Chapter 127: Mortals, Gods and Monsters(2)

"Enkidu... Yes, I've heard about you. Weapon of the Gods and a friend of the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh." Zenkichi said, offering a friendly after Enkidu effortlessly dispatched all of the surrounding demonic beasts. "I'm Zenkichi, Zenkichi Hitoyoshi. I am currently an acting Master from Chaldea, and these are my friends."

Enkidu humbly nodded at Gudako and the others before turning back towards him, their eyes blinked, looking bewildered at Zenkichi's hand.(1)

"Um, apologies, but I don't quite... understand what you're trying to do here." They looked at Zenkichi's outstretched hand with a puzzled expression, unsure of its significance. Zenkichi chuckled sheepishly, realizing Enkidu's confusion.

"Oh, sorry about that," Zenkichi said, tilting his hand and explained. "It's a gesture of greeting where I come from. We shake hands as a sign of friendship and mutual respect."

Enkidu's expression softened as they comprehended the gesture. "Ah, I see. Thank you for explaining." They looked down at their own hand and then back at Zenkichi's, considering the custom. After a moment of hesitation, they extended their hand tentatively towards Zenkichi's.

Zenkichi smiled warmly and clasped Enkidu's hand firmly, giving it a friendly shake. "Thanks for helping us out, Enkidu."

"Ah, no problem." Enkidu replied with a slight smile.

'This guy can really act as if he is the real Enkidu, though not like I personally know the guy. Should I just get rid of him now...?' Zenkichi thought to himself, briefly considering the idea, as the... person before him was just a False Enkidu that was basically leading the charge of almost everything in this singularity, also, he had a Holy Grail in his body if he recalled correctly.

"Everyone, I-" Still shaking hands, Enkidu turned to the others with a calm smile and ask them if they like to follow him. But their expression instantly changed when a burning-hot blue flame surged out of Zenkichi's hand and enveloped their arm in an instant. Zenkichi's eyes flashed with determination as he tightened his grip, as curved dark-blue horns protruded from his forehead and a forked-tail came out his backside, his voice cold and resolute.

"I know what you are, False Enkidu. You may have fooled the others, but not me. You're nothing but an imposter, a pawn of your so-called "mother", Gorgon or, her true name being, Tiamat: Goddess of Beginning and Beast II." Zenkichi said out loud, letting Gudako and the others hear him.

"F-False Enkidu? Zenkichi, what does that mean?! And Goddess of Beginning, Beast II?" Gudako muttered, confused about what she had heard.

Mash, who has more in-depth knowledge about the most dangerous threats to humanity thanks to her... background, immediately placed herself before her master and brought out her shield. "Master, get behind me! And don't move! It's dangerous!"

Altria and Brunhilde immediately hurried over to Zenkichi's side, pointing both their weapons at the False Enkidu from different sides.

Enkidu's facade faltered, their expression morphing into one of shock and anger. They attempted to break free from Zenkichi's grasp, but the flames held them tightly, searing their skin and burning off their white sleeve into ashes.

"Release me, mortal!" False Enkidu growled, their voice tinged with fury and desperation. Several golden portals opened up behind them and under their remaining sleeve, shooting out numerous golden chains at Zenkichi, Altria and Brunhilde, quickly bounded the trio in an attempt to restrain them.

"Tch!"

"T-Too fast! And why is this so durable!?"

Both Altria and Brunhilde was a second too late to defend against the sudden assault. They found themselves bound by the golden chains, their movements restricted. Despite their efforts to break free, the chains held them firmly in place, their weapons rendered useless for the time being.

"D-Does these chains have Anti-Divine properties?!" Altria yelled, quickly noticing the oddities about the chains, and Brunhilde's eyes widened as she too noticed them.

"Enkidu, golden chains... Chains of Heaven? But, isn't they an imposter?! Also, these chains are supposed to be with the King of Heroes right now!"

"Fufufu, indeed, he does have them." The False Enkidu let out a sinister laugh, as their cover is blown, they didn't have to act any longer and showed their true colors. "However, did you forget? I'm the Weapon of the Gods! My whole body is made out of clay, I can create all kinds of weapons!"

"Now then, release me now, and I'll give you all a less painful death-"

They then turned towards Zenkichi, with a cold sneer on their face, they were just starting to threaten him with the golden chains that tightly bounded him and his friends like snakes.

Yet, to the disbelief of the False Enkidu, Zenkichi suddenly coldly snorted. His muscles began to bulge and shine with a silver luster, in just a brief moment of flexing his iron muscles, the chains snapped like twigs under the sheer force of Zenkichi's strength. His eyes glinted with a cold glint as he broke free from the golden chains, his resolve unwavering.

Without any hesitation and words, he raised his other hand and a cluster of blue hot flames shot out towards both Altria and Brunhilde, quickly melting down the golden chains without hurting them both.

"How did you-?! AHH!" False Enkidu cried out in shock, then let out a tearful whimper as the burning blue flames started spreading towards their torso and neck, seemingly about to engulf them in a fiery blaze.

"Goodbye, fool." Zenkichi declared, increasing the power of his Hell Flames(2).

His eyes widened in shock however, as the False Enkidu, seeing no other way of escape, decided to ruthlessly cut off their own arm right from their top shoulder to where the human body's right kidney is supposed to be; blood gushed from the wound as False Enkidu severed their arm, opting for a desperate attempt to escape the encroaching flames. The severed limb fell to the ground, bursting into flames; ashes remaining, a grim testament to the lengths False Enkidu was willing to go to survive.

