...Hello there. Is anyone waiting for this?

Here we go!

Chapter 6 Daily Life of Kid Gil (c): feat. Landmine Goddess

Now...since that potential crisis was averted...

After bidding Shamhat farewell, and with two ancestral Hassans at my beck and call, it was now time to meet up with my patron goddess.

'Open up the most recent quest.', I mentally commanded.

[QUEST 33: 'Pleasure a Goddess']

[ DIFFICULTY: ?
DETAIL: Befriend thy Hoe! Gain her unshakable patronage!
REWARD: Massively Increase Bond Levels with Ishtar
FAILURE: Massively Decrease Bond Levels with Ishtar and the gods, High chances of War, and extremely high chance of permanent death in several years]

While I hoped with my entire being that this wasn't true, reality was always a sucker for tragedies.

For those who don't understand why this was such a deathtrap...well, I'll give you one word: Dumuzid.

Ok, to be fair, according to one interpretation from the numerous myths where Dumuzid celebrated Ishtar's imprisonment in the underworld, one can argue that Dumuzid deserved to get sent to the underworld...but her other lovers before him?

You would be lucky if she just loses interest and casts you aside like you didn't even exist. Worst case scenario, you would be fed alive to some wild beast or get turned into the wild beast itself, just for the kicks.

And that's not even mentioning the one time she forced a shepherd to sacrifice his own son in a ritual in her honor, which she then proceeded to turn him into a wolf once she was done torturing him.

Also, being the goddess of both warfare and love wasn't something to be scoffed at. She was aggressively passionate to the point it was almost legendary, and I put emphasis on 'aggressive'. She might love you dearly for one day, and peel off your skin in the next.

That was how divine nature differed from human nature. You could even argue she set the milestone for the Greek pantheon in terms of casual acts of cruelty.

The Ishtar from Fate/Grand Order was heavily affected by Rin's personality, making her a rather likable goddess. I had no such fortune.

What were the main differences?

First, imagine the Rin-faced Ishtar. Then replace Rin's eyes, expression, and body with Scathach's. Or Esdeath from Akame ga Kill. Either works. Then pour an unhealthy dose of sadism, a dash of extreme narcissism, and extremely questionable morals into her psychology.

This, is what a 100% pure Ishtar looks like. A goddess that would, quite literally, toss her lover to the wolves if she so much as gets bored of his company.

Yes, I imagine you wouldn't want to come a hundred kilometers near her, much less spend time with her.

And I needed to win her patronage. Lucky me. Fuck.

Motioning for Siduri to stay back, I glanced up at the long rows of stone steps that led to the entrance of her grand palace.

With a low sigh, I rubbed my face once and closed my eyes. I needed to get my head in the game.

When I opened my eyes again, I was the bright-eyed, cute golden boy that Ishtar had grown to like.

"It's show time.", I whispered.

For Ishtar, Prince Gilgamesh was...fascinating.

She had first met the Babylonian prince by complete accident, when she was chasing after a particularly colorful swallow-like bird, which she at first sought to catch unharmed, but had soon grown too irritated to bother taking it in alive after chasing it for an entire day.

Frustrated and murderous, the infuriated goddess was about to shoot her mighty interdimensional bow (consequences be damned), when a massive pillar of immense force tore through the skies and severed the very space, opening up a gap in the dimensions that overlay the worlds, and forcing a virtual dislocation of space-time into the reality before her very eyes.

The compressed and intertwined stratifications of wind seemed to warp and twist within itself, creating an ear-blasting groan that could be compared to the screams of a dying planet.

In all honesty, even Ishtar, who was one of the haughtiest, most prideful, and most arrogant even among the gods, was shocked beyond speechless.

And her shock was far from over.

Imagine her surprise when she went to look for the cause, only to find a young, dashing prince of a boy who was sweating from head to toe with a somewhat rigid smile plastered onto his face.

When she asked what in hell's name was that phenomenon, he replied with one, simple sentence:

"It was by Ea's will that I sought to cleave the Swallow who traverses the fabric of space."

It was only then she noticed the Sword of Rapture and who wielded it. Gilgamesh, the wildcard that even Anu himself couldn't control.

Her amazement didn't end there.

