Devastation

**LONG CHAPTER**

"Huh?" Ateah furrowed her brows.

The young man suddenly groaned again, putting a hand on his tummy.

"I asked if you were okay," Ateah stepped forward, wanting to help.

The man nodded with a pained expression. "I'm just hungry."

Eventually, he burped and gave a satisfied moan.

"Much better," he chuckled before standing up.

As he did so, Clara was experiencing the most intense internal struggle of her life, while also suffering a detrimental blow to her psyche.

That was because she could feel energy that was purer than the purest energy of the Book she had ever felt, and it was oozing endlessly from this man's body.

She also realized that, if this man was a threat to the girl, then she would have to rush out and protect her.

Only, she would fail and die with 100% certainty.

She did not know what to do!

"So, where's the 11th?" The man asked Ateah, who frowned.

"The who?"

He looked around and eventually spotted something, and he grinned. "You're not good at hiding, are you?"

Clara's spirit was instantly broken; the man was looking right at her with his piercing, playful green eyes!

The space around her constricted until it tightened enough to firmly grip her, making her unable to move.

The man flicked his finger, and space warped around Clara's body before pulling her toward him, simultaneously undoing her stealth.

She was exposed, surprising Ateah.

"Clara? Did Big Brother send you?"

Clara was scared stiff, though. She couldn't even offer up an answer.

The man tilted his head when he heard Ateah say the words 'Big Brother.'

"So you see him as a big brother?" He asked, becoming thoughtful.

"Heh, that's interesting!"

His arm moved as his hand grabbed Clara's throat and squeezed. Clara was powerless to resist-- not that she could even try if she wanted to.

Her eyes popped as her veins bulged and her face reddened, but she was still able to cling to life long enough to release the power Gilgamesh had gifted her with.

Immediately, his misty red aura filled the air around Clara's body, and the man was caught up in it.

"Hm? This is..."

Ateah quickly retreated some distance, saying, "That's Big Brother's power. Gilgamesh must have given her some of it in order to protect me."

Out of the red mist, Clara's figure burst free, flying off into the distance. At first, Ateah was pleased to see her alive, but her smile soon vanished.

Clara's body crashed into the sandy beach, digging up large trenches as she bounced and rolled along the shoreline. When she finally came to a stop, it was evident that she was unconscious.

Or dead.

As for the red mist surrounding the man, it was suddenly scattered, revealing his laid back stature with an single arm outstretched.

He had casually fanned the mist away with his hands.

"I see. It makes sense that he wouldn't rely on that weakling to keep you safe. He just wanted to use her as a beacon."

Although the man was speaking to Ateah, he kept looking in another direction. That was because he could feel something ever since Clara released Gilgamesh's red aura.

He felt Gilgamesh's approach.

In a matter of moments, a breach was forcefully ripped in space, and Gilgamesh arrived next to Ateah, Samael in hand.

"Big Brother! Thank goodness." The instant she saw Gilgamesh, Ateah's worry subsided.

Gilgamesh first looked at her to ensure she was okay, then his eyes settled on the man.

Only, when he looked at him, he gasped and faltered. His breath quickened and his heart raced; he almost dropped the sword in his hand.

"Hm?" Ateah noticed his condition, and was perplexed.

Gilgamesh's entire being was shaken down to its very core. He simply could not believe what he was seeing.

His mind revisited scenes of a distant past, where he lived as a King, and had faced the constant suppression of the gods of heaven.

In that time, he had the pleasure of making one true friend. A real brother.

This person, was the exact image of that person.

"Enkidu..." Gilgamesh's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "Enkidu. How- I... What is this?"

The man smiled, looking almost feminine as he did so, and folded his arms across his chest.

"Hello, 11th. I am, indeed, Enkidu."

"As for what this is... It's a robbery, heh heh!"

Enkidu took a step forward, and for the first time allowed his energy to manifest as an aura.

The crushing weight of that aura alone pushed Gilgamesh and Ateah back, but as Gilgamesh was bearing the brunt of it, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Enkidu, what are you-"

"I said, this is a robbery. I'm taking the 12th, and you can't stop me." Enkidu took another step, and Gilgamesh coughed up more blood.

"What's happening, Big Brother!?" Ateah could feel the pressure coming from Enkidu's body, but she could not tell what was happening to Gilgamesh.

To her, it looked like Enkidu was harming him by simply walking forward.

"Explain this to me, Enkidu," Gilgamesh wiped the blood from his mouth.

"I thought you died. I tried to bring you back. How are you here right now? Do you even remember anything?"

Enkidu chuckled, "I'll make it simple for you."

Suddenly, his aura tightened around his body, becoming compact. While on the surface it seemed to lessen, its power was only growing.

