The Holy Grail War Blessed by the Gods

But there are still at least two weeks left. Although in those two weeks, with manpower, we can only build a house of earth and stone, it will be enough as long as it can stop the Gorgon's advance.

This stopped Gorgon at the gates of Nippur, preventing him from crossing Nippur and continuing his attempts to destroy the absolute monster front and even Uruk.

The time is not yet ripe to kill the current Gorgon. Gorgon's death will awaken the real Tiamat, who is slumbering within Merlin's illusion.

Given that we cannot fully deal with Tiamat, we should not do anything unnecessary.

"So now only one question remains: have you seen Ishtar before, and do you know where she is?"

Furthermore, the goddess's conquest progress will definitely prioritize Ishtar, since she's easier to persuade. However, a problem arises: Mount Ebif was destroyed in the recent battles.

"Isn't the goddess Ishtarju on Mount Ebifu, the very place where Zero was killed?"

The news of Mount Aibif's destruction was not so easy to spread. As Ishtar herself complained, Mount Aibif was located in the most treacherous part of the mountains, remote and full of poisonous snakes and insects. Believers would never come to Mount Aibif.

No one usually comes to Mount Ebif, so how could anyone see that the entire mountain has been destroyed? The dense clouds covering the mountain are enough to conceal the fact.

"That's the problem. Before going to Uruk, I went to Mount Aibif and met the goddess of this land at the top of the mountain."

Although the mistress of the sky has not regained the glory of the Merv era, she still possesses some power and remains the goddess of the sky and the mistress of Venus, capable of shattering mountains.

The temple of Ishtar atop Mount Ebif and Mount Ebif itself were destroyed by the falling light of Venus, leaving only ruins, no longer fit to serve as the goddess's abode.

Manjushri slowly recounted what she had done before, so now that she needed to subdue Ishtar and make her an ally, she first needed to find her current residence.

The whereabouts of that mistress of the sky are probably uncertain and elusive.

After all, Anna Ishtar, with her celestial steed, could roam freely across this land, as long as she didn't provoke the other goddesses.

"We did encounter the goddess Ishtar not long ago. She did say through gritted teeth that someone from who-knows-where had destroyed her dwelling, but she didn't mention where she had been living recently, perhaps in one of the other surviving cities?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka added that it was something they encountered on their journey to Kusa City.

“The other city-states naturally have their own gods. Ishtar has its own city as its guardian deity, so how could it possibly stoop to seizing the cities of its other brothers and sisters?”

The city that belongs to Ishtar is Uruk, and it has been so since the city was founded.

Uruk was formed by the merger of two large settlements. A river divided Bruk in two, with a large temple tower on each bank, dedicated to the sky god An and the sky goddess Ishtar, who was then called Inanna.

Ishtar Hedgehog ∏4% off＄ proxy purchase: 尔|jiu④々０″思∮｜叁◇×wu陆”：⑷She wanted to return to Uruk, but Gilgamesh refused her and did not leave a residence for the goddess in the city of Uruk.

“News comes daily from the city-states east of Uruk. If Ishtar went to those city-states, there would be news. So it seems that Ishtar is still wandering around Mount Ebif, or has found a place in the wilderness near Uruk.”

Only the east can still supply the goddess; the south and north each have their own goddesses, and there is no news from the civilized city-states.

Currently, sightings of the goddess Ishtar are still recorded in the pastures east of the city, so I think that since her area of ​​activity hasn't changed, Ishtar's residence should still be in that area.

At that time, Sumer was not a very large place. Sumer was the lower reaches of Mesopotamia, and Mesopotamia was the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The two great rivers are quite far apart in the upper reaches, then they crowd together in the middle reaches, and then they separate again in the lower reaches and flow into the sea. The middle area of ​​the upper reaches is much larger than the land in the lower reaches.

Therefore, the places Ishtar can go are actually not many. Large areas of the northern lands have become the habitat of magical beasts, and Ishtar is not likely to mingle with them.

That dense forest was not a place Ishtar could intrude upon. As the pinnacle of the benevolent gods, Quetzalcoatl was someone Ishtar could not even launch an effective attack against.

Ishtar is unable to break through the powers possessed by Quetzalcoatl, and since Ishtar herself is of the good side, she is completely unable to face Quetzalcoatl.

The only remaining land is the area east of Uruk. Although Mount Aibif was destroyed, it is a continuous mountain range, so there are other places to choose from.

"But climbing one mountain after another will take a lot of time. Perhaps we should ask Gilgamesh to find the goddess's location, while you go to the dense forest first."

The goddess Quetzalcoatl of the dense forest will not stray far from Elidu. The Sunstone, which solidifies her divinity, resides in the temple of that city. You should venture deep into the jungle to Elidu to meet Quetzalcoatl.

