How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

"Mother is furious. Listen carefully to the sound of the tide of destruction!"

As the smoke and dust dissipated, countless Heavenly Locks emerged from the ground around the Golden Solid like golden petals, spinning and coalescing to form a Heavenly Lock even larger than the one previously seen during the journey, which suddenly shot towards the sky.

"Mother, call upon the voice of origin (Nammu Duranki)!"

Facing the massive, golden Heavenly Lock, its tip pointing directly at him and charging with overwhelming force, You Du's expression remained unwavering.

King Gu, who had transformed into the Lock of Heaven, only saw his lips move, and then a calm voice came through.

　 　"Activate the monster effect of [Stardust Dragon]! Victim Sanctuary!"

Roar--!

A resounding dragon roar rang out once more. Under the watchful gaze of Jingu, who had transformed into the Lock of Heaven, his entire body was enveloped in white light. The light grew stronger and stronger until it spread throughout the entire city of Nippur, transforming into a spherical white barrier that enveloped the city.

Kara -

After a clear cracking sound, cracks appeared on the Lock of Heaven. Kingu watched in disbelief as the Noble Phantasm he had unleashed inexplicably crumbled in front of Yudo, and he fell down again.

Boom!

After the heavy crash, Youdu rode the D-wheel to the side of Jingu, who was lying in the center of the crater he had created.

"What exactly did you do...?"

Despite his body feeling like it was about to fall apart, and with his Noble Phantasm violently shattered, Kingu forced himself to sit up from the ground, struggling to his feet. He gritted his teeth and glared at Yuuto.

"Stardust Dragon's monster effect, Victim Sanctuary."

Looking at Jin Gu, who looked somewhat disheveled, You Du made no attempt to hide anything and explained to him with a light laugh.

"When the effect of a Spell/Trap/Monster that destroys a card on the field is activated, you can Tribute this card to activate this effect, negate the activation of that effect, and destroy it."

In reality, the effect of the duel would be that Stardust Dragon sacrifices itself to dismantle any form of attack.

Whether it's a mental attack, a physical attack, or a curse, all of them can be neutralized by this effect.

What does it mean?

Having not experienced the baptism of Yuto's Noble Phantasm, Kingu clearly could not understand what he meant, but he could no longer press him for an answer.

The forced destruction of his Noble Phantasm caused great damage to his mind and body.

Physical injuries can be gradually healed through the Holy Grail within the body, but mental injuries cannot be healed in the same way.

The scenery before him became increasingly blurry, and no matter how unwilling he was, Jingu could no longer remain conscious and simply fainted.

Before he lost consciousness, he vaguely heard the voice of the Chaldean magician.

"Yuto! Are you alright?!"

Chapter Ninety-Five: My real name is Jin Gu!

When Kingu awoke again, he found himself lying on the ground with his hands bound by a chain, and the fake 'Merlin' was talking to a magician from Chaldea right in front of him.

But to actually use chains against him... tsk, there should be a limit to stupidity!

Yuwatari: "Master, have all the surviving citizens been evacuated?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka: "Yes, everyone has been evacuated under the leadership of Ushiwakamaru and Benkei-san. There should be no other residents left in Nippur now."

Jingu continued to pretend to be unconscious and did not make any rash moves. He was only awake, which did not mean that his mental injuries were healed.

He vaguely remembered hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka call this fake 'Merlin' Yuwatari before he lost consciousness...

He hadn't posed any threat to this guy when he used his Noble Phantasm before, and now that his mental injuries hadn't healed, it was even less likely that he could do anything to him.

"That's it..."

You Du then pointed to the golden object on the ground.

"So, Master, what do you plan to do with this guy? Just get rid of him on the spot, or take him back as a souvenir for Gilgamesh?"

"No, no, no, using living people as souvenirs is too bizarre! Even the Age of Gods wouldn't be this primitive!"

Upon hearing Yutari's two proposals, Fujimaru Ritsuka waved her hands repeatedly.

"So we're going to take him out on the spot? Alright, Stardust Dragon!"

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant!"

Seeing that Yutaka 'mistakenly' thought that he was going to let him finish off Enkidu on the spot, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly stopped Yutaka from calling for Stardust Dragon to finish him off.

"Although we don't know if the other party is the real Enkidu or someone impersonating Enkidu, let's take him to King Gilgamesh first!"

After all, Enkidu was a close friend of King Gilgamesh. Even if it wasn't him, the fact that the other person looked almost exactly like Enkidu meant that he was definitely related to Enkidu.

Fujimaru Ritsuka had never met Enkidu in person; she only knew from Merlin that Kingu looked almost exactly like Enkidu.

After deciding on how to deal with Jingu, they threw him onto a flatbed truck they had found, where Yudu personally guarded him. He then led a convoy of surviving citizens of Nippur, consisting of only one flatbed truck, towards Uruk.

【Crimson Dragon】 and 【Stardust Dragon】 were responsible for clearing out monsters around the caravan, while Youdu and Jingu were at the very back of the caravan, and the rest of the people and survivors were at the very front.

When the convoy was halfway there, You Du glanced at Jingu, who was breathing steadily and seemed to have fallen asleep, with a strange look on his face.

Speaking of which, Kingu, as Tiamat's child, should also be considered a god, right?

Would a deity be unconscious for such a long time due to injuries of this severity?

Could he be awake but pretending to be unconscious?

Yuto remembered seeing similar scenes in novels, TV dramas, and anime series he had watched before...

Why don't we try testing the waters?

Thinking of this, he suddenly spoke.

"Now that you're awake, stop pretending."

"..."

