Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"Then, what is your intention?"

Novia’s soft, very gentle question entered into the soul of Youyi Hassan.

His voice sounded both stern and gentle, which was hard to believe. Yu Yi Hassan felt that he couldn't even utter a sound, or more accurately, he was not qualified to answer.

In the distant past, Yhwach Hassan embarked on his journey to the Valley of the Dead. And because of this, most of Yhwach Hassan's past has long since vanished into the abyss of nothingness.

"Stupid stuff."

In the end, he encountered a supreme being, who was still in human form but covered in shadows, as if he were the embodiment of death, absorbed into the entire underworld.

"What can your hand, which burns and brands like a shadow, and forbids even destruction, grasp?"

"Do you think that atonement in advance will bring you liberation? Knowing that your enlightenment will not yield any results, do you still wish to wander eternally between the realms of the living and the dead?"

Yugi Hassan, who was created through human intervention, realized that he was the shadow of the old man before him.

He didn't weep with emotion, nor did he tremble at the intense death before him; he simply accepted it calmly.

In his heart, there was only peace, because he, who had never understood why he was born, had finally come to the place he deserved.

"Okay—just stick your neck out."

At the same time, as his life came to an end, Yugi Hassan heard a phrase that seemed to have been etched into the mountain temple from the distant past—

“Old man, everything is light and shadow, and this will never change no matter where you go. Only the spirit that cannot be shaken by anything is necessary. Therefore, you do not need to abandon anything.”

The voice that remained at the moment of death of Hassan, whom the old man had killed, overlapped with the voice of the man before him, without arrogance or desire, simply appearing before him as a matter of course.

"Please show me the way home."

Just as Youyi Hassan made his statement, a voice with a consistently calm tone came through.

"Hehe, is that the World Tree of the far north? I wonder what would happen if I ate it."

The third challenger, and also the first to arrive before Novia with a provocative intent.

The white-haired woman was merely walking around when the thunderbolts, who were supposed to punish her, appeared rapidly around her at a speed that seemed to break through the wind and waves, as if a contradiction had arisen.

Beside him was a huge metallic creature with the constant sound of gears turning and metal rubbing together, its eyes still shining with a bright, high-heat white light, and a girl with a terrified expression.

The True Berserkers consist of the Servant Humbaba and Master Haruri, as well as the Einzbern homunculus whose body was usurped by the goddess Ishtar, named Philia.

Felia wasn't troubled by the extremely powerful Novia in front of her, nor was she worried that her body might be destroyed at any moment.

He was simply thinking about what would happen if the divine beast he was summoning, the Bull of Heaven, ate the World Tree of Norse mythology.

"I never expected that there would be such a group from the Western Lands... The Greek gods are clearly all strange people who often impose their love and hate on humans for no reason. It's normal for humans to suffer from the torment of having different values ​​when they are ruled by such gods, just like that avenger I met not long ago."

Then, she seemed to realize something and let out a small gasp of surprise.

"And you are actually able to contain all the love and hate? It's really not easy that you haven't been deeply distorted. Heh, to be honest, I never thought there would be such a valuable person."

177: The Goddess's Departure (5k)

"How could it have happened so suddenly..."

Earlier, in the center of the forest in the western part of Snowfield City, Haruri, the master of the True Berserker, looked at the completed temple in astonishment after recovering from the shock of Novia's declaration of war.

The enormous temple, resembling a mountain, has a massive, glazed gate adorned with lapis lazuli in front, followed by a long stone staircase leading to the temple on a stone base.

At the top of the stone steps is a building resembling an ancient Mesopotamian ruin. The gold and silver statues on the left and right sides of the starting point of the steps are modeled after the Coco Peli doll, which is known in the United States for bringing good fortune and charm.

That's not all; what's outrageous are the statues placed on the outer edges. Those statues, set up like guardian deities, are all shaped like monsters that jumped out of fairy tales and other stories, making people feel uneasy just by looking at them.

Originally, in Haruri's plan, if she were to create a world like Babylon the Age of Gods according to the goddess's orders, it would take two or three days to complete, even with the help of the berserker.

"Heh, really, that's quite the smug human."

A voice from the side interrupted Haluri's confusion, and she immediately turned around and said tremblingly:

"That...this isn't—"

"It's alright. Since you're the high priest I appointed, you'll build something like this sooner or later anyway." Ishtar narrowed her eyes, revealing a bewitching smile, then looked up at the city center. "The one who should apologize is that guy who's even more arrogant than those two..."

Ishtar was able to manifest in the world using the Einzbern homunculi because the blessing she once bestowed upon the world was activated—that is, the power she left behind in the world.

When she was humiliated by the King of Heroes and thrown with the entrails of a divine beast, he had already left his blessing deep in the world, and it never stopped until the moment she merged into humanity and vanished.

