The journey to Kutha was a relatively simple and fast one.
With only a few demonic beasts impeding their path, and also asking the ranchers along the way about Ishtar, slowing them a little bit down. And the story they gave was a relatively consistent one from rancher to rancher. With it just being Ishtar, being Ishtar, as she just apparently blasted the demonic beasts that were attacking and then took all of their money after having left large holes in their farmland.
And as the clock struck six, the large group managed to enter the city of Kutha, which was utterly abandoned with not a soul in sight.
"Yeah, I am not detecting a singular life form within the city, not even demonic beasts, heck they seem too afraid to enter," Roman said over the comms.
"That's either a really good sign or a really bad one," Andy noted. "Mer-Mer, is the Tablet itself doing this maybe?" She asked, not actually knowing what this thing was or did.
"No, I think this might be the effect of the third Goddess, as this does not seem to match the modus operatus of the other two. It feels as if death has reaped all. While it is troublesome we did not know of this, we do have to find the Tablet and leave as fast as possible. So let's do some treasure hunting," Merlin said.
"Right," Andy said with a nod, before playing back what Merlin just said. "Oh, and by the way, it's 'Modus Operandi', meaning Mode of Operations, not Modus Operatus, which means something to the tune of Mode of Having Worked." She helpfully provided.
"...Well, you can go and check out the south area," The wizard just said in response.
"Got it, and you'll take the north or whatever?" Andy asked cheerily, happy to have helped with something she'd hope to be helped with too. Golden Rule and all that.
"I will, Ritsuka you can take west, Ana you take east," Merlin said as he ordered the others. "We meet back up in an hour even if we have not found anything, as for the tablet itself, it is the same as Gilgamesh's Dingir, so it emits magical energy, which should allow you to sense it."
"Alright, come on Senpai, it's adventure time," Mash said.
"Oh shit you right," Andy said, grabbing her friends. "Good thing we're already in distant lands."
Xxx
Andy walked with heavy steps through the city of Kutha, with Mash, Astolfo and Parvati beside her.
It was mostly a quiet walk as they observed the ghost town that Kutha had seemingly become as they searched for the Tablet that Gilgamesh had managed to lose.
Though her walk with her two partners, and the Indian Goddess, was interrupted as the ground beneath her collapsed and swallowed her up.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Andy screamed as she felt herself falling, though not for long as her brand new demonic body smacked into the ground. "Ow." She squeaked. "I thought that wasn't supposed to happen till next fall," Andy muttered to herself as she stood back up and got a good look at her new surroundings.
Which was a very rocky area, that seemed to stretch on for miles, with the only source of light being floaty objects that were inside what looked like Chinese birdcages, with a gothic horror theme to them.
"Oh well, this place looks fairly interesting." She mused as she continued to look around, but now for her Servants. "Kouhai? Azzy? Miss Parvati?" She called out, hoping to get an answer.
"Urgh, what is this? What is a living person doing here?" A groaning voice spoke.
"Oh, um, sorry for intruding Mysterious Voice Person, I just kind of fell down here," Andy said, staying cordial as she turned around to face the person speaking. And well it was not one person it was several Gallu Spirits coming towards her.
"Unnecessary, warm flesh, warm body, warm breath is not welcome in the underworld. Die, die, die, die, die, die!" They shouted at Andy, but they came to a stop as another voice spoke up.
"Cease Gallu Spirits, she is not yours to take, doing so would incur your master's wrath. Seal up the seven gates and resume your duty of guarding the soul cages," And at that, the Gallu Spirits stopped and vanished.
"Thank you, New Mysterious Voice Person," Andy said.
"Such humour, the young ones of the future have," The voice spoke and out from the shadows the old man they had met a few days ago walked out.
"Yeah, it's my way of coping." Andy agreed. "Thanks again. I'm guessing you're like, Nergal, or something?"
"No I am not one of Ereshkigal's many husbands, I am but a simple messenger. My name is Ziusu-dra. And do not blame the Gallu Spirits for their actions, your intrusion was most brazen, young one," He spoke in a deep tone of voice, which now that she listened closer sounded a bit familiar, or maybe it was just the fragment 'dubbing' his words into something she was familiar with.
"It was also completely accidental, Zais-Zaue-Zieu-...Mister Z." Andy said, stumbling over the wizardly-looking man's name. "I legitimately have no idea how I got here." She then thought about the situation for exactly five seconds more and paled. "Oh, I'm in Kur, aren't I?"
