The Strongest Hero (Continued)

Seeing this, Ishtar said nothing, but her eyes grew even colder.

"Turn me to pieces!"

The instant the sound faded, Maanna, who had been hovering in the sky, flew back to Ishtar's side. Above the huge blue bow, blinding light gathered, immediately illuminating half of Ishtar's face.

However, upon seeing this, Astraea said, "Don't waste your energy, Ishtar. You can't move him."

"Huh? Are you mocking me for not being able to defeat a mere demigod?"

Upon hearing this, Ishtar became even more displeased.

"Yes, that is indeed the case. However, it's not just you, it's me too. No god can shake him. As long as someone is his target, no matter how difficult it is, he will definitely achieve it. Even insurmountable obstacles will be overcome by him. He is such an incredible hero, the strongest hero of Greece — Heracles."

Astraea knew this powerful hero far too well, so she did nothing unnecessary, for it would all be futile.

If humanity has been yearning for miracles since the dawn of time, then the very existence of the person before us is the greatest miracle.

What a joke!

However, Ishtar, who did not belong to the same pantheon, clearly did not understand the power and special nature of the person in front of her, and she still stubbornly launched her powerful attack.

"Maanna, smash him to pieces right now!"

With Ishtar's command, Maanna in mid-air had already drawn an invisible bowstring, and terrifying energy fluctuations were loaded at that moment, ready to be unleashed.

This was actually the magic power that Ishtar had been quietly accumulating, something she had prepared long ago. It was a trump card she had prepared to defeat Astraea, meant to blast her out of the game with a single shot. She just hadn't expected to have to use it at this time, but there was nothing she could do about it.

After all, without eliminating this guy in front of them, this battle simply cannot continue, and...

This guy's offense was far more outrageous than Astraea's. If he wasn't punished, where would his dignity as a god be placed?

With that in mind, Ishtar decided to stop holding back.

With a flick of her arm, a terrifying light burst forth from Maanna's chamber, the blinding golden light like a torrent cascading down a waterfall, intent on completely engulfing him and then mercilessly preparing to tear him to shreds.

The blinding light, terrifying magic, and overwhelming divine power were fully unleashed at this moment. The terrifying energy that erupted was like a sharp sword wielded by a god, tearing the earth apart. Its power was unstoppable. However, this sword stopped in front of Hercules. He calmly raised his fist and then fiercely threw a punch at the descending pillar of light.

Bang!

The next moment, a dull thud and terrifying force converged on his fist and were delivered firmly.

Faced with the terrifying beam of light that Ishtar had been preparing for a long time as one of her trump cards, he didn't show much emotion. He simply clenched his fist, threw it, and seriously completed the two consecutive movements.

Even so, without any grand scale or earth-shattering power, Ishtar's divine punishment beam was completely shattered.

The pillar of light was shattered by absolute force. Hercules stood quietly amidst the flying light debris. Although his fists were slightly charred from the collision, his stance remained unshaken, and his body remained as tall as ever, standing upright between the two like a pillar of strength.

This scene left Ishtar completely stunned.

She now has one thought in her mind, which is--

Is this guy even human?

Where did this humanoid dragon come from?

What's with this terrifying power? It's almost as powerful as Uncle Marduk's!

'As expected.'

Astraea, standing to the side, wore an expression that seemed to say, "I didn't expect this."

"Heracles, the Heracles, even as Servant, still retains his charisma..."

"Don't be too happy, humans, this isn't over yet!"

Unlike Astraea, Ishtar was never one to accept defeat willingly. Seeing her attack fail, she knew her opponent was not someone to be trifled with, but she valued her reputation even more.

Being humiliated by Astraea is not something to be taken lightly. Moreover, there might be more Servant lurking in the shadows. This time, if she, the Mesopotamia goddess of war, doesn't deal with this demigod who offended her, she might as well give up her life.

So Ishtar was ready to go all out against Hercules.

Let's ignore all that nonsense for now and get ready to unleash our Noble Phantasm.

"Since that's the case, then let me show you how terrifying the gods are."

Then she turned her palm over, and a golden key was held tightly in her hand, its surface shimmering with the light of Venus.

Upon seeing this, Astraea's expression changed.

As a deity, she could certainly sense the extraordinary nature of the key in Ishtar's hand.

