Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

Gates' question actually made Wozniak laugh.

"The reason my demon king maintains that attitude is simply because he believes that being taciturn suits his image better, not because he lacks the ability to communicate and socialize with others."

"Is...this what happened?"

"It is perfectly reasonable for ordinary mortals to even think about communicating with my Demon King."

This guy has really gone off the rails again—that was the thought that flashed through Gates' mind at that moment.

As for Yan Ming, he had already sided with the girl named Anna.

The other party seemed to have noticed Yan Ming's approach, but immediately pulled his hood down a little, trying to create distance between himself and Yan Ming.

However, it soon became apparent that the other person seemed to be intentionally following him.

After walking for a while while keeping their distance, Anna took a breath and glanced at Yan Ming.

"...What do you want to do?"

Cold and low-pitched—that's the tone of her voice.

Although Yan Ming is not a psychology expert, anyone could sense the sense of rejection in his tone.

"When did you and that servant named Merlin arrive in this forest?"

"Are they trying to probe for information on my side...?"

"No, it's just a way to pass the time."

Yan Ming spoke these words with the same calm and indifferent expression.

"In modern human terms, it's like chatting."

"..."

"Although you are heroic warriors who have materialized from mythology and history, it should be quite simple for you to understand the meaning of this term, right? I have no ill intentions towards you, just know that."

After observing Yan Ming for a while, Anna pulled her hood down a little, at which point Yan Ming could finally see the expression on her face.

She is a very cute girl.

With long purple hair and eyes of the same color, this petite girl can wield a weapon that is larger than her body with such skill. These Servants are truly extraordinary beings.

"Merlin and I arrived in this forest about a day ago, and after staying here for about a day..."

"You encountered those monsters, and that green guy, right?"

Seemingly annoyed that Yan Ming had interrupted her, Anna stared at him silently.

Yan Ming didn't seem to care much and continued talking about his topic.

“You seem to call that green-clad figure Enkidu, but according to my understanding of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Enkidu who appears there is a being who fights to protect the peace and goodness of mankind, which is completely opposite to the discriminatory character of the one I am facing.”

"That shouldn't be the real Enkidu. He seems to have just borrowed Enkidu's body... The specific reason why this is completely unknown, even Merlin doesn't know."

"But at least we can confirm that this era is after King Gilgamesh went through the past underworld and took the resurrection herb."

Anna nodded slightly, and after thinking for a moment, looked at Yan Ming with a curious gaze.

"...You defeated that person using Enkidu's body so easily before."

"Is there a problem with this?"

"He's very strong. Although it's impossible to determine if he's a true Servant, he definitely possesses power surpassing that of a regular Servant. At least, it would be very difficult for me to deal with him alone..."

"Because I have encountered strong opponents like him before, I have experienced those battles and won, so I will win this time as well."

"You're neither a Master nor a Servant, so why do you possess such power...?"

"I'm also very curious. You look petite, so how can you display such strong combat skills?"

Anna seemed slightly taken aback by the question, and after thinking for a moment, she didn't know how to respond.

Yan Ming didn't put too much pressure on her.

"But it's okay if you don't answer these questions. I just wanted to have a brief chat with you to ease the tension so we can better handle what we need to do next."

"What are you planning to do...? Help that Master save humanity?"

"It depends on the situation. This may not be my ultimate goal, but at least right now I want to help that person named Fujimaru Ritsuka, so I'm following him... You probably feel the same way."

"…Um."

She nodded and lowered her hood slightly.

"...Don't you intend to avoid me because I give off an overly serious vibe?"

"Perhaps there is, but the feeling you give me right now isn't exactly serious."

"...Anna, you can call me that."

“Shilun Yanming, that’s my name. The people over there are Woz and Gates. We are the three of us, and we are also people who travel and traverse between different worlds and eras.”

"Just like Chaldea...?"

"Our goals weren't as grand as theirs, but we did things similar to theirs before."

Then, the two of them actually started chatting.

Gates, standing next to him, was completely bewildered.

"This kid actually started chatting? They've only just met?!"

"People with similar personalities are best suited to negotiate with each other."

Wozniak chuckled as he stated his conclusion.

"That girl named Anna has always been very taciturn, which is very similar to my Demon King's demeanor at the beginning. It is precisely because we have both gone through similar periods that my Demon King knows best how to get this kind of person to talk."

