The Infinite Dragon God Cannot Find Silence

—The Lion King, the goddess Rungominiad.

"This is a bit troublesome... but it doesn't seem like it either..."

Ritsuka gave a wry smile, then frowned.

"Of course, being at a similar level of life does not necessarily mean that one's thought patterns will be similar. That inexplicable woman you met before was actually a goddess, but she wouldn't have given you that inhuman feeling, would she?"

After a pause, the doctor offered some words of comfort.

However, he was also quite confused at this moment.

The impression Orpheus gave him was that... he really had very little humanity.

Roman didn't actually agree with Ritsuka's statement that Orpheus was gentle, or rather, it was just a way for Ritsuka to ease the tension.

It's true that Orpheus doesn't want the people of Chaldea to die, but what she says is completely honest and without any hint of arrogance.

Because they have value, we don't want them to die.

In other words, if they lose their value, Orpheus probably won't care whether they live or die, at least not to the point where he has to offer advice.

Orpheus's way of thinking should indeed be closer to that of the gods than that of humans, but she still deals with crises using only human methods.

Perhaps they are different from the gods in terms of their emotions?

Without knowing the true nature of Orpheus's existence, Roman had no way of accurately judging her true thoughts.

But one thing is certain...

This Orpheus is completely different from the Orpheus they saw in the past... or rather, in the future at this point in time.

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"Your Majesty, the foreigners have been settled. Do you have any further instructions?"

"They are too weak."

Orpheus held the stone tablet in his hand, looking at it, and responded to Siduri without raising his head.

"Give them more tasks."

It can both provide exercise and reduce some of the pressure on the military.

Most importantly, it's about being able to observe carefully what qualities and abilities they possess.

"Yes, is there anything else you need, Your Majesty?"

"I will leave for a while tonight, and I will naturally come back if anything urgent happens."

"Yes, I understand."

Orpheus would disappear almost every day or two, and he had said the same thing hundreds of times. Hiduri was not surprised by this. He responded politely and then left on his own.

"Well……"

Standing up, Orpheus stretched languidly.

Unfortunately, her already curvy figure was even less likely to show any curves when wrapped in a long robe.

"I haven't slept for 142 years..."

Orpheus shook her head. Other dragons are born with a big meal and then sleep for thousands or tens of thousands of years before they can become invincible. But she is destined to be a hard worker and has hardly closed her eyes since birth.

Although it may not have any psychological impact, is it really bad for development?

In fact, by slightly rearranging and reordering the energy within the body, this body seems to be able to switch between different age groups.

Although the magnitude is not high, one's mindset will change accordingly.

But it's quite troublesome.

Contemplating some inexplicable questions that he would never have wasted time thinking about in the past, Orpheus had already reached the top of a hill.

This is where she made her vow to Enkidu.

It was also the place where she saw Enkidu off.

The original Orpheus wouldn't have come here every few days just because of some commemorative significance, but after fighting with that fake Enkidu about half a year ago, Orpheus often came to this place and stayed for a whole night.

The atmosphere here gave her a rather peaceful feeling.

Compared to the dimensional rift, this place has an added warmth, as if you were with Enki.

Unsurprisingly, some people were already waiting here.

Sitting on the ground with her knees drawn up, the golden-haired goddess smiled at Orpheus under the moonlight, completely disregarding her image.

Chapter 74 Declaration of War

"...Is she similar to Enkidu again? I remember you said the same thing about that saintess back then, didn't you?"

Ereshkigal's lips twitched, and he said with a hint of helplessness.

"But there are still some differences, aren't there?"

"kindness."

Orpheus nodded.

To the gods, Enkidu was merely a tool created to balance humans and kings. However, because of the holy prostitute who taught Enkidu rationality, he came to understand emotions and love, and thus turned away from the gods. This is undoubtedly a strong irony of the idea that 'gods do not understand human nature'.

Even the seemingly most devout prostitute, the one closest to God among humans, does not truly love the elusive deity.

God is ultimately just the embodiment of nature, but what the holy prostitute truly loves is all of nature itself.

The Holy Prostitute's mission is to teach the Chains of Heaven reason, so that they can understand wisdom, but teaching a beast is no simple matter.

