185 Business
Whoosh!!
On the other side of the forest.
"Argh… damn it!!"
Amid the dense trees, Kingu—his body in tatters—limped forward desperately, glancing back every so often, terrified something might be pursuing him.
No sound. No pursuers. The ground didn't tremble with footsteps. Could it be… the sky?!
A sharp rustling came from above. Kingu jerked his head up, warily scanning the heavens, but after a long stare, he saw only a few startled birds fleeing his presence.
The earth still offered no signs of pursuit, no trace of enemies. That meant…
They really weren't chasing him?!
Kingu couldn't believe no Servants had followed to finish him off.
Yet his feet didn't slow, still racing toward the Blood Fort Andromeda with all his might.
Even if he feared a trap ahead, his current state left no room to linger.
His body had taken too much damage this time. To escape, he'd detonated much of the Chains of Heaven. Such injuries couldn't heal naturally—if he didn't reach the Blood Fort Andromeda soon to mend himself, this vessel might truly be ruined.
Clinging to his dwindling strength and last breath, Kingu kept the Grail—his mana core—ready. If cornered with no escape, he'd detonate it, taking his foes down with him to clear the path ahead.
Though trading his life for a few Servants or humans wasn't worth it, for his mother's revival, Kingu wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself.
Under this dual strain of agony and tension, he crept cautiously through a forest he'd traversed countless times.
Normally, a light step would've carried him to the Blood Fort Andromeda in an instant. Now, a mere two kilometers felt endlessly far.
Time ticked by, the distance shrinking.
Yet nothing happened—an eerie calm.
The closer he got to the Blood Fort Andromeda, the more unease gnawed at Kingu.
Paranoia gripped him. Behind every tree or rock, he imagined Roy had laid an ambush, prompting cautious checks.
Once proud and haughty, he now resembled a cornered human—jumpy, startled by every rustle or gust.
But… nothing occurred the whole way.
This uncanny stillness baffled him.
He couldn't fathom why they'd let such a golden opportunity slip—neither pursuing his crippled form nor setting traps on his route back.
They'd just let him go? Impossible!
Yet there it was, less than two kilometers away—the Blood Fort Andromeda's outline, visible to the naked eye.
The forest thinned, giving way to a cave: the beast lair, the Blood Fort Andromeda.
The scene screamed one truth.
He'd escaped certain doom.
Great, fantastic, incredible.
Elation surged within Kingu, uncontainable.
They must've feared losses, dreading he'd detonate the Grail and Chains of Heaven in a mutual destruction. That's why no one chased.
A stretch, perhaps, but it was the only explanation that fit.
"Hahaha!! Worthy of humans, the vilest race, failures abandoned by Mother! To survive, they'd stoop to such absurdity!!"
Imagining their hesitation splitting them apart, Kingu roared with laughter, reveling in mocking their cowardice.
Laughing, he staggered toward the tantalizingly close Blood Fort Andromeda.
Reach it, and he'd be saved.
Once inside, no one—not even pursuers—could kill him.
"Master of Chaldea, just you wait. This isn't over. Once I recover, I'll—"
The Blood Fort Andromeda loomed nearer. A few more steps, and he'd be there. Then, his vision flashed white. The solid ground beneath him buckled, his momentum unstoppable, and he crashed into it.
Thud!!
A dull impact. Mud filled his mouth, jagged stones tore at his already broken body.
What happened? What happened? What the hell happened?
Questions flooded Kingu's mind.
The ground hadn't risen—he'd collapsed, a mere hundred meters from the Blood Fort Andromeda…
How?!
The earth had signaled no ambush, no pursuit.
Where had this sudden attack come from?!
Whoosh!!
A golden-haired Servant materialized, leaping down from a high branch, his left hand gripping a strange, steaming pistol.
The Chains of Heaven couldn't pierce his disguise. Unless he chose to reveal himself, not even Quetzalcoatl could find him.
"What, my aim's pretty spot-on, isn't it?"
Indeed, Kingu's chest had been pierced by a shot from his custom firearm, collapsing him powerless to the ground.
Per Roy's orders, Tezcatlipoca had waited near the temple to finish this hunt.
Though Roy had warned him not to use modern guns for the kill—urging him to rely on the skills he'd used against Quetzalcoatl, ensuring Kingu's defeat and the retrieval of his body and Grail—this was a blatant distrust of his marksmanship!
Sure, his aim was a bit hit-or-miss, but it worked sometimes, right?
And with a prime target like Kingu, how could he resist?
Turning a divine construct into a moving bullseye wasn't an everyday chance. So, he'd taken the shot when Kingu wasn't looking.
Luckily, Kingu had moved in a straight line. Setting a precalculated point made it easy to hit.
The closer a target got to safety, the more their guard dropped—perfect for a sneak attack.
He'd been ready to storm the Blood Fort Andromeda if he missed, though.
Seeing his prey fall, Tezcatlipoca jumped down, swiftly approaching.
Crouching, he peered at the barely-breathing Kingu sprawled before him, a mocking smirk tugging at his lips.
"So this is the body of a Mesopotamian divine construct? Surprisingly fragile."
"But since you're about to kick it, here's a simple lesson—though you won't live to use it."
"Never let your guard down till you've truly reached your goal, or victory slips further away."
A basic truth, yet it became Kingu's final words.
He couldn't speak, couldn't resist, lacked even the strength to detonate the Grail—a lamb to the slaughter.
Like the humans he'd once butchered: weak, helpless.
Tezcatlipoca's bullet wasn't ordinary—it was specially crafted. Even divine constructs couldn't heal quickly from its wounds.
With that, he lost interest in chatting with his quarry.
Time to wrap up Roy's job, quick and clean.
He bent down, raised his arm, and drove it into Kingu's back.
Crack!!
A sharp sound, like shattering porcelain, rang out as his hand plunged in. Kingu's eyes widened, his last spark of life fading the moment Tezcatlipoca yanked out the Grail.
The Chains of Heaven—Enkidu's body—became an empty husk once more, lying still before Tezcatlipoca.
"Oh, this is the Grail? A mana core packed with power—neat trick, but useless to me. I'll hand it to the Master and trade it for some vehicles from their era."
Toying with the Grail briefly, Tezcatlipoca tucked it away with a shrug.
Compared to this pointless trinket, swapping it for modern guns or rides sounded way more fun.
"Hm?"
Sensing an odd presence, he glanced at the looming Blood Fort Andromeda, raising a brow.
Then, just before a massive shadow emerged from within, he slung Enkidu's body over his shoulder, turned into faint smoke, and vanished.
No point facing that thing head-on.
His Master's task was done—he didn't do extra work.
He hated pointless effort. Compared to the fake Chains he'd just killed, that monster inside was just a bigger pawn.
Taking it out might spark some nasty ripple effects.
It wasn't time to deal with that beast yet—better left to the Master and crew.
If they insisted he handle it, he wouldn't say no… for the right price.
Business was business—fair and square.
He did what he was paid for, nothing more, nothing less.
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