"Yes, you fell into the underworld which runs beneath Kutha, now it is no place for the living, each breath and step you take will draw the ire of the Gallu Spirit, so I will send you back," He spoke.
"Oh um sorry but before you do, just a few things quick, firstly and most importantly I think my friends may have fallen down here too, can you send them up too if you run into them? We were all together before we fell." Andy asked, since if worse come to worst; she had Command Seals, but better to ask than not.
"You are the only one down here," He said as he tapped his cane into the ground and a beam of light surrounded Andy. "And when you meet the mage of flowers tell him: 'That all is well in the Underworld, so says Ziusu-dra."
"Wait can you tell Miss Ereshkigal I said hi please?" Andy asked quickly as she was engulfed by the beam.
And a second later she was sitting on the streets of Kutha.
"Fou?Fou?" Fou asked he jumped onto her shoulder after escaping from her pocket where he had managed to hide away without her knowing.
"Hey buddy, sorry about that." Andy said as she nuzzled the confirmed-to-be-a-weird-cat as she used her telepathy to 'ping' her Servants quickly. By literally saying 'Ping' to each of them.
"Ah, where are you Senpai, you suddenly disappeared!" Came the panicked shout of Mash.
"Over here!" Andy said, using the Team Scarves they were wearing to point them towards her, while patting herself on the back for the idea of making the Team Scarves into Silkies. "Follow the fabric."
Andy got a pulse of acknowledgement from the Servants, and a minute later, the Shielder, the Rider, and the Lancer arrived at her position. "So, what happened?" Astolfo asked.
"Oh well uh I kind of fell into Kur, and this old wizardly looking dude with a name I can't pronounce said he was a messenger and sent me back cause I'm still living and he seems like a pretty cool dude despite most definitely being some kind of servant of Ereshkigal or someone else down there," Andy explained in a way she thought was quite succinct.
"Well, seems you had quite the adventure, and you even found the tablet," Came the voice of Merlin from behind her.
"I did what now?" Andy asked, looking around for the Tablet in question. "Where is it?"
"Uhm, Senpai you're sitting on it," Mash stated.
"..." Andy looked down and saw that yes, she was, and quickly got off of it. "Uhhh, if it's broken, you can blame Zieus-dra." She said, mispronouncing the name.
"Andy, did you mean Ziusu-dra and are you sure he called himself that?" Roman asked.
"Yeah yeah, that's it, Ziusedra," Andy said, only mangling it a little that time. "He specifically said to tell Mer-Mer that 'All is well in the underworld, so says Ziusu-dra'." She said, finally getting it correct that time while also perfectly mimicking his voice. "It was that old man who gave Gouda the cryptic advice and then left. He called himself a messenger, and he definitely looks like the servant of someone from down below, so it makes sense. Why, is that name important, Boss?"
"Andy, in the Sumerian myth he is the man that survived the flood, in the Epic of Gilgamesh his name is Utnapishtim, and in the Old Testament, he is Noah. The one that saw the end of the World, and became the Guardian of the Abyss. You could say he's the one that warns of the end of the World, or the one present at the death of all things," Roman explained.
"I thought Utnapishtim was a tree...that little motherfucker loiyed ta me," Andy said, slipping into a strange Brooklyn-Esque accent as she did.
"Probably two different people that served the same role, and even if he is not Ziusu-dra. That is not a name you claim for show or on a whim. And the message… well if his words are accurate that does mean the Queen of Kur is active… We might have found the third member of the Goddess Alliance," Merlin said.
"Ahh, I see. Though Ziusu-dra himself seemed pretty helpful, so she may not be, Surprise! Goddess, but it's good to keep in mind, yeah."
"Yeah, though where is Ritsuka he should have gotten back by now?" Merlin asked, though he and the others got their answers quickly.
As the sound of an explosion rang through the city. "Get back here, you bastard!" Shouted the voice of Ishtar and a second later Ritsuka, Raikou, Nobu and Nezha came running onto the main street with the irate and now golden-eyed Goddess not far behind them.
"Hey, guys, did you find the tablet?" he asked as he dodged a gem that the Goddess had thrown at him.
"Yeah we did, what did you do to piss her off?" Andy asked as she thought fast about how to deal with Ishtar.
"I just told the truth and said that she was a size queen after she asked me to be her servant to make up for my earlier words. And that I would not match the size of her favourite horse," He told them.
"I have not touched a horse! That is lie told by that stupid golden bastard!" Ishtar shouted after Ritsuka repeated his words.
