23 Live or Die

The scene before Gilgamesh filled him with disgust, but there was nothing more to it. In life, if one didn't learn to control their emotions and let them control you, they could cause harm to others as well as to themselves.

For Gilgamesh, someone so powerful in the world, what would be the result of his anger? Would it be a good outcome if the perpetrator were to die? Yet this could easily be happening in other noble families. Considering this, he could only blame the parents of these affected individuals.

It might not entirely be the fault of the parents, and these girls may not have parents or families who cherish them as treasures, but there were so many ways to escape that it was unthinkable to end up living in this hell.

Gilgamesh would have tried to get out of this place until the nails on his fingers broke, waiting for the moment to sink his teeth into the neck of the first person who stood in his way. And if he didn't have the strength to do that, biting his own tongue would be enough to win this battle of torture.

It wasn't something that represented him now, and it never had. Most likely, he would wait for the moment to take his revenge while enduring all the damage to his body. But since the affected ones were not him, they might have opted for those outcomes worthy of their lives.

Descending the stairs, all those cells where girls with scanty clothing and dirty faces were held, saw a figure in parts of golden armor. They all thought it was a noble coming to take them according to their preferences, but no one expected him to be so young.

"That place is a mess..." Gilgamesh shook his head and sighed. Seeing a group of keys on the wall, he took them and said, "Release all the prisoners, remove their chains, and have everyone stand in front of me. Those who can't move, have others drag them, as quickly as possible."

"Yes..." With a submissive voice, one of the girls took the keys with trembling hands and began to unlock the doors of each cell.

One by one, each of the imprisoned girls in this place stood before Gilgamesh, and no one could look him in the eyes out of fear. However, there was one girl who seemed unafraid and dared to stare at him.

"What are you going to do to us?" A young woman with golden hair looked Gilgamesh in the eyes.

Gilgamesh raised his eyebrows in surprise, then smiled and said, "Now that you're all gathered here, I'll give you two paths to choose from going forward. Either become my property or die in this place."

They all shivered upon hearing his words, each interpreting what Gilgamesh meant differently. However, compared to Darius, this young man seemed like a better option.

Gilgamesh understood what they were all thinking, so he said, "Don't misunderstand me. Just now, I killed everyone in this mansion. You're the only ones left alive, and I want to get out of here without being discovered."

To be honest, he didn't care about being discovered by certain people. All he didn't want was to be bothered and have to continue cleaning up the mess in this kingdom without stopping. Now, he could possibly leave this place without being discovered, but if anyone here survived, the outcome might not be the same.

When Gilgamesh voiced his words, he didn't require the bodies of the girls in this place or anything of the sort. What he was looking for was people to be under his ownership, useful in any aspect of his life, and in return, he would give them a better life.

Upon closer consideration, all the girls here would have died if it weren't for his intervention. By giving each of them a new life, he was not only fulfilling the request of the woman who had tried to assassinate him tonight but also gaining better cards.

He didn't plan anything grand; he just wanted to keep his surroundings clean of trash and not have to personally get involved in every problem life threw at him.

Sooner or later, he would have more subordinates who chose to follow him by their own free will, but for now, this was the only way out these girls had ahead of them.

"Are all of you deaf?"

They all felt a chill run down their spines. Then, with the moonlight filtering through the small windows in the walls, they saw the blood still dripping from Gilgamesh's hair and realized that he didn't even have red hair but golden.

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Gilgamesh Asura, the fourth prince in the line of succession of this filthy kingdom, and the strongest man in the world whom you will have the honor of meeting. Now choose, end your path here, or decide to follow me and see the light of a new day."

Gilgamesh smiled, then added, "I know what concerns you, but you have my word that nothing in this kingdom will be able to touch the things that belong to me. I will kill anyone who tries to be my enemy, so make your choice."

Not wanting to waste any more time in this dark place, Gilgamesh waved his hand, and a massive golden ripple appeared in the large basement. From it emerged a kind of ark with a throne at its center.

None of them had imagined something like this, none of them believed that this thing could get them out of this place. But Gilgamesh, with the aura of a ruler, acted as if this action was natural and said, "Those who want to leave, get on, hold on to whatever you can, and let's get out of this place."

With lingering uncertainty in their movements, the girl who seemed more intelligent than the others began to help those who hesitated. She gave everyone the chance to trust, and one by one, they sat beside the throne.

Gilgamesh smiled slightly as the twelve girls, women, and teenagers who had been imprisoned in this place climbed aboard. After all, none of them had endured this hellish existence to die, so they decided to place their trust in him, and they all settled onto the magical throne.

"Hold on to your lives and don't fall off; we'll fly as slowly as possible," Gilgamesh said as the last girl boarded and sat at his feet.

This throne of Gilgamesh was a golden and emerald-colored ark, one of his numerous high-tech Noble Phantasms from Hindu mythology that would make even technologically advanced countries seem insignificant.

This ark was powered by a solar crystal, rutilated quartz crystals, which burned mercury as fuel. It defied the laws of physics, traveling at the speed of thought, and could easily surpass speeds that no other aircraft or person could achieve.

It had a pilot's seat that could be removed in emergencies, and a control column, unused due to interference with the operation of the Gate of Babylon, placed directly in front.

"This won't work..." Gilgamesh noticed that the grasp of the enslaved girls was weak, so he conjured a golden ripple, and his chain, Enkidu, wrapped around the bodies of all the girls.

After that, the ark was controlled from the throne where Gilgamesh sat, and a magical shield condensed around the central area. In the next moment, two swords from the golden ripples caused a powerful explosion that destroyed half of Darius's mansion. Then, the ark shot off at speeds never before seen in this world.

Only a golden comet suddenly streaked across the sky, eventually disappearing from everyone's sight, leaving behind Darius's mansion in ruins and dozens of corpses scattered everywhere.

...