Flexing Omniscience

"Aerial Guardian!" A distinctly upset female voice shouted within a massive, dark and misty room.

A single candle stood atop an altar, burning with a profound purple flame. By itself, it seemed to stave off the mist with a mystical aura.

Sitting beneath that altar was a woman draped in a large robe. Her hands were clasped in front of her, revealing smooth and lustrous, jade-like skin.

"Yes, Holy Shaman!" Aeria Guardian suddenly burst into the room and traversed the mist, arriving to kneel at the woman's side.

"Word has been sent. The elder in charge of mission distribution confirmed that Gilgamesh took our request."

Aerial Guardian's wings twitched and he grinned, "So we've successfuly lured out that insufferable brat?"

The Holy Shaman slowly nodded. "It seems Old Yew isn't as sharp as he once was. My methods to lure Gilgamesh to this place have never succeeded before."

"Perhaps things are different now," she sighed.

Aerial Guardian frowned, "I suppose the only difference now would be the fact that Gilgamesh has faced two tribulations in quick succession."

"Indeed. That is most peculiar." Suddenly, the Holy Shaman retracted her hands to remove the cloth covering her head.

Instantly, long and brittle ash-gray hair was revealed. She turned to look at Aerial with her frosty white eyes, and a small smile played across her lips.

"That is exactly why we must have him. I must have him."

"Let the attendants and temple guards know. When Gilgamesh comes to investigate, we will immediately take him. Once he is in our grasp, spread word that a disciple of the sect is on their way to investigate the murders."

Aerial Guardian nodded, "I suppose I should kill a few more, just to make it look good."

The Holy Shaman extended a hand, and Aerial Guardian helped her to her feet. "Yes. The killings will only stop once Gilgamesh's mind is broken and he belongs to me."

A chillingly evil aura seemed to permeate Aerial's body, and he took an involuntarily step backwards while staring at the Holy Shaman with wide eyes.

"That bastard, Old Yew. He thinks that by sealing my true energy he's won. He thinks I'll just sit back and let him take the most valuable treasure this world has ever seen?"

With even greater intensity, the Holy Shaman's body became a beacon of freezing white light; her aura condensed as it rose into the air, brightening the entire room in an instant.

Even so, the candle atop the altar was unaffected, burning just the same; even the purple flame was undisturbed. It even seemed to stave off the Holy Shaman's white light.

At this point, Aerial had retreated to a corner of the room, overcome with fear.

"Go prepare, Aerial. Gilgamesh will be mine!"

"Yes, Holy Shaman!"

Watching him scurry away, the Holy Shaman's smile widened until she felt the urge to release a brief bout of maniacal laughter.

It was as though she had been holding it in for years--which she likely had.

She finally felt like her endless planning was bearing some real fruit.

...

"Beyond the Ancient Forest Nation, there are countless other nations and kingdoms that make up the Forsaken Dynasty." Outer Disciple Law stated.

"Forsaken?" Wyg asked as he sneakily picked his nose.

"Forsaken is the family name of the ruler of this entire world. That family has been in power for a very, very long time."

Gilgamesh listened to Law and Wyg's conversation with slight interest. They had been walking for a few hours already, and had long left the valley behind.

He had not bothered to waste his uses of the Omniscient Author to acquire such information, so it was not a waste of time to, at least, listen.

"Emperor Forsaken is what he's called, but I have no idea what his first name is."

"Princess Ibis is his only child, and is the heiress to the throne. She has never been seen in public without having dozens of her father's personal entourage shadowing her."

"I see," Wyg nonchalantly remarked while flicking his finger, tossing away a booger.

Gilgamesh suddenly stopped, and they looked ahead of them to see what was going on.

Ahead of them, they saw the forest give way to a large open area, covered with slight traces of mist. Numerous rooftops could vaguely be discerned in the distance, and lording above them all was the hulking figure of the temple.

Just the four pillars of the temple alone were more massive than all the buildings.

Gilgamesh looked straight at the temple, and his eyes narrowed.

"Oh," Wyg stepped forward and put his hands on his waist, "We're here already?"

Law also stepped forward as he spoke.

"Technically the Town of Tribes is a part of the sect. The temple was built here to slowly convert the tribespeople, and have them provide information on travellers and such-- anyone that comes into sect territory."

