—Rumble.
The ground beneath his feet groaned in protest, as if it could no longer bear the strain.
The axe blade—more than a hundred times larger than he was—slowly rose from the ruins.
With a violent tremor that shook the earth, the massive "hand axe" was finally lifted from the shattered remains of the temple.
Compared to the colossal weapon, the Tarnished looked unbelievably small.
And yet… he still lifted it.
"Oh my, oh my. Little master really knows how to surprise big sister."
Watching the hand axe that once belonged to Marduk being lifted by such a tiny human only made the Feathered Serpent Goddess even more curious about this outsider.
As a chief goddess, she had seen heroes from many different eras.
But someone like this?
Never.
He possessed no divine bloodline whatsoever, yet with nothing but a human body he could unleash power rivaling a chief goddess—and now he was even carrying a divine weapon that once belonged to the leader of the gods.
It truly broadened her horizons.
Thud.
Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed across the ground.
Each step drove his feet deep into the rubble, and it took quite some time before he finally walked out of the temple's ruins.
Yet judging by his expression, there wasn't the slightest hint of strain or fatigue.
His face remained calm and indifferent, as if he were doing nothing more than a routine chore.
The axe was certainly heavy.
But compared to the corpse of the ancient dragon Gransax in Leyndell, it felt noticeably lighter.
In other words—
In terms of weight, it couldn't compare to an ancient dragon.
As for its power…
That remained to be tested.
That was his personal evaluation.
Still, if it could sever the throat of the primordial creator god Tiamat, then cutting down the Erdtree shouldn't be much of a problem either.
Although he had never actually met this so-called creator god Tiamat.
"Whatever. I'll just store it in the inventory for now."
The dozens-of-meters-long "hand axe" flipped slightly in his grip and instantly vanished.
At the same time, a new weapon appeared in his inventory.
Marduk's Hand Axe.
Placed beside all the other weapons from the Lands Between… it actually fit in quite nicely.
Watching the enormous axe disappear out of thin air made the Feathered Serpent Goddess pause in surprise.
Such a huge weapon had just vanished?
Where did it go?
There was no trace of spiritual particles either.
She was curious, of course—but she had no intention of asking.
After all, everyone had their own secrets.
Still, she was certain of one thing.
Her little master was more than qualified to become a member of the Hall of Heroes—one of the very best, in fact.
As for achievements?
Simply possessing the ability to fight gods was already more than enough.
As the strongest member of the Three Goddess Alliance, she could state that with absolute confidence.
Over the next few days, while waiting for Gilgamesh to send someone to pick him up, the Tarnished did something rare.
He gave himself a short vacation.
Every day he chatted casually in the group, accompanied the Feathered Serpent Goddess while she dismantled the jungle barrier, and helped gather the citizens of Uruk she had previously taken.
Those humans were all alive and well, currently living in the nearby city of Ur.
To be honest, this big-sister goddess didn't have the slightest trace of arrogance typical of a deity.
She really behaved like a kind and approachable older sister.
Although when she fought, she was incredibly violent—attacking with the full intent to kill—she had never actually killed anyone.
According to her own explanation, it was because of her divine nature.
Even though she had joined the Three Goddess Alliance to destroy humanity, she actually loved humans deeply.
Her behavior just made her seem like a rather troublesome goddess.
But one thing could not be denied.
Humanity itself was the foundation of her existence.
Only by constantly bullying humans could she continue to exist.
If humanity evolved because of the threat she represented, she would be happy.
Even if humans eventually produced someone capable of killing a god, she would still be happy.
Just like she was now.
This big sister goddess firmly believed in one thing—
Fighting was the best way for both sides to truly understand one another.
And on that point, he agreed wholeheartedly.
After all, it was through battle that he had realized Malenia wasn't truly evil.
She had simply been influenced by Miquella.
Although that demigod candidate was still a bit of a schemer.
During their casual conversations, he also learned that as a supreme benevolent deity, the Feathered Serpent Goddess was immune to all "good-aligned attacks."
He didn't entirely understand what that meant.
But judging by the literal meaning, the fact that his attacks had worked meant that he definitely wasn't a good person.
And honestly, he agreed with that assessment.
He had never thought of himself as a saint.
He did things simply because he wanted to.
During those days of rest, he and the Feathered Serpent Goddess also had another sparring match.
This time, neither of them used anything overly ridiculous.
He only carried a staff.
And Quetzalcoatl fought completely barehanded.
The sparring match left the Leopard Person utterly dumbfounded.
It even started questioning whether he was really human.
As for the outcome…
Under Quetzalcoatl's watchful gaze, he stripped the Leopard Person of that ridiculous mascot costume she was wearing.
Afterward, the Leopard Person quietly cried while putting the costume back on.
That aside, this big sister goddess was easily the greatest hand-to-hand combatant he had ever seen.
Even Hoarah Loux, the lord of the Badlands, couldn't compare.
Her wrestling and joint techniques were extraordinary.
Every part of her body could become a grappling lock.
Combined with her incredible speed—so fast that even the eyes could barely track her movements—even Elden Stars would struggle to follow her.
Those few days of interaction had allowed him to learn quite a bit.
Maybe the next time he sparred with Hoarah Loux, he could try using some of those techniques.
Incidentally, this big sister goddess also had her own ultimate move.
A weapon called a Noble Phantasm.
Its name was Sun Calendar Stone.
According to her, once it was unleashed, everything around it would burn to nothing.
The ground itself would melt into magma, and he would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
When he heard that, he simply laughed.
He didn't know exactly how hot the Sun Calendar Stone could get…
But magma?
He had literally swum through rivers of lava in Mount Gelmir.
The first time it had stung a little.
After that, the temperature felt just about right.
Meanwhile, something big had also happened in the chat group.
A major incident.
Courtesy of Chika Fujiwara.
The cause?
She had followed the advice of the group members and secretly drugged Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane.
The items she used?
The Sleep Grease and Bewitching Branch he had given her.
But the outcome…
For some unknown reason, the cup of water meant for Miyuki Shirogane somehow ended up in Hayasaka Ai's hands instead.
After drinking it, the two of them… ended up entangled together.
The entire situation became a huge source of entertainment.
The other group members laughed about it for quite a while.
As for the true instigator—
He simply thought to himself:
Wasn't this outcome pretty good too?
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