"Yahoo! Target reached!"
Above the chaotic sea, Ishtar the lady driver steered the Boat of Heaven Maanna out of the vortex of warped space and descended above the [Hanging Gardens of Babylon] as it rose from the water, delivering Samael to the open platform at the top.
Looking at that familiar face, at the way his eyes flickered as he watched the battlefield and fell into thought, a powerful sense of familiarity broke through a thousand years of time and welled up inside her. Ishtar stepped closer, patted Samael on the shoulder, and teased him with a grin.
"All these years, and you're still exactly the same. Still look like you're full of bad ideas! But that puts me at ease. Better to trick others than get tricked yourself. That's how you should be."
Was that supposed to be praise, or was she insulting him?
Forget it. Nothing decent ever came out of her mouth anyway, so he would just take it as praise.
Samael did not know whether to laugh or sigh. He rolled his eyes inwardly, then nodded helplessly as he watched the refreshed Ishtar rush off to the battlefield.
After briefly regulating his breathing, once the blockage in his Ether flow eased a little, he immediately wanted to return to the battlefield and help shoulder the pressure.
"We meet again, Samael-chan."
However, just as the Ancient Serpent was about to move, a pair of fair arms hooked over his shoulders from behind and pressed him down.
That familiar voice reached his ears. As Samael turned his head, his vertical pupils reflected a soft, alluring green-haired face that looked similar to Enkidu's, yet was also somewhat different.
"Come on, wounded patient. Be good and stand still. Don't move. Let your teacher check your body and see whether you've grown."
Shamhat ran one hand over Samael's face and chest, gently touching the lines of his muscles and the contours of his features. Her gaze was soft and wistful, and a bright smile hung on her lovely face, as if she had sunk into the joy of reunion after a long separation.
Her other hand, however, slid quietly down along his groin...
Smack!
Samael grabbed the hand of his old pervert of a teacher, his face darkening.
"That's enough, Teacher. We're still at war..."
"Tsk, how heartbreaking. Back when we were together, we faced each other honestly without any clothes on. Now you won't even let me touch you. The older you get, the less close you are to me."
Shamhat reluctantly withdrew the fingers she had been using to "measure his growth," muttering with a sorrowful look that made her seem ready to cry.
Bullshit! Back in the Underworld, you were a ghost and I was a snake. Who the hell wore clothes? Don't make it sound like we actually had some kind of affair!
Besides, even after I turned into a Magical Beast, I could barely fend off your harassment back then, okay?
Sure, XP is free, but I still recommend you see a doctor!
Seeing that this shameless old teacher seemed to be relapsing into her old habits, the corner of Samael's mouth twitched, and he ranted wildly in his heart.
After a brief exchange, the Ancient Serpent stood on the viewing platform and looked back. His gaze continued to wander over the battlefield, and his brow gradually tightened.
Bang!
Just as Samael's brow furrowed more deeply and unease grew in his heart, a dull thud suddenly rang beside his ear. A certain female hooligan who had silently circled behind him and, refusing to give up, secretly reached out her claws again was now clutching her head and groaning gloomily under the iron fist of justice.
"Enough already! Please mind your behavior, Lady Shamhat!"
Head Priestess Siduri's delicate fist bulged with veins. Her usually serene face was twisted with indescribable exhaustion, and she could not help sighing inwardly.
Why were every one of them so much trouble?
"I just saw this boy looking distracted even while resting, so I reached out to give him a little reminder."
Shamhat muttered bitterly, her expression full of grievance.
Reaching out was one thing, but where exactly were you touching?
The veins on the Head Priestess's forehead throbbed. She took several deep breaths before barely suppressing her soaring blood pressure. Then she turned to the former Shepherd King and bowed in earnest appeal.
"However, Your Majesty, Lady Shamhat is not wrong. While you are recovering, please set aside your worries for now. Use this time to rest properly and leave the battlefield to us!"
To be honest, ever since he had been wounded in the Land of Nothingness, he had never had a proper chance to recover. After being injured again and again, he really did need to take the time to adjust his condition.
Samael closed his eyes for a moment. When his vertical pupils opened again, they were still filled with deep concern.
Even now, with Gaia, the Spirit of the Planet, joining them as an unexpected and powerful reinforcement and temporarily blocking the white colossus's offensive, the situation before them was still far from optimistic.
The spread of the Sea of Void had indeed been restrained to a certain extent, and distorted creations such as Leviathan, Behemoth, and the giant bird Shira had been broken back down into basic spirit particles by the Reality Marble [Nega-Genesis].
But that barrier could not filter out the Angelic Legion from beyond the realm. The fissure in the sky over Greece was widening further, and countless radiant figures with fluttering wings were pouring out of it, wielding flaming swords and bringing down judgment, setting every city-state ablaze with war.
