A Chronicle of Leaving the Underworld (Continued)

"There is a chance, but if we continue to drag this out, the result will definitely be heavy casualties." Merlin pondered for a moment, then said seriously.

"Grand Servant are already far superior to ordinary Servant in terms of performance, not to mention that the opponent is a supreme god of a pantheon, who is a being that surpasses Grand Servant terms of ability. Therefore, the risk of fighting him is extremely high."

"Then we can just ignore him, right?"

Upon hearing this, Nitocris pondered and said, "Since he is Grand Servant, he will eventually appear on the battlefield to subdue the Beasts, so there is no need to be his enemy."

"That won't do."

Merlin shook his head and continued, "After all, Gilgamesh is still down there, and might even be in their hands. So we have to bring him back. We've already wasted so much time because of Ereshkigal, so we need to speed things up even more. If that guy is still down there, we won't be able to get past him no matter what. We have to get past him no matter what."

As he spoke, Merlin glanced at Rovey beside him.

He saw that Rovey Wei was sitting on the ground and slowly closing his eyes, keeping his consciousness connected to the power of the Temple of Time, preparing for the worst.

Meanwhile, the Demon God Pillars in the Temple of Time cheered as they once again felt the power of the king.

Rovey slowly opened his eyes, raised his palm, and gathered a golden light—the magic light gun extracted from the Greater Light Wheel.

At the same time, he was also ready to use the Temple of Time.

Although doing so would likely invite the Goetia, there is no other choice now.

"I'm ready. Don't worry, I won't lose to any of the enemies ahead."

"I'm counting on you from now on."

Seeing this, Merlin nodded, then said with a solemn expression, "If there is really no other way, then we will have no choice but to personally eliminate a Grand Servant of Human Order."

Seeing that Merlin and Rovey had made their plans, Black Lancer Artoria and Nitocris naturally understood the seriousness of the situation. The two nodded in agreement, then turned to Ereshkigal and said, "So what do you think, Lord Ereshkigal? We'll have to trouble you to open the entrance to the Underworld once more."

"Ha, you think I'd help you?"

Ereshkigal shook his head dismissively. "I have no intention of helping you."

Then...

And that was the end of it.

Black Lancer Artoria the torture of being tied high up with a black Holy Lance and stuck into the ground, and then tickled at her feet with feathers, she gave in in less than half a minute. Afterwards, she could only laugh through her tears, wiping them away as she opened the gates of the Underworld for them once more.

After confirming that the Gates of the Underworld were open, the group, to prevent a repeat of the previous incident, immediately placed numerous seals and weakening buffs on Ereshkigal, severing her connection to the Underworld agreeing to let Ereshkigal enter again.

This time, having witnessed all her tricks and taken precautions, no further mishaps occurred along the way. Moreover, having traversed the Underworld once before, the group was very familiar with its paths, so their progress was much faster than before.

However, when they were halfway there, they did encounter something unexpected.

"Gilgamesh?!"

Before officially entering the Underworld, Merlin, who was about to leave Ereshkigal here and accompany Rovey to meet the Tezcatlipoca, was surprised to see the golden figure sitting in front of the first gate of the Underworld. It was Gilgamesh, whom they had been searching for.

"Ha, they've finally arrived, you mongrels."

Gilgamesh looked up at them, then scoffed coldly and said loudly with great dissatisfaction, "This is too slow!"

Gilgamesh!

Compared to Merlin, Ereshkigal was even more shocked. Looking at the golden figure that appeared in front of her, she asked in surprise, "You, weren't you supposed to have been thrown into the labyrinth below the Underworld where the souls of the dead are stored? How did you get out? And without my permission, you shouldn't have been able to climb out of the seven gates of the Underworld!"

"Oh? Ishtar? No, you are..."

Hearing this unusual voice, Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at Ereshkigal, and then sneered, saying, "Oh, I was wondering who it was. So it's the goddess of the Underworld. How unexpected. You actually possessed the spirit medium of that useless goddess Ishtar? But it doesn't matter. How could the mere restrictions of the Underworld possibly hold me back? If I didn't need to confirm some things in the Underworld and simply wanted to get out, I would have already left. The Underworld is far from enough to control a spirited me."

"Full of energy? You must be joking! When I captured you, you were almost dead from exhaustion. If it weren't for the fact that your soul was so weak that it would be extremely dangerous to put you in a cage, I would have locked you up long ago!"

Ereshkigal bluntly exposed her, "How could you have the strength to crawl out of the Underworld when you were so weak?"

"Hmph, foolish goddess, what do you know? That was just me playing along!" Gilgamesh crossed his arms and sneered.

Everyone: "..."

