Chapter 263: Quetzalcoatl
"I have a question."
Ereshkigal sat by the fire, picking up a branch. "You are fighting against the Three Goddess Alliance, but how do you actually view them?"
"How do we view them..." Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a bit confused upon hearing this.
The branch in Ereshkigal's hand drew a simple beast shape on the ground. "The Goddess of Demonic Beasts had no intention of reconciling with you from the very beginning."
Speaking up to this point, she scratched through the drawn demonic beast with her branch a couple of times, indicating a lack of communication.
"The Goddess of the Jungle in the south... to be honest, I'm not too sure either." Ereshkigal drew a sun pattern on the ground. "The cultural difference is too vast, so I really don't understand her standards of good and evil."
She drew a question mark next to that sun.
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka once again confirmed the fact that the goddess in front of her was not Ishtar.
Because they had already shared information with Ishtar regarding the fact that the true identity of the southern goddess was very likely Quetzalcoatl.
Yet the goddess 'Ishtar' in front of her was still referring to her as the Goddess of the Jungle.
Ereshkigal did not notice the slight flicker in her eyes, but continued to lower her head and say, "The third pillar of the alliance, of course, refers to me."
She looked up at the distant mountains and plains. "I cannot forgive the Mesopotamia of today."
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka abruptly raised her head. The meaning behind these words was...
She suddenly had a very bad premonition. It was highly probable... that they had all gotten one thing wrong.
Meanwhile, Ereshkigal was still unhurriedly speaking her mind. "I do not agree with humanity abandoning the gods and intending to create a world that belongs solely to themselves."
"Because doing so brings nothing but pain, leaving behind only pain."
The goddess's gaze was focused, carrying a trace of heartache. "Humanity cannot escape the pain of living and the fear of death. They want to accept reality exactly as it is, but their intellect has already grown too much."
"But as long as it is within the Age of Gods, this kind of pain can be alleviated."
Her voice was low. "Because there exist 'things that humanity cannot understand' here. They can blame the many instances of unreasonableness and the cruelty of the world on the gods, allowing themselves to live open-mindedly."
Ereshkigal said seriously, "I have always believed this way of existence to be good."
"Up until now, I have already endured like this for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Therefore, I joined this alliance."
"In order to turn your human world back into a world of humans and gods. In short, I am not the enemy of humans, but the enemy of the human world."
"So, do you understand?"
"Mhm... I understand." Fujimaru Ritsuka lowered her head, having undoubtedly understood her words.
This unknown goddess... all of her thoughts.
"Alright, that's enough of my thoughts." Suddenly, Ereshkigal put down the branch in her hand and threw it into the fire, adding a negligible amount of fuel to the pile of firewood.
"Now I'm going to sleep, you should pay attention to the time too."
After saying that, she stood up and walked toward the tent in the back.
It wasn't until she walked into the tent and lay down to sleep that Xia Yu silently stepped out from the ruined house, coming over to sit beside Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"How do you feel about her?"
"She is truly... a kind goddess," Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed, reaching out to pick up a branch to poke at the fire in front of her. "Joining the Three Goddess Alliance for the sake of humanity..."
"Right? She really is very kind," Xia Yu smiled. "In fact, the Three Goddess Alliance isn't that unbreakable, is it?"
"Big Sister Kiana, did you know all along?" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked up at her and asked. "Know about... her existence."
"The first life I saw after falling into this world was her," Xia Yu smiled and said. "How could I not know?"
The first things she saw were the Galulla Spirits, but the first life was definitely Ereshkigal.
"So is this your purpose?" Fujimaru Ritsuka raised her head. "Because there is someone you want to help, you chose to stand in our way?"
"Take a guess?" Xia Yu winked mischievously, then patted her shoulder. "Alright, go to sleep. It's my turn to keep watch for the second half of the night now, so don't trouble Mash."
"Let her have a good sleep. She is a good child too, let her rest more."
"Welcome back, extraordinary heroes!"
Inside the Ziggurat of Uruk, the smile at the corner of Gilgamesh's mouth could no longer be suppressed at all.
He glanced sideways at the goddess standing to the side. "And that shameless goddess who ran away from home and came back!"
"How does it feel to enter under This King's command?"
