Is It Wrong To Skitter In A Dungeon? Chapter 38: The Fall of Heaven's Queen

Chapter 38: The Fall of Heaven’s Queen

As much as she wanted to, Taylor did not immediately assault the Entertainment District. The former Warlord knew better, and so for the next couple of hours, she lurked at the edges of the brothel and casino filled streets, gathering her swarm from across Orario while scouting the locations within.

The establishments were not very busy in the afternoon, which made investigating easier. She learned many things. For one, every casino owned by Ishtar was rigged. Secondly, Tyche had a weird fascination with numbers and probability. It was like looking at a weird, alternate reality version of Dinah. Thirdly, Aphrodite had a romantic side and considered holding hands to be more lewd than actual sexual intercourse.

And fourthly, Phryne was an absolutely disgusting monster. Her room was cluttered and messy, old uneaten meals moldering away beneath piles of soiled clothing.

Worse, however, was the secret chamber she had, which was filled with torture devices stained with blood and other fluids. Bell was currently trapped inside a cage in that room, but as far as she could tell, he hadn’t been hurt, merely humiliated by being stripped naked and treated like a pet of some sort.

But given the fact that Taylor found bits of bone and gore soaked into the floor, walls, and ceiling of the Amazon’s hidden room she had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before Phryne did something unforgivable to Bell.

Aisha was still alive and in one piece, and was being kept in a prison located underneath the Ishtar Familia’s main dwelling which was a compound not dissimilar to what the Soma Familia had, except much larger and better built. To say nothing of the wealth on display.

The Belit Babili was the most exclusive brothel in the city, and had a number of other ‘services’ for the wealthy who visited it. A casino, a theater, and a decadent banquet hall to name a few of the things available.

Hestia was thankfully fine as well. She was currently being kept inside Ishtar’s room at the top of the Belit Babili, kept from running away with golden anklets connected to each other by chains attached to her feet. She’d also been dressed up in a very revealing outfit that reminded Taylor of Princess Leia’s slave outfit, but with more silken veils involved.

Ishtar was keeping the other woman around as a captive audience, as she was monologuing her plans to a very annoyed Goddess of the Hearth. From what Taylor was able to overhear, Ishtar’s plan really had been as shallow as it seemed: get a bunch of powerful adventurers to attack and overwhelm the Freya Familia.

There was no clever plan to try and abuse the economic power the Ishtar Familia wielded, or to use poison or an assassin to eliminate Freya to take away the power of the Falna from her adventurers. For a supposed Goddess of War, Ishtar was simply a blunt instrument who didn’t really think to make use of her numerous advantages, like leveraging some of the blackmail she had.

And there was a lot of blackmail. Ishtar had a whole library of the ledgers containing dirty secrets going back centuries. Taylor learned that the king of a certain nation two hundred years ago had really liked feet, and the clergy of a theocratic country performed ‘tantric rituals’ amongst themselves.

The parahuman made a mental note to steal everything in this place for later. Knowing which people were corrupt and taking bribes within the city would be useful if she had to remove them later. Or make use of them.

Taylor also managed to locate the Killing Stone fragments that contained Haruhime’s soul. The trapped renard’s screaming was very distinct to her swarm’s senses, and she was able to track the pieces down by following and homing in on them.

There were, in total, twelve shards, thirteen counting the one in her pocket. They were being kept by the strongest members of the Ishtar Familia and were scattered around the district.

Phryne was busy eating in the manor’s cafeteria, Tammuz was fetching refreshments for Ishtar and her ‘guest’ and the other Berbera were doing various things, including some of which Taylor was trying hard not to focus on.

But despite it all, Taylor’s swarm had infiltrated the entire Entertainment District. There was nowhere she could not see, no room she did not have under observation, and no person, adventurer or otherwise, not tagged with bugs.

When dusk descended on the city she finally made her move, rising from her hiding spot with a determined expression under her mask.

“Fly, Joy of Icarus!” she chanted, and let black moth wings manifest upon her back.

“ISHTAR!” Taylor roared through her swarm, her voice reaching every corner of the Entertainment District. “YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO RELEASE HESTIA AND BELL CRANEL! OTHERWISE, I SHALL DESTROY YOU AND YOUR FAMILIA!”

Several buildings were suddenly infested with termites and roaches, the insects tearing into the foundations of a casino and brothel under the goddess’ direct control.

