Chapter 652 You may be a little too extreme
Divine Realm, Esagila.
The towering hall is surrounded by bright starlight, and the twelve pillars are cast with a mixture of molten gold and mother-of-pearl, standing tall. The surface of the pillars is etched with the full text of the creation epic "Enuma Elish", demonstrating the glory and authority of the gods. The eternal sacred fire burns forever, and the air is filled with the scent of cedar and frankincense. The floor of the meeting hall is covered with a star map carpet that changes color according to the will of God, and each star is a solidified storm and lightning fragment.
This is the common residence of the Babylonian gods, meaning "the lofty house". This golden temple stands on the top of the seven-story temple tower "Etemenanki" and is built of pure gold and lapis lazuli. The fountain of life flows around the temple, the silver gate is guarded by scorpions, and singing flames float in the air. The lower part of the divine realm is connected to the underworld, and the upper part reaches the sky. The rainbow is the only passage between the divine realm and the human world. Everything looks magnificent and sacred.
Usually, the gods would gather regularly in the star-studded council hall for banquets or exchanges, while Marduk, the king of kings, would sit on the sapphire throne to rule over the gods, listen to their voices, and examine their words and deeds.
Most of the time, this is just a formality.
But at this moment, Marduk on the throne was a little angry, looking at a figure in the hall with an unfriendly expression.
He was a burly bearded elder. He wore a horn crown inlaid with seven sapphires, and thick lapis lazuli tendrils hung down to his chest. He was wearing a purple-red robe woven from storms, with miniature whirlwinds always rolling around the corners of his robes. In his pupils, there was a never-extinguished thunder, and the flowing veins of the star map could be vaguely seen under his skin. His every move was intimidating without anger, and there was an air pressure vortex around him. The ends of his floating hair were entangled with misty air ribbons, faintly emitting the roar of a tiger or a dragon.
At this moment, he was sitting next to Marduk. He ignored the unfriendly look of the King of Kings, picked up a crispy and tender beef leg with his bare hands, and ate it wantonly.
Obviously, his status and position among the Babylonian gods are not low.
Seeing that he had been ignored, Marduk on the throne finally lost his patience and slammed the table, saying with a gloomy face:
"Enlil, you went down to destroy the city of Ur without knowing why. What do you want to say about this?"
Enlil, the lord of spirit and air, is one of the three most respected gods in Babylon. He is the son of heaven and earth, the god of war and wind, and the patron saint of the city-state of Nippur.
In terms of seniority, Marduk also respectfully calls the other party "uncle".
But the relationship between the two sides is not harmonious on a daily basis.
On the one hand, in the early days of creation, Enlil was highly respected because of his powerful fighting ability. His prestige surpassed that of the god of heaven Anu and the god of earth Enki, and he was poised to challenge the throne of the gods.
However, after a battle with the Great Mother Goddess Tiamat, Marduk obtained the support of the Earth God Enki and the Sky God Anu, and took the lead in seizing the two secret treasures, the [Destiny Tablets] and the [World Origin], successfully entered the Origin, surpassed his uncle, and firmly sat on the throne of the King of Kings.
The uncle was obviously not convinced by this.
On the other hand, Marduk also possessed the power of the god of war and the god of thunder and storms, and had many overlaps with his uncle in divine authority and priesthood. Naturally, there were some disputes over faith and power between the two sides in private.
Now, Enlil destroyed the city of Ur, which was guarded by the moon god Sin, without obtaining the consent of the King of Kings. This was a bit too arrogant, and Marduk was inevitably unhappy.
Hearing Marduk's question, Enlil wiped his mouth and looked at his nephew with a sneer:
"Yueshen Xin is my offspring. As a father, is there anything wrong with me teaching my disobedient son a lesson? Do I need to ask you for your permission? Why do you even want to interfere in my family affairs?"
"I don't care if you teach the Moon God Xin a lesson, but the humans on earth are the common property of the gods. You just slaughtered an entire city of people and damaged the reputation of the gods. Shouldn't I be concerned about this?"
Marduk snorted and asked back.
Enlil heard this and sneered:
"Only what you can control in your own hands can be called your property. But now, let alone other human city-states, even the city of Babylon that you built with your own hands has turned away from you and joined the Sun God Utu, preaching the rule of law and iron laws. Do you really think that you are still the master of those ants on the ground and have the obligation to stand up for them? Are you as lowly as these incompetent bastards?"
"Enlil, you are too presumptuous!"
Marduk was so angry that his face turned red and white, and a dense thunderstorm gathered around him, and the powerful divine pressure spread out.
The saying goes, don't expose someone's shortcomings when you insult them.
But Enlil's words just now were almost pointing at his nose, scolding him, the King of Kings, for being incompetent.
After all, as the creator of mankind, not only did he fail to discipline his creation, but he was also gradually abandoned by it, which really undermined the dignity and respect of God.
