"Miss Ishtar!"
Seeing Ishtar descend from the sky, Mash, who had been tense and wary, was momentarily stunned before breaking into a joyful expression.
But that expression was quickly met with a sharp retort from Ishtar.
"Hey! I'm here to pick a fight, not to have a family reunion! What's with that look, like you've just found a long-lost friend?"
One had to admit, this shameless Venusian goddess had a sharp tongue.
"B-But..."
Mash turned to Rozen, a puzzled look on her face, as if asking, "Isn't that the case?"
Ishtar immediately became agitated.
"Of course not! I'm not your friend! Don't forget, I'm a goddess!"
Ishtar emphasized this proudly.
In this situation, Rozen patted Mash gently on her slender shoulder and remarked—
"Didn't I say she's an unreasonable goddess?"
That sentence completely infuriated Ishtar.
"You bastard! Just because we spent some time together, you think you can talk to me like that?" Ishtar snapped.
"The fact that I didn't make you pay for all your earlier rudeness is already a massive act of mercy! Not to mention, I even helped you against the Goddess of Beasts! That kind of favor wouldn't have happened in the past under any circumstances! We're even now, yet you dare run wild on my turf? Do you think I don't have a temper?"
To be fair, she wasn't wrong.
At least, ever since arriving in this era and encountering Ishtar, the goddess had been repeatedly outmaneuvered by Rozen. She'd never gotten the upper hand, and even helped him significantly once.
Such an attitude of repaying evil with good was something the old Ishtar would never have shown.
This time, if it weren't for the fact that she'd developed some interest in Rozen himself, combined with the intimidation from Altera and the stabilizing effect of the girl she was possessing, Ishtar would've never done something so thankless.
From that perspective, Ishtar truly hadn't wronged Rozen. If anything, Rozen was the one being a bit pushy and overstepping boundaries.
So it wasn't surprising that Ishtar was furious.
However...
"How am I running wild on your turf?" Rozen raised an eyebrow, speaking nonchalantly. "I didn't do anything here. On the contrary, I helped drive off quite a few Beasts. How does that count as 'running wild'?"
"It's not about what you did—it's about your position." Ishtar corrected immediately.
"I never planned to be all friendly with you. In fact, you lot—who have taken over my Uruk—are absolutely my enemies. I didn't go looking for trouble, but now you're wandering into my territory like it's nothing—how could I just sit by and ignore it?"
"Can't you?" Rozen ignored her bluster and said lightly, "Why is it the Beasts are allowed to roam here freely, but I'm not? Are you saying I'm worse than those monsters?"
"Of course you are! How can that even compare?" Ishtar was practically shouting.
"I don't care how many of those Beast the other goddess sends—I don't see them as a threat. But you! You've got that Servant Altera with you, and you bring a creature like that here without warning—do you think I've got nerves of steel?!"
"So that's what it's about." Rozen's expression turned amused. "You didn't know what Altera might do on your turf, so you panicked and rushed over here to get answers, huh?"
If that was the case, then this goddess was downright pitiful—possibly even more pathetic than Roman.
"Heh..." Ishtar's eye twitched as if she could read Rozen's thoughts, her voice trembling with rage. "You really think that?"
Ishtar just wanted an answer.
If it was the one she feared most, she was ready to prove just how not pathetic she was.
Even if Rozen had Altera, that monster's power had significantly diminished compared to the past.
Now, she was merely at the level of a Heroic Spirit. Even if her Saint Graph was Grand-class and she held anti-civilization, anti-world abilities—if Ishtar used her full divine power and authority, she might not win, but she could certainly take something down with her.
And if she couldn't win, she could at least flee.
She had already decided: she was definitely going to teach Rozen a lesson.
But then—
"Of course I don't think that." Rozen said seriously. "You're Ishtar, the great goddess of Mesopotamia, Lady of Heaven, cherished daughter of Anu, beloved by the gods. Unless Altera regained her true form, there's no way you'd be so scared you'd act like this. You might be cautious—but never cowardly."
That sudden praise caught Ishtar completely off guard.
Seeing that Rozen seemed to be saying all this seriously, her fury dissipated—and was quickly replaced by a tinge of embarrassment.
"W-Well... as long as you understand..."
Ishtar cleared her throat awkwardly, about to say something more—
Only to be interrupted by Rozen.
"Anyway, you only rushed here because you realized we'd entered Kutha and got spooked, right?" Rozen's lips curved in amusement.
"You don't know what's going on there exactly, but Kutha's a cursed land. And since we barged into a place like that, the great goddess of Venus got worried something might happen to us—so she rushed over to warn us, didn't she?"
"I..." Ishtar was momentarily speechless.
"Is that really the reason?" Mash caught on, her eyes wide with surprise and delight. "Did you come all this way because you were worried about us, Miss Ishtar?"
Hard to believe, but aside from that reason, there was no other explanation for Ishtar's sudden appearance before Rozen and Mash.
As already mentioned, Ishtar merely controlled airspace in the northeast. She didn't care much about her territory. Even Beasts roamed it freely, and human-run ranches operated undisturbed.
Given all that, Rozen and Mash showing up shouldn't have been enough to make her panic and rush out here.
And like Rozen said, while Ishtar might be wary of Altera, knowing Altera's current state, there was no reason to be scared—certainly not scared enough to come here just to posture.
So the only possible explanation was that this goddess was genuinely concerned for Rozen and Mash's safety.
In a word—
"...Surprisingly softhearted, huh."
"...Yeah, a total softie."
"...A softie, huh."
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman's deadpan voices rang out one after another from the communicator.
"Who... Who are you calling a softie?!"
Ishtar shouted again in flustered rage.
Honestly, she was probably despairing inside.
Because that caring side obviously wasn't her own—it had to be the influence of the girl she was possessing.
Of course, Ishtar was still a goddess, and that girl she possessed was a magus—not exactly an innocent soul.
So—
"...Fine. I'll just teach you a little lesson."
Ishtar took a deep breath to calm herself down and spoke through clenched teeth.
The goddess, at last, was ready to explode.