What kind of role does a goddess of love and beauty play in mythology?
One can get a clear idea by looking at the treatment of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
The earth goddess, Gaia, gave a sickle to her son Cronus and sent him to assassinate her husband, Uranus. Uranus was consequently dismembered, his remains thrown into the seven seas. In Cyprus, a white foam appeared on the water, and from this foam, the goddess of love was born.
This beauty—born from the world's first murder case, a brutal patricide no less—rose from the sea on a seashell, brushing back her golden hair, and immediately captured the attention of Zeus.
When Zeus brought Aphrodite back to Mount Olympus, she instantly caused a commotion among the gods. The goddesses were jealous of her beauty, while the gods scrambled over one another to propose to her. The sun god Apollo offered her a golden throne, the sea god Poseidon offered her the treasures of the ocean, and Hermes, the patron of travelers, invited her on an adventure… The gods offered all their treasures, just for a chance at her affection.
Because she refused Zeus, the enraged god-king married her off to his ugliest child, the fire god Hephaestus. She then proceeded to place countless green hats upon her husband's head.
And yet, even after Hephaestus caught Aphrodite and Ares in the act, he couldn't bring himself to divorce her. The reason was simple: a whole host of his brothers (including Poseidon, Apollo, Zeus, Hermes, and Ares) were waiting for him to get a divorce so they could be next in line. To get a piece of the action, the Greek gods didn't mind a bit of green on their heads.
Hephaestus, though seething with rage, ultimately endured it. He paraded Ares through the streets as a spectacle and then acted as if nothing had happened.
For Aphrodite to make a god with a temper like Hephaestus tolerate her infidelity, and to have a queue of chief gods and even the god-king himself waiting to take her off his hands, one can only imagine what an unparalleled beauty she must have been.
And Ishtar is the mythological prototype of Aphrodite.
However…
Sometimes, the prototype is not necessarily better than its successors.
Sometimes, it can be a massive letdown.
---o---
"However, as things stand, I cannot accept your declaration of love."
The words, a line that would make Gilgamesh himself exclaim, "Now that's a pro move," fell upon the ears of the goddess of beauty whose "Manifestation of Beauty" skill was a mere B-rank. Her expression froze.
I must have misheard.
Aside from that Gilgamesh, who was always acting all gay with Enkidu, for someone to actually reject her…
That just wasn't scientific!
But when she saw the utterly serious look on his face, she was forced to understand a cruel reality.
She, the goddess of love and beauty, had apparently been rejected.
Quick, find the Bull of Heaven and blow this clueless bastard to kingdom come!
Instinctively, the part of Ishtar that was the Heavenly Tyrant urged her current self to summon Sumer's ultimate weapon of war.
Calm down. You were rejected, so you were rejected. Don't get too angry. Be magnanimous. You can just pull some pranks on him later.
This was the advice from the part of her that belonged to a certain poor, black-bellied young lady.
Clearly, both halves that made up the current Ishtar were very unhappy.
This guy is so strong, he must be more durable than Gilgamesh. So, letting off a little steam should be fine!
The goddess, who held the rights to use the Sumerian mythological system's most powerful weapon—the Bull of Heaven—cracked her knuckles.
And then, she froze.
She remembered.
The Bull, entrusted to her by the god-king Anu, a beast whose power was comparable to Gian and Enkidu combined and could hold its own against a mindless Tiamat for three days, had been lost.
Ishtar's beautiful, delicate face crumpled.
Despair.
Despair in capital letters.
Then, just as all hope seemed lost, the youth's voice reached her ears.
"Ishtar, you are a very lovely girl."
The man who, just the night before last, had commissioned "Ishtar" to propose to Ereshkigal, felt a bead of sweat form in his mind. To have "Ishtar" propose to Ishtar on my behalf, and then immediately accept a proposal from Ishtar herself… If Ereshkigal found out before I've won her over, it would be game over.
Then again, I was pretty stupid myself.
Li Zihan was annoyed.
If he had gone after Ishtar first, it wouldn't have been difficult to then embrace Ereshkigal, who appeared at night using Ishtar's body. To just go for it at night, treating her as Ishtar, and only "discover" the problem afterward, followed by a promise to take responsibility—that was the direct route to a harem ending.
Li Zihan sighed internally.
He knew that was the path to the harem "good end," yet he didn't take it. Instead, he chose nightly talks, building a friendship, trying to foster chemistry during the mission to capture a creator goddess, and then confessing…
He was a scumbag, yet he had abandoned the scumbag's methods for a normal, proper approach. He must have had a screw loose.
Alright, time to change the subject.
The youth, seeming to revert to his true nature, looked at the girl who was clearly taken in by his act, and spoke.
"I am very fond of you, and I would be happy to spend the rest of my life with you."
Spend his life with me?!
