Author's Note: To my weird but grateful surprise, it seems that people actually liked the longy-ness of the previous chapter, so I kept this one just as long. Hope I didn't go too overboard here. Once again, it looked shorter on a notepad.

Enjoy!


The world around him lit up brightly, and as Vimana's defenses kicked in to generate a force-field against the intense wave of fire, Gilgamesh couldn't help but remember a 'conversation' with a lowly peasant from not too long ago.

...

It was when a trapper stood before him, speaking of a mysterious beast of clay that interfered with his every catch, and no matter what he attempted, it would always end up with failure. He wasn't the first to tell of such a thing, nor was he the first to request that the leader lend his unmatched strength in order to defeat the beast. In any normal circumstance, he would have forgotten like all the others.

However, it was how he ended his explanation that brought about the attention of such a divine being. He dared to claim that this mere creature, should it ever unleash its wrath, was capable of exceeding the unfathomable, almighty strength of the King of Uruk whom ruled the nation. And because of this ridiculous rumor that spread like wildfire, many others abandoned their lands under the belief that it was a hopeless cause, that the beast was a monster of the gods who was capable of devouring the sun should it so desire.

It was true that the king had sent soldiers to investigate this matter more than once, and none had returned, so the one responsible did possess some kind of power, but it couldn't possibly have come close to his.

After having continually explained and begged on his knees for a total of thirty seconds, the peasant said, "My king, I beg of you! Defeat this creature and prove your power to all the people of Uruk!"

Having remained silent for all this time, patiently listening to these crazed, single-minded pleas which went on and on without stop, that was the last straw. With his amazing foot, he tore the air out of the groveling man in a single strike and had him collapse onto the ground with a whimper. It was quite possible that the man would no longer be able to speak or breathe properly after something like that.

"You dare ask me to prove that which is already obvious? You dare expect me to have a contest of strength with this beast of which you speak? Such complete nonsense! Get out of my sight immediately!"

With absolute faith in his own might, convinced of the undeniable fact that there was not a single person who could ever exist and be stronger than he the king, his answer was as obvious as his magnificence and strength. This was how Gilgamesh dismissed all that appeared before him with an unreasonable request.


No. It was not possible. Even now, it was not possible.

When the torrent finally stopped, Gilgamesh believed that the dragon had given up in attempting to penetrate the golden ship's defenses. Stepping up from his throne, he drew a long sickle-sword from the Gate of Babylon. Since it was apparent that stabbing Enkidu would achieve nothing more than the loss of yet another one of his treasures, he would have to rely upon a slicing weapon instead. The sappara he was holding allowed for the efficient transfer of energy through the blades, enabling easy amputation for almost anything, even a gigantic Phantasmal Beast. Although, it was surprising to know that his opponent could transform into a form so large and advanced.

So high up, it took only three seconds for the heavy winds to blow away the smoke and reveal to both combatants the other. Then a humanoid form flew towards him with angelic wings on his back and a lance protruding from his right arm. Upon stabbing it onward with amazing power, the invisible barrier shattered apart as the clay successfully penetrated through it. The demigod was not surprised this time, and even as the winds instantly brushed all throughout the floor of the flying vehicle, he barely noticed as he slashed forth with his treasure.

Of course, the disadvantage of using slashing weapons was plain and clear. Since they were traditionally vulnerable to weapons that use a thrusting attack, such as a rapier or lance, it would allow for a distinct opening from the enemy. Enkidu, seeing this rather blatant opening, took it and thrust forth as he darted past the king's slash with speed boosted by wings.

But it was here that Gilgamesh had an advantage to negate his disadvantage. While Enkidu relied on instinct in battle, Gilgamesh relied on tactics and rational thought, and it was this ability to predict the decisions his opponent might make that he would overcome him!

Revealing a shield from behind his back, held within his free hand, the lance ended up being blocked as they deflected off of each other. It was all he needed, as he moved in to cut apart half the lance with his sickle-sword. Even though Enkidu would be quick to form another point, a golden ripple in space formed straight above it in order to respond to this. Therefore, despite the fact that he only had two arms and both had been used up to create an opening, the ability to access the treasury was something wholly dependent upon his desires, and it was this which would allow him to surpass his human body.

From this range, Gilgamesh had a split-second of opportunity to slice off his enemy's shoulder by thrusting down a sword projected directly from the Gate of Babylon.

However, at that window of time, whilst Enkidu could not possibly dodge that which was to come, he spoke a single 'word'.

