"Nya! That's it! I'm hungry and angry," Jaguarman exclaimed, frowning, and started pushing back Mash with much more intensity—to the point that she was hit to her side and was sent flying to a nearby pillar.
"I'm hangry, nyan!"
"Mash!" Ana yelled.
"Where do you think you're looking at?!"
Ereshkigal took advantage of Ana's brief distraction and charged at her with surprising speed, striking at her back with enough force to send her flying through the air, her back colliding with Mash just as she had started to rise. The force of the impact was powerful enough to destroy the pillar to pieces.
Weakened she might be now, but Ereshkigal is still a top-tier Divine Spirit within her homeland.
Even if the surface land of Mesopotamia doesn't give her as much advantage as she normally would in the underworld, it was still enough to make her strong enough to overpower Ana.
"Hng..." Ana groaned as she struggled to rise from the rubble, her body aching from the combined assault.
"A-Ana, are you okay?" Mash asked as she raised her shield once more.
"Hm. I can still fight," Ana clutched her scythe tight, gritting her teeth as she stood up from the rubble. Her body was bruised and battered, but her resolve remained unshaken. "I won't let them keep Zenkichi," she muttered.
Mash, though shaken, steadied herself and took a defensive stance in front of Ana, raising her shield to protect them both. "We're not out yet. We'll fight together," she said, her voice filled with determination.
"I said..." Ereshkigal let out a deep, frustrated sigh and stabbed her twisted spear into the ground. "I don't want to fight, either of you!"
"That's right, nyan! Chill out!" Jaguarman nodded enthusiastically, though her claws were still poised for action. "Seriously, we're not holding him captive! Zenkichi is fine, nyan!"
"Rawr!" Mister Jaguar appeared out of nowhere and positioned by Jaguarman's side.
"H-Huh?! A jaguar?!" Mash stared in disbelief.
Ana narrowed her eyes. "....I don't believe you."
A vein popped on Ereshkigal's forehead and pointed towards Gudako and Merlin, "Look at them! They've stopped giving orders and support towards you guys a while ago!"
"Huh?" Ana and Mash blinked, turning towards them.
Gudako guiltily rubbed her head. "I'm sorry, Mash, Ana. But Merlin convinced me to...plus, it kinda do looks like they don't harbor any hostility towards us."
"Yes! Thank you! Someone with common sense!" Ereshkigal huffed, clearly relieved. "Finally, someone's listening."
Mash blinked in confusion. "Wait... so all this time, you weren't really trying to fight us?"
Jaguarman, with her ever-energetic grin, waved her paws dramatically. "Nooo! It was all for the sake of Quetzalcoatl's fun, nyan! We've been trying to avoid a serious fight, honest!"
"Because trust me, that spear would've pierced through your head." Ereshkigal added bluntly, her eyes narrowing. "If I was serious, one of your would've already be dead."
Mash gulped, realizing how close things had come to being much worse. "I... I see," she muttered.
Ana glanced at her, still suspicious but loosening her grip on the scythe. "If that's true, then what's Quetzalcoatl's plan here? Why is Zenkichi dropped into the temple? Why is she fighting Altria and Brunhilde?"
"She's a battle junkie." Both Ereshkigal and Jaguarman stated, deadpanned.
"Ah..." Mash looked at Quetzalcoatl and nodded understandingly, she knew a few servants that had that kind of personality.
"So...what now?" Ana asked, lowering her scythe.
"Uh, we..." Ereshkigal turned her head, the others followed suit. "I guess we wait?"
"Wait, could you guys do me a favor, nyan?" Jaguarman nervously raised her hand, her other hand busy patting Mister Jaguar's head. "Could one of you knock me out, nya? As I said before, I really didn't want to fight any of you...but then I'd get my ass beat by Kuku."
"...I'll do it," Ana lifted her scythe, eyes narrowing slightly as she approached Jaguarman.
"Eh, wait, no nya! I change my mind!"
