"Both sides are present. Prepare to begin!"
The referee finally appeared.
He was a thunder god from mythology, and there was enough natural authority in his expression alone to quiet much of the surrounding noise.
Raising both hands, he summoned two glowing magic formations—one before the Valkyrie and her Familia, and the other before Hestia's group.
"When you're ready, enter."
With that, he fell silent and solemnly watched both sides.
The Valkyrie urged her warhorse forward.
Brilliant armor gleamed beneath the light as she lifted the spiral lance in her hand and pointed it directly toward Hestia.
"Hestia! Do you seriously think gathering a bunch of random strangers will let you defeat my Familia? Stop dreaming and prepare to accept your defeat!"
Then, for some inexplicable reason, she shifted the tip of her lance.
Straight toward Gilgamesh.
"You there. You suit this goddess's tastes quite well. How would you like to join my Familia and serve at my side? Agree now, and I'll tell my children to spare you."
The arrogance in her voice was astonishing.
Yuto and several others immediately began laughing.
Enkidu placed a hand on Gilgamesh's shoulder and laughed harder than anyone else.
Gilgamesh himself...
Had gone completely dark in the face.
A vein visibly bulged on his forehead and his breathing grew heavier.
"Heh... hehehe... Hahahahahahaha... Interesting. Interesting."
The King of Heroes slowly raised his head.
"To think you would actually dare tell this king to serve you... How... how arrogant you are, mongrel!"
The Valkyrie's expression instantly twisted with rage.
"Do you want to die? How dare you insult a god!"
"This king is the King of Heroes, the ruler who stands above mankind and looks down upon all beneath heaven." Gilgamesh's crimson eyes burned with fury. "A mere god... a foolish, insignificant god... dares speak to this king in such a manner?"
His dislike of gods had never been subtle to begin with.
The Valkyrie's words had simply sent that hatred straight through the roof.
"You will pay dearly for your insolence."
"Hmph! Then we'll settle it on the battlefield!"
The Valkyrie gave an angry snort, urged her horse forward, and rode directly into the teleportation formation.
Her Familia members followed one after another.
"Oi, Hestia."
Gilgamesh suddenly turned toward her.
"This king has a question."
Hestia immediately had a bad feeling.
"What happens if I kill that damned goddess?"
She froze.
"Eh... Eh?! No! No, no, no! You absolutely cannot do that! Please don't do anything impulsive!"
Hestia panicked so badly that she practically started flailing.
Gilgamesh said nothing else.
His expression remained terrifyingly dark as he took several slow breaths.
Looking at him...
Hestia's sense of foreboding only became stronger.
Nothing completely insane was going to happen today...
Right?
She was beginning to panic again!
...
Everyone else soon entered the teleportation formation.
A burst of white light swallowed their vision.
When it cleared, Yuto and the others found themselves standing inside a stone stronghold enclosed on all four sides by walls roughly seven or eight meters high.
Before anyone could properly examine their surroundings, a voice echoed from the sky.
"War Game commencing.
Mode: Fortress Battle.
Victory Condition: The first side to capture or destroy the opposing stronghold wins."
"Sounds pretty simple."
"The enemy fortress... Ah, found it! It's over there!"
Marisa immediately mounted her broom and shot into the air.
After gaining some height, she quickly spotted the enemy stronghold and pointed out its direction.
Watching from Orario, the audience erupted in surprise.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How is she flying?!"
"There's actually magic that lets people fly?"
"Is that some kind of magic item?"
In Orario, true flight was still almost fantastical.
"Good."
Gilgamesh spoke through clenched teeth.
His expression was still extremely dark.
"None of you need to interfere. This king alone is enough."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
Iskandar immediately burst into laughter.
"That won't do! I've been looking forward to this War Game myself!"
Lightning erupted around the King of Conquerors.
Iskandar reached into the crackling electricity, and an ancient bronze sword appeared in his grasp.