It was of the original speech of the world, the 'truth' spoken before the gods took it away from mankind. It possessed the ability to carry the direct meaning across to others instead of hiding it under the guise of letters and sound movements in such a way that anything was capable of understanding it, and in a time where people had forgotten about its existence, their inferior words would be undeniably conquered by the 'truth' of the Unified Language, forcing them to obey it lest they reject their own existence.

And although the will of Gilgamesh was such that he possessed his own truth, enabling him to reject its meaning through the force of his own, perhaps he should have paid attention to the meaning of the 'word' that was spoken. Had he not been so lost in the midst of combat, he would have then realized the advantage which Enkidu possessed—namely, that he was not alone, as meaning of the word he had spoken meant 'come, friend'.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—! "

Inches away from his opponent's upper arm, their great battle was interrupted by a massive dragon that came out of nowhere, ramming its body into the Vimana without subtlety or remorse.

What—?!

His mind barely processing his information, he came to a realization; namely, that Enkidu and the dragon were two entirely separate entities, the latter most likely a summoned monster. Within that extremely tiny gap in time as his strike continued, he chastised himself for making such a simple mistake.

What happened earlier was that when Gilgamesh escaped in his Vimana, Enkidu used that time to prepare a ritual that brought forth a powerful dragon to aid him in battle, and he hid under its powerful scales so as to survive the wide hail of bullets. After waiting for half an hour, he and the dragon instantly rushed into action, and although he did manage to take Gilgamesh off-guard, he found to his dismay that the vehicle had a superbly-powerful defense mechanism.

Then the platform tipped over from the impact, Gilgamesh's strike missed and he stumbled past his opponent, nearly going over the edge until he stabbed his sword down into the platform and gripped onto the hilt tightly, preventing himself from going off. Not that he wasn't capable of surviving the fall, but he would be left far too vulnerable in midair.

Looking up as the golden ship had ended up floating sideways, Gilgamesh's vermillion eyes locked onto Enkidu, whose lower legs had melted into a more clay-like appearance that attached directly onto the vertical surface, preventing his own fall. Past the long hair that flowed downwards, the king's gaze was met with a sharp, emerald glare, as was to be expected.

Above them, the dragon soared, stalking the airborne ark as if it were some kind of prey. It had a gigantic figure covered in thick, sparkling ruby scales, and it had sharp spikes running along its back and horns on its head. Observing it closer, it appeared to be of a magical nature but nothing divine or godlike. Assuming that it must be of the Phantasmal class, Gilgamesh concluded that it shouldn't take too much effort to take down. At most, it was a distraction to the battle, and would have to be taken care of as swiftly as possible lest it interrupt again at another crucial moment.

Throwing away his shield, the king threw himself up before placing his feet onto the sword's side, effectively using it to stand upright thousands of feet up in the air. The collision had sent the Vimana onto a rapid trajectory heading eastwards. Any normal human would've long since suffocated due to the extremely high currents, or fallen due to the lack of support, or frozen up due to the lack of warmth, but did the perfect magnificence of this being even need to be reminded at this point? Then, now that he had a surface, he drew out another sword from his treasury just in time to stab it into an Enkidu-turned-bear that was about to pounce upon him.

"Did you honestly believe that a dragon would make any difference?" Gilgamesh asked the struggling beast-man penetrated above him, before tossing its body away into the winds along with his own treasure.

Upon disappearing into the clouds, the only thing that flew back up was an eagle with green eyes. It was fast approaching the Vimana despite the huge amounts of air resistance that opposed it. Still, the time it would take for Enkidu to return to the ark was more than enough for Gilgamesh to take care of the dragon.

Having managed to climb up towards the control panel, the man in question rested his hand upon it and sent a mental command. Instantaneously, the Vimana tilted over into the other direction and fixed its position, allowing him to stand properly again—though not for long. The force-field was no longer active, and if he didn't do anything within the next five seconds, he may very well be roasted alive. The dragon had been spending its time generating mana to use create anoter fiery wave, and it wouldn't be long now until such a thing came to be. Flapping its wings, it came closer to the ark and began opening up its mouth.

Gilgamesh reaching out both of his hands, he drew out a shining bow and arrow from his treasury and went into a well-posed position. He had no time to bother with a mere dragon.

