"So, Li-kun, you're saying you destroyed the primordial mother goddess Tiamat's very foundation as a 'Beast'?" Miss Guda's astonished voice echoed through Ishtar's temple.
"Something like that," the boy replied cheerfully. He wielded the Authority of the Persian Warlord, an overpowered ability he had begged from his good brother Kusanagi Godou. By continuously rewinding time to eliminate skill cooldowns, he could effectively use it as ten separate Authorities.
"Verethragna's tenth incarnation, the Warrior, has the power to sever a god's divinity and seal their Authorities, provided I have sufficient intelligence on them."
"I used the power of Fenghuang Down to awaken Mother's reason, and then I temporarily sealed her authority to reset the ecosystem."
"So... the primordial mother goddess Tiamat isn't an enemy?" Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a wave of delayed fear, having only just learned that a second, fully-matured Beast existed in this era.
Tiamat was a complete Beast. That much was certain.
The Indian Ocean constitutes roughly 14.53% of the Earth's surface, and Tiamat could convert it into the Tide of Chaos in a mere seven days. This meant she could, on average, remake over two percent of the planet each day.
Her very existence was a calamity. Once her Authority, the Sea of Life, was fully deployed, the entire planet would gradually become her possession. After spreading the Tide of Chaos across the globe, Tiamat would become the planet's Star Brain—its central consciousness.
Clearly, Tiamat in her final form was a monster that would make even Goetia—the being who incinerated three thousand years of human history and achieved a feat beyond any of Earth's gods—curse out loud.
(Yahweh, Buddha, and their ilk don't count; it's basically confirmed they're aliens, possibly even from another universe.)
If a being of that magnitude were their enemy, the situation would be far too cruel for Chaldea, which was trying to save the Human Order.
"You should call her Mother-in-Law, you know," the boy prompted with a smile, reaching out to pinch Miss Guda's delicate cheek.
"Mmph~"
The girl, whose reflexes were no match for the cheat-code-empowered Li Zihan, stared with her beautiful amber eyes wide.
What is this bastard doing?!
"It's rude to call your lover's mother by her name directly. Consider this a small punishment," the boy said, savoring the memory of the absolutely first-class texture of her cheek.
"Who—Who's your lover?!" Miss Guda, who had yet to formally agree to date him, grew flustered at his declaration.
"You were just calling me 'darling' a moment ago, and now you're playing dumb?" the boy asked, blinking with perfect innocence.
His entire demeanor then shifted to one of melancholy, as if he were on the verge of tears.
"Such a heartless person."
To an uninformed bystander, it would have surely looked like a good man being wronged by a fickle woman. At the very least, the gaze of the Dragon Goddess circling in the sky above turned somewhat hostile as she looked down at the girl.
Tiamat believed her child's words unconditionally.
"Aaargh, just shut up!!"
Blushing furiously, Miss Guda stared at the man who, much like a husky, possessed stunning looks but had a punchability index that far exceeded his beauty. She wished she could take a roll of duct tape and seal his mouth shut.
And then—
As if struck by lightning, Miss Guda's eyes flew wide open.
The reason was simple: the bastard's grinning face was now directly in front of her own.
His dark eyes, which had somehow lost the brilliance of the sun, stared into hers. Then, his thin lips gently bit her lip, caressing it with his own.
"Mmmph, mmmph, mmph!!"
The girl, now being kissed, let out a muffled cry of protest.
The scoundrel had, as she demanded, shut his mouth.
Except... the method he chose was a little... unique.
His saliva, dense with a high concentration of magical energy, flowed into her mouth. Miss Guda's unaccustomed body began to heat up, and her consciousness grew hazy.
His restless hand snaked around her slender waist, sliding up beneath her clothes.
Perhaps it was the overwhelming quality of the magical energy clouding her mind, but Miss Guda only struggled with feeble twists of her body, paying no mind to the hand that had slipped under her clothes and was now exploring a rather extraordinary region.
If not for an interruption, the surprisingly weak resistance from Miss Guda would have been overcome, and she would have been completely conquered by the scumbag.
But an interruption did occur.
No, perhaps it was all part of the plan of someone who also held an interest in Mash.
"Please have some decency, Li-kun, and you too, Master!!"
Miss Mash and the Fourth Lewd Beast, who had been standing beside their Master all along, sprang into action.
As if descending from the heavens, the Merlin-beast executed a diving axe kick, aiming viciously for the face of the man who was pawing at Miss Ritsuka in broad daylight.
Then, the Merlin-beast—who at his peak would be no weaker than Goetia or Tiamat—was unceremoniously caught by the scruff of his fated neck with a single hand.
But that was enough of a distraction.
While he was occupied, Miss Lecherous Eggplant reached out and pulled her Master away from the clutches of the absolute carnivore.
"It's perfectly normal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to do these things, isn't it?" the boy said cheerfully to the Shield Servant, who was now protectively hiding her Master behind her with a wary expression. He knew perfectly well that Miss Guda wouldn't truly reject his advances.
"Master, she hasn't agreed to—"
"Oh, but we are already dating," the boy interjected smoothly, referencing their seven-day girlfriend agreement.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Ritsuka."
Miss Mash was at a loss for words.
"But, even if you are a couple, to do such a thing in a public place is too..."
"Indecent," Miss Mash finally argued, taking a moment to find a word that wasn't too severe.
"I suppose it is, a little," the boy acknowledged with a nod.
But he immediately changed his tune.
"However, Miss Mash, can't you find it in your heart to be a little more understanding?"
His words left Miss Mash looking thoroughly confused.
"In a little while, Mother and I are going to face Goetia, who is an even more complete 'Beast' than her."
"While I believe I can win, there is also a very real chance that I will be killed by him."
The boy, fully prepared to claim everything Goetia possessed, spoke as he watched Miss Mash's anxious and flustered expression.
"So, Miss Mash, can you please allow me to share what might be my final moments with the one I love?"
---o---
ps: I weirdly feel that if I keep writing this, it's going to turn into a Mash hentai doujin.