Compared to Maanna beside her, the thing in her hand was far more terrifying.

What Ishtar held tightly in her hand was a true symbol of the power and status of a chief god, a weapon comparable to the chariot of the sun god, the shield of Athena, the trident of Poseidon, and the scepter of Zeus. Once she took out this, it meant that a god had stopped playing around and was going to get serious.

This made her somewhat worried.

If it were her fighting Ishtar, even if they were both severely injured today, she probably wouldn't resort to something like this to overturn the table. After all, it's too undignified. A battle between gods shouldn't be so tasteless, or at least it shouldn't escalate to this level of anger.

But clearly, Ishtar, in her rage, was someone who didn't care about anything else; let's forget about all that and just focus on destruction first.

"The Heaven's Wedge that the Father God bestowed upon you? Ishtar, are you serious? To actually use that!"

Even Ereshkigal, who was watching from inside Rin Tohsaka's body, was stunned by this sight.

"Has this guy gone mad again? If he uses his Noble Phantasm in a place like this, won't he raze the entire city to the ground? Ishtar, stop right now!"

She hurriedly called out to Ishtar, trying to calm her down.

Because this Noble Phantasm had already been revealed in the Seventh Singularity, its terrifying power was deeply imprinted in everyone's minds. This was also the ultimate powerful output that blasted Tiamat into the Underworld with a single shot.

Once the power of her next attack is unleashed, its destructive force will be no less than Gilgamesh's Ea. If she were to unleash it, the entire Fuyuki City would likely be reduced to a single meteorite crater.

But at this moment, Ishtar had no time to care about them. She had already leaped onto Maanna's back, preparing to fly into the sky, open the Star Gate of Venus, and summon the phantom of Venus to smash everything.

At this point, even if Ereshkigal wanted to take control, it was too late.

Seeing this, Astraea knew it was no longer time for her to hold back. She raised her scales and golden sword, pointing them directly at Ishtar in the sky.

Although such an attack is against justice, there was no other way now. Even though doing so might harm the life of the girl named Rin Tohsaka, as the goddess of justice, she could not tolerate Ishtar destroying tens of thousands of human lives in front of her.

Next, she will unleash her Noble Phantasm, and together with Heracles Hercules, send Ishtar directly back to the Throne of Heroes.

Only...

"It's alright, Astraea, let me do it."

Hercules reached out to stop Astraea, then looked up at Ishtar again and said, "I said I promised my master that no one would leave this Holy Grail War. This battle must be ended by me."

"But..."

Astraea wanted to say something more, but Hercules said calmly, "Trust me. Perhaps Heracles can't do many things, but Hercules is omnipotent. I will stop her."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

Since even the strongest hero Hercules, had said so, Astraea had no reason to continue insisting and voluntarily handed the battlefield over to Hercules.

Thank you.

He nodded politely, then Hercules looked up at Ishtar, who was flying into the sky and had activated the Venus Domain.

Looking at the shrunken, golden planetary phantom hanging in his hand, Hercules' expression turned solemn. He then slowly said, "As expected, when I first saw you, I foresaw that you would be the greatest danger in the Holy Grail War. Now it seems that I was right."

"Huh? So it really was you who ambushed me that night!"

Upon hearing this, Ishtar's expression changed, and she immediately recalled what had happened. She angrily cursed, "You despicable bastard! It's too late for you to beg for mercy now. Take your remorse and get blown to bits with this city!"

As she spoke, she immediately prepared to shove the illusory Venus in her hand into Maanna's chamber to utterly destroy everything.

However, Hercules was faster in the meantime.

Bang!

Ultimately, she was a goddess who had lived a life of luxury and whose true form was not adept at combat.

Even the Sumerian goddess of war could not match the strongest hero who had traversed countless trials and battlefields in terms of combat awareness.

In the instant she was about to insert the phantom of Venus into the chamber, Hercules had already completed the three consecutive actions of nocking the arrow, drawing the bow, and firing in one smooth motion.

In the blink of an eye, even while Ishtar was still speaking, an arrow, its tip brushing against the scorching sparks, shot upwards from the earth, reaching the sky where Ishtar stood.

In that instant, Ishtar's eyes widened.

"How is this possible?! This speed!"

There was no time to dodge, nor to create distance, because the arrow was too fast and came too suddenly.