"Hey, Lady Ishtar! I've got gems that aren't rigged to blow this time that I'm willing to offer if you switch to verbally assaulting instead of physically assaulting us!" Andy called out. "Also I'm very sorry about blowing up those ones earlier, I erroneously thought you weren't as cool as I know you to be now!"
"Do you have a proper offering for me?" Ishtar asked as she came to a stop. And Ritsuka went and jumped into her shadow to hide.
"Yes, yes, I do," Andy said, this time holding up a handful of the kind she used for throwing. "Though I must warn you, they explode if struck with sufficient force, since I use them much like your Mighty Self, O Ishtar."
"I see then, then that will be due enough compensation for that brats words," Ishtar said as she floated down to Andy and took the stones and quickly stored them within what looked to be her own version of the Gate of Babylon.
"So, if I may ask O beauteous Ishtar, what brings you to Kutha?" Andy asked, carefully manoeuvring herself to be standing between Ishtar and Mash, since she was holding the Tablet. "I don't believe they have very warm welcomes here that are becoming of one such as you."
"I was looking for you actually, because I heard you ask ranchers about me, and I would like to know why you were asking about my private business with the people?"
"Well, for one, how could one not be curious of the goings-ons of the not only a non-hostile goddess, but one as truly wondrous as yourself?" Andy said. "And also, you were blasting a few, and we kind of want to prevent that."
"I was merely saving their lives from the demonic beasts, and blessed their lands with my authority, such a thing demands jewels and gems in kind, and it is nice to receive proper respect from someone. You're so much better than that eastern brat."
"Hey, just because you're a goddess doesn't mean I am going to give you preferential treatment, and besides you're just such a bulliable target," Ritsuka said as his head popped out of her shadow by Andy's left foot.
Andy leaned down and smacked his head. "Lesson 135 of How to Save the World 101: you don't say that shit to the people who can kill you, you fool." She whispered harshly. "Ahem. Sorry about him. He's never interacted with someone of your standing or grace who wasn't an active threat before."
"Understandable, my beauty is difficult for mortals to handle," Ishtar said as she floated up a bit.
"Indeed, your presence can be quite overwhelming," Andy said completely truthfully. "So did you just want to know why we were asking about you?"
"Yes, why were you butting in on my business?"
"Well, all we heard was that you were blowing up farmland. We didn't know you were defending the people from Demonic Beasts until you told us just now, so we weren't sure if you had turned your backside on humanity, though we now know better." Andy said.
"I would never do that, I just do it in my own way, now I need to return to my temple," Ishtar said as she flew up to her ship and flew off.
"...Okay, now that she can't hear us, Ritsuka you are correct about what you said, you just have to remember she can snap you in half like a twig with her pinky finger, so you can't go mouthing off to people like that who you aren't on good standing with or else you might get hurt. Or worse, get someone else hurt." Andy advised.
"I know that, which is why I teased her like that, because she is not that kind of person to do that, which is why we just ran instead of fought her," He said in defence of himself as he stood up.
"Dude you really need to keep in mind, from what I can tell, that's the Rin -the host- side holding Ishtar proper back. If you make her upset enough, she may actually kill you." Andy said. "Though to be fair, I understand the want to punch outside of your weight class, so to speak."
"I keep that in mind," He said.
"So uh Mer-Mer, we got what we came for, so it's time to make it back to the King doubleplusquick right?" Andy said.
"Right, back to the king," The wizard said. "Ah, there you are, Ana, we were waiting for you."
"You were going to leave without me Merlin, you bastard," Ana said as she kicked him in the shin.
Xxx
"King Gilgamesh, we return with fantastic news," Andy announced as they entered the chamber, in good enough spirits that she was willing to act more brazenly.
"Ah, you've already returned, that is good, did you get the tablet?" He asked as the stars shone behind him.
"Indeed! Behold!" Andy said, presenting Mash who in turn presented the Tablet.
"Yes, that is the tablet," He said back.
Andy lost some of her bluster at the lacklustre response. "So, uh, what's it supposed to do again?" She asked, having completely forgotten if it was even stated at all.
"Tell a vision of the future, a vision you might find helpful in your quest regarding the Incineration," He said.
"Oh, okay," Andy said, before an awkward silence came to pass as she looked the Tablet over. "...Um, I can't read Cuneiform?"
"The information will be transmitted to your mind when you touch it and speak these words: 'Ur na-nam, ur na-nam. Dur-an-ki, gir-edin.'" He told her.