In moments the interiors of the two buildings were riddled with holes and would never pass a health and safety inspection ever again. The walls and ceiling sagged and everything creaked ominously, causing the staff and patrons to scream and run out. Or maybe they were spooked by the horde of bugs attacking the places.

“DO NOT MAKE ME WAIT!” Taylor called out.

“Weaver! What is she doing?!” Ishtar demanded angrily of Hestia.

“I am not Weaver. I am Khepri,” the parahuman uttered through a bug clone she formed inside Ishtar’s bedroom.

It was a name that lurked within her mind and haunted her nightmares, barely remembered from her time fighting Scion, but... the name fit, as if it was always hers to wield.

“You dare take the name of a goddess as your own?! Your arrogance will be your downfall, mortal!” Ishtar sneered.

“Taylor,” Hestia suddenly spoke up, and Ishtar and the bug clone turned to her. “I am not usually one to advocate for violence. However, sometimes it is necessary. So do what needs to be done.”

She bowed her head. “And if you need to use that Skill? I will not blame you, or hold it against you.”

Hestia then looked the clone in the eyes. “And I will always love you, no matter what happens.”

The room was silent, save for the buzzing of the clone, before it broke apart, the swarm scattering away.

“I warned you, Ishtar,” Hestia said quietly. “When you started monologuing, I warned you that your sins would come back to haunt you. And you have many, many sins.”

“You poor, bleeding heart,” Ishtar scoffed. “Are you still going on about treating mortals with respect? They’re animals, Hestia. Lesser beings who exist to serve us. I can do what I want to them.”

“What about when they grow tired of obeying? Even a dog will bite the hand that feeds it if said hand has beaten it,” Hestia retorted, before shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve made your choice, now you have to live with the consequences.”

Hestia then closed her eyes, trying to block out the ‘voices’ of the Entertainment District. There were so many people with broken homes here. Many of them suffered, and their misery could be traced back to Ishtar in some way.

‘And after what Ishtar did to that poor girl… I suppose we shall see what happens when a non-believer kills a god.’

Ishtar stared at the shorter but somehow more endowed goddess before scoffing in disgust and turning away. “PHRYNE! TAMMUZ! FIND THAT UPSTART AND BRING HER TO ME!”

For the next five minutes, the streets were filled with Amazon. They were running about, trying to find the adventurer who had just threatened the entire Ishtar Familia. Most of the customers had decided it was probably a good idea to leave, not wanting to stick around the battleground.

A few, the curious and the higher leveled ones, hung around near the edges of the district, watching and waiting for something to happen. And of course there was chaos further out in the city as people tried to figure out what was happening as the sky turned dark.

‘I wonder when the Guild will get involved?’ Taylor wondered as she watched the Amazons try to find her. The swarthy women weren’t having much success, though. They’d caused a lot of damage breaking down doors and busting into rooms, but not a trace of the parahuman.

‘They never look up,’ Taylor thought in amusement.

She was hovering in the air, her black wings invisible in the darkness, and her Black Goliath armor blended into the night sky as well. The only risk of being spotted was her golden arm, but she’d wrapped a scarf made of black-dyed silk around it to hide it from being seen.

After the five minutes she’d offered Ishtar had passed she drank down a Mind potion to top herself off, before she sighed in disappointment.

“It seems like she didn’t take my advice,” Taylor grunted, not having expected anything else. She pulled out the Killing Stone, and looked down at it. “I’m sorry. I need to borrow your strength.”

The screaming she could hear did not pause, but for a moment it changed in pitch, and the parahuman could hear a note of ‘acceptance’ from the soul fragment trapped inside.

Taking that as an invitation, she channeled her magic into the object and she felt her Level increase. It was an odd feeling, suddenly have such power.

When an adventurer Leveled Up, their strength wasn’t just increasing additively, it increased multiplicative, doubling each time. A Level 2, no matter their stats, was always two times stronger than a Level 1 with comparable numbers. And a Level 3 was at least twice as strong as a Level 2. And so on.

For instance, if a Level 1 with a Power Stat of 500 Leveled Up, they did not have a Power Stat of 500 upon reaching Level 2. It was actually 1,000, even if their Falna showed it as returning to zero. And since a regular adventurer could only have a Stat reach 999, even if a Level 1 managed to max out their Power Stat, they’d only be able to match somebody a Level higher who had a Power Stat of less than 500.

