Eresh Is So Cute! (Continued)

Logically speaking, they shouldn't be in such a hurry or afraid. After all, Flauros and Barbatos are the immortal 72 Demons of Solomon. Even if they were burned by the goddesses here, they could be resurrected with full health in the next moment.

The problem is that their resurrection point is in the Temple of Time. This means that once they are resurrected, they will directly face seventy brothers who are furious beyond measure, which means that they have an absolute reason not to die.

Fortunately, they discovered it not too late.

Although the king's concubine did not appear, they were also unfortunate enough to encounter Ereshkigal, meaning it was still not too late to back down.

In short, we absolutely cannot send that rumored, terrifying, and vicious goddess of the Underworld to the king's side! With that thought in mind, Barbatos calmly straightened his tie and then prepared to work together to destroy the teleportation array that had just been drawn.

However--

"Who are you two? What are you doing squatting at my doorstep? I've been watching you for ages. Are you drawing some kind of magic circle? But why are you only using tree branches?"

Just as they were blaming each other, in the blink of an eye, a melodious female voice came from behind them, along with an extremely high divinity that sent chills down their spines. Barbatos's smile vanished instantly.

'No, no, it can't be such a coincidence...?'

A very bad premonition arose in his heart, and then he looked at Lev beside him and found that Rafe looked even more panicked than himself. Even the most basic style of his demeanor was about to change, and he was behaving like a student who was caught playing games in the back row of the classroom by the patrolling homeroom teacher.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

These three words kept flashing through Lev and Barbatos's minds. They had to use their wisdom to find a way to solve their current predicament, otherwise they would both have to go back to the Temple of Time today to be subjected to loving torture.

Barbatos: "Hmm..."

Lev: "Hmm."

"What are you two doing here? Don't ignore my question! Are you lost souls or ordinary people who accidentally fell into the Underworld? I have a lot more work to do!"

Ignoring the calls of the woman behind them, the two Demon God Pillars, who were on the verge of despair, stared at each other, their eyes blinking like telegrams as they began to exchange messages.

"Um--?!"

"--Um!!"

Ereshkigal: "Huh?"

Finally, through their frantic eye contact and blinking, their unspoken understanding allowed them to comprehend each other's thoughts.

Then, they took a deep breath and made their choice together.

"—Take this! Evil goddess, this is the resolve between us!!"

While Ereshkigal was completely bewildered, the two turned around in unison, then simultaneously raised their fists. One figure in green and the other in black extended a hand, their palms facing each other, seemingly preparing to unleash some kind of power of friendship to launch a counterattack.

However--

Bang!!

Clearly, the hostility of the intruders was detected, and the active defense mechanism of the Underworld was triggered. Two crimson bolts of lightning fell from the sky, striking the two Demon God Pillars who were just shouting about friendship and resolve, knocking them unconscious and causing them to collapse to the ground. They didn't even have time to use their true Demon God Pillars.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Looking at the two figures that had been cleaved down in front of her, Ereshkigal was completely bewildered. She scratched her head with her giant skeletal hand, utterly baffled as to why these two strange creatures had suddenly become hostile towards her. She had only intended to send them out.

"Could it be?!"

However, she soon seemed to realize something.

Looking at his skeletal hand, he attributed their sudden hostility to his terrifying appearance, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Indeed, there are very few beings who can see through one's true form at a glance like Nitocris and not feel afraid.

"Well..."

Seeing the few living people she had managed to find being electrocuted and knocked unconscious, Ereshkigal sighed. Then, a beautiful golden figure emerged from the giant skeleton. After seeing that someone else had been frightened unconscious, she still felt that this gesture would be better.

She glanced at the two unconscious men lying on the ground, spitting out black smoke, and said nothing. She grabbed their feet and prepared to drag them back to heal their wounds first, and then ask them about their reasons and purpose for coming to the Underworld after they woke up.

However, just as she stepped towards the two of them, preparing to take them away, she didn't notice that the True Magic circle beneath her feet had already taken shape and resonated with the characteristics of the god of the Underworld within her. So, the moment she stepped into it...

"Huh?"

Ereshkigal suddenly sensed something glowing around her. She looked down and saw that the pale blue teleportation array was already in operation.

"This is?"

Before Ereshkigal could react, with a "whoosh!" sound, her figure was forcibly teleported away, leaving behind only the two pathetic demon Demon God Pillars still lying unconscious on the ground.

——

——

In the city at night, Rovey returned with the Tablet of Destiny in his hands and Nitocris, successfully reuniting with Merlin, who had found nothing.

Merlin saw the Tablet of Destiny in Rovey's hand and began to turn it around, occasionally clicking his tongue in amazement and making strange noises. "The Tablet of Destiny is indeed here. However, Gilgamesh and I have been searching for the Destiny Tablet for so long without finding it, and you got it as soon as you arrived. Your luck is a bit too good."