"Who said I'm entering under your command!" Hearing this, Ishtar's hair instantly stood on end. "I returned to Uruk as a business partner after signing a contract with that Master."
"Just you wait. Before this girl becomes an excellent Master, whether she gets blown into pieces or swallowed by demonic beasts, I will revive her!"
Ishtar was clearly exasperated. "At that time, you will definitely say, 'Oh, Ishtar really is the goddess of victory, very good!'"
Speaking up to this point, she gestured a swipe across her neck. "Very good, This King will go die right now!"
"Who would die, you idiot!" Gilgamesh cursed angrily.
And Ishtar also grumbled, "What do you mean! I really shouldn't have come here! Looking at you just makes me furious!"
"Both of you, please stop right there." Seeing that they were about to argue again, Siduri helplessly lowered her head, bending over to plead, "No matter the reason, it is an immense honor for the city's deity to descend here."
Saying this, she added as if casually, "We shall let bygones be bygones regarding the damage report from the ranch owner."
Hearing this, Ishtar, who was to the side, awkwardly turned her head away with a guilty conscience. Having been advised by Xia Yu, she naturally knew what kind of stupid thing she had done.
Clearly, Siduri had completely mastered all the techniques for conversing with the goddess Ishtar in front of her!
If it were the original Ishtar, this sentence of hers would only make that wanton goddess fly into a rage, and then she would be killed by divine punishment.
But who told the Ishtar in front of them to have integrated Rin's soul, making her highly reasonable.
Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka quietly whispered to Mash, "Facing the most devout Siduri, Ishtar's attitude can't remain tough either~~~"
Mash gave a knowing smile.
"Alright, the matter of lecturing you into abandoning evil and following good can be set aside for now," Gilgamesh spoke just then. "By the way, where is Kiana? Did she not return with you?"
"Oh, Big Sister Kiana kept watch for the second half of the night yesterday," Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke up upon hearing this. "So she is already resting in the base right now."
"Is that so," Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, "then let us discuss the issue of the Three Goddesses."
"Although Ishtar has been won over, the focus of the plan lies elsewhere."
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka really wanted to make what she knew public, but looking at Ishtar who seemed to know nothing at all, she ultimately held her tongue.
Mainly because it was impossible to predict what choice Ishtar would make after finding out, since the relationship between that goddess and her was definitely not simple.
"The divine tool that once slit the throat of Tiamat," Gilgamesh raised his hand, his face full of certainty as he said, "the Axe of Marduk. This is the greatest secret to defeating Gorgon."
"Once slit the throat of Tiamat?" Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka furrowed her brows. Where should they look for such a powerful divine tool? They couldn't just summon a Marduk right now... oh, wait, this is the Age of Gods, not those Singularities she had experienced before.
Presumably, that axe was right inside this Singularity.
Meanwhile, Mash beside her got excited. "In that case, we can deal with Gorgon, who possesses Tiamat's Authority!"
"Correct," Gilgamesh spoke up and said, "this axe will become the trump card to defeat Gorgon."
"Right now, that axe is preserved in Eridu."
"Eridu," hearing this, Chaldea's Doctor spoke up and said, "in Sumerian mythology, it's the city where kingship first descended from heaven, right?"
"I see. The map shows it's right past Ur in the southern jungle... but that place is also where one of the Three Goddesses entrenches herself."
"How about it, Ishtar," Gilgamesh nodded, then looked at Ishtar and said, "you must know information about Quetzalcoatl."
"Mhm," Ishtar's expression turned grave upon hearing this. "Like me, she is a Goddess of Venus, as well as the great bird of the sun, the wind of South America, Quetzalcoatl."
Hearing this, Merlin rubbed his chin and said, "Wait, she didn't manifest through the legend of Quetzalcoatl, but manifested through the legends of the Maya King of Conquest and the Toltec sun god?"
And while they were discussing, the passionate big sister from South America had already walked to the southern city gate of Uruk.
"As expected, she is an existence of the Chief God level," the Doctor sighed. "Although she didn't manifest with her most powerful Quetzalcoatl Saint Graph, she is still an undisputed Chief God without a doubt. She is much more troublesome than Gorgon."
