Genichi did not kill Ishtar with his own hands. Instead, he hauled her up from the ground as easily as if he were lifting a chicken bound for slaughter.
Her body was completely naked, covered in dust and sweat. Her disheveled hair clung to her face, and her violet eyes were filled with fear and humiliation.
She struggled desperately, trying to wrench herself free, trying to claw his face with her nails, even trying to sink her teeth into his wrist.
But Genichi's hand was like an iron vise, locked firmly around the back of her neck and leaving her completely unable to move.
"You can't do this to me!"
Ishtar's voice was shrill.
"I'm a Goddess of Beauty! I'm the patron goddess of the Ishtar Familia! You have no right to humiliate me! You have no right to judge me!"
Genichi said nothing.
He simply dragged her out of the room, through the corridor, down the stairs, and out of the palace.
Behind him, his shadows and the goddesses followed.
Ishtar's resistance gradually weakened.
It wasn't because she had given up. She had simply realized that, in front of this man, every attempt to fight back was pointless.
She could feel the shadows writhing beneath her feet, as though they were eagerly waiting for her to fall so they could drag her into endless darkness.
Demeter was standing outside the palace gates.
When she saw Genichi emerge while dragging the naked Ishtar behind him, her brow furrowed slightly.
It wasn't because she sympathized with Ishtar. She simply felt that the sight was rather indecent.
Still, she understood why Genichi was doing it.
It wasn't merely to humiliate Ishtar. It was to make her afraid.
A Goddess of Beauty stripped of every shred of dignity was like a peacock with all its feathers plucked away. She could no longer hide the ugliness inside her behind beauty and arrogance.
"Are you really planning to keep her like this?"
Demeter spoke softly, a trace of concern in her voice.
But that concern wasn't for Ishtar. It was for Genichi.
She was afraid hatred might cloud his judgment and drive him into doing something irreversible.
After returning to the Demeter Familia, Genichi immediately got to work.
He gathered iron bars and tools and began forging a cage with his own hands.
His smithing skills couldn't compare to Hephaestus's, but making a simple cage was well within his abilities.
The iron bars were heated red-hot, hammered, bent, welded, and reinforced.
Sweat rolled down his forehead and splattered against the metal with sharp hissing sounds.
His expression remained focused and cold. There was no hatred in his eyes, nor was there any pleasure. There was only a calm, almost mechanical concentration.
Several hours later, the cage was finished.
It wasn't large. There was barely enough room for one person to curl up inside.
The gaps between the bars were so narrow that Ishtar couldn't even fit a hand through them.
A thin layer of straw covered the bottom.
In one corner sat an old wooden bucket for her bodily needs.
Genichi shoved Ishtar into the cage and locked the door.
The key turned in his hand with a crisp click that echoed through the quiet room.
Ishtar curled up inside, hugging her knees as her body trembled.
She had nothing on her body except dust and wounds.
Her tangled hair spilled over her shoulders and covered half her face, but the hatred and defiance in her violet eyes had not disappeared.
"You'll regret this."
Her voice was hoarse, like two pieces of rusted iron grinding together.
"You'll definitely regret this."
Genichi crouched in front of the cage and looked at her through the iron bars.
There wasn't the slightest emotion in his eyes.
"Maybe."
His voice was quiet.
"But right now, you're in my hands."
He stood and turned away.
Behind him, Ishtar's curses gradually turned into sobbing.
Eventually, even those faded into silence.
In the living room, Demeter, Astraea, Artemis, and Hephaestus were all seated on the sofas.
Demeter's fingers slowly traced the edge of her teacup. Astraea's brow was tightly furrowed. Complicated emotions flickered through Artemis's green eyes, while Hephaestus leaned against the backrest with her arms crossed, her single eye filled with thought.
"So you're really planning to keep Ishtar locked up like that?"
Demeter's voice broke the silence.
Genichi sat down across from them and shook his head.
"Of course not. I intend to feed her to a God Assassin."
Everyone's expressions instantly changed.
Of course they knew what a God Assassin was.
They were special black monsters spawned by the Dungeon specifically to hunt gods.
If one devoured a deity, everything that made up that god would be digested and erased into nothingness.
"You want a God Assassin to devour Ishtar?"
Disbelief filled Astraea's voice.
Genichi nodded.
"That's right."
"No! I won't agree to that!"
Astraea immediately objected, rare agitation entering her voice.
"That's far too dangerous! Have you already forgotten what just happened to Artemis?"
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, but her hands were already gripping the armrests tightly.
"Artemis was devoured by Antares. That scorpion nearly destroyed Orario. If you hadn't arrived in time, Orario might already have been reduced to ruins."
"And now you want to let another God Assassin devour Ishtar? That would bring an enormous threat to Orario. One mistake, just one, and the entire city could end up being buried alongside Ishtar!"
Artemis's expression also grew solemn.
"Genichi."
Her voice was soft, almost pleading.
"I know you hate Ishtar. I know you want her to pay for what she's done. But God Assassins are too dangerous. They aren't something we can control."
"If one really devoured Ishtar and obtained the Authority of a Goddess of Beauty, it could become something even more terrifying than Antares."
The living room fell silent.
Demeter said nothing, merely watching Genichi with worry in her eyes.
Hephaestus remained silent as well, leaning back with her single eye half-closed, lost in thought.
Genichi was silent for a long time.
His fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest, betraying the struggle going on inside him.
He knew they were right.
A God Assassin truly was dangerous, and Ishtar's Authority would be incredibly difficult to control if such a monster absorbed it.
But he couldn't accept simply letting Ishtar off.
He couldn't accept giving her an easy death.
And he especially couldn't accept letting her retain the dignity of a goddess even after everything she had done.
"Then what do you suggest?"
His voice was quiet, but a trace of suppressed anger ran beneath it.
"Just keep her locked up? Keep her in that cage forever? Let her rot in there? Or hand her over to the Guild and let Ouranos judge her?"
"All of those options are too easy on her."
"Genichi, I have an idea."
Hephaestus's voice broke the silence.
Everyone turned toward her.
Hephaestus straightened, a thoughtful gleam appearing in her single eye.
"Let Freya see what Ishtar looks like now."
"Then have Ishtar sent back to Heaven."
"Would Freya agree?"
There was a hint of uncertainty in Genichi's voice.
Hephaestus shook her head.
"I don't know. But it's worth trying. After all, there's nothing for her to lose and plenty for her to gain."
Genichi remained silent for a moment before finally nodding.
"All right. Then we'll go find Freya."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]