Ishtar Comes Looking / A New Round of Abduction Plans Begins

It would rather eat those glistening fruits than the burnt monster.

After watching the live stream, Artemis blinked, and Mephistopheles, seeing her like this, suddenly had a bad feeling.

Then, he saw Artemis wave her hand, and instantly, a large number of fruits were swept up by her magic. Then, these fruits began to fall in all directions, flying out of the forest, the grassland, and the river!

Mash Kyrielight watched this scene with great delight, while Ritsuka Fujimaru looked utterly helpless.

Mephistopheles immediately used his magic to track the fruit, marking almost every single one. A few minutes later, Mash Kyrielight started complaining.

"Seven new species have emerged in this river within fifteen minutes, twelve new species have appeared in the forest, and six new species have appeared on the grassland, three of which are currently devouring each other and evolving—are you sure we're not here to cause trouble but to save Human Order?"

Mephistopheles felt that her words and expression didn't match at all. Judging from her excited look, she clearly wanted to keep watching and see how these things would turn out.

"Perhaps it will turn the Age of Gods into an era similar to Godzilla," Ritsuka Fujimaru said from the side.

Mephistopheles thought for a moment. Throwing these fruits out resulted in the emergence of a bunch of monsters with the power of the moon goddess and the power of thunder. Moreover, these monsters were extremely adaptable. After all, they were creations of the creator goddess. If this era continued to develop, it might really become an era similar to the rule of giant beasts, where humans could only hide under the feet of giant beasts and tremble in fear.

Unless, humanity also chooses to cease being human and strives to evolve together.

Mephistopheles thought to himself, then picked up a fruit, opened his mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Before anyone could stop him, it was too late. Mephistopheles smacked his lips. "It tastes good, quite sweet, and very juicy."

The next moment, he felt pure magic surging from the fruit and drilling into his body.

That wasn't a big deal at first, but he soon realized something was wrong.

"Although magic is pure, it will autonomously develop towards powers related to the moon, thunder, and creation, with the power of the moon being the main area, followed by the power of thunder, while the power of creation and destruction only occupies a very small part."

"Well, if we divide it proportionally, it's roughly 95:4:1. In a sense, as long as enough evolutions occur, the power of creation and destruction can be used within a certain range, but only within a very small range, and it consumes an extreme amount of magic power..."

"If an ordinary person swallowed it, they would undergo the same changes as those monsters. However, because their intelligence is already high, I think it would be more appropriate to call them superpowered individuals, or rather, humans who are born with Magecraft powers."

"If Magecraft swallows it, he can try to reduce the impact by relying on his knowledge. As long as he doesn't eat too much at once and takes it slowly, he can accumulate more and more magic power while remaining a normal human being."

"Yes, as expected. Since magic is essentially a form of life force, consuming enough can increase lifespan. For example, the one I just ate can increase lifespan by about ten years. However, as cells continue to divide, the amount of lifespan increase will decrease over time. Unless one can break through the level of life and comprehend the power of creation and destruction through special techniques, simply relying on magic to sustain life will only add about a thousand years at most."

Ritsuka Fujimaru retorted, "A thousand years, isn't that a lot?"

Mephistopheles shrugged. "It's alright, but this stuff isn't very useful for people like us. We can mobilize magic power ourselves, but we don't directly deplete it. The difference in the amount we use is less significant than the impact of our own understanding of knowledge."

That's what he said, but he still tossed the fruit to Black Jeanne, Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mash Kyrielight: "You can eat one; it should improve your physical strength."

Chapter 225 The Sought-After Ishtar

After a series of complex internal struggles, Ritsuka Fujimaru took the glass fruit, closed her eyes, and took a bite.

Then, her eyes widened, and she looked surprised.

"The taste is surprisingly good!"

Black Jeanne took a bite of the fish, then a bite of the fruit, and nodded in agreement. "It's really good. I feel like it would be great as a topping for grilled meat."

She was already thinking about how to combine this fruit with regular meals.