"Got it," Andy said with a nod, before touching the Tablet. "Ur na-nam, ur na-nam. Dur-an-ki, gir-edin." She repeated in Gilgamesh's own voice, because she was never good at pronunciations and didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the King.
And at that, her vision went dark, and she heard a familiar dark and distorted voice.
Xxx
That King's evil deeds… That King's cruelty…
That demon who stood by and smiled as the World's tragedies unfolded before him…
I cannot let this stand. I cannot forgive him.
So, I leave this in hope-hope that these words will be passed on.
In every age, in every land, the history of mankind has been one of tragedy.
Those who kill their children. Those killed by their children. Those who know no affection. Those who abandon all affection. Those who grieve at betrayal. Those who live for betrayal. Those who know no family. Those who abandoned their families. Those who lose wealth. Those who die for wealth. Those who know no love. Those who scorn all love. Those who desire success. Those loathe success. Those who defend religion. Those who despise religion.
They who love their kin, detest outsiders, gain wisdom, spread ignorance, hold grudges, misunderstand, love discrimination, praise persecution, and pity compassion.
What hideous, pitiable creatures they are. However, when they are mere commoners, they may be forgiven.
Humans are imperfect. They endure their pain and loss, and live with their contradictions.
But what of an almighty king? A king with the power and means to set matters right? Then it's a different matter entirely.
He had eyes to see into the past and the future, to see all of the World's struggles and sorrows.
And he stood by. He laughed.
Ignorance might have excused him, but even enlightened, he only laughed.
"Even knowing this, you feel nothing!? You would do nothing to stop it all!?"
In answer, the King said only this: "Not particularly."
...This man, this King, can never be forgiven. So say we all.
Here we inscribe our rage. Here, future generations may read of our fury and follow in our footsteps.
Construct a temple. Build a band of light.
You will need every resource to destroy him. You will need all of time to forget his indifference.
...Find the path to the Final Singularity. That is where the throne of the King of Mages resides.
The name of that plane is Solomon. The end of the very end. The altar of spinning time. The hope at the very beginning-
Xxx
"Ah, Senpai, what did you see?" Mash asked after Andy opened up her eyes as she felt the movement of a wagon rocking her body.
"Why are we on a boat?" Andy asked confusedly, still separating the vision from the present.
"We're heading towards our next mission," Merlin said from his position within the wagon.
"What mission? Wha? What happened while I was envisionisioninging?" Andy asked, her scrambled brain apparently inventing a new verb.
"His Majesty gave us a new job while you were out of it, we're to go to the Northern Wall, and help evacuate the remaining people trapped within Nippur tomorrow morning," Mash explained.
"What happened at Nipple?"
Mash smacked her head.
"Sorry, awake now," Andy said, now more alert. "What happened at Nippur?" She repeated, emphasizing the 'ur'.
"Nothing yet, the people are holding out, we just need to help rescue the remaining tomorrow as there has been a change in the movement of the demonic beasts making nighttime recoveries much harder, so we're going to launch a big attack on them tomorrow that will act as a diversion for us to rescue them," Merlin explained.
"Does that mean it's time to bust out Big Boy?" Andy asked excitedly at the concept of getting to actually set said bomb off. "For the diversion, I mean."
"No I would still save that for later," Merlin said.
"Ideally, later would be Bigger Boy but okay." Andy agreed with a nod, before starting. "Oh shit, but I need to write down the Vision!" She said, scrambling for something to write with.
"Here Senpai," Mash said as she handed her some pen and paper.
"Thanks, Mash-Mash Luv ya," Andy said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before fervently writing down word-for-word the vision as best she could.
Xxx
December 10
"Morning Lady Andy and Lord Ritsuka," Ushiwakamaru addressed them as they stood on top of the wall.
"Morning Wakawaka," Andy responded, giving the Rider a head pat literally as soon as she was within head patting range.
"Purrrr," Ushi purred as she leaned into the hand.
"Fucking disgusting," Ristuka said in the heaviest English accent he could muster in an attempt to imitate Gordon.
"..." Andy's eyes narrowed, before she patted his head too.
"You fell for my trap card, now what is the plan exactly?" He asked as he eyed Leonidas.
Who joined up with them. "It is a simple one, we have normally been evacuating the people of Nippur during night time in small groups, that two nights ago, as the demonic beasts' behaviour changed slightly so that they became more active during the night. Now we have decided to just make as big a distraction as possible while you go and get the civilians with the help of the soldiers you helped me train," The muscle-bound spartan said.
"Right. And how are we causing that distraction? Big explosion? Someone going ham? Bigger explosion?" Andy asked eagerly.
