Chapter 264: Pro... Proposal?
"Mhm, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Fujimaru Ritsuka..."
The big sister sized Ritsuka up from head to toe, making her skin crawl as if she were being targeted by some wild beast.
"Mhm, mhm, you do have some potential indeed. No wonder she praised you so highly."
"You really are the same as her."
"The same?" Hearing this, Merlin's eyes lit up. "What do you mean by 'the same'?"
"You are both walking the path of saving the world," Quetzalcoatl nodded and said. "Or rather, you are both heroes who save the world. Big Sister just loves people like you!"
"Saving the world?!" Hearing this, Merlin became even more excited. "But when she introduced herself to us, she said she was a Herrscher who destroys civilizations, an existence just like a Beast!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Quetzalcoatl shook her head indifferently. "You are trying to fish for information from me, right?"
"Although it's not like I can't tell you, she is someone I've taken a fancy to after all," the big sister flashed a very sunny smile. "So, if you want to know, show me your valor!"
"By the way, although you already know it, I still need to give a proper introduction," Quetzalcoatl said with overflowing passion. "I am the big sister who rushed over from the distant South America to casually destroy Uruk on the way, Quetzalcoatl!"
"Why are you doing such a thing?" Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately spoke up and asked, "Destruction and the like... how can you speak of it so easily!"
This wasn't an outburst of incompetent rage, but rather a way to follow this emotion to fish for more information, seeing if there was a chance to win this one over too.
There was no helping it. To fight Gorgon, having Ishtar should make it secure, especially since the Bull of Heaven was also available. But when facing Big Sister Kiana... Fujimaru Ritsuka felt the hope was bleak.
Even if Ishtar plus the Bull of Heaven managed to defeat Big Sister Kiana, who could guarantee that she wouldn't switch to her main account, turn into Firefly, and start igniting the sea!
If that really happened, she would have no way to fight. Therefore, uniting all forces that could be united was a must. In the previous Singularities, she had stumbled her way through exactly like this.
And the big sister in front of her, Quetzalcoatl from South America, was an aspect of Kukulkan and the supreme deity of the South American Pantheon. If she were on their side... a Chief God-level combat power would at least increase her chances of victory by forty percent, right?
"Uh... well..."
But to Fujimaru Ritsuka's complete surprise, facing her questioning, the passionately overflowing big sister in front of her actually began to blush?!
"To be looked at by you with that kind of gaze... little hero sister..." The big sister covered her face. "You completely hit Big Sister's cute spot, that's just cheating!"
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka froze entirely. What on earth did this mean!
Quetzalcoatl peeked out with one eye bashfully. As expected, this girl was entirely to her liking.
There was no helping it. As Quetzalcoatl, the very pinnacle of goodness, heroes like Fujimaru Ritsuka and Kiana who walked the path of saving the world simply hit her preferences too perfectly. They were completely within her strike zone!
"Mhm, although I can't win over my dear Kiana, if little sister Ritsuka is willing to become my person," the fingers covering Quetzalcoatl's face parted slightly, revealing the excited gaze underneath, "then it's not impossible for me to defect to your side."
"Be... Become your person?!" Hearing this, Mash froze completely. What on earth did that mean?
"It means marriage, marriage!" Quetzalcoatl said bashfully.
"That's impossible!" Mash raised her Great Shield to stand between this dangerous woman and her Senpai, her face completely flushed. "Two girls and all..."
"Do you care about gender?" Hearing this, the big sister thought deeply. "In fact, Quetzalcoatl also has male incarnations. Although my Saint Graph is already fixed this time, next time I can completely..."
"Impossible!" Steam began to rise from Mash's head, while Fujimaru Ritsuka's brain went into direct overload.
"Ara, ara," seeing this, Merlin shook his head. "The goddess this time is also an unexpectedly strange character~~~"
"Alright, things are starting to get more and more complicated."
"Actually, it's not that complicated." Seeing this, Quetzalcoatl lowered her hands and revealed a teasing smile underneath. Clearly, she had said all that just to tease the hero in front of her.
"Regrettably, doing that would be way too childish," she spoke up. "Alright, you asked me why I want to destroy Uruk?"
"Actually, the answer is very simple: because we were called here by Mother for the sake of killing humans."