If another show were to feature hunting monsters and then cooking them, Mephistopheles thought this trip might actually be the subject of a documentary called "A Bite Age of Gods Sumer."

Just then, a silvery moonlight shone around Ritsuka Fujimaru, and magical runes appeared and swirled around her. Mash Kyrielight's eyes widened when she saw this. "This isn't a problem with the smell, Senpai!" She then looked at Mephistopheles, hoping Mephistopheles could resolve the issue.

She hasn't eaten the fruit yet, so there's been no change for the time being.

Ritsuka Fujimaru immediately began to condense her own magical power in the normal way that Magecraft would condense magical power. The Command Spell on the back of her hand emitted a red light. At this moment, the Command Spell transformed into a special magical power condensation matrix, helping Ritsuka Fujimaru to quickly convert the power within her body.

Even so, his body was now developing towards a stronger dimension.

Mash Kyrielight examined the instrument closely and exclaimed again, "Senpai, your Magic Circuits are resonating with the Leylines!"

The magic hidden within the earth resonated with Ritsuka Fujimaru's body. Under this resonance, a large amount of magic gathered and began to flow into her body. This magic was so vast, yet so dangerous!

Because ordinary humans cannot directly utilize this terrifying magic; if this magic were to be infused into their bodies, they would be poisoned and die!

If this fruit were eaten on Earth in the future, this situation would never occur. But this is the Age of Gods, the era with the most concentrated magic, so it's perfectly normal for something like this to happen.

Mephistopheles had anticipated this might happen; he could control the flow of magic to prevent it from connecting with the Leylines, but Ritsuka Fujimaru could not.

He reminded him, "Pull out the Heavenly Cloud Sword."

Upon hearing this, Ritsuka Fujimaru immediately drew out the Heavenly Cloud Sword. In that instant, the power of the Heavenly Cloud Sword strengthened Ritsuka Fujimaru's body and rapidly increased his resistance to Magic Resistance. In the blink of an eye, the Great Source magic that might have caused poisoning and resistance was transformed into something harmless.

Moreover, this magical power, which was almost like something obtained for free, was intercepted by the power of the Heavenly Cloud Sword and remained in Ritsuka Fujimaru's body.

Ritsuka Fujimaru's physical strength continuously increased at this moment, rising from a level roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary person, and increasing several times over before slowly stopping.

Mephistopheles sensed this change in the other party, stroked his chin, and thought to himself that this was almost equivalent to evolving from a mortal into a mythical creature.

However, just as it was about to truly become a mythical creature and exhibit the characteristics of a mythical being, its evolution came to an abrupt halt.

Even without relying on the Heavenly Cloud Sword, Ritsuka Fujimaru's current physical abilities alone are enough to put her to a stalemate with ordinary Servants, and she even has a high probability of overwhelming those with weaker combat power.

This doesn't include the enhancement of magic power, because with the evolution of this physical body, magic power has long since been transformed into life force, replenishing the opponent's body. In other words, even if she eventually loses all her magic power, the magic power transformed into life force will still remain in her body. In other words, with pure physical strength, she is also an existence that surpasses ordinary humans.

If combined with the body hardening and protection enhancement techniques of a typical Magecraft, their combat power could be increased several times over. At that point, they would be able to hold their own against most average Servants without any problem.

All of this is based on the fact that she used Magecraft that any ordinary Magecraft would know.

Mephistopheles smiled, then turned away from Ritsuka Fujimaru and looked at Black Jeanne.

Unlike Ritsuka Fujimaru, Black Jeanne's body is essentially a composite of magical energy, constantly changing between "magic energy → body → magic energy," and will not remain in the physical body stage forever.

Therefore, she absorbed the magic power inside the fruit much more efficiently than Ritsuka Fujimaru. Almost the instant she ate it, the magic power inside the fruit had already spread into her body, and along with the power of the moon goddess and the power of thunder, the power of the gods also settled into her body at this moment.

She didn't pull Durandal out, but instead carefully sensed the arrival of this divinity.

It's not about becoming a god, but about acquiring divinity, similar to becoming a follower of a god.

