Mount Ebih.
Rain poured like a waterfall, muddy torrents washing away soil and rock from the mountain slopes, exposing the jagged skeleton of the terrain.
Ishtar, aboard Maanna, the Boat of Heaven, gazed through the protective ward at the dark storm that blurred the line between sky and earth. Her brows furrowed slightly.
Forget it—I'll head for the temple at the summit first.
With the Thaumaturgical Foundation there, her power and senses could be pushed to their limits. If she was willing to spend a bit of time—and a handful of gems—she could likely scan half of Mount Ebih without even stepping outside.
Decision made, Ishtar steered Maanna toward the mountaintop.
But before long, a sharp, agonized shriek pierced through the pounding rain, echoing across the vast mountain range.
"Who?! Which bastard ruined my temple?!"
On the cleared summit plateau, Ishtar stared at the shattered maneki-neko statues at the temple gate, her heart aching like it had been stabbed.
Furious, the goddess leapt from Maanna and swept her gaze across the area—only to be drawn at once to the sickening sound of teeth grinding against stone.
Behind several scarred, chipped temple columns stood seven or eight yellow-and-black Demon Boars, each nearly two meters tall, their bristled manes stiff as steel brushes. They snorted and gnashed their teeth as they wrecked everything in sight.
Under the assault of these filthy beasts, the outer layers of divine reinforcement had been completely defaced. Gold leaf that once adorned the surface was now washing away in the rain, flowing into the mire.
"Maanna!"
Ishtar's eyes flared. Snatching up several gems, she flung them into the air with a sharp cry.
In an instant, Maanna's bowstrings drew taut. Dozens of Ether currents tore through the sky, striking with deadly precision—piercing through the skulls of each Demon Boar. Screams rang out before they burst in showers of red and white, collapsing where they stood.
Still fuming, the goddess strode forward, kicking their corpses aside as she stepped into the temple—nerves taut with dread.
But the moment she entered, her heart sank to the depths and shattered like glass.
The floor was trampled with beast tracks, damage marred both interior and exterior walls, and the gems and coins she had painstakingly collected were scattered everywhere.
The gold bricks that once lined the floor and the crystal chandeliers that hung above had been smashed to rubble by some tremendous force.
Most of the magical devices used to stabilize and beautify the temple had already collapsed, flickered out, or failed completely.
Worse still, three pillars at the rear had been knocked clean over, collapsing a third of the main hall. A gaping hole now yawned in one wall, unable even to keep out the rain.
Water pooled ankle-deep indoors, the stench of rotting vegetation and fermentation thick in the air.
The temple was a ruin in all but name.
Too much. This is way too much! I can't take this! That was everything I owned!
Staring at the broken shell of what used to be her temple, Ishtar's lips trembled, her nose stung, and her eyes welled up with tears. She nearly burst into sobs.
Wiping her eyes, the goddess took a long look at the hoofprints, the impact marks, and the strands of coarse hair still clinging to the wreckage. Then she turned, eyes burning, to glare at the Demon Boars lying lifeless outside, teeth clenched in fury.
"Damn bastards! I'm wiping out every last Demon Boar on Mount Ebih today!"
For a descended deity, the destruction of her temple was a grave humiliation.
If her main anchoring point hadn't already been set in Uruk, this temple's destruction alone could have cost her a full third of her divinity. Even as just a base cobbled together for extorting wealth, its loss was a bitter blow.
To Ishtar, the ones responsible deserved nothing less than to be ripped apart.
She had no Golden Rule, adored jewels, but was cursed to never have enough of them.
After enduring sneers and scorn to scrape together a fortune, she hadn't even had time to enjoy it before these beasts—these damned creatures from who-knows-where—had trampled it all.
Every last Demon Boar in this mountain has to die. Even Father Anu couldn't save them now—I swear it!
Burning with righteous fury, the great goddess was just about to summon Maanna for a full extermination sweep of Mount Ebih's Demon Boars when suddenly, a dense, chilling death aura surged around her.
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Shrill cries tore through the rain as ghostly figures with twisted faces surged in from every direction, swarming toward the shattered temple—hundreds of them.
Gallû Spirits?
No. These were something else—their bodies radiated a red-black aura. They were corrupted, wrathful undead. But how could so many appear in broad daylight? This was sacred Mount Ebih!
Ishtar's expression darkened. She immediately raised her hand in a gun-like gesture, remotely commanding Maanna to fire a volley of projectiles. The shots blasted through the mob of spirits, dispersing them with violent bursts.
But after several exchanges, her face grew even more grim, and her gaze flickered with unease.
These corrupted wraiths had endured two full bombardments before finally being scattered. Their resistance to magical energy was absurd—comparable to that of humans from the Golden Age.
And with the seven-layered seals and all the Spear Cages Ereshkigal had woven, nothing like this should've slipped out of the Underworld.
Was something wrong with Mount Ebih itself? Or had the Underworld completely gone off the rails?
Ishtar's mood sank further. She no longer cared about salvaging what was left. She immediately summoned the hovering Maanna, sprang into it, and shot through the ruined temple.
A rain of gemstones scattered down, each one erupting into beams of light that pierced the remaining undead, tearing them apart in flashes of brilliance.
But the shockwaves that followed cracked the already crumbling temple even further. Jagged fissures spread like webs across the walls—and then the whole structure came crashing down in a thunderous collapse.
Ishtar, who had still harbored some hope of salvaging the place, now stared into the cloud of dust and the wreckage beyond. Her face turned ashen.
She sniffled, her nose stinging. In the ringing quiet, it felt like she could almost hear her own heart bleeding.
This loss was catastrophic...
No, she had to earn it back—whatever it took—once she got back to Uruk.
Only if that bastard Samael rose to power and gained access to the Babylonian Treasury could she even begin to break even.
Whatever! When I get back, he's doing it! Whether he wants to or not!
Even if I have to strong-arm him into it, he's paying me back. If he dares say no, I'll bite him to death!
With a vicious gleam in her eyes, Ishtar bared her sharp canines. Then, swallowing the pain in her chest, she turned and flew into the endless mountain mist.
...
Meanwhile, in Eridu—
Kukulkan leapt off the back of her Quetzalcoatlus and landed on the muddy clearing before the Mayan pyramid.
But the relentless downpour had already turned the ground to sludge, filthy water nearly reaching her calves.
And this was within the tropical rainforest she and the Jaguar Warriors had cultivated—designed to manage water and regulate flow.
Yet somehow, the rain here was even worse.
Frowning, Kukulkan climbed the pyramid, scanning the landscape.
To the north, Ur and nearby Eridu were both clearly waterlogged. Pools had formed across the cities, rooftops and streets shimmering with rainfall.
Even the roads weren't spared—many homes had already been washed away.
But the bigger problem was the vegetation—and food.
Descending the pyramid, Quetzalcoatl pulled up a drooping mango tree. What she found made her expression tighten.
The roots, soaked in standing water, were rotting and foul. The green-yellow fruit had already dropped from the branches.
The rainforest was supposed to be synonymous with abundance, a haven rich enough to feed entire cities.
Even without wheat, Ur and Eridu had managed to get by just fine on local fruit and grain gathered from the forest.
But now, if this rain didn't stop, the entire rainforest might be devastated.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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