"Woosh Woosh Woosh…!"
As the dagger in Ryougi Shiki's hand became one slash after another of gleaming blade light, she was already upon Jaguar Man, sending a flurry of strikes toward her.
"Danger!"
Jaguar Man raised her club, intending to block, but suddenly every hair on her body stood on end as if in alarm.
Without hesitation, she chose to retreat—her body moving like a true jaguar: a bound, a leap, a jump, a flip. In an incredibly agile and fluid series of movements, she avoided each of Ryougi Shiki's slashes one after another.
"Sharp instincts… no, should I say strong animal instinct?"
Ryougi Shiki instantly reached this conclusion, realizing her opponent was no easy foe.
This Jaguar Man seemed to fight entirely by relying on instinct, with an intuition and reflexes so sharp that she instantly judged she couldn't afford a head-on clash and avoided being struck by Shiki's dagger.
Ryougi Shiki immediately closed in, unleashing her full speed to pursue Jaguar Man. The cold, razor-edged blade light kept tearing through the air.
"I dodge!"
"I dodge again!"
"And I dodge again!"
Jaguar Man refused any direct engagement, using wildly exaggerated and unpredictable movements to evade each oncoming slash by the narrowest margin.
But she wasn't merely avoiding.
"An opening—found it, nya!"
In one sudden moment, this divine spirit flipped back, vaulting over Ryougi Shiki's head to land behind her. Raising her club, she shouted loudly while striking mercilessly.
Caught off guard by the exaggerated movement, Ryougi Shiki was momentarily thrown off and couldn't react in time.
"Mash!"
Seeing that Shiki was about to be struck, Rozen—who had been pressing healing talismans onto Anna to treat her wounds—shouted sharply.
"Shield of Rousing Resolution!"
Mash immediately struck her shield, making the castle emblem upon it flare with light.
"Huh, nya?"
Jaguar Man, mid-attack on Shiki, suddenly felt her movements slip out of control. To her shock, her swing veered toward Mash instead.
"Ha!"
Without hesitation, Mash thrust her shield forward, ramming into the stumbling, off-balance Jaguar Man.
Boom!
With a heavy thud, Jaguar Man was sent flying by Mash's shield bash.
"Ishtar!"
Rozen called out again.
"Got it!"
Ishtar's eyes instantly turned golden, a grin full of ferocious battle spirit curling her lips. She gathered an overwhelming amount of mana at the palm of her hand—then let it burst.
The next instant, countless beams of light shot forth from Ishtar's position, turning into a torrential downpour aimed at the spot where Jaguar Man had been blown away.
Boom boom boom boom boom…!
At one corner of the battlefield, endless light beams poured down like a monsoon, exploding again and again. Dust filled the air, the ground cracked, rocks and debris were thrown into the air, and the earth itself trembled under the bombardment.
"See that? This is my real power!"
Hovering in midair, Ishtar laughed uproariously, caring nothing for appearances.
Clearly, she had been waiting for a chance to show off like this for a long time.
And understandably so—
Every previous time she had acted, she had ended up humiliated by Rozen in one way or another, often left in a very sorry state.
Though she was, in both divinity and authority, one of the highest-ranked great goddesses, she had been reduced to such a plight.
The frustration had been piling up in her heart for quite a while.
Now that the opportunity had come, Ishtar naturally wanted to restore her image all in one go.
With that in mind…
"Let me show you the true power of a goddess!"
Her golden eyes swept across the battlefield. Seeing the Uruk army being pushed back step by step by the jungle goddess's forces, she raised her hand high.
"Let's go all out, Maanna!"
The Boat of Heaven, Maanna, instantly flew above her and began to spin.
Vast mana gathered, forming an enormous arrow of light upon Maanna.
Then the arrow shattered into countless flashes that tore through the sky, falling toward the battlefield like a meteor shower.
Shhhk!
A wyvern had just swooped toward a dragon when a flash of light pierced and shredded its wings, sending it plummeting to the ground with a wail.
Shhhk!
An orc raised his cleaver, about to split the skull of an Uruk soldier, when a flash of light struck from above, obliterating his head.
Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!
In an instant, countless flashes rained upon the wyverns and orcs on the battlefield, enveloping the entire army of the jungle goddess.
They tore through flesh, pierced skulls, and sprayed blood across the ground.
A huge number of enemies were wiped out in one strike.
Apart from a few who narrowly avoided the attack or the more durable wyverns, the rest were slain on the spot.
That single volley wiped out more than half the enemy's fighting force.
"Phew… that felt good."
Ishtar cheerfully wiped the sweat from her brow, looking utterly pleased.
Everyone else just stared, speechless.
"So this is the power of a goddess?"
"It really is formidable."
"As expected of Mesopotamia's most famous goddess."
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman could only sigh in admiration.
"Miss Ishtar!"
Mash's face lit up with joy.
"That girl…"
Rozen rolled his eyes.
Despite her impressive display, Ishtar had burned through at least half her mana for that single attack.
Proof of it was the way Rozen could feel his own mana being rapidly drained away by her.
As Rozen's temporary contracted Servant, Ishtar could draw mana from him—otherwise she wouldn't have been so reckless.
"Well, this should settle the battle."
Merlin smiled helplessly as he watched their side regaining the advantage.
"And what about that Jaguar Man?"
Anna still seemed concerned about her.
Ryougi Shiki also kept her eyes fixed on the area Ishtar had bombarded—until her gaze suddenly sharpened.
"She's fine! Stay alert!"
Shiki raised her dagger.
"I'm not fine!"
A voice retorted from within the dust cloud, as a figure leapt out.
It was, of course, Jaguar Man.
However, at this moment she was covered in dust and wounds, clearly having taken quite a beating.
"To treat a cute, pitiful Jaguar Man like this—how cruel, you inhuman sacrifices! Hmph, I'm done playing with you!"
Saying this, she suddenly bolted like a wild beast, sprinting south at full speed.
The Servant had clearly judged the battle lost and chose to retreat.
"Trying to run?"
Shiki instantly became a blur and shot after her.
"Stop right there!"
Ishtar, riding Maanna, also swooped after her.
"Senpai!"
Mash looked toward Rozen.
"Merlin, Anna—you two stay here."
Rozen addressed them briefly, then flared the wings of his robe, turning into a stream of light wreathed in glittering fire-dust as he chased after Ishtar.
Mash followed close behind.
"Be careful!"
Anna and Merlin were left calling after them, watching as the others disappeared.
The battle quickly became one-sided—
The jungle goddess's forces were in full retreat.