Her Spirit Origin underwent a change at that moment, continuously improving itself and advancing towards a stronger state.

This change is similar to the change in Artemis's Divine Core; it is an enhancement of the fundamental origin. With this enhancement, Black Jeanne stretched out her hand and looked at the crescent moon pattern that appeared in her palm for a moment and then slowly disappeared.

The power derived from the moon goddess, the power derived from Zeus, and the power of creation and destruction greatly enhanced her Spirit Origin. At this moment, even without Durandal, her Spirit Origin had already reached the level of Grand.

Perhaps her Spirit Origin doesn't represent the abilities of a Grand, but her own stats have already reached that level!

Moreover, it's the strength of Grand Servant as Heroic Spirit!

After sensing this change, she suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. If Mephistopheles were to summon her true form again in the future, and she were to merge with it, what level would she reach then?

Seeing the changes in the two, Mephistopheles looked at Mash Kyrielight and grinned, "You should eat too." He looked like an old man trying to seduce a little girl.

Mash Kyrielight swallowed hard, then, under Mephistopheles's gaze, closed her eyes, stuffed the fruit into her mouth, and bit down hard.

The sweet juice burst on her taste buds, and the refreshing sweetness spread throughout her mouth. Mash Kyrielight suddenly understood why her senior had specifically commented on the taste.

This tastes really good!

But then she realized something was wrong.

Her absorption of magic is similar to that of Black Jeanne Alter, because she is a Servant, and her physical body is equivalent to magic power!

However, her absorption also caused changes in the Leylines. This time, the magic power was not gathering to find Ritsuka Fujimaru, but to find her!

In just a moment, Mash Kyrielight understood what was going on, because she was a Servant, but also a normal human being with flesh and blood!

Fortunately, because of her Servant body, her physical body does not suffer from any poisoning effects from the magic of this era. On the contrary, because of her Servant body, she has an extremely high efficiency in Magic Resistance, which she can quickly make her own.

At this moment, the Demi-Servant becomes an advantage; the combined strengths of humans and Servants are embodied in Mash Kyrielight.

Her body was being rapidly strengthened, based on the magic of the Leylines.

Her Spirit Origin was strengthened and infused with divinity, incorporating some divine powers and even a portion of True Magic power, which was part of the Servant's power.

Mash Kyrielight can now not only use Magecraft, but she can also directly cast True Magic from the Type-Moon World through her connection with Artemis.

Even if she separates from the Servant within her in the future, her body will not deteriorate, because with the help of magic, her physical body has already surpassed the limits of humanity!

The enhancements she received were even greater than those of Ritsuka Fujimaru. If we disregard Servants and the Heavenly Cloud Sword, in a pure contest of physical strength, Mash Kyrielight is stronger than Ritsuka Fujimaru in her current state!

At this moment, Mash Kyrielight has already ascended to the ranks of top-tier Servants!

In other words, Mash Kyrielight now possesses strength comparable to Grand Servant!

Lev appeared in the dense forest.

He took a deep breath and showed a comfortable expression.

"Indeed, this place is the most comfortable. The abundant magic power can easily replenish enough strength to activate a powerful spell." He muttered to himself, looking into the distance. "The king is worried that problems might arise here as well, so he sent me to check on the situation. If necessary, he will personally intervene to bring this era to an end!"

He sensed the presence of the Holy Grail, looked towards the monster's lair nestled in the dense forest, and then a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"No, that's not Tiamat. Something has stolen Tiamat's power. Is it Gorgon?"

That was indeed Gorgon. Relying on the power of his own Demon Pillar, he saw the scene in the distance, which made him narrow his eyes. "As expected, it was deliberately done by the people of this era. They want to use Gorgon's concept of the Earth Mother Goddess to seize Tiamat's Earth Mother Goddess power, thereby resolving the crisis of this era? Do you think this will succeed?"

He took a step forward, and instantly appeared in the distance. Then, in a flash, he appeared even further away.