At least, that was how it normally was. That was why Bell and herself having Stats go beyond S-rank was insane. They broke what was possible, and could become as strong as somebody a full level above them simply due to the fact that they could accumulate enough Excelia and Stat points.

Even before she’d Leveled Up from 1 to 2, her Stats had been absurd, and she’d been closer to a low-ranked Level 2. And after all the training she’d done before the War Game, she’d been able to throw down with most mid-rank Level 3s based on pure numbers alone. As a Level 3? Taylor estimated she could be compared to a weak Level 4.

Now, due to being boosted to Level 4, she was twice as strong as what she had been moments earlier. More importantly, her Mind Stat was also absurdly high, and the amount of magical energy she could draw on was just as insane.

Calmly, she unwrapped a portion of her golden arm so she could insert a Magic Blade Cartridge into it. The glint of her metal limb drew the attention of a couple sharper eyed Amazons, but by the time they noticed it was too late.

Her swarm descended upon the Entertainment District, a screaming, buzzing, chittering mass of chitin, stingers, and jaws. The adventurers of the Ishtar Familia were attacked millions of insects and they could not handle it, unable to fight back as they were stung, bit, and made to suffer panic attacks.

“I love you. I hate you. I will kill for you. I will die for you. Let my madness bind the world. Curse of Sacrifice!” Taylor chanted, and all across the Entertainment District hundreds of people instantly collapsed as she cursed their ability to move by using her swarm as a medium.

After learning she could cast spells through her swarm, she had practiced until she could do it in her sleep. Taylor had also found she could affect more than one target at once with her curse this way.

Better yet, even though she removed her own ability to move her body, she could still travel around through her flight spell, which allowed her to move herself telekinetically. The wings the Spell created were just a visual representation of the Spell itself.

The mass paralysis didn’t last very long, only a handful of seconds, either due to the bugs she was using as a medium dying from the strain of channeling her Curse, or from her targets being strong enough to break free, such as Phryne and Tammuz, but that was all the time Taylor needed.

While they were stuck, twelve tendrils of her swarm sought out and stole the twelve fragments of Haruhime’s Killing Stone. Some were still in the possession of the Ishtar Familia's Berbera, but they couldn’t stop Taylor.

The swarm took the Killing Stone shards off of the bodies of the temporarily immobile adventurers, and carried them away to safety, far from their touch. All the while, Taylor descended towards the street, until she was almost touching the ground. She then raised her golden arm into the air.

Another loop hole Taylor and Naaza had discovered was that artificial limbs like the chienthrope’s Silver Arm and Taylor’s own Golden Arm were not affected by the Curse. They could still be moved, though it was stiffer and a lot more awkward.

Taylor raised her arm, and used the Magic Blade Cartridge within it to summon a globe of water. It was the size of a beachball, but with some effort Taylor managed to compress it until it was the size of a grapefruit.

Then, she began to spin it, and soon the orb of magically conjured water was moving like it was an inverse whirlpool. Whirl-bubble? Whatever it was, it was spinning fast.

And then it began to open fire upon the adventurers of the Ishtar Familia, tiny bullets of compressed water shooting off from the orb.

A Level 2 Amazon in the streets standing in front of Taylor? Water bullet to the guts, the tiny bead of liquid punching clean through her stomach, the force of it knocking her down.

A Level 1 Amazon trying to shoot at her from a window fifty feet behind her? A water bullet was sent through the wall the sniper was leaning against and into the crossbow, destroying the weapon.

A pair of Level 1s with battleaxes? Water bullets through the hands, feet, arms and legs, making it impossible for them to wield any more weapons or chase after her.

A Level 3 who thought they were being clever by lurking behind a door and preparing to stab at Taylor through the wood with a long spear? A barrage of water bullets shot through the door before she could act that pierced her body and ruined her spear, and then Taylor added some spiders to bite her for good measure.

Taylor’s swarm gave her a perfect 360-degree view of everything around her, without a single shred of worry about people hiding because even if they could turn invisible, her bugs would sense the displaced air or smell them.

Water bullets flew fast and furious like omni-directional rain, punching clean through dozens of adventurers as she floated like an ethereal specter towards the Belit Babili. Taylor wasn’t aiming for kill shots, merely crippling them by going for arms, legs and the stomach. The water bullets were small, so a bit of potion would fix them right up, but they hurt like heck and kept most Amazons down after a few shots.