The goddess, who had just been rejected, saw her bright red pupils widen. The change was too sudden.
"You must understand, the world we are in now is not safe."
Li Zihan poured the goddess a fresh cup of tea and continued.
"You know the legend of the Dragon of Demise, I trust?"
The Dragon of Demise naturally referred to Tiamat, who possessed the conceptual Authority "Nega-Genesis"—an ability that could overturn existing evolutionary theory and creation myths, allowing her to regress to the Jurassic era and transform into a dragon.
"Our banished mother will one day reawaken and bring ruin to the world."
As a goddess herself, Ishtar was of course familiar with this legend and nodded.
"The prophecy has become reality."
The declaration that the world was about to be remade was spoken in an incredibly calm tone.
"Wha—!"
Ishtar looked as though she had been struck by lightning.
The goddess, whose facial expressions had always been top-tier, grabbed Li Zihan by the shoulders, her face so close it nearly touched his nose, all the color draining from her beautiful features.
"Mother is waking up!!!"
The goddess, who had known nothing about this, gripped his shoulders, her eyes wide as she shook him forcefully.
"You're lying, aren't you!"
Tiamat was the Sumerian goddess of creation. She was a top-tier deity with the potential to grow into a "Planetary-Class Intelligence" and, due to her nature as an "existence that is calamity," she had been granted the Authority of a Beast.
Yes, just like Goetia, she was a complete Beast.
True Name: Tiamat (Femme Fatale)
Class: Beast (Beast of Regression)
Strength: A+
Endurance: EX
Agility: C
Mana: A++
Luck: EX
Noble Phantasm: -
Authority of the Beast: A
An anti-humanity skill. It exhibits a special attack property against all beings born from a "womb," regardless of whether they are Heroic Spirits or Divine Spirits. This is not limited to Beast II herself but is also granted to all demonic beasts she births.
Independent Manifestation: B
Once manifested, she can conquer the Indian Ocean in seven days. From the moment she appears, she tirelessly births monsters to devour all of humanity. Conversely, as Beast II is the ocean itself, she cannot step onto land. The eradication of humanity becomes the task of her children, the demonic beasts. Furthermore, this skill represents "existing in all of space-time," rendering attacks based on time travel paradoxes ineffective and nullifying all forms of instant-death attacks.
Self-Modification: EX
Uses the black Sea of Life to replace her own Spirit Origin. She can grow from her normal Spirit Origin state (Femme Fatale) into a draconic form exceeding 60 meters in length. In this form, Tiamat can nullify all attacks of rank A++ or lower.
Sea of Life: EX
Beast II is the very ocean that births life. By circulating the True Aether from Earth's genesis, this sea can provide an infinite supply of magical energy. It randomly bestows skills like Self-Modification, Ecological Change, Ecological Fusion, and Individual Proliferation upon those trapped in its black mud, transforming them into her "children."
Nega-Genesis: A
A conceptual barrier that can overturn existing evolutionary theory, creation myths, and so on.
This was just a part of the truly staggering power possessed by the Second Beast, Tiamat…
One could imagine that if this primordial mother ever got serious, she would be a monster that required a whole group of Grand Servants to be used as disposable cannons just to be defeated.
And now, according to the prophecy, that creator goddess was waking up?
Ishtar's face turned deathly pale.
The Mother of All was going to lead her new children to cleanse the world?
Hey, hey, hey! For something like this, even if we dragged the three creator gods out of the Reverse Side of the World to fight, the chances of victory would still be slim!
The world…
Was going to end?
"If she awakens normally, then yes, this world will most certainly be destroyed."
Li Zihan placed his hands on Ishtar's shoulders, his tone grave, spelling out the cruel reality.
Ishtar's heart sank completely.
Then, the youth's next words reached her ears.
"So, I am going to stop her."
"St-stop Mother?" Ishtar's voice stuttered, her words becoming almost incoherent. "You're going to stop Mother?"
Tiamat was, for all intents and purposes, a supreme-tier deity. Even with her subconscious desire to be a protector for her children leading her to self-seal ninety percent of her power, she had still left a deep psychological scar on the gods of Sumer.
"I have no feelings for this land, but the people I care about live here. I imagine that if this land were destroyed, you would all be sad."
As if declaring his innermost thoughts, the youth gazed into the goddess's eyes and said, "Therefore, I will now attempt to subjugate Tiamat."
"You'll die!" the goddess, who knew all too well how terrifying Tiamat was, cried out.
"Perhaps."
"I cannot guarantee that I will return alive, and a man who might die cannot promise to spend a lifetime with someone."
The youth placed a finger on the girl's vibrant lips.
"So, forgive me, my love."
"Until I have defeated Tiamat, I cannot give you an answer regarding my feelings."
Author's Note:
How on earth did I manage to write such a scummy maneuver (stares at the sky)