"The sun is reaching the time when the demonic beasts are most hungry, so Benkei and I will lead a squad to serve as bait. For right now they will chase anything," Ushiwakamaru said with a hungry and scary smile on her face.
"Gotcha, so you're gonna go ham. Would be nice to see that, but the people are more important." Andy said with a nod. "Oh, but I just remembered!" She said, ceasing in the patting of the Japanese heads before her in order to pull out three-team scarves of different colours. "Here, these are Team Scarves. They have some minor protective magicks, can be used as an air filter, and they look stylish as all hell. I have one for each of you. The blue one's for you, Wakawaka."
"Ah, thank you," Ushi said as she took the piece of cloth and one for Benkei as well.
"And here you go Leonidas, this one is Sparta," Andy said, handing him one that matched his cape.
"Thank you," Leonidas said in thanks as he took the object.
"Alright, so when are we doing this? Momentarily?" Andy asked, happy at her gifts being appreciated.
"In about ten minutes, when you and soldiers will go to rescue the remaining two hundred citizens of Nippur," Leonidas said as he took off his helmet. "I want to go with you myself, but I need to stay at the wall."
"Of course, of course. A good defence is crucial to any good strategy." Andy concurred, patting Mash's head now without thinking about it.
"Purrr," Mash said as well.
Xxx
"Okay, so far so good," Ritsuka said as they entered Nippur. "Minimal amounts of Demonic beasts encountered and eliminated," Which he had killed himself, and that had involved him going full Darkness on them.
"Yeah, so now we get the people out and hope for a similar level of enemies." Andy concurred, gripping her evoker in one hand just in case they needed a fast hand. "Now, where are all the people?"
"Hiding maybe?" One of the soldiers suggested.
"There is something wrong, too quiet and I smell blood," Ana stated as she brought up her scythe. "Fresh blood."
"Where from Ana, Andy, can you smell it as well?" Merlin asked.
"From the centre of town," She answered.
"Sorry Mer-Mer, everything smells like blood to me right now...but yeah it's stronger in that direction now that you've pointed it out," Andy said, having not thought about the scent since she'd been smelling it since she'd gotten to the wall, that with all the dying monsters and soldiers everywhere. "We should probably do something about that."
"Yeah, we should go Master," Parvati said.
And they quickly rushed off towards the centre of the town, and as they came closer, they could see trails of blood out of the houses and towards the centre.
And in the centre, they found a massive puddle of blood with one of the things Andy did not want to see in all of Sumer. "...Welcome to Nippur. I've been waiting for you, pathetic soldiers of the Demonic Front," Fakidu said with a condescending smirk on his face.
"Shitfuck." Andy said, succinctly summarizing the situation.
"Hello, there imposter, where are all of the bodies?" Merlin asked.
"Oh? I disposed of the people last night and had them dragged to the forest so they could be fed to the young. Alive humans are a great source of nourishment for the demonic beasts," Fakidu answered.
"You took them back alive, you monster," Mash said under her breath.
"...Men, I need you all to retreat back to the wall. The mission was a failure, and your new one is to get back safely, do you understand?" Andy said as calmly as she could, addressing the soldiers behind her, knowing things were about to get ugly.
"You honestly think I am going to let you leave alive, you are my prey and my targets. Especially the one in the hood, to think something like you was lurking around. Such a scary and dangerous little thing," Fakeidu said, and in an instant, Raikou was upon him once more, and this time she was much more prepared as she had already unleashed her Noble Phantasm, so this time Fakeidu had to dodge to avoid the four clones of demon slayer.
But at the same time, Ana was pulled into the air as he managed to sneak a chain underground that had tied itself around her ankle.
And as she floated in the air, Andy in slow motion saw Fakeidu fire a spear at her, that would have impaled her. But before it did, she was seemingly teleported away by Fou who had latched onto her hoodie.
"Knew that he had enough magical energy for that," Merlin said.
"Okay, we're talking about that later," Andy said, pulling the trigger and summoning Ahriman who then shot forward and fired an Eigaon at Enkidu immediately.
"The hell is this? And the hell is that animal?" She heard him asked as his body got slightly singed by the attack.
And as they prepared to attack again as the soldiers ran away, they all felt the ground shake beneath them.
"No, no she came straight here? This wasn't the plan. Has she no restraint!?" Fakeidu asked.
Andy, taking the opportunity, directed Ahriman to get another point-blank Eigaon at the Play-Don't as he was distracted.