Some were strong enough to shrug off multiple shots, however. A Level 3, one of the Berbera Taylor had taken back a piece of the Killing Stone from, had to take over a dozen water bullets before she finally passed out from blood loss.

The orb of water and the bullets it was firing were only possible due to Taylor’s ridiculous level of control over her magical energy. It did not move unless she willed it. Ryuu had claimed this was impossible, as not even Nine Hells, the greatest spellcaster in the city, could manipulate raw elemental magic with her willpower alone without a Spirit helping her. But Taylor could.

The parahuman suspected this unfathomable level of control might have something to do with Queen Administrator, or at least a side-effect. The Shard granted Taylor superhuman levels of micromanagement and multiple streams of consciousness, which was necessary to control her swarm with as much precision as she did. Using these byproducts of her passenger, Taylor was able to detect and directly manipulate the magic within and around her to such precise degree.

Whatever the reason for it, though, Taylor was burning through Mind at a steady pacing, and had had to drink three more potions. Most Mind potions couldn’t instantly replenish Mind, rather they were a slow trickle that refilled what was lost over a period of time, and Taylor didn’t want to suddenly run out a critical moment.

‘Still, I’m burning through my energy and potion reserves faster than I thought I would,’ Taylor thought to herself.

Casting multiple Curses to paralyze the enemy, then shooting them with water bullets wasn’t cheap in terms of magical energy cost, and along with the flight Spell keeping her aloft, she was using up her reserves quickly.

‘I better end this quickly, then,’ she mused as she reached the Ishtar Familia’s main base and found multiple Amazons waiting for her.

“You’re even uglier in person,” Taylor said aloud as she came face to face with Phryne who was standing guard out front. The frog-faced woman growled at the parahuman.

“Ishtar wants you alive. You don’t have to be in one piece,” the Level 5 retorted.

Taylor did not deign to respond, and simply mentally ordered her swarm to attack while also repeatedly slamming her curse into Phryne. The frog-like Amazon was strong, and could break out of the grasp of Geas Immulatio after a few seconds of struggle, but Taylor could cast it as quickly as she could break free.

At the same time, Taylor shoved her swarm down into Phyrne’s throat, clogging her mouth, nose, and even ears with a multitude of insects. The bugs bit and tore and suffocated the Level 5, keeping her from doing anything. And even then, it was only thanks to Chain Attack compounding the power of her swarm's attacks that brought the toad-like woman to her knees.

While this happened, Taylor didn’t let up with her barrage of water bullets, and within a few seconds the rest of the Amazons were on the ground, bleeding and weakened and utterly unable to stop Taylor as she floated into the building.

Down below, Taylor reached out to the trapped woman she had rescued mere hours ago, seeking to aide her once more.

“Aisha,” Taylor’s swarm-clone said as it formed with the cell, and the imprisoned Amazon jerked in shock before blinking at the sight in front of her.

“…Shit, Phryne hit me harder than I thought,” Aisha muttered.

“Focus,” Taylor requested, buzzing louder. “When I unlock the door, please rescue Bell. He’s in Phryne’s hidden room.”

“Hidden room?” Aisha muttered, before paling as she realized what Taylor was saying. “Oh, shit! Is he okay?!”

“Bell is naked but unharmed,” Taylor replied. “Come, on, up and at ‘em.”

Her swarm poured in and unlocked the chains binding her arms and legs while also undoing the lock on the cell’s door.

“What about Phryne?” Aisha wondered as she rubbed her wrists with a wince.

“She won’t be a problem much longer,” Taylor declared ominously.

Aisha wisely decided not to ask any more questions and ran out of the underground prison, heading towards the Ishtar Familia Captain’s personal quarters.

‘How long does it take to choke somebody out?’ Taylor wondered, before feeling Phyrne go slack, finally rendered unconscious due to lack of air.

As foul as the woman was, Taylor did not want to cause any deaths. Death was final, and a line that she was hesitant to cross, especially with the eyes of the rest of the Familias on her right now. When the Guild investigated the incident, Taylor wanted to be above all reproach.

‘Though I will end things if she tries to push her luck,’ Taylor thought as she dismissed her swarm, allowing Phryne to breath freely once more.

One more Mind potion later, and Taylor soon came face to face with Tammuz, the Vice-captain standing guard in front of the door to Ishtar’s quarters.

“You will not pass,” he uttered, raising his fists.