"But exactly how I do it is my freedom."
"Freedom?"
"Mother?"
Everyone exchanged glances; this was highly valuable information once again.
Just who did this 'Mother' refer to... Recalling Gorgon's abnormalities, Fujimaru Ritsuka had a bad guess in her heart.
"Therefore," Quetzalcoatl continued, "I decided to kill them earnestly, one by one."
Her face was no longer sunny and passionate like before; it darkened as she spoke with a faint, sinister smile, "Through this method, I will exterminate humanity!"
"However, rest assured," speaking up to this point, the expression on her face changed back to passionate once more. She clapped her hands together and said with a smile, "It's about time for me to head back."
"I only fight a hundred people a day. Once it exceeds that number, I'll forget about the opponent. As an adversary, that would be truly unacceptable."
After saying that, she put her right hand to her mouth and let out a whistle. A massive pterosaur circled down from the sky, picked up Quetzalcoatl, and soared back into the high clouds.
"Well then, everyone," Quetzalcoatl waved to the crowd, "goodbye!"
"When tomorrow's sun rises, I will come again to defeat another hundred people!"
"She left..." Mash looked at the pterosaur in the sky and breathed a sigh of relief.
She was truly afraid that Quetzalcoatl would snatch her Senpai away to get married.
Just then, a voice sounded from ahead of them.
Everyone followed the sound and looked over, only to see the Jaguar Man wearing that mascot suit constantly throwing the defeated warriors into a huge basket on her back.
She looked just like a diligent old farmer gathering ears of wheat in the field.
"That ridiculous hood..." Ana furrowed her brows at the sight. No matter what, this was a genuine goddess.
"Honestly, Kuku just loves to order jaguars around," Jaguar Man grumbled to herself while working. "Yo, everyone! Long time no see! But I'm working right now, so leave a message if you need anything!"
"Senpai, Senpai!" Mash pulled Fujimaru Ritsuka's sleeve. "We need to go stop that obvious act of human trafficking!"
"Ho? You guys want to get in my way?" Hearing this, Jaguar Man's expression instantly froze. "But I'm not unloading this cargo, and I certainly won't let things go your way!"
"Reality is always so cruel, meow. Kuku, who beats me up without mercy, and that cold-hearted Quetzalcoatl, how could they not equip guards for such an important task!"
Hearing this, everyone instantly looked around at the surrounding buildings in tension... but no matter where they looked, they couldn't find a single figure.
"Uh? Where are the guards?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked in confusion.
"Ha, looks like she really didn't assign any to me," Jaguar Man scratched her head. "Therefore, I have strictly selected my friends of the forest to protect me!"
"Come forth!" She raised both hands high. "Great jaguar warriors!"
As soon as her voice fell, a group of muscular, sturdy men holding macuahuitls—a characteristic weapon of the Americas inlaid with obsidian—came rushing over while chanting a synchronized battle cry.
The macuahuitl was a melee weapon exclusive to the Aztec jaguar warriors of Mesoamerica. It was made by inlaying obsidian flakes into a wooden club. Its main body was a wooden club about eighty to ninety centimeters long and ten centimeters wide. Grooves were carved on both sides, and turtle dung was used to fix the obsidian blades, making it resemble an oar.
This weapon used obsidian because the Aztecs had not mastered iron-smelting techniques. Relying on its high hardness property, it formed a sharp edge. When jaguar warriors used this weapon, they had to rotate frequently because the wooden structure made it quite heavy. Its manufacturing craft was similar to the shark-tooth swords of the Maori, both utilizing non-metallic blade materials.
Heaven knew where she conjured up this batch of jaguar warriors from.
Of course, the so-called jaguar was actually the American panther. Although its Chinese name carried the word 'tiger,' it had no genetic relationship with the Asian tiger. It was named so because its robust build resembled a tiger while its mottled patterns resembled a leopard. Taxonomically, it belonged to the genus Panthera, alongside lions, leopards, and snow leopards, making up one of the five major species.
Naturally, they were also her subordinates as Jaguar Man.
"Look at these strong jaguars," Jaguar Man pointed at the group of warriors in front of her with great pride, saying, "Aren't they majestic? Aren't they robust?"
"Goodbye then, I'll leave the rest to you, meow!"
