Plan for the resolution of Singularity (242) (Patreon)

Having made it through the second gate using the same answer he did for the first gate, Ainz had to admit that he was really expecting a trap by this point. After all, that was the usual trick, right? Lull him into a sense of complacency before striking, and so, when he emerged from the second gate to see a third gate, Ainz was prepared for everything.

Only to soon be disappointed when he heard the same question only worded differently, requiring only the same answer. Ereshkigal.

He was so busy thinking about the traps that would be sprung that he didn’t even remember what question the gate asked, the answer was still the same, however. And then came the fourth gate… and then the fifth.

Ainz couldn't even determine the reasoning behind asking such inane questions! 

Other than the fact that he had to learn and remember the hard-to-pronounce name of ‘Ereshkigal’ again and again. It was only when he was rounding on the fifth gate, eager to get this over with, that a realization came to him like lightning from a clear sky.

Ainz began to seriously wonder if he had accidentally fallen into the trap of an unknown enemy. 

After passing the gates, Ainz did not feel any kind of teleportation, but what was more logical, that an enemy was using abilities unknown to him in order to transfer Ainz himself to an unknown trap to catch him in an endless corridor. Or that this same unknown enemy had decided to put up a lot of gates in a row, one right after another, each of which asked him essentially the same question and just wanted to hear from him that he preferred Ereshkigal and considered her better than Ishtar? 

Even considering the significant level of madness in this new world, in the past he had never encountered anything as strange, especially from the likes of Gods or in the Underworld he had just passed. Not to mention that the world around him, consumed by the black sea of Tiamat with humanity on the edge of extinction, was not at all conducive to such ridiculous humor.

However, the sixth gate soon followed the fifth, and then the seventh, forcing Ainz to conclude that, most likely, he was caught in a trap of a looping corridor. In his ignorance, and perhaps overt surprise at the nonsensical question asked by the first gate, he had unknowingly caught himself in a bind. It was likely that either answering the question in any way, or even passing the first gate, he had sprung the trap on himself

He was not looking forward to seeing if the hundredth gate would ask the same inane question, or if answering that in fact that Isthar was better would break the trap.

He needs to break out by force.

Immediately, spell after spell began to manifest in Ainz's head, ready to be cast with a mental command. Various teleportation spells and possible methods of punching through the enemy's anti-teleportation barrier, methods of attack and defense, emergency notification of Servants if necessary… Numerous plans appeared in his head, and Ainz found the one most suitable for the current situation, one that he would put into action as soon as he had passed the seventh gate.

And it is yet another ridiculous question, ‘Which of the goddesses is the very best, beautiful, and beloved and deserves all the best things in the world? Who is not at all fat and definitely does not look like her sister?’. To which Ainz, again, answered as to all previous answers. 

"Ereshkigal." After which the seventh gate ‘opened’, but of course Ainz knew better now, as soon as he saw the eighth gate he would… 

There were no eight gate. 

With his hands holding onto baleful light as his prepared spells came into force, Ainz had to snuff them out, even as it had wasted some mana to do so. Because he had gotten out of the trap to the Underworld again… At least, what looked like the Underworld, it was the same empty, cold and completely lifeless place he had just walked through not long ago. 

However, it still differed from the Underworld outside the seven gates.

This time, strewn among the large number of broken and scattered rock, were an incredible number of cages. But this was not one to capture humans, no, it looked too elongated, too alien for that, it looked more like bird cages. And they were not empty.

Scattered among the rocks, suspended from the ceilings with chains, most of these cages were filled, translucent bluish lights that swayed lightly as if they were being moved by a non-existent breeze. Ainz's own skills, pinged these lights as some kind of undead.

“Are those lights ghosts… Or maybe human souls?” Adopting a thoughtful look, Ainz thought that the latter was more logical. This is the Underworld, after all, what other place would human souls go to? Though, then again, that was just ghosts in another word, inhabitants quite suitable for the World of the Dead. 

Although the fact that these ghosts or souls were in cages around him was a bit alarming for Ainz, his gaze was focused on another, much more important detail in front of his eyes. 

To be more precise, on a person, well, or on a creature with a human appearance.