"When a Gilgamesh's soul is tampered with, even by themselves, they lose their inborn advantage. Do you know what that advantage was?"

Gilgamesh frowned, shaking his head.

"Then think about it. Use your brain for once and stop relying on that shitty Author, jackass."

Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed, "You know about the Omniscient Author?"

Enkidu chuckled, "You know nothing. You being gifted this true energy nature was our way of mocking you for your ignorance. I'm surprised you actually relied on it so much."

"That's not like you. You trusted only your own knowledge and capabilities. Looking at you now... It's pitiful."

"Just who are you, really? What do you know?" Gilgamesh was getting annoyed, and his aura finally revealed itself.

As his eyes attained their signature glow, true energy bathed the black blade of his sword.

"I know everything you don't and more. I know how you deteriorated and ended up in this state, and why you will never be the same again."

Enkidu kept taking steps forward, but Gilgamesh's aura acted as a formidable defense.

"Then enlighten me," Gilgamesh said, sword raised.

Enkidu halted his steps and raised his hand, opening his palm. In it, the colorless energy that surrounded his body gathered, and a small object was created.

This was a tiny black cube, and it instantly reminded Gilgamesh of the little white cube he possessed.

As he thought of it, a terrifying sensation of pain and fear suddenly manifested in Gilgamesh. Before he could do anything about it, his body convulsed and he bent backward uncontrollably.

"HNNGGGG!!!" Gilgamesh could not even open his mouth to scream. The pain was not just too much, it was of an eternally multiplicative nature.

"Gilgamesh!" Little Feather rushed to his side, trying to help him but unsure of how to even go about doing so.

As Gilgamesh screamed, one of the rings on his finger shattered, destroying everything in it except one key item.

The little white cube flew over to Enkidu and landed in his hand, right next to the black one.

"You're making this too easy, 11th. Your selfish stupidity robbed you of your birthright, and now it's fallen into my hands anyway."

"You really thought you were special? You thought you could abandon the very essence of what it means to be a Gilgamesh, and still come out on top?"

As he ridiculed Gilgamesh, Enkidu opened both boxes.

While the pain had already lessened significantly, Gilgamesh was in a weak state and had fallen to his knees.

His dim eyes looked up to see Enkidu open the cubes and reveal what was inside.

In the black cube, multiple spiritual fragments emerged before gathering, becoming one again.

When those pieces came together, they created the image of a blonde haired, red-eyed man.

Gilgamesh.

Out of the white cube, a soul emerged with a quarter of it missing. As soon as the soul and the image came out of the boxes, they fought to fuse and become one again.

"Calm the fuck down!" Enkidu forcefully stopped their fusion with a cold shout, and the objects settled down instantly.

Gilgamesh slowly recovered, and managed to stand with Ateah's help.

"What... are they...?"

Enkidu giggled, "Of course you don't know."

Gilgamesh was throughly fed up with Enkidu's manner of referring to things without explaining. He felt like the inferior party in this exchange.

He did not like that feeling, and as he became enraged his recovery quickened.

"Fine, fine, don't get all riled up, princess. I'll tell you a little bit."

Enkidu grabbed the image of Gilgamesh, and grabbed the incomplete soul. Gilgamesh suddenly felt his chest tighten and it became thay much harder to breathe.

"In the 11th Volume, when you were born, the Dark Speck and the Bright Speck engaged in their usual War over you. As the 11th, you were- and still are- the most useful 'chess piece' in securing the 12th."

"However, what they could not anticipate was your overbearing sense of self-superiority. Your arrogance and ego was unmatched!"

"So much so that, you thought you could sever your connection to who and what you are, and rely only on your sense of self to reign supreme."

Gilgamesh's frowned as he glared at Enkidu.

Enkidu raised the Gilgamesh Image, "This is your birthright as a Gilgamesh, which you willingly abandoned."

Then, he raised the incomplete soul, "This is your power, which you willingly severed yourself from."

"At least you were smart enough to keep it with you in case you needed it back, but not smart enough to foresee that without your birthright, you could never reclaim it."

"After all, just knowing who and what you are isn't enough. You need to actually be what you think you are."

"That's why, you're an idiot. And that's why," Enkidu suddenly applied pressure to the two objects. They yearned to fuse with one another, but he would not let that happen.

As he squeezed down on them, they realized that their existences were in danger. In a mad attempt at reconnecting, they struggled in Enkidu's hands to no avail.

"You lose."

Destroying both at the same time, both objects were erased completely.

Gilgamesh instantly felt his heart bleed, and he knew that he had just lost something irreplaceable. The anger in him boiled over, and all of his power was poured out.

"ENKIDU!!!"

Samael streaked through the air and cut Enkidu's body in half.

Alas, it was merely an afterimage.

"Too slow, old man!"

