The Holy Grail War Blessed by the Gods

The man who found the leopard seemed unaware that Manshu had tapped his heart with his right hand, and the aura of the Heart of the Mountain filled the air—the aura of the leopard lord who ruled over the mountains.

"Eek...Tescatlipoca! Meow, yes, yes, it's definitely the scent of Tescatlipoca, that's great!"

The leopard-woman made a surprised sound and immediately leaned in to sniff carefully. After confirming that the scent of Tescatlipoca she sensed was correct, she jumped directly to Manshu's side without hesitation.

"Tescatlipoca is here to cause trouble for Quetzal Koyatl again. That guy is in this city deep in the forest, and he kidnaps people every day to practice some strange martial art with her, I think it's called wrestling."

After the leopard-man jumped over, he immediately switched his perspective to Manshu's side and began to speak about Quetzal Koyatl's intelligence.

“I understand that. Rather than that, I’d like to ask why you’re here. Even if you’re a masterless Servant, there’s no reason for you to come to Quetzalcoatl’s territory. Or have you become one of his familiars?”

However, Manshu didn't really need the leopard man to tell him about the news of the Nine Forests, and he needed even less news about Quetzal Koyatwur.

So Manju quickly interrupted the leopard man's rapid-fire speech, which allowed the leopard man to say quite a bit more.

"Hmm... Quetzalcoatl and I are just a pair of ill-fated lovers. It's because I was waiting for you, Tescatlipoca, to arrive. I came to Quetzalcoatl in advance to gather information and pave the way for your arrival, meow!"

The leopard-man offered a hasty explanation, but quickly came up with a reason and immediately regained his confident demeanor.

"Tescatlipoca, how do you plan to infiltrate Quetzalcoatl's temple this time, meow? Spider silk is no longer an option. How about you become someone from that city and blend in with the offerings that Quetzalcoatl usually wrestles with?"

The leopard man continued to offer suggestions, trying to quickly bury the topic, but they were all relatively reliable plans.

"That city up ahead? That's certainly something we can consider. We're just killing time anyway, so let's do as you say. At least you've managed to come up with a useful plan, which doesn't dishonor your leopard status. As a wise beast, continue to demonstrate your wisdom."

Manshu didn't think too much about it. Hearing that the plan was indeed feasible, he adopted it.

Manjushri came to this dense forest, not to fight Quetzalcoatl to the death in Elidu, but simply to test his strength and weigh the goddess at the pinnacle of the benevolent gods.

Quetzal Koyatl can still play a significant role in the upcoming battles. As the strongest of the three goddesses, she can at least act as a beetle.

Moreover, in Manjushri's current state, although he has regained his magic, he is still penniless. It's hard to say whether he can defeat Quetzal Koyatl in a direct confrontation.

At least we should wait until we've completed our journey, go to Uruk, or some other city-state that hasn't been destroyed yet, and find some manpower to build a temple for ourselves.

"Leave the defeat of Quetzal Koyatl to me! Tescatlipoca can be ordered around as I please. I'm ready to charge into the enemy lines and wreak havoc, and... charge into the earthquake zone and wreak havoc, and so on."

The leopard man became smug when he saw that Manju did not dwell on his work with Quetzal Koyatl and that he had adopted his plan.

"There's no need for you to do anything yet. Just continue on your own course of action and don't let Quetzal Koyatl sense anything unusual or discover any flaws."

Manshu had no intention of taking the leopard man with her, otherwise all these plans would be useless. With the leopard man by her side, any disguise would be meaningless.

"Oh ho ho, I know, meow. I'll wait until Quetzalcoatl's side starts fighting before I send reinforcements from the jungle."

"No, no, no, that's not necessary. I'm having you continue to infiltrate Quetzal Koyatell's camp. I'm just here to gather information. Taking down Quetzal Koyatell is not something that can be done easily; we need to plan carefully."

Although the leopard-men are not without fighting power, as the incarnation of a sacred beast, they also possess the status of gods, albeit lower-level gods, and still have considerable strength.

However, Manshu does not need the power of the leopard man. If we're talking about leopards, his heart is stronger, perhaps even the strongest leopard.

"Transit; qUn:9 (+48〃、243≌◆shirt》: lin㈤ Hmm. Understood, meow."

The leopard man suddenly lost his motivation.

"However, if you are really discovered, or if your plan cannot proceed normally, then your trip to Quetzal Koyatl and your association with that bird will not be ignored."

