Lying on the wasteland, now several times larger than before, Ophis stared blankly at the sky.
At this point, only her upper body remained, with energy continuously flowing to her disappearing lower half. Though her recovery was visible to the eye, it was extremely slow compared to before.
The sound of footsteps approached, and Enkidu came into Ophis's view.
Enkidu wasn't faring much better. His once pristine outer robe, which had remained unblemished despite heavy beating, was now tattered and stained with blood. His exposed skin looked like clods of earth, constantly collapsing and healing.
Even so, he stood firm.
Approaching the injured Ophis, Enkidu couldn't help but laugh.
"I won."
"Yeah?"
Ophis offered a faint smile but said nothing further.
Enkidu raised his hand high, transforming it into a sword.
"With this, the dying struggles of the old humanity will scatter and collapse. So, do you have any final words? Feel free to say them."
At this moment, Enkidu's attitude towards Ophis had softened slightly, though he didn't realize it.
"Enkidu..."
"I am not Enkidu."
Before she could finish, Enkidu coldly interrupted her.
"I am like the demon beasts. Created by my mother, I am also the prototype of the new humans who will rule this world. I am the new humanity created by the original goddess Tiamat. My real name is Kingu."
"Kingu?"
Ophis blinked.
"The first of eleven? Tiamat's second husband?"
As she mentioned Kingu's legend, Ophis's gaze at Enkidu—or rather, Kingu—grew curious.
"Hmph, I am not that cowardly failure, but a perfect being modeled after Enkidu, the greatest masterpiece of the gods... A perfect being designed as the next generation of humans."
Kingu's eyes revealed undisguised disdain as he spoke of the original Kingu.
"So I assure you that humanity will not perish. After the old humanity fades away, human nature will start anew... So die peacefully. The joy of returning to nothingness is the ultimate salvation I grant you!"
As Kingu continued, Ophis's expression grew more peculiar.
"So, you know the things you're curious about, right? You've made the promise, so you should be ready to die now, right?"
"I haven't finished what I was saying yet..."
Ophis sighed slightly, unable to contain herself.
"Oh? As a token of my tolerance, I'll let you say it one last time."
"Well... I confirmed a few things."
"What!?"
Under Kingu's astonished gaze, Ophis's body, which had been recovering, began to dissipate at an accelerated rate.
"First, you're not really Enkidu."
Kingu finally reacted, and the sword in his hand flashed as he tried to strike, but missed his target.
Ophis had completely dissipated.
"Secondly, you're dumber and more foolish than Enkidu, and you talk too much."
A purple light condensed into an upper body above Kingu, and Ophis chuckled.
"You!"
Kingu quickly reacted, summoning countless weapons from the ground beneath him, all aimed at Ophis. Just as he was about to fire, numerous magic circles appeared around him, surrounding him densely.
"When did this happen...?"
Kingu's face darkened. The intense magical pressure made him hesitate.
"Finally, since you failed to kill me with one strike, your victory was always doomed."
As Ophis snapped her fingers, additional layers of magic circles appeared, creating a fifth layer. More and more circles continued to manifest, all pointing directly at Kingu, leaving him no room to dodge.
"This is your final gift. Accept it."
Though each shot was not overly powerful, the sheer number was enough to overwhelm Kingu.
Unlike before, when the circles were scattered, now they were all focused on one target.
"Damn it!"
Kingu gritted his teeth and quickly summoned chains to surround himself as Ophis, once again emotionless, issued her final command.
"Two thousand... Go ahead."
As soon as she finished speaking, a massive mushroom cloud rose slowly in the forest.
Watching the mushroom cloud still billowing, Merlin whistled.
"Quite the spectacle. So, has it been resolved, King Ophis?"
Ophis emerged from the woods, her body not fully recovered yet, with purple spots of light flashing across her.
"It was impossible to destroy Enkidu at that level."
Ophis shook her head lightly and turned to leave.
"Let's go back to Uruk."
The others had no objections, and their journey back was uneventful, allowing them to return safely to the north wall.
"Everyone, are you okay? Do you need any treatment?"
As they reentered the city, Medea, looking like a little angel, appeared with concern.
"Yeah, we're fine."
Ophis gave a faint smile and nodded to Medea.
"Hmm... King Ophis seems much more cheerful now."
Watching the interaction from behind, Merlin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"King Ophis, are you back?"
Joan of Arc and Arjuna, who had been guarding the rear, rushed over.
"By the way, all the Dingjirs on the city wall fired automatically..."
"It's okay, I did it."
"Oh, really? That's impressive, truly worthy of being the king."
Jeanne seemed quite surprised.
At that moment, a beam of light suddenly shot toward them, only to be deflected by Ophis with a wave of her hand.
"Really? You're here?"
Sitting on the sky boat Maana, Ishtar proudly put her hands on her hips.
"I came to Uruk to find you. I searched the entire pyramid temple. Really, I've never heard of a god standing up before."
"No... I don't think I had an appointment with Ishtar... Ishtar was taken away from Uruk..."
"Huh? If I say there was, then there was. And I didn't steal anything. Those were all legitimate rewards I received!"
Waving her hand at Maana, Ishtar suddenly narrowed her eyes at Ophis.
Ophis tilted her head, puzzled.
"Ishtar, what's up?"
"No, I just feel like you've changed a little, as if you've let go of something."
Ishtar suddenly laughed softly.
"This is much better than the feeling I got from you before."
"Yeah..."
Ophis tilted her head again.
"Although I don't really care about Ishtar's feelings..."
"Wait... I noticed that even though you don't talk much, you sometimes say things that are quite hurtful!?"
Watching the group interacting amiably, Altira quietly turned and left.
"Altira."
Ophis called out to her.
"We defeated the Scorpion Man today, thanks to you."
"No... it was just work."
Altira nodded and was about to leave again when Ophis grabbed her skirt.
"Even so, we should thank you. Let's celebrate today?"
Seeing the eagerness in Ophis's eyes, Altira couldn't help but agree.
After all, my tribesmen would also celebrate after a victory...
"Well, defeating the Scorpion Man is a milestone."
"Yes, it shows that the enemy isn't invincible."
Merlin offered rare positive feedback, and Joan of Arc smiled in agreement.
Ophis's smile softened as she looked at the group.
Though there are more powerful enemies ahead...
But we will definitely win!
For humanity, for Uruk, and for Enkidu.
And for myself.
We must win!