With a single strike, the renowned, high-level lv5 Man Killer fell dead on the spot.
Following behind, Ishtar was so terrified that her beautiful face turned pale.
"Who are you!"
The figure slowly stepped out from the shadows. Who else could it be but Scáthach?
"I'll give you time to release the seal on your divine power."
The Queen of the Shadow Land had shed her earlier lazy demeanor, becoming as sharp as a freshly forged divine spear!
Ishtar felt as if her skin was being painfully pricked.
A formidable enemy! An absolutely formidable enemy!
Even in her prime, she only had a slim chance of defeating such a foe!
In an instant, Ishtar felt as if she were standing before the ruler of the gods, the sky god Anu.
So powerful it was despairing.
Without giving her all, she wouldn't even have a chance to survive!
Then... she would fight with everything she had!
With ruthless determination, Ishtar no longer hesitated and decisively unleashed the sealed power within her body.
A color more dazzling than a rainbow burst forth from her.
The sky seemed to be affected, the air trembling as if to celebrate the return of the mistress of the heavens.
However, just as Ishtar's aura was about to reach its peak, it suddenly plummeted like a floodgate opening.
It stabilized at the level of a demigod.
A hint of disappointment appeared on Scathach's face. She silently adjusted the circulating power within her own body to match Ishtar's level.
In the next second, a world-shaking collision erupted between the two goddesses. The immense energy that could have easily destroyed the entire Orario was so skillfully controlled that barely a trace leaked out.
The aftermath of the battle created numerous spatial rifts within a fifty-meter radius. The rifts kept opening and closing, resembling countless eyes appearing in the air.
A minute later, Ishtar Rin sat gracefully on her celestial boat, flying over.
"As expected of the Queen of the Shadow Land, you dealt with it so quickly."
Ishtar Rin clasped her hands together, wearing a flattering smile.
With a light flick of her wrist, Scáthach's scarlet magic spear spun in a dazzling arc before dissolving into the air.
"This level of combat isn't even a warm-up."
With that, Scáthach turned and walked away.
Instantly, the defeated Ishtar was left behind, her limbs pinned to the ground by shortened red magic spears, completely immobilized.
Just as Ishtar Rin was cheerfully preparing to receive her upgrade reward, Scáthach's voice echoed from afar.
"Don't forget your promise."
"Y-yes..."
Ishtar Rin's shoulders slumped immediately.
But there was no choice. She was just a vessel and had no confidence in defeating her alternate self.
As for breaking promises, Ishtar Rin wouldn't dare, especially not to the iron-blooded queen of the Shadow Land. At least not now. After all, she had learned from her master's previous failures.
Hmph! Just wait. Once I've absorbed my counterpart's essence, we'll see who's stronger!
Ishtar Rin displayed a sly smile, jumping down from her celestial boat and walking towards the immobilized Ishtar with a cheerful expression.
"Who are you? What are you planning to do!"
Ishtar, like a lamb awaiting slaughter, looked at the approaching Ishtar Rin in panic.
The familiar aura from Ishtar Rin did not bring her any comfort. Instead, with her considerable knowledge, Ishtar thought of a horrifying possibility.
"Are you planning to absorb my essence!? Aren't you afraid of becoming the enemy of all gods!?"
"Oh~ what a pity. If it were just me, I might hesitate. But my master has said, the enemy of all gods? They're just treasure chest monsters. So, I'll reluctantly accept your essence~"
Ryou's words were certainly confident. With the demonic mutation purified, the world of Orario was like his backyard, accessible at will.
Becoming the enemy of all gods? Even if he couldn't win now, he'd level up in other worlds and return an infinite cycle.
If these gods want to die, Ryou will naturally grant their wish, making them understand the terror of being dominated by a creature known as a Player.
The gods bound by the world will one day fall at his feet, without a doubt. The only difference is whether it happens sooner or later.
"You are all lunatics!"