The Sword of Kupriotes.
At the same time, a deep bovine bellow echoed across the battlefield as though carried from some distant age.
Two mighty Divine Bulls thundered down from the heavens amid roaring lightning, dragging the Gordius Wheel behind them.
Wind exploded outward from the force of their arrival.
"Waver! Get on!"
Iskandar shouted.
Professor El-Melloi II immediately leapt aboard.
"I'm heading out first! The rest of you can watch from behind! Ahahahahaha!"
Iskandar cracked the reins.
The chariot surged forward with a thunderous roar, carrying the King of Conquerors and El-Melloi II toward the front lines.
"Hmph."
Gilgamesh gave a cold snort.
A massive golden ripple appeared behind him, and from within emerged a strangely shaped golden craft.
The king's airborne throne—Vimana.
Gilgamesh seated himself upon it while Enkidu naturally took his place at his side.
"This king will make that arrogant god pay for her words."
With his expression still black with fury, Gilgamesh sent Vimana surging forward.
It vanished from sight in an instant.
Those who remained behind exchanged glances.
After a brief discussion, nearly everyone except Marisa—who naturally wanted to fly out and cause trouble—decided to sit along the fortress wall and watch.
Saitama had originally been interested because he hoped to fight a god.
Unfortunately, the War Game apparently meant fighting the god's Familia instead.
That was not what he had been hoping for.
The bigger problem was...
Those Familia members looked far too weak.
As for Yukari, Lucoa, and several others, watching the spectacle sounded far more appealing than personally participating.
And so... they simply settled down on top of the fortress wall.
At some point, tables and chairs had somehow appeared.
There was even tea.
And pastries!
Yuto stared in confusion at Ran as the fox girl quietly moved back and forth distributing snacks.
Why did she carry pastries around with her?
Their side was peaceful, leisurely, and almost absurdly relaxed.
...
Meanwhile, farther ahead...
Iskandar had already encountered the Valkyrie's main force.
Screeeeech—
The Gordius Wheel came to an abrupt stop, its wheels tearing against the earth and leaving two long scorched tracks behind.
Iskandar stood tall upon the chariot with his arms folded.
His cloak billowed freely behind him.
A faint smile curved across his broad face as he stared at the enormous sea of enemies ahead.
Most of the Valkyrie's Familia had gathered here.
Her plan was obvious.
Use overwhelming numbers to launch a lightning-fast assault against Hestia's fortress and destroy it before the opposing side could properly organize.
That way, she could display the overwhelming martial prowess of her Familia before all of Orario.
She had expected someone to come forward and intercept them.
What she had not expected...
Was for only two people to appear.
From the rear wall of her own stronghold, the Valkyrie stared at Iskandar and El-Melloi II standing upon the chariot.
A mocking sneer appeared on her lips.
"How laughable. Trying to stop an army with two people? It seems the fools Hestia brought with her are every bit as stupid as she is."
She laughed quietly, contempt completely undisguised.
"Are you the enemies who stand before me?!"
Iskandar pointed his sword toward the army ahead.
There was not a trace of fear on his face.
Instead, he radiated a confidence so vast that it seemed almost capable of embracing the earth, rivers, and sky themselves.
Open.
Bold.
Utterly unrestrained.
"There are only two of you?"
The woman commanding the opposing force was an Amazon warrior personally trained by the Valkyrie.
Her bearing was fierce and heroic.
"I ask once more!" Iskandar thundered, completely ignoring her question. "Are you my enemy?!"
The Amazon's expression darkened.
"You reckless fool! You think two people are enough to face all of us? Even Ottar wouldn't dare something like this!"
She raised her spear.
Her presence sharpened instantly.
"Kill them!"
More than a dozen Familia members charged forward at once.
"Excellent!"
Iskandar roared with laughter.
"Since this is a War Game, then I should naturally face you with the posture of war!"
Standing atop his chariot, he raised the Sword of Kupriotes high.
