"E-err, yeah. Gugalanna is basically just my ride. But guys, Gugalanna isn't really that big of a deal. It probably won't be much help against Tiamat anyway..."
"You're being awfully modest, Ishtar," the Hero King purred, a dark smirk tugging at his lips. "Usually, at a time like this, you'd be cackling loudly and bragging about Gugalanna until our ears bled. Unless—"
—The Hero King... I've never seen him smile like that!
"—Is there perhaps a reason you cannot show us Gugalanna? How about it, you 'Useless'—'Goddess'—'Ishtar'?"
The Hero King's face twisted into an expression of pure, malicious joy as he mocked her.
"...! You... Goldie, you knew!! You knew all along!!"
The Sage King looked on, suspicious. "What is this? You're acting strange. As my foolish self says, you should be bragging about a power that isn't even yours by now. Wait... you... you didn't..."
Ishtar closed her eyes, looking like a woman facing the gallows.
"...Yes. I don't have it. Gugalanna is gone."
"...Lady Ishtar, what did you just say?" Siduri whispered.
"Pffft... ha... hahahaha!!"
—Oh, gods... are you watching this?
"I DON'T HAVE IT! I LOST IT! I dropped it somewhere! I think it was in the North, but I can't find it anywhere! I searched all over Babylon, but Gugalanna is nowhere to be found!!"
As Ishtar wailed, the Sage King stood speechless. In contrast...
"Hahaha! Puh-hahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The Hero King Gilgamesh rolled on the floor, laughing from the very depths of his soul, as if he had waited his entire life for this single moment.
"To fail to show your divine might when it is needed! To save nothing when all is at stake! To be dumped by your own pet cow! And you call yourself a goddess?! Don't make me laugh! Ishtar is a worthless, powerless clown of a god who can do nothing when it matters! A fool! A parasite who devours faith and gives nothing back! To call yourself a god is the height of comedy! Your incompetence is truly breathtaking! You are the greatest idiot to ever grace Mesopotamian history! You are a top-tier Useless Goddess!! Your so-called 'beauty' is nothing but a cheap coat of paint to hide your pathetic ugliness! No wonder they'll turn you into a demon in the future, you absolute moron!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"Ggggh... uuuuuggggh!!"
Ishtar glared at him with a mixture of shame, hatred, and murderous intent, but the Hero King didn't care. He was having the time of his life.
—Lady Ishtar... I am so sorry. But pleasure is subjective. I never had the right to stop the King's enjoyment...
Ea simply stood by the Hero King, offering no mockery, just a quiet, supportive presence as he laughed himself hoarse.
"Now then," the Hero King said, wiping a tear from his eye as he returned to his throne. "I have laughed my fill. Let us return to the main topic."
"I am standing here holding a stone tablet that says 'I am a failure of a goddess,'" Ishtar muttered, literally being forced into a "time-out."
"Hmm... this puts a double burden on Marduk. Can you handle it, my foolish self?"
"The path to victory is already laid out. I only stayed silent this long so I could witness Ishtar's humiliation. Obviously."
"(Too exhausted to argue.)"
"I never expected anything from a useless goddess anyway. Now, let us re-deploy! First, we finish Gorgon! She's been half-dead this whole time; she's served her purpose. Let's end it!"
(I'm sorry, Gorgon... your opponent was just too much for you.)
"I will use Marduk's 'Spiral Arm of the Underworld, Irkalla' to pierce her temple and collapse it. You understand what that means, Magician of Flowers?"
"Yes," Merlin replied. "It will break my illusion and wake Tiamat. She will escape the dream and regain her freedom."
"Correct. Tiamat is now an incarnation of mindless hatred. She will wake instantly. And then, after we have Moses split the Indian Ocean, we shall use Marduk's authority as a Sun God to dry the seabed instantly."
"What?! Can you really do that?!"
"By releasing the accumulated energy we've been gathering, yes. The 'Grail of the World' draws in the heat and mana of the entire era. Drying a portion of the sea is child's play for it."
"If that's true, her advance will be halted. But will it affect Marduk's later performance?"
"He won't be able to fight immediately after using that authority. He'll need two hours to cool down and re-circulate mana. Ereshkigal! Grant Marduk entry into the Underworld! He is an inorganic object; he isn't 'alive.' Your world shall be his maintenance bay!"
"My big brother is coming too?! I'm so nervous... I have to clean up...!"
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