8 Babylon (6): Battle - Part 1.

POV: Third person.

Ishtar snarled with anger, interpreting Hunter's words as disdain, disregard for everything she represented.

How dare he try to make her retreat, as if giving her a chance to leave? Who did this creature think he was?

It wasn't enough that Hunter had ignored her charm without reacting, not even needing to defend himself; now this?! It was enough to cement the idea, the thought that Ishtar had harbored since she first saw Hunter.

The being in front of her was something abominable, something that would not recognize beauty, love, not even if presented before him as now. Ishtar was beauty, was love.

The air behind the goddess, floating in the sky alongside her boat, Maanna, cracked and overheated, creating a shockwave with the goddess's movement.

There was no hesitation or warning. Ishtar, in one moment, was hundreds of meters floating in the air; in the next, inches from Hunter, with Maanna carrying an arrow containing divine power enough to evaporate Uruk from the planet.

Simultaneously, Ishtar attacked Hunter from the right with a low kick, aiming for the man's legs, not to kill him, but to incapacitate him, rendering him powerless to react.

Maanna would destroy Uruk for the offense that Gilgamesh had committed; such was the sin of the king that he must bear.

As for Hunter, even enraged, Ishtar would not kill him. She had other plans for him; she would keep him alive for some time, until she grew bored.

It was fluid, instantaneous movements, impossible to react to, befitting a war goddess...

... Or so Ishtar thought.

Hunter countered equally, matching the goddess's movements.

Moments before Maanna shot the arrow, Hunter took a step forward and pulled a pistol from his waist, something not of this time, a weapon that had accompanied him for a long time.

Hunter's Pistol fired, mercury bullets hitting the lower part of Maanna, tilting the Boat of Heaven upward, where the arrow shot into the sky, flying far before exploding, as if a star had emerged that morning.

Simultaneously, Ishtar's kick connected, colliding with the right leg Hunter had raised to block the goddess's attack.

The impact of the collision created a huge crater, almost reaching the kingdom's walls, stopping just a few meters away, not affecting Uruk only due to the barrier surrounding the realm.

Ishtar widened her eyes in surprise; the blow couldn't move him. Hunter stood, matching the goddess's strength without taking a single step back or staggering.

Before the goddess could attack again or move Maanna, preparing for another shot, Hunter's right arm moved, blurring as he struck toward the goddess's neck with the Saw Cleaver that had appeared out of nowhere.

All of Ishtar's instincts, her divinity, her being, all screamed, begged her to do just one thing.

Move, dodge.

And so the goddess did, attempted, throwing the upper body backward with all the force and speed she could muster, simultaneously kicking Hunter's leg again, not to attack him but to propel herself backward.

In less than a second, Ishtar flew kilometers away, distancing herself from Hunter and Uruk at immense speed.

"What was that?" The goddess murmured, still surprised, as she flew, not fully understanding what she had felt, witnessed.

The sense of imminent death, the cold, the smell of blood that the ugly, hideous weapon emanated reminded Ishtar of when she went to Kur, when her sister had killed her physical body in an outburst of anger and pettiness.

For a moment, the weapon in Hunter's right hand reminded her of Ereshkigal, in the underworld, the goddess of the underworld, where she was absolute.

For a moment, the weapon and death were one.

Before falling to the ground, Ishtar's thoughts raced at a speed that would have melted the brain of any ordinary human.

Strategies, possibilities, paths, all thoughts passed quickly, as fast as they came, only stopping when Ishtar realized two things she hadn't paid attention to amid the frenzy of the brief exchange of blows.

The first was a coincidence. Maanna had a scratch.

It was tiny, almost imperceptible, even to the goddess's vision; yet, it was absurd that she had seen it by chance.

Maanna was the Boat of Heaven, something forged in the heavens, divine, by all means, indestructible, unbreakable.

The simple fact that it had been scratched by Hunter's strange weapon was inconceivable to the goddess.

Even more inconceivable to Ishtar was the sensation she felt, something she hadn't felt in ages.

Pain, real pain, not just coming from the body, but from her Saint Graph, from her Divine Core.

The second thing Ishtar noticed was only when something warm trickled down her neck. The goddess slowly raised her hand to the spot, where she felt her blood dripping slowly.

She had been wounded by Hunter's attack.

It was a shallow cut, far from fatal, no more than an inch, maybe less; Ishtar had moved quickly, deflecting almost the entire blow, receiving only a graze, a superficial wound.

But this meager graze scared the goddess, horrified her.

The cut on her neck wouldn't close, wouldn't heal, wouldn't mend, wouldn't scar.

No matter how much energy Ishtar sent to the area, how much she tried to close the cut; all her efforts seemed to be in vain, something was preventing her, something she didn't know what it was.

Ishtar felt no energy in the cut, wasn't cursed, poisoned; the weapon that cut her, from what the goddess had felt, was just metal, not much else.

It wasn't a cursed weapon, much less divine; it was something made by humans, as strange as its appearance was, something ugly, made for slaughter.

Still, she had been wounded, a wound she couldn't heal, no matter how hard she tried, making her blood slowly flow from her body, staining her armor, the ground, her beautiful skin.

Ishtar, once again, felt something she hadn't felt in ages, or perhaps, had never felt before in her entire divine existence.

Ishtar felt fear... The fear of death.

Thanks to these emotions, surprise, astonishment, fear, Ishtar made a mistake. As brief as it was, she blurred her vision, losing sight of Hunter for mere moments.

Just for a moment, the goddess averted her gaze, less than a second, maybe even less, but it was enough.

Hunter had disappeared.

Ishtar instantly exploded her divinity, spreading it in all directions as she searched for any sign of the slightest movement, any sign of where Hunter had gone or where he would reappear.