Be at ease? How could he possibly be at ease?
Just as Samael was growing restless with worry, a pair of fair hands rested on his shoulders again. When he looked back, those green eyes were clear and solemn.
"Samael-chan, don't think you're the only one who's been working hard. You're underestimating them. Watch closely..."
For a thousand years, they had not wasted their time, nor had they sat around nursing resentment. Instead, they had kept moving toward a single goal, planning ahead and making every preparation they could.
They had done it to wait for your return, and even more so, so they would never lose you again...
In that daze, Samael seemed to understand the hidden answer. His chaotic thoughts settled slightly, and he turned back to gaze at the Greek lands shrouded in smoke and flame.
...
At the same time, in Athens.
As the core city-state of Greece and an important rear base for the allied forces, Athens had naturally become a major target for the attacking angels.
Dense clusters of luminous beings nearly filled the sky. Mana beams fired from their flaming swords peeled away the Acropolis's magical barriers, which had accumulated for a thousand years, layer by layer like an onion.
Before long, after wave after wave of shaking, the entire city-state was left exposed and defenseless before the angels.
Faces and gazes filled with terror, resolve, and courage intertwined.
In a crisis, some bravely defended the city-state, while others fled in panic. Some raised their weapons and chose to fight toward death, while others hid in corners and clung desperately to life. Some held their loved ones close, treasuring their final moments, while others hugged their wealth and seals of office, cursing the king who had started this war and railing against heaven and earth.
That was human nature in all its forms.
Yet at that very moment, a powerful pulse spread from the Areopagus. The Ether tides overhead began to boil, and as wind rose and clouds churned, heaven and earth abruptly darkened.
"What I revere is only the ancient starry sky and the morality within my heart. What I uphold is impartial law and righteous judgment. Chaos has come, and order must be restored here!"
At that moment, a goddess in a long white dress, her eyes covered by a veil and a splendid sword in hand, slowly walked out of the council hall. Her fingers turned the golden scales on either side of the sword hilt as she chanted solemnly.
Behind her, High Priestess Helen, Queen Gorgo of Sparta, and dozens of Valkyries and Amazon warriors who had remained behind gathered around her.
"Lord, have mercy!"
Sensing Ether gathering from every direction, the angels cried out the name of God, raised their flaming swords, and dove toward the figure before the council hall.
"Foreign raiders, hear the voice of the stars. Your virtue is light, your sin is heavy! Your punishment is light, your evil is heavy! Now is the hour of judgment, when the justice of the stars shall be revealed! The Starry Court!"
Justice was not a gift to be passively awaited. It had to be won. If justice was never to arrive late or be absent, then it had to be measured by the scales and declared by the sword.
Themis, goddess of justice, solemnly drew her sword, and her divine might pulsed.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The next instant, eighty-eight beams of light shot into the sky from star palaces large and small across the Areopagus.
Ancient star charts were lit one by one upon the black canvas mending the cracks above. They crossed and revolved, forming a vast, desolate star wheel.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Immediately after, brilliant beams of starlight pierced the sky like swords. Dense ranks of angels fell one after another, blood-stained feathers drifting down through the air.
More than eighty Star Saints who had been granted the power of the stars, along with thousands of Saints of different ranks, emerged from the pillars of light in armor, bathed in gold, silver, and blue radiance. They moved to meet the stragglers who had escaped the sweep of the swords of starlight.
Then the light of the eighty-eight constellations spread from Athens toward the Greek city-states, sealing the rifts torn in the sky inch by inch and imprisoning the angels who had forced their way in within the boundless Starry Court to face the judgment of justice.
Thousands of Saints?
Above the [Hanging Gardens of Babylon], Samael looked at the sky blazing with stars and fell into thought.
Beneath the constellations were stars. The names of stars, the power of stars. There were far more than tens of thousands.
Beyond the eighty-eight constellations centered on the twelve houses of the zodiac, countless subordinate stars could also be forged into star armor, protecting their wielders as they opened the way to the starry sky and becoming the foundation that guarded Athens.
East! Out to sea!
At that moment, the trapped angels broke through the encirclement in disarray, trying to circle around by sea and return to the Lord's radiance.
But the instant they reached the coastal waters, the sea below boiled violently, and pitch-black whirlpools rolled toward them.
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!
Amid thunderous roars, armies of monsters evolved from the Eleven Magical Beast Spirit Foundation Charts, including the Three-Horned Lion-Dragon, the Dragon of Babylon, Uridimmu, and Bašmu, burst out of the water. They ran across the sea as if it were solid ground, frenziedly tearing at the angels in the air.
The Mesopotamian Demon Beast army!
There was a gap to the north!