However, just as the leopard-man was about to jump onto a tree branch and continue his journey through the dense forest, Manshu added a sentence, causing the leopard-man's body to freeze in place.

"Don't meow, I..."

Just as the leopard man turned around to say something more, he found that there was no one behind him.

Even as a leopard in the dense forest, she could no longer track down Manshu, so with a heavy heart, she could only leap back onto the tree branch.

"Tescatlipoca should be able to succeed, right? Since he fooled Quetzal Koyatl before, he should be able to succeed this time too, meow."

Manshu, who left the leopard man, directly used Amon's power. Although using Tescatlipoca's power wouldn't have made a difference, he still needed to minimize the revelation of Tescatlipoca's aura here.

After all, this was Quetzalcoatl's territory, and it was best to avoid doing anything that would attract his attention. Amon's power shouldn't attract the attention of any of the gods here, so Manju continued to call out 9÷Lin~si〉岜缌￥贰』∥9［

Even with these guiding signs of fate, after walking for some time in the extremely damp and mosquito-infested dense forest, a city nestled in the forest appeared before Manju's eyes.

This city is Ur, which took over the Sumerian monarchy after the end of the Uruk era.

After Gilgamesh's reign ended, Uruk went through the reigns of seven more kings before the throne fell into the hands of Ur. However, Ur's reign was relatively short, lasting less than 200 years and four kings.

However, perhaps even more famous than this is that Ur gave birth to a prophet named Abraham, who originally lived in Ur, later moved to Haran, and finally went to Canaan.

The three city-states of Kish, Uruk, and Ur held the Sumerian monarchy in their hands, and the Sumerian monarchy circulated among these three cities.

According to the Sumerian King List, compiled during the Isin dynasty, Sumerian monarchy was taken over by Kish after the Great Flood, then by Uruk, and finally by Ur. Foreign invasions ended the First Dynasty of Ur.

The Second Dynasty of Kish defeated its foreign enemies and regained the throne, only to be defeated by the other city-states until Uruk regained the throne. Ur then took over the throne until it was defeated by foreign forces again.

The Third Dynasty of Kish regained the throne, and Uruk took over the throne, but later it was not Ur who unified the land, but Akkad.

After the fall of Akkad, Uruk rose to prominence again, followed by the Third Dynasty of Ur.

The Third Dynasty of Ur was the last Sumerian rule and the pinnacle of the Neo-Sumerian era.

After the Third Dynasty of Ur was destroyed by Elam on the Iranian plateau, Mesopotamia entered a new chapter, and the Sumerians came to an end.

However, that was several hundred years later; Ur was destroyed around 2000 BC.

Now, the city of Ur looks quite impressive; at least from a distance, it looks comparable to the distant city of Uruk.

Of course, this is also due to the dense forests that grow here. The whole city is like it's embedded in the forest, or rather, the forest has invaded the city.

The deity worshipped in Ur is the moon goddess Nanna, whom the Akkadians call Sin.

The moon goddess holds a very high position in Mesopotamia, and the mythology of the Mesopotamian region is quite rare in that the moon goddess has a higher status than the sun god.

The temple dedicated to the moon goddess is also clearly visible, and it is a very famous building.

The tower temple from the Third Dynasty of Ur has been relatively well preserved to the present day, and it was even repaired during the reign of Saddam Hussein.

Although the city is severely affected by the trees, other areas seem unaffected.

Although the temperature was a bit higher than outside, it was still within the normal range, and the magic density was also normal, completely different from that in the forest.

The only thing is that the whole city looks like it has been abandoned for a long time. Shrubs grow on the steps, under the pillars of various buildings, and along the walls. This is the erosion brought by the forest.

But the people here are still living normal lives. Manshu plans to observe first and see if he can sneak into the procession of people Quetzal Koyatl has captured to wrestle with her.

The citizens of Ur were dressed quite coolly, probably due to the temperature, with only simple cloths covering their bodies.

The only problem is that the city seems to be mostly populated by women, with very few men present. It's likely that the men have all been sacrificed to Quetzalcoatl for wrestling.

Manju didn't sense a strong aura or any divine presence here, so he removed some of his disguise and walked over to the nearby residents of Ur who were working.

Chapter 130 Sacrificial Offerings

A river flows through the city, which should have always existed there, and the farmland and irrigation facilities on the side look like they have been in use for some time.

The climate in the Sumerian region was not very good, with a very low average annual rainfall. Therefore, agriculture relied mainly on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As a result, agricultural production in Mesopotamia depended primarily on irrigation.

However, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are not gentle and docile waters, especially the Tigris, which has a rapid current and a deep valley, making it difficult to utilize.

Although the Euphrates River is relatively gentle, it is an unpredictable river. It often floods in spring, but the water volume is insufficient in summer and autumn. In addition, due to its shallow channel, it frequently changes course.

Of course, there seems to be no need to consider those things now. Quetzalcoatl's power brought the land of the American gods, and this dense jungle has also changed this land.

As you can see, much of the farmland along the river has been abandoned, or it may be currently in a fallow period.

However, if you think about the extreme lack of men in Ur, you'll realize that the city also lacks the manpower for farming, but it's not necessarily lacking in food either.

There was plenty of food to be found in the dense forest. Early agricultural life was not as good as hunting and gathering; the harvest was less, but the effort required was greater.

Although the people there looked normal, they were indeed living their lives normally. It was just that the city seemed to have lost its vitality because there were fewer people living there.

Perhaps it's also because, although the temperature here is still acceptable, it's still much hotter than outside.

Manshu walked over to a middle-aged woman who was fanning herself with leaves in a pavilion, cleared her throat, and asked her:

"Excuse me, madam, is this the city of Ur?"

Although she had given him a heads-up, the woman was still startled, probably because Manshu had walked up to him silently. After all, Manshu had only removed her disguise when she arrived here.

However, the woman still took Manshu's question to heart, quickly regained her senses, nodded, and asked in return:

"Ah...? 8+§物■∵柒[⒍″∏⑹散≥驷—°四′★②找◇♀蜀〗群: Yes... who are you? Did you cross the river and pass through the forest?"

"That's right. I came here from Babylon in the north, following the Euphrates River, out of curiosity to know about the cities that were swallowed by the forest."

"Oh dear, are you from Babylon? I'm amazed that people still live in that city. You must have had a hard time coming all this way."

Quetzal Koyatl was a chain reaction caused by the summoning of Gorgon. When the forest engulfed Ur, monsters had already appeared on the land and were ravaging the city.

"You weren't bitten by a poisonous snake or stung by any venomous insect while crossing this forest, were you? I can take you to a good doctor."

The local residents are quite aware of what that jungle looks like. Rather, they believe that such a dense forest must contain plenty of threatening creatures.

If you actually get stung, you might have the chance to experience the ancient Sumerian medicine from over four thousand years ago.

"No, not really. Being able to wander this land at this time, I still have some security. I didn't expect Ur to be like this now, completely integrated with the forest."

However, Manshu had no intention of experiencing the methods of the old Sumerian doctors. While refusing, she planned to steer the conversation toward the sacrifices that Quetzal Koyatl wanted.

Should he take the initiative to say that he is willing to be a sacrifice and want to see it, or should he pretend to be a clueless traveler and be lured there?

Wu: "Ah...that's right, the forest has enveloped Ur City and protected it as well."

As long as Qi stays here, the monsters can't get in. Here, the only way is to follow the rules of the Forest Goddess; as long as you follow the rules, this is the safest place, and no one will be killed by the monsters.

However, the woman on the other side took the initiative to talk about the safety of the city and mentioned Quetzal Koyatl.

6. "Oh, the Goddess of the Jungle? It seems to be the same being as the Beast Goddess who controls magical beasts. Perhaps that's why she can protect this city. That's quite interesting. I plan to learn more about this city before I leave."

As Shan Manshu casually remarked, he had practically taken in the entire city.

Si asked, "Are you... still planning to leave?"

A strange emotion flashed in the woman's eyes on the other side of the window. She shook her head and said regretfully.

"Hmm? A safe place is certainly nice, but if I were looking for safety, I wouldn't have come all the way through the jungle to get here."

"No, that's not what I meant. Since you've come to this city from the forest, you haven't really left here. That's a rule set by the Forest Goddess."

This is an absolutely safe place, but once you leave, the goddess will no longer guarantee safety; instead, she will bring death. Before you, there were others who were unwilling to enjoy the safety here and wanted to go to Uruk's aid, but most of them were killed by the ferocious beasts lurking in the jungle. Only a few escaped and never dared to go out again.

The woman shook her head and said that this was also why she told Manshu everything she knew without reservation.

Now that we've come this far, the only options are to stay here and become a resident, or to go out and die in the forest.

"Since you come from Babylon, you must have stopped in Uruk to rest. You probably haven't heard of anyone who escaped from Ur, because this jungle not only stops magical beasts but also anyone who wants to leave."

"So, if we come here again, all we can do is stay in this city and do nothing?"