Without warning... wind began sweeping across the battlefield.
The bizarre phenomenon immediately caused the charging warriors to retreat back into formation, and the entire army grew wary as they stared at the man before them.
"Hahahahaha! So you are disciplined warriors after all!"
Iskandar's laughter rolled across the battlefield.
"Then come! Face my army, and let us see which side is stronger!"
He raised his sword higher.
"The followers of a god..."
The storm intensified.
"Or the soldiers of this king!"
His presence climbed higher and higher until everyone watching felt the same mixture of awe and dread.
Even the spectators outside were stunned.
The gods themselves began staring in astonishment.
"Gather, my subjects!"
Iskandar's voice thundered across the world.
"Today, we shall once again display our valor upon this battlefield!"
Reality Marble — Ionioi Hetairoi!
The world changed.
An endless desert stretched beneath a blazing sky.
The one true King of Conquerors stood proudly atop his chariot.
And behind him... an army without end.
The magnificence of Iskandar had returned in full.
He pointed his sword toward the Valkyrie's Familia, whose discipline was already beginning to crack beneath the sight before them.
"Our enemies are the followers of a Valkyrie from myth! Worthy opponents for us to face with all our strength!"
His grin widened.
"Come, my comrades!"
"Prove to me that your valor is not one whit inferior to the followers of the gods!"
Then his sword swept forward.
"CHARGE!!!"
The response was deafening.
Countless voices roared as one.
Then came the thunderous pounding of feet.
Like a tsunami, Iskandar's army surged forward.
Every soldier wore an expression filled with fierce joy and bloodlust.
An army of mortals.
Against the followers of a god.
The two forces were about to collide.
...
Back on the original battlefield, the Valkyrie stared in disbelief at the suddenly empty stretch of land before her fortress.
What happened?
Why had her Familia vanished together with that man the instant he finished speaking?
What the hell had happened?!
Shock and fury surged through her.
She was just about to personally ride toward the front line to investigate when a heavy rush of wind descended from above.
BANG!
A sword made entirely of gold stabbed into the earth directly at the Valkyrie's feet.
A violent chill shot through her heart.
She snapped her head upward.
The instant she looked into the sky... her pupils contracted sharply.
There... Stood the arrogant King of Heroes.
Enkidu remained calmly beside him.
"You!"
The Valkyrie furiously pointed toward Gilgamesh.
No one in Orario had ever shown such blatant disrespect toward a god.
The remaining Familia members within the fortress immediately raised their guard.
Weapons came up. Magic began gathering.
All they needed was one command from their goddess, and everything would be unleashed upon him.
"Foolish Valkyrie."
Gilgamesh looked down at her with complete calm.
"This king already told you."
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"You will pay for your words."
He made no visible movement.
Yet countless golden ripples suddenly appeared throughout the sky.
The Valkyrie's instincts screamed danger.
"Attack!" she roared. "Everyone, attack him with everything you have!"
Arrows, flames, lightning, ice, and countless forms of magic erupted toward Gilgamesh at once.
The spectators outside could not help exclaiming.
With attacks this dense...
No one could possibly endure them.
But the moment that thought appeared—Golden magic staves emerged from the ripples surrounding the King of Heroes.
Every single one contained immense magical power.
"Hmph."
At Gilgamesh's cold snort, they fired.
Countless magical cannons erupted simultaneously.
Brilliant, deadly light flooded the sky.
Every incoming attack disappeared beneath the barrage.
And the beams did not stop there.
They continued downward.
Straight into the Familia members on the ground.
The bombardment lasted only moments.
When it ended, only two or three defenders remained standing inside the fortress.
The viewing plaza fell completely silent.
So did the gods.
Inside the battlefield, the Valkyrie looked close to breaking down.
Her emotions churned like an ocean trapped beneath a violent storm.
"So these are the so-called gods familia?" Gilgamesh spoke indifferently.
