My mother's love song

Ishtar smiled and gave the instructions she had prepared.

“I’ve made it clear from the beginning that this year’s Ishtar Cup is a ‘riding competition’.

It is not just a superficial competition of speed, but a competition of "riding".

In other words, combat is of course included! The final zone will certainly allow combat!"

"Wait, there's nothing like that in the contestant's manual... Um, is this why you asked your mother to participate in the competition?"

Rhodes actually guessed Ishtar's plot in advance, but he didn't expect her to cheat to such an extent.

Rather than allowing interference in the race, the goddess Venus simply turns the race into a melee, letting the battle determine the final winner.

Some people may ask: If only the winner of the melee can reach the finish line first, then is there any meaning in the races in the first four areas?

Of course!

Let the other four groups rush into the arena first and fight each other, while Tiamat, who is running last and arriving late, only needs to be responsible for collecting heads!

"Wow...how shameless."

Rhode finally understood why Ishtar was so confident from the beginning to the end. Perhaps there were some devices in the arena that were beneficial to her.

The supporters of the other groups finally realized that they had been tricked by Ishtar. Although they wanted to protest, the heat waves in the audience could not stop them.

After all, everyone welcomes the battle between god-level servants.

The Venus goddess, whose conspiracy had succeeded, raised an eyebrow.

"But even in a simulated space, we still have to be prepared for any eventuality. Don't worry, the medical team has been arranged to be on standby!"

As soon as the vanguard entered the arena, the flat oval-shaped field changed.

Several cracks appeared in the center of the site, connecting with each other in a regular pattern and forming a terrain with a large difference in height.

Immediately afterwards, the rolling sea water flowed into the venue, and the reefs also emerged from the water, causing splashes of water all over the sky.

"Oops, sorry, forgot to explain."

Ishtar looked at Tiamat, who was still a long distance away from the arena, and gave a cunning and beautiful smile.

"Although the final area is the Colosseum, this time the competition is actually a naval battle, right? After all, summer is all about the sea!"

victory or defeat

There is no heroic spirit that can defeat the Primordial Ocean Mother in a naval battle, and she is accompanied by the storm's disaster incarnation, the [Bull of Heaven].

The other four groups quickly understood the situation and reached a consensus. Their strong resentment towards the host goddess Ishtar made them temporarily put aside the conflict of the previous few hours.

Finally, they waited together and challenged Tiamat.

The first to be defeated were Murasaki Shikibu and Ushigozen. Murasaki Shikibu's frontal combat capability can only be described as tragic, and Ushigozen had a very bad compatibility with water.

Mordred and Black Jeanne were also quickly defeated, and it was simply a matter of strength difference here.

In the final stage, it is Melyuchina & Beast Disaster VS Tiamat & Mini Sky Bull.

If it was a land battle, there might still be some suspense, but in a naval battle, the Mother Goddess of Creation is invincible.

After a fierce battle, Tiamat defeated all her opponents.

"As expected of a mother! Absolute majesty! Even the Grand Dragon cannot defeat the Primordial Sea!"

Looking at the contestants staggering and motionless on the field, Ishtar tightly grasped the microphone and shouted happily.

Everything went just as she planned, and the Fever Temple camp won the riding competition.

Not only that, except for Tiamat and Gugalana, the other teams couldn't even finish the race.

Melyuchina got up from the ground and kicked the ground unwillingly.

However, if the battle area was not limited to the small arena, she might have a chance to defeat Tiamat. After all, the current Tiamat is not a Beast spirit.

What ultimately decided the outcome of this battle was the cleverness of the goddess Ishtar.

……

……

……

"Congratulations, mother, on your final victory."

After the game, Rhodes first went to comfort everyone in the loser group, and then he and Ishtar came to Tiamat.

"Haha, Gugalana finished the whole race. The amazing one is not the mother, but Gugalana."

"No, no, no, it was you who swept away all the opponents, so Gugalana had the chance to cross the finish line first."

"Well, is that so? Then it is that both mother and Gugalana are very powerful."

Tiamat said, tilting her head in delight.

"Hoohoo, mother is the strongest! Long live!"

Ishtar hugged Tiamat's arms, her face full of joy.

Rhode rolled his eyes. "Involving my mother in your plan... That's terrible."

Ishtar snorted, "Well, what does it matter? There is no such thing as an absolutely fair game in the world.

We can only blame the other factions for not paying enough attention to the balance of the team~"

Rhode frowned and said, "It seems that there is more than one Ishtar Cup competition in Serva☆Fes this time?

Later, other camps will also hold corresponding competitions, and your camp will be severely targeted by then, right?"

"Hey, mother, will we be besieged by other children?" Tiamat asked worriedly.

Ishtar didn't take it seriously: "I don't care at all~ We'll talk about the future later, as long as I get the points!"