At that moment, under the piercing sweep of the swords of starlight, the angels gathered toward the northern shore of the Gulf of Sermes in the Aegean Sea, where starlight had not yet covered the land.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Yet just as they entered the vast northern mountains, the surrounding Ether shook violently. Twelve pillars of light rose from the desolate main peak, and a golden flame burned fiercely.
"I am the thunder that tears apart the stars!"
"I am the vast sea that howls against the tide!"
"I am death that withers souls!"
"You are the abundance that tills the earth!"
"You are the swift-shooting silver!"
"You are the gold that pierces the stars!"
"You are the desire that disrupts the stars!"
"Authority of the War God, bloody dominion!"
At the same time, a cold, murderous snort came from the mountain peak. Twelve figures of light transformed into a gathered, awe-inspiring divine might, connecting and merging with the Starry Court to annihilate great swathes of angels.
This was... Mount Olympus!
As pillars of light in different colors pierced heaven and earth, the ancient memories of the Greek city-states were abruptly awakened. Many northern city-states that had firmer faith in the Old Gods erupted into cheers.
Immediately after, the great temples throughout the Greek city-states hummed and trembled. Divine earth guardians and ancient Titans branded with divine seals crawled out from fissures in the ground to join the defense, fighting the angels circling overhead.
For a time, the roars of giants, the cries of angels, the clash of weapons, and the tearing of flesh rang out without end.
Olympus. The Titans!
Could it be?!
At that moment, Samael was deeply shaken. He turned and looked quietly at the smiling Shamhat.
"That's right. The opposition between the Areopagus and Olympus was only on the surface. The two sides had long since made a pact in secret, promising that when disaster descended, they would face the threat from the stars together."
Head Priestess Siduri nodded and stepped forward, continuing softly.
"So long before the situation showed any signs of becoming what it is now, the Olympian gods, or rather, the Twelve Main Gods of Rome, had already joined the three goddesses of the Areopagus in entering the Inner Sea of the Planet to help nurture the Star Spirit Gaia."
No wonder not a single god from the Roman Pantheon had responded!
No wonder the City of Seven Hills was so short on Heroic Spirits and warriors of divine blood!
So all their power had actually been inside the Inner Sea of the Planet, preparing for the birth of Gaia, the planet's Counter Force!
Watching the God King of Wisdom drive a thunder chariot, summon the Twelve Main Gods, and tear through the air toward the chaotic sea, Samael froze for a moment. Then he laughed helplessly.
He had underestimated the gods again.
South! Pincer Thermopylae, break through the blockade, and reach the chaotic sea!
After repeated setbacks, the vanguard of the angelic army retreated south like a tide, hounded by the Saints of the Areopagus, the Mesopotamian Magical Beasts, and the Titans.
But just as the Angelic Legion gathered there in great numbers, a rainbow-colored pillar of light hundreds of kilometers across descended from the sky and struck the heads of those birdmen like a heavy hammer.
Boom!
In an instant, tens of thousands of angels were reduced to ash. A terrifying shockwave stirred up rolling smoke and dust, while the rainbow pillar refracted into dazzling colors and intense light pollution, almost too bright to look at.
"Spear, Runes, in the name of the great god Odin, grant me strength! Tuning complete. Synchronization begins. Apocalyptic Fantasy: Maiden's Descent!"
At the same time, slender and graceful figures flew out of the rainbow pillar, scattering across the sky. The luminous spears in their hands fell like a rain of meteors as the maidens called the True Names of their Noble Phantasms, piercing and shooting down the angels whose formations had collapsed.
"Move!"
With a roar that shook the heavens, a muscular blond god driving a chariot pulled by goats, iron gauntlets on his hands and lightning raging around him, snapped his wrist sharply.
Boom!
In an instant, a short-handled giant hammer howled forward. Every angel blocking its path shattered and disintegrated under the thunder arcs that pierced the sky.
At the same time, airships swept across the heavens. On their decks stood beautiful, slender Elementals, towering mountain giants and fire giants, and dwarves operating machines.
At the very center, the flagship was a ship of the dead constructed from stark white bones.
At the bow, a goddess who was half skeleton and half beauty sat high upon a throne. Beside her, a handsome man wearing a horned helm twirled a dagger in his hand, his smile soft and mocking as he whistled lightly.
"Woooo!"
Immediately afterward, a vast, mournful horn echoed through the sky. On the ground where the rainbow pillar had fallen, a mighty one-eyed old man in armor sat astride an eight-legged steed, circling as he shouted.
"Gods, humans, twilight has come! The end is upon us!"
Behind him, dense ranks of Scandinavian Berserkers, Druids, and Main Gods pulsing with divine might answered in a thunderous chorus.
"War! War! War!"
They had arrived. The Scandinavian gods!