As soon as Quetzalcoatl retreated, the Jaguar Warrior, who had been sneaking around with a large basket collecting the bodies of fallen soldiers, suddenly stopped.
She muttered, "The Three Goddess Alliance forbids us from attacking each other, but I'm not included in that restriction. Even if Kuku scolds me, I have to fall back," then turned and bolted. As she ran, she summoned a group of jaguar-headed warriors to block any pursuit.
Clearly, not even the Jaguar Warrior wanted to face Shiomi, Ereshkigal, and the others alone.
"Looks like it was a good call to follow us. You'll be of help right away," Shiomi said as he put away his spear, turning to Ereshkigal.
Ereshkigal pulled down her hood, the tilted brim casting a shadow over the right side of her face.
"Save the thanks for later... Quetzalcoatl killed a lot of people." She walked slowly to the nearest soldier's body and crouched down. "At least let their souls..."
The goddess of the underworld abruptly fell silent.
This puzzled Shiomi and the others, who were waiting for the guards to return and clean up the battlefield.
"What's wrong?" Shiomi asked.
"These people... they're not dead?" Ereshkigal whispered.
She quickly stood and began checking the other supposedly fallen soldiers, all of whom appeared uninjured.
"This one too... and this one..."
The Jaguar Warrior hadn't had enough time to carry all the bodies and had only taken less than half. Ereshkigal checked the rest one by one and finally reached a shocking conclusion.
"You're saying the soldiers Quetzalcoatl killed came back to life the moment they died, but they're just unconscious and will wake up later?"
In the royal palace of the Divine Tower, Hakuno Kishinami covered her mouth in shock upon hearing Shiomi's report.
"It wasn't me who discovered it. It was the goddess Ereshkigal," Shiomi clarified.
Siduri looked confused. "If they didn't plan to kill Uruk's soldiers, then why go to all this trouble to attack?"
Gilgamesh added, "Didn't they say earlier? That Divine Spirit Servant, who called herself a Jaguar Warrior, was following Quetzalcoatl and intended to take all the fallen soldiers' bodies. But she retreated too quickly and left behind about half."
"So then what's really going on?" Siduri was still struggling to process that the soldiers hadn't actually died.
Morgan, who had come to the palace with Shiomi, said, "Back in Ur, the Jaguar Warrior said that the men taken as live sacrifices were sent to the Temple of Eridu for forced labor. These Uruk soldiers who were revived right after being 'killed' will meet the same fate."
Quetzalcoatl spoke of destroying Uruk, but she never actually intended to wipe out all its people. Her real plan had been to kill the soldiers here and immediately revive them, creating the illusion of a real battle. Then the Jaguar Warrior would take the unconscious bodies back to the temple.
By the time the soldiers woke up, they would already be trapped in the Temple of Eridu as forced laborers...
"You mean human trafficking?" Hakuno's expression turned oddly complicated.
"Looks like it," Morgan replied with a wry smile.
Clearly, there was more behind Quetzalcoatl's talk of "killing humans."
After some thought, Shiomi spoke up.
"If we let her continue stirring up trouble in Uruk, it won't just disrupt the city's stability—it'll also make the soldiers fighting on the front lines worry about their families back home. That'll hurt morale. We can't just stand by and do nothing."
Siduri nodded, clearly concerned. "The craftsmen and soldiers have already abandoned the South Market. That means King Gilgamesh's secret project—"
"Secret project?" Shiomi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"It's nothing," Gilgamesh waved it off. "Since I can't leave the Divine Tower to deal with the beasts and goddesses threatening Uruk, I've been passing time with some minor palace work."
He didn't seem interested in revealing more. Seeing that, Shiomi dropped the subject.
In any case, if Gilgamesh really had some hidden agenda and intended to destroy Uruk—the city he once ruled—then no matter the outcome, Shiomi would feel this journey to the Age of Gods had been more than worth it.
"Also, Quetzalcoatl said she'd be back after sunrise tomorrow to kill another hundred people. Even if we know they won't actually die, if the Jaguar Warriors keep taking the bodies like they did today, our forces will be stretched too thin to hold the city's defenses," added Mari, the court magus, sounding exasperated.
"Could you make an exception and use Clairvoyance to check on Quetzalcoatl's current state?" Romani asked Mari through the comms.
Mari gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Roman~ She's a goddess. Girls really hate being spied on, and she's not just any girl—she's a Divine Spirit. Even if I tried to peek, I'd probably get caught in an instant and end up in serious trouble. Right, Lady Ereshkigal?"
"Of course," Ereshkigal replied coldly. "Anyone rude enough to try that, I'd trap their soul in the underworld for ten thousand years."
That was the unshakable dignity of a goddess—sacred and not to be violated.
"See? It's way too early to be angering goddesses. Besides, most of my mana's tied up in other things right now. Even if I wanted to offer a bit of fan service, I couldn't," Mari added with a shrug.
"...Sigh, you could've told me about the limitations of Clairvoyance earlier," Romani muttered, helpless. "So, in the end, we'll have to leave it to you on-site, Shiomi."
"That was the plan from the beginning, Romani." Shiomi nodded. "Let's prepare tonight to avoid any damage when she shows up tomorrow. After that, we'll move out toward Eridu in the southern region of Ur."
Hakuno then asked, "Judging from your report, the opponent doesn't seem nearly as cooperative as Ereshkigal. Do we have any way to handle her?"
"We have some ideas, but we won't know if they'll work until we try them on the battlefield," Shiomi said as he took out the Tablet of Destinies. "Besides, our investigation in Kutha was originally to find this. Everything else—working with the goddess of the underworld, being attacked by the goddess of the forest—was never part of the plan."
Even after he brought out the tablet, Siduri didn't step forward to take it, which caught everyone off guard.
"Is it not genuine?" Shiomi asked.
"We'll know soon enough," Gilgamesh said as he raised his hand and gave a commanding gesture. "If it's real, it will display the information the person who touches it needs. Place your hand on the tablet and recite after me..."
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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