But do not be mistaken. A dragon on its own was very special and unique no matter what class it was, and to this day they are considered the very pinnacle of all Phantasmal species. Its scales alone were denser than titanium, its lungs were composed of spiritual reality marbles, and its heart substituted by a beating Magic Core that replaced the puny Magic Circuits human beings possessed. Just by breathing, it could generate enough prana to exceed the total capacity of a hundred trained magi. Though the energy requirement for flight was extremely high, most of the prana were channeled into the wings to make up for this, and still it posed a gigantic threat due its most feared weapon—a dragon's breath. Categorized elementally, it was said that a single wave was enough to wipe out an entire army.

This particular dragon had a nature of fire, and that the Vimana managed to withstand the flames for as long as it did was a testament to its advanced nature.

Therefore, the notion that even the legendary Gilgamesh himself could take out a dragon as quickly as he planned it to be, was a laughable one, for even a human being at the very pinnacle of their skillset would not be capable of surpassing an extension of nature that existed aside from both nature and intelligence.

Still the king remained unwavering. Though he could have chosen a throwing spear, he had taken out a bow and arrow for a reason. His skill as an archer was not to be underestimated—in fact, it could be said that this was his true skill, and that swordsmanship and any other talent he may possess were mere decorations compared to it. Even if he lacked proper training in this art, his talent at precision and aiming far surpassed all others, such that he could even hit a moving target on a shaking platform in the middle of a heavy sky.

But even though this was what he was best at, he actually despised using a bow and arrow. Once, when the king was but an innocent young prince, he demonstrated his talent at archery in front of his mother. Upon showing his practically-godlike skill, she commended him and said that this talent of his far encompassed everything else he was capable of. But instead of being excited, he was horrified to know that the seemingly-perfect talent he possessed for every known activity could be overshadowed. That was something he could never allow.

However, he would make an exception, just this once. The flying monster before him seemed like good target practice anyhow.

"Dumb beast," began Gilgamesh, pulling back an elegantly-weaved string with the arrow on it, "do you have any last words?"

The only response came in the form in a mocking roar, the dragon opening up its jaws to reveal multiple sets of pearl-like fangs and a dark abyss behind them, which were quickly engulfed in a surging inferno that spread out through the sky, onto the ship and towards the demigod himself.

"Very well."

Then he let go, having a specific course in mind. The result of this confrontation needn't be said, for it was obvious that there were none in this world to match him. Darting forth like lightning, the arrow effortlessly overcame all air resistance, dived through the mass of flames, successfully reached the mouth, penetrated deep through the throat while bypassing its thick scales, entering into a volcanic reality marble, and had just enough force remaining to pierce into the Magic Core that was supposed to have been secluded from the outside world, before shattering it into pieces.

Its 'heart' having been destroyed at that moment, this combined with the magic and fire inside the dragon's body caused a chain reaction that ultimately had it disappear into a huge explosion of prana, the king barely escaping by having his damaged Vimana outrun it. Nuclear fission almost, but did not occur.

Due to his arrogance to wait until the last moment, the dragon's flames had managed to melt away at the front section of the once awe-inspiring golden ark. Gilgamesh felt insulted at this, but he knew that he wouldn't have much time left to think about this until his true opponent reappeared. In order to prepare for it, he swerved his hands over the controls and activated all available weaponry. As if preparing for war instead of a one-on-one duel, exotic machines came out of every single compartment on the vehicle that hadn't been melted away.

"Yet again, you have insulted the gods!"

All of a sudden, a dull spike burst out of the panel, being quickly followed by a green-haired figure whom tore it apart as he emerged from the inside. All of the options now rendered inoperable, the Vimana was left a sitting duck. And before a surprised Gilgamesh could replace his bow with another weapon, Enkidu's clay engulfed his hands and hardened, trapping them.

"Admit defeat! You can no longer escape from me!"

Gilgamesh's only response was an amused look.

All of a sudden, the Vimana flipped over, throwing off both combatants into the middle of the sky, letting them fall far below. And just as a surprised Enkidu attempted to turn into an eagle and escape, he found his figure being wrapped tightly in the king's surprisingly warm arms, trapping his position. The strength being used on him was more than enough to crush a dragon's neck, but he managed to harden his body beyond that point to survive. Their faces were right next to each other, so he next attempted to shatter his opponent's skull by throwing his head forward, but he was met with equal force and ended up having his forehead locked in combat as well.

"Do not expect me to give up!"

Colors of gold and emerald plunging through the air, both trying to crush the other while doing so, Gilgamesh yelled to him a strange thing.

