Conquer the world, young man!

"Abe no Seimei's shikigami, how wonderful!" Shuten-dōji's eyes were filled with even more malice, and he smiled wickedly. "When did you abandon your master and get involved with the gods?" At this point, Shuten-dōji's eyes shifted, and he let out a mocking laugh. "But it seems that it's all wishful thinking on your part!"

Azure Dragon's expression froze as if it had solidified into ice. He gathered his spiritual power and attacked, shouting, "Nonsense!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Totsuka quickly ran to the group trapped by Shuten-dōji, placed his hand on the barrier, concentrated his spiritual power on one point, and shouted, "Break!"

Lin Xingxu and the others, who were already inside the barrier, had already depleted much of its energy. When Shi Shu applied the final external force and spiritual power, the barrier was shattered.

The group that emerged was unharmed. Shizuku, having run out of usable talismans, said to them, "I know a way to seal it, but I need your cooperation."

Shibuya Kazuya nodded directly and said, "Just tell me what you need."

"I will show you the directions. Mr. Lin, Mr. Fasheng, Ayako-san, Naru, and finally me will each take our positions, and then..." Totsuka explained his plan to the group, and each of them received a talisman from Lin Xingxu. The Azure Dragon could restrain Shuten-dōji, but killing that great demon was too difficult; it would be better to seal him away permanently.

Only Mai Taniyama remained, and the others placed her in a safe location. She had no offensive capabilities, but she could alert the others if she sensed anything amiss.

Shuten-dōji naturally sensed something was wrong. The fact that those with some spiritual power were all taking up their positions made him increasingly anxious. He fiercely gathered his demonic power and, after dodging the attack of the divine general Qinglong, struck at the god who was in charge. After all, as long as that god disappeared, this damned divine general would certainly not reappear.

When Qinglong saw Shuten-dōji's actions, he immediately struck with his weapon, trying to stop his attack. But this time, Shuten-dōji did not dodge again. He took the blow head-on, and his demonic power still struck the boy who was chanting the sealing incantation.

Totsuka's body trembled with tension, yet he couldn't dodge the attack. At the final moment of the seal, he couldn't move, nor could he stop chanting, "Bind, bind, bind! Immovable bondage! Divine decree descends! You before me shall immediately be punished by the seal..."

Just as he was reciting the last line, and Shuten-dōji's demonic power was about to strike him, Totsuka was embraced by a warm body. He barely managed to utter the last line, "All demons submit!"

The spiritual power gathered from the group rushed towards Shuten-dōji, and Lin Xingxu took out a short-mouthed bottle and sealed the master of Mount Ōe inside.

What Totsuka cared about now wasn't Shuten-dōji, but the divine general lying on top of him. This person, who should have hated him, had been summoned by the summoning talisman and had even shielded him from Shuten-dōji's deadly attack. Totsuka shakily supported Seiryū, calling out, "Seiryū, Seiryū?" With his eyes closed, his icy demeanor vanished, and he appeared much gentler.

However, Totsuka's cries had no effect. He placed his left hand on the back of the Azure Dragon and concentrated all his spiritual power in his left hand to heal him.

Even so, the person in his arms remained motionless. Only then did Totsuka truly panic. "Seiryu, wake up!" He remembered the name Seiryu had once told him, "Xiaolan..." A god-general cannot die, but a god-general who has died once will lose all their past memories, becoming like a newly born person. Totsuka didn't want to see someone who had no memory of him, and at this moment, he sincerely hoped that Seiryu was still the Seiryu he knew.

Strangely enough, when Totsuka called out the name Xiaolan, the body in his arms moved slightly, which made Totsuka stare intently at Qinglong, as if afraid that he had become a stranger.

"Hmph, so you only know to call my name now?" The handsome general turned his head away, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "I'm not that easy to kill."

"That's great, Xiaolan." Shishu breathed a sigh of relief and flashed a bright smile. "If you had died to help me, I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life!"

These words made Qinglong frown immediately. He pushed the boy away and stood up. "Guilt? I don't need any guilt!"

Seeing Qinglong's angry expression again, Shishu pursed his lips helplessly and bowed in Qinglong's direction. "No matter what, thank you so much, Xiaolan." Shishu clearly felt that when he called Qinglong by his name, the atmosphere around Qinglong relaxed a lot, which made it easier for him to address him.

Qinglong glanced at the Rain Woman lying on the ground, secretly watching him, and scoffed, "You actually let such a weak yokai be your shikigami..."

A-Xi, who had been watching the show, immediately jumped up and said angrily, "Where am I weak? Don't think that just because you were summoned by the master, you are the master's shikigami! Only I, only I A-Xi, am the master's only shikigami!"