The short young girl in front of his eyes seemed to glow from the inside, she looked that pleased. 

With a big smile on her face, and with her long golden hair, partially gathered into two ponytails on the sides of her head, with the rest descending in behind her back until it reached below her knees. She was dressed in a very stylish and light enough black dress, holding a crown on her head and a small cage girded with a chain, similar to the surrounding cages, on her belt. 

She was indeed someone that is very eye-catching.

The slovenly pleased expression however was marshaled into a serious one once he noticed Ainz’s presence. It was an impressive display of expression control, if Ainz had not seen her previous carefree smile, he would have never imagined the now stern and austere looking woman with her previous self. 

Her current expression reminded Ainz of the feeling that the voice from the gates had tried to evoke in him… Along with the many slip-ups. 

At least it answered, well enough, Ainz's previously unspoken question about who exactly was behind his ‘test’, if it could even be called that way at all.

"Stop, soul!" Ereshkigal spoke, as Ainz could not imagine anyone else but her standing in front of him. She was a girl who differed from the previous goddess he had met, who, as Ainz could easily assume, having repeatedly heard her name over and over was Ishtar, only by the color of her hair and attire. 

The girl tried to present herself in the most serious manner that she could, which was not helped by her severe appearance collapsing into her previous pleased one. The fact that she was shifting from foot to foot, clearly unsure and nervous on how to approach Ainz only made her ‘stern goddess’ act falter even more. 

"You have passed my test with dignity, but you have no place in the Underworld!"

"Indeed?" Raising one of his eyebrows, perhaps his previous preparations were needed after all, Ereshkigal’s line was basically a classic opening line before a battle. Though faced with the prospect of facing the Divine, Ainz found his emotions calmer instead. 

At least fighting her was much more understandable to him than trying to answer her inane questions and endlessly walking between the many gates. 

"But I need to pass."

At these words, Ereshkigal shifted from one foot to the other again, clearly feeling very uncomfortable and unsure in front of Ainz. But having glanced at the many cages around her and the ghosts inside them, she straightened her shoulders in an unconscious attempt to seem bigger and feel a little more confident. 

"My name is Ereshkigal, the Goddess of the Underworld. Here, in this world, you are at the center of my strength and therefore… Don't expect to be able to deal with me so easily!"

"Hmm, so Tiamat is under your protection?" Ainz unconsciously spoke, more to confirm his own thoughts rather than asking for an answer, he was quite surprised however to receive an answer in response.

One that, once again, knocked off his prepared battle plans. 

"What does she have to do with it?!" Erehkigal’s loud announcement put a stopper to Ainz’s next actions.

"Hmm?" Ainz turned a questioning gaze to Ereshkigal in confusion, raising one eyebrow, and vaguely nodded to behind Ereshkigal, pointing his chin somewhere forward,- "I came here to see Tiamat?"

"Ah, ahem, and what about… Human souls?" Ereshkigal, clearly not expecting such words from Ainz, blinked in bewilderment, before spreading her arms to the sides, as if pointing to all the surrounding cages filled with these very souls.

"What do they have to do with it?" It was Ainz's turn this time to be surprised and confused by the girl's words. "I came here for Tiamat, I'm not interested in anyone's souls…"

Though, on this issue, Ainz lied a little. After Ereshkigal mentioned that the lights sealed in the surrounding cages were souls, Ainz became a little interested in experimenting with them or looking for a couple that he could theoretically take into his own collection. But, such things had nothing to do with his plans at the moment and for this Singularity. 

And even more so, until he found a suitable plan to end the Singularity, he should not be distracted by such a trifle.

"A… ah?" Ereshkigal, clearly not expecting such an answer, took a step back, allowing the chain on her belt holding onto the cage to sway, before blinking, shocked. Before, unexpectedly, she started apologizing, squeezing out of herself an almost panicked response to hurried apologies. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm very sorry!" Ereshkigal had appeared before Ainz so unexpectedly and quickly that Ainz almost attacked her out of pure reflex. 

