The Infinite Dragon God Cannot Find Silence

They had now arrived at the forest where Humbaba lived.

Throughout the journey, Enkidu, contrary to his usual cheerful demeanor, remained serious and silent. On the other hand, given Orpheus's personality, he naturally wouldn't say anything either.

However, she still prefers Enkidu when he's smiling.

She could vaguely piece together the idea that in the myth of knowledge, Gilgamesh and Enkidu joined forces to defeat the monster Humbaba, which symbolized humanity's victory over nature.

No, humanity cannot truly conquer nature—at least not for the next few thousand years. This is less a victory over nature and more a preliminary victory over the gods who symbolize nature in this era.

This event marked humanity's first step in breaking free from the shackles of the gods and moving towards the future on its own.

However, neither conquering nature nor getting rid of the gods is something that Enkidu, as a being, would be happy to see.

Enkidu is a favorite of nature and a creation of the gods, serving as the 'lock' connecting gods and humans.

Logically, she had no reason to help humanity, defeat nature, or the gods.

If I had to say anything, it would only be about my 'love' for Orpheus.

Somewhat amusingly, the situation was exactly the opposite for Orpheus.

As a pillar of the dragon race, Orpheus has absolutely no emotional reason to help humans. Even though she finds humans interesting now, it's only in the realm of being interesting.

Just like humans, those who have a genuine and profound interest in animals have either already dissected countless creatures or are on the path to doing so.

Of course, Orpheus wouldn't be so bored as to dissect humans.

Even so, dragons are not necessarily friendly to their own kind, let alone to those of other species.

Even so, as the king of mankind, Orpheus was obligated to resolve this crisis for humanity.

Both sides have half the reasons to do it and half the reasons not to do it.

However, aside from wanting to fire hundreds of magic cannons at the Great Red at any moment, Orpheus is still extremely lacking in autonomy, so her decision is... to do whatever Enkidu decides.

Orpheus was thinking, and Enkidu was thinking too.

—Enkidu was quite familiar with the existence of the monster Humbaba.

Before she gained full rationality—or rather, during the days when she was still learning—besides the divine prostitutes sent by the gods who possessed only simple knowledge and rationality, the monster Humbaba was the one who spent the most time with her.

They always liked to run together in the wilderness, eat together, and sleep together.

After gaining enough rationality to overcome her wildness, Enkidu planted the seeds of her favorite flower in the spot where they spent their days together, and asked Humbaba to take care of the flowers before she left.

Enkidu likes to unilaterally consider others as her friends. So far, her closest friend is undoubtedly Orpheus, but if she were to name her first friend, it would undoubtedly be Humbaba.

This fully illustrates the ancient truth that green plums are not as good as those that fall from the sky.

Enkidu couldn't understand why Humbaba would cause such a calamity.

It's true that Enkidu loves nature more than humans, but she prefers nature in the sense of the concept of 'earth'. In her view, instigating celestial calamities to punish the creatures of the earth is a suicidal method; humans suffer, and plants and animals are also affected.

"Roar──"

However, before she could sort out her thoughts, a roar as loud as a flood came from afar.

Accompanying this was a powerful shockwave and a wave of giant trees being torn over.

Chapter 11 Showdown with the Monster Humbaba

Unlike Orpheus, who had already made a conclusion, Enkidu was still immersed in thought and did not react to the fluctuations in the roar immediately.

Fortunately, Orpheus had a large part of his attention on Enkidu and easily noticed that something was wrong with him.

Orpheus quickly moved in front of Enkidu and condensed his mental energy into a shield, deflecting the impact and the trees mixed in with it.

"what……"

It was only at this point that Enkidu realized what was happening.

Enkidu was distracted.

"Ha ha……"

Frankly, while the lack of reaction is partly due to overthinking, it's also because such an attack is meaningless.

Even if you hit them, you'll only be slightly disheveled, and the injuries will be very minor, so the sense of crisis won't be high.

Even so, Orpheus still managed to block the attack with great care.

Indeed, she's a very kind child...

He wanted to smile at Orpheus... but it seemed there wasn't time for Enkidu to do so.

'That' has already appeared.

