The Smoke Mirror

Although he didn't know what the Gates of the Underworld looked like normally, he understood the importance of prevention. If he were completely weakened here by Ereshkigal, he wouldn't have a better option than to use the Greater Light Wheel or the Temple of Time again. So, he decisively used the rudimentary spell he had recently derived, as a preview of Tiamat's abilities. Using Hades' divinity as the experimental target, he weakened it, and the result was indeed largely as expected.

"Fairy Transformation? Magecraft that demotes gods and weakens their divinity?"

"—Is this Magecraft? How can there be such an overpowered spell in this world? Doesn't this mean you have an inherent advantage over all gods of all pantheons? And it's not just a simple binding like the Chains of Heaven; this is a complete demotion! Gods turning into fairies or something, what is this...? It's just too strange!"

Hearing Rovey's explanation, Ereshkigal completely lost her composure, especially after confirming that her Gates of the Underworld had indeed been weakened by the gods, which she found even more outrageous.

"It's not necessarily superior to the Chains of Heaven. The preparation time and range of the Fairy Transformation are too short, and it also requires activation time. It's good for dealing with inanimate objects with divinity, but of course it can't be used to directly downgrade them in battle."

After thinking for a moment, Rovey added, "Moreover, your Sevenfold Gates of the Underworld has divided its divinity into seven parts. Even Hades' divinity would be weakened if divided in this way. If it were Tiamat's divinity, this level of Fairy Transformation would absolutely not be able to demote her, but yours is at most at the level of Gorgon."

Ereshkigal: "..."

What, what exactly is this? What is meant by Gorgon level?!

"So they actually have such methods hidden? But when it comes to fairies, I always feel like it's inextricably linked to another version of myself," Merlin pondered.

At this moment, Artoria and Black Lancer Artoria's eyes lit up slightly, and they said, "There are still six doors behind, so let's just keep shooting all the way through."

"No problem."

Rovey nodded slightly, then looked at Ereshkigal, who was completely numb, and asked.

"Goddess Ereshkigal, can the test continue? Do you want me to knock on the door first and then answer, or answer first and then knock on the door?"

His eyes were full of kindness, but to Ereshkigal, they were nothing short of a blatant threat.

She also realized that Rovey had seen through her plan long ago, and this was a warning to her to behave herself, or he would tear down the gates to the Underworld.

Hateful...!

I just thought he wasn't that annoying, but it turns out it was just my imagination!

—The gods would never like someone like that!

Chapter 255 Tezcatlipoca

"Hmm, not going to answer? Fine, then I'll just keep taking pictures one by one."

"Wait, wait a minute!!"

Seeing the [Fairy Transformation] beam re-emerging from that crimson hand, and especially hearing that Rovey was about to knock on each door, Ereshkigal could no longer contain himself. He frantically grabbed Rovey's arm and cried out anxiously, "This, this is against the rules! You're breaking the rules of the Underworld! Doing this will weaken my divinity!!"

"Rules? Yes, doing this is indeed a bit disrespectful to the Underworld..."

Upon hearing this, Rovey stroked his chin and then nodded slightly in agreement.

"Okay, I understand."

"Yes, right? So, you still..."

Just when Ereshkigal thought the other party was about to give up on this disrespectful idea, Rovey revealed a bright smile, "I will still take turns taking pictures."

"Ah!! Why?! Don't you know that this would break the rules of the Underworld?"

Hearing Rovey speak in the kindest tone the words he hated most, Ereshkigal had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly tensed up again.

"Yes, that's definitely against the rules, but... aren't you the one who breaks the rules first?"

Rovey answered calmly, while glancing at Ereshkigal, who looked guilty.

"W-what...? Where exactly did I break the rules?"

Seeing that her original idea had been directly exposed, Ereshkigal looked very guilty, but she still continued to be stubborn.

"Look, the question you just asked was—'Who is more beautiful Ereshkigal or Ishtar?' That's right, isn't it?"

Faced with her denial, Rovey didn't say anything, but just stared into her eyes before speaking in a very calm manner.

Ereshkigal: "That's right, what's wrong?"

"Our answer is— Ereshkigal is more beautiful, and you've seen that too, haven't you?"

"Yes, yes..."

Ereshkigal continued to force himself to keep up the conversation.

"Then let me ask you, were our answers just now right or wrong?"

"Of course..."

She instinctively wanted to answer that it was correct, but after seeing Rovey's eyes and recalling what had just happened, Ereshkigal suddenly paused. Faced with this almost obvious question, her expression became hesitant.

After all, when Rovey just opened the Gates of the Underworld, he must have realized that the power above hadn't been eliminated, and that going through would still strip him of his divinity. This proves that the answer he just gave was wrong. If he had said the answer was correct, it would have directly shown that he was playing tricks, and in that case, the credibility of the goddess would have been completely destroyed.

However, if she were to actually answer that Ishtar was more beautiful than herself, especially in front of the Gates of the Underworld, this shared body, and so many goddesses, wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting that she could never compare to Ishtar?

You should know that the Gates of the Underworld are impartial. If she really confesses, the records inside will be preserved. If someone else says it, it's fine, but if she admits it herself, not to mention whether her self-esteem will be able to live with it, she will never be able to hold her head high in front of Ishtar again.

This is a blatant scheme; she just wants to leave me speechless.

Humans are truly despicable!

"I, I..."

Just as Ereshkigal hesitated, Rovey knocked on the Gates of the Underworld, whose divinity had been weakened, and said coldly.

"So, even the rule-makers can't abide by the rules they set, so why should we intruders abide by them? If the answer is one you don't even know yourself, then it means the previous two were both wrong. In that case, my choice is naturally the third one—to break through using my own methods."

Do you still think there's a problem?

"Hmm... I'm speechless."

Seeing her little scheme exposed and laid bare, Ereshkigal felt ashamed, a feeling akin to a child being caught lying. This also highlights the most significant difference between her and Ishtar. If it were Ishtar, even with irrefutable evidence, she wouldn't back down or yield, while Ereshkigal was the complete opposite.

"Please don't blame yourself anymore."

Seeing that she suddenly fell silent, Nitocris patted her shoulder and said, "Gods set rules, and mortals obey them. This is the norm, but it's not because they want to obey the rules, but because they have no choice. So the rules themselves are just rules set by the strong for the weak, Lady Ereshkigal."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal looked speechlessly at Nitocris beside him.

You've clearly established many rules for the cities mentioned above, so why are you only talking about her? And you're supposed to be a goddess, but you seem more like a human than a goddess!

Then, Rovey led the way.

With the wisdom of Solomon as his successor and the godlike presence of the Voice of Heaven, the problem of the Gates of the Underworld was far too simple for him.

When weak, adapt to circumstances; when strong, forge ahead relentlessly.

At this moment, his superhuman intelligence was telling him that he should use his superpowers to solve the problem before him.

So the problem with the Gates of the Underworld was so simple that before the gate could even open its mouth, Rovey raised his hand and unleashed a Fairy Transformation, and the gate was rendered useless. It didn't even need to answer; it could be kicked open from the outside.

Similarly, Ereshkigal's screams accompanied the entire journey.

"My divinity! Is still waning!!"

"Stop it right now!!"

Rovey: "Then why don't you open the door?"

Because this was a rare opportunity to test the new spell, Rovey even stopped to observe the entire process of the undead on the Gates of the Underworld and the weakening and demotion of their powers. He also carefully recorded everything and constantly reflected on the shortcomings of the Fairy Transformation. He conducted an on-site investigation, and it can be said that he became more and more comfortable filming as he went along.

After all, the opportunity to use a Hades deity as an experimental subject is extremely rare, and since he has such a good opportunity today, he naturally will not let it go so easily.

"Okay, okay, stop filming. I'll let you in, alright?"

Ereshkigal had initially been quite defiant, but after Rovey slammed the three Gates of the Underworld in succession, even her size visibly shrank. Realizing that at this rate, the seven gates would take thousands of years to recover, she finally surrendered.

He then completely became a guide, putting on a show. "Sir, please come in."

So the four Gates of the Underworld that followed were pressed back down by Ereshkigal before they could even emerge from the ground. This was the first time in tens of thousands of years that the Gates of the Underworld belonging to Underworld had been pressed down to the ground by Hades himself.

After all, there was no other way. Logically speaking, the Gates of the Underworld, which cannot be broken by external force, are indeed unbreakable. However, Rovey's slap did not hit the outer shell; it directly attacked the divinity of the Underworld.

Any religion or pantheon created by God, possessing divine authority, and denigrated by Christianity, is subject to this damned special attack. Furthermore, Christianity is the most influential and far-reaching religion in Human History; virtually no existing pantheon in the world has escaped its reach, all being categorized and denigrated.

Even Balor, the god-king of Mediterranean mythology, was degraded to a demon in Christianity, let alone gods from other pantheons.

When she saw the Gates of the Underworld weaken, Ereshkigal realized this. And now she was even more afraid that Rovey would turn around and drill into her; if that happened, she wouldn't be the Queen of the Underworld.

As he became more familiar with using this technique, Rovey Wei found that although it was extremely unethical and unfriendly to other pantheons, it was undeniably effective. Any target possessing divinity would be pierced through by her; indeed, divinity in FGO was a debuff. Furthermore, he even considered that if he teamed up with Enkidu, they would be veritable god-slayers! Once Enkidu controlled the gods, he would rush in and pierce through them, taking them down one by one. The higher the divinity, the faster they died—far more effective than a god-slaying special attack.

