“Marriage?!
With Lady Ereshkigal, the ruler of the Land of the Dead?!”
The entire grand hall seemed to freeze in time.
The clay tablet in Siduri’s hands fell to the floor with a sharp clatter, but the usually meticulously composed chief advisor had no time to care about decorum.
Her mouth hung open in sheer shock, her gaze fixed blankly on her king.
After a brief, stunned silence, the news seemed to sprout wings, spreading through the entire city-state at a terrifying speed.
The citizens’ reactions underwent a strange evolution—shifting from utter bewilderment to a sudden realization, and finally to ecstatic, fervent adoration.
After all, in everyone’s collective understanding, Ereshkigal was the mistress of the underworld who governed death and inspired instinctive dread.
Yet, their king—who normally paid no attention to women and spent his days looking for monsters to brawl with—had quietly and completely charmed that legendary, unapproachable goddess of the underworld!
What a monumental achievement!
This was far more impressive than going solo to defeat the guardian of the Cedar Forest!
As expected of their omnipotent Great King Gilgamesh!
Thanks to this perfectly reasonable layering of filters, the citizens’ reverence for Li Xiang instantly broke through the heavens.
How could anyone possibly be this badass?
Along with praises for the king, private whispers naturally began to circulate through the streets and alleys.
After all, just a few days ago, Ishtar, the Goddess of Venus, had proposed to him only to be publicly rejected, a spectacle witnessed by all.
The citizens’ logic was remarkably simple: the Great King didn’t choose the glamorous, high-and-mighty Lady Ishtar who lived above, but instead chose Lady Ereshkigal who lived deep underground.
What did that prove?
It either meant the Great King’s judgment was flawed, or it meant Lady Ishtar simply couldn’t measure up to Lady Ereshkigal in certain aspects!
And obviously, their invincible king’s judgment could never be wrong.
Therefore, through the process of elimination, the conclusion was clear—Ishtar was a flop, and Lady Ereshkigal was the goat!
Such popular gossip naturally could not escape the sharp perceptions of the gods.
When these private discussions reached the heavens, Ishtar—who was already completely humiliated from her defeat—felt her resentment toward Li Xiang soar to an unprecedented peak.
Furious, she smashed everything in sight within her temple, even trying to rush back to Anu’s throne to beg for a more terrifying divine punishment.
But clearly, this time, it was absolutely impossible for her to borrow a divine cheat-code like the Bull of Heaven again.
Setting aside the fact that Enkidu and Humbaba had already teamed up to beat the Bull of Heaven into a definitive defeat, even the King of the Gods, Anu, no matter how much he doted on his daughter, could not indulge her in opening a “New Game Plus” revenge arc when she was entirely in the wrong and had already been thoroughly crushed in a head-on battle.
If she continued to throw such spoiled tantrums, would King Anu himself have to step down to deal with a human king?
What would happen to the dignity of the heavenly realm?
Losing would be a disgrace, and winning would be dishonorable.
More importantly, Anu had his own political calculus.
He had agreed to send the divine punishment previously in order to discipline this King of Uruk, the Wedge of Heaven, whose power was spiraling out of control and who was drifting further away from the gods.
But now, the situation had taken a highly delicate turn.
Since Gilgamesh had chosen to tie the knot with the mistress of the underworld, it meant he had actively established an inseparable bond with the divine pantheon.
With Ereshkigal’s relationship serving as a buffer, the heavenly realm no longer had to worry that this willful king would do something to flip the chessboard in the future.
This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Therefore, facing Ishtar’s weeping and wailing, Anu not only strictly reprimanded her and grounded her for reflection, but also, to display the God King’s magnanimity and political wisdom, personally handed down an oracle, bestowing the highest blessing of the heavens upon the union of his eldest daughter, Ereshkigal.
Thus, amidst the tacit approval of the gods and the wild celebrations of all Uruk, a grand wedding spanning life and death, the surface world and the underworld, took place as scheduled.
On that day, the streets of Uruk were blanketed with fresh flowers brought from all corners of the world, while the originally dark and freezing underworld was adorned by Ereshkigal using her authority, filling it with countless spiritual plants that radiated a warm light.
At the spectacularly grand ceremony, Li Xiang opened the Gate of Babylon, taking the most dazzling and precious treasures he had plundered from his conquests across the world over the years and draping them over Ereshkigal without reservation, crowning the goddess who had long dwelt in the deep underground with an exquisitely beautiful bridal diadem.
In return, her eyes brimming with tears of joy, Ereshkigal solemnly handed Li Xiang a lance.
It was a divine construct entirely pitch-black, wrapped in a deathly aura so thick it had practically solidified into substance.
This was not merely a weapon; it represented Ereshkigal literally severing half of her own authority as the Goddess of Death.
From the moment he accepted this lance, Li Xiang officially held the symbol of the Master of the Underworld.
This was the truest proof of the two entrusting their souls to one another.
Amidst the blessings and celebrations of all, the king finally found the resting place for his soul.
The two were happily united.
In the long years that followed, though they bore no children, they shared a peaceful and incomparably blissful life together.
Li Xiang’s story gradually entered its final chapter.
He continued his previous daily routine.
He handled state affairs every day and occasionally went out on adventures to stretch his legs, except now the time he spent going to the underworld to tell his wife stories became even longer than before.
After all, a married couple needed to get along well and keep each other company.
He governed the country in an orderly manner, training excellent successors for Uruk and arranging a series of national policies to handle future changes.
With the passage of time, even a demigod body must one day grow old.
Yet Li Xiang did not undergo the regret-filled journey of searching for the herb of immortality found in the original lore.
In fact, that miraculous herb had already been casually harvested by him during his wandering adventures years ago, left to gather dust in some random corner of the Gate of Babylon.
However, he had never once thought of using it.
And even without considering his wife, he would absolutely never consume it himself, let alone bestow it upon anyone else.
Because Li Xiang knew deep down that for a human soul, possessing eternal life without a grand enough purpose to sustain it was not a good thing.
Witnessing too much parting, death, and the tragedies of changing eras across endless years would ultimately only lead to the distortion and numbing of one’s humanity.
He didn’t use it simply because it was completely unnecessary.
In this life, in the identity of Gilgamesh, he had possessed the ultimate power, made the truest of friends, and married his most beloved wife.
The sights he had seen and the thrilling battles he had experienced were already perfect enough; this fulfilling life held no regrets whatsoever.
Since that was the case, he only needed to live each day properly as a human, and then calmly grow old in the guise of a mortal—that was the best possible ending.
Finally, on a tranquil night.
A white-haired Li Xiang peacefully closed his eyes upon the throne of Uruk under the watchful gaze of his dearest friend, Enkidu.
Death, to him, was nothing more than crossing a boundary to keep a promise.
The moment his soul left his aged flesh and plunged into the underworld, he saw his wife already waiting before the water mirror.
Li Xiang reverted to his handsome, youthful appearance, smiling as he opened his arms to tightly embrace Ereshkigal, who had tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
His deeds transformed into an immortal epic, engraved upon the human foundation, and finally ascended to the Throne of Heroes.
[Experience of Gilgamesh’s Persona Possibility: Completed.]
[Concept Extraction Successful.
Host’s abilities have been fully unleashed.]