"I am very sorry! I know, I am constantly accused of being the goddess of the underworld, well I am the Goddess of the Underworld… But that’s not the point! Just because I look after the World of the Dead, I was accused of pursuing some terrible goals, so I know what it's like when someone accuses you of sins simply because of your occupation! I'm sorry, I thought that I wouldn't make such a mistake, but I myself accused a stranger of such a thing just because he feels like something connected with death! I'm sorry, I'm very sorry!"

"Um, ahem, no problem, apologies accepted? It happens?" Ainz took half a step back in reflex, confused by the unexpected, and quickly poured apologies out of Ereshkigal's mouth apologies. Definitely, this was not the first time that someone once again attributed a terrible motivation to him for his, in general, heroic actions so he was somewhat used to it… Especially since he was so used to playing the villain in the past with his friends. 

But this was the fastest and most unexpected change in behavior in Ainz's memory after he said that he did not plan to do anything evil.  Moreover, this was the first time that someone believed him at his word that he did not plan to do anything terrible, and at the same time the first time that someone also apologized to him! 

Perhaps these were the first genuine apologies spoken to him in all his time in this new world!

The thought of this made Ainz suddenly feel a little awkward in front of Ereshkigal and feel a kind of sympathy for her. The fact that Ereshkigal spoke of herself as something similar to Ainz, having gotten into similar situations as him, attacked simply because of her domain, built a certain level of rapport. 

It was a situation painfully familiar to Ainz, having been unfairly persecuted for being a Skeleton in Yggdrasil because of those damned Developers… And the other Human Players too, of course.

Looking at the look of genuine sincerity on Ereshkigal’s face, Ainz couldn’t even be mad at her for the ridiculous seven gates and its inane ‘riddles’. 

"It's alright, I forgive you… It is nice to meet you, my name is Ainz. Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Ainz? Nice to meet you!" Ereshkigal, clearly still embarrassed and feeling a little uncomfortable with her mistake, tried her best to give the best introduction she can as befitting her station. 

"Ereshkigal, the goddess of the Underworld!"

"Nice to meet you," Ainz answered, genuinely happy to meet someone like Ereshkigal. After all, he was really pleased to finally meet someone who not only was not going to persist in her accusations of Ainz of all mortal sins, but was even ready to apologize for them. Those were the kinds of people that Ainz liked after all, those that could admit to their mistake and apologize for it.

However, for a second Ainz became interested in why Ereshkigal had such assumptions and therefore, glancing at the hanging cages, which suggested more of their position as slaves. A mistaken assumption, as no one would care so much for their slaves, and even worry about possible mistreatment aimed at them.

Unable to hold his curiosity back, Ainz decided to just ask the Goddess about it, even when it was quite the non sequitur after their introduction. "Ah… Ahem, what was that you said about souls?"

In response to Ainz’s question and interest, Ereshkigal tensed a little, but remembering that, just a second ago, she was apologizing to Ainz for her misunderstanding about said subject, she looked away to the side a little embarrassed. 

"I… I was just a little worried when I felt your presence in the Underworld, in front of the gates, and I couldn't find information about you in my own lists… And this feeling… Oh, um, I mean I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything strange about it, it was just something I’ve experienced for the first time!" Ereshkigal immediately started waving her hands, as if trying to wave off her previous words. 

“No, never mind that, you’re not the visitor I’ve had in so long and been so kind to me! Uhm… Please forget I just said that…” Realizing what she had just admitted to, Ereshkigal looked less like a goddess and more like a tomato. 

“I'm the Goddess of Death, Ruler of the Underworld, and it's my duty to protect the souls of people entrusted to me in their afterlife, so when you have entered the Underworld and felt so… Weird, I thought I should protect them and… I'm very sorry, I didn't mean anything bad!”

"Once again, it's okay, a harmless mistake." Ainz, feeling only awkwardness because of just how embarrassed Ereshkigal looked after her mistake. It was something familiar to Ainz, who was already quite used to the fact that half of his Servants expected him to doom the world even when he didn’t do anything, like Scáthach. At least Ereshkigal could admit her mistakes.

"That is… You are trying to protect these souls?"

