Ishtar stared blankly at the purple-haired girl who had suddenly run in front of them, striking a sacrificial "you go on ahead, I'll hold them off" pose as if to protect them from the Demonic Beasts.
"You're going to protect us?"
She glanced at Su Mo, then at herself. She couldn't fathom how anyone could possibly say something like that to them.
A goddess and a god-king combo... needed protection from someone else?
The girl named Mash clearly didn't know their identities. Hearing the question, she even nodded with firm conviction.
"Yes! Don't worry, my Senpai and I will protect you... uh, brother and sister!"
After a moment's hesitation, Mash decided they must be siblings.
After all, Su Mo looked incredibly young, so a father-daughter relationship seemed unlikely by modern standards. And with Rin's childlike physique, calling them a couple would be a bit too shocking. Of course, if this were the Age of Gods where marriage in one's early teens was possible, child brides, while not ubiquitous, were certainly not a rare sight.
"We are not siblings! This is my Father God... I mean, my daddy!" Ishtar pouted, correcting Mash's mistake.
"Eh? Father and daughter? Your father is so young!" Mash's eyes widened in surprise.
While they were talking, another girl with red hair finally arrived, panting for breath.
"Mash, you... you run way too fast!" the energetic red-haired girl complained as soon as she arrived.
"Sorry, Senpai, but I had to hurry to protect this father and daughter!" Mash immediately apologized dutifully before looking back at the two.
"Father and daughter? And he's hot!"
Hearing this, the red-haired girl was also a little surprised. After staring at Su Mo for a few good moments, she suddenly brushed her red hair back and asked with a bashful expression.
"Excuse me, sir, but might I ask... how is this child's mother doing?"
At those words, Ishtar, Rin, and even Mash froze on the spot, wondering why she would ask such a question.
"This child's mother?"
Su Mo glanced at Rin's body.
"She's in another world."
Whether he was referring to Rin's mother, Aoi Zenjou, or Ishtar's mother, Tiamat, neither was currently in this dimension.
"That's great! I mean, what a shame."
The red-haired girl's eyes lit up, and she eagerly sidled up to Su Mo.
"This handsome gentleman, may I ask your name? And while I'm at it, would you be interested in giving your child a complete family?"
With that, her intentions were painfully obvious.
"Senpai, what are you doing?!"
Mash's eyes went wide with shock. She knew her senpai was unreliable, but she never thought she'd be so shamelessly thirsty that she'd get ideas about becoming someone's stepmother at a time like this. Okay, the man is undeniably handsome, but isn't this a little too weird?
"Quiet, Mash! This is for my lifelong happiness!" the red-haired girl declared righteously. Then, as if a thought struck her, her eyes lit up. She grabbed the purple-haired girl and pushed Mash in front of Su Mo as if presenting a treasure.
"Don't mind me, I might not look like a competent mother, but my kouhai here is perfect. Both her figure and her personality will meet your needs. If you choose me, I'll throw in Mash as a bonus! A buy-one-get-one-free deal, you can't lose! Aren't you the least bit tempted?"
Realizing her own competitive shortcomings, she immediately used her junior as a value-add to sweeten the deal.
"Senpai, that's not—!"
Mash was completely flustered. She hadn't said a thing, so how did she get sold off like this? She was still an innocent maiden! Wasn't it a bit too soon to be transitioning directly into the role of a stepmom?
"What do you mean 'that's not'?! It is! Don't you want to always be with me, Mash?" the red-haired, side-ponytail-wearing girl shot back without a hint of shame.
"Well... Senpai, I—"
Mash's face turned beet red, and for a moment, she didn't know whether to refute or not. Does staying with Senpai mean we have to marry the same person?
While the two were in a tangle, Mash suddenly sensed movement. Looking up, she saw that the tide of Demonic Beasts had finally reached them.
"Wait, Senpai! This isn't the time for this!" she urged, trying to get Gudako to drop the subject and prioritize the beasts.
"Eh? Hold on... this might be a chance to show off my cool and reliable side... I'm counting on you, Mash!"
The red-haired girl paused, her eyes darting around mischievously as she approved her Servant's request.
But just as Mash was gathering her strength, preparing to charge forward in one go, a vast and overwhelming divine might suddenly manifested from behind them, making both girls freeze under its immense pressure.
"A divine might even greater than the King of Heroes... What is this?"
The red-haired girl stiffly turned her head and saw Ishtar floating in the air, her long hair dancing wildly. The goddess's pupils were a vivid crimson, burning with a furious inferno.
"You greedy human! Trying to steal my daddy right in front of this goddess, and you want to be my MOTHER?"
"You're crossing a line! Father God is mine, and I'll never hand him over to you!"
The instant her words fell, a rain of jeweled light descended from the heavens.
SHOOOM—SHOOOM—SHOOOM—
In a flash, thousands of gem-based magic cannons fired, blasting all the Demonic Beasts, along with the surrounding landscape, into a massive chasm.
Only then did the goddess turn her dangerous gaze upon the Master and Servant duo.
"You're... a goddess?" Mash asked, her grip tightening nervously on her shield as she finally realized just who she had been trying to protect.
"Phew... can we call a truce?"
Gudako forced a fawning smile, trying her best to flatter the goddess before her.
"What do you think?" Ishtar's gaze was as sharp as a knife.