"You're no longer needed as his shikigami." The Azure Dragon narrowed its eyes slightly, growing increasingly displeased with the noisy monster before it. "What use is a shikigami that can't even protect its own master?"

"Huh?" Axi's originally high spirits were chilled by Qinglong's words, and she stammered out a word of objection.

Totsuka's lips twitched, and he looked at Seiryu with a puzzled expression, only to see Seiryu turn his back and slowly say, "Since you have called my name, then I will temporarily serve as your shikigami until this monster can defeat me."

The Rain Woman was also completely devastated. Asking her to defeat the Twelve Divine Generals was something she could never do in her lifetime.

"Why?" Totsuka couldn't understand Qinglong's actions at all. As a god who only acknowledged Abe no Seimei, he hadn't even accepted Abe no Masahiro, so why would he be willing to become his shikigami?

The voice of the divine general Qinglong softened at this moment, and he said softly, "A name is a curse, and only you know my name."

The onlookers turned around, opened the door, and went outside. As for the matter of the gods and their generals, they knew nothing about it. But whether it was a demon or a god, there was no deeper trust than entrusting one's name to another.

———————————————The Azure Dragon Scroll Ends——————————————————

136 Branch Line Three Flashes (1)

Shishu never expected to see someone he hadn't seen in so long when he got home today. A flamboyant blond hairstyle, gold jewelry, a gold wine bottle on the table, and a large home theater projector that had somehow been installed in the living room. This scene made him want to facepalm. Had his house been completely taken over?

"Randy, you're back." The one who greeted him gently was his best friend Enkidu, who had a beautiful face and could easily be mistaken for a woman.

Totsuka nodded. He was usually quite relaxed when facing Enkidu, but there was another person who made him somewhat helpless.

The blond, handsome man sitting on the sofa looked up, his blood-red eyes fixed on the boy, and then unfurled a large poster. "What's going on here?"

Totsuka looked over; the poster was a still from the music video shoot for one of the songs on their new album. The visual effects were excellent, and she heard it sold well, with the agency even printing extra copies for sale.

"It's just a poster. If you have this, you should know I released a new album, Gilgamesh." Totsuka knew exactly what Gilgamesh cared about. To put it bluntly, the poster showed him and popular actor Shuichi Natori gazing at each other intimately to express the emotions in the music video. Totsuka was well aware of his friend's reaction.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh were not ordinary people. They were historical figures from the Sumerian dynasty in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago. Gilgamesh was the oldest hero-king, while Enkidu was a creation of the goddess Aruru, who later ruled the country alongside Gilgamesh. Their deeds have been passed down to this day, and even the oldest known epic poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, exists to commemorate them.

Totsuka, by chance, is swept into an era thousands of years in the past, witnessing history firsthand, and even seeing the historical records altered. Of course, Totsuka vehemently denies the revised versions of the historical accounts.

After securing the right for his two friends to remain in the mortal world in exchange for their wishes, Totsuka discovered that life was far more complicated than he had imagined. Gilgamesh's overly formal confession after the Ring War left him speechless, and he would wait until their next meeting to ask for an answer.

However, upon meeting him, Jill pulled out a poster, looking displeased as if he owed Jill a huge debt, which made Totsuka sigh again.

But Gilgamesh's subsequent actions surprised him. Although his tone was initially displeased, he now smiled and said, "I've listened to your album, it's very good. In my opinion, adding these music videos and posters for promotion is really unnecessary."

"Huh?" Totsuka didn't expect Gil to say something like that, and couldn't help but ask, "Why? Was the filming bad?"

"Randy, are you doing this on purpose?" Gilgamesh narrowed his blood-red eyes and tightened his grip on the poster in his hand. "In my opinion, your singing voice doesn't need any of this embellishment. Those who truly love your voice will still love you even without these music video posters."

Totsuka's lips twitched as he looked at Enkidu beside him. "Hey, Enkidu, is Gilgamesh really alright?" He couldn't believe that Gilgamesh was talking about something like this.

Enkidu chuckled softly, pointed to the corner beside him, and whispered, "He's just expressing his dissatisfaction in a different way."

Following the direction Enkidu was pointing, Totsuka saw a huge pile of posters in the corner, countless copies of which were gathered there. His posters were limited editions and not available everywhere; such a large stack meant that all the newly released posters had probably been snapped up.

Gilgamesh scoffed and tossed the poster he was holding onto the stack of posters. "From today onwards, if there are any posters of you with other people, I'll buy them all. As for music videos, they should all be banned on major websites now, and I'm sure your agency won't let you shoot any more music videos."

Totsuka opened her mouth in surprise, "Gil, what do you mean?"

"My meaning is very clear." Gilgamesh looked at the boy before him, a smug smile on his face. "As my wife, no one else has the right to approach you in such a way!"

