Chapter 272: Responsibility
Finally, the massive Skeleton Goddess at the clash site vanished, and the boundless Sea of Fire illuminating the entire Underworld gradually died down.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash rushed over in a hurry, only to see the two girls with their hands clasped together, standing close face-to-face.
"How is it? Do you believe I can do it now?"
Feeling the contract upon her, Xia Yu tightly held Ereshkigal's hand.
"This sort of thing... this sort of thing is simply too blasphemous!" Feeling the sensation of freedom, Ereshkigal felt entirely overwhelmed. "Depriving Mother of her Authority and even her identity..."
"Divine Authority is power, but it is also a shackle," Xia Yu said softly. "Shouldn't you be the one who understands this most deeply, Ereshkigal?"
"Tiamat loved her children and loved this world, yet she was still helplessly banished to the Imaginary Number Space."
"Of course she feels resentment, which is why she was bestowed with the identity of a Beast, but her love has never diminished in the slightest. Thus, she sealed herself away. If the King of Mages hadn't interfered, she wouldn't have returned to this world as a Beast at all."
Xia Yu spoke temptingly, "I am helping her, and I am helping you too, Ereshkigal. You've already witnessed it—I can achieve anything. I can break the shackles upon you all, and I can bring freedom to everyone..."
"As long as you lend me a hand!"
"...I understand," in the end, her longing for freedom caused Ereshkigal to agree.
"Hey!" In the distance, Ishtar grew completely frantic upon seeing the two standing face-to-face. "Separate yourselves right now!"
"Hmph, Ishtar," hearing this, Ereshkigal snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the anxious Ishtar in the distance. "What right do you have to command me!"
"A girl needs to know how to be reserved, Ereshkigal!" Ishtar said in a fit of irritation. "Clinging to someone right after meeting them..."
Hearing this, Ereshkigal's face instantly flushed crimson. She had been thinking intensely just now and hadn't paid much attention to their distance. Only now did she realize their fingers were tightly intertwined, and they were nearly pressed together... With a swoosh, she snapped her hands back and hopped to the side like a startled rabbit.
After all, Ereshkigal was incredibly pure-hearted.
But facing Ishtar, it was absolutely impossible for her to lose the verbal dispute, so she stubbornly countered, "She is my person now! She was my person from the very beginning. She told you that long ago, didn't she?"
"As my Familiar, I can do whatever I want with her!"
Hearing this, Ishtar's temper instantly reached a boiling point, but since this was indeed the truth, she could only stamp her feet on the spot and sulk.
"Um, Big Sister Kiana," Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the atmosphere and suddenly had a bad premonition. Sure enough, the inevitable backstabs really couldn't be dodged...
Do your best, big sister from South America! Whether I get beaten up in the future completely depends on your hard work!
"Have you two finished talking?"
"Yep, we're all done talking," Xia Yu gave her a thumbs-up. "She has officially withdrawn from the Three Goddess Alliance!"
And then she joined your side instead, right? Fujimaru Ritsuka forced a smile.
It's over.
She had a constant feeling that from Ereshkigal to Ishtar, there would eventually come a moment when they would backstab her.
"Yes, yes," Ereshkigal nodded along. "I was indeed persuaded by her!"
"Oh? Persuaded?" Hearing this, Ishtar narrowed her eyes. "Heh, trying to smooth things over?"
"A greedy goddess whose head is filled with nothing but Gems has no right to lecture me!" Ereshkigal said excitedly upon hearing this.
"What did you say?" Ishtar crossed her arms, gritting her teeth as she glared at her. "I really can't get along with you!"
"Is this considered settled?" Gilgamesh and Fujimaru Ritsuka exchanged a glance, both reading the meaning in each other's eyes.
Why does it feel like it's not actually settled?
"Actually, I wavered long ago," Ereshkigal said in a low voice. "And also, hey, you sneaky fellow over there!"
She looked toward a patch of darkness nearby. "How much longer do you plan to hide in my Underworld!"
Just after her contract was taken away by Kiana, an incredibly obscure aura suddenly drifted from that area where nothing should have been.
To be honest, if he hadn't exposed himself, Ereshkigal wouldn't even have noticed him. This caused her quite a bit of panic. After all, this was the Underworld where she had stayed for tens of thousands of years, yet someone had managed to get this close without her realizing it.
"Goddess of the Underworld," an old man in a black robe stepped out from the shadows. "You should not have chosen her."
"Ha? And who are you?" Ereshkigal furrowed her brows, certain she didn't know this person. "Why are you acting sneakily in my Underworld?"