Enkidu grabbed Gilgamesh from behind, then used his leg to throw him to the floor.

Gilgamesh rolled when he fell, and simultaneously sent a sword slash outward. The blade image struck Enkidu's body, but with a cold snort he waved his hand and deflected it.

"Come on! Aren't you Gilgamesh!? Aren't you the Absolute Authority!? Show me your power!" Enkidu beat his chest with glee.

The sinister look on his face did suit his handsome features at all.

Gilgamesh roared as his sword moved, becoming a blur while an arc of light shot toward Enkidu's head.

"Anti-Divinity Slash!"

Enkidu laughed as he received the attack, defending against it...

With a headbutt!

The Anti-Divinity Slash was utterly destroyed, but Gilgamesh did not let up.

Samael blurred once again.

"Consecutive Anti-Divinity Slashes!"

Torrents of slashes cut through space, teleporting over to Enkidu.

In response, his body twisted here and there while punches and kicks flew out in abundance, shattering each attack.

"How boring! Show me something else!" Enkidu snapped.

Gilgamesh immediately gathered the power of his inherent nature, and his hair attained the slightest golden glow.

"Hahaha! You can barely attain some semblance of yourself, yet you still struggle. Don't you realize now that you can never again be whole?"

"Don't you realize that you can never win?"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Gilgamesh banished all other traces of power from the blade. Instead, he filled it with his misty red aura, and prepared to attack.

Ateah realized what was about to happen, and she became excited in her heart.

'You can do it, Big Brother!'

As she said this, a minuscule feather materialized in the sky.

Gilgamesh's sword, coated in his inherent nature, slashed through the air, releasing a thin red line.

"Let There Be... Gilgamesh!"

That line quickly began to sever all things, cutting Reality itself apart in a split second.

Enkidu saw the attack coming and shook his head.

"Even if there is nothing but you, it isn't enough. Let me show you."

Enkidu proceeded to open his mouth...

And bite down on the red line!

There was a devastating clash, like metal striking metal, before Enkidu caught the attack between his teeth.

Gilgamesh, who was fully confident in his attack, was left dumbfounded.

All of his power- power that belonged solely to him- had been reduced to a toy for Enkidu to bite down on like a dog!

He was outraged!

Just as Enkidu was chortling and smiling with his eyes, he noticed a feather falling near his face.

Crack!

Enkidu's eyes widened as he felt his teeth begin to break.

He was terrified, and he subconsciously looked toward Ateah.

Hurriedly, he crunched down on the red line and shattered it, while also using his hand to sweep away the fragments, erasing them completely.

Even so, the corners of his mouth were already bleeding.

He cursed under his breath.

"I almost forgot about the 12th for a second there."

He wiped his face before straigtening up and smirking confidently at Gilgamesh.

"Do you get it now? Your arrogance was your downfall. Thinking with just your sense of self you could remain the Absolute Authority. Perhaps on these Lesser Pages, but no where else."

"You are nothing but an empty Gilgamesh. A shadow of what can never exist again."

Gilgamesh's power slowly diminshed, and Samael was lowered until it stabbed into the ground.

He leaned forward, using the sword to prop himself up.

He was at a loss.

"Big Brother," Ateah put a hand on his shoulder.

His body suddenly jerked, as if he had forgotten she was there. When he saw her, he recalled that Enkidu had told him this was robbery, and fear took root in his heart.

Perhaps he was not here to lure Gilgamesh out and take the white box...

Perhaps he was here for her!

"Ateah, you need to run!" His fightig spirit returned, and he raised his sword in Enkidu's direction.

"Yawn. That again?" Enkidu finally dispayed a fed up expression, and his figure vanished.

When it reappeared, he was standing in front of Gilgamesh and Ateah, his hand already carving an elegant arc.

Slap!

Gilgamesh was struck on the face, and sent flying, vomiting blood and spitting out teeth.

He had realized too late.

Or perhaps, he never had a chance to begin with.

"Let go of-" Enkidu quickly put a hand over her mouth, sighing in relief.

"I must admit, it's a good thing that you've idolized the idiot over there. If you hadn't, you'd never have weakened yourself to this degree."

Covering her mouth firmly, Enkidu picked up the struggling Ateah and turned to give Gilgamesh a last look.

He was still trying to recover from that slap.

"My work here is done. The Four Books of Existence have all gathered. It's their job to finish you off."

The peculiar energy gathered again, surrounding Enkidu's body.

"Just like this, the Final Gilgamesh War ends. The Bright Speck has secured the 12th Gilgamesh."

"We have won."

Enkidu's body was encased in colorless energy, then it flashed as he disappeared in blinding light.

He was gone, and Ateah was gone.

Gilgamesh's vision blurred. He passed out.

All he had received was a single slap.