Seeing the colorful spiral forming in Rovey's hand, Ereshkigal trembled, completely devoid of any will to resist. He was utterly terrified, as if he had been utterly broken, muttering, "This isn't the rule, this isn't the rule..."

However, as she sensed the weakening of her divine status in the Underworld, she also realized that the Underworld's control over her was waning. Perhaps, if Rovey continued to descend, the moment her authority in the Underworld was completely downgraded, she could finally escape the King of the Underworld's duties and return to the surface?

"—!!"

Realizing that he had actually entertained the idea of using others to destroy the Underworld, abandoning his responsibilities, and escaping, Ereshkigal's expression changed slightly, and he quickly shook his head.

'What am I thinking? Protecting the Underworld is my mission. If I leave, who will continue to protect these souls? I absolutely can't let these awful thoughts continue to wander!'

"I haven't lost yet, I still have a mission to complete, keep going! Ereshkigal."

He took a deep breath, then silently cheered himself up, and his previously hesitant gaze became serious again.

——

With the help of Ereshkigal, the group quickly arrived at the final section of the road to the Underworld.

Here, all seven gates to the Underworld have disappeared. From this moment on, we are officially considered to have entered the Underworld, and ahead lies the courtyard of Hades.

As they continued forward, they discovered that there were more ghosts and undead creatures here than on the outside. However, compared to the undead legions outside, the ghosts here were clearly more rational. It seemed that they were just sleeping and living here and did not belong to the official legions of the Underworld. After all, their magical aura was very weak, and they did not look like they were responsible for fighting.

When they saw living people intruding, they didn't react much, continuing to sleep or drift around. Some even obediently hid in their gun cages without making a sound. However, when they saw that the living people who had broken into the Underworld had even kidnapped the King of the Underworld, they bravely rushed forward, wanting to rescue the mistress of this Underworld.

"Hmm? Are there still enemies?"

Looking at the tens of thousands of undead ahead, initially thinking they were just soldiers from the Underworld, a trick by Ereshkigal, Rovey manipulated his third hand to reach them. Just as he was about to grab them, Ereshkigal grabbed his arm tightly from behind, wailing, "No, no! This is absolutely not allowed!"

"I was wrong, I deeply realize my mistake! But, please... please stop fighting! This is absolutely unacceptable! They are all innocent souls from the Underworld. If we destroy them here, they won't even be able to reincarnate!"

Undoubtedly, after a series of defeats and under the influence of Rin Tohsaka's constitution, Ereshkigal also began to lose face.

If it were just a goddess with tears in her eyes, Rovey wouldn't have thought much of it, but after hearing that these were actually the souls of living people, he immediately chose to stop.

After all, he came to take Gilgamesh back, not to go on a killing spree.

God knows how many people in Uruk would die if he actually slapped them. These were souls from Mesopotamia, souls that could be resurrected; they were lives lost.

But...

He glanced ahead. Despite their weak strength, the Ereshkigal rushing towards them were not afraid of being captured, and the souls of the dead were somewhat troubled.

Killing them is definitely out of the question, but if we don't kill them, they won't allow us to continue advancing, so—

What should we do now?

"Nitocris".

Rovey subconsciously recalled the scene on the ground when Nitocris transferred the six souls to the Egypt Underworld, and wanted her to transfer the souls here as well.

However, Nitocris quickly shook his head and explained: Each of these souls is a life. If there are dozens of them, transferring them to the Egypt Underworld is no problem, and the next generation can also be Egypt.

However, if half the souls of the Underworld were sent to the Egypt Underworld, Egypt would surely experience a population explosion at some point in history. The Underworld might even collapse due to the excessive number of souls, which would incur punishment from Osiris and Lord Anubis. Moreover, doing so would definitely bring calamity to Egypt, so she could not do it.

Upon hearing this explanation, Rovey nodded, indicating that he understood.

In that case, we really can't let so many souls be transferred to Egypt, and we can't kill them either, so...

He glanced at Ereshkigal, who was still clinging to his arm and wailing, fearing she might do something rash, then reached out and severed the chains and seals on her body.

"In that case, you should take these souls and leave first."

"Huh?!"

Upon hearing these words and personally experiencing the disappearance of the seal placed on his body, Ereshkigal, who had been crying, was slightly taken aback, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Rovey.

"You... you mean you're going to let me go?"

She asked incredulously, "Aren't you worried that I'll retaliate against you?"

"I'm not afraid."

Without hesitation, Rovey replied, "Because you care more about the souls here than revenge, don't you? Besides, we only asked you to lead the way in the first place. Now that we're almost at the end, there's no need to keep holding you any longer. Take them back. We'll be at your courtyard soon. If there's anything else, let's talk about it there."

Rovey Wei pointed to the dead souls in front of him.

"So that's how it is..."

Upon hearing this answer, Ereshkigal looked somewhat puzzled, but quickly accepted it.