I'll be uploading three chapters today, because I felt bad for not uploading yesterday.
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They all looked at the desolate and destroyed buildings of the Dark City.
This was not what they had expected, yet Cassie, Nephis, and Sunny still held onto hope that there was perhaps a reason for why it was so abandoned.
Gilgamesh looked at the tower beside them, smelling something. Piercing into the darkness of the tower with his eyes, he saw a young woman, tall and attractive. She had hazel eyes and beautiful brown hair, currently tied in a simple braid. Her build was extremely athletic, with perfectly defined lean muscles rolling under her dewy olive skin with each movement.
'That has to be Effie, right?'
Gilgamesh motioned to the rest of the Cohort that there was someone inside the tower.
Having seen his gesture, they started moving sneakily towards the entrance to the tower on the wall.
When he neared the smell of cooked meat wafted through the air, entering his nostrils.
Once they were all close, Gilgamesh could see the bodies of various Nightmare Creatures lying beside Effie, while one of them was being cooked over the fire.
Suddenly, Effie paused and looked at them with a wide grin while baring her teeth.
When Gilgamesh saw her grin, he wasn't sure what gave them away; perhaps it was her honed senses that she had developed by staying and hunting Nightmare Creatures for three years.
"Is someone hiding in the shadows? Why don't you come out to play?"
Her voice was deep and cracky, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.
Gilgamesh stepped forward inside the gate, his armor illuminating the room.
"You! You shall be the fourth member of my clan."
He pointed his armored finger at the bewildered Effie.
The toned muscles of her's relaxed, and she sat back on the ground.
Once Effie took a look at them and realized that they were humans, she started laughing.
"Big dreams, kid. Maybe you should set your goal on something more achievable in this hellhole."
She leaned back and threw them a curious look.
"Who are the other three members of your 'clan'?"
Effie emphasized the word 'clan' with a joking tone. Once Gilgamesh pointed at the three girls behind him, she burst out laughing again.
"You sure you aren't building a harem instead?"
Slapping her muscled thigh while laughing, she went back to chopping up the Nightmare Creature with her butcher-knife like Memory.
"Ah, where are my manners? The people Effie, and here, sit down."
Effie pointed at the empty places near the fire. Gilgamesh moved inside hearing that, with the other three girls following.
"Are you... are you human?"
Nephis tried her best to look normal; her response however still came out awkwardly.
The giant girl—who Gilgamesh was fairly certain was taller than him as well—blinked a couple of times as if confused by her question.
"What else would I be? A horse?"
She threw her head back and started laughing at her own joke, along with Gilgamesh. It was a pretty funny joke.
Nephis and Sunny looked at each other, confused at what they were laughing about.
"Ah, at least one of you knows how to take a joke."
Effie wiped her tears and gave him a nod. Moving her hands towards the cooked monster meat, she gave them a curious look.
"Haven't seen you around here; are you guys new?"
Gilgamesh nodded his head at her while Effie threw them a look of pity.
"Yeah, we just arrived."
Effie nodded her head while munching on the meat. Before she could reply, Cassie spoke with a hopeful tone.
"Are you from the castle? Is there a gateway over there?"
The pity in Effie's eyes increased, and she burst out laughing hysterically while clutching her stomach. All of them looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Ah, I'm so sorry for that."
She wiped her tears and stopped laughing.
"I can take you to the castle, but there is no Gateway there. In fact, there's no way out of this cursed hell at all. I've been stuck here for three years myself already. So... welcome to the Dark City, I guess. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, and all that..."
All three of the girls looked shocked at her words. Gilgamesh, who had already expected this, was already planning his next move. Getting up, he slowly walked out of the room and looked towards the castle, with the skulls of the enemies of Gunlaug flying through the air.
"It's decided then, I'll just have to make my way towards a gateway."
Effie looked at him with a raised eyebrow; when she had said that, she wasn't expecting this reaction.
"Look, kid, many people—great people, normal people, and all the ones in between—have tried and failed. It's better that you find a good job in the castle and live peacefully before you get killed."
Gilgamesh turned back towards the gate of the tower and looked at Effie with mirth running through his red eyes. He raised two fingers. The giant girl raised her eyebrow at the fingers.
"Two days. That's how long it will take for me to clear the city. Two months. That's how long it will take for me to lead all the people of this city to the real world."
A true master of aura farming never wasted an opportunity provided to them on a silver platter. Effie laughed at his words, not believing him.
"Ah... it's good to see that you have not lost your sense of humor in this hellhole."
She giggled for a few more moments before throwing him a grin.
"I really love that bravado of yours, pretty boy. I'll even join that silly harem of yours if you actually manage to accomplish that."
"It's not a hare—"
"Deal."
Gilgamesh interrupted Sunny before she could finish her sentence.
He then gazed at all three girls of the cohort.
"Either you guys can help me rally all the people of the city, or you can stay in the Castle for two days before I am done here."
They all responded that they would stay with him. Gilgamesh nodded, pleased at that response.
"Stay here for now; I'll be back in a while."
...
