That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Hall continued his analysis: "If the three of us really make a move here, the most likely outcome is that you will be suppressed, expelled from Uruk, and then, because of what you have done, even the last good impression of the city god who protects Uruk will be lost, and you will lose all your property."

Just imagining the scene Hall had described made Ishtar's little face unable to hide her disappointment; this was all the wealth she had accumulated over the past few months.

“There is another option: if you can temporarily lend your power to Uruk, the king will not hesitate to return these gems to you, and the citizens of Uruk will understand your true intentions, redeem your image as a gem thief, and enjoy the days of being served by priests. Goddess Ishtar, what will you choose?”

"this···"

We can't give her time to think; we must seize the opportunity while she's obsessed with the gems and finalize the deal in one go.

Snapped!

Hall snapped his fingers, and a gem shattered. "Looks like you're going to refuse. Well then, I'll just have to use these stolen gems, which are imbued with powerful magic, to banish you from Uruk."

"Wait, I haven't refused yet!"

"Words are useless." Hall deliberately increased the output of magic power, causing the gem to tremble violently, as if it might explode at any moment.

Ishtar hurriedly stopped her: "Don't use it! Don't use my jewels! I might die of grief watching my wealth being squandered by others. I promise! I promise you!"

King Gilgamesh clapped his hands and laughed: "Hahahaha, interesting! It's been a long time since I've seen such an interesting performance. That willful, foolish goddess was actually persuaded by a human..."

"Shut up!"

Under Ishtar's sharp gaze, King Gilgamesh obediently swallowed back the words that were meant to be sarcastic.

The goddess Venus said irritably, "Now I can take back what belongs to me, right?"

King Gilgamesh laughed loudly, "For the next half month, the safety of Uruk City will be entrusted to you. You will also help the humans attacked by the monsters. However, this time, you are not allowed to forcibly collect any money. I promise that as long as you stay in Uruk City for one day, you will enjoy the treatment of a city god."

"What a hassle."

Ishtar retrieved the gem and, before piloting the Sky Bow Maana away, gave Hall a final glare: "Don't think you've won just like that."

"What a troublesome, crazy woman."

Gilgamesh's clay tablet and axe disappeared in a flash of light. He sat back on his throne and picked up the clay tablet. "You did a better job than I expected. With her here, the safety of Uruk can be guaranteed. The money saved is more than that foolish goddess has in her possession. Siduri won't have any complaints, will she?"

After saying that, his eyes were already on the clay slab in his hand.

“King Gilgamesh, your mission has been accomplished, so I will not disturb your work any longer.”

Hall bowed and left the palace.

He hadn't gone far when Hall stopped, sensing the goddess's presence behind him, and asked, "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Is he going to break the contract? Unlikely, that's not Ishtar's style.

Ishtar appeared above Hall in her Skybow Horse Anna, shouting, "Enough talk! Come with me!"

She roughly grabbed Hall by the collar from behind and lifted him up, disappearing into the sky above Uruk in an instant.

Within minutes, the two reached the skies above Mount Aibif, where Ishtar ruthlessly threw Hall off.

Hey ~

Hall sighed inwardly, having prepared himself, and as he approached the ground, he silently chanted an incantation: "Gravity, return to the earth."

Less than a meter from the ground, Hall's body suddenly felt light, and he floated down to the ground. Hall looked up and saw the slender and graceful figure, and asked without hesitation, "We've reached an agreement, haven't we?"

Although we often tease her, as the goddess of beauty, Ishtar's beautiful body is indeed pleasing to the eye.

Ishtar landed slowly in front of Hall with her arms crossed, and said sternly, "I can forgive your offense to me for now, but I brought you here to ask about something else. That guy doesn't ask for favors easily. I need to know what happened to my body!"

That guy...

"You already know about Ereshkigal's existence?" Hall raised an eyebrow.

"Ereshkigal? What kind of name is that? Wait, I think I've heard it before... I experienced it in another world. Hmph, I see. If it were her, she would indeed cherish this hard-won opportunity. I'm speechless. She actually caused such a big mess." Ishtar facepalmed.

"You should know the reason why Ereshkigal appeared."

Ishtar's crimson eyes scrutinized Hall. "We are interdependent, originally summoned together by this body, which is why she can borrow my body at night. What I want to ask is, what is her reason for wanting to come to the surface? As the goddess of the underworld, this action violates the goddess's constraints."

"..."

Hall remained silent, lost in thought.

"You are human, so of course you don't know. So-called gods are born from various natures or concepts, and have their own nature and specifications of existence. Just like fish live in water and humans live on land, it is impossible to violate this constraint. The goddess of the underworld, as the cornerstone of the underworld's existence, cannot leave the underworld. You must be hiding something from me."

"I have no obligation to tell you."

“Then I’ll kill you. Don’t think I’ll have much patience for you.” Ishtar’s face turned cold. She pointed her finger at Hall’s forehead, and a flame appeared, containing intense magical power.

Poised and ready, the goddess could blow Hall's head apart with a single move.

Chapter 391 The Goddess's Unpredictable Mood

In most myths, goddesses are synonymous with capriciousness and willfulness, and Ishtar, the goddess of Venus, is the worst of them all. Not only do the citizens of Uruk tremble at the mention of her name, but even the gods are powerless against her.

Because Rin Tohsaka served as the basis for possession and summoning, the goddess Ishtar's personality underwent a slight change.

It's roughly about going from killing anyone who disobeys you to killing people and then beating them half to death when things get too outrageous.

In terms of cruelty, the Ishtar before Hall was far more ruthless than the one he knew in the FA world.

At the end of the Age of Gods, the Throne of God was not completely detached from the world, and the laws of physics were not yet fixed. Humanity still retained the habit of worshipping Ishtar.