The parahuman raised an eyebrow at the shirtless man. Heck, he wasn’t even wearing any pants save for a loincloth. He was a Level 4, but the fact he didn’t grab any equipment to face her with spoke of hubris. Of course, he likely thought he was only facing a brand-new Level 3, but Taylor would teach him why it was a bad idea to underestimate her.

“Fine, let’s dance,” Taylor said, dismissing her wings and landing onto the floor before bringing her own hands up in a combat stance.

Tammuz shot forward, fist aimed at her face, but it was a feint as he tried to kick her in the stomach instead. Taylor blocked the attack easily with the back of her golden hand though Tammuz twisted away before she could grab him.

His first attack having failed, he unleashed a flurry of blows a Level 3 had no hope of following, fists flying like a hurricane. Taylor was currently Level 4, though, and was used to fighting against Ryuu for training. She caught and deflected all of his punches, eventually managing to jab him in the stomach with her own fists a few times.

‘He’s holding back,’ Taylor quickly realized as she parried another punch. ‘Does he not want to damage the surroundings?’

That was foolish of him. Did he, or more likely, Ishtar, value their décor more than being able to take out an opponent quickly and efficiently?

“If you won’t take this seriously, then neither will I,” Taylor declared, before quickly swapping out the Magic Blade Cartridge in her arm for a new one, this time going for wind instead of water.

“Vacuum Fist!” Taylor called out, punching her palm forward, and Tammuz was struck by a powerful suction force and dragged towards the parahuman. Caught off guard, he wasn’t able to defend as his bare chest smacked into Taylor’s open and waiting palm.

“Earthquake Strike!” Taylor uttered, and performed the exact same technique she’d used on Cassandra during the War Game on Tammuz.

He doubled over, vomiting up blood as his organs were violently scrambled. Tammuz tried to stagger back to his feet, his Endurance Stat high enough that he’d been able to tank the first hit, but Taylor didn’t let him, a second blow, this time to the back of his head, sending him crashing into the carpeted floor.

“Your loyalty to Ishtar is admirable,” Taylor admitted as she looked down on the groaning man. “You simply chose the wrong mistress.”

She then stepped over him, not even bothering to look behind at her opponent who probably now had a concussion, if the dazed way he was staring at her was any indication.

Pointing her palm at the door she fired off a blast of wind. Her attack shattered the wood and allowed her to step through into Ishtar’s personal quarters.

They were quite large, essentially a penthouse with everyone a woman of fine tastes needed: a king-sized fourposter bed, a kitchenette with a fully stocked wine rack, a fancy couch to recline on while a servant – probably Tammuz – fed her grapes, and of course, a lot of artwork, most of which depicted gratuitously graphic subject matters.

“Hestia. I see you’re safe,” Taylor said, looking at her. “And you got a wardrobe update.”

“It’s good to see you,” Hestia said with a smile. “I knew you’d come.”

She then gained a bashful look. “Um, does it really look good on me?”

“Yes, you pull it off well,” Taylor assured her.

“Think Bell would like it?” the Goddess of the Hearth wondered, fidgeting in embarrassment.

“You’ll knock his socks off. Well, assuming Aisha manages to find a pair of socks for Bell to wear after she rescues him,” Taylor shrugged.

“Pay attention to me, Weaver!” Ishtar shrieked, fed up with being ignored by the adventurer who’d barged in.

The parahuman felt something claw against her thoughts, trying to worm its way into her head, but her mind and soul were her own, and her Skills protected her, rejecting the mental attack.

'Is Ishtar trying to use her Charm on me? If so, it's a rather pathetic attempt. Even without trying, Freya had a more dominating presence,' Taylor thought, unimpressed.

“Why?” Taylor asked the scantily clad dressed goddess.

‘Did she really think wearing what is essentially a skimpy, sling bikini was a good idea? How she doesn’t flash everyone her tits every time she lifts an arm is the only real sign of divine intervention I’ve seen since coming here.’

“Why? WHY?! I am Ishtar!” she screamed. “You should be on your knees, begging for mercy!”

“I don’t fear you,” Taylor declared with a scoff.

“Then you are a fool!” Ishtar snarled. “I am the Queen of Heaven, Goddess of Sex and War! I am not someone who can be defeated by a mewling, pathetic mortal!”

“I don’t fear you, Ishtar,” Taylor said, her voice becoming distorted as her swarm joined in. “But yOu sHouLd FeAr ME!”

