The night deepened, and everyone had fallen asleep.
Fujimaru Ritsuka kept watch, while Ishtar emerged and sat beside him. However, it was actually Ereshkigal, though Fujimaru Ritsuka hadn't realized it. The two began to talk through the night, while Li Xing had already slipped away.
...
In a mountain forest, Li Xing's path was blocked by a group of burly, bearded men.
"Alas, I merely wished for a stroll. Will you let me pass?" Li Xing spread his hands, looking helpless.
"Human! For what reason do you visit my domain in the dead of night?"
At that moment, a golden-haired loli appeared. She had two horns on her head, a vertical eye on her forehead, and her hands and feet were red with exceptionally sharp claws. It was clear she was no human.
"It truly is serendipitous. I've been looking for you for a long time, Ibaraki Douji. My name is Li Xing. Would you like to return to Uruk with me?" Li Xing extended his hand.
Ibaraki Douji frowned. This person exuded a most disagreeable aura.
"You have an unpleasant scent about you. I detest you."
Li Xing sniffed himself, finding nothing unusual. He was disliked on their first meeting. What was going on? httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Oh, right, right. I used to kill oni. Though not the same kind of creature, such deeds became my Noble Phantasm. Ibaraki Douji is an oni, so it's normal for her to dislike me."
Li Xing suddenly realized the problem. But since he had come this far, it wouldn't be good to turn back now. He decided to try.
"If you won't come with me, then I'll have to get physical!" With that, Li Xing adopted a stance, his fingernails sharpening.
Ibaraki Douji was no pushover. She drew her bone blade, "You all, stand down! Let me have a bout with him!"
At Ibaraki Douji's command, the Oeyama bandits retreated, leaving them a wide area to fight.
"Try this!" Li Xing instantly appeared behind Ibaraki Douji and plunged his hands into her chest.
Ibaraki Douji turned and swung her blade. Fierce flames erupted, but they did not harm Li Xing. The next second, Ibaraki Douji's chest was torn open by Li Xing.
"This... This is! Shuten's Bone Shattering! Who exactly are you!"
Ibaraki Douji cried out in surprise, retreating rapidly, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at Li Xing.
"I merely imitated Shuten Douji's Bone Shattering. Don't be so astonished. If you won't come with me, then I shall take your right arm."
Li Xing collected the arm he had just ripped off and slowly ascended. Since she was unwilling to return to Uruk, she should not be allowed to wreak havoc. Her Noble Phantasm was confiscated.
"Stop right there! Return my arm!"
Li Xing ignored Ibaraki Douji and flew away without looking back, leaving a furious Ibaraki Douji behind.
...
Upon returning to Uruk, the Chaldean party and Ishtar were reporting the results of their expedition. Ishtar was, inevitably, the subject of much mockery from Gilgamesh.
Next, they discussed plans to conquer the Goddess of the Jungle. Everyone assumed it was that beastkin, but Ishtar revealed the Goddess of the Jungle's true name: Quetzalcoatl, a major deity from South America.
"Wonderful. If that Goddess of the Jungle had been that beastkin, I truly wouldn't have known how to deal with her," Merlin sighed with relief.
Just as they were deliberating on how to deal with Quetzalcoatl, a soldier entered the temple to report that someone calling herself Quetzalcoatl had single-handedly infiltrated Uruk.
"Speak of the devil! Let's go! We'll go and see." Li Xing was the first to leave the temple and ran towards the site of the battle, with Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others following.
...
In the streets of Uruk, Quetzalcoatl was engaged in a wrestling match with the Uruk soldiers. Li Xing joined the fray, landing a heavy punch that sent Quetzalcoatl crashing into a building.
"A power-based approach, I give it sixty points!" Quetzalcoatl emerged unhurriedly, rating Li Xing's punch.
"Only sixty points? Am I that weak?" Li Xing was somewhat dissatisfied. His physical strength wasn't inferior, was it?
"It's quite good already, little one. I could feel a bit of pain."
Merlin suddenly stepped forward. "Wait, let's confirm first. Are you one of the Three Great Goddess Alliance?"
"Yes, I have come from distant South America to destroy Uruk, big sister!" Quetzalcoatl admitted her identity.
"Why would you do such a thing?" Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward, staring at Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl was struck by Fujimaru Ritsuka's earnest gaze and became a bit shy, but quickly regained her composure.
"Little brother, don't look at me like that!"
Li Xing directly pushed Fujimaru Ritsuka forward. "Isn't he handsome? He is the Master of Chaldea, Fujimaru Ritsuka. Why don't you marry him and defect to our side?"
"Huh?..."
Quetzalcoatl suddenly laughed. This white-haired little brother was quite cute. However, defecting so easily seemed too childish. She then stated her plan: to kill humans one by one and destroy humanity this way, killing only a hundred people each day.
"However, my goal for today has been achieved. I will return at sunrise tomorrow. Also, I am quite willing to marry! Goodbye!" Quetzalcoatl whistled, and a pterosaur flew over. Quetzalcoatl leaped onto its back and departed from Uruk.
However, after Quetzalcoatl left, a beastkin was slowly collecting the bodies. The soldiers killed by Quetzalcoatl were all being bundled up by the beastkin.
"Beastkin..." Li Xing wanted to go and fight the beastkin, but suddenly a group of beastkin warriors blocked him. Seizing the opportunity, the beastkin fled with the bodies.
"Fine, it's not in the jungle. The beastkin's combat power isn't at its peak." Li Xing couldn't be bothered to pursue.
...
In the temple, Gilgamesh was agitated. If Quetzalcoatl continued to appear like this daily, it would undoubtedly affect the morale of the Demonic Beast Front. They had to find a way to deal with this Goddess of the Jungle.
"Eridu has a temple, and atop the temple is a Sunstone. As long as the Sunstone is broken, Quetzalcoatl's divinity can be weakened, and then we should be able to defeat her," Li Xing directly stated the solution. After all, dealing with the Three Great Goddess Alliance was something they had to do.
"Excellent. This mission is entrusted to you. Fujimaru Ritsuka, I command you to defeat the Goddess of the Jungle and bring back Marduk's Axe!" Gilgamesh immediately issued the order and instructed Fujimaru Ritsuka's party to depart at once.
...
"Li Xing, you seem to have changed a lot. How do you know so many things? Is Clairvoyance truly that powerful? Can you even observe goddesses?"
On the road, Fujimaru Ritsuka noticed something was amiss and directly questioned Li Xing.
However, Merlin answered for Li Xing. "Clairvoyance cannot spy on goddesses. If discovered, one will inevitably face their wrath. However, Li Xing-kun is so mysterious and powerful, I doubt he would fear a goddess's retribution."
"Yes, Merlin has explained it quite well! You can think of it that way." Li Xing couldn't explain himself clearly, so he could only use Merlin's words to cover for him.