The God of Humanity
In the blink of an eye, Sunya arrived at Enlil's palace.
—Boom
He crashed down hard upon the clouds, and the impact sent a tremor rolling outward. Through the power of An, the clouds were no longer a mere gathering of water droplets but something solid, something almost like firm ground — which was precisely why buildings could stand atop the sky in the first place.
"Why…"
Sunya opened his mouth. His voice was sharp and cold, nothing like the Sunya they had known.
"Why the hell did you do it?"
No one present managed an immediate answer. Most of the gods simply froze where they stood. Even setting aside the overwhelming divinity pouring off him, the suffocating killing intent was something they had never experienced in their lives.
Enlil was no exception. He swallowed dryly without meaning to. He ought to have used his Command Word right then and there to punish this insolent wretch — yet somehow his mouth would not open.
"Who orchestrated this flood?"
"Stop it, Sunya. None of us wanted this."
Only Enki stepped forward. He was determined to prevent the worst outcome by any means necessary — the same role he had always played.
"Why did they have to die? Just because they insulted you? Because they were arrogant? Was there even a rational reason to slaughter that many humans?"
Sunya was so furious he had abandoned even the polite register he always used. The other gods, too, grieved and suffered over the deaths of humanity — but Sunya's rage was of an entirely different order.
Why was he this angry?
Sensing Sunya's divinity, Enki could roughly guess the reason. Until now Sunya had concealed his divinity so thoroughly that it registered only at the level of a lesser god. But now, stirred by emotion, his true divinity was pouring out unrestrained.
At last Enki and the gods of Kienkingir understood what Sunya's divinity truly was.
Struggle. Affliction. Liberation. Discipline. Martial arts…
As Enki recognized each element that composed Sunya's divinity, the realization struck him.
Sunya was the god of humanity.
More precisely, he was the god of human nature — the quality that distinguished people from everything else.
Knowing that, it was no wonder he reacted so violently to the deaths of human beings. Of course, the deepest root of Sunya's reaction was a trauma of his own — but that was something Enki could not have known.
"Please, calm yourself. I will say it again: none of us wanted this Great Flood."
"Even if none of you wanted it, the fact that the flood still happened means either a majority approved — or someone of high enough rank forced his will through and ignored every objection."
For a man who looked ready to lose all reason, his mind was working with startling clarity. Sunya swept his gaze across the assembly. Most wore tear-streaked or stricken faces. Only Enlil, seated upon his throne, wore an expression tangled with a dozen conflicting emotions.
Reading the situation from their faces alone was not difficult. Gods were clumsy at hiding what they felt — and Sunya had always been sharper than most at reading people.
"So it was you after all, Enlil."
"…!"
Sunya began walking slowly toward Enlil. With every step, the killing intent thickened.
This was dangerous. Somehow, Sunya had to be stopped here. Everyone thought so — everyone except his wife Inanna and their children.
"That's far enough."
Nergal came up from behind and set the blade of his sickle against Sunya's throat.
"Come no closer to the King of Gods."
"…"
"I don't want to cut you down, Sunya."
Nergal was the god of death and plague — as warlike as Inanna, and as dutiful as Ninurta. He had always regarded Sunya favorably. They had never spoken at great length, but he had once sought Sunya's counsel on a private trouble, and more than once he had received help of one kind or another. Beyond that, Sunya possessed a certain charm of character that made him hard to dislike. Honestly, Nergal had no desire to make an enemy of him if he could help it.
"I can't claim to fully understand your rage. Even so, killing Enlil is—"
Nergal never finished the sentence. Sunya's fist was already filling his vision.
The punch arrived faster than sound. Nergal crossed both sickles in a desperate block.
—KRAANG!
Nergal was blasted clean through the palace roof and sent flying so far he vanished from sight. Sunya paid it no mind. Having cleared the obstacle, he simply kept walking.
"Kh—!"
Utu stepped into Sunya's path almost on pure reflex. He forced himself forward on trembling legs — but Sunya merely sidestepped him as if he weren't there.
"W-wait—"
Utu caught Sunya's shoulder. In the next instant he was hurled to the floor, driven into the stone up to his waist. Being a god, he would not die from something so minor — but he no longer moved. He had clearly been knocked unconscious.
"Stop."
This time it was Ninurta who appeared. Ishkur hesitated, half-ready to join him, but Ashur caught his shoulder and shook his head.
"I know what my father did was wrong," Ninurta said. "But even so, I cannot stand by and let you harm him."
Sunya gave no answer. He simply kicked. Ninurta raised Sharur to block.
[Aaaagh!!]
The self-aware mace Sharur screamed. Ninurta was driven back a considerable distance and barely managed to stay on his feet.
What kind of strength is this…?
At the same time, he understood: he could not stop Sunya alone. Ninurta glanced around. Most of the gods present were unaccustomed to this kind of brawling combat. Inanna was stronger than he was, but she was Sunya's wife, and she showed not the slightest intention of intervening. The soldiers of Igigi, no matter how numerous, meant nothing. Even now they were pouring in from behind — and with a single sweep of Sunya's arm they went tumbling away like fallen leaves.
—Tatatatata
Footsteps. Nergal, who had somehow streaked back in an instant, was already swinging his sickle at Sunya. Sunya slipped the attack with ease and prepared to throw another punch — then Nergal vanished from his sight entirely. Presence, sound, scent — every trace of him disappeared as if he had never existed.
It was Nergal's power. His divinity was invisible death — plague, the scorching heat of the sun — and so concealment was not something he layered over his divinity, but a property woven into the divinity itself.
—Kagak! Kak! Kak!!
Nergal raked his sickle across Sunya in a continuous flurry. The forms were brilliant and fluid, and the death-god's blade was powerful enough to cleave an entire section of the palace — yet it could not pierce Sunya's skin.
Hard.
Faster. More. Harder. Nergal moved from every direction, putting his full weight and acceleration into every cut and every strike. Sparks flew from Sunya's body. Not a single wound opened.
—Sssssss
Then Nergal's sickle glowed red-hot. This time a slash charged with searing heat crashed down on Sunya. Flames erupted along the path of the blade. At last he managed to leave a scratch on Sunya's forearm no deeper than a cat's claw.
The important thing is that I drew blood. If I can just stop his movement like this—
—Thud
Nergal's thoughts cut off mid-stream. Sunya's fist slammed into his gut.
How…?
He was invisible. He gave off no presence. How had the punch landed with such perfect accuracy?
As the blow connected, Nergal was certain: this was no luck. Sunya had known exactly where he was and swung with full intent.
Sunya's follow-up punch was already rising when Ninurta poured a rain of arrows between them. Flaming shafts split into hundreds and crashed down on Sunya. An explosion rocked the palace. Sunya neither dodged nor took any real damage — but it bought Nergal a moment to fall back.
"We can't do this alone," Ninurta said, landing beside him. "We have to combine our strength and hold him somehow."
He proposed a joint assault.
"I… know."
"Nergal?"
—Thud
Nergal dropped to one knee. Then he spat blood.
"I can't… move."
"What is this—"
A single clean hit, and the god of death had been completely neutralized. The god of the hunt, startled into hesitation, made a fatal mistake — and a vast palm of light slammed down over him. The hand that shoved Ninurta back punched straight through the palace wall and hurled him far into the distance. That single blow ended his ability to continue the fight.
It had all happened in the span of a breath.