Humans have limits, and the martial arts they create also have limits.
The reason is simple: humans have one head, two arms, and two legs, and most martial arts are based on these basic physical constructs. Even so-called superhuman feats, godlike abilities, or divine techniques can only mitigate these limitations—they can't truly eliminate them.
Karna is no exception. Though he possesses Uncrowned Martial Arts, ranking at the pinnacle of human history, he is still constrained by the limits of the human body. He can deflect ten, dozens, or even hundreds of weapons at once, but when faced with Gilgamesh's maximum output—a metal storm level of all-encompassing firepower—even Karna finds himself slightly overwhelmed. He can see the attacks, and understand what needs to be done, but sometimes there isn't enough time to react.
This is why Gilgamesh had confidently declared, "I'll tear you to pieces." To him, this was a hero punishing a criminal, and Gilgamesh was certain that under this level of bombardment, the one who dared to touch his treasures wouldn't leave a single shred of flesh behind.
However, when the storm subsided, the scene before him was the complete opposite of what he expected.
A mountain of treasures, amassed into a heap, stood before him. At the peak of this treasure mountain stood the undefeated Archer.
Karna was still alive.
Though his body was covered in wounds, without a single patch of unscathed skin, his aura remained as fierce as ever. His expression was unchanged as if the injuries didn't even belong to him.
Gilgamesh stared silently at his opponent, not rushing to attack again, as Karna's injuries were unexpectedly light.
Indeed, Karna was battered and bruised, but the wounds were shallow—barely any reached the muscle, let alone inflicted a mortal blow. Moreover, these injuries were healing at a visible rate. As the treasures were automatically retrieved by the Gate of Babylon, Karna's wounds had already mostly healed. His regenerative abilities were practically unfair.
No, this wasn't just about regeneration.
For the first time, Gilgamesh took a closer look at Karna—the golden armor that seemed fused with his body. It was this armor that had greatly mitigated the damage from the rain of treasures, combined with Karna's peerless martial arts, that reduced the attacks to mere surface wounds.
"I see... A divine gift bestowed upon a human. Though it differs from the gods I know, the essence is the same—displeasing. However, from a collector's point of view, that is indeed an extraordinary piece of armor. Even my treasury doesn't have something like that. Rejoice, Archer. If you leave that armor behind, I will forgive your crime and spare your life."
For someone as arrogant as Gilgamesh, this was an incredibly generous offer. Though to most people, it would sound more like a provocation. Of course, Karna's personality was such that he neither felt honored nor angry. He simply shook his head, cold and composed.
"I refuse. This armor was a gift from my father, to protect me when my mother abandoned me. It's not something to be casually given to others."
"Oh? I didn't expect the Hero of Charity, Karna, to say something like that."
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, half-smiling as he revealed Karna's true identity.
The clues had been sufficient: the sun-like magical energy, the golden armor, the golden bow, the unparalleled archery, and the fact Karna had just mentioned—a gift from his father when his mother abandoned him.
At the same time, Karna had also confirmed Gilgamesh's identity.
"You don't need such charity, King of Babylon, Gilgamesh. A king with such a vast collection of treasures and such extreme arrogance—throughout history, there has only ever been one like you."
"Since you know my identity, and still dare to refuse my goodwill…." Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed in displeasure.
"Because we are destined to battle," Karna replied calmly, stating it as an undeniable fact.
"In that case, I will turn you into nothing more than rust-remover for my treasures. Until you complete your mission of removing rust, I will not allow you to fall easily."
These words signified that Gilgamesh would no longer use attacks reserved for mere mongrels. He would now pull out the top-tier treasures from his collection, employing techniques he normally wouldn't bother using.
"Let's start with this—Ig-Alima and Sul-sagana!"
With this proclamation, the air above Karna rippled once again, but this time the disturbance was larger than ever before. The treasures that appeared were so massive, they seemed to blot out the entire sky.
Ig-Alima and Sul-sagana are twin blades wielded by the Sumerian war goddess. The former can unleash flames that burn everything to ashes, while the latter is known as the Green Field Cutting Through the Thousand Mountains. Together, they have the power to shatter mountains and crumble the very earth!
Suddenly, the pile of treasure debris erupted outward like a volcanic explosion.
Countless massive rocks were blasted into the air, reaching heights that would make one crane their neck to see.
In a sudden burst, several of these rocks shattered, and from within the fragments, arrows wrapped in immense magical energy appeared.
It turned out that Karna, leaping into the sky along with the debris, had been hiding behind the soaring rocks, shooting countless arrows from behind them.
Though the twin blades of the war goddess possessed the power to reshape the land, their vast area of effect meant that their force was spread thin across each point. Karna, noticing this, targeted a relatively weak spot and not only neutralized the attack with ease but also had enough strength left to launch a counterattack.
The arrows, infused with magical energy, stirred up a small storm. As they swept up the broken rocks into their vacuum vortex, they surged toward Gilgamesh like a torrent.
Yet Gilgamesh remained standing in the air, unmoving as if he didn't even see the incoming attack. He didn't need to. Whether they were arrows or debris, everything veered off course as soon as it approached a certain distance, never touching his body.
The secret lay in the golden ornament floating near his chest—a talisman shaped like a solar eclipse. This was the Arrow Protection Amulet. As its name suggests, it drastically increased the wearer's evasion against projectile attacks and nullified lower-level projectiles entirely.
Karna's attacks, though dense, lacked the power to penetrate the amulet's defense. As a consequence, the talisman devoured more and more of its energy, with the eclipse growing larger, threatening to consume the entire sun.
At the moment when the eclipse reached totality, almost swallowing the sun, the nearly shattered amulet fell from the sky, landing directly above the still-airborne Karna.
As if in a final burst of defiance after being pushed to its limits, the dim ornament suddenly erupted in a brilliant flash of light and heat. A second sun appeared in the sky.