Ishtar shouted furiously, but the hysteria in her voice, the slight trembling of her body, and her broken expression all indicated one thing: she was utterly terrified.
"We just see different landscapes."
Ishtar Rin's eyes involuntarily showed a hint of pity, as if looking at a beautiful bird in a cage.
She then extended her palm towards Ishtar without hesitation, both to comfort Ishtar and as a vow to herself.
"Don't worry, I will make the name Ishtar echo throughout the multiverse."
Watching the approaching hand, Ishtar screamed in terror as if she were seeing the hand of a demon.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!!!"
"Are you really my counterpart? Face reality; you look anything but glamorous right now!"
Ishtar Rin frowned slightly, and her palm accelerated, pressing against Ishtar's forehead.
Ishtar suddenly felt the touched area turn into a black hole, terrifyingly drawing out everything inside her.
Divine power, experience, knowledge, and more.
Externally, a dazzling, indescribable light continuously extracted from Ishtar's body, flowing steadily into Ishtar Rin.
For a long time, the last bit of light was completely absorbed into Ishtar Rin.
Immediately, Ishtar Rin radiated with renewed brilliance, and her charm multiplied several times over, including her chest, which swelled several times like fermented dough, reaching an overbearing size.
"Wow~ I didn't expect it to have an enhancing effect. I've profited."
Ishtar Rin's smile became even more delightful.
In contrast, Ishtar had lost all her luster, resembling a withered flower.
"Don't worry, I didn't absorb your divinity. You can still maintain your immortal body."
Seeing Ishtar's dazed expression, Ishtar Rin showed a hint of pity.
Keeping her immortal was Ryou's command.
He did this not out of kindness.
With an immortal body but no matching power, Ishtar's only fate would be to be kept as an unbreakable plaything by her enemies.
"I didn't realize that Master had such a cruel side..."
Ishtar Rin muttered softly.
She then picked up the lifeless, doll-like Ishtar and flew towards the door.
...
After listening to Ishtar Rin's explanation, Ryou looked at her with a peculiar expression.
Noticing his gaze, Ishtar Rin proudly puffed out her formidable chest.
Indeed, only shiny accessories, delicious sweets, and formidable breasts are the eternal pursuits of women, and goddesses are no exception.
Ryou had fully confirmed this point.
Of course, Ishtar Rin's changes were not just in appearance. He opened the system panel and confirmed that Ishtar Rin's attributes had undergone a complete transformation.
All basic attributes had increased by a large grade and gained a plus sign. All skill levels had risen by one level, and even the skill Manifestation of Beauty had reached an EX level, comparable to the true form of a goddess.
The Noble Phantasm An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè had been upgraded to EX level. After the upgrade, An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè no longer symbolically borrowed the energy of Venus but could shoot Venus as an arrow.
The category of the Noble Phantasm had also changed from Anti-Mountain Noble Phantasm to Anti-Star Noble Phantasm.
In short, after absorbing her counterpart, Ishtar Rin had surpassed the heroic spirit she was based on, reaching the level of the mythical true form of a goddess.
This was reflected in the fiery gaze of Scathach looking at her.
She wanted to fight! She wanted to fight her right away! She couldn't wait to fight her!
Facing Scathach's enthusiasm, even Ishtar Rin, who had become the true form of a goddess, felt a chill down her spine.
"Queen of the Land of Shadow, let me say in advance that I'm okay with a fight, but in this world, I can't exert my full strength, and neither can you, right?"
Scathach's gaze was terrifying, forcing Ishtar Rin to speak up.
"Indeed, if we can't use our full strength, a sparring session that doesn't even count as a warm-up is meaningless."
Unexpectedly, Scathach, who usually wouldn't listen to reason and would just thrust her spear, was unusually reasonable this time.
"Then let's save the sparring for when we return to Chaldea."
As soon as Scatahch finished speaking, the overwhelming battle intent that almost became tangible instantly retracted, and she returned to her usual lazy state without any fighting spirit.
