The sky was gradually breaking, a few lingering stars embedded in the pale azure expanse. The world was hazy, as if veiled in silver-gray gauze.
The first light of dawn peeled back the delicate veil of night, spilling forth a brilliant morning glow and welcoming a new day.
And with a new day, new events began to unfold.
On a day such as this, Ishtar rose from her bed bright and early.
A year's plan is made in spring, a day's plan in the morning.
Theoretically speaking, once she was married, she could justifiably use the assets of her self-appointed lover.
But while taking a little something from a lover was fine, completely depending on his wealth would make her no different from a parasite.
So, she decided to go out for a stroll for the first time in a while. She would check the Sumerian plains to see if any people were being harmed, then she would eradicate the threat (by blasting both demonic beasts and livestock into the sky) and collect her reward (by forcefully robbing them of their gems).
Still, speaking of which, Nergal's relationship with those two human girls was a bit too intimate, wasn't it?
Tsk tsk.
But that didn't matter.
After witnessing her—the goddess of love and beauty's—charm, Nergal would soon become completely lost in her allure, unable to extricate himself.
The girl, who had inherited all of Inanna's arrogance but none of her EX-rank 'Manifestation of Beauty', promptly felt relieved.
What fun would a victor's triumph be without the howls of the defeated dogs?
The very thought of becoming Nergal's partner amidst a chorus of wails and hateful glares from a crowd of defeated rivals brought a wave of pleasure to Ishtar.
The more women who adored Nergal, the more it proved how astonishing her own charm was for capturing him, right?
It was a pity the gods had already returned to the heavens.
Otherwise, she would have had Nergal charm all the other goddesses until they were utterly smitten. Then, she would make a dazzling entrance and drag him back to her temple under their envious, jealous, and hateful gazes—gazes that screamed they wanted to tear her apart.
That scene, just imagining it, was simply marvelous.
Especially that gloomy woman. If Nergal could win her over, she would absolutely drag him into the underworld to get it on, forcing Ereshkigal to watch from the sidelines.
Ishtar, recalling the humiliation of being nailed to the seven gates of the underworld by Ereshkigal, couldn't help but clench her fists.
Then, she let out a sigh.
It was a shame. That Ereshkigal creature had already returned to the Reverse Side of the World and hadn't manifested here.
What a pity.
Mulling this over, Ishtar walked down the temple corridor.
And then, she froze.
She saw him. The boy, whose aura was now distinctly gloomier than before.
"You..."
Suddenly sensing the aura of the underworld on her self-appointed lover, Ishtar's eyes flew wide open.
Hey, hey, hey, why does Nergal, master of the sun, have a divinity so similar to that super-gloomy woman, Ereshkigal's?!
"Hey, hey, hey, Nergal, what's going on with you?"
"Are you talking about the divinity I'm carrying?"
The boy, who had exchanged divinities with Ereshkigal during the night and become a god of the underworld, wore a cheerful smile.
Ereshkigal had already agreed to marry him.
Once they held a wedding, he would be able to cuddle with his angel Eresh every day.
"Fighting Tiamat... in the normal world, it would cause a lot of destruction, right?"
"Even if I already have a plan to deal with Tiamat quickly, the process of executing it would still cause immense damage to the outside world," Li Zihan explained.
"So, I found the goddess of the underworld—Ereshkigal—and exchanged divinities with her. I became the master of the underworld, gaining sovereignty over the true battlefield."
As expected of the man I've chosen, Ishtar thought. He's just that reliable.
A sense of pride swelled within her.
And then...
"Wait, Ereshkigal?"
Ishtar, completely unaware that Ereshkigal had been chain-summoned, stared with wide eyes.
"She's in this world too?"
"You and Ereshkigal are two sides of the same coin. If you, who represent life, were summoned, is it so strange that Ereshkigal, who represents death, was chain-summoned as well?"
Li Zihan put on a look of profound surprise.
"No way, no way. You didn't know Eresh was in this world?"
"O-Of course I knew."
The Mistress of Heaven—who knew nothing and had even taken the blame for Ereshkigal as a member of the villainous Three Goddess Alliance—let her eyes dart about evasively.
Then, her expression sharpened with suspicion.
"Wait, you just called that gloomy woman Ereshkigal 'Eresh,' didn't you."
Eresh. That name was far too intimate.
"I did. Don't you think it's a cute name?" the boy said with a light chuckle, clearly not intending to hide the fact that he had won Ereshkigal over. He said this to the very goddess of Venus who had given him the divine name "Nergal."
Perhaps this would make Ishtar a little unhappy, but since he was already planning a harem, some things simply couldn't be concealed.
Besides, if Ishtar did get upset, she should be easy enough to pacify.
Feeling that Ishtar's greed index was likely the sum of Inanna's and Rin Tohsaka's combined, the boy began to seriously calculate his total assets.
There was the Spirit Tomb Albion, which was basically his private backyard; the World Serpent, which Ancestor Kevin had transferred to him; the Far East Branch of Schicksal, which he had effectively taken over; several countries in the Campione! world...
As long as money was on the table, anything could be discussed.
Then, something quite strange happened.
"Hey, hey, don't tell me you've already handled that gloomy woman."
"And you've become the master of her precious underworld, and even gained the right to use her temple?"
A gleam of excitement flashed in the eyes of the goddess, who still held a grudge about being nailed to death in the underworld by Ereshkigal.
For some reason, Li Zihan felt that her gaze was just like Sirin's when she had dragged him into the room next to Mei's to roll around on the bed. However, the emotion in Ishtar's gaze was far more naked, more intense.
And was it just his imagination? That look also resembled that of a small dog that, after being thrashed by a large dog, had turned around and stolen the large dog's food.
"Yeah. What about it?"
The boy, who would most likely be using his Imaginary attribute to receive the goddess of creation in the underworld, was a little stunned.
"Oh, it's nothing."
The goddess named Ishtar took a remarkably intimate step forward, wrapped her arms around the boy, and began to laugh.
For a rare moment, her smile was bewitching, completely devoid of its usual goofy flavor.
"I was just thinking, since you already have a plan to defeat Mother, surely you can give me an answer now, right?"