"Mother?"
Forcing those two words out of her throat with great difficulty, Ishtar's voice sounded dry. Even the arrogant smile she usually wore had completely vanished, leaving only despair and deep regret.
The despair came from realizing that this seemingly unremarkable blue-haired little girl in front of her was actually her "mother." The regret came from thinking about why she had ever agreed to King Marco's request to chase away the "big rat" that had infiltrated the manor.
'No, wait… this no longer has anything to do with some big rat.'
If Ishtar were compared to a large fish in the deep sea, then Tiamat would be a great white shark.
And now, this large fish had actually swum straight toward the great white shark on its own.
At this moment, Ishtar suddenly felt a dizzying sense of confusion, like "Who am I," "Where am I," "What am I even doing?"
Gods were existences of a higher tier than Heroic Spirit foundations.
Generally speaking, gods could not be summoned at all.
Even King Marco had only managed to barely summon Ishtar under the special conditions of the Age of Gods, after expending massive amounts of potions and using a holy relic.
As for Tiamat, although she too was a god, an existence of the Mother Goddess of Creation's level simply could not be summoned by any means whatsoever.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be.
But if that was the case, then how exactly had Mother descended here?
Was it because of something that white dragon beside her had done?
Or… had something else happened that she could not understand at all?
Ishtar subconsciously looked at Tiamat, then turned to stare at Alvin with a face full of shock.
"You… what did you actually do?"
Her voice carried an uncontrollable sense of astonishment, as if she had seen a ghost.
Even now, Ishtar still could not believe that Tiamat had descended here. So her first reaction was that Alvin had secretly pulled some trick, tampered with something, and fabricated magical power similar to Tiamat's.
According to King Marco, the white dragon of Britain was extremely cunning. This was not impossible.
As Ishtar thought this, she once again stared closely at Alvin, then froze.
'This guy… why does the magical power on his body feel so familiar too?'
'Like I have seen it somewhere before.'
'Probably just an illusion, right?', Ishtar thought to herself.
Servants who descended into the world would not retain all of their memories from life, but even so, certain people and events from the past were always etched deeply in Ishtar's mind, even when she accepted a summoning.
Back in Mesopotamia, Marduk, who held the position of chief god, had led the other gods and, with the help of the will of the planet, exiled the Mother Goddess of Creation, Tiamat, to the Imaginary Numbers World.
From that point on, the gods became the rulers of Mesopotamia.
However, not long after that, a "monster" appeared in Mesopotamia.
He was called "Visas," meaning reincarnation and rebirth.
From the moment of his descent, no one had ever seen his appearance. He often followed by the side of the King of Heroes, and people believed he was a trusted confidant of Gilgamesh. Yet it was precisely this confidant who had secretly opened the King of Heroes' treasury for Ishtar, even helping her steal things.
That person always wore a white mask. No one knew his true identity. And at the end of the story, he personally ended the Age of Gods of Uruk together with the King of Heroes, disappearing without a trace thereafter.
Sometimes, when Ishtar thought back on these things, she would feel an inexplicable sense of unreality.
Because that person was simply like a "monster" that had crossed time itself and descended specifically to end the Age of Gods.
Magic power vast beyond measure, physical abilities far beyond normal understanding. Back then, even the gods did not dare let him get close, angrily calling him a crude brute.
To the lofty gods of Uruk who revered magecraft, that kind of combat relying purely on brute force was unbearably vulgar.
Of course, when all was said and done, it was really because Visas's body was just too unreasonable. Divine spells often could not break his defenses in the first place, so naturally, they broke down instead.
"Aaa?"
Ishtar had no time to think further, because in the very next moment, Tiamat's voice softly sounded by her ear.
Ishtar's body trembled slightly. She slowly lifted her head, only to see the blue-haired little girl in the boy's arms quietly staring at her.
Only then did Ishtar snap out of it, as if waking from a dream, forcing a strained smile onto her face.
"Hahaha! Mother, why are you still here?"
Alvin silently watched the scene, unable to help sighing inwardly.
'Who would have thought that this always rebellious, useless goddess would show such an expression.'
Whether it was the Ishtar in Alvin's memories or the one he had seen before in simulation games, she had always given off an image of unrestrained arrogance.
She did whatever she pleased, stole treasures from the gods, broke into the King of Uruk's treasury. In short, everything Ishtar did was to satisfy her own "pleasure."
Even in the simulation games Alvin had played, she had been a massive headache at first.
Simply put, Ishtar had been spoiled too much and ruined by indulgence.
Yet at this very moment, the stiff expression on her face was just one step away from having the word "fear" written all over it.
[Are you here to find me?]
Tiamat wrote a line in her notebook and handed it to Ishtar.
Ishtar hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, of course not. How could I possibly come looking for trouble with you? After all, if I'd known you were here, no matter what, I wouldn't have disturbed your rest."
As she said this, Ishtar could not help grinding her teeth in anger, wishing she could storm back and drag King Marco out to beat him senseless.
In the information that noble had provided earlier, there had been absolutely no mention of Tiamat at all.
