The Infinite Dragon God Cannot Find Silence

Rumble—

Another beam of light descended from the sky, blasting the pile of rubble that had been covering the center into dust.

Only after the debris piled on his body was blasted away by the light cannon did Orpheus, who was buried underneath, slowly come to his senses and look up at the sky.

"How is it? Can you feel the burning love over here?"

There, Ishtar sat sideways on a spaceship that looked like two bows joined together.

No, judging from the ability to fire light cannons just now, it would be more appropriate to call it a divine bow with a riding function.

"What's the matter?"

It would have been better not to ask, because once Ishtar asked, he was immediately astonished.

"You actually answered?"

She went to the top of Orpheus Palace every morning without fail and fired a cannon for more than three months without receiving any response... if you don't count the magic cannon counterattack as a response.

As time went on day after day, even the guards who used to be running around so energetically had become too lazy to pay attention to her. However, Orpheus, who had never even looked at her, actually spoke up to her.

"Is this the limit?"

"Huh?"

Orpheus looked at Ishtar with that somewhat gloomy smile.

"Ishtar... today should be the last day, right?"

"Oh? You knew all along? I've had a feeling about it for a while now. Your perception is pretty sharp."

Ishtar's expression didn't change much; she simply waved her hand dismissively.

"I don't know what's gotten into that old woman Gaia, she's so desperate to speed up the sealing of the gods, it's really annoying. After all, although my power is indeed very, very strong... it's still a bit difficult to compare with that Mother Goddess."

Orpheus remained silent.

She wasn't familiar with Gaia, so she naturally wouldn't know what he was thinking and therefore declined to comment.

"So, how about it?"

Orpheus leaped lightly from the large hole Ishtar had created to the top of the palace.

"Ah, yes."

Ishtar also jumped off the ship called the Ark of the Sky, Maana, and stood with Orpheus, looking down over the whole of Uruk.

At this time, Uruk was not a very attractive place, with construction projects underway everywhere.

With the expansion of the perimeter and the renovation of the interior, and using a large amount of resources plundered from other cities, Orpheus planned to completely renovate Uruk.

The interior was renovated according to the layout of a modern city, and the exterior was built in the style of a fortress.

Both men had eyesight far superior to that of ordinary people, and they could even see the troops that were preparing and training on the outskirts of the city.

The size of this army today is unmatched, even by the largest forces in Mesopotamia at that time.

Everything, everything, is for the sake of the war that may happen next.

"You've done a pretty good job, haven't you? Although it's not very obvious now, it will probably become quite prosperous in the future. If it gets caught up in the war then, that would be quite a beautiful scene, wouldn't it?"

With the wisdom of a goddess (?), Ishtar could naturally see that Orpheus was preparing for war. Although she did not know who the enemy would be, this did not prevent her, as the goddess of war, from proclaiming her ideals at this time.

Naturally, Orpheus ignored the goddess of love and war's wicked humor.

Even after Enkidu's disappearance, she no longer completely isolated herself from the world as before, but her principle of not responding to things she felt were unnecessary to respond to remained unchanged.

"There's something I'd like to ask you for help with."

"Oh? I didn't expect that. You actually asked someone for help?"

Ishtar covered her mouth with one hand, her words tinged with surprise, but her expression clearly showed that she was thinking about how to benefit from this request.

Then she saw the red stick Orpheus was holding.

"Tell me about it. Since I'm in a pretty good mood today, I might just help you out a little, okay?"

"Can we ensure that the land south of Uruk yields bountiful harvests year after year?"

"……what?"

Ishtar gave Orpheus a strange look and frowned.

"While I don't think you're unaware of this, excessive comfort can corrupt your people, you know? I, on the other hand, don't care..."

"It's alright."

Seeing that Orpheus was so insistent, Ishtar said nothing more and shrugged.

"Alright, I'm also quite curious about your reasons for doing this. The world's rejection is already very high. Even if we exhaust all our efforts, we can probably only maintain a bumper harvest for three years, and at the cost of a year of famine. Is that alright?"

"enough."

Orpheus nodded. Her goal was naturally to have enough food supplies to support the war. As for after the war... well, they probably wouldn't even need food anymore.

