Marsian's eyes were locked on Carl, trying to read him to no avail and then gave the order for their bodyguards to show themselves and find seating.

"You are not the same b-"

"No, amazing how much watching a monster pull your mother apart like a broken toy changes you." Carl's words elicited a reaction from a couple of the variants.

"We c-"

"Gonna stop you there Marsian, I can't be bothered to listen to excuses and I can tell by the white in your knuckles you weren't a great supporter of the plan, I appreciate that but I'd rather face the one that is."

As the variants all looked around at each other, Carl rushed to the table as his fist glowed with divinity and then he punched the crack and ripped open the space.

"How observant Carl." The voice was dominating, carrying a power that felt hot and oppressive, but Carl just took a couple of steps back to give him room to enter.

When the figure stepped out, Carl threw up a sight and sound blocking aura barrier so thick Tiamutael could only still see because he had an entirely unique manner of perception.

The individual was radiant, a visage of perfection not too dissimilar to Samael. He didn't have the same flawless, enrapturing wings and had an air more reminiscent of a legendary hero from human mythology.

A fiery halo hung above his head and he wore obsidian armour, trimmed with platinum and veined with something akin to malachite.

He carried a multitude of weapons with him, three sword hung from each hip, daggers protruded slightly from vambraces that looked like beetle shells.

Despite the weight all that equipment must have added up to, each step was void of any noise, even as the weapons should have clattered against the greaves of his armour.

"Margo himself would struggle to see through this."

"Impressive! Truly... I can't see through it at all... Nine stars meaningless in the face of one."

"Four, actually, toying with two crowns in Cocytus was a good learning experience." Carl transformed into his traitor's ice form and extended a hand to shake. "Think you can take it with no consequences? How's your conscience?"

"Hahaha! Heavier than I would like unfortunately."

"Fair enough... Tell you what, if even one of you can shake my hand without consequence I'll join you." Carl turned around, most couldn't even look at the two on the table. "...A pity. A real pity. Damn humans don't deserve a second chance if the ones leading are a bunch of traitors."

Carl noted that jupiterran was clenching his fists so tightly it drew blood from his palms.

"Well it seems we are unable to meet your challenge, I guess that makes the score two to zero. For what it's worth, we don't consider the business with the half-breed a victory."

"Half-breed?..."

"Sir. I think you should at least show her the respect of using her name." Marsian said with almost unnatural nervousness.

"Come now, Marsian. Such bashful anxiety is unbefitting of you. Carl, apologies, Leanne."

"It's Leanna, the only names not worth knowing here is the people who are trying to "restore" humanity, like they aren't the damn reason it needs it."

"Worth knowing or not, mine is Gigamesh."

"Gilgamesh? Not named after the planets like the others?"

"Why would I be? Everyone already knows my story, it is older than most civilisations in history ever survived to become."

"Well, hate to tell you, humans have forgotten you completely. I definitely never heard it."

"Of course not, I banned it. It is the tale of me seeking my immortality after the death of my otherworlder friend. Since we have some time thanks to you, why don't I give you the honour of being the first to hear it in more than a thousand years?"

"Sure, might give me some inspiration for your tombstone." Gilgamesh chuckled, then coughed as his throat began to feel dry and prickly, he also twitched at the threat as he was stricken by an inexplicable sense that the threat carried weight.

"Well then, why don't we treat it as an occasion?" He was clearly trying to hold back a coughing fit as he walked off of the table and produced an array of refreshments.

Carl jumped off after him, then looked at the table and how it didn't respond to either of their jumps, when at their stats they should have shattered wood.

"Yggdrasil wood, you'd need to use nine-digit stats to mark it."

"Really? Mind if I take a slither?"

Gilgamesh laughed at what he assumed was an empty request and gestured for Carl to try as he parched his sudden thirst. Carl retrieved his hilt and mentally activated neo synthesis to merge a piece of the table with it.

