The Tohsaka Sisters (Continued)

However, this is good too!

After all, this kind of personality seems much easier to communicate with than Ishtar's.

So, she immediately put on a fawning smile and began to ingratiate herself with Ereshkigal, saying, "Um, Goddess of the Underworld, you see, since Ishtar is already asleep, and I've been fortunate enough to summon you this time, then perhaps you could...?"

"Don't call me that weird name, just call me Ereshkigal, Master."

Upon hearing Rin Tohsaka's words, Ereshkigal immediately understood her meaning and said, "However..."

"You want me to help you fight the Holy Grail War, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Rin Tohsaka nodded hastily, her tone full of anticipation, "As the Sumerian Hades, you must be more powerful Ishtar, after all, you are the one who killed Ishtar in legends."

"Um... that's true, I did kill Ishtar, but even a human from a later era like you knows about that?"

Hearing Rin Tohsaka's high praise for her, Ereshkigal felt a little embarrassed. She hadn't expected that her past deeds would be recorded, circulated to this era, and become so widely known.

After all, only the gods knew what happened back then. She only wanted to teach Ishtar a lesson. As for it being passed down, that was completely impossible. Ishtar would never allow such a legend that was detrimental to her to be passed down. If anyone dared to record or know about it, they would definitely be punished mercilessly by her.

Unless...

Suddenly, Ereshkigal remembered a Mr. Jin who was currently undertaking construction in the Underworld.

Gilgamesh...

No wonder, only he could know what happened back then, record Ishtar's shameful behavior, and then hide the clay tablet so that Ishtar could not find it, thus passing it down to this era.

Although she was quite happy about this, Ereshkigal thought that if Ishtar knew that almost everyone in this era knew about her dark past, she would probably shout something like, "Destroy this world!" and summon the Bull of Heaven.

Thinking of this, Ereshkigal suddenly felt an even greater burden on her shoulders. She absolutely could not let Ishtar come out again.

Faced with Rin Tohsaka's question, although she wanted to confidently say, "I am much stronger than Ishtar," the truth was...

"If you have high expectations of my strength, then I must apologize, Master. If we were in the Underworld, even the gods Ann or Enki wouldn't be a match for me, let alone Ishtar. But on Earth, in the real world, my strength is actually inferior to Ishtar's. I originally thought that the Holy Grail War would only require a little effort to win, but after seeing Astraea and Hercules, I'm not entirely confident anymore. After all, even Ishtar ended up in that state."

Ereshkigal chose to explain honestly, "Don't let Ishtar's shameful appearance fool you. Her strength is indeed among the top of our generation of gods. She not only possesses the authority of war, but also the Heaven's Wedge, and the strongest divine beast, the Bull of Heaven. Her surface abilities are almost impeccable. If it were a ground battle, I probably wouldn't be her match. So, putting Astraea aside for now, if it were her opponent, Hercules, I wouldn't have much of a chance. After all, he is someone who has harmed their pantheon's Hades, and our compatibility isn't very good."

"Ah..."

In an instant, the hope that had just ignited in Rin Tohsaka's heart collapsed.

Ereshkigal's meaning is quite clear.

In the Underworld, she is indeed invincible.

However, the Holy Grail War takes place on Earth, so she might not actually be as strong Ishtar.

If it were Astraea, that would be fine.

However, one of Hercules' Twelve Labors involved bringing back Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell. He had conquered the Underworld and even wounded Hades with an arrow. Therefore, as a fellow underworld ruler, Ereshkigal would only suffer more when facing him.

"How could this happen..."

Upon hearing Ereshkigal's honest account, Rin Tohsaka deflated like a punctured balloon.

She thought it was outrageous enough that she and Luvia could summon two goddess Servant, but how could someone else summon the strongest hero, the terrifying Heracles? This all-around, flawless power left her completely bewildered as to how she could possibly defeat him.

Given the current situation, if we continue to delay, isn't defeat inevitable?

But...

While Hercules is indeed portrayed as invincible in mythology, he wasn't without weaknesses, was he?

After all, only death can lead to godhood, so how exactly did Hercules die in mythology?

Rin Tohsaka began to think seriously; she was quite familiar with Greek Mythology.

"Got it!"

After a brief moment of thought, Rin Tohsaka immediately thought of Hercules' death.

It's poison!

It's highly poisonous!

The Hydra's deadly poison tormented Hercules, who then sought relief by walking into the divine fire and burning himself to death.

Although he was burned to death in the end, it was actually voluntary. He was tormented by the deadly poison to the point of no return and was burned to death. So, the real reason was the poison.

Hydra's deadly poison.

If we can get our hands on this, we'll definitely succeed...

After figuring out a solution, Rin Tohsaka began to think about where to get the Hydra's deadly poison.

Having understood Rin Tohsaka's feelings, Ereshkigal directly reminded her that it would be better to just ask Rovey for help.

He obtained Gilgamesh's Ea, and he can also use the Gate of Babylon, which must contain the Hydra.

"Um?"

So, while drinking tea and pondering what that hidden gaze in the shadows of the park that morning, which even he couldn't detect, was all about, Rovey suddenly realized that Rin Tohsaka was staring at him with intense eyes.

For a moment, when Rin Tohsaka suddenly fixed his gaze on him, he felt a chill run down his spine, sensing that there was something strange about that look.

Rovey immediately turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with Rin Tohsaka. His intuition told him that this woman was probably up to something again after Ishtar disappeared. Her sudden glance at him meant she had some wicked plan. If he didn't want to cause trouble, it was best to ignore her. No, it was better to avoid being in the same space as her.

Thinking of this, Rovey stood up abruptly and took his first step before Rin Tohsaka could speak. In order to leave as quickly as possible, he even used an ability that surpassed the Magecraft Limit.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared directly in front of the door as if he had teleported, and gently placed his palm on it. Just as he was about to push the door open and leave...

The next moment--

Ding-dong.

A sudden doorbell rang in front of him, the source of which was just one door away.

This strange scene made Rovey's eyes widen slightly.

He began to wonder why, even though the person in front of him was only a door away, he couldn't sense their presence at all.

Realizing the anomaly, Rovey released even more mental energy to investigate, but the result was still nothing. It was as if there was a bottomless abyss behind this door, constantly devouring the mental energy he released.

Is it Assassin?

Faced with this bizarre situation, Rovey had a general idea of what was going on.

After all, only Assassins in the Holy Grail War could achieve such a feat of Presence Concealment. However, ordinary Assassins could not possibly Presence Concealment to such a terrifying degree, almost like having their own domain. This Presence Concealment ability has far exceeded expectations.

Therefore, it's easy to imagine just how extraordinary the guy standing outside the door is. And among all the Assassins he's ever met, there's only one who can do something like this.

Rovey immediately thought of the image of an old man who liked to ring a bell.

"Don't come any closer."

Although he had a rough idea of the answer, the more this happened, the less Rovey understood why that person had come to this Holy Grail War.

Is this another time to stomp on weaker opponents, just like Solomon?

And is his Master one of the two he predicted?

If they are enemies, how can we make this person, who seeks a predetermined death and a death knell of destiny, settle down?

Just as Rovey was pondering this, Rin Tohsaka, who was still recovering from crying her eyes out, was about to come and see what was going on, but Rovey stopped her.

He told both Rin Tohsaka and Ereshkigal to step back, because the next Servant to arrive was far superior to any of the Servants they had seen so far. Although its destructive power might not be as great as Hercules', its terror far surpassed it.

Seeing Rovey serious for the first time, Rin Tohsaka stopped fooling around and knew something must have happened.

So after telling Rovey to be careful, she quietly left with Ereshkigal through the back door.

About half a minute later.

She used Ereshkigal's abilities to execute an epic flanking maneuver, circling back all the way to the main entrance.

I want to help Rovey.

Although she was confident in Rovey's abilities, it was not her style to run away from danger. Although Rin Tohsaka was stingy, greedy, and had many minor flaws, she still had the character and manners of a decent person, so she was prepared to help Rovey.