"It's alright, but it's all thanks to Nitocris."

"No, as long as it helps you, that's fine." Nitocris smiled slightly.

"Um."

After giving a brief answer, Rovey handed the Tablet of Destiny to Merlin, saying, "The Tablet of Destiny are now complete, and the prophecy is fulfilled. Similarly, with these two tablets, the issue of the inheritance of Sumerian culture is no longer a concern."

"That's right, we've collected them all."

Merlin nodded.

The Tablet of Destiny is not merely a tablet on which Gilgamesh accidentally carved the future. The future recorded on it suddenly became important, but it also holds an irreplaceable position.

Gilgamesh often said that Uruk would surely be destroyed, but the will and the story would never perish. And the Tablet of Destiny, as objects of destiny, would naturally be able to be passed down. Therefore, Gilgamesh planned to also enshrine the stories and culture of Sumerian on these two extraordinary tablets, so that they could be passed down to future generations, and that the culture of Mesopotamia and Sumerian would be passed down forever.

It was precisely because of the prophecies on the clay tablets that guided him to resolve his predicament, and because the tablets themselves were of paramount importance to the continuation of civilization, that Gilgamesh took them so seriously. Even facing the dual threats of Goetia and Tiamat, he still sent Merlin to find the tablets—it was a necessary task. Because of the correction of history, because of the ultimate correctness, even if Tiamat and Goetia were defeated, the Sumerian civilization would still perish; this was his worst-case scenario plan.

In reality, Gilgamesh's actions also represent a transmission and continuation of human civilization. However, he approached it from a human perspective, believing that future generations would be able to carry on the torch of Sumerian civilization and move forward by passing on will, bloodline, and the flame of civilization. This choice is far superior to the foolish approach of The Lion King, who extinguished human will, preserving only the soul and body as specimens and placing hope in extraterrestrials. This is also the method that Rovey approves of.

"In short, thank you for your hard work. Now, all we have to do is bring Gilgamesh out of the Underworld."

Merlin put away the clay tablet, then said with a smile, "Let's go and meet up with Lily and the others."

Upon hearing this, Rovey nodded, then recalled the figure in the mist and said, "Merlin, I encountered a Grand Servant while obtaining the tablet, and it wasn't the familiar King Hassan, but Grand Rank of another class. I took this Tablet of Destiny right in front of him, and he's also a god of the underworld. He also told me that there's more than just the Queen of the Underworld in the Underworld now; there are many unexpected beings that might make things quite interesting. What do you think?"

Rovey told Merlin about his encounter with the Grand Servant and asked for his opinion.

Are there many gods of the underworld?

Merlin was also lost in thought about this, and as they pondered, they walked toward the outskirts of the city.

They soon encountered them outside the city. Black Lancer Artoria had already chosen a spot to dig the hole and was holding the Holy Lance, ready to dig it open. Ishtar was also standing obediently to the side. Rovey told them about what had happened earlier.

"Besides Hassan, Singularity are Grand Servant in this Singularity? It seems the Counter Force is no longer willing to pretend it doesn't see the terrible situation unfolding here. But besides the Underworld of this place, are there other gods of the underworld? This is truly perplexing..."

Black Lancer Artoria raised an eyebrow and said, "Could it be referring to Nitocris? After all, she's also a goddess of the underworld."

"No, Artoria."

Upon hearing Black Lancer Artoria's words, Nitocris shook his head and then replied, "I was also present when that Grand Servant spoke. It's clear that the target he was referring to was other Hades beings besides me."

"I see..."

Upon hearing this, Black Lancer Artoria in understanding.

Merlin, on the other hand, found it increasingly interesting.

He exclaimed, "Two Grand Servant, and one of them is most likely a Hades from some pantheon. Moreover, according to him, in the Underworld beneath his feet, besides Anubis of Egypt and Ereshkigal of Sumerian, there are also Hades gods. So, this last one must also be extraordinary. Based on my speculation, he must also be a lord of the Underworld!"

Why do you say that?

Upon hearing this conclusion, Black Lancer Artoria couldn't help but look at Merlin and ask.

"Ah, it's actually quite simple."

Merlin nodded, then looked at Nitocris and asked, "Have you seen any other gods of the Underworld?"

"No, at least when I was working, the only people below me were Ereshkigal and me."

Nitocris also gave an affirmative answer without hesitation.

"See, that makes sense. Since that Grand Servant said there's a god of the underworld here, he probably wouldn't lie to us, since it wouldn't benefit him. But below is Ereshkigal's Underworld; any god of the underworld entering would be detected, just like Anubis is doing now. So, since a god of the Underworld can exist right under Ereshkigal's nose without being discovered, it means that the god is most likely not in Sumerian's Underworld, but has probably hidden in the Underworld he summoned. Therefore, this god of the underworld is almost certainly a Hades..."

