"Good, we're not too late."
Castorice glanced toward the city and found no signs of monsters running rampant.
After retrieving the Holy Grail, Castorice and the others had rushed toward Uruk without a moment's delay. As for Enkidu's remains, they would be laid to rest in the flower fields of the underworld.
After all, this was Gilgamesh's closest friend. Castorice had preserved the body with great care.
"So, what's the plan now?"
Suddenly, Ishtar spotted a dark tide gradually emerging on the distant horizon. Looking closer, she realized it wasn't water, but countless eerie black creatures.
These beings were the creations of Tiamat—the Eleventh Children, the Lahmu.
Their numbers... reached a staggering fifty thousand!
Individually, each of these monsters surpassed the mighty lion Ugallu in strength—beings that ordinary humans stood no chance against.
This time, since Castorice had gathered all of humanity in Uruk, the monsters headed straight for the city the moment they made landfall, without the slightest pause along the way.
At their speed, they would reach Uruk in no time.
And Uruk's defenses stood no chance of holding them back.
Without some extraordinary measure, the city's guardians would be overwhelmed in an instant.
What's more, the enemy's numbers were far too great. Even a goddess on the level of Quetzalcoatl would be helpless against tens of thousands of them.
Even unleashing a Noble Phantasm would be like trying to put out a wildfire with a cup of water—utterly futile.
Fortunately, they had anticipated this very situation.
"Eresh, are you ready?"
She spoke softly, her feet planted firmly on the ground.
"Eresh? What's going on?"
Ishtar, standing nearby, was still in the dark, unsure why Castorice was calling on her now.
"Don't act so familiar! And yes, everything's completely ready!"
Ereshkigal's voice echoed confidently from beneath the earth.
"In that case, let's begin!"
Castorice took a deep breath as she watched the horde of Lahmu close in—now just seconds away.
These Lahmu were powerful, but they had one fatal flaw: their resistance to death was extremely low. Even an object lightly blessed with the concept of death could easily take their lives!
So, back when they had journeyed to the underworld, Castorice had already discussed with Ereshkigal and Gilgamesh the plan to relocate the underworld directly beneath Uruk.
Under normal circumstances, such a process would have taken years.
Fortunately, Ereshkigal had already begun the work earlier in her efforts to get back at Gilgamesh. As a result, she needed only two days to move the entire underworld right under Uruk.
And now, it was time for the main event!
With Gilgamesh's permission, Ereshkigal could easily open the gates of Kur in Uruk, blurring the boundary between the living world and the underworld.
As the mistress of the underworld, this was no difficult task for her.
In the next moment, the ground surrounding Uruk crumbled away, revealing bottomless pits.
At the same time, the aura of the underworld began to seep out slowly.
And this was exactly what Castorice had been waiting for.
Her plan was simple: to create a moat—one that could protect all of Uruk.
The scale was immense, far beyond what Castorice and Ereshkigal could accomplish alone.
But Castorice possessed one crucial tool: the Holy Grail.
Using its unique properties, she could manifest the waters of the River of Souls, imbued with instant death.
These waters might not affect powerful beings much, but against the Lahmu, who had no resistance to death, they would be like carbon-based lifeforms falling into magma—erasing their vitality in an instant.
"River of Souls, flow forth!"
Castorice raised the Holy Grail high, and under a dim, eerie light, purplish-black water began to surge from the areas connected to the underworld.
"So... breathtaking..."
Ushiwakamaru stared in awe at the river of death now encircling the entirety of Uruk.
It was a truly spectacular sight.
Uruk, as the largest city in Mesopotamia, covered a vast area. Yet now, this ring of dark water enveloped it completely.
"This king knew you could do it. Hahahaha!"
High atop the Ziggurat, Gilgamesh laughed heartily as he watched the scene unfold.
In his joy, he couldn't help but glance at Siduri beside him.
His clairvoyance had lost its precision, yet he felt a happiness unlike any before.
"Ugh, I'm a goddess too, you know? Why does it feel like I've just been riding along? It's like you're all leaving me out..."
Ishtar couldn't help but complain, but even as she spoke, she felt genuinely pleased inside.
With this moat in place, Uruk had become far more secure.
As they spoke, the tens of thousands of charging Lahmu reached the outskirts of Uruk.
"The scent of death... Not good!"
The Lahmu at the front initially paid the dark river no mind, but soon realized something was wrong.
By the time they reached the edge, it was too late.
In an instant, countless Lahmu were shoved into the river by those behind them, tumbling in like dumplings into a pot.
Amidst agonized screams and struggles, they turned to ash.
Individually, the Lahmu were terrifyingly powerful, but against the power of instant death, they had no resistance at all.
In that first wave alone, they lost roughly ten thousand of their kind.
Yet, faced with this obstacle, the Lahmu did not retreat.
"Hehehe, such a narrow river! Watch me jump over it!"
One skeptical Lahmu, boasting exceptional leaping ability, was confident he could clear the water in a single bound.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the creature took a few steps back, charged forward, and launched himself high into the air!
With just a glance, Ishtar could tell this Lahmu would make it across.
But as he reached the midpoint of his jump, the dark waters below began to churn. In an instant, the Gallu spirits hidden within surged upward like predators spotting prey, dragging the Lahmu down into the depths.
Only then did everyone see clearly: the River of Souls held not only deathly waters, but countless Gallu, eager to drag the living down with them.
For a moment, the Lahmu fell into chaos, but it didn't take long for them to regroup and begin an orderly retreat.
"No wonder you insisted on evacuating everyone outside to Uruk earlier—you foresaw this, didn't you? That's absolutely amazing!"
Quetzalcoatl couldn't help but praise Castorice, who had so perfectly protected Uruk.
"The credit goes to the Holy Grail. I don't have that kind of power myself. And of course, without Quetzalcoatl defeating Kingu, none of this would've been possible."
"Oh, it was nothing, really! I've never seen a punching bag that durable before."
Quetzalcoatl wore a satisfied smile. She'd had a grand time, swinging Kingu around by the leg in a one-armed spin, much like when the Hulk smashed Loki.
After briefly resolving the situation, Castorice and the others hurried back to Gilgamesh's palace.
Though the threat of the Lahmu had been dealt with, these enemies were nothing compared to the true challenge that lay ahead: the complete, awakened form of Tiamat.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.