As long as you have fun now, you can worry about the future later. This is in line with the goddess Ishtar's style of not caring about the consequences.

By the way, according to the originally set rules, the first place will get 50 points.

Second place gets 30 points, third place gets 20 points, fourth place gets 10 points, and fifth place gets no points.

But because only Tiamat completed the entire race, the Fever Temple alone received 50 points, while the other groups received no points.

We are protesting to the Operations Committee about this matter, and we have to wait for the results.

Although this angered everyone, the Sumerian goddess immediately gained an overwhelming advantage.

"Because you've made a good start, I can't even imagine how the rest of the game will turn out... Alas."

Rhode sighed: Why must this battle become a battle filled with gunpowder...

Regardless of nationality, race, or faction, everyone happily holds a silver party... Isn't it good for everyone to accept my seeds equally?

Rhodes realized that the world was still far from what he had imagined it to be.

"By the way, what is the reward for this event? Is it really the Holy Grail?"

"Well, the prize is actually Luo..."

Just as Tiamat was about to speak, Ishtar covered her mouth and stealthily pulled her aside.

Ishtar turned to Rhodes and said, "Hey... You are right. The winning camp will get the Holy Grail."

“…Hmm, never mind.”

Rhodes didn't take the prize too seriously.

This time, watching the entire game as a commentator, he finally understood one thing.

"what's up?"

“Just now in the arena… the contestants, including my mother, displayed terrifying magical powers.

To be honest, I was shocked. The servants in this singularity should be restricted and unable to freely exercise such powerful power.

No... after all, it's incredible that the Beast of Disaster could appear in the stadium."

When he said this, the boy turned to the goddess beside him meaningfully.

“That… that’s because the spiritual veins of this land are very good, almost on par with those of Fuyuki, haha.”

Rhodes glanced at Ishtar, whose forehead was covered with cold sweat, and said calmly.

"The players of the Ishtar Cup this time...the magic power they used on the field came from the audience, right?"

"...!"

Ishtar froze in place, her pale face confirming Rhodes's guess.

In other words, the competition is created by extracting magic from the audience.

A grand ceremony to absorb magic power from nearly a thousand excited Servants, spanning the singularity of the Ishtar Cup.

This is the conclusion Rhodes came to.

The inspiration for him was the Colosseum in Rome in the final area.

In ancient Rome, slave gladiator duels held in the arena were sacred rituals dedicated to the gods.

And this Ishtar Cup was also a seemingly evil ritual planned by the goddess Venus.

"Ishtar, how much magic power is left?" Rhodes asked.

"Hey, hey hey... remaining? I don't know what you are talking about~

Ahahaha...Rod has been saying weird things since just now.

Stop it! If you keep talking nonsense, I will get angry, okay? "

Ishtar turned her face to the side and played with her hair that fell on her shoulders.

Even if the universe is destroyed, the goddess of heaven will still hold her tongue.

It goes without saying that the amount of mana extracted from nearly a thousand servants is an astonishing number.

Even if we hold the Ishtar Cup once, there should still be a lot left.

"What are you going to do with all that magic power?"

"I want to turn all that magic power into gems... Is that not possible?"

Ishtar folded her arms across her chest and spoke loudly.

Although he admitted the crime of secretly collecting magic power under the guise of the competition, he showed no remorse.

"As for gems, I usually give you a lot of tribute, are you still not satisfied?"

"Don't you usually pay tribute to Ereshkigal?"

Rhodes nodded: "Of course."

Ishtar puffed up her cheeks and said, "Humph... That's why I'm upset. You could just give it to me.

Anyway… Anyway, this is the magic power I collected, and it is my gem. Okay, let’s end this topic here.”

After she finished speaking, she turned around and waved to Rhodes and Tiamat: "I'm going to go back and rest first.

I'm already exhausted today, let's call Gugalana and Humbaba to dismantle the facilities tomorrow."

"..."

Rhodes stared at Ishtar's back suspiciously.

I always feel something is wrong. Under normal circumstances, she would definitely wrap her legs around me and ask for some intimacy, but today she is in such a hurry to leave.

The huge amount of magic power that Ishtar collected through the competition could never be simply stored as gems.

Rhodes took a step forward and caught up with the goddess.

"Mother, I need to speak to Ishtar alone in private."

As he said this, Rhodes grabbed the neck of the Venus goddess. Although the latter wanted to break free, she had no strength.

"Well, don't bully Ishtar too much."

Tiamat waved her hand and watched the boy force the goddess into the contestant passage nearby.

In this way, Rhodes once again eliminated the threat of human nature without anyone noticing.

After a while, a loud slapping sound of a hand falling heavily on a buttock was heard in the contestant channel.

"Pop!" "Pap!" "Pap!"