Looking around, at the many cages on top of various rock outcroppings and hanging from the ceiling, Ainz then shifted his gaze to Ereshkigal. "I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful, but with the way all these souls are gathered, and locked in cages… It doesn't look too inviting to their protection?"

"What!?" Ereshkigal hurriedly looked at the cages, trying to see what was wrong with them for a moment, before, once again, realizing that she had shown her clear worry, tried to school her expression again. Of course, even with her chin raised, trying to look imperiously down at Ainz, the blush on her face ruined the image.

It reminded Ainz more of Jalter than anything, and therefore extremely fake.

"What?! Of course, I don't love humans and absolutely wasn't worried about them or anything like that, I don't see how you could even hint at something so ridiculous! It's just that I'm the goddess of the Underworld, it's my job and duty to protect those in the underworld from someone who can disturb their peace! Besides, it's not my fault that I could only manage to shove people into cages, I didn't want that!" 

Instantly forgetting about her attempt to pass herself off as an austere deity that did not have any empathy for humanity, Ereshkigal began to make excuses out of nowhere. Only digging her hole deeper and deeper, as she began listing out the many deficiencies that she tried to address to help humanity, and the souls in her care in particular.

Of course, her act wouldn’t even fool a blind and deaf person, so to call her outburst as digging a deeper hole for herself was perhaps a misnomer. And it is still continuing.

“So many people started dying so suddenly, all at once, in the world, so I had to work non-stop, ferrying thousands of souls at a time, I just didn't have time to prepare the underworld for such an invasion of souls!” 

Seeing the state of the world outside, Ainz only nodded in agreement, the black sea of Tiamat’s was clearly something that happened suddenly and no one could prepare for that, leading to many deaths.

“They had all walked and pushed their elbows at each other, what if one of them was possessed by a thirst for revenge or rage?! If they were to do any evil acts when they are just nothing more than a pure soul, they would be reborn as evil spirits and go to harass living people, that's the last thing I wanted! And that’s why they are inside the cages, in there they are in stasis, do not feel the cold and do not experience pain or hatred. They are kept in peace, in case they can return back to their bodies again…”

Almost putting Ereshkigal’s outbursts of complaints to the side, Ainz suddenly became interested again by what she spoke of last.

"Return to their bodies?" Having singled out the phrase that interested Ainz the most, he instantly raised an eyebrow, once again forcing Ereshkigal to bite her tongue in embarrassment.

"This is only in case someone can deal with Tiamat, since technically speaking, the bodies of all the people that had died from her Black Sea still exist… If much changed. I know that there is almost no chance of this, but… What if?" Ereshkigal looked up at Ainz, clearly embarrassed by her own naive idea. 

"That is, their bodies were absorbed by Tiamat… And she had rebuilt them, but why would she need human souls? For Tiamat, human souls are an insignificant and unnecessary part, something that she would absorb or destroy, and wouldn't even notice, while here their souls are safe and at peace… And, in theory… If one day someone can deal with her… Then why not have this option at hand?"

Ereshkigal tried to smile, but it was a smile with uncertainty and doubt, but where Ereshkigal did not feel confidence, Ainz unexpectedly felt it. For the first time since he had stepped foot in this Singularity, he had found someone who was not taken by Gilgamesh's charisma and did not support his plan. 

"So you want to find another plan? One that is different from Gilgamesh's?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm against his plan, I still greatly respect Gilgamesh and I consider his plan the best of all possible with the greatest chance of success, but…" Ereshkigal’s gaze traced a large arc across the sky, represented by a high stone ceiling, looking at the cages hanging off of it, something that she had to do when she had run out of spaces on the ground. 

She was doing her best not to look Ainz in the eyes, and yet she still spoke of the alternative, her plan, with a hopeful tilt to it. "But if an alternative to such actions and plans did exist, where many that are lost can be brought back to life, then that would be good… Wouldn't it?"

"Absolutely." Having found a new, albeit somewhat unexpected ally in this world, Ainz took a step forward. The unexpected action caused Ereshkigal to remember that, at the moment, she was talking, in fact, on the threshold of her home, an act of great rudeness. With a sound that sounded very much like an embarrassed squeal, practically leaped back to create some distance from Ainz.

