บท 420: C420
Ishtar evaded the oncoming black mud that Shirou had thrown her way, yet her current circumstances were anything but favorable.
Artoria had efficiently taken care of Beatrice, while the bull of heaven she relied upon had been dispatched by the combined efforts of Gil and Arcueid.
In that moment, she found herself surrounded by Shirou and his group, trapped in a difficult situation..
As a manifestation of a god, she wasn't supposed to find herself in such a dire situation. Against an ordinary Shirou, the tables should have been turned. The issue, however, stemmed from her forceful descent into this world. Her pride made it inconceivable for her to willingly serve anyone, and the body she inhabited wasn't a vessel worthy of her divine status. Furthermore, her wavelengths failed to harmonize with those of her host, imposing limits on her abilities.
Moreover, a crucial factor lay in her profound aversion to coming into contact with Shirou's black mud. It was utterly repulsive to her in every sense.
As the goddess of beauty, she believed that even the slightest interaction with that black substance would tarnish her impeccable form.
Even if it meant facing death, she staunchly refused to be sullied by his black mud. This vulnerability did not escape his notice. He dispersed his black mud, dividing it among the group and molding it into small orbs of black mud, which he then threw at her.
Ishtar, akin to a nimble rodent, desperately maneuvered to avoid the encroaching black mud, having no intention of mounting a counterattack. Her only thought was to avoid getting tainted.
Among them, Gil was the most aggressive in throwing.
At first, given his personality, he wouldn't even think about touching that "dirty" black mud. But then, when he found out it could be used against Ishtar, things changed. He rolled up a big mud ball with the Golden Uruk and sent it flying straight at her. He couldn't hide the satisfaction on his face while standing in Uruk, seeing Ishtar's pitiable state.
No doubt, this goddess was the one behind Enkidu's death. There's no way he'd be showing any ounce of mercy.
This goddess had power, willfulness, and a streak of cruelty running through her. Yet, it was her mind that seemed off, somehow.
All she could think about was dodging the black mud. Fighting back didn't even cross her mind.
"Enough with the throws already! Even someone as generous as me has a limit to putting up with disrespect! Cut it out!" Ishtar's tone held a hint of frustration.
The entire sky turned into a mess of black mud. Even though dodging it wasn't particularly difficult with her skills, just looking at that mud... she felt like her eyes had been tainted!
Her eyes, usually so perfect and flawless, how could they stand to witness something so filthy?
She gritted her teeth and said, "This is going too far! You pushed me to do this!"
A glint of divine light emanated from her, creating a storm centered around her. The storm mingled with thunder, flashing intensely. It looked extremely terrifying.
Shirou became vigilant, instinctively gripping his class card.
Judging by her posture, it seemed like she was about to unleash a powerful attack.
And then...
A card emerged from Angelica's body.
Without a doubt, that card was Ishtar's class card.
"No big deal, I'll just leave!"
After throwing Angelica down, she turned around and ran away.
Shirou: "..."
Illya: "..."
Chloe: "..."
Gil shot a smug grin, oozing disdain. He mockingly said, "Fitting look for your sorry self, Ishtar!"
"Remember this, all of you! I will come back!" she snapped, red-faced and annoyed. Then, she spun around and made a run for it.
Watching Ishtar's card on the verge of slipping away, Shirou raised an eyebrow and shouted, "Gil!"
"No need to point out the obvious, I'm not blind!" Gil whipped out the Chains of Heaven, trapping Ishtar's class card and using Golden Uruk to yank it back.
But then...
"Trying to chain me up with this? You're quite foolish, Gilgamesh!" Ishtar jeered without mercy. With the Chains of Heaven wrapped around her, she shot off into the distance.
Meanwhile, Golden Uruk, gripping the Chains of Heaven, struggled to draw Ishtar closer. Instead, it quivered, on the edge of being dragged away by her.
Shirou shot a glance and shouted, "Arcueid!"
"Coming right up! Coming right up!" she popped up with a bright grin, dashing over and chiming, "A game of tug-of-war? Looks like fun, I'm totally in!"
She hopped onto the back of Golden Uruk, reaching out and grabbing hold of the Chains of Heaven. With a bit of pressure, she began to pull —
Snap, snap, snap —
The Chains of Heaven emitted wailing sounds and broke apart in several sections.
Gil's expression soured instantly. He hurriedly shouted, "Easy now! Easy! You lack divinity, so be gentle with my chains! They might break!"
"Oh." she nodded and then got down to gently tugging the chains.
Ishtar let out a scornful sneer, "Adding another person won't change a thing... huh... wait... wait a moment!!"
It hit her that she was slowly being reeled in.
Putting all her might into it, she struggled to break loose, only to be left flabbergasted as Arcueid stood her ground, immovable!
"How can a human have such immense strength? Wait... you're not even human, are you...?"
The blond chimed in, a grin tugging at her lips. "Remember, I'm the True Ancestor of legends, the undefeated myth – Arcueid!"
With a chuckle, she pulled Ishtar back.
Even though she had been abandoned by the planet nine years ago and thus couldn't receive support from the planet, in terms of strength, she had never lost to anyone before.
