This Goddess guarantees she won't kill you

The goddess outside the Royal Palace Hall appeared fierce and imposing. Siduri knew full well that the Palace Guards couldn't stop her, but it was already too late to have them stand down.

Ishtar was not a patient goddess.

So the next second, with a thunderous crash, beyond the hall's doors, under the scorching sun, dust and sand kicked up, transforming into a blinding veil of Golden Quicksand.

And within it, a slender figure stepped lightly inside.

"As impatient as ever... Lady Ishtar." Siduri gave a wry smile.

As the king's close advisor, she had often negotiated with the gods in earlier years and naturally understood this goddess's temperament.

Rovi beside her said nothing, merely following Siduri's gaze toward the doorway.

The figure emerging from the flying dust had jet-black long hair cascading down. Her form wasn't voluptuous but was well-proportioned and athletic. Her revealing attire only covered a few key areas, leaving her snow-white skin exposed, appearing both sacred and sinful with every slight movement.

But Rovi couldn't help but freeze.

Wasn't this... Rin Tohsaka?

In his original world, among the Nasuverse series works, she was the heroine of one—the twin-tailed tsundere young lady.

A Possession State?

Thinking it over, it made sense. The gods could no longer descend in their true forms.

So Ishtar appearing in a Possession State wasn't hard to understand.

After all, 'Rin Tohsaka' was indeed the most suitable vessel for Ishtar.

Rovi said nothing, calculating carefully in his mind, planning his own plan.

Over there, Ishtar stepped into the temple, scanned the room, and found no trace of Gilgamesh.

The goddess paused, then grew annoyed: "How dare you hide from the beautiful and noble goddess, Gilgamesh? Your audacity grows—"

"Lady Ishtar, my king has matters to attend to, please—"

"Silence!" Siduri's words were cut off by Ishtar's glare. "Did I give you permission to speak?"

"Hmph, you think hiding means I can't touch you? How you underestimate me!"

The black-haired goddess sneered, her vermilion lips curling into a mocking arc.

She lifted her Vermilion eyes.

"Watch me tear this place apart—and see if you can still sit still, Gilgamesh!"

The goddess raised her slender, pale hand, and golden light coalesced in her palm, quickly forming the shadow of a long bow.

That was the Manifestation of Venus.

The embodiment of the power of the brilliant Venus above Mesopotamia.

The moment it appeared, an inexplicably immense pressure filled the vast Royal Palace Hall, and invisible air currents pushed outward from its center.

She cared nothing for the lives inside the hall, nor for the strain her actions might place on the nation of Uruk—

As the most pampered goddess, this was simply Ishtar's nature.

Siduri was helpless.

If this palace were destroyed, given Gilgamesh's personality, he would likely come out and fight her directly...

But that was something Siduri, as his advisor, didn't want to see.

After all, the king had ordered her not to let Ishtar disturb him.

So she had to stop it... Fortunately, Siduri had experience handling such matters. If she told Ishtar plainly that Gilgamesh was in a Consciousness Exchange with his mother, even the willful goddess would show some restraint before another divine being.

That wouldn't solve things permanently, but it would buy time.

But while she wanted to do that, Rovi did not.

"Lady Ishtar?" He slowly descended the steps, bearing the pressure, and stood before her with apparent effort.

"Oh? A young New face?" Ishtar lightly plucked the golden bowstring with her hand, flicking her jet-black Beautiful hair. "Not bad-looking, but—you don't meet my standards."

"Step back. You can't stop this goddess!"

"Of course, staying is fine too. I'll blast you to pieces along with this palace!"

The goddess flashed a cruel smile.

Seeing her like this, Rovi actually relaxed.

When he'd realized the goddess was in a Possession State, he'd worried whether Ishtar might be influenced by 'Rin Tohsaka's' existence, becoming less 'divine' and less cold—in which case, his plan to Court Death might fail.

But seeing her now, even if there was influence, it was minimal.

At least the Venus Goddess's contempt for human life was genuine. In her eyes, aside from Gilgamesh having some value, everything else in the human world was useless Ugly things.

Still, to ensure success, Rovi carefully prepared a highly targeted Prepared speech in his mind—

"I won't step back." Rovi shook his head, his gaze fixed firmly on Ishtar, as if resolute.

He said, "I know you, Ishtar—the Goddess of Beauty, War, and Harvest."

"Legend says you are the most beautiful among the gods. Because of your beauty, you have countless followers among them. Someone once praised that your beauty truly shines and blazes like Venus, shaking the stars."

"Heh heh heh, at least you know what's good for you. Though your appearance can't compare to Gilgamesh, your vision is a hundred times better than his!" Ishtar laughed with considerable smugness.

"But—" The thing everyone fears most is these two words: "Now that I've seen you, I find myself quite disappointed."

"What do you mean?"

Her laughter cut off abruptly, confusion spreading across Ishtar's beautiful face.

"You're not as beautiful as the legends say—or rather, you're ugly!" To the goddess who governs beauty, delights in beautiful things, and considers herself beautiful, he bluntly called her ugly.

Rovi believed there was no act more suicidal than what he was doing right now.

Ishtar froze.

Siduri, still standing on the upper steps, choked for a moment.

"You ugly mortal, do you know what you're saying?" Ishtar's face darkened, the flowing light on the bowstring manifested from Venus in her hand growing even more dazzling, making Rovi's stance even more strenuous.

But he only smiled, laughing without a care.

"Of course I do." Rovi said. "What I'm saying is—so-called Goddess of Beauty, you have no idea what true beauty really is."

"In this world, all beautiful things pass away with time—the magnificent rivers and mountains, the fleeting sunset... people, objects, everything eventually becomes the past."

"Only the heart is eternal, and true beauty should also originate from the heart."

"But what I see in you, the manifestation of your heart—that arrogance, cruelty, and self-righteous ego—where is there even a trace of beauty?"

"There isn't any."

"All I see is ugliness, a foul heart... ugly appearance, foul heart."

"So I say, no wonder King Gilgamesh avoids you..." Rovi clapped his hands, feigning understanding: "Anyone would do the same—"

"Speaking of which, I still have to praise you—at least in the realm of ugliness... you're ugly in a very unique way."

Rovi's face was dead serious: "Ugly and unique. The genuine thing."

Ishtar was stunned, momentarily unable to grasp what he meant.

But in an instant... the goddess's heart erupted in fury.

If you can talk, talk more!

This Goddess guarantees she won't kill you—?!!