Something still felt off. Totsuka thought about it for a moment. Although he had heard Gil's words many times, this matter seemed to be more troublesome than he had imagined.

Enkidu reached out and patted Totsuka's shoulder, his words carrying a deeper meaning: "Randy, sometimes a person's determination is stronger than you can imagine."

Something's not right. Totsuka frowned, glancing at the two of them. "Are you two hiding something from me?"

Gilgamesh smiled but didn't answer. Even Enkidu just shook his head. "Gil and I just got back. We've visited quite a few places. Would you like to hear where we went?"

Enkidu's words quickly drew Totsuka's attention to what the two had been up to all this time. Enkidu's account was quite amusing. And Jill's reactions to the various people they encountered in different places, especially to those 'fools,' had Totsuka in stitches for a long time.

Totsuka, who had been struggling to give Jill an answer, quickly stopped thinking about it during the conversation. Being able to chat and laugh like this, the time the three of them spent together, was already wonderful for him.

While traveling around, Gilgamesh brought back many local delicacies from the Palace of the King, which allowed Totsuka to enjoy a sumptuous meal. After the group had finished their meal, Enkidu was the first to suggest, "Randy, you should be free for the next few days, right?"

"Well, I don't have any plans lately." Totsuka's work has come to an end, and now his days are indeed very leisurely.

Enkidu glanced at Gilgamesh, then looked at Totsuka. "Well then, I have a suggestion. Randy, would you like to relax a bit?"

"What suggestion?" Totsuka's trust in Enkidu made him not want to refuse, but rather full of interest. "Relaxation or something, I'd like to know if you have any good ideas."

“We’ve been to a lot of places this time with Gil, but the trip wasn’t exactly relaxing.” Enki winked at Totsuka as he said this. “I think the most relaxing thing would be not going too far and being able to enjoy it comfortably. I’ve heard that the scenery in Hokkaido is beautiful, and Lake Toya in the southwest is also a tourist hotspot. How about we go check it out?”

Totsuka has always enjoyed appreciating beautiful scenery, and he would love to capture those beautiful scenes as keepsakes. Enkidu's suggestion immediately appealed to him. "Great! I've been living here for so long, I haven't really taken a break."

“Then it’s settled. How about we go tomorrow?” Enkidu smiled gently, quite pleased with Totsuka’s response. “Actually, this was what Gil and I were thinking. We’ve been on vacation before, so let’s have the three of us together this time, just like before.”

Enkidu's words, "like before," directly touched Totsuka, who had always cherished the time the three of them had spent together. Especially after Gilles' feelings for him had crossed the line of friendship, he longed for everything to return to normal. Could Enkidu's words be a turning point, indicating that Gilles had given up?

"That's wonderful! Actually, when you all came here, I wanted to take you around to see the sights." Totsuka's face flushed slightly as she thought of this. "But for various reasons, we haven't really had a proper get-together yet. This time, we definitely need to go on a proper vacation!"

***

Unlike most people who travel by car on vacation, the three of them traveled using an incredibly convenient method. Riding in the Vimana, a mobile weapon that Gilgamesh took from the Royal Treasury and could roam the skies, they arrived at their destination in southwestern Hokkaido in a very short time, guided by Enkidu's GPS.

Totsuka realized that these two ancient heroes were far more modern than he, a modern man. Gilgamesh took out his latest mobile phone, made a call, and booked all the tourist attractions. Judging from his conversation, he seemed to be the kind of person who 'books out entire venues'. Enkidu, on the other hand, began to study the terminal and led them towards the attractions.

Their destination was Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Totsuka had never imagined he would be walking through a park with these two people, enjoying the scenery. The wonder of nature is that it makes you forget all your troubles. Here, Totsuka also experienced a long-lost sense of peace.

It was clearly a tourist area, yet there was absolutely no one else there at the moment. Totsuka initially thought Gil had only booked Lake Toya, but now it seemed the entire area had been reserved. Truly, they were people who had reached a certain level of extravagance…

"How much would it cost to travel here?" With this in mind, Totsuka couldn't help but ask.

Gilgamesh proudly raised his head, "All the treasures in this world belong to me. This is just a small tourist area. If you want the whole of Hokkaido, you can have it!"

Seeing Gilgamesh's usual reaction, Totsuka burst into hearty laughter this time. If hearing Gilgamesh's words before would have only made him feel helpless, now he found the guy unexpectedly endearing in some way. He wondered if it was the environment that influenced him, or if his mindset had been affected.

Enkidu looked at Totsuka's smile and felt happy too. He couldn't help but say to Gil, "Gil, you should know that this world is much bigger than we imagine. Things are not like they used to be."

“As long as I stand here, this place will always be my territory, Gilgamesh’s territory.” Gilgamesh snorted lightly, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Don’t you think that’s wrong?”