"How did they go about converting them, though," Wyg asked after taking a moment to think.

Law shrugged, "No clue."

Gilgamesh suddenly spoke, "The Holy Shaman converts them with the power of her inherent nature."

They both looked to Gilgamesh in surprise as he continued.

"She possesses something called 'Soul-Enchantment,' which enables her to eat away at people's willpower and completely alter the way they think."

Gilgamesh started walking again after saying this, and the dumbfounded duo had to catch up.

"How do you know?" Wyg asked, and Law pressed forward in curiosity.

Gilgamesh suddenly turned around with a smirk, and the red glow in his eyes briefly became iridescent as the power of omniscience flashed in them.

"Are you surprised? Tell me, would I still be able to call myself Gilgamesh if I didn't even have a little bit of omniscience?"

His words almost floored his companions, and they looked at each other as if they were both trying to verify that they had heard the same thing.

Could it be a joke? It had to be a joke, right?

After all, a little bit of omniscience...

Was still fucking omniscience!

After coming to the conclusion that Gilgamesh had been pulling their legs, Wyg and Law caught up with him again and followed him as he walked to the town.

There was a low wall surrounding the entire area, and a few guards posted at the entrance they were coming to.

Those four guards were dressed in embroidered robes, all bearing the image of a single slithering vine that went all the way around.

When Gilgamesh saw them, he put on a fake smile and waved. They returned his gesture and came forward to meet Gilgamesh's group.

"Greetings, sect disciple. We are servants of the Temple, here to await your arrival."

Gilgamesh extended a formal greeting which Law and Wyg mirrored.

"We are so glad that you have come to investigate this menace. Please, come see the Holy Shaman right away so she may brief you on the details."

"Once that's done, you can get to work finding that murderous fiend."

The guards were especially earnest, and seemed eager to get Gilgamesh up to speed so he could begin his work. However, Gilgamesh could easily discern that this was all deception.

Gilgamesh also knew that they were all in the latter levels of the Condensation stage, thanks to the Omniscient Author.

So, he made a show of pretending to follow behind them while actually approaching them from behind.

Wyg and Law were a bit confused by his weird movements.

Then, at the very last moment, Wyg and Law felt his aura explode, revealing a vast amount of true energy that did not match his realm.

His body was enhanced 100,000 times in an instant, and he snapped to action in the blink of an eye.

Before the guards could properly react, Gilgamesh's body darted and twisted expertly as his arms made four sharp, quick movements.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

Four bodies dropped to the floor with their necks snapped.

Gilgamesh trodded over them and continued into the town, but he looked over once he realized Wyg and Law were still standing in a daze.

"Those guards were sent here to escort me to the temple and lead me right into the Holy Shaman's trap. However, I don't require an escort, so I killed them."

Wyg's mouth twitched, "That's..."

Law's brow was raised, "That really is..."

Suddenly, Wyg and Law shouted in unison.

"Badass!"

Gilgamesh entered the town and looked around.

"The Holy Shaman has already enchanted everyone in this town. She can order them around without them even knowing they're following orders."

"She's quite dangerous," Law noted.

Suddenly, Wyg slapped a hand across Law's chest and looked to him with an incredulous gaze.

Law was taken aback, but also a bit puzzled.

"Gilgamesh. Are you really omniscient?"

Gilgamesh sighed and shook his head, "Of course I am. Didn't I already tell you? Now, come on."

This time, they were truly floored by Gilgamesh words. There was no doubt about it now.

"If that's the case, and you know you're walking into a trap, why not find an alternate plan of action."

Gilgamesh shuddered and turned to face Wyg with a disdainful glare, as though the suggestion itself smelled like horseshit.

"You don't know, Gilgamesh very well, do you?" Law chuckled.

"Even if he could instantly win a fight by changing his style, he would still refuse. Nothing stops him from doing things his way."

"Gilgamesh is a real man!"

Hearing Law's words, Gilgamesh nodded and they continued on their way to the temple.

Wyg pursed his lips and silently followed, but overwhelming excitement flooded his brain and his speed increased until he was ahead of them.

"Let's do it then! With Gilgamesh on our side, there's no way we lose. We could even fuck the heavens if we wanted to!"

Law and Gilgamesh: "But we don't want to."