Gilgamesh floated in the air with the help of a Memory. While it allowed him to float, it did nothing else. He couldn't even move while using the Memory. Still, it allowed him to aura farm a lot more than just dropping in between portals. Gazing at the city below him, he could see multiple creatures of various ranks, either fighting or resting. He took in a deep breath.
"To the people of the Dark City," His voice boomed across the air while his armor shined brightly, instantly catching the attention of the people, "it has been long since you have lived in fear; it has been long since you have been stuck here without any hope. But enough is enough. The time for change is now."
Gilgamesh paused and looked at the people looking at him from below.
"Within two days, I shall kill all the Nightmare Creatures residing in this city. Within two months, we shall make it back to the real world. Not only me, but each and every one of you. You shall all get the opportunity to go back and see your family without dying. And I shall make sure of it"
He turned towards the castle.
"Gunlaug has two days to surrender the throne to me. Even if he does not, then I'll take it with my own two hands."
Gilgamesh turned back towards the city, staring at the Nightmare Creatures whose attention he had gotten due to his speech.
"Now, for a demonstration of my power."
Dozens of golden portals opened up behind him. For a second, they hung there. Then multiple swords, daggers, and various other weapons burst out of each of them. They flew through the air at incredible speeds and struck the Nightmare Creatures before getting recalled back to [Gate of Babylon] and flying once again, targeting the remaining few Nightmare Creatures.
"My name is Gilgamesh, Wedge of Heaven, and you shall remember it."
Dozens of portals opened up beneath the bodies of the creatures and dumped them in front of the Gate of the Castle, directly below him.
"Your salvation is here."
[You have slain a...]
Ignoring the notifications of the Spell, he dismissed his Memory and free-fell towards the ground. Before he could land, he opened a portal beneath himself that landed him safely on the ground.
The moment the soles of his feet landed on the ground, Gilgamesh was rushed by the people living outside of the Castle with fanaticism in their eyes.
"Are you a Master? How did you find us?"
"How did you kill all these Nightmare Creatures of the Fallen rank?!"
"Is it true what you said about taking us out of here?"
"What are you going to do with all these corpses?"
Not paying attention to their questions, Gilgamesh flourished his arm towards the pile of carcasses.
"As a token of my trust, take the bodies of these Nightmare Creatures, divide the Soul Shards among yourselves, and feast under my rule."
That instantly gained their attention; looking at him with almost worshipful eyes, they rushed towards the tower of bodies and started dragging the carcasses.
Gilgamesh suddenly grabbed a rather thin-looking man.
"Prepare a big and clean house in the outer settlement for me, alright?"
The man nodded fearfully and ran away towards the pile. In the meantime, Gilgamesh made sure no one was taking more than one Nightmare Creature and later divided the remaining ones equally.
Once all the commotion had calmed down, Gilgamesh finally had some time to think about everything.
He had decided to rally all these people this way because it was the easiest. A good display of power, food, and hope, along with his charisma, was the easiest way to make these people listen. Since he wanted to leave the Forgotten Shore as quickly as possible, Gilgamesh had decided not to waste his time slowly gathering the people of the outer settlement. This was simply the best and easiest way to go about this. He had decided to spend about a month or two to smooth things out and get stronger before the last battle.
Also, Gunlaug. While Gilgamesh agreed that he was probably the only thing keeping order in this place, he couldn't agree with his methods. Then again, Gunlaug had tried everything in his power to make it back to the real world at first, but he just wasn't strong enough. Fortunately for him, Gilgamesh was here to take the throne from him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gilgamesh saw the man whom he had told to prepare a house for him rushing towards him, the man bowed while Gilgamesh raised his eyebrow.
"My lord, the best house in the outer settlement is ready for you; we have cleaned and furnished it to the best of our abilities."
Being called 'My lord' out of nowhere was pretty weird. Still, it was good to see that they recognized him as their King instantly, just as he deserved to be called. Nodding his head, Gilgamesh patted the man on the back.
"I shall remember your name, my subject. Now, lead me towards the house."
The stranger man's eyes glinted with pride at the praise, even though Gilgamesh had never asked him for his name, so it was impossible for him to remember it.
Bowing once again, the man led him towards the house. Once they had reached, Gilgamesh gazed at the house. It was a bit broken around the edges, but was considerably bigger than the other ones in the outer settlement. It would suffice for now.
When he was inside, Gilgamesh ordered the man to go back.
Seeing that all his current tasks were done, Gilgamesh went to pick up the three girls.
The whole scene had barely taken about ten minutes, so he found them still sitting with Effie, talking about something.
His armored feet landed on the ground, announcing his arrival. All the girls turned to look at him.
"That was pretty impressive."
Sunny was the first one to speak, looking at him in astonishment. She knew that he was strong, but this was a whole other level.
"Even though I couldn't see you, your speech was still very inspiring!"
Cassie looked in his direction with an admiring look. Even Nephis tried to give him a smile. Walking towards them, he thanked them and informed them that he had found a house. Effie had finished eating her meat and was looking at him, impressed.
"It was good meeting you as well, Effie. I'll hold you to that promise when we reach the real world."
Nodding at her with a grin, he teleported all four of them inside the house.
...
Word Count: 2153