"Argh," He grunted out in pain, though at that moment the ground quite simply exploded as something large came out of the ground.
Smoke and dust-covered up the being but Andy could tell that it was currently towering over all of them. And that it possessed a massive snake-like tail, though before she had a chance to ponder the dust was blown away by a massive set of wings that revealed the face of who Andy easily guessed was the Goddess of Demonic Beasts.
And as she saw it fully, she felt her heart drop.
Because that wasn't Echidna.
That was Echidna's grandma.
"Gorgon!?"
"Welp we're fucked," Andy heard Ritsuka, and in that instant, she also saw Gorgon's tail move at speeds she did not expect and crushed most of the soldiers that were running and also blocking the main street.
"Archaman hurry with the analysis of that thing, it might be hard to believe, but that is a Servant," Merlin said in a serious tone of voice.
For some reason, in Andy's shocked stupor, that managed to click something deep within the primal part of her brain into place. "She will be mine." She thought, and then her brain proceeded to properly reboot, and she remembered what the hell was going on. "Parvati! Use your Noble Phantasm! Everyone else, run!"
"Trishula Shakti!" The Lancer shouted, and a giant bolt of lightning descended from the heaven's and struck the Servant.
And they booked it the second it did, all while Roman gave the information he could. "Well, she is a Divine-Spirit Class Servant of the Avenger Class, and she currently has a size of about two hundred meters with her upper body being twenty."
Though the second they jumped over her tail, their bodies seized to move.
"Now where do you think you're going little humans?" Spoke the sultry voice of Gorgon.
"Away?" Andy squeaked, her whole body frozen while internally she did her best imitation of an air-raid siren, which is to say, screaming. She wasn't sure how she could speak, but no part of her body was responding to her demands to fucking move, holy fuck.
"Now, now you aren't supposed to do that, you're supposed to prostrate yourself before me, Mother of Demonic Beasts, Tiamat," Gorgon spoke, addressing herself as Tiamat for some reason.
"I am glad to see that you are well Mother," Andy heard Fakeidu say. "Nice to see that you're finally awake. You know that the plan was to wait until the Day of Rebirth before you showed yourself."
"Ah, but I wanted to see what my dearest child was playing with. So these are the Chaldeans? The humans that cling to their pathetic history. I had expected them to be different, but they are the same as any other human. Small. Insignificant, and most of all fragile creatures," Gorgon spoke. "I do not know how lifelike yours managed to come this far? You're unworthy of tormenting, of killing, even of being turned to stone by my gaze. You would probably not even taste very good… But I am so very hungry right now, so you can rejoice, now last Masters of humanity would you taste sweet or sour?"
"I will not let you Wandering Tales of Shana-oh: Hoemaru!" Andy heard the voice of Ushiwakamaru shout, and a second later they heard Gorgon scream in pain.
"How dare you wound my face!" And in that instant whatever paralysis that had bound them in place ceased to work.
"Lord Ritsuka, Lady Andy, please get to safety and return to the Northern Wall, I will keep her occupied!"
"RUN RUN RUN!" Andy shouted out to anyone who was still alive, picking up Mash and Astolfo, who were both significantly slower than her new demon body in terms of running speed, and dead-on sprinting towards the wall, switching into Better Demon Mode for the first time for a little extra boost.
She could feel the mana pumping through her veins as she pushed herself to the limit to get the fuck away from Gorgon-that's-also-Tiamat-somehow. Never before has her trigger for using mana been so appropriate as she ran, pushing herself towards the speed of actual lightning as close as she could in the hopes of surviving.
Andy hoped Ritsuka had been able to hitch a ride in her shadow, but at the moment her priority was getting to that wall; Ritsuka was the only one who could hide directly under literally anyone's noses after all. Some part of her winced at hearing the shouts and screams whiz past her, the screaming, laser beam shooting, roars from behind her that got only one single quick glance to confirm it.
And still, she ran.
She ran until she ran straight into the large gate that was in the middle of the Northern Wall in her panic-induced tunnel-vision.
Which was closed.
"How do we get through?!" Andy asked panickingly, hoping either A. One of her partners would know, B. Someone would open it for them, or C. God or literally anyone would come down and help fix her current problems.
And it was a mix of B. and C. As the gate opened up and Leonidas came through.
"What happened, where are the civilians?" The spartan asked.
"Gorgon-Tiamat-Godzilla-BIG, Ushi distracted it, everyone else ran, don't know, probably all gonna die," Andy explained rapidly, forgoing proper sentence structure to get across her point.