Taylor lashed out and grabbed the dark-skinned goddess by the throat with her golden hand, and lifted her slightly off her feet.

Ishtar was a bit too tall for the intimidating tactic to work, only three inches shorter than Taylor herself, but the action itself was enough to send a flicker of worry to go through the goddess’ eyes. She had never been manhandled before, and the fear it caused in her was novel.

Ishtar decided she didn’t like it, and tried to yank the adventurer’s hand off of her, but when that failed, she tried to punch and kick the woman in the mask.

This did not work either, as even a Level 1 couldn’t easily be hurt by a person without a Falna, and Ishtar was definitely not physically strong enough for her pathetic flailing to do more than tickle the currently Level 4 adventurer.

“Are you finished yet?” Taylor demanded in a bored tone.

“You-! You cannot treat me like this!” Ishtar snarled. “I was one of the first gods to descend onto this pathetic realm! You mortals should be groveling at my feet in thanks for what I’ve done for your dirty kind!”

Taylor stared at her for a bit before giving her a violent shake. She let out a yelp at the sharp motion, which caused Hestia to giggle.

“Lady Hestia!” a familiar voice called out, and everyone turned to see Bell and Aisha run into the room.

“Good to see you’re okay, Bell,” Taylor said. “Also glad to see Aisha grabbed you a pair of pants.”

Bell flushed red, looking down at the ground. Calling them 'pants' was an overstatement. They were closer to booty shorts, left little to the imagination, and were all the Amazon had grabbed for him, leaving the poor boy shirtless and shoeless.

“Hey, no reason to be embarrassed, kid!” Aisha said, slapping Bell on the back. “You’ll make a woman real happy some day! Heck, I’ll even give ya a ride if ya want!”

“M-miss Aisha!” Bell gasped, scandalized, while Hestia spluttered.

“Please do not talk about my brother that way,” Taylor requested. Bell lit up at that, grinning happily at the acknowledgement of their familial connection.

“Wait, you’re really siblings?” Aisha asked, looking between the two. “Huh. Don’t really see it… or is this a sort of ‘brothers in arms’ sorta deal?”

“No, same dad,” Taylor replied calmly. “But we have other things to discuss right now.”

“That’s right!” Bell exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Ishtar. “You have to put Miss Haruhime’s soul back into her body!”

Ishtar stared at him before bursting into mocking laughter. “That’s why you’re here? To save a pitiful fox?”

She glared at Aisha, who just stared back. “Your idiotic sentimentality has infected others, it seems.”

“Just shut up and tell us how to save her!” Aisha demanded.

“Where is her body, Ishtar?” Taylor asked when Ishtar refused to respond. “I’ve searched this place and the entire district from top to bottom, and I can’t find a single renard without a soul.”

“Why would you think I kept her body?” Ishtar scoffed in disgust. “Oh, I kept it for a few days after the ritual. Some clients will pay nicely for the chance to have fun with a beautiful corpse. But it was starting to smell, so I got rid of it… oh, must have been three days ago! By now, the sewer rats must have picked her clean!”

She sneered at the group as they stared at the goddess, aghast. “Aww, are you sad your silly little rescue mission failed?”

Ishtar then looked at Taylor. “Release me, Weaver. You’ve failed, and the Guild will be here soon. Wouldn’t want to be caught red-handed, would you?”

“My name. Is. Khepri,” Taylor said, her voice icy cold. “And I have killed men and monsters alike. I have saved a thousand worlds from fiery annihilation and led armies into battle. And tonight, I shall add ‘Godslayer’ to my list of titles.”

She began to squeeze even harder, crushing Ishtar’s windpipe. But that wasn’t all. Taylor reached inside of herself and felt Godslayer stir, the Skill waking up with a ravenous hunger as it answered the parahuman’s call.

Behind her, Taylor’s swarm brought all the pieces of Haruhime’s Killing Stone together into the room while her grip tightened.

“Wh-what are you doing?!” Ishtar choked out, eyes wide as she felt something incredibly wrong with the girl holding her aloft.

“If you are a goddess, then I demand a miracle,” was all Taylor said, before closing her hand. Ishtar’s neck snapped with a wet crack.

The Queen of Heaven immediately exploded into a pillar of divine light and energy, but instead of returning to Tenkai as she should have, Ishtar found she was trapped, her essence unable to move. At that moment the goddess was a formless mass of raw power that was rapidly being drawn into the parahuman who’d slain her.