Totsuka and Enkidu exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with smiles. They knew perfectly well that Gilgamesh's pride was ingrained in his very being; it might seem arrogant to others, but it was precisely because of this that they had been friends for a thousand years. Totsuka also felt a touch of envy; Gilgamesh, who could keep his ideals unchanged and even carry them through to the end, was indeed worthy of his respect in some ways.

Perhaps Gilles had been a tyrant, disregarding the wishes of others. But for those he valued, whether in terms of emotion or other aspects, he was truly unique among kings. Totsuka, who had never thought about this before, found his thoughts drifting at this moment. No history book recorded a king traversing mountains and rivers, exhausting his energy to find medicine for someone. Thinking back to when Gilles was first called the Hero King, ruling the country alongside Enkidu, even he felt immense joy. A tyrannical and self-destructive king could transform into a wise and courageous monarch; in this respect, Gilles was truly worthy of being called the Hero King.

In Uruk, Totsuka was proud of the two friends he had met, not only because he had witnessed history, but also because he had become a part of it. But when did he begin to harbor prejudice? Was it from the moment Jill revealed his true feelings thousands of years ago? When he heard the system notification that Jill had developed a dark side, Totsuka already harbored prejudice against him.

Perhaps it could be said that he still couldn't accept that his best friend actually liked him. Totsuka recalled Gilles's reaction when he rejected the goddess Ishtar; he had thought that rejecting the goddess would bring disaster. Knowing what history would bring, and having a vague feeling that it was all connected to him, made it even harder for him to accept. Ultimately, he was just an ordinary person who only knew how to run away.

Looking back now, I realize I was actually a bit worse than Jill. After all, for that arrogant guy, probably nothing ever bothered him. And since he's been around him, Jill has been frowning way more often than before.

Of course, he also has a lot of bad habits, such as arrogance, rudeness, and self-centeredness. But considering his past status, it's understandable.

Totsuka shook her head, feeling that today was indeed a bit strange. She wouldn't normally think of so many things; perhaps it was because it was rare for the three of them to get together like friends, and that made her feel a little sentimental?

“Speaking of which, this month is the time for the fireworks festival at Lake Toya.” Enkidu led the two to the shore of Lake Toya. “It’s just a pity that it’s all empty.”

Totsuka sighed with regret, realizing the venue had been booked out. A fireworks display would be incredibly interesting, but expecting Gil to watch it with the 'fools' he considered a hundred thousand times less likely was something Gil would absolutely refuse to do.

137 Branch Line Three Flashes (2)

"But the scenery of Lake Toya alone is already very beautiful." It was rare for Totsuka to be able to calm down and appreciate the scenery like this. However, he felt that Gil didn't seem to be very interested in tourist attractions. Otherwise, why would he not look at the scenery but instead look around?

Enkidu then walked directly to Totsuka and led him forward, saying, "There are two active volcanoes near Lake Toya, and the misty clouds around them are quite beautiful."

"Enkidu, have you been here before?" Totsuka turned to look at his friend with some doubt. "You seem like a tour guide, you know everything."

Enkidu smiled gently, his eyes crinkling. "I did some research. It's still a bit early. Let's look around first and then come back."

Totsuka nodded, not finding anything amiss, but when she noticed that Jill wasn't following behind them, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't we traveling together? Why isn't Jill here?"

“You know his temper, so he probably isn’t interested either.” Enkidu shrugged and said in a low voice, “If he could be as quiet as he is today when he’s out, there would be nothing more worry-free for me.”

Hearing Enkidu say that, Totsuka couldn't help but chuckle, "That's true, but such a big place, and he's managed to leave it completely deserted, it's really..."

Totsuka followed Enkidu to see the active volcano and tasted a type of cherry that grows specifically on the mountain peak; it was very sweet. Totsuka also brought out his camera and filmed many of the sights they saw. After exploring the surrounding area, it was getting dark.

"Without Gilgamesh, it suddenly feels a bit quiet," Totsuka remarked. He and Enkidu had been talking about nothing but the scenery and Gilgamesh on their journey. Now that their friend, the subject of their conversation, was gone, the silence was palpable.

“It’s good that you can go back now. If that guy knew you were thinking about him, he’d probably be smug.” Enkidu couldn’t help but tease the boy as he looked at him.

Totsuka glared at Enkidu and said with a hint of helplessness, "Enkidu, what time is it, why are you still talking about this?"

"You should be used to it by now, Gil." Enkidu chuckled softly, glancing up at the sky. "Do you know how we got through the time you died?"

The conversation suddenly veered to this topic, and Totsuka's heart clenched again. Enkidu had almost never spoken to him about the past, and he had always deliberately avoided the subject. But in today's situation, Totsuka slowly let out a breath and asked, "Are you two alright?"