"I absolutely will not let you continue to run free. Never…"
"Wmm~"
Suddenly, Ishtar felt something strange.
Right before her eyes, without warning, a sealed envelope appeared out of thin air.
It materialized so abruptly that it blocked her view, startling her badly.
Naturally, it seized all of the dark-skinned goddess's attention.
"Who's there?!"
Breaking into a cold sweat, Ishtar immediately stepped back several paces.
Though she was a goddess who had existed for hundreds of millions of years, no mere huntress, war goddess, or battle deity, here in the Lower World, without her divine power, her strength was no greater than that of an ordinary person.
Her cry of alarm instantly alerted the guards outside the chamber.
However…
"Ishtar-sama, are you, "
"Get out!!!"
The Amazonian guards burst in, ready to protect their goddess, only to be met with her furious shriek.
Helpless, the two warrior-women, battle-hardened Amazons, could only bow and retreat, shutting the door behind them.
Now alone, Ishtar tore open the envelope.
Her hands trembled.
Because inside was written, in clear divine script:
"This is the first, and the last, warning."
"Do not dare lay a hand upon the Twin Stars again. Otherwise… you will lose something precious."
The words were few, yet each line was written in sacred script.
Her first thought was the only possibility,
"Fre—ya, !!!"
She crumpled the letter in her fist.
This was not just anger.
Strictly speaking, it was fear and rage.
The other side had slipped this message into her very hands, without her even noticing.
If they could do that…
A chill gripped her heart.
She was a goddess. Even if slain in the Lower World, she would merely be banished back to the heavens.
But for her, that was utter defeat.
By now, her jealousy of Freya had grown so twisted that she would risk violating divine taboos, if only it meant dragging her rival down.
Truthfully, were it not for the rule that using divine power would mean immediate banishment, she would have already done so.
Yet even then, she would gain no victory.
A dead end.
And now, her opponent had displayed exactly the kind of ability she had dreamed of possessing.
And the target, was her.
"Damn it…"
She flung the crumpled letter to the floor, stomping it several times in rage.
But once her fury cooled, reason returned, bitter and suffocating though it was.
"Attend me."
"Yes."
The same two guards, still pale from her earlier outburst, reentered.
Both could tell their goddess was in a terrible mood and dared not provoke her.
Thankfully…
"Send word to Samira and Tammuz. Cancel the plan. Withdraw everyone."
"This…"
"Did you not hear me?!"
Her voice cracked like a whip, her composure barely holding.
The Amazons dropped to one knee at once.
"Yes, at once!"
They hurried out.
Left alone, Ishtar finally lost control, raging and shrieking in her chamber.
And all of it was quietly observed by a tiny figure outside the window, hovering invisibly in the night sky.
"Tsk tsk. Borrowing the tiger's might¹ really never goes out of style."
Paimon spun playfully in midair, adjusting the little crown on her head.
"Good thing I asked Riveria about writing sacred script before the expedition. Truly a wise choice."
She transmitted the situation to the main body.
"With this, the threat isn't completely gone, but we've bought plenty of room for 'me' to grow."
Back on Aether's side…
"Mm. To avoid future complications, I'll need to brief Big Sis Freya about this."
But best not to let her act directly yet."
"Once I reach Level 2, I can handle these kinds of threats myself."
After all,
"If my goddess big sister loses her temper, she really doesn't know her own strength."
"And if that ends up messing with my future plans, well… as Ningguang says, "
"That would be a real buzzkill."
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