"Awawawa! Where are my manners? I'm sorry for being so rude, please come in!" Ereshkigal, embarrassed by her social faux pas, tried to look at the bare room for something to entertain a guest with, of course, there isn't anything like that in the bare Underworld. Looking lost and on the edge of tears, Ereshkigal looked like a kicked puppy.

Ainz, taking mercy at the Goddess’ panic, decided that, lacking anything to do, answered Ereshkigal’s unspoken plea. That is, to find something so that Ereshkigal could entertain the unexpected guest that was himself.

It might be a bit backwards, where the host was the one asking the guest to try to find things to entertain themselves.  

But Ainz is nothing if not adaptable. 

"Ereshkigal, since the topic has already come up… Maybe you can tell me something about Tiamat?"

"Tell you about…? Of course, I would be happy to… Kehem! I mean yes, of course, I would be open to sharing information about our shared enemy, after all I am one of the Goddesses in the Alliance of Three Goddesses!" Ereshkigal didn’t even think about the request for a moment before beaming, happy to have an opportunity to interact with her ‘guest’, and nodded to him.

Of course, she had to try to preserve her dignity as a Goddess while doing so!

***

Ozymandias the Great was gifted with all kinds of abilities and talents, especially when it came to managing empires. He was the Ruler of the greatest of empires of all times after all, no matter what his rival, Gilgamesh, would say about it!

His capabilities mean that he was able to handle bureaucracy and reports like the most experienced animal trainer. Handling paperwork, like he could make tigers jump through a burning ring and elephants dance on one leg with a snap of his fingers… But that didn't mean he liked doing such things. 

The fact that he did them in the past was simply due to the fact that he was forced to do them, such was his role as a great king. He much prefers looking at the progress face to face, rather than through dead reports. He was more interested and even pleased to observe firsthand how his empire grew and expanded, how smiles blossomed on the faces of his subjects. 

Simply because that was his natural role, and nothing served as a more worthy indicator of a ruler's power and greatness than the power and greatness of his empire, and the happiness of his citizens. To make sure that they would not go hungry, and that their pockets would be laden with wealth, he would stare at documents all day if that’s what it takes.

One of the cornerstones of his rule was that the ordinary citizen was just as wealthy and looked after as the soldiers marching in neat rows in their decorated armors. After all, soldiers marched more confidently and fought more fiercely if they had a home worthy of their defense behind them.

However, having found himself in this Singularity for the second day already, with a break only for one celebration, Ozymandias spent it dealing with the bureaucracy of the kingdom. And one that is not even his own, but the one that belonged to Gilgamesh. 

Of course, it was not solely due to his magnanimity, no matter how great it was. No, while that is indeed one of the reasons, another was to show Gilgamesh just how weak he was in governing the state and how easy it was for someone like Ozymandias himself to handle the bureaucracy. 

Of course, he was then almost immediately reminded of why he hated doing paperwork, and while showing off his prowess was fun for a time, the act quickly bored him. He had not agreed to be summoned to Chaldea, and then march to the Singularity for war, only in order to spend days on paperwork! 

That was hardly suitable for his status not only as a pharaoh, but also as the greatest and strongest Servant!

Therefore, after having put a sweeping signature on yet another document, of course only after giving the document another quick read. Perusing the paper-like substance once again, Ozymandias could only chuckle at his friend’s actions, the paper was something that would only be invented in the far future. And even more, looking at the paper’s contents, and the numerous verification columns, abounding in terms like ‘credit balance’ and ‘positive balance’, it was obvious that Gilgamesh had been cheating vociferously. 

Obviously, he had introduced an excessive amount of inventions from the future into the current time in order to help it withstand Tiamat’s test. 

Satisfied that he had completed the document with perfection, as expected of himself, he leaned back in his chair, assuming the regal pose of a pharaoh who wanted to rest from work that had tired him.

"Hm," Gilgamesh, glancing at Ozymandias, perhaps attracted by his chuckle, twisted his lips into a smirk. But of course, he was not boorish enough, to speak about the fact that the bureaucracy had finally defeated Ozymandias. Even if it was more of a pyrrhic victory than a clear one.