Unsuccessful, the goddess ignored the shame, the anger she felt at being forced to do what she was about to do, and called Maanna to go to the heavens.

It wasn't a retreat; it was a strategic withdrawal, that's what Ishtar repeated incessantly in her thoughts.

As the goddess ascended onto the boat, again, this time, even more than before, all the instincts of the goddess screamed like a plea.

Ishtar didn't even need to turn around to know that Hunter had appeared behind her, on her back; she also didn't need to try to know that this time, she wouldn't be able to dodge this attack.

Still, she tried, using everything she had; the goddess tried to move, dodge, evade, everything and more.

It wouldn't be enough, she knew it; she wouldn't move fast enough to dodge, and something told her, screamed at her, that the armor she wore would do little to protect her at this moment.

Death, Ishtar knew, if she were hit, the only thing awaiting her was death, with no other escape.

Not a journey to Kur, but a real death.

Inanna, Ishtar, would cease to exist, her ego extinguished, her divinity forging another being.

The goddess then did the only thing she could do in this situation, a desperate act, without hesitation...

"GUGALANNA!"

...She called for help, and her familiar listened.

Hunter was forced to halt his attack, as instantly, after Ishtar shouted, the bull of heaven hoof descended upon him, forcing him to retreat.

The divine aura of Gugalanna was practically unmatched, crushing and swallowing space, breaking the concepts of range and direction.

For Gugalanna, something like distance was insignificant, just a mere detail that the greatest beast of Sumeria could ignore at any moment.

When the bull's hoof touched the ground, the world trembled, and the earth gave way beneath the hoof. A crater even larger than the one that had appeared with Ishtar's blow to Hunter's leg practically instantaneously emerged.

It was fortunate that the battle was taking place at an immense distance from Uruk, for with this simple movement, Gugalanna could have leveled mountains.

Uruk would have been wiped off the map with a single step, such was the size and power of the bull of heaven.

Even with that, Ishtar didn't have time to sigh in relief, let alone celebrate, as in the next moment, a noise echoed through the environment.

A sound of metal, chains.

Gugalanna's hoof, which was between Hunter and Ishtar, was instantly bound by the chains of the heavens, anchoring the bull in place.

The moment Ishtar heard the first clink of the chains, she took to the skies, knowing that the being hunting her wouldn't let her rest for even a second.

How someone or something could be like this, the goddess didn't know. In one moment, Hunter was courteous; even against an opponent, he spoke little, but when he did, it was eloquent and polite.

Now, Ishtar couldn't detect a hint of emotion coming from Hunter. His face covered by the mask was flat, emotionless like a statue, and his movements were cold and precise.

He was more machine than human, something that he also wasn't.

High in the sky, Ishtar made a decision in an instant. Behind her, reality seemed to distort and twist, the textures of the world being replaced by space, the texture of the universe.

Ishtar opened a rift in reality, connecting Earth with the universe, using her authority as the goddess of love, lust, beauty. From this rift, something could be seen from every corner, from the battle to Uruk, something bright like a star.

The Morning Star hung suspended in space, awaiting Ishtar's next move, the goddess's command.

Even though it wasn't the actual thing, the planet Venus itself, still, the mere image of the Morning Star pulsed with power, strengthening both the goddess and the bull.

Then, like a shattered mirage, an illusory dream, the image of Venus shattered, like glass breaking, something that should have been impossible, but happened thanks to one thing...

"M... Monster..." Ishtar forced the word out as blood flowed from her mouth.

... Hunter's arm was thrust into the goddess's chest, somehow touching her Saint Graph and holding her heart, her Divine Core.

Ishtar hadn't even seen him move, had no idea how he reached her so high in the sky.

While Ishtar felt Hunter's hand holding her Divine Core, time seemed to slow down as the goddess stared into the eyes of the monster that held her life in one hand.

"Know, Lady Goddess, when I came to this world, I made a pact with the planet..." Hunter's words were polite, calm, echoing like a beautiful lullaby. "A pact that I am very tempted to break right now..."

Ishtar then realized that what was in front of her didn't fear the world, Gaia.

What was in front of her was something from outside, foreign.

"But you are lucky, Ishtar, for I do not like to break promises, and you, as much as you are you, have a role to fulfill..." As Hunter's words continued, Ishtar felt something being imprinted on her Divine Core.

A mark, made in blood...

"You will not return to Earth as a goddess, not without a mortal vessel, not taken by force, but given willingly, borrowed."

Etched in an order...

"The control of the body will be equally divided; you will not control the human, as much as he will influence you."

A restraint...

"Only then, when you learn, understand humanity, will you return to tread upon the planet."

In old blood...

Then, the mark formed, carved and etched into her Divine Core, with Ishtar unable to react or defend herself.

"Say hello to Fujimaru Ritsuka for me, Ishtar..."

Only then did the goddess realize that the eyes of the being in front of her, the foreign monster, were no longer blue or yellow.

They were black like the universe, studded with infinite stars, shining like a full moon, seeing much more than she could even imagine at this moment.

"... Or should I say, Rin Tohsaka."

When the last word was spoken, Ishtar felt her world fade away, forcibly returning to the realm of the gods, a place she would stay for a very, very long time.

Ishtar's last thought was that, for a moment, something infinitesimal, even for a goddess, the image of the Morning Star, Venus, when it shattered, was not because of the monster holding her Divine Core.

But because a Pale Moon had devoured it.

[...]---[...]

[Edit - Webnovel]

[Before the bloodthirsty ones crucify me, there's a reason why Ishtar didn't explode out of existence, something that would be explained in 3 chapters, but I'll give a summary here.

What Hunter did to her, for Ishtar, is worse than death, take that into account.]