An enormous Cyclops appeared behind Ana and the others, but Menrva hurled her spear into its eye and made it explode as though it were a machine.
“Loki!” the goddess shouted. “I’ll handle things here. You go to Ibiza with Asclepius!”
The Norse god nodded, but at that moment he saw Ana preparing to fight as well, holding the sword Gram with both hands.
“Ana, sweetheart,” Loki said. “You’d better come with me to Ibiza too.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart!” Ana replied angrily, just as she brought down a group of harpies circling the area.
When Ana touched the ground again, she shook her head.
“My duty is on the battlefield… I’m sure you can heal little Tul,” she said.
Loki smiled.
“It’s for somethin’ else, Ana,” the Norse god said seriously. “You gotta come with me. Your presence is essential.”
As Ana turned to look at Loki, she failed to notice a monstrous Hecatoncheir lunging toward her, attempting to strike her with its countless hands. However, before it could touch her, the monster was split in half.
“Ana, Ana. You need to watch your back,” said the woman who had cut down the beast.
When the Irish goddess saw the woman, she smiled with devotion.
“Ishtar! I’m so happy to see you!” Ana said cheerfully.
Ishtar, wearing her totema and wielding her curved sword, stood before Ana and Loki with a smile.
“Go on, Ana. Do not concern yourself with this battlefield. I shall destroy these monsters for you,” Ishtar said, giving her a thumbs-up.
“You fixed your sword?” Ana asked upon seeing the Sumerian goddess’s white blade. “It’s shining really bright!”
Ishtar nodded as she raised her weapon toward the sky. Her sword shone majestically like a small sun.
“I could not depend solely upon your weapon, after all. It vanished when, I presume, you fell asleep,” the Mesopotamian goddess replied with an amused look.
“Oh! Sorry!” Ana replied with a laugh. “But remember, I warned you!”
The two goddesses looked at each other silently for a moment. Then Ana remembered the most important thing she needed to tell her comrade-in-arms.
“Ninshubur… Ninshubur is safe!” the Irish goddess shouted with all her strength.
Ishtar’s mouth fell open at those words, and then she closed her eyes with great joy.
“I am glad she is well,” she said.
At that moment, Menrva landed in front of Loki and the two goddesses while cutting down a chimera in midair. The lion’s head fell before the gods.
“Before anything else, we also have to save Epona!” the Etruscan goddess said. “If that filthy goddess of good fortune interrogates her, she won’t be able to keep Rodrigo’s location secret.”
“However, I am certain this dimensional shield will not allow us to escape from here,” Menrva added, her face filled with regret.
Immediately, like a comet, Hippolyta fell damaged from the sky.
The goddesses and Loki avoided the impact. The Amazon queen stared in disbelief at Freyja’s immense power as the Norse goddess descended majestically like a divine being, her two white wings fluttering behind her.
“Menrva, long time no see,” the Norse goddess said with a smile.
“It has only been one day, Freyja,” Menrva replied, smiling.
“Purr-haps, but when I heard they were gonna throw ya into Hell, I feared the worst!” Freyja said as she descended and hugged the Etruscan goddess with all her strength.
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After they embraced, Menrva introduced Ishtar to her companion. The two goddesses smiled at one another.
“Menrva, I need ya to take meow with ya to Constantinople. A furr-iend of mine is trapped there,” Freyja said.
Hippolyta, furious, rose with her golden spear and began spinning it like a powerful drill.
“Do you think this is a game, barbarian of the north?” the Amazon queen asked furiously. “You wish to flee at this point?”
Hippolyta lunged with her spear, spinning it with tremendous force, but Ishtar stopped the attack with her sword.
“Go! Rescue your friend!” the Sumerian goddess said. “I shall deal with this woman!”
Hippolyta smiled.
“I already defeated you once. Do you wish for me to kill you this time?” the Amazon queen asked with a sarcastic smile.
But Ishtar laughed and, putting strength behind her sword, pushed the Amazon backward.
“Last time, I was preoccupied with protecting my subordinate. This time will be different,” Ishtar said as she charged at the Amazon with her sword drawn.
“However, first we must determine how to bypass the dimensional shield trapping us here,” Menrva added pessimistically.
Loki shook his head.
“This shield only covers the palaces of Olympus. That’s why the thunderbolt Freyja deflected escaped into the atmosphere,” the Norse god replied.
