The Tablet of Destinies
To the foolish King of Gods, Kalam, Ashur, and Nanaya were not his great-grandchildren — they were the offspring of that foreign species called Sunya.
Enlil now felt not mere jealousy toward Sunya, but a genuine threat.
Even he himself did not know why.
Are you just going to sit here and do nothing? Do you not realize how much of a threat that one is to you?
Was it only his imagination?
For some time now, someone seemed to keep whispering to him.
Look at those foolish humans. Do they not eagerly follow the teachings of some nameless god of unknown origin?
"Shut up."
Though humans still worship the gods, it is mere inertia. The others may know and look the other way, but it is an undeniable fact that faith in the gods has diminished because of that one's teachings.
"Be silent."
And now his children keep expanding their influence as well.
"Enough already…"
You sense it instinctively, do you not? His influence over humans and gods alike surpasses even Enki's. Far more suited to the throne of king than the likes of you…
Enlil slammed his fist down on the armrest of his throne and roared.
Enki and Ninhursag, who were nearby, looked at Enlil with bewildered eyes as he suddenly unleashed his Word of Command.
Feeling their gazes, he roughly turned and fled the scene.
"Are you all right?"
While he was alone in an empty garden trying to compose himself, Ninlil approached with concern.
"…I'm fine. I've just been a bit on edge lately."
"Losing the Tablet of Destinies was not your fault."
She seemed to think her husband felt responsibility and shame over having lost the tablet.
"I'm sorry. I suppose I have been rather irritable of late."
"It's all right."
Ninlil took Enlil's hand.
"I am always on your side."
"…"
Looking at Ninlil's face, Enlil felt his heart ease somewhat.
But even so, the inferiority and envy rooted deep in his heart did not disappear.
And those negative emotions would soon lead him to make a terrible choice.
Enki's joy was short-lived. Unfortunately, among the beasts, they failed to stop Kusarikku, Mushmahhe, and Umu Dabrutu, and the tide of battle turned.
Though Nergal succeeded in repelling Bashmu, the fall of Eridu could not be avoided.
The number of monsters led by the beasts exceeded a hundred thousand.
If they failed to stop Kulullu as well, the ranks of corpse-monsters made from human dead would only swell further.
"No matter how I look at it, the answer's the same."
Gibil scratched her forehead with the handle of her hammer — a habit she fell into whenever she was anxious.
Unlike her lanky older siblings, Gibil, daughter of Inanna, more closely resembled her great-grandmother Ninhursag in many ways. She was a bit short, but her chest and hips were well developed, so to speak.
Quite apart from her appearance, her personality was easygoing, and having been born with divinity related to fire and iron, people regarded her as a blacksmith goddess. Moreover, remarkably, among all her siblings she possessed the greatest talent for commanding troops, and so she was the last to take charge of a force representing the gods against the beasts.
"It's impossible. We can't take down the beasts with just us."
Gibil was quick to judge. She concluded that no matter how hard she tried, she could not stop the beast horde.
In particular, her compatibility with the beast called Kulullu was especially poor.
Originally, Kulullu — with the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower half and tail of a fish — moved among the corpse-monsters with a rotting body, much like her sister Girtablilu. But what set it apart from the other beasts was that it was traveling rapidly along the Idigna River together with fish-monsters. That made it even harder to intercept than the others.
"Looks like we'll need to call for support."
"But Lady Gibil, the others don't have any room to spare right now either…"
"I don't need help from the other gods. I've got a force of my own I know about."
"What do you mean…"
Could there really be a force Enki didn't know about? The curious adjutant soon learned who Gibil meant.
"It has been a long time, Lady Gibil."
"Been a while, Elder. Given the situation, I figure I'm gonna need you."
Leaving her flustered adjutant behind, Gibil continued speaking with Adapa.
"The beast called Kulullu seems to be targeting Ku'ar. The city's a bit away from the river, but it can raise the water level enough to flood the place."
