A Cunning Set-up

'Am I going to die?'

'Curse those twelve imbeciles. The one thing Gilgamesh should never be allowed to have, he now possesses. My ancestors created magic for us- it belongs to the gods. Over time, we have chosen to bless the mortals with some meagre knowledge of it, but no mortal has ever touched the source. Their spirits are too weak.'

'Only someone with a spirit as powerful as a god could ever dream of touching magic's source; Gilgamesh's spirit is inherently more powerful than any god.'

'Those fucking fools!'

'Why did they think we sacrificed so much only to curse him!? Why did they think his spirit never faded despite spending more than ten trillion years in Nether-Earth!? I regret ever expending the lifeforce it took to create such idiotic gods!'

'Thanks to them, the curse we worked so hard to place on Gilgamesh is all but nullified. He will never regain the fullness of his spirit- of that much I am sure- but having magic negates that almost completely!'

'Just look at this! I am at his mercy! These thoughts may very well be my last! I crafted lightning from magic's source! Me! Lightning is my creation, yet he is using it to destroy my spirit!'

'Gilgamesh! If I do not kill you, my children will!'

'Gilgamesh!!!'

|Anu's Thoughts As Gilgamesh Prepares To Kill Him|

"We agree to a wager. What are the terms?"

Gilgamesh was all too pleased. He knew their temperaments well enough to know that, by simply uttering the names Ashur and Serua, he could manipulate them.

"Simple, really. In one week I will conquer this world, subjugating the entire human population. My parents will become its sole rulers, and they shall have this world forevermore, for I have promised them this. Once this is done, I will depart for a higher world."

The gods' faces shone with intrigue as they followed along with Gilgamesh's words.

"While I traverse the void, I grant you full control over myself. You may manipulate time, space and matter in any way you see fit regarding my life thenceforth, and wherever I end up will be your decision."

"You are signing away a heaven-given right, Gilgamesh," Enki said, not even trying to hide how pleased he was with this.

"Yes, of course, to sweeten the deal. I grant you control over all these things, because, with each god I kill, I expect you to do something for me."

"What?" They all asked at the same time- precisely when the words left Gilgamesh's 'mouth.'

"If I am killed, obviously, you win. The odds that I will die are, thanks to the 'rights' that I signed away previously, exponentially high. So, for every god I manage to kill, I want you to give me one aspect of their being."

"Ha! Simple enough," Ishtar grinned.

"Indeed," Enki seemed smug, looking down on Gilgamesh for this. He had to know that they could simply give him useless aspects, surely, so why would he make such a foolish request?

"You agree then?" Gilgamesh looked at Anu when he said this, and once Anu nodded, he looked at the other gods.

"Agreed. You have put your life in our hands. No matter how long you manage to survive, you will die before the twelfth god is chosen."

Gilgamesh smirked and said nothing.

"Very good. Then I suppose all we're left with now is..."

All metaphysical eyes looking at Gilgamesh widened at this moment, then uncontrollable rage filled them.

"...the actual wager."

"You fucking-" Enlil was so overcome with rage that he could not even finish his curse.

Anu shook his head. He had seen through Gilgamesh's deception, but as the God of Heaven, he could not stop his children from agreeing if they did not see through it themselves. Such was Heaven's Edict- none could hope to change it.

"How could we have missed this," Nanna sighed and fiddled with the crescent on his head.

"As dishonorable and shameless as always, Gilgamesh," Marduk grimaced.

"A coward! That's what you are, Gilgamesh!" Ishtar said this, but she knew that the truth was precisely the opposite. What coward would dare manipulate five of the highest gods like this? If anything, they were fools to have not seen through it.

He had laid such grand parameters for the wager that they were blinded by excitement, forgetting the wager itself had not yet been made.

Enki was silent, but the look in his eyes indicated that his rage had long since boiled over. What angered him the most was not the fact that he had been tricked, but that Gilgamesh was clearly intelligent enough to have a complete grasp of their temperaments- of his temperament.

The one thing Enki hated more than anything, was feeling like his opponent could understand- and thus- predict him.

Enki raised his hand to bring his siblings back to their senses, and quieted them.

"Make your wager."

Gilgamesh chuckled, "In your own words, Enki, you 'shall not even need twelve gods.' How many will you need, then?"

Enki immediately said, "Eleven." He would not dare be prideful in this situation, but unfortunately Gilgamesh was now a full step ahead- maybe even more. He knew that Enki would cast his pride aside at this point, but he had now gotten rid of one of the twelve gods he would have had to face.

In a way, it could be said that he had defeated the first god without even needing to fight. Now, there were only eleven gods left. Eleven acts left.

"Good, eleven. Your bet is that I will die after you send, at most, the eleventh god. Not so?"

"It is so," Enki answered, tone sour.

"Then this is my bet. My wager. My life has already been placed in your hands, and all I have asked for is a single aspect of each god I manage to defeat. This is quite an unfair deal, isn't it."

Gilgamesh tone was grating to their ears. It was in that moment, more so than any other since they had arrived, that they wanted to tear Gilgamesh apart piece by piece, and bathe in the aura of his dying spirit.

Sadly, they could not. Their only chance was the day Gilgamesh departed the lowest world, and left his fate up to them. That would be their only chance to have any kind of direct influence over his life.

However, Gilgamesh knew this as well. If he was confident enough to put his life in their hands like that, then there was surely a reason.

It went without saying that most of this confidence came from his newly acquired magic, but even that was not enough. There were many, many creatures in the Living Plane that did not rely on magic, yet could threaten even gods.

What could Gilgamesh be relying on?

"So, I wager against these eleven gods. In fact, I wager that I will be able to break through Heaven's Door before I kill them all."