"What a joke."
His figure slowly descended.
Vimana disappeared back into the Gate of Babylon, and Gilgamesh landed directly before the Valkyrie.
His expression was cold and proud.
The hostility in his gaze was unmistakable.
"Now..."
He stepped closer.
"We should discuss the insult you directed toward this king earlier."
"What did you say?!"
Anger flashed across the Valkyrie's face.
"Under ordinary circumstances, your actions would already have earned you execution."
Gilgamesh's tone remained perfectly calm.
"But this king is feeling generous today."
"I shall pardon your death sentence."
"All you need to do is apologize."
He had never held much affection for gods.
Not in his past.
Not in the present.
Nor in any future awaiting him.
Gilgamesh's entire life had been a struggle against the divine.
That was the fate assigned to him long ago.
He was the king of humanity.... and the enemy of the gods.
The Valkyrie's insult before the battle had already made him want to kill her.
Demanding nothing more than an apology was, by his standards, an extraordinary concession.
"Apologize?"
The Valkyrie stared at him.
Then she laughed.
"Heh... Hahahahaha!"
Her fury exploded.
"Don't make me laugh! You're nothing more than a mere human! What right does someone like you have to demand an apology from a god?!"
The arrogance inherent to a deity drove her anger beyond reason.
She was a god standing above mortals.
A being who bestowed Falna upon humanity.
She was the one meant to stand above everything.
Mortals were supposed to worship her.
And this human wanted her to apologize?
What a joke.
"You arrogant insect..." she hissed. "It seems you truly don't understand what the word 'god' means."
Each word carried immense anger and killing intent.
Gilgamesh frowned.
Something had changed.
He could feel it.
And that abnormal sensation was coming directly from the Valkyrie.
The gods watching from outside frowned almost simultaneously.
"Geirölul is releasing her Arcanum!"
Whispers erupted among them.
Every deity watching understood how serious that was.
All gods who descended into Orario were required to seal away their divine power.
If one released their Arcanum...
They would face judgment from Heaven.
Geirölul, one of the Twelve Valkyries.
A goddess whose name embodied charging into battle with spear in hand.
Born from warfare itself.
Violent.
Fierce.
And utterly unwilling to tolerate humiliation.
Gilgamesh's words had finally driven her beyond reason.
Her divine power erupted.
Silver-white light exploded from her body, and a freezing presence swept outward.
When the light faded, dense plate armor covered her entire form.
It was the armor she had worn across countless battlefields, an artifact that had long since ascended into a divine weapon.
The spiral spear in her hand had changed as well.
Twelve deep blood grooves ran across its surface, while a scorching aura radiated from the weapon as though it could burn everything it touched into ash.
"Insect!"
Geirölul pointed the spear at Gilgamesh.
"DIE!"
In the next instant—she vanished.
Her speed was far beyond what ordinary eyes could follow.
By the time anyone registered her movement, Geirölul had already crossed the distance between them.
The spear was about to pierce straight through Gilgamesh.
But within that infinitesimal fraction of a second—
Golden chains erupted from the void.
They shot toward Geirölul from every direction.
The Valkyrie reacted instantly, knocking several aside with her spear before shifting her footing and retreating.
The chains refused to let her escape.
More emerged.
Then more.
Every one of them aimed directly at her.
No matter how skilled or agile she was...
Against the Chains of Heaven, a weapon created specifically to bind divinity...
Resistance could only last so long.
Golden chains wrapped tightly around Geirölul's body.
Enkidu stared at her coldly.
The moment she had directed genuine killing intent toward Gilgamesh...
Enkidu had returned it in full.
"You wish to kill this king?"
Gilgamesh walked calmly toward her.
"Insect! Release me!"
Geirölul continued struggling furiously.
She desperately tried to circulate her divine power.
Yet her Arcanum sank uselessly away, like a bull struggling deeper into a swamp.