"Can you summon Hades, the King of the Underworld...? You have a point."

Upon hearing Merlin's explanation, Rovey nodded, but she wasn't sure who this Hades was.

After all, there are too many myths about the Underworld, and too many lords of the Underworld.

Whether it's Hela from Northern Europe mythology, Hades from Greek Mythology, or Satan from Christianity, they all belong to the realm of the Underworld or hell, and they probably all have the ability to summon the Underworld or hell, but it is not yet certain which one it is.

However, most of these lords of the Underworld and kings of hell have bad tempers and reputations, so Rovey doesn't really want to face any of them.

What he is now seeking is the Underworld, which is still—

"Ereshkigal ..."

Rovey silently uttered that familiar name, then looked at Ishtar, who was unusually silent.

"Huh? Why are you looking at me?" Ishtar said nervously, "If it's the goddess of the underworld, then the beautiful, generous, and gentle goddess Ereshkigal was originally here..."

"Um?"

Ishtar's voice grew softer and softer, and everyone looked at her with strange expressions.

"Um... why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something strange about me...?"

Suddenly being stared at by so many people, Ishtar spoke somewhat timidly.

"Um..."

Upon hearing this, Nitocris frowned. Why did she feel that Ishtar had suddenly become so much like her boss? Even her tone of voice had become exactly the same.

Merlin looked at it with a strange expression and asked, "Goddess Ishtar, didn't you say before that you and your sister, Goddess Ereshkigal, didn't get along very well?"

"Huh? Yes, yes! You're right, our relationship is very bad! You could say it's extremely bad! In the past, because of my arrogance, I went down to the Underworld to show off, and not only was I stripped of my divine office, but I was also pierced by a spear cage and stripped naked and hung on the gate! So our relationship is extremely hostile!"

"Ishtar said nervously."

"Then why are you speaking up for her? Didn't you say during the day that she was a gloomy, withdrawn, and sadistic goddess who liked to abuse others?"

Merlin frowned, puzzled.

Although the goddess's mood changes as unpredictably as the weather, these changes are too drastic! It's as if she has two completely different personalities.

"She actually said that—! Wait, did I actually say that?!"

Merlin nodded, then continued, "But you told us how awful she was, how jealous she was of you."

"That bastard!!"

Ishtar almost blurted out a string of curses, but under everyone's gaze, she seemed to realize the problem, coughed a few times, and then nervously explained, "That's, that's because I suddenly reflected on my actions! Yes! I suddenly reflected on my actions! I suddenly realized that venturing into the Underworld and breaking the cycle of life was indeed my fault. My sister only gave me a simple scolding and then let me go, for which I am very grateful. In short, it's all Ishtar's fault! It's all my own fault."

"???"

After hearing these obviously problematic, even highly suspicious, words, Merlin was filled with questions. Even a fool would have noticed something was wrong in this situation. He glanced at Rovey was also looking at him. In fact, they didn't even need to look at anything else; just by looking at Nitocris's expression—recognizing her boss immediately and looking helpless at Ereshkigal's clumsy acting—they knew what was going on.

However, Nitocris, who was a temporary employee, did not expose him, but Rovey had already made a move. He nodded with Merlin and then spoke.

"You really can't judge a book by its cover. I never expected Ishtar to be so self-aware and have such a reflective spirit. Just a day ago she was telling me that Ereshkigal was jealous of her version, and she's already updated it so quickly."

"Yes," Rovey stroked his chin and said with a smile, "Ishtar has a real talent for storytelling. But compared to before, her current honest personality is also quite endearing. It makes me feel a little ashamed of myself."

"Where, where..."

Ishtar's face was stiff as she looked around with a tense expression, watching Rovey warily.

After saying that, Rovey walked up to her and stretched out his hands. On one side was a dazzling gold brick, and on the other was a special blue rose that could never be seen in Mesopotamia. He handed them to Ishtar at the same time and asked, "Here you go, Ishtar. This is a gift from me. You can choose one of them."

"Huh? Really? It's for me?"

Ishtar was taken aback.

"Certainly."

When Ishtar saw the blue rose she had never seen before, her eyes lit up. She asked in surprise, and after receiving confirmation from Rovey, she reached out and chose the blue rose without hesitation, ignoring the gold bricks beside her. Instead, she carefully brought the rose to her nose and smelled it, a pure smile appearing on her beautiful face.

Do you like it?

"Isn't this flower beautiful?" Rovey asked.

"I love it. I've never seen flowers like this before."

Ishtar said with a smile, her eyes fixed only on the rose.

"Yes, as long as you like it."

Seeing that she liked it, Rovey smiled slightly, then threw out the gold brick he had created with illusion magic. He then silently walked behind Ishtar was so engrossed in the flowers that she didn't notice him at all.