Chapter 990 Prologue to the End and the Beginning (3)
——BC.2655——
"A sneeze! A sneeze!"
The little goddess took a sniff of "chili pepper" out of curiosity and sneezed violently. In this way, even the guards who didn't know what "chili pepper" was could roughly judge that it was some kind of spice.
What they have to do now is try their best to hold back their laughter, and if they can't help it, they try their best to lower the volume of their laughter to avoid being blamed by the goddess who will recover later.
Even Tosaka, who looked after the goddess like a daughter, couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
However, among all the people present, only Ryunosuke's senses were different from theirs.
Since Ishtar is almost exactly the same as Tohsaka Rin, Ryunosuke, as a teacher, will naturally not laugh at his students, and because Yade once said that Lin Hao turned into Xiao Rin or Ishtar before disappearing.
appearance, so he has been carefully observing the behavior of the goddess to judge whether she is possessed by Lin Hao, whose synchronization rate is abnormally low and does not express his own personality.
It was precisely because of this uninterrupted observation and perception that Ryunosuke felt something abnormal: the moment the little goddess sneezed, she "disappeared".
It's not that the entity disappears, but that it loses all "characteristics" in an instant, just like a painting with a lot of white space. If a scene disappears without a reference object, there is an extra blank space, and it is almost impossible to ignore it.
people noticed.
At that time, the goddess sneezed, and the chili powder flew everywhere. The maid who offered the sacrifice escaped because she lowered her head. The dozen or so maids behind her were running away in panic. Siduli looked angry and funny.
While giving orders and dealing with the aftermath, no one noticed that the little goddess's eyes were distracted and she was in a daze with her back on the throne. Even if they noticed, they would only think that she was stunned.
Only Ryuunosuke, looking at Ishtar in that state, felt palpitations in his heart, as if his foot slipped while climbing a cliff, or as if a fishing boat was sucked into a bottomless whirlpool.
Although it was fleeting, the feeling Ishtar gave him at that moment was exactly the same as the dark "hole" that appeared on top of Leif's demon pillar.
If it wasn't an illusion, Ishtar would definitely have changed... eh.
With the purpose of observing the goddess, Ryunosuke stepped forward and stared at Ishtar from the moment he sneezed. Because most people around him had this attitude, it didn't seem out of the ordinary.
And after the little goddess woke up from the "daze" state, she just blinked her eyes slightly, and the "abyss", "bottomless whirlpool" and other weird feelings she had brought to Ryunosuke before were immediately confirmed.
[Death], endless [Death].
The awakened "Ishtar" is surrounded by countless things, like black mist, which cannot be described at all except "death", which is completely opposite to "life".
"They" are spinning and roaring crazily, forming a vortex of death, trying to assimilate everything around them into something as dark, silent and hopeless as themselves.
However, in Ryunosuke's perception, the only impact of this "vortex of death" on the outside world is a little suction, which is not even as powerful as a butterfly flapping its wings.
But why... I always feel like I have seen this scene before somewhere?
"[Hmm...]" "Ishtar" who was in the middle of the "whirlpool" suddenly sniffed, licked her lips again, and said: "[It smells pretty good.]"
————
After a small interlude, the offering to the goddess continued. "Ishtar" was as interested in gems and gold as ever. As before, she only accepted high-quality products and rejected gold and gems of lower quality.
He is very interested in unknown and strange things other than them. In addition, the "pepper" from before has also been accepted.
Everyone thought that the goddess was just frightened by the pepper and fell in love with it after getting used to it. Since she has always been eccentric, it is not surprising that her words and actions are inconsistent.
However, even if Ryunosuke wanted to mistake [her] for Ishtar, he couldn't do it. Because those [deaths] were too eye-catching, but for some reason the other people present didn't notice this at all. Maybe
As Yad said, the gods of the mythical age cannot decipher their own concealment?
So, which god replaced Ishtar? What was the purpose?
In the following time, Ryunosuke worked hard to see through the black mist, trying to distinguish the differences between "Ishtar"'s words and deeds before and after the "sneeze incident".