That is why she came along with Enkidu, because Enkidu appeared in the world at the same time as Gilgamesh.

The goddess of beauty, filled with anger and hatred, was so accomplished that the primordial rage, rekindled in the vessel named Philia, was a 'remnant' of the passions of the gods who once ruled this planet.

But at this moment, even more anger flared up at those who had dared to drag him into the unknown world without his consent.

"Do you dislike that person from just now? I thought he was a good person..."

"Disrespect is limited to once. A second time is equivalent to 'suspicion of me,' so please be careful."

Ishtar gave a stern but smiling instruction, and Halluri immediately shut her mouth as if frozen.

Why was Halluri appointed as the High Priestess?

The answer was simple for the goddess. In faraway Uruk, there was a high priest who, though serving the Hero King, was very devout to her, and whose name was somewhat similar to Haluri's.

But then, amidst her fear, Halluri, with a complex mix of gratitude and awe, spoke to the deity who had saved her life:

"But, but, that person really is..."

Seeing this, Ishtar lowered her voice slightly and said:

"...This is the second time already. Do you want to die? But since you've chosen to die, why not be happy?"

After the goddess finished speaking, she grabbed Haluri's shoulders and embraced her trembling body. The dense magic, full of divinity, enveloped Haluri, giving her the feeling of being back in her childhood, being held in the arms of her now-deceased mother.

In this wondrous tranquility, Ishtar's magic gradually seeped into Halluri's entire body, divine power flowing into Halluri's magic circuits and painting them with other colors.

For Haruri, there was a strange feeling that her existence was being valued by something grand, even the world itself. When she came to her senses, tears were streaming down her face. However, although she didn't resent it, she still rejected the goddess who had 'blessed' her.

"Please...please don't do this..."

Even though she was breathing heavily and could barely speak properly.

With Haruri's rejection, Ishtar saw her memories, the memories from just now on the shore.

Facing the sound of the waves, Haruri's past, which she didn't want to confront—the memory of her parents being murdered by magicians, the brutal destruction and wailing, the scene that shattered all her past happiness—was displayed on the other side of the sea.

"I want revenge... I don't care what happens to the world... whether mystery exists or not doesn't matter... I just want them to taste the same pain! To let them know the inevitability that what is lost can never be regained! Just like my family can never come back... Let them truly experience the feeling of mystery disappearing... and never being able to get it back..."

Originally, Haruli felt extremely inferior in front of him, being so emotional. However—

"No matter what kind of suffering you are in, I believe someone will save you. All your suffering and the revenge that arises from it are justified and never lowly. So, after taking revenge, please be happy and live a long and healthy life."

The waves stretch endlessly across the ocean, and at the end of the world tree, lush branches extend, passing on withered leaves and reflecting the world.

"...So be it. You no longer belong to me. Choose as you see fit, but whatever the outcome, I will witness it to the very end for you humans. Whether that end is a beautiful demise or an ugly struggle, I will watch."

Upon seeing this scene from her memory, Ishtar closed her eyes and withdrew her magic from Halluri.

She didn't want to mention that on that coast, she subconsciously asked her followers for countless lapis lazuli.

Ishtar, looking back on her past and concealing that passion, said:

"And also, despite all this, I also allow you, Halluri, to enjoy life, celebrate joy, and love this world. Use your hands to polish those joys and sorrows... 'give them their utmost value and then give them all to those you wish to give them to,' you understand?"

With a voice as comforting as a mother to her child, Ishtar said things that a mother would never say to her child, then gently pushed Halluri away.

Despite this, Halluri continued to cry, even kneeling down on the spot, curling up into a ball and weeping uncontrollably.

Ishtar neither comforted nor complained, but simply watched silently, like a mother watching her child choose to leave.

"Just struggle and struggle as much as you can, dance your body in this world. Even if you dance terribly, as long as you haven't abandoned your humanity... no, you can't abandon it anymore, right? In that case, I can keep watching with a smile. Although I can't teach you how to dance now... at least I can give you a dance costume and shoes."

After Haruli calmed down, Ishtar took her and Finbaba to the city center.

The proud goddess did not wait for the pilgrims to come; instead, she chose to become the first pilgrim.

.......

Let's return to the present, after the initial amazement.

Before the miracles arrived from infinitely expanding possibilities, Ishtar will place a beautiful smile, enough to freeze the heart, upon the heart of those who witness it, and say:

"Let me see if you can 'protect humanity' under my complete 'divine' attention..."

In an instant, as if her words had enraged them, the entire thundercloud roared, unleashing a torrent of lightning. The lightning, possessing the power and penetrating force to pierce through the earth and destroy all enemies, descended straight down, piercing through everything in its path.