After saying that, she turned around and bolted!
The result naturally went without saying. After she left, the batch of fierce American warriors was easily taken down by the few Heroic Spirits in no time.
Returning to the Ziggurat, Gilgamesh's irritation was visible to the naked eye.
"To think Quetzalcoatl would actually come knocking on our door herself," he furrowed his brows tightly. "Sufficient is sufficient. Letting her continue to cause trouble inside the city will only affect the morale of the Demonic Beast Front."
"The artisans and soldiers have already left the southern market," Chief Official Siduri reported. "In this way, the secret project the King takes pride in will also..."
"Secret project?" Merlin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Mash also asked in confusion, "King Gilgamesh, what are you building?"
Hearing this, Gilgamesh rested his hand on his chin, his gaze drifting away. "Nothing."
"Is it that obvious?" Mash couldn't help but complain. "Even if you're lying to us, at least put some effort into it!"
"How annoying!" Seeing this, Gilgamesh decisively redirected his fire. "Ishtar, that fellow is of your kind, right! Hurry up and find a way to deal with her!"
The meaning was for her to quickly call out her invincible Bull of Heaven!
"We are not of the same kind at all!" Ishtar crossed her arms and said, "However, that fellow really is quite troublesome."
"To actually want to fight humans one by one..."
What a joke. You're already planning to set me up, and you still want me to do my best to fight for you? Ishtar wasn't going to take on this chore.
Gilgamesh was truly too detestable. Not only did he plan to trick her, but he was also only giving her twenty-five percent of the treasure!
The generous Kiana had straight up given her thirty percent—a whole thirty percent as a deposit! And after completing the backstab, there would be another thirty percent!
At that time, after rolling around in the pile of gems, Ishtar had let Kiana store the gems back away. There was no helping it; she had no place to hide so many gems, and in any case, having them in Kiana's hands was the same as having them in her own.
She could just give them all to her when the time came.
As for Gilgamesh? Hehe, just wait until the day of my backstab!
"She said she will come again tomorrow," Siduri said with a grave expression. "The soldiers sacrificed today numbered exactly one hundred."
"Because the bodies were all carried away, none of them could be buried."
"What does Senpai think?" Mash looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka sorrowfully upon hearing this.
But Fujimaru Ritsuka remained silent.
She quickly analyzed the current information in her mind. Clearly, Quetzalcoatl and Big Sister Kiana shared a deep relationship... This was going to be difficult. How could she possibly pull her over to their side under these circumstances?
"Sigh, even if we want to repel her right now, we lack the power to contend with her," Gilgamesh's face was solemn. "That is a supreme deity of South America after all."
"Do you not have any countermeasures? The one called Dr. Roman!"
He was out of options, so he directly called out to Solomon.
Heh, a doctor's identity could fool others, but it could not be hidden from him and Merlin, who were holders of top-tier Clairvoyance.
"Why are you asking me?" Caught off guard, Dr. Roman almost spilled the coffee in his hand.
"Don't you have Merlin over there? That's the legendary magus!"
Roman decisively deflected the blame.
"Just have him use his Clairvoyance or something to check on Quetzalcoatl's situation!"
"I did want to do that," Merlin said with a face full of innocence, "but if I try to observe a goddess, I will definitely be noticed by the other party."
"What kind of things an observed goddess would do..." He spread his hands and looked at Ishtar beside him. "I believe there are concrete cases in many mythological stories."
The latter said with a face full of smiles, "Yes, of course she will kill you. She will even deploy all of her Authorities to release her Noble Phantasm in the direction of that peeping tom."
"See," Merlin nodded, "the consequences of provoking a goddess are very obvious. Besides, I've expended my Magical Energy on other matters."
As expected, this fellow Merlin was hiding something from everyone.
Seeing this, Dr. Roman understood clearly in his heart. He simply did not believe that Merlin only possessed this bit of power right now.
"As expected," Da Vinci spoke up from the side. "I even discussed your strange points with Romani."
"No wonder Merlin always misses the initiative," Roman sighed. "It seems you have already deployed every means you could possibly use."
"Thank you for your understanding," Merlin said with a smile. "So, what about your proposal? Romani Archaman?"
"Simply put," Dr. Roman sighed, "we can only directly infiltrate the enemy camp."
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