At the fall of dusk, Gilgamesh had his 30 underlings gather round to hear what he had to say.
“I’ve been looking around the slums. There’s nowhere that isn’t under the control of some faction. Soon, there will be wars over territory… and then raiding.”
He let the words sit with the pawns for a moment.
“But we are going to start before anyone else.” His tone grew subtly more ambitious. “During the day, we will bleed those customers in the gambling dens for their shards, and during the night we will plunder the other gangs around us for everything they have. Of course, you will all be granted a share of the spoils. You will be among the richest in the Trial.”
Gilgamesh saw the greed rise within them. Not all were foolish enough to trust his hollow words, but that did not matter. They were all here for personal gain.
[ Apple Thrower ] is eager for strife.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants to know if you'll buy snake golems later.
“Draw your weapons!” Gilgamesh ordered. “We start at once!”
Gilgamesh had already chosen a target beforehand; a smaller gang of approximately 20 members, none of whom were a threat. And the battle was indeed as one-sided as he expected.
First, he had a Boulder Ape charge through their camp to kill a few as it barreled straight on. With the petty gang distracted, his own underlings launched an ambush. His forces already outnumbered and outmatched the enemy. Adding the element of surprise and the enemy’s disorganization made the conflict trivial. Soon, the dozen or so survivors were captured and thrown before him.
“You have two choices.” Gilgamesh spoke with authority. “Join me or die.”
One of the captured thugs glanced at the alley which led to the bazaar, then made a break for it. Slight traces of mana flowed around him that filled his limbs with more speed than normal, but Heroine had already anticipated the event and shattered his skull with a single blow.
Gilgamesh stared back at the rest, who had fallen pale-faced and deathly silent. “Pick up your weapons and follow. We are going to fight again.”
---
Chaos and blood now stained the once mirthful streets of ill report. Gone were the women of the night who sold themselves to any passing fool. In their place was only violence.
Over 100 of Gilgamesh’s thugs invaded the territory of this major gang which made its money in prostitution, although ‘thugs’ was no longer a fitting label. They were all marauders now, driven mad by fear and greed and the thrill of dominance.
That was not to say they lacked direction, however. Gilgamesh had organized them into groups of five and instructed each squad to move and fight together. This simple tactic allowed them to dominate their disorganized enemies within an otherwise hectic fray.
He had absorbed enough petty gangs and now set his sights upon the major ones, those he believed to be the wealthiest and weakest.
As expected of a major gang, this one fought back harder than the petty alley mobs. But not well enough. Gilgamesh observed a part of the battle where his forces struggled and wielded his Stone Ape to break up the enemy’s ranks. At that opening, his pawns quickly took the advantage.
Just then, something else caught his eye over at the main two-story brothel. A long-haired middle-aged man rushed out of the front door, half-dressed with a life of crime chiseled into his expression.
“Kill him.” Gilgamesh told Heroine.
Heroine reluctantly charged. At the sight of the enemy cutting through the fray right towards him, the man summoned three lightly armored skeletons.
[ Skeleton Soldier - Monster (Iron Rank) ]
Each seemed stronger than the average hero was now and somewhat skilled, but they were not enough for the cautious woman who faced them. She blocked the sword of the first and shattered its skull in return.
As it crumbled to dust, she knocked the next one back with her shield and sidestepped the battle axe of the third as the weapon bit into the cobblestone street. Heroine broke its leg with a kick, but as it staggered down, the skeleton immediately struck again with no sense of pain or mind for threats to its existence. And Heroine shattered its skull too.
Panic found the gang leader's face and he summoned three more to attack at once. Heroine tensed. She rushed forward to kill the last remaining of the first batch, but her swing was off. What should have shattered the skeleton’s head only cracked its face, and the monster swung down its hammer.
Heroine’s body jolted to endure the strike with her shield, but her eyes flickered to the three new skeletons who were almost upon her. Her reflexes had worked against her, and now she was in a bad position.
She thought fast. Heroine pivoted around the damaged skeleton and knocked it into the others to create a path. And in that slight opening, she threw her mace. The man barely had time to widen his eyes before the metal crushed his head against the stone wall behind him. With his death, the skeletons broke apart and dispersed into the wind.
“Your leader is dead! Surrender or die! All who resist will be slaughtered!” Gilgamesh took the opportunity to crush the enemy’s morale and bring the fighting to an end.
With their leader’s death, the rest either fled or surrendered at once. Gilgamesh had all who were captured kneel in a group before him as his goons pillaged and looted everything of value from the battlefield.
He allowed his pawns to plunder weapons and armor for themselves freely, as he had little use for them and the feeling of material gain would keep his soldiers satisfied. But all shards were brought to him, without exception.
Heroine made sure to take the leader’s spatial bag before anyone else could get their hands on it, and gave it to him. Gilgamesh peered inside to find nearly 100 jadestones in just his bag alone. Raiding the major gangs had already proven to be extremely profitable.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“You will all become stronger! You will all become richer!” His voice boomed out. “Follow me, and plunder!”
Barbaric cheers roared out in response to his short speech, as was to be expected. Gilgamesh’s gang had never lost. It was only natural that as those foolish pawns saw the gang grow and gain with every fight, they would become blinded to the harsh reality that lay in store for them.
[ Lord of Slaughter ] delights in your method of war.
[ Raven Queen ] admonishes your reckless strategy.
[ Raven Queen ] praises your penchant for barbarism.
[ Raven Queen ] urges you to conquer the slums.
