then, due to Humbaba's downfall, the wrath of nature subsides—this could be interpreted as the gods receiving the prayers and stopping their tyranny.
Even if they defeated Humbaba, only the people of Uruk would know, and the news might only spread to a few nearby city-states… as rumors.
Even with these rumors, people would likely think that Ophis, the chosen king of God, and Enkidu, the weapon of God, must have acted under divine instructions.
Had they triumphed over nature only to be defeated by the gods who represent it? How ironic and ridiculous...
Even with a general understanding of the possibilities, Enkidu still had doubts.
Though a series of actions would likely benefit the gods, Enkidu felt that the gods' actions were too hasty—or perhaps too sharp.
Humans have great potential and will eventually develop to a point where even the power of gods becomes meaningless. The gods must have recognized this potential and their own stagnation, so they sent out a king with divinity who rules over humans but is aligned with the gods.
That is the 'wedge' driving from heaven to earth, Ophis.
As mentioned before, Ophis had never fulfilled such a role, but the time between creating Enkidu to balance Ophis and acting against Humbaba was too short.
It's hard to imagine that a god with no sense of time could be so impatient.
If the gods had confirmed that Ophis would not fulfill her duties, it might explain things… but even Enkidu couldn't confirm this.
As for whether the gods would spy on Ophis's mind, Enkidu thought that was impossible. Even if there were a mind reader at the level of a god king, they would not be able to see through Ophis's thoughts without her noticing.
Or perhaps Ophis is too strong and beyond the control of the gods?
That seems far-fetched… since Enkidu doesn't know Ophis's true strength or identity, let alone the gods.
As a divine weapon, Enkidu's perception is actually stronger than many gods who are merely "incarnations of nature."
And with the arrogance of a god, could they assume someone else could threaten them without knowing their strength? It's absurd.
...Then again, why would the gods choose an unknown being as a wedge?
While Enkidu was deep in thought, she didn't notice that Ophis, on the other side, had a faint silver light flashing in her right eye and murmured a word in a questioning and very soft voice.
"...human...reason?"