Having just reached the highest point, Ishtar subconsciously relaxed. She never imagined that this creature, incapable of flight, could reach her celestial realm, the realm of the gods, in the blink of an eye, and...

Slay the gods!

The jet-black bronze arrow, imbued with terrifying magical power, struck Maanna's body with pinpoint accuracy in an instant.

The next moment, Maanna, the artifact that had been pierced once again, trembled violently, and the state of suspension that it had maintained was broken in an instant. Ishtar was sitting on it, felt as if Maanna beneath her feet was being tossed about by a bird with a broken wing. Her body began to shake violently, and in just a moment, she was uncontrollably falling towards the park below.

This prompted Ishtar to erupt in a tirade. "You damned wretch, disrespectful! This is utter disrespect! To launch a sneak attack while the gods are speaking, your actions will be punished by the heavens!"

However, Hercules wasn't sure if doing this would incur divine retribution; even if it did, that was a matter for later. All he knew for now was that Ishtar would be punished before him.

Ishtar had crashed to the ground, clutched her stomach and screamed in agony. Beside her lay Maanna, who was completely destroyed. She then got up from the ground, still in excruciating pain, and looked up to see Hercules standing in front of her.

"You think this is all? Mere humans, just humans, yet you've brought me to such a wretched state. I won't let you off so easily!!"

At this moment, she was completely enraged. Ishtar picked up the Venus Key in her hand, raised it directly above her head, and prepared to detonate it without saying a word.

Although the absence of Maanna's release would prevent the activation of his Noble Phantasm, this phantom of Venus is no ordinary object. Even a simple detonation of it would be enough to destroy the creature before him.

Now she must defend her dignity as a deity.

"Go to hell!"

However, just as Ishtar raised the Venus Key in her hand, preparing to fight Hercules to the death, the next moment...

No, the farce is over.

As the black hand reached out, a strange wave emanated from Hercules, the energy like a gust of wind, echoing in her ears.

Immediately afterwards, Ishtar, who had been frozen in place for a second, felt as if her hand had become empty, and the weight of the key she had held had completely vanished in that instant.

She looked down and saw that the golden key she had been holding in her hand had vanished without a trace, replaced by Hercules's palm.

"Huh?"

Ishtar was stunned by this moment.

She had absolutely no idea how her Noble Phantasm could have been suddenly taken away by the other party.

And...

It clearly has his own mark on it, so why is he able to hold it so easily without being affected?

"That was... Noble Phantasm?!"

Ishtar immediately understood; the opponent had just unleashed a special Noble Phantasm.

And the power of that Noble Phantasm is actually—to steal one's own Noble Phantasm!

For a moment, Ishtar was stunned.

She had never imagined that such a despicable Noble Phantasm could exist in this world—to steal another's Noble Phantasm and use it for oneself. What kind of vile and bizarre legend could possibly give rise to such Noble Phantasm?

And indeed, this is true; it is part of the Twelve Labors Noble Phantasm Hercules.

The Heavenly Wind Usurper.

This is an extremely despicable and unreasonable Noble Phantasm. If it were the upright and honorable Heracles, he probably wouldn't be willing to use it even in a desperate situation. But there is no Heracles here at this moment, only Hercules.

Having seen that the most unstable element Ishtar, had likely lost all danger, Hercules also lost his reason to continue fighting.

He silently turned around and prepared to leave.

This scene struck Ishtar and Astraea as odd.

Why doesn't this guy fight? Why doesn't he kill him?

If he wanted to, during the time Ishtar was shot down or lost her Noble Phantasm, with his speed and strength, he could easily crush Ishtar's head like a chicken.

However, he didn't do that; he only touched on it briefly.

It was as if the very purpose of its appearance was to end this pointless farce.

Drawn to the battle, the Servant hidden in the darkness were also drawn to this figure.

However, this incredibly powerful Heracles seemed oblivious, quietly leaving without any intention of continuing the battle. Similarly, if the other Servant were to fight, he would simply intervene as he did now.

"You bastard! You bastard! You didn't kill me? Are you looking down on me?"

Although she wasn't killed, Ishtar felt a more unpleasant emotion: contempt. Her opponent completely disregarded her; his appearance wasn't to defeat her, the goddess, but merely because she had annoyed him.