Menrva realized Loki was right, but what would be the point of leaving an opening through which everyone could escape? She did not understand.
The Etruscan goddess, then, took Freyja’s hand so they could leave together. However, in the distance, she saw two armored men and a giant forcing their way through the warriors.
“Freyja, I’m only taking you there, and then I’m coming back,” Menrva said as her face twisted into an expression of anger.
Freyja looked at the men. Although she did not know them, she understood that they were important in her friend’s life.
“All right,” Freyja said. “I’ll rescue Epona too, meow.”
Menrva then remembered how her relationship with Epona had begun badly, but how the two of them had learned to respect one another.
“I would appreciate that. I care about her very much too,” the Etruscan goddess said.
At that moment, another reptilian head fell near the goddesses. Anpiel, using his golden macuahuitl, had decapitated a serpent being.
“Allow me to go as well,” the malak said. “I must rescue Epona.”
Menrva nodded and took the angel’s hand while still holding Freyja’s.
But at that exact moment, two silhouettes appeared behind the goddess. At first, Menrva thought they were enemies, but when she turned, she realized they were two allies.
“You were two of the men who served my master Athena, correct?” she asked, puzzled, as the two men bowed before her.
“Indeed. We are Mithras and Sol,” replied one of the men, who wore a Phrygian cap and a reddish tunic.
“We… would also like you… to take us… to E-Epona,” said the other man, who had blond hair.
Menrva felt uncomfortable with the request. It seemed as though too many people were fleeing Olympus when they ought to continue fighting.
But Mithras stood.
“I understand your hesitation, Lady Menrva,” the Persian god said. “However, Constantinople is also a great fortress inhabited by extremely powerful gods. The more of us there are, the better our chances.”
Sol nodded nervously while remaining bowed.
Realizing she could not argue with that, Menrva agreed to take them. The two gods positioned themselves behind the Etruscan goddess and touched her shoulder.
“Very well. Let’s go,” Menrva said.
Then they disappeared from the combat zone.
Loki, then, flew toward Asclepius, who was still standing near the pit of Tartarus. Loki and Asclepius had already spoken in Tartarus, so the Greek god was fully aware of the situation in Ibiza. Asclepius also told the Norse god that he was ready to leave.
Ana, who was beside Loki, saw Susanoo fighting a hydra.
“Susanoo, we’re going to heal Tul. Are you coming with us?” the Irish goddess asked her companion.
But he shook his head.
“Iie, Ana-hime,” the eastern god replied. “I repose my complete faith in all of you, that ye shall save my beautiful Tul-chan.”
The eastern god leapt away and continued fighting the monsters hand-to-hand, while Loki disappeared from the battlefield together with Ana and Asclepius.
Then, amid the heat of battle, Susanoo heard beautiful music in the distance.
It sounded as though it were coming from a lyre.
The eastern god found it strange that someone would be playing such beautiful music in the middle of a battle.
For some reason, discovering the origin of that music became an obsession for Susanoo, and he began forcing his way through monsters and heroes in search of the source of the melody.
Eventually, he found a beautiful man sitting atop one of the columns surrounding the plaza.
The man had long bluish hair and wore a white tunic. He played the lyre calmly and appeared utterly unconcerned.
“’Tis a most peculiar moment to play such beautiful music, wouldst thou not agree?” the eastern god asked.
The man opened his eyes and looked at Susanoo. Since he was sitting atop a column, he gazed downward.
“My lord saw you upon the battlefield and has asked me to extend a special invitation for you to visit his chambers,” the man said with a smile.
Meanwhile, back at Pantheon Palace, Zeus had already withdrawn from the balcony, but his children and siblings continued watching the battle.
“I see. The strongest members of the group have escaped,” Hephaestus said with a smile.
“I suppose they must have gone to Constantinople in an attempt to rescue their friend before Empress Irene interrogates her,” Poseidon said while stroking his beard.
Then the god of the seas stood and began to leave.
“Then I assume you will go to Constantinople to protect Apollo and Irene,” Hephaestus said.
Poseidon smiled indifferently.
“There is no need for concern. The situation here is completely under control,” the god of the seas replied.
At that moment, peering over one of the buildings and watching the battle taking place below, Heracles wore a malevolent smile.
“They told me to hold myself back, but after all the racket y’all made woke me from my sleep, I’m in one hell of a foul mood,” the powerful Greek hero said.