She could not move it at all.
For the first time... fear began mixing with her anger.
"Everyone who has desired this king's death..."
Gilgamesh stopped before her.
"Has died."
His voice was quiet.
"That thought itself is a capital crime."
"Even a god must pay the price for harboring such stupidity."
There was no anger on his face now, only absolute stillness.
Geirölul suddenly laughed wildly.
"I admit these chains are strange, but do you truly think something like this can kill me?!"
Her expression twisted into defiance.
"I am a god!"
"Even if you kill this body, I will eventually return! And when that day comes, I'll tear you apart piece by piece!"
Gods were fundamentally different from mortal beings bound by aging and death.
Unless one possessed very particular means...
Their deaths were never truly permanent.
"Oh?"
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
He calmly reached into the Gate of Babylon.
What emerged was a strangely shaped sickle.
Gilgamesh gripped its handle.
Beneath the light, the blade gleamed with a cold and ominous sheen.
The instant it appeared...
Every divine being present felt a chill rise from the deepest part of their existence.
Breathing stopped.
Expressions changed.
"What is that weapon...?"
"What the hell is that thing?!"
Geirölul's composure finally broke.
Open fear appeared across her face.
"Though this is merely the prototype..." Gilgamesh spoke calmly.
"It appears its ability to suppress immortality remains intact."
He lightly swung the sickle.
The blade hummed through the air.
Harpe — the Immortal-Slaying Blade.
The weapon that, in mythology, had severed the head of the immortal Medusa.
Gilgamesh rested its edge against Geirölul's neck.
"So, what do you think now?"
All he needed to do was apply a little pressure.
Geirölul fell silent.
She struggled desperately against the chains, but no matter what she did, she could not escape.
Then, without warning—
A figure appeared between Gilgamesh and Geirölul.
His arrival was so abrupt that no one saw him move.
The only especially noticeable thing about him...
Was his bald head.
"Stop. Yuto asked you to." Saitama spoke calmly.
Gilgamesh remained silent for a moment.
Then, still wearing a cold expression, he put Harpe away.
Enkidu withdrew the Chains of Heaven as well.
The instant the restraints vanished, Geirölul began gasping heavily for breath.
She really had been standing on the edge of death just now.
"Hey."
Saitama turned toward her.
"You should probably apologize properly."
Geirölul felt another surge of fury and was about to lash out.. then Saitama's expression suddenly became serious.
"You really aren't going to apologize?" He asked flatly.
Geirölul froze.
She swallowed.
"I... i'm sorry."
"Mm. Good."
Saitama's expression relaxed again.
The crushing pressure Geirölul had felt disappeared with it.
She drew in a long breath.
When she looked at Saitama now... her eyes were filled with fear.
And so, beneath the gaze of everyone watching, Geirölul apologized to Gilgamesh.
The King of Heroes gave a cold snort.
That counted as accepting it.
Geirölul then voluntarily surrendered the War Game.
Her fortress was technically still standing.
But her entire Familia had already been wiped out.
There was little meaningful difference between that and outright defeat.
The moment the announcement declared Hestia the winner...
The War Game ended.
Everyone was immediately transported back to Orario.
A thunderous roar of cheering and applause greeted them.
Geirölul's side, meanwhile...could barely bring themselves to raise their heads.
Death inside the special space used for War Games did not count as true death.
It was closer to temporary elimination.
So although Geirölul's Familia had been completely annihilated during the battle...
Not a single one had actually died.
Geirölul herself was taken away.
Because she had released her divine power, she would now be forced to return to Heaven and face judgment.
Afterward, everyone returned to the Hostess of Fertility.
The Loki Familia came along as well.
The tavern quickly filled with conversation as everyone sat around discussing what had happened.
They stayed for a while, and just as several people were beginning to prepare to leave—
A woman entered the tavern.
The moment Hestia, Loki, and the others saw her...
Their expressions changed.
Why was she here?