Matter cannot be created, nor destroyed. Or so it was said. But the person who’d made that quote hadn’t dealt with magic nor parahuman powers.

Taylor felt… powerful, but bloated. It was the only way to describe how it felt to have, to quote an Earth Aleph movie, ‘Unlimited Cosmic Powers!’ all crammed into an ‘itty-bitty living space.’ A single wrong move would see her explode like a water balloon, and all her hard work would be undone.

However, Taylor did not want the divine essence currently coursing through her body and soul. Instead, she recalled Hestia’s lectures about gods that she’d taken as mere stories, and began to wield the Arcanum of Ishtar for her own purposes.

The thirteen shards of the Killing Stone were pressed together as golden energy infused them, the cracks slowly healing while bugs began to pour into the room and were instantly reduced to a primordial ooze by the light that wrapped around the stone snugly. Slowly, a humanoid figure began to form with the restored Killing Stone lodged in its chest.

Taylor wielded Ishtar’s Arcanum as a glue, forcibly mending the damage done to the Killing Stone and dissolving it until only Haruhime’s soul was left, suspended like a miniature star within the homunculus.

That was not enough to bring the renard girl back to life, unfortunately, so Taylor redoubled her efforts.

Ishtar was the Sumerian Goddess of Sex and War, and her Arcanum carried these Authorities within them. Sex leads to life, and living beings must struggle and fight for their survival.

Using these guidelines, Taylor molded the Arcanum to try and give Haruhime’s lost soul a new body to inhabit. But the parahuman didn’t know how to do this. Not well enough for her purposes. She simply didn’t know enough, and couldn’t just throw magical energy at the problem.

‘Please, Queen Administrator… I need more!’ Taylor begged, calling out to her passenger. She needed help! She didn’t know how to do what she wanted! But her Shard did!

Queen Administrator loved her host very much, and so reached out through dimensions and briefly touched Taylor’s mind, filling it with the knowledge she needed in order to use the power of the Shard known as Shaper just once.

A tendril of Taylor’s swarm alighted on the body of a renard within one of the brothels nearby, and Shaper copied the demi-human’s genetics. Through this data, Shaper was able to do as it was meant to do, and turned the primordial ooze into a perfect replica of the renard it had studied.

But that wasn’t enough, and Taylor leaned into her stolen Arcanum, urging what was left of Haruhime’s consciousness to help Shaper remake her former body.

The soul remembered what the body was meant to be, and in moments the renard lost her black hair and instead gained golden-blonde. Her chest and hips shifted, and before everyone’s eyes Haruhime was back from the dead.

The renard fell to the floor, unconscious and naked but alive, her chest slowly rising and falling as breath filled her lungs. Her tail twitched, and Aisha let out a relieved sob when she realized her friend had been saved.

As for those who’d made this possible, there was nothing left of Ishtar when Taylor finally let go of the divinity within her, willingly relinquishing the power she had not yet been ready to handle.

The parahuman had drained every last drop of the goddess’ essence to perform the miracle, and Godslayer had not been gentle about it. And though the Skill was ravenous, Taylor succeeded in wrestling with it and preventing the goddess's essence from doing anything to her.

Even so, that brief moment connecting to the Arcanum had been... an experience. She had seen the souls tied to Ishtar, just as she'd done with Apollo, but where Apollo had been blinding in his luster, Ishtar... she was raw and bloody, the primal, carnal urges of mortal writ large.

Ishtar's essence was filthy, but it was the filth of life and death. Sex was not pretty, nor was War. In a way, Ishtar's insanity made sense. If this was what the goddess was at her core, it was no wonder she saw mortals as little more than animals; dirty creatures barely capable of holding in their urges.

If there was anything left of Ishtar within her body, mind, or soul, Taylor couldn’t sense it, but she did detect a bit of smugness coming from Queen Administrator as the Shard withdrew from her host’s awareness. The captain of the Hestia Familia had a feeling she knew what had happened to the goddess.

All of this happened in mere seconds, and Taylor sagged, sinking back to the floor of Ishtar's bedroom just as an earthquake struck the city, causing a couple of buildings that the parahuman’s swarm had undermined earlier to collapse.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Hestia screamed while Bell covered his eyes and Aisha threw a blanket over Haruhime.