"Great, now I can use Yggdrasil wood whenever, thanks... Anyway, my generation are easily distracted, you should tell your story while I'm still interested."

"At least you know the word thank you, though it seems to be the only manner of manners you know."

"I know all manner of manners, just reserving them for those deserving them. You delightful bunch of lovable scamps..." Carl cracked his neck and tried to calm himself.

"Inversion is it? Unnatural power and inversion... A dangerous combination." Neptuna said with a tone of surprise. "Gilgamesh, this just goes to show, he has been calm until now and it may be prudent not to exasperate his condition."

"I happen to agree, the last time someone like him grew impatient, reality was shattered." Gilgamesh took one last brief moment to try and get an accurate read of Carl and the situation.

When he drew a blank for the tenth time since he stepped through just a moment ago, he launched into the story.

---History of Gilgamesh---

Born in the year 2949 BC, Gilgamesh was the son of the king of Uruk, called Inanna-utu; a gracious king of fair rule who raised the city to prosperity and wisdom, widely considered to be a demigod born of Inanna's coupling with a human.

The truth of the matter was that he was a demigod, but not the son of Inanna, but an unknown goddess his father insulted.

As vengeance, she pretended to be the beloved goddess of fertility and seduced him, giving him a son before "dying". She then waited to ensnare the king's soul when he passed, so that he could watch as his son brought a cursed child into the world.

She had made the curse skip a generation, only so the goddess she impersonated didn't intervene and so his son could bring the city to its peak, before his grandson delivered annihilation unto it.

What she didn't expect, is that another goddess would involve herself in the affairs of Uruk. The god of justice had seen the great deeds of Inanna-utu and pleased by his just nature and tempered rule, blessed him with a son before departing.

The result was a cursed child, more god than man...

Terrified by what would happen if any of the elder gods discovered what she had done, she abandoned her vengeance and mortal affairs entirely. Many asked her why, but she simply said she was bored of the deviant species.

The child however continued to exist. For the first two decades he was seen as a normal, albeit introverted child, but no one knew that the reason he was introverted was because he found the mortals around him entirely repugnant.

It was on his twentieth birthday when his divinity was put on display...

In the dead of night, the darkness around the city spawned dozens of living shadows. Each ten metres tall and hungry to drag the mortals inside back to their realm of absolute darkness.

Gilgamesh saw them from the ramparts near his personal rooms, far from the creatures invading.

"Incredible! Truly incredible creatures, at last!"

He ran along the city walls, desperate to get closer to the first things he'd deemed worthy of attention. That desperation was the catalyst and his super-human physical ability emerged mid-step and as his foot landed, he launched himself toward and into one of the shadows.

As he collided with the mass of living darkness, a fiery halo ignited above his head and golden sparks flew from him in a way that made the horror recoil in pain.

The other shadows all looked at the mortal falling from the point of impact and the one he struck grabbed and inspected him with impossible to read curiosity.

After a brief moment it righted him and then placed him on the ramparts respectfully before they all retreated.

Gilgamesh reached out and yelled "Don't leave! Return to me!"

The spectators watched in awe. To their eyes, they saw their prince single-handedly drive off the darkness like the personification of the word hero. Not only that, but he then tried to call them back so they couldn't return later.

"HAIL HERO-PRINCE GILGAMESH!" A soldier next to him cheered and worked everyone into a repetitive cheer of reverence.

---Back in the present time---

"This story's absolutely inspiringly enthralling! please continue! I simply can't see what will happen next." Carl suddenly said, inversion sinking it's claws in and catching the variants off-guard.

"I think we are past the point where communication is possible." Gilgamesh sighed as he looked at the barrier.

"Oh no! I'd just love to stay! My time is spent so thoroughly well here!" Carl stood and produced several cards he had prepared in his downtime from his armlet.

Showing one that said "Thank you" to Jupiterran, then one that said "one week" to Gilgamesh, who narrowed his eyes

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