"Because your performance yesterday was terrible."
"They almost blew up Uruk."
"I'm punishing you on behalf of Uruk."
"You--!"
Ishtar was so angry she couldn't speak.
Ritsuka quickly helped her up.
"Miss Ishtar, please calm down..."
"I can't get rid of it!"
Ishtar shook off Ritsuka's hand.
"This woman tied me up like a turkey all night!"
"And you said you were punishing me on behalf of Uruk?"
"I am clearly the guardian deity of Uruk!"
"Would the guardian deity almost blow up the city it was protecting?"
Ishtar pointed at Quetzalcoatl.
She provoked me first!
The two argued more and more fiercely.
Ritsuka was caught in the middle, in a dilemma.
"Alright, alright, you two calm down..."
Just then...
Merlin's voice came from behind.
" Ritsuka, there's one more important thing."
" Amakusa Shirou is still locked up in the city's dungeon. Remember to release him."
"Oh, right!"
Ritsuka patted her head.
" Quetzal, where is Amakusa Shirou being held?"
"Come with me."
The dungeons of Eridu.
It's called a dungeon, but it's actually just a basement built of stone.
The environment isn't too bad; at least it's dry and well-ventilated.
Amakusa Shirou Tokisada sat in the corner.
He looked up after hearing footsteps.
"Ah, you've come."
His expression was calm, as if he weren't the one locked up here.
"Mr. Amakusa!"
Ritsuka rushed over and opened the cell door.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No."
Amakusa stood up and dusted off his clothes.
"Miss Jaguar Man was very kind to me before, she brought me three meals a day."
"... Really?"
Ritsuka turned to look at the Jaguar Man.
"Of course it's true."
The Jaguar Man curled his lip.
"I already said, he meant no harm; I just locked him up."
"Besides, I at least brought him food."
"Although he doesn't seem to like the food here..."
Amakusa smiled.
"I'm really not used to it."
"But compared to that, it's really great that I was able to get out."
Amakusa smiled.
"So, what's next..."
"There's one more thing!"
Ritsuka turned to look at Quetzalcoatl.
"Sister Quetzal, we still want to take Marduk's Hand Axe back to Uruk."
"May I?"
" Marduk's Hand Axe?"
Quetzalcoatl tilted his head.
"Sure, that thing is useless to me anyway."
"Come with me."
Quetzalcoatl led the group to the back of the temple.
Everyone's eyes turned to look inside.
Then everyone froze at the same time.
"..."
A huge weapon was stuck diagonally into the ground.
That was a handscythe.
The width of the axe blade alone is probably over ten meters.
The weapon is estimated to be over forty meters long.
The axe handle was thicker than the pillars of the surrounding houses.
It exuded an aura of divine power that made it hard to breathe.
"This..."
Ritsuka open.
"This is the Marduk's Hand Axe?"
"Right."
Quetzalcoatl walked over to the hand axe, patted the handle as if he were patting a Big Dog on the head.
"The weapon of Marduk Mesopotamia."
"It was originally one of the weapons used to dismember Tiamat's body."
"It's Noble Phantasm designed to target Tiamat."
"..."
Ritsuka stared at the hand axe, which was bigger than a house.
How do we move this back to Uruk?
No one answered, because no one knew how to answer.
The size of this weapon is beyond the carrying capacity of a normal person.
Even if Servant joined forces, it would probably be difficult to move it.
"Um... could you use Magecraft to store it in some kind of space...?"
Merlin stroked his chin.
"This weapon is too large to be contained by ordinary spatial Magecraft."
"We'll need to use a space Magecraft of Noble Phantasm level."
I don't have that kind of Magecraft.
"..."
Ritsuka stared at the enormous hand axe.
He then looked around at the helpless crowd.
"What should we do then?"
"Move it back?"
"Using a rolling pin?"
"..."
Just then...
Quetzalcoatl whistled.
Several sharp cries echoed from the sky.
Ritsuka looked in the direction from which the shout came.
Several Quetzalcoatlus were perched on the open ground next to the temple.
Upon seeing those pterosaurs, Ritsuka suddenly thought of something.
"Sister Quetzal!"
"Could your pterosaur help carry the Marduk's Hand Axe?"
"Sure."
Quetzalcoatl smiled.
"They are my family."
"He's incredibly strong; moving Marduk's Hand Axe is no problem for him."
The Chaldea group rested for the night in Eridu.
The next morning.
Everyone gathered in the open space outside the Eridu.
We are preparing to depart for Uruk.
It's just different from when I came.
A few more people joined the returning group this time.
Ishtar.
Amakusa Shirou
And Quetzal Koyatt.
The mode of transportation was completely different from when we arrived.
Quetzalcoatl summoned five Quetzalcoatlus.
Each one has a wingspan of over twenty meters.
It can carry several passengers.
"Come on up."
Quetzalcoatl patted the neck of the foremost pterosaur.
"They are very docile and won't bite."
"Well..."
Ritsuka looked at the row of pterosaurs that resembled towering behemoths.
I felt a little uneasy.
"Aren't you sure you won't fall?"
"Rest assured."
Quetzalcoatl leaped directly onto the back of a pterosaur.
Then he reached out his hand to Ritsuka.
"I'll help you."
"Well... okay then."
Ritsuka grabbed Quetzalcoatl's hand.
He was pulled onto the pterosaur's back.
After she was seated, Quetzalcoatl tied her to himself with a rope.
"That way you won't fall."
"Wow, that's amazing..."
The other Servant also each chose a pterosaur and rode it.
Kotori rode in front of Tomoe Gozen's pterosaur.
Tomoe Gozen hugged her from behind.
" Kotori, hold on tight."
"Um."
Mash and Fou were sitting on a pterosaur.
Fou lay on Mash's lap, looking a little nervous.
" Fou..."
Ana and the Jaguar Man sat on one.
The Jaguar Man seemed excited.
"Wow, Ana, is this your first time riding Quetzalcoatlus?"
Are you scared?
"... I'm not afraid."
Ana answered expressionlessly, but her hands gripped the fluffy feathers on the pterosaur's back tightly.
Amakusa and Merlin sat on the last pterosaur.
Everyone is ready.
Quetzalcoatl whistled at the pterosaurs.
Five Quetzalcoatlus flapped their wings simultaneously.
The enormous wings flapped through the air with a deep, rumbling sound, then slowly rose into the air, stirring up a strong wind on the ground.
Ritsuka gripped Quetzalcoatl's arm tightly.
The pterosaur soared higher and higher, and the entire landscape of Eridu unfolded beneath its feet.
White stone houses. Green farmland. Dense forests surrounding the city.
"What a nice view..."
Ritsuka said softly.
Behind the Quetzalcoatlus that the group was riding.
There were also two larger Quetzalcoatlus.
They were bound together with rope.
They were carrying the Marduk's Hand Axe, which was over forty meters long.
Two pterosaurs, one on the left and one on the right, suspended their hand axes in the middle with thick ropes, steadily following behind the group.
"Going back now has been incredibly rewarding."
Merlin sat on the back of a pterosaur, watching the two pterosaurs behind him carrying hand axes.
" Ishtar is back. Amakusa Shirou has been rescued. The alliance with Quetzalcoatl has been reached. And Marduk's Hand Axe has been obtained."
"Furthermore, Quetzalcoatl himself is going back with us."
"It's an absolute bumper harvest."
"You do not say."
Quetzalcoatl's voice came from ahead.
"They must be terrified to see me descend upon Uruk, right?"