It's not suitable to spend too much time searching for Ishtar. Her role isn't significant. The point of trying to win her over as an ally is more about winning over her sister, Ereshkigal.

Instead, we should head to the dense forest and win over Quetzal Koyatl, the most powerful goddess in this land at the moment, who is still extremely threatening. If we launch an attack without regard for the consequences, Nippur City may really be burned to ashes, but of course, that would come at the cost of mutual destruction.

"Quetzal Koyatl, the goddess of the dense forest? So the Sunstone is in Elidu, I see."

"Quetzalcoatl?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka still didn't know much about mythology, and looked at the person next to her in confusion about this kind of name.

Quetzal Koyatl is one of the supreme gods in the Aztec mythology of Central and South America, and is also revered as Kukulkan in the Mayan civilization. He is regarded as a benevolent god who denies human sacrifice rituals, and a god who controls many natural blessings such as wind, rain, agriculture, Venus, and the sun, but also possesses the side of a fierce war god.

There must be a mystery behind how such a powerful deity can freely exercise its authority in the territories of other civilizations.

So it now appears that Quetzalcoatl erected a temple in Eridu and abandoned the sunstone, which was her symbol, on the temple.

“That’s right. The Sunstone is a treasure engraved with everything in the Aztec world, past and present, and it has the ability to act as a door, which can lead out the source of the gods themselves, allowing the gods to exert their own powers.”

The Sunstone imbued Quetzalcoatl with divine power, and indeed, destroying it would affect the powers that Quetzalcoatl wields.

“那么2就准备去9动身吧4，穿过0那片密林4，一直3抵达到5王权6最初降落的4城市，坐落于深渊之上的埃利都。”

Now that the direction has been determined, there's no need to continue discussing it; a little time can be wasted.

"By the way, there is also my messenger in that dense forest. She will guide you through that jungle. She is a leopard-woman in leopard skin. And never forget Jusudera's instructions, they are the right words."

The leopard-man in the jungle is bound to defect to the enemy anyway, so it's better to say it in advance, since that guy is a complete comedian.

"Don't ask me about Jusudera's identity. You'll find out sooner or later. He's someone who was once entangled with you, just in disguise."

After saying all this, Manju dismissed the group from the temple and continued to devote himself to his own tasks.

Although some things were still unclear, the direction to move forward had indeed been pointed out, and the three of them, including Fujimaru Ritsuka, came down from the mountain.

Two priests were still waiting at the foot of the mountain. This was an option they had won through competition. Being able to stay at the foot of the mountain, gazing at the giant cliffs, and even watching the babbling brook, was undoubtedly a reward for the priests whose piety had been restored.

After all, these priests have not yet received much glory, and cannot even be regarded as priests on an equal footing. They do not even have the qualifications to approach God yet. They are merely listening to the words of the will and conveying them. In this respect, they can still be considered priests.

When the priests saw the three men coming down from the mountain, they immediately went to greet them and offered to lead them to the banquet to celebrate together.

At this point, the three of them had no reason to refuse, so they went along with them to the banquet hall.

The area around Lin was quiet; the priests were constantly reciting the commandments and telling stories about God.

Another priest would dress up as a god and act out the stories being told with others; this was also a very typical ritual.

③The crowd below is in remembrance. Those who want to pray go forward, while those who don't stay behind, enjoying the food and drinks while watching the performance in front.

When the priest led Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other two to this place, it immediately attracted everyone's attention. The priests led them to the front to receive the sacred meal.

"They have just come from Uruk, bringing with them King Gilgamesh's blessing upon the reborn Nippur. The great god Enlil has just received them, leading them up the great cliff and into the azure Ekuri!"

When Si heard what the priest said, everyone below was filled with envy, and a scribe was busy writing down the story.

The scribes would take reeds that had been cut into triangular or quadrangular shapes and press one end along the edge of the reed onto the clay tablet to write.

The triangular strokes, thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, were formed by pressing them onto the clay tablet. This is the origin of the name cuneiform script, because the shape of its strokes is wedge-shaped.

Q Of course, this is an improved way of writing. This era should not have appeared yet. The period of improvement will come after the era of Uruk, in the era of the First Dynasty of Ur.

However, it is clear that development here is much faster than in normal history, so it is not surprising that a writing system invented a hundred years later is still in use here today.

The scribes would first record the day's story on clay tablets. After they finished copying, they would hand the clay tablets to the engravers so that they could carve the day's story onto stone.

Of course, normally stones are not used. Only very important information, such as royal inscriptions, would be recorded on stones, since carving on stone is not an easy task.