"Gorgon, so that is the true identity of the Goddess of Demonic Beasts, how fitting."
"Guess, it kinda is but, everyone she is coming, and I can no longer detect Ushiwakamaru's Spirit Origin," Roman's voice said. "She is going to emerge from the ground now!"
And in that instant Gorgon's body did exactly what Roman had just said would happen.
"Did you think you little ants could escape from me? Well, it seems I am going to have to burn this wall down to ash and turn you all to stone," She spoke, and Andy heard every single soldier present on the wall panic.
And so did Merlin. "Wah, you have to project me, Andy, that is my only weakness!" The wizard declared.
"Oh so noisy, die!" Gorgon shouted, and Andy watched as a beam of dark energy was fired from her eyes.
"I will not let you! Molon Labe!" Leonidas declared as he jumped forward. "Thermopylae Enomotia!" He shouted as he manifested his three hundred men that created a barrier that blocked the attack. But Gorgon continued to fire her beam of petrification as one by one the three hundred shields were destroyed. "You shall not pass! Monstrous woman transformed by Athena, and killer of men. You are the monster born from the youngest sister of the Shapeless Isles, that has taken the Authority of the Primordial Mother of Sumer, which is why I Leonidas declare that you will lose Composite Deity, the Great Demonic Beast, Gorgon!"
Leonidas shouted as the last shield was broken and the same time Gorgon's attack ended, and in that instant, the spartan hurled his spear at Gorgon, and it pierced right through her. Creating a sizable hole in her stomach.
"Heh, I could deflect the physical heat of her attack, but I couldn't block the curse," The man said, and Andy watched as the man's body turned to stone, and crumbled into pieces.
"Urgh to think that Spartan could hurt me, even had the gall to call me by that name, but it was not enough," She said, and they saw her wound heal up almost instantly. "I have played around enough here me, my Demonic Beasts, the time has come, let us assault and destroy Uruk, and claim the head of the king!"
"And now the situation got from bad to worse somehow," Ritsuka muttered as they hid inside the gate. For Andy had overtaxed her body and it needed to cool down before she could move again.
But before anyone could say anything, Fakeidu came into view and spoke which halted Gorgon's movements.
"Please wait. Isn't that a little short-sighted, Mother?"
"What?"
"Conquering Uruk is only a small step. Isn't the real issue the other Goddesses, rather than the humans?" Fakeidu asked Gorgon who looked down at her(?) child. "The alliance is dissolved once Uruk falls. The second generation is reserved for those coming battles. 100000 offspring await birth in the Blood Fort. Until they're born, the Three Goddess Alliance must continue. Besides, ending it like this won't be satisfying," He spoke with a face brimming with sadism. "...We should take our time tormenting humans. They took away the beasts' land and young. They oppressed Mother. They forgot everything… Flames of hatred do not burn without a target. You cannot possibly discard hatred so easily." Fakeidu face got softer. "Mother, you are no longer a Greek Goddess, you are an incarnation of Tiamat, a god of Mesopotamia. So, please think it over. Return to your Blood Fort."
"...Be grateful of the restraint my son shows, humans. However, your fated destruction still looms. Ten dawns from now, we will destroy Uruk. If you value your lives, flee to the ends of the earth. You can escape that is!" Gorgon shouted and soon after she burrowed into the ground.
"...Whew, thankfully she retreated," Fakeidu said as he landed on the ground. "Life is hard when you have such an unreasonable parent, and you can come out now Masters of Chaldea. Don't worry, I won't kill you just yet."
A not-tired-at-all looking Andy walked out from cover alone. "Well, since you've saved us, sure," Andy said.
"Nice puppet, but thank you is appreciated, though don't think I did out of some form of empathy, I just needed to have Mother refocus on our goal, killing all of you would be troublesome as the other two Goddesses would be quite upset at that."
"Why do they want us alive? Not that I'm complaining of course." Andy said through the fake, the real one still catching her breath back with everyone else.
"Well, not you specifically, more that too many dying at once would be troublesome for them, now don't you have any more important questions to ask? I am finding myself in a charitable mood, now that Mother has gone back home," Fakeidu said with a dark smile on his face.
"Sure. What's your actual name? And who hurt you?" Andy asked.
"I guess there is no longer a reason to hide. I am just like the demonic beasts, a creation of Mother, I am the prototype of the new humanity meant to replace you after you've been annihilated. My powers and body were based upon that the strongest weapon, but my true name is that of Kingu," Kingu announced himself.