The most obvious difference is that the goddess who appeared after the sneeze is much more "ladylike". Compared with the careless Ishtar before, her posture is more dignified and polite, and she will not easily knock away undesirable offerings.
, but just asked them to be removed. In addition, she did not issue some "oracles" that required "translation" as before. During this period, she frowned at some of the offerings, but did not say anything. Judging from her expression, she seemed to remember them secretly.
Got off.
Finally, after the entire offering process was completed, Ryunosuke could be sure that this latecomer was more suitable to be the patron saint of Uruk than the real Ishtar.
Just in terms of personality, compared to the highly aggressive Ishtar, [she] is more willing to protect or save. Ishtar is impatient and reckless, while [she] makes decisions before moving on.
However, because the time available for observation is too short and there are no more comparison samples, Ryunosuke cannot see anything more for the time being. And the conclusion he has drawn so far can be said as "Ishtar is moody."
Let’s summarize it.
However, the most important point is that although [she] is surrounded by countless [deaths], [she] does not appear to be affected at all, or in other words, [she] may not be aware of them at all.
exist.
Hmm... It might be a good idea to stay at this level, but if the "synchronization rate" is not high enough, she won't be able to explain it. In this case, it will depend on her interaction with Tosaka.
The only question now is, why does she want to take over Ishtar's identity?
"[Chief Priest, I'm going out~]" After the ceremony, "Ishtar" waved goodbye to Siduri easily, jumped off the throne and walked out of the temple.
"If you want to issue an oracle, please come back to the temple, my goddess." The chief priest warned like a mother who saw her naughty daughter about to go out.
"[Got it~]" "Ishtar" responded as he stepped out of the temple door.
"Where do you want to go next?" Tosaka asked with his usual formal etiquette.
"[Hmm...]" The little goddess's eyes swept over Tosaka, Mashu and Ryunosuke, and paused for a while on Ad, and then said: "[Go to 'Kuta'."
"
————
"Kuta" is a Sumerian city not far different in size from "Uruk", and there was still some hatred between each other - before those monsters and beasts launched their attack.
And after the "Three Goddess Alliance" launched a massive attack on the cities on the Mesopotamia Plain, and Gilgamesh considered himself the only king of the Sumerian Plain with two-thirds of the divine blood, Kuta became like other cities.
A member of the "Kingdom of Uruk".
After all, even if the kings of other small countries and small towns were dissatisfied, they did not have the means to deal with the attacks of monsters and beasts, not to mention that there were as many as three Gilgamesh here.
Judging from the intelligence received by Tosaka, although Kuta surrendered to Uruk due to external pressure, the local residents were quite proud and would not ask for help if they could handle the attack on their own. The three Gilgamesh
This kind of stubbornness is appreciated, and the resources given tend to be supportive and logistical.
"So, is there really something wrong over there? Do you need further support from Uruk?" Tosaka asked "Ishtar" after briefly introducing the situation to Ryunosuke and Mashu.
At this time, several people had left the ring area and were standing on the road to Kuta City. Occasionally, curious residents passed by. When they saw it was Ishtar, they immediately left quickly without hesitation.
The little goddess thought for a while and then said: "[Well... no need, as long as I go there.]"
"In any case, please take these two 'transcending fate' with you," Tosaka gestured to Ryunosuke and Mashu: "What you think is 'just go there by yourself' is probably the enemy deliberately leading you to think so.
"
"[But they can't fly,]" the goddess touched the golden and blue giant bow floating next to her: "['Ma Anna' can't carry people either.]"
"Don't you have a vehicle that was seized from them?" Tosaka said leisurely.
After saying these words, Mashu was still fine, but Ryunosuke couldn't help but turn his head to look at him.
It was obvious that he had long seen that the goddess had changed into someone else, and he might even know exactly who she was replaced with, but he just had no idea about the [death] surrounding the current "Ishtar".
"[Huh?]" "Ishtar" blinked in slight surprise, then reached out to the void beside him, and a bright red light appeared at that position, as if there was a crackling and burning circular light.