Jin Gu's breathing remained steady, as if he were still unconscious and had not heard a word he said.

Hmm...did I guess wrong?

Since it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision, You Du didn't press Jin Gu to admit that he was awake.

Just when he thought the quiet atmosphere would continue until they returned to Uruk, Jingu suddenly spoke up.

"When did you find out?"

Yuto: "!"

I ride a horse!

Startled, Yuu tried his best to keep his expression unchanged and replied coldly and irritably.

"just."

Jin Gu: "..."

……

Along the way, Jingu was surprisingly quiet, much to You Du's surprise. He had thought that after seeing him send the Stardust Dragon and the Crimson Lotus Dragon ahead, Jingu would seize the opportunity to ambush him...

It's a pity that there wasn't one.

Yudu put away Yubel with some regret.

He had originally intended for Jingu to experience the same treatment as the mistress of the underworld...

The group escorted Jingu into the tower. Throughout the journey, Anna gripped the chains tightly, afraid that if she let go, Jingu would escape.

As everyone entered the tower, the others who were giving their reports saw King Gu and immediately looked surprised. Then, except for Siduri, everyone else wisely withdrew.

They knew all too well the relationship between their king and Enkidu. Now that this guy who had been impersonating Enkidu all this time had been brought before the king, they wondered how the king would treat him.

"King Gilgamesh, we have returned from Nippur!"

Merlin, ever the outspoken one, spoke first, telling Gilgamesh about their experiences and gains on this trip.

"All surviving citizens of Nippur have been rescued, and we have also captured this person."

As he spoke, Merlin, who had just walked up to Jingu, stepped aside, revealing Jingu, who had been hidden behind him for less than a second.

Gilgamesh & Kingu: "..."

Merlin's dramatic behavior clearly displeased the two, but he didn't care at all. He just stared straight at Gilgamesh, his eyes practically saying "I want to watch the show."

After a moment of silence, Gilgamesh put down the clay tablet in his hand and stared blankly at Kingu's familiar face, lost in thought.

It really looks like...

"...Huh? You're putting on quite a show, aren't you? Who are you?"

Without the slightest hesitation, the moment Gilgamesh saw Kingu, he was certain that he was not his dearest friend.

The most obvious difference is... he doesn't remember when Enkidu's eyes changed from gold to purple...

Now that he had been brought before Gilgamesh, Kingu naturally had no intention of hiding his identity any longer.

Although he couldn't defeat Yudo right now, he wasn't afraid of the others present, including the two goddesses who had broken away from the Three Goddess Alliance.

"My identity? To destroy the old humanity and rule the world in your place, the prototype of humanity..."

As he spoke, a slight smile appeared on Jingu's lips, as if he were proud of his identity. Even though his hands were now bound by chains, it did not affect him in the slightest.

"My real name is Jingu!"

"Jin Gu?!"

Inside Chaldea, Dr. Roman and his colleagues naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to learn Kingu's true identity, so they maintained communication with Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Even so, upon hearing Jin Gu's identity, he found it difficult to remain calm.

"The god who led the children of Tiamat in Babylonian mythology?!"

That being is a being on par with the creator god!

Chapter Ninety-Six: A Down-to-Earth Goddess

"Doctor, the Tiamat you're talking about is...?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka covered her mouth with her hand and whispered to the bracelet.

Because Quetzalcoatl joined their side early on, Fujimaru Ritsuka also learned Gorgon's true name much earlier, and was not deceived by her using the name Tiamat.

Hearing this completely unfamiliar name, coupled with Dr. Roman's tense tone, gave her an ominous feeling.

Tiamat, one of the creator gods in Mesopotamian mythology.

Inside the tower, everyone fell silent in unison. Even Jingu, for some reason, kept quiet as Dr. Roman recounted the information they knew about their mother.

"In ancient Mesopotamian legends, the gods were born from Abzu, who was fresh water, and Tiamat, who was salt water."

"Afterwards, the gods, who were children, rebelled against their original father, Abuz, and gained control of the world."

"Tiamat gently tolerated the children's behavior; however, the gods even began to rebel against Tiamat, who was the mother. Tiamat lamented and went mad, giving birth to eleven magical beasts as her new children, who then fought against the gods."

"At the end of the battle, Tiamat and the eleven monsters were defeated. The gods split her body in two and created heaven and earth. This is the legendary creation ritual of the human world."

"...Hmph, Mother didn't die, she was just banished to the imaginary space..."

With his brows furrowed and familiar images flashing before his eyes, Jingu gritted his teeth and let out a muffled groan, seemingly angry about Tiamat's fate.

I wonder if these images are a consequence of psychological damage...

Kingu's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Gilgamesh, who sat on the throne. The number of times Gilgamesh appeared in those scenes was far too frequent, which made him very uncomfortable.

"Hmm? What? Didn't that cunning nightmare over there tell you about Mother?"

He looked away, calmed himself down, raised his chin to Merlin beside him, and said in a playful tone.

"That's really strange, after all, Mother is currently trapped in the Dream Cage thanks to him!"

This was clearly an attempt to sow discord, and even Fufu, one of the people present, could tell.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't care less about that at the moment; her mind was only focused on the few words the doctor and Kingu had said.

Tiamat is the creator goddess of Mesopotamia, and she is not dead, but exists in the imaginary space...

The more I listen, the more uneasy I feel.

Fujimaru Ritsuka's current feeling is as chilling as a hero in a story who, after defeating the five Heavenly Kings and the final Demon King, is suddenly met with applause and cheers from behind.

Fujimaru Ritsuka: There are still experts?

She silently moved behind You Du, reached out and grabbed his clothes, and only then did she feel a little more at ease.