It wasn't a particularly large body, roughly the size of a strong lion, but for Orpheus, who wasn't good at precise strikes, this wasn't exactly a cause for celebration.

Orpheus conservatively estimated that if this guy were agile and durable, defeating him would require the destruction of an area within a radius of several tens of kilometers.

Within this area, approximately 99% of a radius of tens of kilometers would be unintentionally damaged.

The opponent had the horns of a bison, the body of a lion, the hind claws of a vulture, and the tail of a snake, while its hollow eye sockets gleamed with a dark red light.

Perhaps this guy could be considered the oldest chimera.

The most eye-catching feature was the seven rainbow beams that wrapped around the opponent, resembling the ribbons of a succulent.

The seven colors of the rainbow are naturally and predictably represented.

Orpheus didn't pay much attention to the strange creature, but instead looked back at Enkidu, who revealed a determined look and slowly walked towards the monster opposite him—Fumbaba.

"Xiaofen, you..."

"Roar──"

Before he could even open his mouth, Humbaba spat out a fireball as a response to Enkidu.

Even though it was just a fireball, Enkidu dared not take it head-on.

Humbaba's power is not to cause natural disasters, but to use her poison.

It wasn't a poison in the conventional sense, but a highly potent toxin that could corrode nature itself. Even the disaster it caused in Uruk was actually a manifestation of the spread of its poison.

That is the essence of her ability.

Enkidu's essence, however, is the embodiment of the earth in nature.

If some of that poison had been added to the flames, even just a touch of it would have been unpleasant for Enkidu.

"Enkidu".

Before Enkidu could make any further movement after jumping back, she felt her clothes being tugged a few times from behind.

"Wait, little Orpheus, let me talk to her first—"

"That's not what I meant."

Orpheus pointed to the monster of nature.

"There is no reason in her eyes."

"Ugh?"

Enkidu was stunned, and focused his gaze on Humbaba, following Orpheus's finger.

His dark red eyes were filled with savagery and cruelty—Enkidu recognized those eyes.

That was the same look she had in the past, the look reflected in the spring water.

"why?"

Enkidu murmured in disbelief.

When playing with her, Humbaba may occasionally display her violent nature, but that only happens when other aggressive creatures intrude into her territory.

In essence, Finbaba still possesses rationality and intellect.

She loves beautiful flowers and cute little animals; you could say she has a very girlish heart.

—Enkidu had never seen the other party so completely dominated by savage bestiality.

A violent energy surge swept across, shaking back the monsters that were trying to pounce.

"Enkidu".

Orpheus once again stood in front of Enkidu, turning halfway to look at the green-haired girl.

"Enkidu, have you made up your mind?"

At this moment, the unfocused look in Orpheus's eyes was gone, replaced by a powerful, radiant light.

She started to get serious.

Not every individual dragon possesses abilities that can aid in combat, but every individual inevitably carries the blood of battle within them, allowing them to quickly adapt to most types of combat.

Orpheus is the same; when she encounters a battle, she can quickly absorb and integrate knowledge related to the battle, and make favorable judgments and responses based on the battle situation.

When she gets serious in battle, she is not the confused girl Orpheus who needs Enkidu's guidance, but the Infinite Dragon, Orpheus.

Seeing Enkidu's wavering expression, Orpheus silently turned and went back.

"I will help Enkidu block this monster."

"I used a barrier of mental energy to block the incoming flames," Orpheus said.

"So, Enki, take your time to think it over."

With one hand raised, several magic circles unfolded as Orpheus spoke, forming bright purple light cannons after gathering magic power, which were then fired at the monsters around them.

— Rumble

The magic cannon landed on the ground, stirring up a purple halo and dust that obscured the view.

"Roar──"

In the sky...

Orpheus turned the magic circle upwards, and launched a magic cannon that was slightly weaker but faster than before into the sky.

"Roar──────"

While it might seem silly to try to escape into the sky when you don't have the ability to fly, that's not the case in this world.

The creatures of this world, as long as they are strong enough, can display maneuverability in the sky that is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. They can easily move and shift with the speed and agility that would make Newton faint and return to his coffin. However, when faced with the magic cannons that are spread out to block the surroundings, the magic beasts are still a bit less agile and were slightly grazed.