"What a ridiculous mess! What a mess! What sort of messed-up world is this? It's fine if there's the vessel of calamity and the holy sword user, but why would something like this even exist?"
Ishtar felt like she was losing her mind.
This woman was a manifestation created by the planet, based on the blueprint of the Crimson Moon, to understand the planet's inner workings and serve as its vessel. From this angle, the girl right in front of her was a higher-level existence compared to her as a goddess!
And something like this actually existed in this world?
Arcueid wore a bright smile, slowly pulling Ishtar's class card back, then gripping it in her palm.
"Let me go!" Ishtar yelled, but her cries fell on deaf ears.
Shirou brought out up a chest made of black mud and walked toward Arcueid.
Ruby stared at the black box, a shiver running down her back.
"What's wrong, Ruby?" Miyu asked, worry tinting her voice.
"Oh, nothing... It's nothing." Ruby hastily shook her head and then turned her attention to Ishtar's class card, a trace of compassion and empathy in her gaze. She knew exactly what he was about to do next.
He walked over to Arcueid's side, opened the black chest, and said, "Alright, put her in."
She nodded, ready to place the class card inside the chest.
But as soon as Ishtar saw the black box, she was utterly horrified, especially at the sight of the gooey black mud clinging to the chest. It almost made her retch up the leftovers from tens of thousands of years ago.
At this moment, she tapped into a reservoir of power far beyond what her class card should have been able to contain, dragging Arcueid along as she tried to break free.
"Huh, huh, huh?"
Gripping the class card, Arcueid was dragged by Ishtar like a puppy as they slid away.
"Get back here!"
"Don't joke around! You disrespectful people! I'd rather die than touch that disgusting thing!"
Arcueid gripped the class card with all her might, straining to tug it back, while Ishtar was equally determined to bolt in the opposite direction.
The two of them found themselves in a tense deadlock.
Shirou held back from approaching hastily. Right now, it was only Arcueid who possessed the strength to rein in Ishtar.
Arcueid and Ishtar grappled, locked in a fierce struggle, and just then, Angelica woke up.
On her calm and pretty face, traces of amazement couldn't help but show. She spoke with genuine surprise, "I really didn't see this coming – you actually managed to defeat the Mistress of Heavens."
Shirou: "..."
What kind of feeling was this, exactly?
They had clearly defeated a goddess, but there was no sense of accomplishment or pride, only a strange feeling of shame.
"You're pretty impressive!" Angelica praised with a calm face.
Still, that didn't change the fact that she had been trapped by Chloe's Noble Phantasm, now bound like a captive.
Beatrice found herself in the same boat. Artoria had immobilized her hands and pinned her down, leaving her unable to wriggle free.
She even signaled for Gray to help keep Beatrice in check, then walked and stood behind Shirou as a faithful guardian.
Paying no heed to the ongoing scuffle between Arcueid and Ishtar, or to Gil who was happily enjoying Ishtar's embarrassing moment, Shirou directed his gaze down at Angelica from his vantage point.
The fact that Angelica now possessed Ishtar's class card was truly unexpected, diverging from his plans. So he needed to extract more information from Angelica to revise his strategy for the parallel world invasion.
After a brief moment of thought, just as he was about to say something, Angelica beat him to it, stating, "I'd suggest you let us go and return Lady Miyu to us. Otherwise, if you delay, things will take a dangerous turn."
He sneered, "A captive with grand delusions, huh?"
"It's not delusions; it's a fact. If you don't act quickly, once it's too late..."
Angelica's voice abruptly stopped, and even Beatrice, who had been struggling desperately, froze in place. The same went for Gil, who had been thoroughly enjoying Ishtar's embarrassed state with a gleeful expression.
Angelica struggled to convey the sorrow she felt, but her face remained blank just like that of an expressionless mask. She murmured, "It's... too late."
"What?" His brow frowned.
The clock struck 7:30.
The exact time for the fireworks festival to begin had arrived. The pre-set official automatic fireworks were set off.
A burst of flames soared into the pitch-black sky, then exploded, releasing a colorful fireworks display that illuminated the dark night in a dazzling array.
"It's so beautiful..." Illya whispered in awe.
Right now, even more amazing fireworks appeared in the sky.
"Whoa, what's that?" Someone exclaimed in surprise.
Against the pitch-black night sky, these bursts of color bloomed like electric circuits, weaving intricate patterns across the sky, lighting up the whole world in an unmatched splendor.
Then, out of nowhere —
"Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack —!!!"
The sky shattered as if it were a mirror, revealing a chaotic, pitch-black void that seemed all twisted and distorted.
Large, small, all sorts of irregular black holes twisted and contorted in endless numbers!
"It's actually turning out like this... I had a feeling your plans would be useless. But... I never imagined it would escalate to this point..." Gil stared at the distorted black holes in the sky, his eye twitching.
At this moment, from those twisted black holes up in the sky, a strange black liquid started oozing out. One of these drops landed on a building, and before he could even blink, the whole building crumbled to bits.
No, not just bits.
It was like it was never even there in the first place.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack —!!!"
The sky cracked open like a shattered mirror, and the black liquid poured down like a waterfall.
And then, at that exact moment, a voice echoed in Shirou's ears.
— Vessel. I've found my vessel!
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