If she had known Tiamat was here, even with ten times the courage, she would never have come knocking.
[Then are you here to find him?], Tiamat asked.
Ishtar did not answer immediately, instead cautiously asking, "What is your relationship with him?"
Logically speaking, the Mother Goddess of Creation of Uruk should have absolutely nothing to do with the white dragon of Britain.
Yet at this moment, whether it was Tiamat's reactions toward Alvin or the intimate actions between the two, all of it seemed to suggest something.
Tiamat looked at Alvin, thought for a moment, then reached out her small hand and patted Alvin on the head.
"Aaaa."
Ishtar froze for a moment and subconsciously said, "What does that mean?"
"He's my kid, that should be what she means," Alvin acted as the translator.
Tiamat nodded with an "Aaa," looking completely matter-of-fact.
'Kid?'
Hearing this, Ishtar clearly could not hold it together anymore.
No matter how one thought about it, Alvin could not possibly have any relationship with Tiamat.
This was clearly the woman noticing that Ishtar had come with ill intent and casually finding an excuse to protect Alvin.
Yet Ishtar could not say anything about it.
She could not very well say in front of Tiamat, "I came here to cause trouble for Alvin."
That would no longer be fighting a white dragon, but directly facing Tiamat.
"I was just summoned today, so I came to familiarize myself with the surroundings and take a walk to relax a bit," Ishtar said tactfully.
Really liked the words Ishtar had said when she first manifested, 'The big rat in the manor, I'll personally drag it out.'
Round that up a bit, and it did not seem much different from "I'll win."
If there was any difference, it was probably that the moment she saw Tiamat, Ishtar had already chosen to give in.
"You were summoned as well?"
As Ishtar said this, she subconsciously glanced at Alvin again.
"She didn't manifest as a Servant. It's different from you," Alvin explained.
"As for how 'Mother' appeared here, it's too complicated to explain. If you stay in Britain for a few more days, you'll probably be able to guess."
With so many transmigrators appearing in Britain now, as long as Ishtar knew about that, she would naturally be able to piece things together.
'But judging by her reaction, she does not seem to recognize me,' Looking at Ishtar's clear yet foolish eyes, Alvin felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed.
When he transmigrated to Britain, he had once thought about a question. Had all the simulation games from every era become real, or only the Britain era?
During the Uruk era in the simulations, Alvin had also interacted with Ishtar. But judging by her reaction now, she seemed not to recognize him.
Of course, it might also be because back then he had never revealed his real name and had hidden his appearance.
'For now, I'll find a chance to test it later.'
'If it is not just Britain, but simulations from other eras has also become reality...'
Just imagining the scene of those people becoming transmigrators and descending upon Britain one day made Alvin's heart tremble.
At that moment, a wave of magical power capable of influencing others' wills silently surged out from Tiamat's body.
Goosebumps instantly broke out all over Ishtar. Her pupils shrank sharply.
She saw black sludge slowly spreading beneath Tiamat's feet.
'The Chaos Tide!'
Even gods, when coming into contact with the Chaos Tide, had a high chance of their minds being affected.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, the Chaos Tide surged toward Ishtar like a tsunami, covering the sky and swallowing everything in its path.
Danger!
Extreme danger!
Every nerve in Ishtar's body screamed in alarm. Her heart rate skyrocketed as she quickly retreated backward.
While dodging the Chaos Tide, she hurriedly looked up and said, "Mother, I'm very sorry, I'll leave right now!"
However, Tiamat was clearly angry, or rather, heartbroken.
Especially after seeing the fruit platter scattered across the ground, that sadness instantly caused the Chaos Tide to swell even more.
"Aaaaa!"
A beautiful song like that of a siren, yet at this moment it turned into magic that devoured everything, surging toward Ishtar.
"So why did things end up like this?"
Ishtar looked up at the Chaos Tide that was nearly covering the entire garden. Her gaze went blank for a moment as a wail echoed through her heart.
Endless black mud slowly advanced toward Ishtar.
At first, she could still withstand the crushing magical pressure, but the Chaos Tide, which constantly eroded others, continued to increase the burden on her mind.
Despair filled Ishtar's heart.
So this is the power of the Mother Goddess of Creation… even as a mere spirit body, the innate pressure felt like bloodline suppression, leaving no room for any thought of resistance.
"This kind of magic power isn't something a normal person can resist at all!"
"How are you even supposed to get past the 'Mother' stage?"
Ishtar clenched her teeth, her consciousness gradually growing hazy.
But at that moment, she suddenly saw someone appear in front of her.
No… it could no longer be called a person.
It was a black demonic dragon.
"Aaaaa!"
Facing the oncoming Chaos Tide, it let out an earth-shaking roar.
At the same time, from the dragon's mouth burst forth a beam of magic that seemed capable of destroying everything.
"Destructive White Beam!"
A white light cannon shot out from the demonic dragon's mouth, forcibly blasting a massive hole through the surging Chaos Tide.
[T/N: Is it only me, or you all also hate the MC?]
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