"Hold still."
"Nyaaa!"
With Quetzalcoatl, Altria, and Brunhilde....
Pak*! Pak*! Pak*!
"Hahahahaha! ¡Esto es divertido! Do not hold back, strike with the intent to kill!" Quetzalcoatl laughed maniacally as she caught Brunhilde in a surprise, wrapping her arms around her waist and proceeded to German Suplex into the ground.
"Agh!"
"Brunhilde!" Altria shouted as she charged toward Quetzalcoatl with fierce determination, her fists crackling with energy.
Brunhilde groaned as she tried to recover from the brutal suplex, but Quetzalcoatl was already moving, flipping back onto her feet with effortless grace, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Come on, you two! Is that all you've got? Where's that divine strength I sensed earlier?"
"You talk too much," Altria's eyes narrowed as she closed the distance, throwing a rapid series of punches aimed at Quetzalcoatl's face and midsection.
As the King of Knights, she wasn't simply a user of the lance or spear—she had used Caliburn beforehand after all, she was a master of many weaponry and hand-to-hand combat.
However, she was but a practitioner—not a master.
So she was quickly being pushed around against Quetzalcoatl's superior skill. Each punch she threw was skillfully evaded or deflected, her strikes failing to land a solid hit.
Quetzalcoatl danced around her with an almost playful ease, her movements fluid and precise.
As Altria tried to adjust her approach, Quetzalcoatl's eyes sparkled with a mix of amusement and challenge. "Faster! Stronger! Show me what the King of Knights can really do!" she taunted, her voice ringing with exhilaration.
"H-Hold on, Altria!"
Brunhilde, seeing Altria's predicament, gritted her teeth and prepared to rejoin the fray. She launched herself back into the battle, her gloves ready to deliver a powerful strike.
Her goal was to create an opening for Altria, hoping to disrupt Quetzalcoatl's rhythm, as she was physically stronger between them.
Quetzalcoatl, however, was always a step ahead. She intercepted Brunhilde's fist with a swift, spinning motion of her leg, knocking her away with a powerful counter.
"Ha! Is this all you've got? Come on, give me a real challenge!" she cheered.
"Bitch," Brunhilde spat out and she shared a look at Altria, both nodded in understanding.
Both women stood up and began to circle Quetzalcoatl with synchronized precision, their movements fluid and deliberate like a pair of vultures.
The Aztec goddess grinned widely, clearly enjoying the renewed challenge as she continued to taunt them.
"That's more like it!" Quetzalcoatl cheered, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Come at me with everything you've got!"
Altria and Brunhilde exchanged a brief, knowing glance. They had been pushed to their limits, but they were determined to show the goddess the full extent of their abilities.
Altria lunged first, launching a series of quick, sharp strikes aimed at Quetzalcoatl's upper body. Her punches were precise and aimed to disorient, creating openings for Brunhilde to exploit.
As Quetzalcoatl deflected Altria's attacks with agile movements, Brunhilde moved in from the side, her black gloves glowing with divine lightning. She aimed a powerful, earth-shaking punch surging with the sound of thunder at Quetzalcoatl's side, hoping to catch her off guard.
Quetzalcoatl twisted mid-air, avoiding the full impact of Brunhilde's strike but still feeling the force behind it. Sparks of electricity spread throughout her body.
"Lightning? Ah, but considering the aura of the Norse emanating from your body..."
She landed gracefully, laughing as she readied herself for the next series of attacks.
'Hm? Divine power—' Quetzalcoatl barely turned her head when a fist, wrapped in a golden aura, struck her side. She spat out a mouthful of blood, Altria didn't give her any rest as her golden-tinged fist struck her side with unyielding force.
The impact sent her sprawling, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood. Despite the pain, Quetzalcoatl's eyes sparkled with exhilaration.
"You're relentless!" Quetzalcoatl exclaimed, pushing herself up from the ground with a powerful burst of energy. She wiped the blood from her mouth, grinning widely. "¡Me encanta!"