After all, he was forced to admit that the actions of the latter were help for Gilgamesh himself, one that he was forced to accept, as Gilgamesh did not want to die from overwork at his workplace. Gilgamesh wanted to die on his own terms, not because his heart failed after another reading of a complaint filed about a missing cow from another toothless peasant.

What an unfitting end for the King of Heroes.

"King Gilgamesh's life looks much less interesting and filled with adventure than the legends says isn’t it?," Ozymandias, propping his chin with his hand, looked at Gilgamesh with a bored expression on his face. "I assumed that the self-proclaimed ‘King of Heroes’ was famous for more than reading trading invoices in incredible quantities."

To these words, Gilgamesh simply looked at Ozymandias, leaving them unanswered, but Gilgamesh didn’t take offense. Ozymandias was allowed even to make such disrespectful comments regarding Gilgamesh himself, after all, not to mention that Gilgamesh himself could only object to this accusation by admitting that the era of his great exploits had passed. 

Now he was primarily a wise king, rather than an almighty tyrant. And how could he perform great feats of heroics at the moment, when the world outside the walls created by Gilgamesh was completely absorbed by Tiamat?

"Hm," Ozymandias finally squeezed out, not getting an answer from Gilgamesh to his words, before shifting his gaze to Gilgamesh himself, "The life of this state is not worth a penny."

These words, however, made Gilgamesh himself glance at Ozymandias, then raise his hand, which instantly opened a dozen portals glowing with gold behind Gilgamesh. After which, many bright rays and spells from the most various eras and stories rushed forward, intersecting and intertwining before crashing into the figure of Ozymandias himself. Ozymandias himself, however, was angry or surprised by such a reaction, just disappointed. 

Raising his own hand in response, a hundred solar rays instantly crashed into Gilgamesh's magic, breaking one spell after another, bringing the collision to an irresolvable draw.

As quickly as the attack began, it had ended, leaving the two kings in their places, unmoved, while the walls around them were covered with cracks and black soot.

"Are you saying that Merlin is trying to play with me?" Gilgamesh, without giving a comment to either his actions or Ozymandias's reaction, looked at the other king with a raised eyebrow. No one was allowed to insult a king, his state and his rule without expecting death in return, and Ozymandias himself also accepted this fact. That was why he didn’t raise any issue with his own attempted murder.

Even when the barrage would have killed a lesser Servant, for the two kings it was merely a simple exchange, nothing serious. 

"Not of his own free will," Ozymandias replied, looking at Gilgamesh uninterestedly, "He only does what he must, and you follow him."

"Do you think that I, the king of kings, Gilgamesh the Great, follows anyone? Know your place, cur," Gilgamesh laughed an explosive laugh a moment later, but Ozymandias did not change his gaze or pose, forcing Gilgamesh to continue. 

"I see through any lies and truth, and my gaze sees all."

"All?" Ozymandias, however, only raised an eyebrow at these claims, forcing Gilgamesh to involuntarily twitch his cheek at the veiled and unspoken insult, true or not. 

Although calling Gilgamesh ‘all-seeing’ would not be too far from the truth, the question was what exactly ‘all-seeing’ means. Does it mean the ability to simultaneously see everything happening in the world? The ability to see all the outcomes of an event? Or is it knowledge of everything that ever happened in the history of the Earth? 

Different types of ‘all-seeing’ accounted for different variants of this possibility. 

Merlin had the ability to see everything existing and happening at the moment on Earth. Locked out of time in Avalon, the great magus looked at everything happening in the world simultaneously from all angles and points of view, as if observing an interesting TV show. An ability that reveals all secrets, but does not allow him to know all the possible outcomes and prerequisites of events. 

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, possessed a different kind of this ability, a different form of Clairvoyance.

Sha Naqba Imuru, one of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm, his all-seeing as the oldest hero of mankind, as all artifacts of all the sagas of all heroes came from his treasury, so do all stories go back to his legend. 

In other words, the Epic of Gilgamesh was a draft blueprint for all the legends of mankind, and therefore Gilgamesh, the hero of this epic, could trace the origin of any event back to his legendary adventures. A confluence of events, thanks to which Gilgamesh saw the ‘reason’ for any event and all possible outcomes of it.