"I can guess why you called me. Aside from my father Enki, there is no one among gods or men who can move as swiftly and freely underwater as I can."
"That's right. Elder, I just need you to snipe Kulullu."
"Haha, you ask quite a difficult favor of an old man."
"I know you're still in fine shape. Quit the act. All you need to do is stab the core in Kulullu's chest with this spear I made."
Gibil explained. Upon close inspection of Kulullu, a red core resembling a heart was visible through the gaps in its rotting chest. If he drove her specially made explosive spear into it, a beast that was nothing more than a moving corpse would be killed in a single blow.
"Can you do it?"
"When a goddess gives the order, what can a powerless old man do? If she says jump, I jump."
And so the plan was hastily put together.
Gibil led her troops and flew above the river branch where Kulullu was approaching.
"I hate to say this, but… is it really right to rely on a mere demigod?"
"Elder Adapa is no mere demigod. I hate to say this, but he's far stronger than most lesser gods."
"Pardon?"
"You'll see. For now, just follow my orders."
Gibil soothed her adjutant as best she could and prepared to meet the beast.
She summoned hammers into the air and hurled them, while the other soldiers threw iron harpoons. Ordinarily all of them should have struck Kulullu's massive body, but Kulullu raised the water's surface far higher than the ground and deflected the trajectories of the harpoons and hammers diving into the water. In the end, aside from a handful of lesser monsters, they achieved almost nothing.
But they had managed to divert its attention, if only briefly.
In that instant, Adapa thrust his spear in a surprise attack and charged toward Kulullu. Monsters blocked Adapa's path, but in a flash a colossal serpent's form took shape around him.
"What is that?"
The soldiers were stunned. To their eyes, the phenomenon Adapa had just produced resembled the Authority wielded by the gods. Even with low divinity, they were still gods, and so they could tell.
The serpent tore through the blocking monsters in an instant and arrived before Kulullu, and Adapa within it was able to drive Gibil's explosive spear into the gap in Kulullu's chest.
KWAANG!
An explosion erupted, and a massive pillar of water shot skyward. At the same time, Adapa's body was flung away.
The soldiers tried to catch him, but there was no need. Adapa stepped on empty air as if he were a god himself, quickly regained his balance, and landed naturally on the ground.
"What on earth…?"
"It's something like magic. More importantly, don't we have work to do?"
Fortunately, the monsters lacked the power to raise the water's surface. Following their instincts, they walked onto land to slaughter the nearest groups of people.
"Even on land they're fast, so we have to stop them ourselves before they reach the humans. Anyone killed by them becomes the same kind of monster."
And so the soldiers, under Gibil's guidance, descended to the ground and stood against the monsters. Of course, some provided covering fire with arrows from the rear.
But the monsters still numbered so many that even the soldiers struggled to hold them back. Unfortunately, Gibil had no powerful area attacks like the greater gods — she could only drop a few hammers.
"Everyone, aid the gods and stop the monsters!"
Just then, the humans Adapa had brought appeared nearby.
"Have you lost your minds? We went to all that trouble to evacuate you — what are you doing?"
The adjutant was about to scold them when Gibil stopped him.
"Leave them be. They'll be plenty of help."
"What? How could mere humans be of any help? Won't they just swell the enemy's numbers?"
"They're not ordinary humans. They're the ones my father trained. They'll do their part just fine."
Indeed, Gibil was right.
Hundreds of humans moved more nimbly than most demigods, stabbing and slashing the monsters with spears and swords. They could not be called a major force, but they were certainly a meaningful help to the gods.
Steadily reducing the monsters' numbers, they finally annihilated every last creature Kulullu had led.
"This actually worked?"
"Well? Humans are pretty reliable, aren't they?"
Gibil's shoulders rose with pride. Seeing those her father had trained actually shine on the battlefield filled her with overflowing pride.
It was an unprecedented event — not gods helping humans, but humans helping the gods.