The surrounding group all raised their guard, while only Fujimaru Ritsuka froze. She recognized this person; back in Kutha, he was the one who saved her and had her bring back information.
"To push the clock hands forward, I have come from the abyss," King Hassan spoke with a trace of helplessness in his tone. "It should be fine to put it that way. I merely intended to lend you a hand out of consideration for sharing the same domain."
Saying this, he looked deeply at Ereshkigal.
Old King Hassan could already feel that her contract from the Three Goddess Alliance had vanished; there was no longer any need for him to act.
However...
"Though a goddess, you deeply love humans who bear the destiny of death," he spoke up. "You do not debase death as a loathsome dread; instead, you attempt to revere it, trying to protect the remaining souls after death."
"The reason you joined the alliance was to bring as many souls as possible to this Dominion of death for protection. Even if you receive no one's understanding, and even if you are isolated among the tens of thousands of souls in this domain..."
"That's right, guarding this silence is my pride as a goddess," Ereshkigal spoke up upon hearing this. "It is something I must do!"
"So that's why you joined the Three Goddess Alliance," hearing this, Gilgamesh shook his head. "This is truly..."
"I originally intended to sever this contract for you," King Hassan turned his gaze toward Xia Yu as he spoke. "Yet I did not expect that someone had already beaten me to it."
"Only, Ereshkigal, are you certain..."
"Why talk so much," before he could finish, he was interrupted by Xia Yu. "Ziusudra, or rather, the Old Man of the Mountain, right?"
"Didn't the Humanity Order tell you who I am before sending you here?" She smiled and said, "Even if I'm just a temporary worker, we're more or less colleagues right now, aren't we?"
"So when facing a colleague's tiny bit of selfishness, it's best to act like you didn't see it, otherwise you might get 'ostracized'."
"Outsider..." King Hassan was left speechless for a moment, and could only squeeze out a single sentence in the end, "Do not act willfully."
"You can't beat me anyway," Xia Yu smiled. "How about it, do you want to pull down all the Grand Classes for a fight?"
As long as he dared to pull them down, Xia Yu dared to snatch them. After all, to those Servants, a Grand Spirit Origin was merely a consumable.
When the time came, she would snatch it and equip it onto Fufu. One day, she would definitely raise Fufu into a super hyper-carry!
"..." Hearing this, King Hassan simply turned into a phantom image without a word and completely vanished.
"Tch, the Humanity Order sure is stingy," Xia Yu curled her lips.
"The Old Man of the Mountain? Senpai, it's that Old Man of the Mountain, right?" Mash pulled at Fujimaru Ritsuka's sleeve and said in a low voice, "The one who helped us defeat Gawain in the previous Singularity..."
"Yeah, it's that legendary Hassan," Fujimaru Ritsuka hadn't expected to meet this person a second time either.
He was the assassin who wore a skull mask. He was the very first Hassan-i-Sabbah, born at the moment the title "Old Man of the Mountain" became a designation passed down through generations within the assassination sect as an Assassin.
However, the other eighteen Hassans and the followers of the sect did not know this figure's true face, nor was there any actual evidence of his existence. Yet, he was the legendary assassin who would appear to sever the head of the contemporary Hassan-i-Sabbah should they stray from the path. In other words, the Hassan who assassinates Hassans.
Judged to possess the qualifications for the Grand Class, the very name of the Assassin Class originated from his name, just as the name of the Archer Class came from the legendary great hero Arash. In Persian mythology, he was the hero who ended the sixty-year war between Persia and Turan. As a warrior of King Manuchehr, who was hailed as the final king of the Western Asian Age of Gods, the arrow he fired at the cost of his life from Mount Damavand demarcated the border between Iran and Turan, a legend that gave rise to the annually commemorated Tirgan festival.
'This is truly...' Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a surge of joy in her heart. She hadn't expected Uruk to harbor such a hidden master. If he really was a Grand Servant... and he appeared to be standing on their side!
"Well, since Ereshkigal has also withdrawn from the Three Goddess Alliance, it means this alliance has actually completely fractured, right?" Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke up. "After all, Quetzalcoatl is on our side too."
"In terms of results, it's a grand victory," Gilgamesh looked toward Xia Yu, his words carrying a distinct hint of sarcasm.
He could certainly tell that the towering fiery light from earlier was meant to block them, creating a private space to converse with Ereshkigal.
And the moment the fire vanished, the Mistress of the Underworld was persuaded. He wouldn't believe it if anyone claimed there wasn't a catch.