This is his power, his Magecraft, spatial Magecraft that relies on the attribute of nothingness.

So what if the opponent is powerful? As long as the true Earth Mother Goddess is awakened, with Tiamat's power, humanity of this era will be absolutely unable to resist!

No, not to mention humans, even the gods of this era would find it difficult to resist Tiamat's arrival!

That was the greatest Earth Mother Goddess, the source of all Sumer divinity, and the creator of the world!

Because of her power and authority, she was exiled not even to the Inner World where fantastic creatures lived, but to a more ethereal and Imaginary Number World, devoid of any life!

It was also the great king who personally went there, brought it out from the Imaginary Number Sea, and sent it to this world; it was an existence of equal status to the king!

Lev is really looking forward to the arrival of the Chaldea people in this era. When those humans discover what kind of beings they are facing, they will definitely be so scared that they faint.

The thought of this made Lev feel excited, so excited that he wanted to do some impromptu performance.

Seated aboard her Noble Phantasm airship, Ishtar, unusually, escaped from her Temple. She now wanted to find the god who had suddenly descended upon this world as soon as possible and figure out what his purpose was.

Waiting for the other party to come to her is not in her nature; she prefers to take the initiative. If they are friends, she will cooperate; if they are strangers, she will live in peace; and if they are enemies, then she'll fight them if necessary.

Then, she saw a strange scene. On the distant grassland, there were several huge monsters, not the monsters that came from the Black Mud of Gorgon, but strange creatures that emitted a faint moonlight.

For example, one of them has huge wings, with a wingspan of more than six meters, and each feather is covered with patterns belonging to the moon goddess among the Twelve Olympians.

At this moment, the monster that should be considered an eagle was hurtling towards the ground at supersonic speed!

Just as it was about to hit the ground, a figure leaped up from the ground with such force that it shattered the ground!

It was a rabbit that was almost two meters long. The muscles in its legs burst out with astonishing power at that moment, and like a cannonball, it crashed straight into the giant eagle in the air!

In the instant they collided, Ishtar saw a protective shield formed by the condensation of moonlight, followed by a burst of chaotic lightning—the thunderous power of Zeus was running rampant here!

In that instantaneous exchange, neither gained the upper hand. The rabbit, using the force of the impact, spun around, used the eagle's body as leverage, and pushed off again with its feet. It not only sent the eagle flying a great distance but also propelled itself in the opposite direction, clearly intending to escape.

Seeing this, Ishtar's mind raced.

She's been here for quite a while now. Do these kinds of creatures really exist? If so, how come she didn't know about them?!

Could it be that the appearance of these monsters is related to the sudden arrival of that new god?

With a guess in mind, she quickened her pace and soon arrived at a small, dense forest. This forest was peculiar, containing the power of the moon. Looking at the crystal-like trees, she smelled a faint fragrance in the air.

It smells like barbecue!

"The smell of roasted meat?" Ishtar wondered, continuing to fly in the direction the aroma was coming from, and finally spotted a few figures.

There was a man and several women there, especially one silver-haired woman whose divinity was so strong that Ishtar recognized her at a glance.

Artemis, the Greece goddess of the moon!

Moreover, the divinity emanating from Artemis was far more intense and the Divine Core more powerful than she could comprehend!

This moon goddess must be the mysterious being who caused the cataclysmic changes in the world! However, when her gaze fell upon the only male, her eyes suddenly Tzimtzum.

The man was grilling chunks of meat, but the thing he was using to grill the meat was condensed starlight.

No, that is the light of the planet, the Star Sword that destroyed Sefar in the past!

Chapter 226 A New Round of Kidnapping Plans Launched

The Sumer Earth Mother being cast into the Imaginary Number World, and the King of Uruk leading his people to break with the gods, are both considered to be the dividing lines that led to the beginning of the disappearance of the Age of Gods.

But if we really want to say when the Age of Gods began to decline, we need to go back to a much earlier time, to the era when gods were jumping around on the ground, when the "great" Sefar fired the first shot in rebellion against the gods, and perhaps the most painful shot.