She was summoned by the priests, and due to the characteristics of the era and people's beliefs, her spirit origin is infinitely close to her state before death, that is, her divine aspect is higher than that of Ishtar in FA, and closer to the true nature of the legendary goddess Ishtar.

Hall's Eye observed the shimmering golden light on Ishtar's fingers, calculating its firepower and the required strength of the barrier for defense. He lowered his gaze and said indifferently, "Actually, these are all unimportant matters. I won't mind telling you."

Ishtar lowered her right hand, the golden light vanished, and she arrogantly snorted, "That's more like it. If you cooperate with me honestly, you won't suffer."

Goddess, please don't blame me for being despicable.

Hall smiled, then abruptly changed the subject: "But I don't like your attitude."

Even after the last syllable had faded, Ishtar was still pondering the meaning of the sentence.

Hall pounced on Ishtar like a hungry tiger.

boom!

With a single stomp, he shattered the ground, sending countless grains of sand flying. His skin glowed with silvery-white patterns resembling magic circuits, boosting his physical abilities more than tenfold in a short period.

The body coordinates with breathing rhythms, stimulating vitality. The beating heart acts like an engine, injecting a large amount of magical energy into the blood, forming a complete circulation.

The universe resonates with the universe, and through the profound mysteries of martial arts, a conceptual world similar to a bounded field is formed, which influences the true etheric element that only existed in the age of gods.

Hall assumed a fighting stance and threw a punch, the power flowing from his spine into his arm, enveloped in a silvery-white glow.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

A crackling sound, like popping beans, exploded, and the space itself was squeezed by almost tangible true etheric elements.

Caught off guard and suppressed by Hall's aura, Ishtar, sensing the threat, reacted instantly, her divinity rising and the power of her authority erupting as she tried to retaliate.

Thanks to Rin Tohsaka's foundation, Ishtar inherited Rin Tohsaka's gem magic and also learned the Bajiquan that Rin Tohsaka was proficient in.

In terms of combat awareness, he is far superior to the goddess Ishtar.

Hall sneered, "Too late."

The Mystic Eyes shone brightly, freezing Ishtar's body and time itself.

Even an A+ level Mystic Eye could only immobilize Ishtar for less than a millisecond before being pushed aside by her expanding divine and authoritative power.

In a clash between the world's top powers, 0.1 seconds is enough to decide the outcome of a battle.

Hall's fist struck her abdomen, but it was like hitting a mountain; it didn't budge an inch, not even a millimeter.

呲味~

The goddess's power manifested as a pale golden shield protecting her, originating from the highest level of mystical power in the age of gods.

Ishtar's stern golden eyes looked at Hall with disdain, mocking this human's overestimation of his abilities.

Mystery fails before a higher mystery.

Hall understood this principle well. As power flowing from the same source, Ishtar herself was also subject to this theory. The power of Ishtar, the goddess of Venus, would be crushed by the higher-ranking chief god, Quetzalcoatl, who possessed the same divinity.

The only way to break through divine defenses is to possess equal divinity or power.

Coincidentally, this is also the height that martial arts can reach, namely the realm of magic.

The most powerful and fierce punch embodies Hall's martial arts theory, connecting with heaven and earth, forming its own world.

"break!"

With a furious roar, Hall unleashed a dazzling silver light from his fist, which was imbued with all his magical power, drawing upon the divine aether element to engulf Ishtar.

Ishtar turned pale: "What!"

boom!

The remaining force of the punch condensed into true etheric elements, forming a destructive light capable of destroying everything. It slashed a hundred-meter-long crack behind Ishtar, with power comparable to an A-rank anti-city Noble Phantasm.

The golden light manifested by the goddess's power suddenly dimmed and twisted and cracked, and in that instant, Hall's fist finally struck Ishtar's abdomen.

Boom!

The clash of their powerful forces created a massive crater several meters wide. Ishtar's body was sent flying by the punch, crashing into her castle temple like a cannonball, smashing through several walls several meters thick and disappearing into the spirit peak of Mount Ebif.

huh~~

Hall took a deep breath, exhaling a long, thin stream of air like a white ribbon.

Unable to maintain the breathing pattern required for martial arts, his body collapsed.

Hall looked down at his right hand, its skin a reddish-black color, steaming, and his fist carbonized, completely useless.

This is the price to pay for using martial arts to contend with the power of a goddess.

Hall grunted, slapping his shoulder with his left hand, lightning flashing as he temporarily severed the pain receptors in his right hand using alchemy. He shook his head in dissatisfaction: "A mortal body still can't contend with a god. Martial arts are so difficult to even break through Ishtar's power, so there's basically no hope of defeating Quetzalcoatl with hand-to-hand combat."

Hall was still thinking about the battle with Quetzalcoatl. To defeat Quetzalcoatl, he didn't need to have the power to defeat her; he just needed to win in hand-to-hand combat.

Ishtar possessed powers and divinity similar to Quetzalcoatl, only slightly inferior, making her a suitable subject for experimentation.

On the horizon, a golden streak of light rapidly approached Lingfeng.

Hall calmly raised his left hand in surrender, offering no resistance whatsoever.

A golden streak of light fell from the sky, suddenly stopping just before it hit Hall. Its foot was less than a centimeter from Hall's chest. Ishtar, with her golden eyes, adjusted her posture, hovering in mid-air and staring at Hall, coldly questioning, "What do you mean by this?"

Hall's Mystic Eyes observed that Ishtar's damaged Spirit Origin was recovering at an extremely fast pace. The punch he had just delivered had indeed caused her damage, although for the goddess's massive Spirit Origin, it was probably just a scratch.