The heavens were beautiful.
That was no exaggeration. They were beautiful in the most immediate, visible way: lofty and majestic mountain ranges, clouds like something out of a fairy tale, yet firm enough beneath one’s feet to feel real.
Magnificent temples stretched on without end. Gold and every other symbol of wealth and divine authority lay scattered everywhere, and no one—or rather, no god—so much as glanced at them.
Except…
Bang!
“Ishtar!”
With that thunderous crash came the furious roar of a certain god.
Within this cluster of temples suspended among the clouds, an explosion rang out from inside one of the halls, drawing curious looks from the divine attendants passing by.
What now?
“Ishtar!”
That shout was followed by a streak of light.
Moving too fast for the attendants to see clearly, Ishtar shot out of the temple on her boat.
“What’s the big deal?!”
A voice so beautiful it could only belong to some absurdly gorgeous goddess rang through the air, and every gaze turned toward Maanna, the jewel-encrusted divine boat hovering in midair.
“All I did was smash that chariot you painstakingly built with your blood, sweat, and tears, while somehow squeezing it into your oh-so-busy schedule during my little treasure raid, right?”
“Shamash, you’re not actually angry over that, are you?”
“No, no—surely there isn’t a god pathetic enough to attack another god over a chariot, right?”
The moment Shamash heard that, he looked ready to burst a blood vessel.
“You! You little—!”
But he was too angry to get the words out. All he could do was point at Ishtar, trembling for ages without managing to say anything.
“What, are you holding in some gas?”
“Huh?”
Shamash froze.
“Trying not to let it out?”
“Fuck, you—”
“I came here to steal your gems, remember?”
“You—!”
“Here.”
Something smacked Shamash in the face. He immediately recognized it as the gem Ishtar had stolen.
“There, your gem’s back. Stop pestering me.”
“Get back here! Pay for my cha—fuck!”
Ishtar had already bolted before Shamash could finish.
As everyone knew, the most infuriating thing in an argument was not being insulted. It was getting roasted, not being allowed to explain yourself, and then watching the other person walk away.
Shamash clutched his chest, feeling a sour ache rise in his heart. The frustration lodged there so firmly it felt like he might explode on the spot.
But Ishtar could not have cared less. Riding her divine boat through the sky, she felt perfectly at ease.
This world was hers to shape as she pleased. Whatever she wanted to do, she would do. Whatever she wanted, she would take. That was her pride as a goddess.
As the goddess of Venus in the Age of Gods, she was simply that indulgent with herself.
That was just the kind of goddess she was.
“Hmph.”
Gazing out over the horizon, she threw back her head and laughed.
“Hahahahaha!”
“The instant I arrive, I find a fool. What a tiresome welcome.”
A voice drifted over, one that for some reason brought a pervert to mind. Ishtar arched a brow.
Turning, she saw a man seated upon a floating throne amid the clouds, languid and at ease.
“A human? An ordinary mortal?… You dress strangely.”
Her gaze swept over him. His clothing was unlike any style she had ever seen.
As for that remark about a fool, she was not especially bothered by it. This man was already on the verge of being killed by her anyway.
“Strangely?”
The man lowered his eyes to his clothes.
“For this visit, I even wore the most fashionable outfit my homeland has to offer.”
“Strange, yes, but… it does look rather good.”
As the goddess of beauty, Ishtar could tell at a glance that the outfit did indeed possess an aesthetic unlike anything she had ever seen before.
“What city are you from?”
“And why would I tell you?”
“Of course you would!”
Ishtar’s expression turned serious.
“I am the goddess of beauty. If humans created something this novel and failed to offer it up to me, then punishment is only natural. Besides, I mean to properly study this design and find out where it came from.”
“Oh?”
The man’s interest lifted slightly.
“I noticed it the moment I arrived. This world still retains an astonishing amount of Divinity.”
“What?”
“The gods still walk the earth. Seen from outside, it is unsightly.”
“What? Unsightly?!”
Ishtar stared at him, stunned by those brazen words.
No one had ever said such a thing to her before.
“Disordered, chaotic—you still make up the ‘face’ of the ‘world.’ Though to be fair, the ‘face’ later chosen by humanity itself is hardly much prettier.”
“You…!”
Ishtar raised a finger, and light worthy of being called divine power gathered at its tip.
“What the hell are you even talking about?!”
“You do not understand?”
Ignoring the ray of light she fired, the man kept speaking as though nothing had happened.
“When you are present, the world wears the laws of the ‘Age of Gods.’ When you are absent, it changes into the laws of the ‘Age of Man.’”
“I simply find both sets of clothes equally ugly.”
The beam punched straight through the man’s forehead, yet Ishtar could not see the slightest wound on him.
“Are you a priest?”
Ishtar frowned.
“Hurry and tell me which god you serve. Once I kill you, I’ll settle accounts with them as well.”
“…”
The man regarded her in silence.
“Didn’t you hear me?!”
“I heard you.”
“Then why are you—”
“Sigh…”
“…”
Ishtar’s face flushed red. It was the first time anyone had ever cut her off with a sigh.
“Fine…”
Golden divine light began to spill from the divine boat, bathing half of Ishtar’s body in brilliance.
“I’ll just blow you to pieces!”
The divine radiance pouring out of Maanna took on tangible form, gathering in the hands of the goddess of Venus.
And then…
Without warning, the sky split apart.
The people on the ground looked up at the “line” that cleaved through the clouds and divided the heavens in two.
A golden line stretched from one visible horizon to the other.
“Whoa—whoa—”
They felt the wind change.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A mushroom cloud rose at the horizon, and the light it cast sank into the fragile hearts of every human who witnessed it.
This was the might of the gods—power forever beyond the reach of mankind.
Any man facing that kind of force head-on should have been reduced to ash in an instant.
That was what Ishtar believed as she stared fixedly at the smoke before her, waiting for it to clear.
Then she saw the man standing there completely unharmed.
Even the hem of his clothes remained untouched.
“How is that possible?! Are you a demigod?!” Ishtar cried out.
“A demigod?”
A nostalgic look surfaced in his eyes.
“It has been a very long time since I last heard that word. And it seems…”
“…My temper has not shown itself in quite some time either.”
Ishtar watched the man raise a hand. Vast magical energy gathered there in a form she could not comprehend. Merely sensing that power at such close range nearly made her vomit.
She understood it now—something utterly incompatible with her, with everything she knew, was unfolding before her.
The power in the man’s hand compressed into a sphere, and he tossed it toward Ishtar.
The goddess of Venus felt a total, all-encompassing rejection drawing near.
“I told you already. Whether it is the ‘Age of Gods’ or the ‘Age of Man,’ both strike me as ugly.”
“In the end, the ‘Age of Me’ is far more pleasing.”
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A/N: How should I put this? I think the setting is probably what people discuss most when it comes to this book, so I want to say this up front: I haven’t studied Type-Moon all that deeply, and since I’m writing fanfiction, I’m bound to get some setting details tangled up here and there.
So with some of the setting issues people bring up, there will definitely be places where I haven’t handled things well enough. But I will absolutely revise the text based on the setting points raised in the comments, so the book lines up more closely with official canon.
That said, I still want to emphasize this: I’m writing fanfiction. This is derivative work, and personally, I do like writing certain things differently from the official material.
So while reading, please treat this book’s setting as the primary reference. Thank you all~
T/N: ohhhh is ishtar dead, damn ozzyy
This is a fan translation of 我要往王之财宝里再加点东西 by 海绵宝宝宝宝 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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