Ereshkigal: "..."

If it's death from overwork, then so be it. What's with this guy still being so stubborn?

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to explain to you scoundrels, it's a waste of time."

Gilgamesh turned his head to look at Rovey beside him, then reached into his treasury, took out a golden cup, and casually tossed it to him, saying, "This is the fourth one, keep it safe."

"The Holy Grail?"

Lovi took the golden cup from Gilgamesh's hand with a Rovey expression. He asked Gilgamesh, "Is it the one from Ereshkigal?"

"That's right, this is the Holy Grail of the Underworld."

Gilgamesh nodded slightly and replied, "But now it is my spoils of war."

"Ah! Is this my Holy Grail? But I remember my Holy Grail wasn't... Oh, it was taken by that Hades!"

Upon hearing that this was his Holy Grail, Ereshkigal frowned slightly, but then, recalling what the Tezcatlipoca had said to him in the illusion, he suddenly realized that the other had already taken the Holy Grail away, but...

"You guessed right, this is indeed the Holy Grail that the Grand Servant gave to me."

Gilgamesh nodded, acknowledging Ereshkigal's guess. After a moment's thought, he said, "While I was waiting here for you, that guy suddenly appeared. I initially thought he was Ereshkigal's henchman, here to capture me. But he didn't attack me. Instead, he offered me a good deal, so I bought the Holy Grail."

Yes, just as Gilgamesh was waiting for Rovey and the others to arrive, Tezcatlipoca, who had unilaterally declared the contract over due to a bug, found a buyer with his goods, and the buyer he was referring to was naturally Gilgamesh.

He originally chose this place to make his appearance, intending to take Gilgamesh's soul out, make a splash, and incidentally obtain something he needed from them. However, upon arrival, he discovered that Gilgamesh didn't need him at all, and he also happened to encounter another Queen of the Underworld hiding there. Therefore, he had no choice but to find another way to make a deal.

So he found Ereshkigal and offered to help her with her plan, promising to help her once unconditionally, but in exchange for her Holy Grail. Ereshkigal herself had little interest in the Holy Grail, seeing it only as a source of magic, so she agreed to the Tezcatlipoca's offer and prepared to use his power to wipe out anyone who might come to the Underworld to rescue Gilgamesh.

As a result, Tezcatlipoca and Nitocris played a double game, with one leaking information and the other delivering it directly, ultimately implicating Ereshkigal. In the end, they accomplished nothing, and Tezcatlipoca even stole the Holy Grail, handing it over to Gilgamesh in a deal. After all, in this era, only Gilgamesh could provide Tezcatlipoca with what she wanted; while Rovey could be considered one, he wasn't as convenient as Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh didn't find the request for the Tezcatlipoca difficult to fulfill; he was just somewhat surprised, so he agreed to the deal.

After all, all the other party wanted was the right to use all the modern technological weapons in the Gate of Babylon; they simply didn't care about wealth or artifacts like the Tezcatlipoca.

Gilgamesh didn't understand why an Aztec god of the underworld would need a submachine gun, but since it was advantageous to him, he naturally didn't refuse. So he promised to make a special key for Tezcatlipoca that would connect to the modern weapon category of the Gate of Babylon when he returned, and thus successfully obtained the Holy Grail.

"Ah..."

"Ha?"

After listening to Gilgamesh's account, the people present all looked puzzled. They couldn't understand what this Hades from Aztec mythology wanted to do, or if he was just there to make a brief appearance and collect some modern weapons.

So what can modern weapons do?

In terms of sheer power, it's clearly not as effective as one of his claws.

"So... it's all over?"

After listening to Gilgamesh's explanation, Merlin, who had finally managed to perk up, paused for a moment, then asked Gilgamesh uncertainly, "No more fighting?"

"It should be over. That Grand Servant has left the Underworld, and the Goddess of the Underworld has been captured by you. That's the end of it—humph, what an extremely boring farce."

Gilgamesh crossed his arms, looking at Ereshkigal with some displeasure for causing him a lot of time to waste, but he didn't say anything.

For them, this experience not only resulted in no loss but also accelerated the progress of the mission; all that remained was for the Holy Grail in the hands of the Sun Goddess.

After thinking it over carefully, Gilgamesh paused, then glanced at Rovey.

"Now everyone else can leave. Kid, you go ahead on your own."

Upon hearing this, Rovey frowned and asked Gilgamesh, "What do you mean?"

"You should settle your own debts. I lost that time, so there's nothing to say to that woman. Meeting her here today was just a coincidence, so there's no need for me to get involved in your affairs."

