Chapter 328: Clash of Goddesses
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The Chaldea girls and Ishtar moved all day and camped inside a forest at night. In the morning, they continued their journey.
They were on their way to Ur, the city quite a bit far from Uruk, but it was still a part of Sumeria. So still under the rule of Gilgamesh.
Since the demonic beast attacks began a few months ago, the military force was mostly concerned about Uruk. Gilgamesh cared for all his people, but at the same time, he knew the country didn't have the military power to station soldiers in every city. Uruk was the priority, and the nearby cities only received weekly visits from soldiers to ensure things were alright.
The most recent news from Ur was that people were going missing. Nobody knew how or why; because the people living in Ur didn't want to reveal the reason. However, it was undeniable that people were going missing.
"You think the Jaguar Goddess is the one behind this?"
"Maybe? Uh, I mean, the King did mention her as a problem. And since she is said to be here, it probably is her who's doing all that."
Mash and Fujimaru chatted and theorized things since they were now close to Ur. In the meantime, Ishtar and Da Vinci walked in silence, walking on either side of the two younger girls.
Ishtar's eyes often flickered to look at the mark on Fujimaru's neck. It was gorgeous. It was glowing gently; charging itself with the ambient mana in the air.
What was that anyway? Gilgamesh for sure didn't have such a power before. It smelled draconic. Did that mean the Divine Spirit that merged with Gil was of Dragon Origin?
"By the way, Fujimaru," Da Vinci suddenly called, causing Ishtar to fix her gaze in a blink.
"Yes?"
"Is your neck alright? Does it hurt?" asked Da Vinci, moving forward to gently put a hand on her shoulder. "It's slightly hot."
The four people stopped in their tracks; both Ishtar and Mash were also interested in the conversation.
"...It's a good feeling, actually," Fujimaru said. "Warm and fuzzy. I can feel its power flowing through my mana circuits. I believe that it's strengthening me as I am. But at the same time… I can [Activate] my true abilities with a thought. It should give me a different form, like a transformation."
"I see. Interesting," Da Vinci stroked her chin. "King Gilgamesh does not have any record of such abilities. At the same time, as he claims to have merged with another soul, we don't have a record of someone else who can do this. It's a mystery; something new entirely."
Da Vinci quickly shook her head. "My bad. It's intriguing, but it's not a bad thing. You don't feel any pain, and even claim it's making you stronger. It's a good thing. As unfortunate as it is, it's true that you never had the potential to become a mage. That must have always bothered you since if you were a mage, you could have done a lot better as Humanity's Last Master. Now, it's possible, so it's a happy occasion, Fujimaru. Come on, cheer up, let's go."
Patting Fujimaru's shoulder twice, the three Chaldean girls smiled at each other and then continued forward.
In the back, Ishtar stood with a frown until she too followed them.
'That power,' Ishtar thought eerily. 'Doesn't even belong to this world, does it?'
* * *
The group soon reached Ur, and found the place surprisingly peaceful.
It was a surprising sight, entering the city through the front gates that weren't harmed at all. As if no monsters attacked this place.
"That's because this place is protected by the Forest Goddess," one of the passersby said when he heard Da Vinci's question. "That's why we never asked for the King's protection, we are fine as we are. Enjoy your time here, visitors."
"Lovely," Da Vinci said when the man left. "They're being pressured. I think they are lying. Something very… bad is happening here."
"I feel the same way," Ishtar agreed with a nod. "It's not a facade that they're happy, I can feel it, but there is huge guilt within them too. Though I don't know what."
"Let's take a stroll around the city," Mash said and everyone agreed.
….
For the next two hours, they walked around the city in a group, talking to people and buying some things from the shops. People seemed rather happy to sell them stuff, and the girls were cheerful as well. Though at one stage Ishtar had to be restrained from scavenging gold from a jewelry shop.
"What's your problem with gold and shiny stones?" Fujimaru asked in pure curiosity. "I heard you saved many people from the demonic beasts, only to take their gold and jewels as a price."
"...."
Cornered on a wall, with the three Chaldean girls surrounding her, Ishtar sighed with a complicated expression.
"It's this body," she said while she pointed a thumb toward herself. "It's a mortal body, and I was summoned within it by some crazy cultists. That was a few months ago. By now that cult is gone, destroyed by the demonic beasts. I am kind of in a similar state to Gilgamesh; a merge between two beings. I, Ishtar, reign with 70% while the mortal girl is 30% of my entire being. Uh, it's not two minds, by the way; it's just a merge, a fusion."
