Shepherding Humanity

Last time, you killed your own son. Now, it’s my turn?

Xu Zhi had a complicated expression on his face. But his surprise quickly subsided, Gilgamesh’s audacious course of action was only natural.

Perhaps, he should have foreseen this from the very beginning. Xu Zhi had chosen Gilgamesh because he had been the only Bugape who had the courage to challenge him when all the others had been trembling in fear. Even as a child, Gilgamesh had possessed enough courage to shout impertinent questions at a tens of thousands of feet tall colossus.

He had no fear. It was only obvious that he’d one day point his sword at Xu Zhi.

This was simply his nature.

Xu Zhi calmly spoke: "Gilgamesh, I warn you one last time, cease your barbaric behavior. This is not how civilized beings should act. Your next actions will cost you dearly!"

"No punishment can be worse than death."

Gilgamesh slowly opened his bright red eyes. As if he had returned to his prime, he showed the bloodlust and madness of his youth once again. “On this day, I will slay the Great Beast of Wisdom, steal his knowledge, seize his power, and achieve true immortality!"

At this moment, with his rippling muscles and snow-white skin, Gilgamesh looked like a god straight out of Norse mythology. He roared his battle cry.

"I will lead my subjects, and challenge you!"

He raised his longsword high. His white-silver hair blew wildly in the wind. "This is a clash of civilizations, our civilization against the one and only Great Beast of Wisdom! Sentient behemoth, you may have guided us once, but you are now standing in our way!"

The dull, distant sounds of stone bells slowly rang out, and the entire royal city of Uruk came alive.

The city's hundreds of thousands of assembled troops surged out and formed orderly battle arrays.

Xu Zhi looked at this scene and sighed: "I should have known. Gilgamesh had completed his preparations to face me more than a decade ago, and conscripted the entire nation… Today, he only wanted to draw me out, and if I did not agree to his terms, he would kill me with his army."

He was both courageous and resourceful. From a certain perspective, he was indeed an admirable tyrant.

…….

The Mesopotamian Plains, the great city of Ur.

Ishtar stood calmly in front of her palace. Even from this great distance, she could still see the giant that towered above the clouds, his obscured face crowned in holy light.

"What a majestic and absolute life form."

Ishtar stared in awe, then narrowed her eyes. "It's time. A self-centered tyrant like king Gilgamesh would never have shared the precious Blood of the Conqueror with others if he had not been looking for help. His majesty had been preparing for this moment from the very beginning."

With a graceful leap, Ishtar mounted the behemoth Ara, and donned her black felt hat. She brandished her weapon, a hammer made of black stone attached to a sturdy handle carved from the bones of a great beast.

"Mother!"

On the plains, countless men and women milled about hesitantly.

Ishtar turned her head and asked: "Is Zarn still alive?"

A young man spoke up bitterly: "Father is lying in bed. It won't be long before he dies of old age…"

"Oh, my child, wait for me. I, Ishtar, King of the Steppes, will return with medicine to extend your life!"

Sorrow clashed with resolve within Ishtar’s dark eyes. She gazed passionately at the towering giant in the distance. "I am not Gilgamesh, who could kill his son with his own hands. I can’t bear the thought of my sons and grandsons dying of old age right before my eyes. I must acquire more of the Blood of the Conqueror, or perhaps even the blood of the Great Beast of Wisdom, the Blood of the Immortal…"

"To battle!"

She spurred her mount forward, leading her army into battle. With barbaric passion and courage, the greatest riders of the steppes rode to war.

…….

The Divine Tree near the royal capital.

After the Test of Wisdom, this colossal ancient tree had been left deserted for a long time, but now, on its expansive branches, the great forest city of Enkidu prospered.

On the outer balcony of the highest tree house.

Enkidu leaned on his wooden cane, quietly gazing at the mighty titan in the distance, with several disciples standing silently behind him.

"Master, it's time to go. The promise we made to the king…"

Someone whispered a soft reminder behind him.

"No, we’ll defy his majesty’s decree. We, the great forest city of Enkidu, will do nothing." Enkidu sighed. Even this far away from the royal city, he could keenly feel the fearsome titan’s overwhelming might.

"Are you afraid, master?" An outspoken disciple couldn't help but ask. "With the three royal cities and the three most powerful kings of Sumer fighting together, it might be possible to win even against the legendary Great Beast of Wisdom…"

"No, I do not fear death. But, I fear I would lose something even more important than life." Enkidu spoke quietly. "My principles prevent me from attacking the great being that had saved our race and gifted us with civilization like a rabid beast. Without grace and morality, we would be no different from animals… My disciples, tell me! Are we to be reduced to savage beasts?"

The disciples went silent.

Their master was one of the three mightiest beings in all the land, the great king of the forest who had received power from the Blood of the Conqueror, but…

"I have sinned beyond reproach, cut off my head."

Enkidu looked at Utnapishtim, his most trusted disciple.

"If his majesty prevails, take my head to the Royal Palace. I’m guilty of insubordination, and under his majesty's tyrannical laws, I must be executed. It’s my responsibility alone, and I’ll ask that his majesty spare our city…"

"If the Great Beast of Wisdom wins, then present my head to the great titan and beg him for forgiveness. Let the Great Beast of Wisdom know that there are true inheritors of civilization among us, and that we’re not purely a barbaric race. Beg him to not completely exterminate our species and leave us with at least some survivors."

"Master…"

Utnapishtim silently gazed at his beloved teacher, this great Sumerian wise man.

His heart bled in pain.

With a single decisive swing, he cut off Enkidu's head.

Thus did one of the Sumerian civilization's mightiest heroes – the king of the forest, Enkidu – peacefully pass away.

Utnapishtim looked at the calm expression on his beloved teacher’s familiar face as he silently wrapped up his head in animal skins. Grief washed over him as he felt something unimaginably precious in his life shatter into pieces.

……..

The heavens shook.

"Fire!"

Blood red arrows and spears pierced the thick clouds hanging in the sky, their spiked points unerringly aimed at the Great and terrible Beast of Wisdom.

The earth rumbled and convulsed. Elite soldiers swarmed like ants beneath the titan's feet. Within the city of Uruk, countless buildings and stone structures collapsed one after another like toy houses built from wooden blocks.

Civilians, women, and children fled. The sounds of explosions and animals crying out in panic filled the air. People sobbed, screamed, laughed madly, and shouted in rage as they lay dying. A hundred thousand sounds intermingled together in a violent cacophony.

The mighty royal city of Uruk has been reduced to a bloody battlefield.