At this, they scoffed. They would not, for a second believe this. Not even Anu could see the sense behind it. There was no way for Gilgamesh to be capable of this. It was simply impossible.

Why? Because it was impossible for Gilgamesh to ever break the curse they had placed on his spirit. This they knew with 100% certainty.

"If I do become strong enough before the eleventh god dies, you must grant me every aspect of the gods I have killed up to that point. Do you agree?"

Though they all knew that the likelihood of such a thing happening was absolutely zero, they hesitated. This was also not the first time that Gilgamesh was faced with a 0% chance, yet had managed to, somehow, overcome those odds.

Which, in and of itself, is madness.

"They agree," Anu was the one that spoke these words, but only because he knew his children had already agreed. To make things more interesting, he decided to speak up.

"As this wager hinges on the very essence of Heaven's Edict, neither side nor myself can intervene. All agreements must be kept, to the letter, and no changes can be made henceforth. As God of Heaven, my divine might makes it so."

Gilgamesh smirked, then prepared to finally return to his body. Before he did, though, Anu continued speaking.

"One thing, though, Gilgamesh."

He stopped, and looked over his shoulder at Anu.

"The curse placed upon you is a separate matter entirely, hinging on something just as ineffable as Heaven's Edict. If you break the curse, this wager will be considered null- even by Heaven's Edict."

For the first time, the space around Gilgamesh stilled and grew cold. Behind his inexhaustible arrogance lay the weight of a burden so heavy it strained his very spirit. Even so, as long as he could keep bearing that weight, he would do so and make it look effortless.

Perhaps, in a way, this was a prophetic truth of Gilgamesh himself- bearing the heaviest weight in the easiest way, and making a show of it. It was no wonder the gods hated him as they did.

"That goes without saying, Anu." Then, Gilgamesh's spirit left the upper atmosphere and returned to his body, finding a mess waiting for him.

Not only was his body bloodied, but the carriage was in shambles as the earth around it had cracked and opened up at various different points. Similar scenes played out all around the world.

Many cities, towns, villages and the like were in ruins, and large numbers of people had died. The worldwide quake had not just destroyed physically, but it had done wonders for the mental state of many. After today, no one alive would worship the Twelve again. Now, all their prayers were directed toward Anu, and all those prayers sounded almost identical to each other.

"Lord Anu, Great Face of Heaven, please forgive us, grant us peace, and cast Gilgamesh to the furthest pits of Hell where he belongs..."

The only people that were not saying such things were the people in Dramaour City and the Shafra who Gilgamesh had already subjugated.

Regarding the last of the meeting with the gods, it seemed that Anu had made it so that no one would overhear. So, when the Heavens went silent and all that could be seen were five new giant figures in the sky, the people's fear was at an all-time high. They felt as if those mighty figures were deciding their fate, and it left them beyond just scared.

As for the gods, they departed at the same time that Gilgamesh did. There was no more to say and no more to do. Their spirits returned to Heaven's Door, then passed through to the world beyond. Enki's plans were already being put into place, and, of course, the others would not be absent.

They were with Enki every step of the way, and were not why with their advice. No matter how advantageous their situation seemed, they knew better. Disadvantages abounded in situation where winning was the only possible outcome- especially where Gilgamesh was concerned.

He was simply a monster, and a day would not pass them by where they did not regret underestimating him, all those trillions of years ago.

Perhaps, if they had not done this, they could have prevented the deaths of so many of their siblings. As for Anu, he disappeared to the realm that no god but himself could approach. As for what he did there, no one knew.

Gilgamesh wasted no time. He found a member of the Shadowless Viper that possessed spatial magic, and had them use a small-scale teleportation spell on him. Since he did not resist, the spell worked and he was transported a mere six feet away from his previous location.

However, this was all Gilgamesh needed.

"Recreate..."

With that, a teleportation circle appeared that encompassed the entirety of the Plains. He transferred them all back to Dramour City. Everyone.

Once again, he blew the minds of the people, and reminded them that he, truly, was someone capable of slaying gods.

Gilgamesh, seeing that they had arrived in Dramaour City, gave Verra instruction as to what to do and then teleported away. He had to see his home- his parents- and make sure all was well.

The manor was, for the most part, undamaged, and the mansion itself was still standing, albeit with a few new cracks and missing pieces. Thanks to the renovations he had advised them to make, it withstood such a great earthquake without sustaining much damage.

Even the land and farms were pretty much unchanged, which was mostly thanks to the way Gilgamesh had ordered the workers to manipulate the terrain.

Gilgamesh arrived in the living room with a flash of grey light, and found his parents huddled together. As soon as Angelica and Logan saw him, they left each other's arms and rushed to him.

Seeing this sight, Gilgamesh felt that evasive, powerful warmth converge around his spirit yet again.

"Gil, you're back!" Angelica wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer than ever before.

"I knew you'd be safe, my son." Logan was forced to hug his wife in order to hold his son in his arms, but he did not care. All that mattered to him in this world was right in front of him, and nothing could, in that moment, change that.

However, once again, he could feel them growing distant, despite holding them so close. The feeling hurt his heart like no other, and words could not describe it, therefore he did not know what to say. He did not know whether he could say anything at all, truly. All he knew was that his son had gone against gods and survived; had come back home to them after facing the greatest of odds.

That was enough to, once again, quiet the feelings in his heart.

"AH! Gil, you're covered in blood!" Angelica had only just noticed, and quickly started to inspect Gilgamesh from top to bottom. She even opened up his mouth and gazed into it, and Gilgamesh had to try to find a way to tell her he was alright.

Logan smiled, and his eyes met Gilgamesh's helpless ones. They laughed.

"What are you two laughing at? I'm just worried, okay?" Angelica pouted, but soon she too joined in on the laughter.

Gilgamesh wished that that moment would last forever.

He knew better, though.