"Huh? Huh!!!"
Ishtar of the Type-Moon universe felt like the sky was falling. This time, she wasn't being playful—she genuinely felt like the world was crashing down around her.
"My connection to Gugalanna has been severed... My Gugalanna! My Gugalanna has become someone else's pet!"
By the end, Ishtar's voice was tinged with tears.
She was genuinely on the verge of crying.
Since her creation, she had never suffered such a great injustice—someone had forcefully taken her beloved Nunu away.
Gilgamesh, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, remained expressionless. For this madwoman's plight, he had only two words.
"Serves her right!"
Especially seeing her actually start crying, Gilgamesh couldn't suppress the upward twitch of his lips. If he hadn't quickly covered his mouth, he might have exposed the laughter he was desperately trying to hold back.
"Ahem."
His High Priestess, Siduri, kept clearing her throat as a reminder.
Gilgamesh composed himself, making sure he wouldn't laugh out loud.
"Ishtar, this is your fault."
"???"
Ishtar, who had just begun crying, nearly choked on her own tears at those words.
"This… this is my fault!?"
Gilgamesh simply pointed at the projection.
"You descended with Gugalanna, right? Who lost him?"
"...."
That hit Ishtar right in her vulnerable spot.
It was true that she had brought Gugalanna with her when descending into this world, and Gugalanna's sudden disappearance was also her failure to keep watch. As Gugalanna's original owner, she had to take responsibility for this failure.
"You're the one who lost Gugalanna. How dare you cry here?"
"I…"
For a moment, Ishtar was left speechless.
But if she hadn't truly been in the wrong, Ishtar wouldn't have been at a loss for words. After all, the reason Gugalanna changed owners was because she hadn't looked after it properly, letting it run off to another world.
"...."
"???"
After a moment, Ishtar suddenly realized something.
"Wait, how did that dumb ox even migrate to another world?"
"That stupid ox could do something like that?"
The more Ishtar thought about it, the stranger it felt. This wasn't her fault at all—she was being framed!
At that moment, Gilgamesh was already sitting upright, his voice radiating unparalleled seriousness.
"Ishtar, are you sure this isn't your responsibility?"
"Gugalanna crossed worlds as a deity and went to another world's dungeon. This situation was entirely caused by your poor supervision."
"Who—"
Just as Ishtar was about to protest, she froze, and the meaning of Gilgamesh's earlier words echoed in her mind.
Gugalanna crossed to another world as a god?
She, the Goddess of Beauty, had descended through possession. How could that stupid ox descend as a god? And even travel to another world? Was this some kind of joke?
Then it hit her—there was one being who could pull this off.
The Creator!
With that thought, Ishtar's face turned bright red.
This... this couldn't be said aloud.
Even a madwoman like Ishtar, who often messed up at critical moments, knew that some things shouldn't be said.
Even though she knew it was the work of the world, she couldn't blame it. Otherwise, her father would definitely drag her by the hair and make her kneel before the world to beg for forgiveness.
At that point, she might even have to cosplay as a headless goddess.
"Lady Ishtar, you've been really careless this time."
High Priestess Siduri chimed in, hoping the goddess she served would snap out of it.
That reminder proved surprisingly effective. Ishtar, who had been lost in her fantasy of being dragged to apologize by her father, quickly snapped back to reality.
A silly grin spread across her face as she absentmindedly tugged at her hair.
"Oh dear, I was so careless this time. How could I have let that stupid ox escape?"
Only after saying those words did Ishtar feel a sense of relief wash over her.
Though her legs were trembling, she quickly turned to Siduri for support.
"Siduri, help me up. I can't stand on my own."
Siduri sighed but still walked over to steady Ishtar.
"Lady Ishtar, please be more careful next time."
"Mm-hmm."
Terrified out of her wits, Ishtar had no time to act like her usual tsundere self. Just moments ago, she had come closer to death than ever before.
Meanwhile, the gods atop the Tower of Babel fell into a heavy silence.
Finally, Freya spoke up, summarizing the situation.
"When facing deities, there's no retreat. This power can suppress all gods, and it seems to have been born specifically to limit divine authority."
"But I suspect this is only a part of it."
"Given that child's personality, it's highly likely that what we saw was deliberately shown. It's the part that can be seen without consequence."
Freya's analysis caused the other gods to exchange uneasy glances, speechless.
Indeed, as Freya said, considering the child's nature, what had been shown was probably just a part of their power, not the full extent of what they could do.
"Regarding the limitations on Gugalanna's Authority, using sheer physical strength to defeat the colossal Gugalanna and coming out on top... Judging by this, that child has already begun to properly adapt to the power they've acquired."
Freya's analysis made a lot of sense.
However, the speed at which this adaptation was happening was undeniably rapid. How many days had passed? And already, they were adjusting so quickly?
"And based on the dungeon's attitude, it seems the next Floor Bosses will likely all be replaced by gods. The Black Dragon... will likely be the final hurdle."
"But it seems we'll have to wait a few more days before we can witness that moment ourselves."
The gods exhaled in unison.
"It's finally coming."
Yes, the campaign against the Black Dragon was about to officially begin.
They were all witnesses to this moment.
"Freya-sama, do you think the defeat of the Black Dragon will go smoothly?"
Freya-sama shot a glance at the idiot who had spoken.
"It's not about what I think, but what everyone needs to believe. This time, the Black Dragon must be defeated. Otherwise, do you think we'll face another cycle?"