"Quetzalcoatl," Gilgamesh furrowed his brows, "now that the Humanity Order has been incinerated, I cannot see the future of that region called South America either."
"Dr. Roman, continue to collect and organize information on this goddess. We..."
Before he could finish speaking, a loud booming roar echoed across the entire sky of Uruk.
Everyone followed the sound and looked out from the Ziggurat, only to see a plume of black smoke already rising from the southern city gate of Uruk, clearly indicating that it had suffered an invasion.
"To actually come from the south?" Seeing this, Gilgamesh furrowed his brows, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
"Could it be that she arrived just as we mentioned her?" Merlin rubbed his chin and said, "What do they call this? Speak of the devil?"
"Speak of Cao Cao," Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression grew tense.
"Tsk, it just had to be the south," Gilgamesh's expression was highly unpleasant. Because of Gorgon's attacks, all of Uruk's Heroic Spirits were currently defending the northern and western walls. The south had been placed last because nothing had ever happened there...
Following Gorgon, has Quetzalcoatl also run out of patience?
This was truly an absolute piece of bad news.
Thinking up to this point, Gilgamesh felt exhausted to the core. In the north, Gorgon was watching like a tiger eyeing its prey; in the south, Quetzalcoatl had started making moves; while inside Uruk, there was still the major hidden landmine that was Kiana; and the Persian Gulf was still sealing Tiamat...
This mess... sigh.
But who told him to be the King of Uruk.
"Report!" Just then, the reporting soldier had already arrived inside the Ziggurat at quite a fast speed. Mhm, of course, it was mainly because the city of Uruk was small, and several city gates could be seen from afar from atop the Ziggurat. Therefore, after a city gate suffered an attack, the guarding soldiers riding Sumerian donkeys could also quickly arrive to report the situation.
"There is only one enemy! A woman calling herself Quetzalcoatl crushed the city wall with her bare hands and has already breached the interior of Uruk!"
"She is currently heading toward the Ziggurat!"
Meanwhile, on the streets of Uruk at this moment, soldiers were being tossed into the sky one by one by Quetzalcoatl. She then easily caught them, before throwing these people out like siege cannonballs, smashing buildings and destroying the formations of the soldiers who were still resisting.
Then she leaped high up, fully extending her body in mid-air, before slamming down toward the crowd like a Mexican wrestling move.
Right at this moment, a black figure rushed out like a bolt of lightning, landing a solid kick right on her waist, sending the Chief God from South America flying instantly.
The newcomer was none other than Mash!
"We're here, you guys hurry and escape!" Mash knew full well that against a Chief God-level enemy, these soldiers could not play any role whatsoever.
"We will take over from here," Ana stood in front of the soldiers with a grave expression, gripping her scythe.
Chief God level... no, in Greece, there were many people of the Chief God level. The one who should truly be benchmarked against Quetzalcoatl was Zeus, which was the King of Gods.
In other words, was she about to face an opponent of the Zeus level?
Fujimaru Ritsuka brought Merlin and Ishtar along to catch up, as the soldiers retreated like a tide.
Standing in front of Quetzalcoatl were only a few heroes.
"A technical style, huh," the dust cleared, and the passionate, sunny big sister gave Mash a thumbs-up. "I'll give you a forty out of a hundred!"
"Are you my next opponents?" She opened her arms, overflowing with passion. "You all look so energetic!"
"How terrifying, Senpai..." Looking at that passionate smile, Mash felt cold all over. "Despite smiling so amiably, she didn't hesitate at all when killing people!"
"Ara? Are you Servants?" Just then, Quetzalcoatl looked at them, her eyes gradually lighting up. "Then..."
She looked at the only ordinary person in the crowd. "This cute child must be the Master from elsewhere, right?"
"She really is a very nice child indeed, having the qualities of a Hero. No wonder she praised you so highly and admired you so much."
"She?" Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka was astonished for two seconds. "Are you referring to Jaguar Man?"
"Jaguar Man? No, no, no," Quetzalcoatl wagged her finger. "How could that stupid fellow be the one."
"Of course it's the Hero I acknowledged, Kiana Kaslana!"
Speaking up to this point, the big sister's gaze toward Fujimaru Ritsuka turned fiery. "She praised you to high heaven in front of me!"
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