Quetzalcoatl, in the Nahuatl tongue, meant "Feathered Serpent"—the god known as the pinnacle of goodness in Latin American mythology, synonymous with Kukulkan of the Mayan legends, embodying the supreme solar deity.
Myths, however, were inherently unreliable, and Ophis couldn't care less about why this supposed apex of virtue wanted humanity's ruin.
What truly intrigued Ophis was that certain South American cultures depicted Quetzalcoatl as an ouroboros. She wondered faintly if this Quetzal had any ties to her own Ouroboros species.
"And so, go to the southern jungle, gather intel on Quetz."
Ophis blandly assigned the mission to the three from Chaldea.
"You sure make it sound casual…"
Ritsuka's mouth twitched involuntarily. The last time they'd encountered Quetzalcoatl, they'd been utterly powerless—even if the goddess hadn't been serious, just defending themselves took all their might...
"Um… Let me clarify something first. Is it only intel gathering?"
Merlin stepped forward, turning to question Ophis.
"Huh? Are you saying there's something else besides intel gathering we can even do?"
Ritsuka asked in confusion.
"Indeed… Quetzalcoatl's strength is ridiculously excessive."
Dr. Roman's voice came through clearly from the communicator.
Certainly, Chaldea would happily jump at any solution, but as it stood, just holding their own against Quetzal was already borderline impossible.
After a moment's thought, Ophis nodded, answering Merlin directly:
"Naturally, if you can neutralize Quetzal as a threat entirely, that would be ideal."
"The difficulty just jumped a few hundred-fold!?"
Ignoring Ritsuka's outburst, Romani seemed thoughtful.
"Merlin, shouldn't you be able to check on that goddess somewhat? Using Clairvoyance or something."
Merlin pursed his lips, putting on a troubled expression.
"This habit of playing dumb isn't a good look for you, Romani Archaman. But fine, I'll answer. I'd love to, truly—but most of my mana is occupied elsewhere right now. Besides, if a goddess catches someone spying with Clairvoyance, who knows what she'll do? Myths are littered with examples, right, Lady Ishtar?"
"Huh?"
Everyone from Chaldea froze for a second, following Merlin's sudden gaze behind them.
A goddess with dark twintails swaggered into the temple, a dazzling smile lighting her face.
"Obviously, I'd just have to kill whoever dared do that—even if it's troublesome, I'd throw everything I have into completely annihilating them~!"
"See? Provoking that goddess now is a little premature. So, Clairvoyance is vetoed."
Merlin returned Ishtar's bright smile, which she blatantly ignored.
"Wait—Lady Ishtar, why are you here…?"
Mash interjected cautiously.
Understandably so; their last meeting hadn't exactly been hostile, but neither had they confirmed if Ishtar was friend or foe.
"Such nonsense! I am Uruk's guardian goddess. Isn't it obvious I'm here protecting Uruk at a time like this~?"
Ishtar proudly puffed out her chest, smiling smugly.
"If Ishta hadn't been distracted counting the treasures I sent over and thus failed to react to Quetz's attack in time, that might sound more convincing."
Ophis's sudden interjection froze Ishtar's expression instantly.
"How should I say this…?"
Mash sighed softly.
"I can totally imagine that…"
Ritsuka agreed with a helpless laugh.
For some strange reason, anyone who saw Ishtar found it extremely difficult to trust her reliability...
"S-so what? Is it wrong to take fair compensation? Working for free would be the real issue! Besides, didn't that one sitting over there also fail to react in time?"
Ishtar pointed accusingly at Ophis.
Ophis raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"I was busy preparing countermeasures against the Three Goddesses. Besides, I only relaxed Uruk's surveillance temporarily because I trusted Ishta."
With that casual retort, Ishtar stiffened completely.
Then her shoulders drooped, defeated, and she sighed.
"Fine, fine. It was my mistake. I didn't react quickly enough to that snake's sudden attack."
She looked back up at Ophis, her expression firm.
"So, I'll join the southern jungle expedition too."
"…"
Ophis fell silent.
Ishtar's sudden cooperation was genuinely unexpected.
Since when had this stubborn goddess become so straightforward…?
But Ishtar indeed was the only available goddess-level force on Uruk's side right now—Ophis had always intended for her to go. Naturally, she wouldn't refuse now and nodded to the goddess.
"Then, I'm counting on you."
Merlin spoke up again.
"Even so, it'll be difficult to find a way to deal with Quetzalcoatl. Her divinity really is absurdly high."
"…Looks like Merlin's exhausted all his means already. We're really at our limit, huh."
Romani's voice was resigned through the communicator.
"Glad you caught on quickly. Well then, Romani Archaman, what's your proposal?"
Merlin chuckled softly, eyes seemingly piercing through space to stare directly at the man seated behind Chaldea's communicator.
"…Considering the current situation, defeating Quetzalcoatl directly in combat is out of the question, but neither can we simply ignore her. If we stick only to the minimum requirement King Ophis set—simply gathering intel—then tomorrow she'll come again to wreck Uruk as usual. That leaves us only one viable option…"
"Quetzalcoatl isn't a deity native to Uruk. For her to maintain such high divinity here, she must have built a temple somewhere dedicated to her worship. If we can find its location, identify its key symbolic artifact—what allows the temple to exist—and destroy that…"
"…Then Quetzalcoatl's divinity would sharply decline."
Ana, cloaked in black and silent until now, calmly finished Roman's thought.
"Exactly. With Lady Ishtar's help, we might just reach a level where we can fight evenly."
As Romani concluded, interest sparked in Ophis's eyes.
She'd already figured out Romani's deductions herself. However, she didn't believe for a second that a mere doctor possessed such a vast and precise amount of knowledge.
She'd originally planned on revealing this information to Chaldea herself, but clearly, there was no need now.
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