"Before the heavens, what divine thing has the right to overstep its bounds?"

She created brilliance amidst countless thunderbolts through a process of negation.

It was a clear blue light, born from the earth's surface, a star-like, light yet dazzling radiance that illuminated everything around it.

At the same time, before Novia could make a move, the Pale Knight reacted, letting out a completely emotionless roar at the goddess.

“I am the sword, I am the beast, I am thirst, I am hunger, I am the being that brings death, I am the being that plays the melody of death, I am death—death.”

The same applies to Youyi Hassan.

"O fading starlight in the foreign sky, how dare you do this! Then I shall, on behalf of the primordial blade of my ancestors, send you the evening bell."

But Humbaba, who followed Ishtar, was not to be outdone and began to roar mechanically for the goddess.

Then, in everyone's sight, Novia smiled happily, waved for the Pale Knight and Ghost Hassan to step back, and then shook hands with her free hand.

"The age of the gods is long gone, Ishtar."

The moment the words fell, Ishtar felt the surroundings instantly filled with the ether of the Age of Gods—no, it was as if the Age of Gods had instantly revived here.

For this reason, Ishtar is no longer the fading light of the past. In the realm where the gods already existed, she is undoubtedly the goddess of Venus, the goddess most beloved by the gods.

In that instant, beyond the echoing thunder, a roar resounded—a behemoth approaching the size of a typhoon.

The immense divine magic surging from the depths of the horns directly disrupts concepts of distance and direction in order to support the goddess.

This is the divine beast belonging to the goddess—the Bull of Heaven.

Ishtar has now regained her full divine power, and even the Bull of Heaven has arrived. From an outsider's perspective, the combined power of the two has basically surpassed the framework of a Servant. In this Holy Grail War, is she truly the strongest now...?

The goddess did not think so. She understood that the environment here, which resembled a re-emergence of the divine age, was created by the man before her. In other words, how could someone with such abilities be easily defeated? Absolutely not.

Indeed, in her vision, a crack appeared in the man's hand that was not holding a gun, and a sword of mixed white, red and black slowly emerged from it. This reappearance of the divine era was emanating from this sword, as if it were drilling into countless thunderstorms, enveloping his entire body.

For a moment, Ishtar felt that the sword looked somewhat familiar, but she didn't dwell on it. Soon, a confident smile appeared on her lips.

"Maanna!"

As Ishtar shouted this, lapis lazuli and gold instantly stirred and floated in the otherwise empty space, gathering around her.

Transforming into a bow-shaped boat with two graceful arcs, it carried Ishtar into the sky. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the goddess Ishtar used her charm to control the surrounding space, terrain, air currents, and even divine lightning, gathering them behind her.

With the confidence she possessed from birth, the goddess continued to ascend into the sky. The wind and thunder around her approached, yet they seemed to follow her like smooth flowing water.

In the blink of an eye, Ishtar had already driven her boat into the sky, so high that it was as if she were flying towards the starry sky and Venus.

The Maana is a celestial vessel capable of traversing the entire world, and even amidst the endless thunder that has been restored in the Age of Gods, it is able to maintain its maximum speed.

It also serves as an interstellar transfer gate connecting Earth and Venus.

"Open the door!"

Having regained all her power as a god, Ishtar is an undisputed deity. Whether her words are ideal for humans or other animals and plants is irrelevant; her words are the sacred decrees of the star's surface.

As long as the goddess Ishtar says, "Ravens are white," "Ravens will disappear from the world," even if the raven species disappears from the earth, no one will notice.

"Heh heh, shatter everything, mountain-shaking star's fire!"

The goddess did not unleash the expected "Eight Directions Kneeling to the Sky Hammer," but rather a replica of Venus's radiance, bringing destructive and apocalyptic energy to the world.

Instead, it was a move far more terrifying than the normal mountain-shaking star-studded attack. Although it had the same name, it was not merely about taking the concept of Venus into its grasp and launching it as a conceptual planet into Ma'ana's magazine. Instead, it was about a phantom of equal mass descending upon the world.

In response to its master's request, it was created based on the concept of the ferocity of the heavens, a divine beast that embodies the ravages of the gods. It illuminates the sky with thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of millions of lightning bolts, as if the thunder of creation or the end of the world shakes the world, and spews out a deadly torrent of thunder and torrential rain.

This is the power of divine beasts, this is the great undertaking of the sky, a terrifying power that arrives in just one second.

However, just as the two converged, and the concept seemed capable of destroying everything was about to strike Novia, the two...

He held the sword in his hand.

"What........ "

Cold sweat trickled down Ishtar's back, and a strange feeling seemed to slowly creep into the storm clouds.

Indeed, it was the primordial holy sword I had sensed before.