"Kukulkan, you actually broke the alliance. Aren't you afraid of divine punishment?"
The commander of the Magical Beasts, Kingu, snorted coldly and teleported in a flash.
With his pale hands, he met the crushing force of Quetzalcoatl's Aztec weapon head-on, sparks flying with every clash, accompanied by piercing metallic screeches.
"I've always wanted to see just how far Sumerian Divine Constructs can go…"
"So, this is just between the two of us, Kingu!"
Kukulkan grinned with delight. With a forceful stomp that shattered the earth beneath her, she lunged again at the commander of the Magical Beasts.
The green-haired beauty immediately realized that Quetzalcoatl was exploiting a loophole in the contract—this confirmed Kukulkan's betrayal and siding with humanity. His face darkened.
Tracing their origins, both were children of their respective creator gods. One was a reunited soul, the other a foreign spirit descent—each flawed in their own way.
But those flaws canceled each other out, making them well-matched opponents.
So, in a short time, neither could gain the upper hand.
The two humanoid weapons went all out in their clash, trading blows across the wasteland and stirring up violent Ether storms.
Within a hundred-meter radius of their path, magical beasts were caught in the chaos—some unlucky ones splattered in blood on the spot, while the luckier ones were blown away by the shockwaves.
As their battle fervor climbed, Quetzalcoatl's attacks grew even more unrestrained—bold, aggressive, and overwhelmingly forceful.
The wasteland, after repeated devastation, was riddled with craters and potholes, resembling the moon's surface after a meteor strike.
"Bang!"
Kingu was caught off guard and sent flying a hundred meters by one of Quetzalcoatl's flying kicks.
But as the commander of the Magical Beasts was knocked back, he glanced up and pointed toward the towering structure behind Kukulkan.
He's targeting the Babylonia defense line again!
Quetzalcoatl's expression turned cold. With a leap, she swung her Aztec weapon at lightning speed, aiming straight for Kingu's arm.
In this counterattack—an offensive defense—the obsidian blades of the Macuahuitl were just about to strike the arm bound by the Chains of Heaven.
But as the Mayan goddess lunged midair, the ground trembled violently.
In the next instant, the earth split apart and soil burst upward as a massive, oppressive figure suddenly emerged before Kingu.
With the sudden close distance and her full force already committed to the strike, Kukulkan had no time to pull back.
"Pfft!"
Blood spurted as the Aztec weapon cleaved downward, slicing off a ferocious purple-red serpent head that fell into the dust.
"Boom!"
Almost simultaneously, thunderclouds rolled across the sky, and a bolt of blinding white lightning as thick as a barrel crashed down, striking Kukulkan squarely on the head.
"Cough… cough…"
Kneeling in a pit several dozen meters deep, her face charred and smoke rising from her mouth, Quetzalcoatl glared at the newly appeared Goddess of Demonic Beasts, her emerald eyes twitching at the corners.
"Kingu, you bastard!"
"South American goddess, since you have no intention of harming my mother, then for old time's sake, I'll let her keep you company."
"Heh, be sure to get along!"
Kingu smiled faintly, lifted into the air, and exchanged a nod with the waiting Goddess of Demonic Beasts, Gorgon.
Then, the divine weapon turned into a golden streak, flying over the Babylonia defense line and heading straight for the inner city.
Just as Kukulkan was about to move to intercept, the ground erupted around her. Thick, purple-red serpents coiled and entwined, forming a dense web of blockade.
The Goddess of Demonic Beasts, commanding the snakes, pressed her scaled hands to the earth and stared coldly at her supposed ally.
"Traitor, you're not going anywhere today!"
Kukulkan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. In the dimly lit space, surrounded by writhing serpents, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up within her.
Judging from Kingu's feint earlier, this was clearly a premeditated trap—meant to wear her down and keep her contained.
Her opponents weren't fools. If she could exploit the loophole in the Three Goddess Alliance contract, so could they.
Careless…
The goddess slowly closed her eyes. After a moment to calm her mind, she reopened them and let out a heavy sigh.
"Gorgon, it seems you're not much of a mother."
"Kingu used you as bait without even considering whether you'd be punished under the alliance contract."
Gorgon's serpent eyes narrowed slightly, a cold smirk forming on her lips.
"Save your breath, Kukulkan! This was my decision!"
"To claim victory, to wipe out humanity and fulfill my revenge—I'd even destroy myself!"
"Look! Without that arrogant fool in our way, Uruk will fall today!"
Wait… did she just mean—
Kukulkan's expression shifted sharply, stunned by the implication she'd just drawn from Gorgon's words.
"You know about the Divine Tower in the royal palace?"
"That's right! I received a revelation from the Mandate of Heaven! The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, is dead!"
"Uruk's end has come!"
The Goddess of Demonic Beasts, Gorgon, burst into chilling laughter, her dark eyes brimming with vicious malice.
The Mandate of Heaven? Damn it! So those wills still favor the surface-cleansing destroyers.
They're getting bolder by the day…
Kukulkan's expression darkened. But there was nothing she could do.
Just now, by mistakenly violating the "no mutual attack" clause of the Three Goddess Alliance, her divinity had dropped to less than half.
With the Mandate of Heaven's protection in place, if she dared attack the Goddess of Demonic Beasts with lethal intent, she'd be the one to fall.
And now, in her weakened state, even facing Kingu would be a stretch—escaping Gorgon to stop him was out of the question.
Kukulkan took a deep breath and forced her scattered thoughts into order, silently reassuring herself.
Stay calm. There may still be hope—if she could just buy time until Samael and the others returned from the underworld with Gilgamesh's soul.
When that happens, the tide will turn—and the advantage will be theirs.
The goddess who loved humanity turned back toward Uruk, eyes full of worry.
For now… humanity would have to rely on itself.
...
At that moment, high above Uruk, a ball of cold golden light streaked across the sky like a burning comet. It tore through layer after layer of Magecraft barriers and came crashing down on the Divine Tower of the royal palace.
"Boom!"
The iconic structure that had stood witness to five centuries of the Hero King's reign partially collapsed under the force of the unleashed Ether storm, exposing the inner sanctum.
From the smoke and debris, a beautiful figure emerged, her face hidden beneath a curtain of green hair.
Inside the hall, a woman hunched over a desk of clay tablets slowly looked up, sorrow flooding her eyes.
That once-gentle, graceful figure now radiated nothing but cold fury, and the gaze cast upon her was as if observing an insect beneath her finger.
"High Priestess… Siduri?"
"Hand over Gilgamesh's body, and I might let you live…"