"And do not expect me to try and run, for I am the King of Uruk, and I expect you to do the same! Enkidu, I hereby acknowledge you as a powerful combatant. However, let it be known that it is I whom shall be the ultimate victor!"

With only moments left, Enkidu understood the meaning of his words, and declared in response;

"Gilgamesh, you are wrong, for it is I whom shall triumph over you!"

Then after falling from extreme heights, both legendary warriors crashed into the ground and caused a gigantic crater to open up, such that any outsider would have mistaken it for the crash site of a dense meteor, tiny flames licking at the dirt. A large cloud of dust was thrown upwards, covering the surroundings for a short while.

While Gilgamesh was slightly disorientated for a few seconds, Enkidu was not. Although he had lost another ton of Ether clumps in the fall, he still had plenty left over and took this opportunity to escape out from the crater. As soon as he had recovered, Gilgamesh got up to his feet. His clothes had been tarnished in such a way that they barely hung around his lower body now, and there were scrapes all over his skin along with a minor wound caused by the fall. They would heal quickly enough, but he was aware that he may very well get a lot more if this opponent was nearly as powerful as he was.

But just as he was opening up the Gate of Babylon again, assuming that the dust around him would act as a temporary cover, a huge tree came flying from above at a speed contradictory to its size, fast enough to match that of a fired projectile.

Reacting on instinct to the unexpected assault, the two swords that he had been about to summon shot forth, tearing through it straight before it could crush his head. Though he knew that it'd been necessary, he couldn't help but feel disgusted at having to use his treasures in such a way.

Heading out of the crater, Gilgamesh saw that he was within an ancient forest, and found himself met by two more gigantic projectiles rushing towards him. Now that he was thinking clearly, he easily dodged them—only for about four more to come out from different angles. Drawing out two swords from his treasury, he used them to cut through each and every one of them before they could hit.

While he did, he could hear a voice from afar yelling out 'words', and by listening to them, it seemed that Enkidu was commanding all the wildlife in the area to run as far away as possible. As a gazelle appeared and tried to go past him, ignoring his presence, and so its head was abruptly sliced off. Animal or not, those whom did not pay respect to the king suffered such a fate.

A moment later, Enkidu himself appeared from behind a tree, uprooted it, and fired it at Gilgamesh like a weightless arrow, all within less than a split second before rushing towards another and doing the same. The speed this was being performed at was tremendous, and the golden king had very little time to stop as he continued to counter his blades. As the projectiles grew more and more numerous, the forest area directly around him being cleared away, debris of leaves and wood were beginning to pile around him and make it harder for him to counter and move about, to the point that both of his blades had shattered.

On the other hand, Enkidu was having no such difficulties. As nature was his original environment and the spirit of the forest continued to obey him, trees uprooted themselves as he wished and flung themselves forth, while boosting his own strength and speed. It wasn't exactly pretty to sacrifice so many, but he was certain that this was for a noble cause. Darting from tree to tree, having them fire themselves at the king, he watched on as his opponent began to reach his limits. Unlike him, this man had human blood running in his veins, and as long as they did, he would eventually overexert his muscles.

"Are you getting tired, King of Uruk?!" Enkidu asked mockingly, his voice echoing throughout the forest.

"Is that an insult, King of Stupid Beasts?!" Gilgamesh responded, and this angered him so much that when the next, even wider wave of trees came, he took them all down by firing weapons straight from his Gate of Babylon, effectively throwing them away.

Most of the area around him had become a grassy flatland with quite a lot of holes at this point, the sky having turned red with the sun going over the horizon, and his opponent was much further away from before, having used up all the nearby trees. Half a mile away, what faced Gilgamesh was a forest wall. Also, judging by the passing silence, Enkidu quite probably planned on launching them all at once for one last, prolonged assault, and thus needed a bit more time to do so.

That assumption was entirely correct. Having retreated far enough that he would have time to prepare for a mass-scale attack, the green-haired being went to work in convincing the spirits of the forest to obey his order, so that they would sacrifice themselves for him. Sharing the same tongue as nature made this a simple enough task, and once it was done, he would have the power to take on an army. It seemed excessive to use this on a single man, however, it was necessary. At the very least, one thing was for certain.

There was no way in heaven or hell that Gilgamesh would be able to defend from all that with the human limitations that he possessed.

No. He would have to rely upon the Gate of Babylon, now more than ever. All that time he had spent collecting the wealth and prizes of the world, all that time he had dedicated into filling up his golden capital, it had all been for this one moment. If Enkidu was willing to toss around his prized trees of nature in order to defeat his opponent, then Gilgamesh too must be willing to toss around his prized treasures of mankind in order to defeat his opponent.