In order to fulfill her mission, and also because of her love for Enkidu, the child of nature created by heaven and earth, the Holy Prostitute united herself with Enkidu.

The goal is not to allow another version of myself to be reborn through the body of the Chains of Heaven, but to enable the Chains of Heaven to possess emotions similar to those of humans. Therefore, it is not to pour everything into the Chains of Heaven all at once, but to gradually integrate everything about myself into the Chains of Heaven.

Ultimately, humanity, as the Holy Prostitutes, disappeared, and in their place, the Chains of Heaven, named Enkidu, were born.

Enkidu could have eliminated all the influence of the Holy Prostitute and simply faced the world as a newborn Enkidu with reason and wisdom, but Enkidu chose to inherit everything from the Holy Prostitute.

The Holy Prostitute's wisdom, her body, and even her emotions retain only her essence as the Lock of Heaven.

Is she a holy prostitute or a lock from heaven? This question doesn't even need to be considered.

She is Enkidu, who inherited the emotions of the Holy Prostitute, but also possesses the essence, abilities, and memories of a lock—that's all.

To be devoted to the divine while having one's heart set on humanity—this is the love of a saint.

Serving the gods while yearning for nature—this is the love of a sacred prostitute.

Like the Holy Prostitute, Enkidu is not a true saint who would sacrifice everything for humanity. Enkidu has the same holy love, but he gives more of that love to the world itself than to humanity.

Therefore, Enkidu is different from Joan of Arc, and even more different from Lily.

However, their noble spirits are consistent, which is why Orpheus felt a similar sense of them. Perhaps all saints are like this.

Even Artoria is the same; that girl seems to resemble King Arthur of this world, but compared to a king, the little girl is indeed closer to a saint.

Orpheus sighed inwardly.

Enkidu wanted her to inherit her love, but it was indeed difficult for Orpheus to bear such noble emotions.

But in any case, Enkidu did change her.

It's fair to say that if it weren't for Enkidu, the Orpheus of the past would probably have chosen to fight those who dared to invade his territory to the death, at the cost of the entire Uruk.

Even if Orpheus had changed somewhat now, if he were to make a choice based solely on his own will under these circumstances, he would only abandon the others, select the best group of humans, and try to find or establish a safe environment to rebuild a new human race with these humans.

However, Orpheus loved the world, the earth, nature, and the humankind born on the earth.

It's not about loving someone from a superior position, like you're doting on a pet, but about loving a companion born on the same land from Enkidu's perspective.

Although she didn't really understand this kind of thing.

"Ereshkigal, do you love humans?"

Suddenly, Orpheus spoke up and asked.

"...What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this kind of question?"

After a pause, Ereshkigal calmly countered with a question, while Orpheus simply shook his head.

What is the nature of God's love?

"..."

Ereshkigal did not respond immediately, but instead stared straight in the direction of Uruk.

"In the most primitive times, God had no love."

With his eyes flickering in the firelight of Uruk, Ereshkigal remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

"The love between gods, the feelings between gods and humans, are ultimately more a manifestation of desire... Or have you ever heard of a god who actually married a human simply because they fell in love with them?"

Without waiting for Orpheus's reply, Ereshkigal continued.

"—A god who deeply loves humanity must exist, right? But that's just a logical fallacy, a fallacy caused by wielding too much power and thus influencing himself."

"An error...?"

"...Take my silly little sister as an example. She has divine duties such as war, harvest, love and beauty. While she speaks of love for humanity, she also loves the war in which humans kill each other. Ha, among humans, she would be a complete madwoman."

"..."

Orpheus remained silent after hearing Ereshkigal's words.

"Well, I don't think this logical fallacy is incorrect."

Just then, Ereshkigal suddenly spoke again.

"Isn't that how we gods are? We can attribute everything unreasonable to ourselves, whether it's mistakes or madness. If we want to love, we love; if we want to hate, we hate. There's no need to delve into the reasons, is there?"

"Yeah……"

Orpheus's silver-gray eyes were slightly half-closed. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly turned his head and looked straight at Ereshkigal.

"Then, Ellie."

"Waaah, why are you suddenly calling me that? Although it's true that I'm the one who made you call me that..."

Ignoring Ereshkigal's subtle expression, Orpheus continued: