"RUMBLE—!!"
The ground was shaking.
The entire world had been trembling for some time now.
Of course, this was nothing to Jaguar Warrior. She was the kind of woman who could sleep soundly through a magnitude seven earthquake without a care in the world.
Even so, wasn't this going too far? Doing construction work on a weekday and ruining everyone's lunch break? She was definitely going to file a complaint with the neighborhood association!
Thinking that, Jaguar Warrior opened her eyes in irritation.
"Huh...?"
Then she saw something unbelievable.
In front of Quetzalcoatl's Sun Temple, two figures were colliding violently as they traded blows.
For a moment, Jaguar Warrior wondered whether she was still half asleep, because she had never imagined that any human in this world could fight a serious Kuku on equal terms with their bare hands.
That was Kuku!
The pinnacle of goodness in Aztec mythology, the supreme god who presided over numerous authorities, including war. Quetzalcoatl!
She had exploited the spatial distortion of this land to forcibly construct a temple equipped with the Solar Calendar, allowing her to regain nearly all her divine power.
An ordinary hero or Servant would be blown away by the solar wind simply by standing before Quetzalcoatl, let alone trading punches and kicks with her at close range!
Just who was that red-haired boy?
Jaguar Warrior stared blankly at Shirou's back.
Not only had he defeated her, he could even fight Kuku to this extent.
Despite being a swordsman, he had willingly given up his sword to honor his agreement with Quetzalcoatl, choosing instead to fight barehanded in what was practically an act of suicide.
Normally, Jaguar Warrior would have mercilessly mocked the human boy for his stupidity. How could any human possibly challenge Kuku's authority?
But now, she could not laugh at all.
She was captivated by the sight of the boy refusing to retreat even before the Sun Goddess, and before she knew it, she had started cheering for him.
He was strong yet clumsy, and more importantly, he was so endearing that Jaguar Warrior felt an overwhelming urge to protect him.
His name... was Shirou, right?
Perhaps he really could defeat Kuku and put an end to her tyrannical rule...
"Ah, he got sent flying."
"THUD—!!"
A fist as heavy as a mountain slammed into Shirou's face and blasted the boy through the air.
Even deploying a shock-absorbing spell formula did nothing. His body crashed into the jungle like a cannonball.
Trees swayed, birds and beasts fled, and even the forest's terrain was altered by that single punch infused with Supreme Divinity.
No human could survive a full-powered blow from the Sun Goddess.
"What have you done, aaaaaah?! How dare you hurt my Shirou... I'll never forgive you, aaaaaah!"
"Hm?"
After sending Shirou flying, the Sun Goddess stood calmly with one hand on her hip. Then she saw a ferocious-looking feline mascot charging straight at her.
"I'll fight you to the death, Kuku!"
Jaguar Warrior swung down her spear. Its design was adorable, but it was undeniably imbued with Divinity.
Quetzalcoatl shifted her body by the smallest possible angle, easily avoiding the attack, then stuck out one foot and tripped the rampaging woman in the mascot suit.
"What are you doing, Jaguar Warrior?"
"You're asking what I'm doing?! How dare you hurt my Shirou! I won't forgive you! Even if I'm sent back to the Throne of Heroes, I'm taking you with me!"
Quetzalcoatl rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Since when did Shirou-kun become 'your Shirou'?"
Just as Jaguar Warrior was about to throw herself at the Sun Goddess and fight to the death, a sound came from behind them.
"Ptooey."
The two turned around and saw the red-haired boy emerge from the twisted wreckage of the fallen trees, spitting out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
"Shi... Shirou? You're still alive?!"
"Oh my. You can still stand? I thought it was already over."
Jaguar Warrior was not the only one surprised. Even Quetzalcoatl, the person who had struck him, seemed taken aback.
"Don't be ridiculous. This is nothing."
Although Shirou was covered in wounds and blood streamed from his head, his expression and gaze remained unwavering.
"..."
Jaguar Warrior slowly lowered her spear, then stepped aside to clear a path for him.
She desperately wanted to tell him, "That's enough. You've already done your best!" Yet she could not bring herself to say it.
She could only watch as Shirou walked back toward Quetzalcoatl and assumed his fighting stance once more.
"Good. That makes this the sixty-ninth round."
Quetzalcoatl cracked her knuckles.
Jaguar Warrior tilted her head in confusion.
The sixty-ninth round? What did that mean...?
Ah!
She remembered what the red-haired boy had said when he first appeared before her. He intended to take the place of Ur's citizens as the Sun Goddess's living sacrifice.
In other words, he would fight one hundred matches every day.
Were you serious?
Shirou wore an utterly serious expression.
You really were serious?
Shirou raised his fists and charged at Quetzalcoatl.
...
The first day's hundred matches ended before midnight.
They had lasted a full twelve hours, from just before noon until late at night.
It had taken so long because each individual battle between Quetzalcoatl and the human boy grew longer as the number of matches increased.
During the first few rounds, Shirou had been defeated almost instantly by a single wrestling move. By the twentieth match, however, he had become capable of responding to the goddess's attacks.
After the fiftieth match, Shirou could already trade blows with her and find openings within Quetzalcoatl's rainstorm of attacks.
Nearly all of Shirou's prior hand-to-hand combat experience had come from teaming up with Shinji Matou to fight older male students.
He had originally been no more than a fairly capable fighter by ordinary human standards. Yet after one hundred rounds, he had rapidly grown capable of exchanging blows with Quetzalcoatl.
What astonishing Growth Potential. Was this what humans were capable of...?
Quetzalcoatl looked down tenderly at the boy, who had fallen asleep on the ground from sheer exhaustion.
I came at you fully intending to crush you to death... Yet I never managed to "truly kill you" even once.
Quetzalcoatl had killed countless humans before.
The living sacrifices forced to fight her had all been subjected to one-sided beatings. Some were sent flying hundreds of meters, while others were hurled down from heights of dozens of meters.
No human could possibly survive attacks like those. Yet not one of those sacrifices had died.
The humans sent to Eridu were all still alive, receiving military training every day.
That was because whenever Quetzalcoatl killed an opponent, she also granted them an instant-death-level Revive. In reality, no one had truly been killed.
This was Kuku's bad habit, or perhaps her principle.
She bestowed a goddess's mercy even during a duel.
When an opponent challenged her with the resolve to die, she accepted their challenge.
But when someone lacked that resolve, she spared their life.
That was why Tezcatlipoca had been able to exploit her weakness, yet she had never reflected on it at all.
Jaguar Warrior had once put it this way. If she kept acting like that, the other goddesses would look down on her. Big sis was so worried.
Quetzalcoatl had killed countless humans, and yet throughout today's hundred duels, she had failed to kill Shirou even once.
Naturally, she had never been given the opportunity to grant him Revive either.
"Could this child... be immortal?"
Quetzalcoatl sensed that something was strange.
After investigating, she discovered the secret behind Shirou's immortality.
Heh... I see. Is this a mother's protection?
At some point, Shirou Amamiya had received the blessing of Goddess Tiamat.
With the blessing of the Goddess of Life who had created the world, it was only natural that even a mortal body could not be killed.
Oh, Shirou-kun...
Quetzalcoatl cupped her flushed cheeks.
Even though he already has me, he still went and seduced another goddess. I'll have to punish him properly♡.
Starting tomorrow, she would change her method of attack from "physical destruction" to "eroding Divinity."
It might be the blessing of the Goddess of Creation, but ultimately, it was nothing more than a lingering fragrance left behind in the present world.
If Quetzalcoatl, a God King, used her full power, she could temporarily strip Shirou of the goddess's blessing.
Once that happened, his immortality should be broken.
However...
"Hehe. It seems the blessing of the Goddess of Creation isn't the only thing this child possesses."
Quetzalcoatl instructed Jaguar Warrior to take Shirou back and care for him, then returned to the depths of her temple.
...
Today was the fifth day since they had settled in the dense forest.
Today, Shirou was once again going through a hundred bouts with Quetzalcoatl.
After more than four hundred matches, even someone as lacking in martial arts talent as Shirou had grown far stronger than before.
He was now fully capable of trading blows with Quetzalcoatl on equal terms.
Several times, Shirou's fists and feet struck the Sun Goddess with enough force to send both of them flying.
Quetzalcoatl claimed to be a god who dearly loved the style of free wrestling that flourished in modern Mexico, a god who adored Mexican wrestling.
However, humans did not worship her as a god of wrestling.
Her fighting skills had not entered the realm of the divine.
She simply happened to love wrestling.
She was merely using a war god's power to overwhelm her opponents.
On the second day, Shirou had experienced a moment during battle when his thoughts were cut off for an instant.
One second, he was trading blows with Quetzalcoatl. The next, he found himself face-to-face with Ereshkigal.
It lasted only a fleeting instant.
"Huh? Sh-Shirou? Why are you here?"
Before Shirou could answer, his consciousness was dragged back to reality.
That was probably the moment I was killed.
Quetzalcoatl put an instant-death effect into that punch and killed me.
She did not say anything, but immediately gave me a resurrection effect.
Those were things that could only be done in Mesopotamia as it manifested in the Underworld.
Hmph. So she looked after me... but she did not need to.
After that, Shirou never experienced another lapse in consciousness.
He could not fully explain it, but he took this as proof that he had overcome "instant death."
Shirou could feel his body undergoing a complete transformation.
His progress in martial arts did not matter. He was not Tohsaka, after all. What mattered was that his body was changing drastically.
He could not quite put the sensation into words. It felt as though...
Yes, his body was like a piece of wrought iron being hammered again and again over a furnace until it finally took shape.
The Sun Goddess's ordinary attacks could now barely harm Shirou.
Even attacks infused with Divinity could only leave shallow scratches on him.
This effect grew stronger as Shirou's injuries accumulated.
Simply put, the more hurt Shirou became, the harder he was to hurt.
During the first round every morning, Quetzalcoatl would slam Shirou down with a back throw, leaving him unable to get up for half an hour.