Gilgamesh glanced over at Heroine, whose eyes had become even drowsier. It had been nine days now since their partnership began, and she still had not slept. He did not know what her Vitality was, but it was clearly not enough and her combat prowess suffered for it.
“If that is her choice, then it makes things easier for me…” Gilgamesh thought, as he directed his focus to the newly captured.
“You have a choice. Place your head upon the floor and join me. Or die here.”
All of them quickly complied.
“Gather everything!” Gilgamesh ordered his pawns. “We’re returning to the base.”
Gilgamesh made vast and easy profits by raiding other gangs, but the gambling dens were still too profitable to relinquish. He would have his ever-growing gang rake in money from gamblers and plunder the profits of others in concert.
Under such an intensive strategy, there weren’t many hours left to rest. But Gilgamesh had no care for sustainability. He intended to run his pawns into the ground to squeeze every last jadestone from the slums that he could.
Gilgamesh turned to a few of his squad leaders. “Teach the new members how things work here, and get them in line-”
Heroine suddenly jolted away to just barely dodge an arrow in time. In the process, she inadvertently bumped into Gilgamesh, which knocked him out of the way of the second arrow that was meant for him. Floating Shield formed in front of them, which blocked the next two arrows cleanly.
“I couldn’t track the arrows through my golems…” Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed.
With the failed assassination as the catalyst, enemies rushed out from all at once to attack his gang from all sides. A force triple his current numbers at a glance.
“Kill the archer.” Gilgamesh ordered Heroine.
As soon as it seemed the archer’s focus was on her, he summoned a Salamander to breathe poison down at the outskirts of the enemy to even the odds as best he could.
But he was only able to afflict a few dozen before a barbarian man crashed down from above to smash his Clay Salamander into pieces.
The barbarian wore nothing more than a loincloth that only added to the sense of primal danger. He was an imposing figure. Long brown hair, olive skin, and a large build that swelled with muscles. Within his rugged appearance were eyes consumed by primitive violence.
The barbarian cracked the cobblestone beneath his feet as he burst towards Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh activated a Boulder Ape to bash the man away, but he simply burst straight back, again and again. His golem was stronger and his skill in wielding it superior to that of the mindless berserker, but no matter how Gilgamesh struck him, it did no damage.
“An Atreus!” Gilgamesh darted his eyes around the battle. “Is this an Atreus-backed gang?”
Alarm had overcome him for a moment, but it soon settled. He did not see anyone else who was indestructible. And so he turned his attention back to the unharmable berserker that was all alone.
“My Salamander’s poison only works by causing the organs to break down. It would be just as ineffective as a stone fist.” Gilgamesh thought.
None of his golems could damage the scions of Achilles. Not even his Bombers would inflict so much as a bruise. But that did not mean the Atreus were invincible. Gilgamesh knew of their weaknesses.
Gilgamesh broke down his Floating Shield and activated a second Boulder Ape. As the first fended off the Atreus berserker, Gilgamesh used his Snakecord Ring. Ropes with the appearance and mannerisms of snakes conjured out of thin air and raced towards their target. At Gilgamesh’s direction, they slithered around the berserker’s arms and bound them behind him.
He wielded the first Boulder Ape to grapple and hold the berserker down, as the second scraped out a handful of dirt and clamped it over the berserker’s face.
The berserker immediately flew into a deeper rage, thrashing with terrifying violence against his enemies. But he could not rival the strength of the Boulder Apes, and the rope shackles held against his struggles. The scion of Atreus thrashed with all his might, but it was to no avail. Eventually, the thrashing died down until it had stopped completely.
[ Cnut Atreus - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Strength - 31
Agility - 22
Vitality - 12
Perception - 13
Force - 5
Spirit - 7
Control - 9
Willpower - 8
Magic:
Frenzy lvl. 2 (bronze),
Traits:
Indestructible (sacred),
[ Frenzy ]
'Enters a state of elevated aggression and enhances physical Attributes.'
[ Indestructible ]
‘Immune to all physical damage.’
[ Master Golem Core has increased to level 3. Rewarded 5 Attribute Points. ]
[ Passive Meditator has increased to lvl. 2. Rewarded 2 Attribute Points. ]
[ Golem Peerer has increased to lvl. 2. Rewarded 2 Attribute Points. ]
Gilgamesh did not have to contemplate on the 9 Attributes Points he had just received, and allotted them at once.
[ Control: 29 -> 30 ]
[ Spirit: 26 -> 34 ]
[ Gilgamesh - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 2
Agility - 7
Vitality - 10
Perception - 7
Force - 3
Spirit - 34
Control - 30
Willpower - 14
Traits:
Incomplete Stigmata (???), Master Golem Core lvl. 3 (silver), Passive Meditator lvl. 2 (bronze), Golem Peerer lvl. 2 (bronze),
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 218/340
Unalloted Attribute Points: 0
A quick test with his two Stone Apes and the Forest Hand latched to his back proved his assumptions true. 30 Control enabled him to wield three at the same time without additional resistance, and that wielding was once again slightly more precise with Master Golem Core now at level 3.
He was in dire need of Perception, as had just been shown to him, but that was a risk he would just have to continue to bear. There was still Runeforging training to consider after this. He could not afford to spare points for any other Attribute than Spirit and Control.
Gilgamesh glanced back. Neither Heroine nor the enemy archer had returned, so he assumed they must still be fighting. “In which case, my priority is to deal with the grunts. I cannot afford to lose my pawns just yet.”
