"What kind of deal?"
If an ordinary person had spoken to him about a deal—and even called him "Goldie"—Gilgamesh would have absolutely turned them into a sieve with the Gate of Babylon. But facing Zenith, who seemingly possessed the power to control time, Gilgamesh displayed more curiosity than anything else.
Arrogance didn't mean he was brainless. Gilgamesh's equality and respect were reserved exclusively for those with sufficient power and status.
Toward those he acknowledged, Gilgamesh also had a reliable side, much like his nick-of-time rescue in the *Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia* timeline.
"Staying in the modern world must be pretty boring for you. You have the title of a king, but neither the territory nor the subjects to rule over."
Gilgamesh's eyes lit up slightly. It was entirely true. What he wanted was to receive the worship of mortals as a king. He was a wise king, but also a tyrant, and his subjects were fierce warriors who revered heroes.
He was the oldest of kings, the King of Heroes. The modern world's general populace, living in a drunken stupor and lacking any drive to improve, made him feel that humanity was weak and beyond saving. That was exactly why he wanted to destroy everything and remake the world anew.
As for the Holy Grail, in Gilgamesh's eyes, it was merely another collectible to toss into his treasury.
Gilgamesh was a king from the Age of Gods—one-third human, and two-thirds god.
The summoned Gilgamesh's personality was stuck at the peak of his youth as the "King of Heroes," having not yet reached his later years as the "Wise King," but it still proved he possessed the qualifications to become one.
"Are you offering to assist this king in ruling this world? With your power, I shall allow it."
Zenith choked on his words for a second. However, in order to poach this golden SSR unit, he swallowed back the phrase, *'You're out of your damn mind.'*
"I can't give you subjects, but I can give you territory, Goldie."
Zenith dropped a massive bombshell. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. What did he mean, give him territory? The Earth was only so big; where was there any unclaimed land to just hand over to someone else? Was he going to start a war?
"The word 'rule' might not be entirely appropriate, but I am indeed the owner of an infinite land. I can carve out a large enough piece of territory for you to build your own nation, and you can rule over it indefinitely with the power of a Heroic Spirit."
An infinite land? Did such a place really exist? Infinite land meant infinite resources. Since ancient times, all human wars had fundamentally been fought over resources.
If resources were infinite, what would there be left to fight over? Everyone could achieve boundless happiness. Such a nation would be a true utopia.
Gilgamesh was tempted, and Saber was moved as well. Saber was also a king; the fall of Great Britain was an inner demon she could never erase. If such a land existed, could it make up for her past regrets?
Since they were already here, Zenith decided to take them for a tour. He didn't know how to get to the Overworld from here, but since this was a Minecraft dimension, using the Nether as a transit hub would work just fine.
He set down a Shulker Box, dug out some flint and steel and obsidian, and built a Nether Portal right on the spot.
"I know you guys are a bit skeptical, so just come with me and see for yourselves. We'll have to pass through Hell as a transit station to get there, though, so don't be too surprised."
This had to be True Magic. The power of magecraft couldn't cross worlds so easily. Now, everyone firmly believed that Zenith was a Magician, having reached the ultimate realm that magi spent their entire lives pursuing.
What did Minecraft's Nether—also known as Hell—look like? Simply put, it wasn't far off from the descriptions in Dante's *Divine Comedy*.
The Nether had many biomes, and the portal deposited them right into the most classic one.
Red netherrack burned with unextinguishable flames, and zombified piglins wandered the surroundings. Steep cliffs were everywhere, and looking down revealed an endless lava lake. The pungent stench of sulfur lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate.
"So this is Hell!!"
Rin Tohsaka, Shirou Emiya, and Sakura Tohsaka—the three humans had their worldviews massively shattered. "Hell is real? Is this where we go when we die?"
"Of course not. Didn't you notice that the rocks here are also blocky? This is *my* Hell."
Shirou Emiya stood in place, silent for a moment. "So... Uncle, you're Satan? Satan is Chinese??"
...
*Your brain works in truly mysterious ways!!*
Zenith facepalmed and let out a long, heavy sigh. "Just stop talking. Use that smart little brain of yours to think before you speak."
Gilgamesh gazed into the distance. A Ghast floated over from afar, spitting a fireball from its mouth that hurtled toward the group.
"A filthy creature of Hell dares to attack this king from on high?"
Ghasts were notoriously squishy. It was instantly killed by a single shot from Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm. Surprisingly, he seemed to have a rather favorable impression of this place.
"This place could serve as a realm for exiling sinners. There are living creatures, magical beasts, and the environment is harsh, yet not entirely devoid of food. It is absolutely perfect."
"How do you know there's food here?"
Zenith built another portal, this one leading to the Overworld. But looking around the Nether, there was nothing but lava and stone. How did Gilgamesh know that?
"Are these pig-men not food?"
Zenith twitched his mouth. "Ordinary people would probably turn into zombies if they ate that, though I'm not entirely sure. But there is indeed food here. If you explore far enough, you can actually find two types of forests—one green and one red. Although monsters inhabit them, there are definitely mushrooms and stuff."
Ultimately, the atmosphere of Hell was too much for ordinary humans to bear. The temperature here was way too high, hovering around sixty degrees Celsius. If they stayed too long, they would literally cook.
Following Zenith into the Overworld, their senses underwent another drastic shift.
"What a beautiful place. It's just that everything is so blocky... It looks really weird."
This wasn't Zenith's home base. Since they hadn't traveled through a portal from the normal world, the spatial jump seemed to have thrown them quite far off.
It was a jungle biome. Cocoa beans hung sparsely from the trees, and massive, square melons could be seen everywhere on the ground.
In the distance, a stream babbled gently. Sugar cane grew along the riverbanks, while pigs, cows, and sheep wandered freely. Flowers carpeted the ground, a gentle breeze blew, and the sunlight felt warm and comforting on their skin.
It was like stepping straight out of Hell and into Heaven.
Gilgamesh frowned slightly. "A world like this is far too idyllic. If my subjects live here for too long, they will turn into useless trash who do nothing but eat and wait for death."
Zenith waved his hand dismissively. "No need to worry about that. Once the sun goes down, monsters will spawn in any place the light doesn't reach. This is *my craft*, after all—the adventure element is absolutely essential."
*My craft?*
A terrible pun. Zenith, having made a double entendre on the game's name, found his own wordplay absolutely hilarious. He burst out laughing out of nowhere, leaving the others staring at him in utter bewilderment.
"A fine place," Gilgamesh said, thoroughly satisfied. "Then, since this is a deal, what price must I pay?"
"I don't have that many people for you to rule over right now, so we'll have to slowly gather subjects later. As for the price, you just have to accompany me on my travels and lend me your strength whenever I need it."
"Deal!"
Gilgamesh agreed without hesitation. With territory secured, why worry about a lack of subjects? He had infinite time—more than enough to rebuild the glorious city-state of Uruk.
Saber, who had been silently agonizing over this on the sidelines for quite a while, finally raised her hand. "Um, uh, excuse me, Master... does this deal apply to me as well?"
Zenith slapped his thigh. *Fantastic! A double-yolk egg! A double blessing!*
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