“I… am… Khepri…” Taylor slurred out. “I am… the dawn…”

She then collapsed to the floor, blood leaking from every orifice and Hestia and Bell began to panic, scrambling around the bedroom in search of a potion to use on her.

Hestia managed to find an Elixir hidden in Ishtar’s nightstand, and forced it down her captain’s throat while Bell delicately lifted her up.

“We should probably get out of here for now,” Aisha suggested, looking out the window as she picked up Haruhime into her arms. The swarm Taylor had conjured was gone, and people were going to start investigating now that it wasn’t blocking off the entrances to Entertainment District anymore.

They managed to escape through some hidden back-alleys Aisha knew of, and successfully made it back to the Hearth Manor without anybody spotting them. They’d probably have the Guild breathing down the necks soon, but for now, the Hestia Familia would rest and recover.

‘We’ll deal with everything that just happened tomorrow,’ Hestia decided with a yawn. ‘And when Taylor wakes up, she’s gonna get a major scolding!’

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“And how go the preparations, Ottar?” Freya asked as she sifted through paperwork in her office. Getting everything ready for an assault on the Ishtar Familia took a lot more effort than one might assume. It wasn’t like she could just rush in and start beating heads.

‘Well, I could, but that would be so very troublesome,’ she thought to herself as her loyal King reported what the current status of the Freya Familia was.

“We have begun moving our stockpile of high-grade potions out of the main storehouse and are taking steps to replace what will be expended in the campaign,” Ottar replied. “However, our stockpile of ammunition is lower than I expected after our last delve into the Dungeon. We need more arrows and bolts. More string for the bows are also necessary.”

“Very well, contact Dian Cecht for the potions we need, while buying what you can from Hephaestus to bolster our ammunition stores,” Freya instructed. “Also, make sure…”

A frantic knocking at the door interrupted her and caused Freya to frown. Who would be so crass as to make such a racket right now?

Sensing her annoyance, Ottar went to the door and opened it to find out what was so important as to act without decorum. As soon as he did, one of her Level 3 adventurers ran inside, panting heavily.

“Lady Freya, something is happening in the Entertainment District!”

“Is it Ishtar?” the goddess demanded, her expression turning grim.

“Uh, no. It’s Taylor Hebert.”

“Weaver?” Freya uttered, blinking in surprise. “What is she doing?”

“From what I’ve been able to gather, Ishtar kidnapped not just Bell, but Lady Hestia as well shortly after Weaver spoke with you, so she’s currently drowning a large portion of the city in insects in retaliation.”

The goddess stared at the messenger for a moment in incomprehension. He fidgeted nervously for a bit, wilting under her disbelieving look. This was the sort of information that she wanted brought to her immediately! Why had they waited so long to report this?!

'Are some of my children trying to hide what happened to Bell because they were jealous of the attention I've given him lately?' she wondered to herself.

Finally, Freya shook her head with a sigh. “It seems we may not be the ones to tear Ishtar down after all. Ottar? Be a dear and make sure nobody from her Familia escapes.”

“Alive or dead?” the Boaz inquired.

“Alive is preferred. And if the Guild asks what is happening… tell them I take full responsibility.”

“As you wish,” Ottar replied, bowing slightly before departing. Freya dismissed the messenger before shaking her head once more.

“Much as I’d prefer to be the one to punish Ishtar for touching my beloved Bell, I don’t think Taylor will leave much for me to play with,” she mused aloud as she stared out the window at the peaceful vista of Orario at night.

And then a massive pillar of divine light pierced the dark sky, and Freya, along with every other deity in the city, felt Ishtar scream in pain and terror before the Arcanum of an unknown goddess briefly appeared like a supernova in the heavens.

Beneath her feet the Dungeon screamed and bucked against the seals placed upon it, and for a harrowing moment she feared Babel would break and a tide of monsters would spill forth. Yet before it could, Ouranos’ Authority immediately pressed down upon the city like a wave of intense gravity and forced the writhing madness of the Dungeon back underground while at the same time the divine essence of both Ishtar and the new deity vanished like they had never existed in the first place.

“Well. I don’t know why I expected anything different,” Freya muttered before leaving the room. “Allen, dear? If you’d please escort me to the Entertainment District? I have a feeling I’ll need to put out a few fires before this night is over.”

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Author's Note:

I want to give many heartfelt thanks to MN01 for the incredible artwork of Taylor mid-ascension into Khepri! It's an amazing design, and I really appreciate the fan art!