"My Lady, I believe you have dropped this."

Gilgamesh held out to her a feather that sparkled with traces of arcane light. Ishtar blinked, confused.

She would have remembered if such a colorful feather was in her possession. It was after some close inspection that she knew what it was.

It was the most gorgeous feather of the swallow she had been chasing! The very reason she had set her eyes on the infernal bird in the first place!

Ishtar took the feather from Gilgamesh's outreached hand with a smile. Her smile widened when she noticed how Gilgamesh merely shrugged off the seductive gaze she shot at him and smiled brightly right back at her instead.

A gaze which contained a portion of her divine authority over lust.

She should have been offended by the brazen act of defiance against her authority, yet those sparkling crimson-gold eyes that overshone the most glamourous of gems made it impossible for her to stay angry.

Ishtar licked her lips, like a starving lioness before her next meal.

Indeed, she had found her greatest entertainment. A tantalizing mystery yet to be solved.

"...Gilgamesh..."

Back from her reverie, Ishtar gently swirled the jar of fruit wine which Gilgamesh had gifted her as a sign of friendship.

Yes, he was an enigma in how different he was compared to all the men she had met till now, both mortal and immortal, but that wasn't what most caught her interest.

It was the fact that he was seemingly unfazed by her aura of lust and her mesmerizing beauty, so unaffected to the point that he had the nerve to relax in her presence, going so far as to actually reverse-charm her with his attractive yet innocent gaze that seemed to pierce her soul.

It was the fact that he then captivated her with his adorable smile that nearly melted her heart, causing her heart to race in anticipation whenever she thought about her next meeting with him, like a virgin girl before her first love.

It was the fact that he was surprisingly respectful for one soon-to-be-king and demigod, whose creation was blessed by the entire Babylonian Pantheon, and how she actually liked the way he treated her in an almost easy-going manner that somewhat reminded her of her late husband Dumuzid (he was an asshole but he did have his charms, and technically he wasn't permanently dead, but whatever).

To top it all off, it was the fact that he had what Dumuzid did not, and would never have.

The one, absolute, law in this entire world, grasped tightly within his hands.

Raw, Overwhelming, Power.

The Rule Above All.

"...Gilgamesh..."

Ishtar let out a heated sigh as she swirled her jar of wine which she got into the habit of cradling atop her lap like a newborn baby. Her long, white fingers sensually traced the intricate patterns that were charms of indestructibility carved onto the jar by master craftsmen.

She let out a sigh yet again, this time, with one full of wild arousal.

"...GILGAMESH...!"

The nigh-indestructible jar cracked, yet Ishtar didn't seem to notice.

She kept tracing the patterns with her fingers as a lover showers caresses over her sweetheart's body...slowly, lecherously, licentiously...like an invitation for things yet to come.

If anyone were to be standing next to her, they would have seen this phantom image due to her overflowing aura:

A promised land of steaming debauchery.

One of Ishtar's fingers ventured down between her legs and underneath her cloak as they started to move up and down, rhythmically and repeatedly.

The lustful goddess threw back her head and basked in her carnal pleasure as a low, husky moan escaped her red lips.

...Little did she know that Gilgamesh was just trying with every fiber of his being to gain her favorability, or rather, grind her bond levels, and quite frankly, his attempts were working well enough.

Luckily for everyone involved, Ishtar stayed painstakingly oblivious to the devilish motivations little Gil held in his chest, which was to catch a fierce sugar mommy/one-woman-army, and hummed a happy tune as she waited with bated breath for his daily arrival.

[You have met the requirements for the Hidden Skill!]

[Princely Seduction (Divine): A+++]

[High Chance to inflict Charm on all Humanoid targets. Critical on targets with Divinity.]

[QUEST 33 Cleared!]

[QUEST 33: 'Pleasure a Goddess']

[Your Bond Level Has Been Updated!]

[Ishtar (goddess of War and Beauty, NOT domesticated by Rin's personality) Lv5➝9/15]

"...WTF?"

Poor Swallow-kun...he was sacrificed for the Greater Good...you shall be remembered for ten minutes...

Please consider dropping a review to keep this alive! Gil-kun demands your love!

X-kalibuuuur, over and out.