The goddess touched the door briefly and pulled out a convertible wrapped with green plants.
"[Quetzalcoatl's taste is not bad.]" the little goddess praised, and very skillfully opened the car door and got into the driver's seat. The natural breath that once made Ishtar faint was extremely gentle and wrapped around the car.
The ground is playing dead.
"Go ahead, be prepared to adapt to circumstances and protect the 'goddess'." Tosaka said meaningfully, patted Ryunosuke on the shoulder and gave him a push.
Okay, I understand, "Ishtar" himself, whose strength and IQ dropped sharply after the goddess left, no, this god.
Ryuzosuke shook his head secretly in his heart, opened the door with Mashu and got into the car.
"[Fasten your seat belt~]" The little goddess casually said a non-existent noun, then started the car, put it into gear, and stepped on the accelerator, causing this mixed-material car to rush out like an arrow from the string.
In this regard, Ryunosuke just wants to say that this kind of car that is driven entirely by magic does not need to perform so many redundant operations.
But considering that even if this goddess is really my childhood sweetheart, I am the one who usually gets criticized, so I simply gave up on pointing this out.
————
On the way to Kuta City, although "Ishtar" focused on driving, due to short hands and short feet, he often focused on one thing and neglected the other, driving the car like a bumper car, but he had no intention of letting go and replacing him.
Ryunosuke originally wanted to chat with her, but either he was interrupted by the sudden turn of the car, or he had a sense of déjà vu with the "vortex of death" and forgot what he wanted to say.
After going back and forth, the city of Kuta was already in sight, and "Ishtar" finally used her experience of driving the car all the way and stopped in front of the city gate in time instead of ramming all the way in.
"Who are you..." "Cough cough cough! Leave quickly! Cough cough cough!" The two guards raised their weapons and aimed at the three people who parked the car.
Ryunosuke originally wanted to ask what happened in the city first, but seeing that the soldiers Kuta used to defend the city all looked sick, there was no need to ask.
The "Three Goddess Alliance" finally thought of spreading the plague? But this is inconsistent with their usual style...
After getting out of the car, "Ishtar" put away the convertible "Free Haven" with his backhand, frowned and looked at the two guards: "[You have encountered such a serious plague, why don't you report it to the King of Uruk or the city?"
Patron Saint asking for help?】"
"King of Uruk...hehehehe...which one?"
"Of course the patron saint of Kuta is protecting us! Cough cough cough! Even if the whole city is sick, the fact that no one dies no matter how serious it is is proof! Cough cough cough!"
"[...It's okay now, because I'm here.]" "Ishtar" said as he walked forward.
"Wait...you are..."
"You are [Ishtar]! Ahem! The goddess said that you are not welcome in Kuta! Ahem! Leave immediately!"
The two guards tried to prevent the goddess from approaching, but they did not dare to raise their weapons against her and could only block the city gate with their bodies.
"Ishtar" kept walking over, but the two guards fell down softly before she could get closer, and they did not play any role in blocking her.
Ryunosuke, who was following behind, could clearly see something like a dark cloud escaping from the two guards, and then converging towards "Ishtar" like iron powder attracted by a magnet.
Afterwards, the expressions of the two guards, who were originally pale due to illness, looked much better.
The sense of déjà vu brought about by this scene became stronger and stronger, causing Ryunosuke to have no time to catch up with "Ishtar". Looking at the expression of Mash next to him, he was completely unaware of the black mist.
"[Kuta's patron saint is the mistress of the underworld 'Ereshkigal', the goddess of death and plague,]" After the little goddess disappeared into the city gate, Yad spoke in a low voice: "[It is said that and
'Ishtar' is a relationship with two sides of one body. They can briefly appear as each other under certain opportunities, but their true bodies are still in the same place.】"
So, if you want to get Xiaohao back, do you have to go to the underworld of Sumer? Ryunosuke frowned slightly.
Besides, after all, it’s too casual to switch personality settings just by sneezing, right?