"Kingu! That is the name of God that led Tiamat's children in the original myth," Roman's voice said in a shocked voice.
"Right. But I am not a reincarnation or anything stupid like that. That Kingu was a failure, who feared Marduk, and fled. There was no need to revive such a coward. And unlike him, I am a perfect being. It would not be wrong to call me the ultimate lifeform, the new and perfect human."
"Okay, Junior," Andy said with a nod.
"You continue to jest even in the face of armageddon, good thing such a flaw does not exist within me," Kingu said as he flew away.
Andy watched him leave, and the moment Kingu was gone entirely, melted into Silkies that slithered their way back to the real Andy. "Okay, we need to get back to Uruk like immediately and inform the King of this shit. But before that, headcount. Who made it okay?" She asked, massaging her temples to alleviate the mana-stress headache.
"We're all fine," Ritsuka said as he collapsed against the wall. With Nobu, Raikou and Nezha looking mightily ashamed.
"I am fine too Senpai," Mash said.
"Fine, fine," Astolfo said in a sombre tone.
While Parvati looked down with sadness in her eyes.
"Wait, where's Ana?" Andy asked.
"Cath Palug got her back to Uruk, with that trick of his," Merlin said.
"Oh, okay, as long as she's safe… also, she's either Persues or young Medusa, now that I'm thinking about it," Andy stated.
"So you figured it out? Then please don't mention it to her face," Merlin said.
"Any reason for that? Touchy subject, or is she just trying to be 'stealthy'?" Andy asked.
"A bit of both," He said as an answer.
"Gotcha," Andy said with a nod. "Is there anything else that needs me specifically? If not, I'm going to pass out now. Ritsuka's in charge when that happens."
"Shhh, just rest Senpai," Mash said in a comforting voice.
"I'm taking that as a no." Andy agreed with a nod, before slapping a paper talisman with the Kanji for 'sleep' on her forehead and losing consciousness; a gift from Tamamo for dreamless sleep.
xxx
December 11
"You all had quite the harrowing day yesterday, did you not?" Gilgamesh asked as they all stood in the throne room.
"Unfortunately, yes," Andy said simply. "The only good news we bear is information...oh, and I forgot to tell you yesterday, I've figured out how to pacify Ishtar whenever she rolls around with like, no cost, so we might be able to turn her on the Three-Goddess Alliance with some more bribery and praise, which obviously I would be doing the latter for everyone's benefit, since I know that's not your thing O' King," Andy explained, Tired Brain Rambling kicking in.
And he just ignored her ramblings. "So the true identity of the Goddess of Demonic Beasts is the Greek monster Gorgon, and she will attack in nine days? Is that correct, Merlin?"
"It is your majesty, our adversary is Gorgon who has used Solomon's Grail to reclaim her divine might, and getting Tiamat's Authority Potnia Theron from it," Merlin said.
"So an exiled Goddess returns as one of vengeance, huh? I would rather have her destroy the Greek World than my place, but I think that would be too bitter of a pill to swallow even for her, so this was her next best target," Gilgamesh said.
"Also, we've discovered that the being possessing Enkidu's body is essentially Kingu Junior, who considers Gorgon his mother since he was formed fully by her it seems, since he directly stated he isn't the original Kingu, if that helps at all," Andy explained.
"Hmm," Was all Gilgamesh said in response to that. "Though now that Gorgon has been so kind to reveal herself, and give us a time limit, we can now launch a proper counter-attack, and for that, we're going to need two weapons."
"And what would those be, O' King of Bling?" Andy asked, already guessing one was Ana's scythe- since it was indubitably Harpe regardless of her identity- and also playing along for the drama.
"The second is the axe of Marduk, we need to retrieve that, so that we can use it to destroy the Blood Fort and limit her power. Though we probably need to go through the Jungle Goddess to get it," Gilgamesh said. "The first is the buzzingly annoying Goddess that has been harassing me, but as you have found out, she has a very obvious weakness."
"Several weaknesses, actually, as we've found, but I know which one you're referring to." Andy corrected.
"Yes, Ishtar has an extreme love for gems and precious stones. But she lacks the Golden Rule, so treasures do not come to her naturally, so she has to be given them via offerings. So Andy and Ritsuka," Gilgamesh said as the Gate of Babylon opened up and out fell large bags filled with various gemstones. "I want you to go to Mt. Ebih and buy me a Goddess."
Xxx
A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my P A Treon. com (slash) StreamingViking and read commissioned stories. Along with voting for which stories will be updated next via Polls. And chapters before they are released here.