The priests brought them here with the intention of asking about what had happened on the mountain, so they offered them the finest wine and food, hoping to gain information through the wine, even if it was just to express their gratitude.

However, with Merlin present, it wouldn't have much of an impact. Merlin adjusted his tone slightly, speaking to the group in a praising and eulogizing manner.

The priests didn't necessarily need to be cherished; if the story were told truthfully, they would inevitably make some changes, embellishing and deifying the events.

Therefore, it was a joyous banquet, and everything ended peacefully, with the celebration continuing until the day they were to depart.

The group from Uruk did not linger; the soldiers had to return to the Absolute Beast Front, as it was their duty.

Fujimaru Ritsuka also needs to go into the dense forest, and time is not very abundant.

Upon learning that the god Enlil had sent a mission, the people of Nippur naturally could not delay them. They prepared various supplies in advance, handed them over to a few people, and then prepared a large number of items to express their gratitude, which they had the soldiers transport back to Uruk.

Even many people in Nippur City were eager to sign up, wanting to join Fujimaru Ritsuka's ranks and make some contributions, but they were all politely declined.

Thus, the group of nine people left Nippur with a full harvest. Their journey back was not hindered by too many obstacles. The number of monsters lingering there was still very small and did not pose any obstacle at all.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other two successfully returned to Uruk and came before Gilgamesh once again.

"Hahahaha... You're actually asking us to win over the goddess?"

Chapter 162 Death

"You have returned at just the right time. Just yesterday, the goddess of the dense forest emerged from the jungle and smashed the gates of Uruk with her bare hands. She killed 100 soldiers in the encirclement before leaving."

Gilgamesh spoke up, saying that it would be of utmost urgency to either win over or defeat Quetzalcoatl.

Such a goddess, acting alone, could indeed freely enter and leave Uruk.

After all, the goddess's goal was only to kill 100 people a day. Uruk couldn't stop her from killing 100 people at once, because she didn't fight to the death in the city. She arrived like a whirlwind and left like the wind.

"If we let her continue to cause trouble in the city, it will definitely affect the morale of the monster front. So you've come back just in time. Head to the forest now and take care of that forest goddess. That's the most important thing right now."

"This is indeed the only solution now. Whether we bring Quetzal Koyatl to our side, keep her neutral, or defeat her, we must first get her to stop influencing Uruk. Otherwise, even with King Gilgamesh's rule, Uruk will inevitably descend into chaos."

This isn't something you can find a new solution to just by thinking about it in a roundabout way.

The goddess, hidden in the dense forest, is even difficult to detect, so the only information that can be obtained is her identity. How can one cope with such a completely indiscriminate situation?

⑨ At least the forces within Uruk are insufficient to defeat Quetzal Koyatl, unless the Sunstone is destroyed directly to lure him to Uruk, in which case there might be a slight chance.

④ "Even if we destroy the Sunstone of Elidu, it will probably be difficult to defeat the opponent there. So we should prioritize persuading the opponent, but we should also be prepared to reduce Quetzal Koyatl's divinity."

⑧Their current actions, that is, Merlin, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, and Anna together, the power of these four to defeat Quetzal Coyatt, even though the opponent's symbol was destroyed and his godhood was reduced, it is still a period of some difficulty, or rather, it is very difficult to complete.

② However, if they wanted to escape, they should be able to do so if they had the chance, since they still had Merlin, the excellent illusionist. So they needed to consider all sorts of plans.

④“The matter is settled, Fujimaru. I will now assign you a new mission. I authorize you to carry out the operation to expel the goddess, cross the dense forest, and head to Elidu!”

③The journey to Elidu takes two days one way, and four days round trip. Go quickly, and subdue that ineffable goddess after you return.”

③ Gilgamesh made the decision and waved his hand, signaling everyone to prepare for departure.

Gilgamesh would certainly not be able to accompany them; he had many things to attend to right now, and Uruk could not leave their King Sitian for the time being—that would be too long.

⑤……

"Operation Quetzalcoatl begins, Master. Let's head towards Ur first, and find..."

“Let’s just call him Enlil here. Since he has accepted this name and hasn’t changed it, and Nippur City has acknowledged it and this land has recognized him as Enlil, then there is no doubt that he is the reborn Enlil.”

Merlin interjected, a smile playing on his lips, seemingly finding his own words somewhat amusing.

"King Gilgamesh seemed to say the same thing, although he was laughing as he said it."

In the report, the fact that Manju now calls himself the god Enlil was of course impossible to ignore and was reported to Gilgamesh with great priority.

Gilgamesh burst into laughter upon hearing this, and it took him a while to come to his senses before he made everyone forget about it.