"Spirits of the forest—follow my order," invoked Enkidu.

"Gate of Babylon—open," invoked Gilgamesh.

Just as the many trees in his sight all began to rise up into the air by themselves, Gilgamesh let golden ripples appear behind him. First one, then seven, then thirty, he tried his best to have the number of gateways outnumber the trees that Enkidu had. Afterwards, by using his skill at aiming, he would cut down every single tree until there were none left, which would leave his beastly friend wide open. It was annoying to think of trees and treasures as equal, but in this particular case, it could not be helped.

Then, both the demigod king and the clay man thrust their arms out in perfect synchronization, and the greatest single clash in human history followed, weapons and trees of all types firing at each other in a wide, vast craze, each and every one penetrating and shattering the other. The very air between them was torn asunder as they continued to exchange destruction in this matter, both of the combatants refusing to give up and continuing to push onwards.

This 'war that was not carried out by human beings' was dependent upon one sole factor; which side possessed the more 'soldiers'. Was it the treasury, or was it the forest?


Many hours later, when the sky had become dark and filled with stars, and the full moon was lit dimly above them, the answer was clear.

The many weapons and artifacts that Gilgamesh had spent his younger years searching for greatly surpassed the many trees that a natural forest of the world could grow. In other words, the treasury was greater, and an empty barren plain surrounded the triumphant king. But despite his victory, he looked a little worried about the many treasures of his that had been scattered about, and also disappointed, for some strange reason.

"I have won, Enkidu," he concluded while drawing out a gold sword from his treasury, with a growing trace of boredom in his tone. "Half the day has passed since we began this fight, and I would like to take a rest in acknowledgment of this. It is obvious that we are both exhausted. Therefore, reveal yourself and let us finish this!"

"Do not dismiss me so easily," came the voice of his opponent from behind.

Having expected it, Gilgamesh turned around and swung his sword, only for it to be deflected with ease bya gigantic tree that Enkidu was holding? Upon closer examination, it looked to have taken on a silvery look after being infused with his clay. So even now, he still had more tricks up his sleeve? He gave his opponent a confused glance, which his opponent calmly returned.

"You said that you are exhausted, Gilgamesh? That is a lie, and I know it!" Enkidu stated, and swung the massive tree again like a medium-sized club.

This time, Gilgamesh jumped back instead of attempting to deflect it, since it was obviously too strong for a single weapon to handle alone.

"It seems that I have to remind you—you and I are equal, and if I must, I am prepared to fight you for seasons without end, if it means that you are to be defeated!"

As though a healing spell had been cast upon him, Gilgamesh's body relaxed suddenly. But of course. If this being were truly equal to him, then there was no reason to hide his true strength. When in battle, he'd been taught to appear slightly tired and conserve his energy in order to pay respect to his opponent and to preserve the illusion that he too had limits similar to those of humans. But now, here was a rare opportunity for him to throw those false ideals away. Upon learning of this, any desire to conserve what remained of his treasury disappeared.

How rare was it for something like this to occur?

Without holding back, without limiting himself?

In fact, where did his true limit lie?

And, would this Enkidu that stood before him be able to take it all? Would he?

Would he be able to take in the pinnacle of the King's strength?

"How persistent!" Gilgamesh remarked loudly, unaware that a genuinely large grin had grown on his face.

"How arrogant!" Enkidu responded in kind, shaking his head.

After that, not a single word was spoken. One combatant opened up his treasury and the other accessed his storage of clay, both preparing to fight like never before.

What had transpired in the past twelve hours was but the beginning of a very, very long battle that would eventually dictate the fate of the entire world, for these were the original heroes, and nothing else that came after could ever hope to compare to the distant heights that they reached.


Author's Note:

No, this isn't the end, not quite yet~ There'll be a Chapter 3 detailing the end of the battle, and I'm undecided whether to leave this there or turn it into a proper fanfiction that'll cover the rest of the Fate-style Epic of Gilgamesh, well . . . plus plenty of yaoi implications. Gilgy and Enki are still pretty alienated from each other right now, but as you can see, they're starting to warm up to each other through battle.

And to answer PChesire's question, don't they technically already become a pair in the real Epic? xD

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So, if you enjoyed it, then I'd appreciate it if you review~ I really do love getting those things, you know. ^^ Thanks for reading!