At this moment, seeing that the two people in the temple were somewhat on edge, the god Anu quickly stood up and tried to comfort them:
"We are all family, don't let this little thing ruin the harmony."
He appeared as the ruler of the sky, wearing a triple crown made of star tracks, with a rotating galaxy model suspended in each crown. The Milky Way light bands flowed in his long silver-white beard, and he wore a dark purple robe woven with the night sky, with moving constellation patterns flashing on the surface of the robe. His face was like polished obsidian, his eyes were two burning stars, and lightning patterns floated on the surface of his skin.
The earth god Enki also spoke to comfort him:
"Besides, teaching them a lesson may not be a bad thing."
He controls all water, the earth, and wisdom. He appears as a wise man, wearing a fish-shaped crown with flowing water, and a talking river woven into his silver-white beard. He wears a blue-green robe decorated with shells, and the robe constantly oozes sweet water to form a network of micro canals. In his right hand, he holds a clay scepter engraved with the rune of life, and in his left hand, he holds a spiral pottery jar filled with the water of wisdom. His pupils are a translucent deep water color, and cuneiform characters can be seen swimming under his skin. The most unique symbol is the shadows of two living rivers suspended on his shoulders: the Tigris on his right shoulder is shining with golden light, and the Euphrates on his left shoulder is flowing with silver light. When he stands, the pattern of irrigation canals will automatically form under his feet, and the water drops dripping from the ends of his hair will turn into swimming fish.
"Good thing? What do you mean?"
Marduk suppressed his anger and humbly asked for advice.
He could be ruthless towards his two uncles, Enlil and Anu, but he still had some respect for Enki, his father who was in charge of the earth, the waters and wisdom.
Enji's eyes flashed, and he pondered:
"To tame the beasts of the earth, we must prepare not only grace but also a whip. If people had not experienced the long night, how could they long for the arrival of light? If they had not experienced the horror of God's punishment, how could they stand in awe of us? If they had not experienced the horror of death and turmoil, how could they pray to us sincerely? They have lived in peace for too long, and it is time for them to remember who their masters are."
"That's right. I've had enough of their overstepping and disrespect. Livestock should behave like livestock. They should kneel on the ground and offer sacrifices to the gods. That's what they should do."
Anu on the side chimed in.
Obviously, the decline of Eridu, the lip service of Uruk, and the decrease in human offerings and worship also made the two gods dissatisfied.
Obviously, they are the rulers of the world and the leaders of the gods.
As a result, their status in the minds of mankind is not as high as that of their three younger generations: the moon god Sin, the sun god Utu, and the Venus goddess Ishtar.
Even the Babylonian city-states that had originally gone their own way showed a tendency to link up and gradually unify.
This made Anu and Enki feel a little wary.
In the beginning, it was through unity that the Babylonian gods defeated the mother goddess Tiamat and seized the power to dominate the world from her.
They don't want to see something like this happen a second time.
Even if humans don't have the courage and ability, they don't want to hear those disobedient voices.
There is nothing wrong with criticizing this.
Hearing the voices of support, Enlil couldn't help showing a bit of pride on his face, grinning:
"In my opinion, destroying Ur is far from enough. Let me start a flood to drown all these disobedient animals on the earth, and then create a new group of honest and obedient humans who know how to fear the gods."
"No, you're taking this too extreme."
Anu and Enki shook their heads in refusal.
They just wanted to suppress the restless city-states and re-establish or consolidate their own beliefs, not to really exterminate all human beings.
In that case, they would have to consume a large amount of magic power to create the world and things, and the input and output would be seriously disproportionate.
Enlil's eyes flashed, and he proposed again:
"Then I'll take action again and help you deal with those city-states that are not so obedient?"
"It's our own family affairs, so please don't bother with us."
Anu and Enki shook their heads and declined, with forced smiles on their faces.
Are you kidding? Everyone in Babylon knows that you, Enlil, are the most murderous and you basically leave no one alive.
By the time you help us solve the problem, I'm afraid the city we are protecting will be reduced to a wasteland.
By then, your city of Nippur will be the only powerful city in the entire Babylonian Age of Gods. Wouldn't we be making wedding clothes for you?
Hearing the two blood relatives repeatedly shirking their responsibilities, Enlil could not help but angrily rebuke:
"This won't work, and that won't work either. What do you want? Are you going to continue to watch these animals on the ground give us a hard time?"
In order to suppress those restless city-states and beliefs, he has already taken dark actions.
It's impossible that he would get into trouble and end up having these guys curry favor with humans and rebuild his own beliefs, right?
Hearing Enlil's dissatisfaction, Anu said:
"Punishment should indeed occur, but it does not have to be so harsh. It is enough to let the city-states and descendants of gods under our command come forward to carry out our gods' will and rebuild our faith."
"Descendants of the gods? City-states? Are you talking about Hammurabi of Babylon, Gilgamesh of Uruk? Or that half-dead Eridu?"