"Ah,"
"That girl was poor and greedy. Gold and jewels were the things for her. That part of her still remains within me, so I lose control sometimes. It's not that a Goddess like me has always been like this, okay?" Ishtar humphed, right hand proudly on her chest.
The three Chaldean girls exchanged glances before sighing. It couldn't be helped if that was the case.
"Wait, so," Da Vinci said. "Where's your real body now? Since you say you were summoned into this, does this mean your real body is lying unconscious somewhere? Heaven?"
"...No," Ishtar sighed. "We Gods don't have a body and a soul. We are spirits; like souls but are solid like a normal body. As I am summoned into this body, I will be like this until I die. And I can only die when I am killed, not of old age, even if this body belonged to a mortal before."
"...So you're stuck as a greedy swindler until death?"
"Yeah; you got a problem with that? Huh?" Ishtar growled at Mash who asked, forcing her to take a step back.
After a second of silence, the four of them exchanged glances and sighed in unison.
"Let's get moving."
"Yeah, let's."
….
After a few more hours of patrolling, the group started to notice something weird. It was the people. They were growing nervous; they were looking at the four girls with nervous gazes.
Then, as if to confirm their suspicions about the people, an old woman came to them with a few more people around her. The group recognized the woman as the Chief whom they had met earlier.
"Excuse me, visitors," the woman spoke respectively, while the people behind her looked nervous. "I think you guys should leave now. As you saw, there is nothing wrong going on here. We are doing well. Ah, it's not that we don't like your presence here, but the Forest Goddess might find offense in you being here more than this. At that rate… she might bring her wrath down on us. Please try to understand and leave."
The group slowly exchanged glances, until everyone nodded. It was Ishtar who took action. Releasing a sigh, she slowly began to float in the air. The group of humans flinched at that and took a step back.
Until now, Ishtar was covering herself with a piece of blank blanket. Otherwise, everyone would have recognized her and a commotion would have started. After all, she was still the most popular Goddess in this region.
Ishtar gently dropped the veil, watching the humans gasp, as her Boat of Heaven came flying from outside the city's borders, and she gently sat down on it.
"Humans who have abandoned their Goddess accepted someone else," Ishtar said as she looked down on them. "Tell me, who is it that you fear more? This outsider Forest Goddess summoned by a Demon, or I, the Goddess who has protected you for centuries?"
At once, all the humans nearby bowed. Their heads hit the ground while a smirk rose on Ishtar's lips.
"Good answer." A light emitted from behind Ishtar's head, her Venus Divinity acting up to give her a celestial glow. "Now, you may tell me your problems. The suppression you have been going through, the punishment the foreign Goddess has unleashed upon you. Do not be shy and speak, because your greatest Goddess is here to bring divine judgment upon whoever who mistreated you!"
The humans who were bowing, the people who had thought their Goddess had abandoned them, the humans who just regained their hope—they all raised their heads back up with their eyes shining with expectation.
"M-my Goddess-!" it was a mother with a child in her arms who yelled. "My husband… it was my husband! The evil Forest Goddess took him away, she later feasted on his flesh!"
"My father-!"
"M-my two sons…"
Complaints, one after another, came flowing out from all sides, and Ishtar's stoic façade, her fake smile slowly crumbed. Slowly, rage filled her eyes as her fingers twitched.
Ishtar had abandoned the humans because they listened to their King and abandoned the Gods. However, to know that this unknown Goddess—summoned by the Grail that the devil Solomon had sent here—has been oppressing her people, Ishtar couldn't hold back a spark of rage from lighting up her red eyes.
"Silence," Ishtar spoke and that one word put all people silent. "I don't wish to hear anything more. Where is that vixen? I will-"
Ishtar's words were cut off; she couldn't finish what she was saying. Something cut through the air, and before anyone could realize what that something was, Ishtar was sent flying into the forest behind.
– Bang!
With an ear-splitting bang, something slammed on Ishtar, and she was sent flying hundreds of meters back, into the forest as her landing destroyed dozens of trees.
"Yahoo!" The culprit behind the attack dropped to her feet on the ground, smiling widely. "It's Jaguarman! I didn't quite like her angry expression, so I had to do what needed to be done. Sorry guys."
[Image Here]
The Chaldean girls flinched in full alert, while the humans in the back trembled and yelled, running off all around like crazy. They didn't want to be a part of two Goddess' fighting.
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Master4thWall: Jaguar is canonically a girl, despite looking like that. Also, new week, so don't forget to vote!!