By the second round, however, even if the Sun Goddess struck him with greater force, she could only inflict minor damage.
By the time Shirou was battered from head to toe after a full day of fighting, Quetzalcoatl could barely deal any effective damage to him at all.
In video game terms, it worked something like this:
When Shirou's HP was at 100%, his defense was 10.
At 99% HP, his defense doubled.
Below 90% HP, his defense increased n-fold.
Below 80% HP, his defense increased 2n-fold.
And so on...
Even Shirou did not know whether there was an upper limit to his increased Endurance. After all, he had never died.
Even Quetzalcoatl could not help grimacing when she faced Shirou in that state.
"Tch, what incredible resilience...!"
Shirou had always excelled at defense and drawn-out battles, but now his Endurance had reached an entirely new level.
It was practically the opposite of Aesc, Shirou thought.
With Morgan, the lower her HP falls, the higher her attack power rises. For me, the lower my HP falls, the higher my defense rises?
Hmph... Not bad.
"Here I come, Quetzalcoatl!"
Standing at the highest point of the Temple of the Sun, Shirou sounded the horn of his counterattack.
"Thanks for everything up to now. It's thanks to you that I gained this new power. As repayment, I'll give you exactly what you love most, Mexican wrestling!"
"......!"
Every trace of composure vanished from Quetzalcoatl's face.
An omen. A premonition.
Today, she, a genius wrestling master, was about to suffer the first defeat of her career.
Shirou launched himself from the ground and into the air, moving without the slightest hesitation.
Quetzalcoatl tilted her head back and narrowed her eyes without realizing it.
How ironic...
She was the Sun Goddess, yet the blazing sunlight was so bright that she could barely keep her eyes open.
Honestly...
You are far too dazzling, Shirou-kun...♡
The red-haired boy came crashing down from the sky and slammed heavily into the Sun Goddess.
He then locked his arms around her, and the two of them tumbled down the temple's hundreds of steps.
"I won."
Amid the cloud of dust raised by the earth-shaking impact, Shirou rose to his feet before Quetzalcoatl.
"Ah... I lost. I lost to Shirou."
The Sun Goddess spread her arms and legs, lying flat on the ground as she gazed up at the clear blue sky and murmured to herself.
"You're the first person to beat me this thoroughly and put me flat on my back. Not even that annoying Tezcatlipoca could do that. Huh? How strange... I don't feel the slightest regret."
"Is that so? You've only lost once, but you've beaten me more than four hundred times."
At the boy's words, Quetzalcoatl shook her head.
No, Shirou-kun. That's not it.
The Sun Goddess thought to herself: As a wrestler, I'm actually terribly frustrated. My winning streak is over, after all.
But as a goddess, I am very, very happy.
Because I have finally found you. Shirou, you are the human of my dreams.
"As promised, I'll stop demanding a hundred sacrifices every day... That will be enough, won't it?" Quetzalcoatl asked.
"Mm." Shirou nodded.
Just as he was about to say something else, the world suddenly began to spin around him.
Did I push myself too hard after all?
I may have gained a new skill, but the fatigue that has built up over the past few days is staggering...
The moment I let my guard down, my consciousness...
"Shirou-kun? Are you all right?"
Quetzalcoatl hurriedly reached out and caught the boy as he collapsed.
Looking down at the human sleeping in her arms, the goddess smiled with gentle affection.
Shirou Amamiya really is an extraordinary human...
Mm, no, this will not do~~
I really have to make my move before any of the other goddesses get their hands on this child...♡
...
When Shirou opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar, luxurious room rather than lying in the Jaguar Warrior's hut as he had been for the past few days.
Looks like I really did push myself too hard lately.
Quetzalcoatl had apparently used her power to heal Shirou's injuries, but the exhaustion remained, leaving him unable to move a muscle.
"Good evening, Shirou-kun."
The Sun Goddess sat beside the bed, gazing down at him.
"Good evening, Goddess-sama... Can I ask you something? Where are my clothes? And why am I naked?"
Quetzalcoatl blushed and smiled sweetly.
"Oh, Shirou-kun~ On a night like this, there can only be one reason for a boy and a goddess to be alone together in a room, both completely naked, right?"
"W-wait a minute. Are you serious?"
Realizing what she meant, Shirou's eyes widened.
There was no trace of the Sun Goddess's usual playful, teasing attitude in her expression.
"I'm serious. Completely serious~ Next, big sister is going to give her most precious thing to her beloved Shirou-kun~!"
Pieces of exotic fabric slipped away one by one, revealing the Sun Goddess's voluptuous yet toned, mature body.
"Ngh!"
He desperately tried to sit up, but he could not move at all.
"Don't worry. I know you're too exhausted to move right now, so just lie back and enjoy it, Shirou-kun."
Shirou shouted, "Wait! If everyone finds out...!"
"It's fine. I'll keep it a secret from everyone~♡"
…
Shirou did not know whether to be happy or sad.
In nearly five hundred battles against Quetzalcoatl, this was the first time he had successfully made the goddess bleed.