"I'll get you all for this-!"

"You're not getting anywhere!"

The False Enkidu shouted as they jumped back, covering a large distance of around 30 meters, their body started to glow and disappear. But Altria and Brunhilde were quick to react, both of them preparing their Noble Phantasms to get rid of him in an instant.

"Stop, they're already long gone." Zenkichi called out, stepping forward and narrowed his eyes. He didn't know how they did it, but even using Mind Reading that covered a wide range, the Fake Enkidu had managed to escape so far. Was it spatial displacement? Or was it purely their speed? His muscles tensed, frustration evident in his voice. "They slipped through our fingers... tsk. Whatever. We'll encounter them again, sooner or later."

"What are we going to do now?" Gudako asked, walking up to him with a worried expression. Her face slightly pale after listening to Mash explain to her what a Beast was.

Beasts, known by some in the moonlit world as the "Evils of Humanity". There's not much known about the identities of the entities that took on the title or classification as "Beast", but what is widely known about them is that they are calamities that threaten human history. They are so strong that only Grand Servants are capable of repelling them if they were ever summoned into the world.

Gudako has only met one Grand Servant, and that was the King of Magecraft, Solomon. And she knows firsthand just how strong he was! If a Beast was as strong as him, or possibly even more, it was a terrifying prospect. She glanced around at her companions, a sense of urgency rising within her.

"Do not worry, if it comes down to it, I will not hesitate to lay down my life to save you all." Altria declared, her voice steady and resolute.

"No one's sacrificing themselves."

Zenkichi grabbed her shoulder, shaking his head. "Relax, the Beast is currently... asleep to say the least. We have time to stop their awakening, which is probably the way to fix this singularity."

Gudako frowned. "Where are we going to start?" she asked, her voice carrying a note of concern.

He turned his head to the distance and replied, "Just as we first discussed, we're heading for the biggest city and possibly the last bastion of civilization in this era, Uruk. We may find more information and reinforcement if we head there."

Bzzt

"--Hello?! Sorry, we lost connection there for a moment. We, uh, where's Enkidu? Wasn't he there with you guys a moment ago?" Romani's voice sounded out from their communicators.

"Eh, it's a bit complicated, Doctor Roman." Mash began, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "That wasn't the real Enkidu."

While Mash and the others explained the situation to Romani, Zenkichi looked down at his hand to see his palm slightly burnt black and clenched his hand into a fist.

'This flame is really tricky to use. If I had increase the heat of the flames a bit more, my hand might have also been turn to ashes as well. The Iron, Encounter, The End, I used all kinds of skills to counter this flame's power and fully master it, but it seems like I still have a long way to go,' Zenkichi thought, acknowledging the need for further training and mastery of his demonic bloodline.

"Hey Doc, think you can send us the map of this place already? As you heard, we have a pretty tight schedule." Zenkichi said, interrupting their conversation.

"..." The communicator went silent for a moment before Romani's voice rung out, and he didn't sound very confident as he replied. "I apologize to you all, but the map that we have reconstructed from historical documents and analysis through the rayshift is only 30% accurate, covering around 1.2 kilometers of diameter in your area."

"...What the heck is a kilometer?" Altria muttered to herself.

Zenkichi hummed. "If we still can't find our way, then we just have to fly around until we find Uruk. Which is going to be a bit hard, considering that Uruk's bounded field caused us to fly off to this area, so it may have camouflage itself from flying beasts."

"Nonetheless, we have to find a way. Let's start by heading in the direction we believe Uruk to be," Gudako suggested, her voice determined.

Zenkichi nodded in agreement. "Agreed. We can't afford to waste any time."

"Uh, so which direction is Uruk is supposed to at?" Brunhilde asked, bewildered.

Zenkichi blinked.

"Get me a stick."

"Huh?"

Mash, the very so helpful kouhai, quickly got him a stick.

Everyone watched on curiously as Zenkichi vertically put the stick on the ground, letting it stand before releasing his hand, making it fall to the ground. They looked down to see the stick pointing towards the south.

"That way!" Zenkichi confidently declared with a wide smile.

"..." The girls deadpanned.

In the far North, two people in hoods were waiting on a rock in the middle of the woods.

"... Change of plans, we're heading back to Uruk." Said sheepishly by a white hooded figure holding onto a strange stick.

The small figure wearing a ragged black hood and holding a large scythe turned towards him in disbelief, gripping the shaft of the scythe tightly.

"I hate you. So. Much."

...

(1: Enkidu is an androgynous person, made out of clay. So they're not supposed to be either he or a she, but with a feminine face like that... Eh, for simplicity sakes, I'm sticking for "they" for now.)

(2: Yes, it's supposed to be Flames of Hell/Gehenna, but Hell Flames sounds more suitable to use during battle sequences.)

AN: Sorry for the late update. There has been a thunderstorm in my place for a couple of days, causing power poles and electrical wires to snap. No worries, everything's fine, except for some property damages. The reason behind my absence is because the internet went down for a few days. See, after power was restored and everything was getting fixed, the wires for the wifis around the town got cut and internet was out.

It was momentarily restored, but wanting to prevent any bad connections from happening, the people responsible for the wifis/internet connection in our town had to do some maintenance that took 2 days. 2 days!

So yeah, I'm still alive! See ya'll next week with the usual schedule. I gotta amped up writing, I'm so behind on some things...

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