"No way!"
Just as Samael felt the shadow of death looming over him, his body frozen under divine pressure, a sharp cry rang out behind him. Three arrows of split light shot forward, crossing paths as they struck at the oncoming Quetzalcoatl.
The tall blonde woman from South America crossed her arms in front of her chest, taking the full force of the arrows head-on. She slid back several steps, the stone tiles beneath her feet cracking inch by inch, spreading out like a spiderweb.
"Hey, I'm the city goddess of Uruk and the War Goddess of Sumer!"
"A foreigner like you—don't get too full of yourself on my turf!"
Hovering behind her on Maanna, the Boat of Heaven, Ishtar stepped forward with her arms crossed. She glanced back at Samael, who remained unharmed, then turned around and responded sternly, exuding the aura of a goddess.
The keen-eyed ancient serpent noticed that the hands tucked beneath the great goddess's arms were slightly pale at the knuckles—clearly, she wasn't as calm and commanding as she appeared.
Reflecting on her past, Samael slowly came to an understanding. His gaze toward Ishtar's back softened.
Yes, as a high-ranking deity, she could be arrogant, imperious, and willful.
She could be swayed by human desires—greedy for jewels, reckless in her whims.
But since her descent, she had not harmed a single person.
She could have dismissed the burden, citing Samael's inadequate payment as a reason to abandon their dragon-slaying contract.
Yet when that devout believer stood on the brink of death, Ishtar, as the War Goddess and guardian of Uruk, would never turn a blind eye.
Contradictory as it may seem, at her core, Ishtar was never humanity's enemy. Whether teasing or aloof, she harbored deep affection for life on Earth.
Few know this, but when Enlil, one of the Three Main Gods, unleashed the Great Flood to cleanse the humans of the Golden Age, the first to denounce his cruelty and brutality—was none other than Ishtar, the very goddess known for shirking responsibility.
What kind of courage must it have taken for a new-generation deity to reprimand one of the ancient Three Main Gods?
Likewise, in Samael's memories, when the goddess witnessed the Avenger Gorgon slaughtering humans and birthing Magical Beasts, her anger and sorrow had been heartfelt and unfeigned.
And if you peeled back the surface of her seemingly childish and willful behavior, everything Ishtar had done since her arrival was, in truth, a clumsy attempt to protect humanity.
Moreover, if she didn't genuinely care for the fragile beings of this world, would she have so readily abandoned her grudge against Gilgamesh to stand and defend Uruk?
As Samael watched Ishtar standing firm at the front lines, unleashing volleys of light from Maanna to hold back Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent God, he took a slight step back. A flicker of emotion crossed his face.
From the moment this great goddess stepped forward, she had shed the role of a mere tool in Samael's eyes—she had become one of his own.
At that moment, Ana and Merlin also stepped up from either side, joining forces to block Quetzalcoatl's onslaught, forming a tight formation to shield their target behind them.
"Whoosh!"
The moment Kukulkan knocked Ishtar back with a punch, She raised her right index finger to her lips and let out a sharp whistle.
At once, the air turned turbulent, thunder and wind roared, and a vividly striped Cretaceous Period Pterosaur burst through the leaden clouds with a shriek, diving straight down.
This Phantasmal Beast—a powerful type of Divine Beast—unfurled its wings and stirred up a violent tide of Ether. With its overwhelming speed and massive size, it temporarily blocked Ana and Merlin, who were rushing in to help.
With them delayed, Samael, positioned at the rear, was left completely exposed.
"Maanna!"
Ishtar soared into the air, shaking off the impact as she called for her mount. She pivoted and shot back toward Samael.
"As long as I'm here, you're not getting past! That guy holds the key to my private vault!"
"If you hurt him, are you gonna pay me back twenty percent of the Babylonian Treasury?"
Samael, who had been quietly gathering Mana and preparing to clash head-on with the Mayan god, couldn't help but feel both exasperated and amused.
That's what you're worried about? Can't I have just a little moment of heartfelt emotion?
Gilgamesh was buried in state affairs and had to remain in Uruk, leaving him unavailable for anything else.
So, to better manage the wild beast that was Ishtar, Samael had been appointed "Beast Tamer" and designated as the third-party guarantor of their employment agreement.
According to the terms, protecting the third party was part of the Great Goddess's responsibilities.
Yet, just when everyone expected a fierce confrontation, Kukulkan, now only three steps away, gave a crooked grin and suddenly stomped her right foot into the ground.
In an instant, seven or eight stone tiles cracked and flew apart. Amid the swirling dust, his figure veered off toward an unguarded corner, grabbing the one-armed guard from the east gate with his bare hands.
"Bang!"
Tim's sturdy body slammed into the ground in a brutal over-the-shoulder throw.
The sudden change caught everyone off guard. Already at the end of his rope, the one-armed officer could barely react. Despite a flicker of resistance, the gap in power was too great—he collapsed, unmoving, his life signs vanishing on the spot.
"Well then," Quetzalcoatl said with a gentle smile, "big sis here thought it over and figured it's better to start with the appetizer. The main course should be savored slowly."
Still smiling, she hoisted Tim's limp body by the collar and tossed him into the air.
The Pterosaur swooped down immediately, catching the "corpse" on its back.
After waving cheerfully, Kukulkan leapt into the sky, soaring over a hundred meters before landing on her mount.
With a sharp cry from the pterosaur, the duo made a clean getaway.
A feint and a misdirection? From a muscle-bound war god who loves close combat? You're using your head now?
Samael and Merlin exchanged looks. Their expressions were as dark as the bottom of a pot.
"Hey-hup! Hey-hup! Hey-hup!"
As the four stood dumbfounded, the clatter of falling debris echoed nearby. A large backup wicker basket was being loaded by a figure dressed in a tiger onesie, orange hair and orange eyes gleaming as she moved stealthily.
Like a farmer harvesting fallen grain, she busily lifted one "fallen" warrior after another, tossing the bodies into the wicker container behind her.
Caught up in her work, the strange costumed figure even wiped the sweat from her brow, bared her tiger fangs in a grin, and radiated pure joy.
"Is that... a corpse thief?"
Eyes tracking the bizarre character, Ishtar nudged Samael with her elbow and gave him a puzzled look.
"That's the incarnation of the Smoking Mirror—Tezcatlipoca, also known as K'awiil. One of the four sons of the Mayan Creator God, and ruler of the First Sun Age."
"In theory, she's... Quetzalcoatl's sibling?"
The ever-knowledgeable ancient serpent quietly explained to Ishtar.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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