Looking at Orpheus, Ishtar sighed with annoyance.

"I have no choice but to help you this once, after all, this is my 'last day'."

"Thank you."

Looking into Orpheus's clear eyes, Ishtar looked away somewhat uncomfortably.

"Is this the only time you'll look at me properly? How unlovable."

Ishtar jumped onto her celestial ark and glanced back at Orpheus.

Honestly, in the end I still couldn't get her interested in me...

"Listen up, this time you owe me one, but I'll make sure you get your money back later!"

Although her initial possessiveness has now become more of an obsession, Ishtar still doesn't want to give up.

Gods are fickle, but also persistent.

Orpheus nodded, meeting Ishtar's gaze.

It is only natural to be asked for something in return for helping someone.

And so, with Orpheus watching, Ishtar flew to the farmland south of Uruk, and then her body slowly disappeared, turning into specks of light that scattered across the earth.

"And remember to call me Ishtar next time!"

Finally, these words resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

Watching Ishtar gloriously meet her end, Orpheus leaped down from the palace and landed at the main entrance, where the priestess was already waiting.

The priestess has been getting increasingly good at her job as secretary lately.

“Let’s abandon the farmland in the north and move it all to the south. Do the same to the herders. Then, redistribute the land in the south and ignore any objections.”

Because of the continuous large-scale conscription of troops, there will be no shortage of farmland; however, there may not be enough farmers.

"Your will."

The priestess had given up trying to figure out what the king really wanted to do.

Nodding, Orpheus turned around... and saw that several parts of the palace had become ruins.

"Tear this place down and rebuild it into a disaster relief center. I will move to the Great Temple later."

"Yours... Huh? Please wait a moment!"

Ignoring the priestess's astonishment, Orpheus had already vanished, leaving the girl standing there bewildered.

"Disaster relief center...disaster victims?"

Chapter 29 Spirit Summoning

"The gods... have been sealed away?"

Only after Ishtar disappeared did Orpheus have time to ponder the information she had just revealed.

The Age of Gods... just like that, it ended quietly?

In the end, the gods didn't even give a proper send-off? They didn't retaliate in the slightest against humanity that had turned against them?

No, it should exist, it just hasn't been implemented yet...

Orpheus shook his head, recalling the impending catastrophe he had learned from Qi.

Most importantly, the task of sealing the gods was still done by Gaia...

Even among the gods, Ishtar is incredibly proud and almost never lies. Moreover, Orpheus discovered long ago that the world's ability to suppress the mysterious had decreased to a very low level. If this was because they were preoccupied with dealing with matters concerning the gods, then this could be explained.

But this role doesn't quite fit.

According to Orpheus's understanding, although Gaia is a planetary consciousness, she is still a pillar among the 'gods', and now she has actually taken the initiative to seal away her own race?

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, according to Qi's prophecy, the shadow of the gods is behind the impending calamity? But now that the gods have disappeared, what threat can they pose if they cannot personally intervene?

With so much information to process, Orpheus readily entrusted this important task to Qi.

"Ha...it's better to think about these things yourself...oh well, considering you don't have many chances left, I'll help you this time."

"Chance?"

No, it's nothing... Gaia's question is quite simple. Gaia is a very special deity. She is a high-ranking being who has seized a portion of power from the world. Rather than acting as a deity, she probably acts more from the perspective of the world...

"But, humans and gods..."

Orpheus still couldn't quite accept it.

From the world's perspective, is sealing away gods the only solution? Then being a god must be incredibly miserable.

Moreover, Gaia is a planet, and in the long run, human beings pose a considerable threat to the planet. The gods are Gaia's allies, and Orpheus still cannot understand Gaia's behavior.

This is a problem with your understanding. Let me ask you, if a dragon like you wanted to destroy humanity today, would you help the dragon or help humanity?

Orpheus lowered her eyes, knowing that the answer to such an obvious question was probably unnecessary for the other party to give.

[That's right. In your view, you care more about Enkidu, who has a tangible connection with you, than so-called 'kindred spirits.' Gaia's thinking is probably similar—humans, after all, are beings born from Gaia, children of Gaia, while gods are merely potential threats who could usurp your authority at any moment… precisely because they are kindred spirits.]