"Then let's return to the surface quickly!" Gilgamesh said irritably. "Hurry up, hurry up. Hmph, Ereshkigal, do you have any idea how many of Uruk's government affairs were delayed because you brought me down to the underground?"
"What? Me?" Hearing this, Ereshkigal shook her head in surprise. "No way, you fell down here because you worked yourself to sudden death. If I had really brought you down, how could I have let you float around outside by yourself?"
"But you want to go back? Then go ahead, it's not like I'm going to stop you."
"Right, you guys head back first," Xia Yu nodded to them. "I still have some things to take care of in the Underworld."
"The living cannot remain in the Underworld for long," hearing this, Ereshkigal turned around and said in a low voice. "This violates the rules of the Underworld."
"Oh, it's fine," Xia Yu shook her head. "It's a mere Underworld, it's nothing to me."
As for the impact on Ereshkigal... once she got her hands on the Genesis Authority, she would just change it.
"Hmph, since that's the case, we won't bother with you!" Seeing this, Ishtar snorted, turned right around, and left.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash hurriedly caught up with her.
"Ereshkigal," Gilgamesh left behind one final sentence. "Do not forget that you are a goddess of Sumer!"
Watching their departing figures, Xia Yu let out a sigh, then turned her head to look at Ereshkigal.
"Alright, let's find a place now and plan things out properly."
"...I really don't know if my choice is right," Ereshkigal said, biting her lip upon hearing this. "I am a goddess of Sumer..."
"After we succeed, you will still be a goddess of Sumer," Xia Yu held her hand. "They don't conflict, do they?"
"Do you know? The way you look right now is exactly like an Evil God tempting someone into Depravity..."
"But the price I offered is something you simply can't refuse, is it?"
Xia Yu said with a grin.
Of course, she also knew that she couldn't completely convince Ereshkigal with just these words alone. After all, she was an incredibly responsible goddess. Right now, she had merely caught her off guard by breaking through her wavering mental defenses, forcing her to reluctantly agree.
If she showed even a shred of malice toward Mesopotamia or humanity in the future, it would cause her stance to gradually drift away from her.
But Xia Yu was still full of confidence. After all, she had no intention of harming this world in the first place; she was merely making some minor modifications that were inconsequential to the world.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"I really shouldn't have come to the Underworld!"
Ishtar pulled hard at her twin tails as she spoke.
"It's a huge help that you were willing to lead the way for us," Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly spoke up to thank her.
"Ha, but I suffered a massive loss," Ishtar curled her lips. "Let me think about what I should make you compensate me with..."
"This King has always had a question," right at this moment, Gilgamesh suddenly spoke up. "Ishtar..."
His tone carried a hint of teasing.
"What?" Ishtar asked with a face full of impatience.
"You should have noticed long ago, right," Gilgamesh asked. "Ereshkigal bears a grudge against you."
Hearing this, Ishtar said without looking back, "I suppose so."
"Then why did you still challenge the Underworld?"
"Naturally because I couldn't stand the sight of it!" Ishtar curled her lips and answered, "Unable to leave the Underworld solely because of the gods' orders—the moment I heard about such a pathetic thing, I couldn't just sit by and watch."
"If she wants to go out, she could just leave the Underworld alone. It's precisely to say those words that I ran over to see her."
"It's the same this time."
"Anyway, I've said what I wanted to say, so I consider myself satisfied. Hmm, Fujimaru Ritsuka, you don't owe me anything anymore."
"Humph, hahahahaha!" Hearing this, Gilgamesh was instantly amused and burst into hearty laughter.
"Ha? What are you doing?" Ishtar was startled by him.
Beside them, Fujimaru Ritsuka also smiled and said, "It's very much Ishtar's style."
"I bet she definitely said to you," Gilgamesh said while laughing, "'If it could just be left alone, who would work so hard?'—something like that, right?"
"What of it," hearing this, Ishtar tutted. "No matter the outcome, she is finally willing to leave the Underworld!"
"You fellow..." Gilgamesh shook his head, not even knowing what to say anymore.
To think that an annoying fellow like Ishtar would have a day like this. He was beginning to admire the girl who served as the vessel for this Divine Descent. Truly a splendid job! To be able to twist back such a distorted personality... even if he told Enkidu, he would probably widen his eyes in surprise, wouldn't he?
As for Ereshkigal... in this Uruk, the one who could understand her best was probably himself.
'If it could just be left alone, who would work so hard...'
As for these words... how could they not apply to himself as well? If he could just leave Uruk alone... why would he work so hard?
But this was responsibility—his responsibility as a king.
Even if this Uruk was destined to be beyond saving.
★ ★ ★
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!