Gilgamesh spoke, then pointed out a path for Rovey, saying with a playful expression, "Your first Servant is waiting for you over there. Speaking of which, she can be considered a special ruler of the Underworld. It was because of her help that I was able to cross the Gates of the Underworld so smoothly. As for her true name, I think I don't need to say more, do I?"

"Scathach?"

"It seems you know very well."

"It really is her."

Upon hearing Gilgamesh's reminder, a smile appeared on Rovey's face; he had understood everything.

At the same time, I finally know who the god of the underworld that the Tezcatlipoca mentioned is. If it is my Scathach, then he can truly be considered a special god of the underworld.

"Thank you, Gilgamesh."

"Hmph, don't call me King Jiji... Hmm? You've actually learned to address me by my proper name?"

Gilgamesh instinctively wanted to retort, but he was somewhat surprised when he realized that this time, Rovey was calling him by his real name, not the nickname he had given himself.

He glanced at Rovey's eyes, which revealed a hint of nostalgia, just like when he met him in Fuyuki City.

"Alright, kid, stop dawdling and hurry up. That old woman has been waiting for you here for ages."

Rovey turned around. "I understand. See you all later, Merlin, Lily, Nitocris. I have someone I have to see right now, so I'll be back later."

Merlin smiled and said, "Go ahead, just remember to come back soon."

"Um."

Rovey nodded, then after saying goodbye to the others, he ran in the direction Gilgamesh had pointed.

"Lord Rovey Wei..."

Fearing that Rovey might be in danger, Nitocris instinctively wanted to follow, while Black Lancer Artoria, sensing something unusual, prepared to check the situation. However, before they could take a step, Gilgamesh blocked their way.

"What are you trying to do, King of Heroes?"

Seeing this, the two of them questioned each other together.

"Hmph, isn't it obvious? I'm stopping you from going."

"Why?"

There's no reason why.

Gilgamesh crossed his arms and said calmly, "Although I dislike being ordered around, I do owe that woman a favor this time, so I have no choice but to repay it. As you can see, I am here to stop you from interfering with their reunion. As for whether he will be in danger? What a foolish goddess."

"They met much earlier than you, and their tacit understanding is already etched into their souls. They are partners that even I can defeat, and they even refused to become my collection. Hmph... Just thinking about it makes me feel resentful."

"Didn't you say you'd let it go a long time ago? That matter."

Merlin smiled and asked, "Why did you suddenly bring this up again?"

"Letting go is one thing, but the resentment remains. The reason I chose to help him and believed he could accomplish such a foolish thing as saving Tiamat was not because he was some kind of Child of God or had inherited Solomon's legacy. It was simply because I believed in him. After all, that guy was a treasure I had longed for but could not obtain! A scoundrel as always!"

Gilgamesh watched Rovey's retreating figure, a smile playing on his lips.

He then beckoned to Merlin and the others, signaling them to hurry up and take him out. Time was already running out, and now they had wasted so much time in the Underworld. If they didn't get back soon, Uruk would be in chaos.

As for Ereshkigal, who is now completely alone...

"Let's tie them up first. We only need one more goddess to finish this whole thing."

——

——

Meanwhile, in the Blood Shrine where Gorgon was located.

The final cave and the mountains were also completely shattered.

The corpses of dead Demonic Beast were everywhere, and the entire forest was torn to pieces.

A massive purple serpent was pinned to the ground and roared angrily.

"Quetzalcoatl! You traitor! How dare you openly break our alliance!"

Gorgon, lying on the ground, let out a heart-wrenching roar, while the golden-haired goddess sitting opposite her, who had single-handedly taken down the entire Blood Shrine, spoke with an innocent expression.

"Oh dear, how did I betray the alliance? Our agreement clearly stated that goddesses should not harm each other, but I wasn't the one who hurt you. I was just dealing with some Demonic Beast that offended me."

"You--!"

Gorgon, lying on the ground, gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with rage. If she could, she would rush up and tear this treacherous goddess to pieces.

But--

Whoosh!

The silver-white Holy Lance was driven into the ground. Artoria, holding the pure white Holy Lance, coldly looked at the goddess they had captured, wanting to destroy her.

However, Quetzalcoatl stopped him.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Artoria. This Beast Goddess is Tiamat's terminal, a kind of suppressor. If you kill her, Tiamat will immediately revive, so let's wait a bit."

Quetzalcoatl jumped down from the small hill piled high with Demonic Beast corpses and said calmly.

Then, she glanced towards the Arabian Sea in the distance and sighed helplessly.

"Instead of dealing with this snake, let's move all the people of Ur to Uruk first. Consider this snake a gift for their surrender. The battles to come will no longer be small skirmishes."

"I see."