Ryou couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at their cryptic conversation.
"What's going on?"
Ishtar Rin glanced at Scáthach, seeing that she had no intention of explaining, and casually opened a barrier to envelop herself and Ryou, then began to explain.
"After receiving the knowledge from my counterpart, I learned some secrets about this world, including many secrets about gods descending to the lower world."
Ishtar Rin carefully chose her words and began to explain slowly.
"According to the gods, when they descend to the lower world, they seal their divine power and majesty to better experience mortal life. That's pure nonsense!"
Ishtar Rin scoffed as she spoke.
He had always suspected this but never had evidence. The goddesses he had encountered were either highly intelligent or silly and naive.
This explanation was probably meant to deceive mortals, and even a certain Oppai Loli naive goddess believed it.
As for the other gods, they probably maintained a certain tacit understanding.
The reasoning was simple: the gods in this world were like billionaires on Earth. Having lived luxurious lives, it was unthinkable for them to willingly eat plain porridge and pickles unless there was a special reason, like some enormous benefit that made them willing to give up their luxurious lives and endure hardship.
"The real reason for the sealing is that the human world can't bear such high power. Moreover, if gods use their divine power in the human world, they would be forcibly pulled back to the heavenly realm.
The pulling force is proportional to the amount of divine power used. The level of power that can barely avoid being forcibly pulled back is the demigod level, which is what this world calls the immortal essence level."
"I see, that explains it. So what is the reason that attracts these beings to descend?"
Ryou thought for a moment and asked a new question.
"I don't know."
Ishtar Rin spread her hands helplessly.
"How can that be? Are these gods just bored?"
He laughed sarcastically.
"Of course not. They all know a rumor, and the thing this rumor involves is so terrifying that even if it's just a rumor, it made them flock to the lower world."
Ishtar Rin raised a finger and said mysteriously.
"What secret? Is it some kind of creation power?"
He joked with a laugh.
Who knew that Ishtar Rin's expression would look as if she had seen a ghost?
"You, how do you know!?"
Ryou immediately stopped smiling.
"What exactly is going on?"
Ishtar Rin quickly replied.
"It is said that a huge secret is hidden at the deepest level of the dungeon. This secret can allow gods to take a step further, becoming a creator god, or even the ruler of this world!"
Ishtar Rin's words were shocking.
After the initial shock, Ryou quickly began to analyze in his mind and finally nodded.
"That's right! Only this can explain why 99% of the gods stay in Orario and nowhere else. After all, enjoying the life of the human world doesn't necessarily have to be in Orario. So what is this secret?"
Faced with his question, Ishtar Rin showed a troubled expression.
"This is the key. The detailed content of this secret is held within the Olympian pantheon. Specifically, the complete secret is in the hands of several generations of god-kings and god-king candidates. The first god to descend to the human world was Ouranus, which is the best evidence!"
Although this secret was shocking, when all the clues were put together, no matter how bizarre this answer was, it could be the truth.
"So the reason why gods don't personally enter the dungeon is because..."
"That's right, the closer they get to the bottom, the more suppressed they are. In the end, gods are less powerful than ordinary people. Additionally, the dungeon itself shows a strong rejection of gods entering."
"Is this why gods develop familias? To use mortals as their stepping stones, their cannon fodder? What a bunch of disgusting parasites!"
"So what about Enyo and the so-called dark faction... wait, I understand now!
These guys are second and third-tier gods of the Olympian pantheon. They got the news from within the pantheon, so they planned an underdog story, secretly sneaking into the dungeon to grasp that secret, but ended up becoming puppets of the dungeon instead.
That's why they have such a close connection with the dungeon and are constantly thinking of destroying Orario because the gods and adventurers in Orario are their absolute enemies!"
"In this way, almost all the clues are connected."
Ryou let out a long breath. After all, he was a staunch anime fan and had never read any light novels, so he had no knowledge of the later plot developments.