"Shut up!"
Brunhilde seized the moment, charging in with her gauntlets crackling with divine lightning.
She aimed a series of lightning-fast punches, each strike imbued with the raw power of thunder. The air around them sizzled with electric energy.
Altria, not missing a beat, followed up with a flurry of golden-imbued strikes, aiming to overwhelm Quetzalcoatl from every angle.
Their combined assault was a well-coordinated symphony of strikes, each blow aimed to push the goddess to her limits.
Quetzalcoatl danced through their attacks with incredible agility, her laughter echoing as she blocked and evaded with skillful maneuvers.
Despite the overwhelming odds, she seemed to be thriving on the challenge, her movements becoming more fluid and unpredictable as she adapted to their tactics.
"Yes...Yes!" Quetzalcoatl's face turned incredibly demonic and....perverted, as she stood before them with her hands bare spread and ready to go.
"This isn't going anywhere...." Altria said, standing beside Brunhilde.
"No shit," Brunhilde snorted and cracked her neck. "It feels like all the injuries we've done to her has been negligible or was healed almost instantaneously."
Altria narrowed her eyes and looked up at the temple, ".....My guess is, since we're in her territory, one that had been remade by her noble phantasm possibly, so that she would be at her peak condition. No matter how much damage we do to her, she wouldn't go down easily."
"Tsk. Any suggestions?"
"My best bet for us right now? Use the strongest move against her, hope it'd be enough to put her down momentarily—so we can destroy whatever Noble Phantasm that keeps her being the "strongest" here and we go rescue master."
Brunhilde stared at her in disbelief. "You're going to use Rhongmyniad, here?! In close fucking range? Are you insane?!'
"Don't worry, I have a clear control over it. It'd be strong enough to immobilized her," Altria smiled at her, trying to reassure her.
And she was inwardly thinking, 'If I wasn't worried about hitting Zenkichi, I would've blasted that damned temple and be over with this situation.'
Just as things was heating up, a familiar voice interrupted them.
"Stop!"
Quetzalcoatl, Altria, Brunhilde, and the rest turned their heads towards the top of the temple to find a familiar figure.
"Zenkichi!"
Standing at the top of the temple, Zenkichi looked down at the chaos below with an exasperated expression. He was slightly dirty, but very much alive and uninjured. "What the hell are you all doing?" he called out, his voice carrying across the battlefield.
"Zenkichi!" Altria's eyes widened in relief, and even Brunhilde lowered her fists slightly.
Quetzalcoatl grinned up at him, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Ah, there you are, hermanito! Just in time to watch the fun!"
Zenkichi sighed, rubbing his temples. "This isn't fun. You're literally trying to kill each other."
"No one's actually dead," Quetzalcoatl chuckled with a mischievous shrug. "Yet."
"I swear..."
Brunhilde scowled. "You're insane."
Zenkichi leapt down from the temple, landing between the groups. He gave a sideways glance at Quetzalcoatl. "Can you... dial it down? Please? This....isn't what I wanted to happen when my friends find me again."
Quetzalcoatl pouted playfully, crossing her arms. "But hermanito, where's the fun if we don't push our limits?"
"Maybe in not wrecking the temple in the process," Zenkichi retorted dryly, then turned to Altria and Brunhilde, his lips tugged into a soft smile. "Hey—oof!"
"Zenkichi/master!"
Before Zenkichi could finish his sentence, he was tackled by Altria and Brunhilde, both embracing him tightly.
"Master!" Altria's normally composed demeanor melted as she held onto him, her relief palpable.
"Zenkichi! You're alright!" Brunhilde added, though her tough exterior cracked as she clung to him with a mix of relief and frustration. "We thought—"
"I know, I know," Zenkichi chuckled softly, gently patting them both. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys."
"What happened? How? What? Why?!"
Zenkichi wryly smiled and said. "I'll explain everything."
....
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