Enlil raised his eyebrows and asked back, his tone full of sarcasm.
Anu, Enki, and Marduk on the throne all froze and looked embarrassed when they heard this.
Although they are still the patron saints of these three cities in name, they have long lost control of the cities and the gods within them.
As for some other territories, even with a solid faith, it is difficult to mobilize enough military forces to stop the Assyrian army, which is now in full swing, and restore the power of their three pillars of gods and Marduk, the king of kings.
After thinking for a moment, Marduk tapped the armrest with his fingers and slowly said:
"Although there are few available manpower inside Babylon, there may be some outside."
"You mean..."
Enki's eyes flickered, and he looked thoughtfully toward the east and west of the Babylonian Age of Gods.
Marduk nodded and said:
"Tell them that I allow them to march. As long as they have the ability, they can take the land of Babylon!"
Anu and Enlil looked at each other, and malicious smiles appeared on their faces.
This is a play to kill with a borrowed knife.
Use external forces to eliminate those restless animals within.
When the critical moment comes, they will come forward as saviors to clean up the mess. This way, they will not lose the dignity of the gods, but will also be able to rebuild their own beliefs. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.
Seeing that the three gods had understood his intention, Marduk made the final decision:
"Since you have no objection, let's do this first."
The three gods nodded in agreement, then walked out of the temple one after another and carried out the next plan as agreed.
~~
A few days later, in the underworld.
The undead of Ur have not yet settled down, and a large number of new faces have flocked into this underground kingdom of the dead.
After questioning, Ai Lei and others soon learned the whole story.
After the city of Ur was punished by Enlil, a group of Elamites from the east took advantage of the situation and surrounded Ur and its affiliated city-states. They used their powerful military force to wipe out all resistance along the way. Currently, the Ur region has completely fallen into the hands of the enemy.
Babylon on the other side was even worse off, being served by two mysterious forces in turn.
One group was the Hittites, who used their powerful army and sophisticated iron technology to easily capture the city of Babylon, destroy a large number of temples in the city, and loot a large amount of treasure.
Another group called themselves Chaldeans. They were a branch of the Semitic people from the west. They took advantage of the opportunity when Babylon was attacked from the front and launched a surprise attack from both sides. They successfully occupied Babylon, replaced the original royal family, and rebuilt the New Babylonian Kingdom, also called the Chaldean Kingdom.
In recent days, these new souls that have reported to the underworld are the unlucky ones who died tragically in the two wars.
Ailei and others even saw the figures of Hammurabi and Ur-Nammu, the two judges of the underworld, and their descendants.
Obviously, they were not spared after the city was destroyed and the country was ruined.
"It shouldn't be like that. I can understand why Ur was captured. After all, it had just been destroyed by Enlil and had no defense capabilities. But why did Babylon fall as well? Didn't you ask Marduk for help?" Ailei was puzzled.
"I asked for help, but the gods did not respond..." Hammurabi looked bitter.
The Babylonian prince standing behind him complained indignantly: "The gods have abandoned us!"
Are they planning to just shuffle the cards? That really fits their usual violent style.
Lorne frowned and asked:
"What about the moon god Sin and the sun god Utu? They're not here either?"
At this moment, two galloping starlight tore through the darkness of the underworld.
A kind-hearted old man with white hair and beard and a strong man with a beard drove into the hall in a silver and a golden chariot respectively.
They are none other than the Moon God Xin and the Sun God Utu themselves.
"I'm sorry, but Marduk and Enlil invited us to a feast and we had to attend, and we have not been able to get away until now."
The two men had gloomy faces and called the two gods by their names directly, without any of the respect and awe they had before in their words.
Obviously, the destruction of Ur and the fall of Babylon finally made the two men realize that even if they were willing to humble themselves, give in and compromise again and again, they would not receive any mercy.
So, they no longer hid behind the scenes, and chose to rush to the underworld to discuss countermeasures.
"Any news from Uruk and Nineveh?"
"Of course we defended it! With me here, and Gilgamesh and Semiramis helping us, how could those small fish and shrimp possibly break in?"
Ishtar arrived in her celestial ship Maana, with two of her acquaintances, Gilgamesh and Semiramis, on board.
Although the two kings still had the bloody smell of the war on their bodies, they and their countries were saved.
The fate of Ur and Babylon was in stark contrast.
Seeing this, the Moon God Xin and the Sun God Wutu were finally aroused and their voices became a little colder:
"I didn't expect that despite our repeated tolerance, they would actually push their limits. In this case, let's follow their wishes and see who is qualified to spread their faith in this land of Babylon!"
"They are going too far, count us in!"
Lorn stepped forward with awe and gave orders to Semiramis and Gilgamesh.
"You have seven days to reunite your forces, recover the lost territory, and drive those outsiders out of Babylon and Ur!"
“Too many!”
"Three days is enough~!"
The two kings answered proudly, showing a spirit that was no less than that of gods.
(End of this chapter)
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