She still couldn't believe it; what kind of formidable character could possibly defeat Ereshkigal and Rovey?

However, when he circled back to the courtyard gate and quietly peeked out to look at his own front door...

Her eyes widened involuntarily, and she was so nervous that she could barely make a sound.

Because things turned out to be exactly the opposite of what she had expected. The person who came in was neither a fierce Magus nor a terrifying Servant. She only saw Rovey embracing a girl with light purple hair who looked somewhat like her in front of the door. Then the two slowly separated and stood there chatting happily.

This scene completely shattered Rin Tohsaka's last psychological defenses.

Sensing that her Master's psychological defenses were faltering, Ereshkigal chimed in, checking out the girl with long, light purple hair not far away. From their bloodlines and souls, she sensed that the girl was very similar to Rin Tohsaka, seemingly related by blood.

Only...

She couldn't help but shift her gaze downwards by thirty centimeters.

Ah, was it just my imagination after all?

If they were truly sisters, how could there be such a huge difference between them?

But the soul cannot lie.

After repeated investigations, Ereshkigal discovered that the girl and Rin Tohsaka were actually biological sisters.

However, the truth seems even more tragic.

"Don't ask that kind of question to my face!"

Because they share the same body, Ereshkigal is different from Ishtar and doesn't have the habit of blocking Rin Tohsaka's view. Therefore, Rin Tohsaka, as Ereshkigal's Master, immediately sensed Ereshkigal's questioning thoughts, which made her lips twitch slightly.

Especially when she felt the way Ereshkigal had looked down at her chest.

Rin Tohsaka was starting to lose her composure.

Was that pitying look in your eyes genuine?!

Although she really wanted to ignore Ereshkigal, Rin Tohsaka thought that this goddess was already very easy to get along with, and considering what Ishtar had done to her, she covered her face and replied, "That's my blood sister, Sakura."

"It really is your sister! I never knew you had a sister, Master. But why haven't I seen her before? Doesn't she live at home?"

Like a curious child, Ereshkigal began bombarding Rin Tohsaka with gossipy questions, especially when she saw her embracing Rovey. She initially thought it was another lover Rovey had stirred up, but upon closer inspection, the girl's eyes seemed to hold more tenderness than romantic love.

"Like a father and daughter?"

After muttering to herself for a while, Ereshkigal asked, "What's her relationship with Rovey?"

"You guessed right, it's father and daughter."

Rin Tohsaka sighed and said, "My sister doesn't live at home because he adopted her. They're actually father and daughter, but for some reason, he disappeared for a long time. Now, it's probably because of this reunion that things are like this."

"I see."

Hearing Rin Tohsaka's explanation, Ereshkigal satisfied her curiosity and nodded with a smile.

"Master, since she's your sister, is your relationship like mine with Ishtar?"

"Huh? How could that be? Do you think all sisters are like the two of you?"

Then she asked Rin Tohsaka again, and continued with her startling statement:

"Then why are we hiding here and spying? Shouldn't we just go out?"

That's because, because...

When asked this question, Rin Tohsaka stammered and couldn't answer.

The reason I don't go out is because it's embarrassing, isn't it?

The sheer number of foolish things she and Rovey had done during this time, and the miserable state she was in now, thanks to Ishtar and Luvia, made her too insecure to show her face.

You know, she always puts on a show of being an all-powerful older sister in front of Sakura, but now, with her makeup ruined from crying, how can she possibly go?

Are you lying to me?

Seeing Rin Tohsaka's hesitant expression, Ereshkigal asked suspiciously, "You're afraid to see your sister, isn't it because you don't get along?"

"Of course it's true! Why would I lie to you? No one in this world is closer to Sakura than I am! Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, I'm just curious. I want to see how normal sisters communicate and get along. Since that's the case..."

A bright smile spread across Ereshkigal's face. "Then please introduce me quickly. I really want to meet your sister, what kind of person is Rovey's adopted daughter?"

"Huh? Is it absolutely necessary to meet in person?"

"Is that not allowed? If you don't go, I'll just forcibly take control."

"Ereshkigal said softly," she said, her words carrying no malice, but full of threat.