"But I noticed that Zi-O doesn't seem to talk much usually. Has he changed much since we first met?"

"Of course."

"Then... what is that?"

Wozniak simply smiled and remained silent.

This enigmatic attitude left Gates utterly baffled.

however…

In the shadows, another person was watching Yan Ming with a strange expression.

"...This is really interesting."

Merlin, hailed as a great magician, couldn't help but reveal a peculiar smile as he gently gazed at Yan Ming, who was communicating with Anna.

"What really interests me is this person... looking at him with these eyes, you can't see anything. It's interesting, it's really so interesting."

Volume 8, Mesopotamian Absolute Demonic Front: Chapter 323 The Galactic Black Hole Rages Through the Age of Gods

The group walked together toward the edge of the forest. After crossing several shallow streams, they arrived at a high point.

As you climb up from the high ground, the place that resembles a cliff is where this place ends.

Looking down, the vast expanse of sand dunes came into view.

"Everyone! Look over there!"

Mashu's voice drew everyone's attention.

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, and there stood a visible horizon directly in front of this land that resembled sand dunes.

That was a wall made by human hands.

The massive wall was over three meters high, with a gate built in the middle and walls of the same height extending infinitely to the left and right, blocking everything outside the gate.

"What massive city walls... Doctor! Could that city be—"

"Based on historical records and calculated information, there is no doubt that this is the legendary Uruk."

Uruk, a city ruled by a hero-king who is said to be the oldest.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu were stunned by the scene before them. They had imagined Uruk to be a prosperous city, but... they never expected it to be like this.

Upon witnessing this scene, Yan Ming and the other two all showed expressions of amazement.

"Woz, you should know something about this city, right?"

"Of course, the book I'm holding contains most of the information about this world."

"Then you should also know why the city walls of this place called Uruk are so wide..."

"at this point…"

"There's really no need to explain this; you'll understand it at a glance."

Beside him, the magician Merlin interrupted Woz, who was about to give the answer, and pointed his wand in a more distant direction.

"Gentlemen, please look over there."

"Where...is that?!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu quickly approached and looked together toward the horizon of the mountains.

A dull sound followed.

If you listen carefully, you can hear an incredibly deep and heavy sound... echoing between the sky and the earth, and the sound gradually grows louder and reaches their ears.

In fact, everyone could feel the vibrations coming from the hills and the ground.

"This...?! How could this be?!"

"Doctor? What did you see over there?"

"According to data detection, at least tens of thousands of magical beasts are rapidly approaching this area, their magical energy fluctuations emanating from within a radius of approximately 1.5 kilometers...!!"

"Tens of thousands of magical beasts?!"

Mashu and Fujimaru Ritsuka gasped in surprise, as if they had been startled.

"What exactly are all those magical beasts here for?"

"What to do? Isn't that obvious?"

Merlin said calmly.

Thump—! The dull force made the tremor that spread across the earth even more profound.

Now everyone can see it clearly.

On the horizon, rushing towards us like a sweeping storm—it was a monster.

Their numbers are even more than tens of thousands; their unparalleled numbers are as dense as raindrops.

They roared and howled, constantly ravaging the earth while unleashing all their wildness.

The ultimate goal of these hordes of monsters was to attack the distant city with its massive walls.

"Are those monsters planning to attack that city?"

Even Gates couldn't help but speak up.

Such a large number... that goes beyond the concept of "many." At least, the scene gave Gates a direct impression that was as awe-inspiring as a tidal wave crashing in.

Although he had faced far more outrageous situations than this before, he needed to figure out that all these monsters were rushing here recklessly just to attack this city.

"Hmm, it seems to have already begun."

Boom! The earth was still enduring unimaginable violent fluctuations.

The monsters flew to the vicinity of the city wall. A mere 1.5 kilometers was no distance for them. Their roars grew even more ferocious, echoing even in the distant valleys.

The power of just one magical beast is already very strong.

Not to mention, so many monsters directly attacking an ancient city...

"The monsters' strong advance on Uruk, and... the defense and counterattack of the city of Uruk."

"Defense...? How... how should we defend?"

"There's nothing to be surprised about, Fujimaru-kun. This city has been holding off this offensive for a full six months."

"Six months?!"

Boom! At that moment, everyone heard another series of explosions.

That's a sonic boom... a sound explosion.