Chapter 269: The Origin of the Mistress of the Underworld
As Ishtar flicked two gems from her hand, they triggered the stone gate in front of them. The animal reliefs on the gate lit up one by one, and then a voice slowly echoed.
"Answer me, answer me..."
Mhm, it was Ereshkigal's voice. The corner of Xia Yu's mouth twitched upward; it even carried a deep tone that was deliberately lowered.
"Living beings who have fallen into the Underworld, answer with the way of existence of your souls!"
"Alright," Ishtar's face grew solemn upon hearing this. "The multiple-choice question is coming. The Gates of the Underworld will question the good and evil of the soul. It is a fair and rational gate."
Fair and rational? Xia Yu smiled silently at those words. Perhaps the gate itself was indeed like that, but unfortunately, the Ereshkigal behind the gate shared a personal vendetta with you...
"The good and evil of the soul?" Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was to the side, was still a bit confused.
"There are seven gates in total," Ishtar introduced. "The ones that stripped away my Authorities before were these very gates."
Right at this moment, the Gates of the Underworld happened to speak up. "Then, the question shall now be put to the heavily sinful Kiana!"
"Huh?" Ishtar furrowed her brows upon hearing this. "It even names names?"
She didn't know about this part, mainly because she had come alone last time.
The voice of the Gates of the Underworld continued, "Although the standards of beauty vary in a thousand ways, they remain absolute!"
"Black can conquer white, and the underworld can conquer heaven!"
"Then, between Ereshkigal and Ishtar, which one is more beautiful?"
"Huh?" Fujimaru Ritsuka tilted her head upon hearing this.
Rational? Fair?
Leaving aside the two individuals discussed in the question, just that one line 'Black can conquer white, and the underworld can conquer heaven'... wasn't the answer completely written plainly on the surface?
"Wait a minute!" Ishtar couldn't sit still upon hearing this. "This is different from before!"
"This question..." Even the pure Little Eggplant, after quietly peeking at Ishtar and Kiana, said in a low voice, "It's really hard to choose."
Any normal person could see what the answer was, but the problem was that Miss Ishtar and Big Sister Kiana were so close...
"Hey, I say," Ishtar reached out to support Xia Yu's shoulder, saying with a smile, "there shouldn't be anything to hesitate about, right? After all, as everyone knows, I am the Goddess of Beauty, you know."
"This question is indeed difficult," Xia Yu spread her hands upon hearing this. "After all, you and Ereshkigal are two sides of the same coin. You look exactly the same, so it's impossible to tell who is superior based on appearance."
"Therefore, I've decided to follow the voice of my inner heart," she held Ishtar's hand and then shouted loudly, "I choose Ereshkigal!"
"Um... Ereshkigal is..." Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth twitched to the side. Was she not even going to pretend anymore?
Meanwhile, the stone gate slowly opened without a word, as if a certain goddess behind it had already bashfully covered her face.
"You fellow!" Ishtar straight up reached out her hand to pinch her neck upon hearing this. "Fine, we've spent so much time together, yet you still chose another woman in the end!"
"But I told you right from the start," Xia Yu spread her hands. "It's not like you didn't know."
"But I'm not satisfied!" Ishtar grabbed her own twin tails and roared toward the sky, "As the Goddess of Beauty, how could I possibly lose to that fellow in terms of charm!"
"To each their own," Xia Yu patted her shoulder reassuringly upon hearing this. "Ishtar, it's actually quite fun being sisters with you."
"Um... maybe we should continue moving forward instead," Fujimaru Ritsuka raised her hand upon seeing this and said, "We have to fight Ereshkigal sooner or later anyway, don't we?"
"Hmph!" Ishtar's fighting spirit was ignited once more upon hearing this. She grabbed Xia Yu's shoulder and said fiercely, "Just watch me go snatch you back!"
But let alone Xia Yu, even Ritsuka and Mash nearby felt it was a bit unlikely.
Snatching someone away in their home court... Even Quetzalcoatl had said that if she went down to the Underworld, she would be absolutely no match for the Mistress of the Underworld unless her original body came in person.
Ishtar... was probably in a tight spot.
Just like that, the few of them forged ahead toward the depths of the Underworld.
"Phew, I'm exhausted..." Walking up to the final gate, Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but bend over, supporting her knees with both hands.
"To think the question of which goddess is better would last for this long..."
Was this what jealousy between goddesses looked like? She couldn't help but glance at the calm Big Sister Kiana; she truly possessed a powerful mental fortitude.
"Yeah, there's only one gate left," Ishtar had already accumulated full rage along the way. "I'll be able to see my 'dear sister' very soon!"
"When the time comes, I must have a good talk with her about where you belong!"
"Hmph, hahahaha!"
Just as she was talking tough, a familiar loud laugh suddenly echoed from the shadows nearby.
"King Gilgamesh?" Fujimaru Ritsuka cried out in surprise upon seeing this. She had originally thought they would have to go through a bitter battle to rescue the King's soul from the hands of the Mistress of the Underworld. Who would have expected to encounter him halfway?
"Thank you all for coming to receive me!" The soul of Gilgamesh, who had rested well in the Underworld, was now in high spirits.
"Mhm, you look very energetic," Xia Yu nodded with satisfaction. "It seems you indeed received the offerings we laid out for you. I just don't know if the Underworld charged a processing fee."
"Offerings? Laid out?" Gilgamesh's face froze instantly. He recalled the final words he heard before his death, 'It's a pity you can't even become a well-fed ghost...'
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka also nodded, remarking with emotion, "I didn't expect the Sumerian Underworld to be just like the East."
Gilgamesh subconsciously retorted, "What offerings? This King didn't receive any!"
"It's the chicken soup I brought you before you died," Xia Yu said with a smile. "Since you couldn't drink it while alive anyway, it was laid out before your spirit to be sent down."
"You... I..." Gilgamesh was completely left at a loss. If he wanted to turn hostile, he couldn't beat her anyway... It was only because he was Caster Gilgamesh that his temper had been tempered; if it were his younger self, he wouldn't care about so much.
"Um!" Mash immediately spoke up to break the ice upon seeing this, "Weren't you imprisoned by Ereshkigal?"
"Hmph," Gilgamesh smoothly changed the subject upon hearing this. "Although this death was a momentary lapse of vigilance, the mere Underworld is just like This King's backyard. Evading it is a piece of cake!"
"Before those Gallu Spirits came, This King hid in the darkness and held my breath, entering a meditative state of Presence Concealment to escape perfectly right under their noses. I was just about to wait for an opportunity to strike."
"Oh? So you can actually avoid those Gallu Spirits like that," Xia Yu let out a sigh of regret upon hearing this. "If only I knew earlier."
"Huh?" Ritsuka leaned over, pulling her hand as she asked, "Big Sister Kiana, why do you say that? Have you been to the Underworld before?"
"Didn't I tell you guys?" Xia Yu tilted her head upon hearing this, her expression puzzled.
"Hmph, this fellow!" Ishtar gritted her teeth nearby. "The moment she arrived in this world, she fell into the Underworld, and after taking one look at Ereshkigal, she completely fell for her, to the point of being able to ignore even my beauty!"
"Tsk, if I knew earlier, I wouldn't have come down with you guys to rescue this fellow!"
"Ha? Did This King just hear some court joke?" Gilgamesh widened his eyes upon hearing this. "You fellow would actually take the initiative to rescue This King? Could it be that This King overwork-died further in the Underworld and is seeing illusions?"
"Exactly!" Ishtar crossed her arms and said crossly, "In this way, I can leave you to your fate with a clear conscience!"
"How about you just plunge into the abyss forever?"
"Hmph, who would do such a boring and stupid thing," Gilgamesh walked to the gate with a face full of confidence. "This King still has things that must be done!"
"Wait," Fujimaru Ritsuka reached out her hand upon seeing this. "Is it not possible to just return to the surface like this?"
After all, the purpose of their entry had already been achieved.
"Impossible!" Gilgamesh said without looking back, "No matter what, This King is currently a dead body. Without that fellow's permission, there is no leaving the Underworld."
"That's why we must hurry to teach Ereshkigal a lesson and then leave the Underworld refreshingly!"
"Oh, is that so?" Xia Yu rubbed her chin upon hearing this, gently brushing away Ritsuka's hand. "Then I can only say sorry. Since our stances are opposed..."
She winked at Ritsuka. "I'll go easy on you guys in a bit, okay?"
"What? No way!" Ritsuka wailed directly upon hearing this, reaching out to hug her arm tightly. "Big Sister Kiana, you can't abandon me!"
The ultimate weapon Quetzalcoatl she had recruited to deal with her wasn't around right now. If she got beaten up now, wouldn't all her hard work be in vain!
"Rest assured, Fujimaru Ritsuka," Gilgamesh said with complete confidence, not looking back. "That woman is teasing you. She won't intervene in the upcoming battle. If I'm guessing correctly, even if we lose the fight, she will still take us out of the Underworld."
After all, though she kept talking about Ereshkigal, she went to see Mother in her dreams every day. Tsk, and she was still tangled up with Ishtar; she truly was a heavily sinful woman!
To liberate Mother, and for her plan whose full scope remained unknown, she would never allow Chaldea to meet its downfall here.
"Alright, is this the gate," Gilgamesh looked at the stone gate before him. "There is no need to answer any questions, because the answer to everything will be This King!"
Faced with his confidence, a deliberately lowered voice came from the stone gate, "It's~ de~ defi~ nitely~ not~ you~"
It was as if one could see Ereshkigal's expression as she rolled her eyes speechlessly inside.
"Right, it's definitely not you," Xia Yu stepped forward, patting his shoulder. "Move aside, let me show you how it's done."
"The answer naturally won't be Gilgamesh, but Kiana Kaslana, right?"
The stone gate did not answer, but slowly opened.
"See, I won," Xia Yu showed off happily. It seemed all the affection points she had built up with Ereshkigal during this period hadn't gone to waste!
"Hmph, it's merely relying on another's favoritism," Gilgamesh grumbled a few words and took the lead to walk ahead.
"The upcoming battle with Ereshkigal will be very severe," he said as he walked. "Although Ishtar can serve as assistance, still..."
He glanced at Xia Yu.
"Rest assured," Xia Yu smiled faintly. "I won't intervene, you know."
"No, please make sure to intervene!" Ritsuka was just short of performing a direct dogeza upon hearing this. "Please, if we lose the fight, you must take us out, Big Sister Kiana!"
"Sigh, since it's your request, I really have no choice," Xia Yu sighed. "Fine, I'll grant your wish."
"That's truly wonderful!" Ritsuka finally had some confidence upon hearing this.
"Then, Goddess Ereshkigal," Mash spoke up and asked, "what level is her combat power roughly?"
"Since there will definitely be a battle next, we must do our information gathering beforehand."
"If we really must make a comparison, she does not possess divinity like Ishtar's," Gilgamesh said with a solemn expression. "The combat power of her original body is inferior to Ishtar's."
"Huh?" Ritsuka was a bit puzzled upon hearing this. "King Gilgamesh also knows about Ereshkigal's matters?"
"More or less," Gilgamesh looked away. "If Ishtar is a goddess who can obtain anything she desires, then Ereshkigal is a goddess who desires nothing at all."
Hearing this, Ishtar's expression also gradually dimmed.
"When the Underworld was created, Goddess Ereshkigal was offered to the Underworld as its foundation because a deity had to take up a post in the depths of the Underworld. Ultimately, this responsibility was pushed onto the newly born Ereshkigal."
Hearing this, even the always ostentatious and confident Ishtar fell silent.
"Having just been born, she became the deity ruling over the souls of the dead for thousands and tens of thousands of years, and was stuffed into the Underworld just like that."
"Isn't that simply too tragic," Ritsuka turned her head to look at the dark, deathly silent Underworld around them. Staying alone in such a place for thousands or tens of thousands of years...
"It's not that she feels tragic because she cannot go outside," Mash also felt empathetic. "Being unable to experience a new world, and being unable to encounter new meetings—that is what's truly tragic."
This wasn't necessarily Ereshkigal's thought, but it was definitely Mash Kyrielight's thought. Once upon a time, she too was just an Experimental Subject of Chaldea, confined to the laboratory all day, and could only paint the outside world for herself relying on everyone's scattered words and her own imagination.
"In exchange, Ereshkigal is invincible within the Underworld," Gilgamesh paused for a moment, then continued, "Heroic Spirits as well as the gods will lose their power in this Underworld."
"But it's not without loopholes. When the rules were formulated back then, the gods looked down on weak humans," he sneered. "Therefore, this list didn't include the names of humans."
"Meaning, the battle can only rely on you guys."
"This is simply just like the encounter of Baldr, the god of light, in Norse mythology," Ritsuka remarked thoughtfully upon hearing this. "Because no one cared about the weak mistletoe, the queen of the gods omitted it from the list as well. Yet in the end, Baldr had his life taken away by this inconspicuous plant..."
"It's just..." She raised her head to look at the darkness in the distance. Could she and Mash really accomplish this?
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me! But for faster responses, please notify me on my discord server instead (link is in my profile). Thanks!
★ ★ ★
Shilling time!
Members of my [email protected]/quickinquickout can read advanced chapters on quick-tl(dot)com—and even customize translated terms to match their preferred names and terminology!