However, even knowing the cause of any event, it was still not absolute omniscience. 

After all, if Gilgamesh did not have complete knowledge of everything happening in the world, even knowing what caused this or that event, did not mean that he could always and absolutely predict any event. In a game of chess there were millions of variants and combinations, but, with some small probability, the game could be ended by a meteorite suddenly falling to the ground and destroying the board. A negligible probability, sure, one that is not directly related to the chess game itself. 

Gilgamesh could watch a game of chess, seeing all the possible moves and outcomes of it, however, having the ability to concentrate only on that, Gilgamesh could not predict every possible future before him. And in the same way he could not, if he were focusing on one thing, always choose the future that would definitely become real. 

And therefore, despite being ‘all-seeing’, Gilgamesh was not ‘omniscient’, he was not ‘invincible’.

Therefore, Merlin, capable of seeing everything happening in the world, and Gilgamesh, capable of knowing the origins and outcomes of all events, were ultimately different from each other. They were neither omniscient, omnipotent, nor always correct in their judgments.

"And so you think that Merlin was wrong in his actions?" Gilgamesh, looking at the Tiamat problem, knew that any battle with her would destroy humanity completely… But this was only true if a number of conditions were met in this ‘battle’, if an unknown factor was added to the battle that Gilgamesh could not know about…

"No. At least, not intentionally," Ozymandias yawned a little, clearly bored by such a discussion of the fate of the world. "But even if Merlin sees the whole world at the same time, it does not mean that he sees every detail of it with absolute clarity at every moment of time."

"You're talking about the Master of Chaldea again?" Gilgamesh only at that moment realized that Ozymandias not only recognized Ainz as a worthy Master, an event so legendary that it could be considered impossible, but also mentioned him in a positive light twice already. 

"Hm, so that is your admiration for him?" It was so surprising that Gilgamesh blurted the question before thinking, after all for a King like Ozymandias to admire someone is…

"Admiration, hardly?" Ozymandias rolled his eyes, showing with all his appearance how inappropriate this word was for the thoughts of the pharaoh himself on the man known as Ainz. 

"Tell me, Gilgamesh, even if your plan turns out to be successful, its success rests on you personally, what happens to your kingdom afterward? Even if we imagine that you will leave a hundred of the most worthy of students, in the end they are just people, humans, in the end. Your successors will tear your kingdom apart, if not in a year, then in ten generations. But where before humanity picked up the bones of fallen civilizations, here, in this world, there will be no scavengers to feast on the fruits of your actions, your kingdom is a colossus on clay feet. It would not last."

To these words, Gilgamesh could only make the most disgusted grimace, snorting in the direction of Ozymandias, but he did not contradict him. If he saw the outcome of every event, then, of course, he also knew that such an outcome was coming for his kingdom. He saw it when he looked at his throne, and he saw it as he signed hundreds of reports before his eyes.

However, the problem was… That Gilgamesh had no better plan.

Even if he saw all the possible outcomes of an event and could choose the best of them, if all the outcomes led to a loss, then being able to choose how the ending would go, was worth nothing.

However, the disgusting mockery with which Ozymandias looked at him burned Gilgamesh's mind from the inside, forcing him to finally snap back, for the first time in a long time. "Don't forget your place, sunny boy."

"Hmm," Ozymandias, quite rightly judging that eliciting such a reaction from Gilgamesh could be considered his victory, only snorted arrogantly before rising from his seat. 

“You can pretend for as long as you like that no one has more power and strength than you, golden boy, but in the end the choice will be different. To be a king who disappeared on his own throne in obscurity, or a general who went to battle a great enemy under the command of another leader.” 

Ozymandias snorted again, amused at some kind of inside joke, then nodded to Gilgamesh. "The reports are endless, and the opportunities to reveal the legend of Gilgamesh for the last time are rare. What you will choose in the end is a question only for the mind of a great king, and for him alone."

With that last parting remark, Ozymandias left the room, leaving Gilgamesh alone with his reports to ponder on it.

And there was a lot to think about.