"Is this your friend?" Quetzal was briefly stunned by the two figures who looked exactly alike, differing only in temperament and hairstyle. But she quickly noticed their greatest difference. "Is this friend the divine side of Crimson Kite?"
"So this is how you separated the divinity?" Ishtar nodded in understanding.
"Rather than accepting the divinity, you separated it and created another incarnation. That truly is a clever method." Merlin offered his evaluation as well.
"How do I look like a god? Compared to me, that old fossil looks much more like some immortal."
The Herrscher of Reason had not expected to be evaluated before she could even speak after coming out. Unhappily, she laid down a threat. "Let me make this clear first: I don't have that old fossil's good temper. You'd better watch your words."
Merlin was completely unafraid. With a cheerful smile, he said, "That may be so, but both the divinity on you and your personality do indeed fit the word 'goddess.'"
Everyone looked at the Herrscher of Reason, then at Ishtar, and had no choice but to nod.
Indeed. Lawless, willful, and utterly self-centered—she was simply too much like a goddess.
"Huh? Can't you understand human speech?" The Herrscher of Reason had long found this slacking, riddle-speaking bastard unpleasant, and she intended to teach him a lesson.
"Please spare me. If we really fight, I wouldn't be able to withstand a single move from the Crimson Kite Immortal." Merlin smiled as he showed weakness. "The Crimson Kite Immortal wouldn't want to bully a helpless Magician like me, would she?"
"It's too late to realize how formidable I am now." The Herrscher of Reason grinned. "I already thought this before: there's seriously something wrong with every one of you. You can obviously resolve the crisis easily, yet none of you acts. But that's fine. I'll beat all of you up first, then go find the Holy Grail. Wouldn't that solve everything?"
"Haha, if only it were that simple." Merlin shook his head. "At the end of the day, we don't even know where the Holy Grail is. We originally thought one of the Three Goddesses had it, but neither the Beast Goddess nor the Jungle Goddess we encountered had it. The only remaining possibility is the Goddess of the Underworld."
"If you ask me, that Holy Grail is definitely in Tiamat's hands." The Herrscher of Reason offered a simple and brutal hypothesis. "Treasures belong to the strong. Tiamat is so powerful, so the Holy Grail naturally has to be with her."
This was the worst possibility, and also the most likely one. That was why Merlin and Gilgamesh had been constantly looking for ways to strengthen their forces. If the Holy Grail truly was in Tiamat's hands, then a battle against Tiamat would be an unavoidable trial.
"Shi... Xiao Shi, don't mess around." Amber instinctively almost called her Shi Bao, then hurriedly stopped herself. "As the Primordial Mother Goddess, Tiamat is not an enemy to be taken lightly. It would be safer to make plans after we bring Gilgamesh back from the Underworld."
"You..."
The Herrscher of Reason wanted to complain about how Amber was acting like an old fossil too, but remembering that Amber was currently traveling under the old fossil's identity, she barely swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue.
Then, remembering that Amber had brought her out to get some fresh air, she temporarily suppressed her emotions. "Fine, fine. I'll listen to you this time."
As she spoke, she looked at Quetzal and revealed a healthy smile. "But I finally got a chance to come out. There's no problem with stretching my limbs a little, right?"
Amber fell silent for a moment. Remembering that Shi Bao had always wanted to fight Quetzal, she could not bring herself to stop her, so she looked at Quetzal with an inquiring gaze.
Quetzal replied with a wink, then looked at the Herrscher of Reason and smiled. "Of course. A spirited, straightforward challenge, a face-to-face duel—this big sister has no reason to refuse."
"Hah, don't get it wrong. You're the challenger." The Herrscher of Reason's smile widened.
Amber: ...Maybe say that a little less...?
Herrscher of Reason: What? Do you think I'll get cut in half at the waist?
Amber: ...Forget it. As long as you're both happy.
Trusting that the Herrscher of Reason knew her limits, Amber stopped paying attention to them and looked toward Ishtar. "Let's handle the important matter first. Xiao Shi isn't the type to disregard the bigger picture. Leave what's above to them."
Naturally, Ishtar had no objection. She flew straight into the air, blasted a huge hole through the entire plaza, then brought the three of them down with her.
Once the three figures disappeared, the three people remaining above began sizing each other up again.
"Now that old fossil isn't here, we can finally cut loose." After living peacefully for so long and traveling with Fu Hua until her bones had stiffened, the Herrscher of Reason stretched, her face filled with eagerness.
"Of course, but we should finish quickly. I still need to find time to train the soldiers." Quetzal shared the same anticipation toward this pure desire for battle. Rather, she had not truly enjoyed either of her previous two fights with Amber, so getting to continue now was exactly what she wanted.
Unfortunately, she still had a mission to fulfill and could not indulge in an endless battle.
Seeing how composed Quetzal looked, the Herrscher of Reason remembered that she had lent out her Herrscher Core. Using Feathered Dust as her vessel, she could not use Imaginary Energy either.
That would make this boring.
"Fine, then we'll fight for three hours, counting the rounds each of us wins." She quickly came up with a solution. "But don't use carelessness as an excuse. Unlike that old fossil, I won't hold back, so I suggest you take this seriously!"
"So Crimson Kite did not use her full strength when she fought me before?" Quetzal was surprised by that, but it only heightened her fighting spirit. "Then..."
"Let's begin!"
The vote for the next arc will be posted tonight or tomorrow morning!
And please, I'm begging for votes! Please bookmark it! Everyone's support is also what motivates me to keep updating!1
Ishtar's Fury
"Very good. This is the Underworld. How does it feel?" Ishtar slowly descended and looked at the three people on the ground with a smile.
"I... I barely blocked the impact of the landing with my shield..." Mash looked at Ritsuka beside her. "Senpai, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine... Not hurt, but doesn't Ishtar have teleportation magecraft...?"
Feeling her body stiffen slightly from the impact, Ritsuka asked with a grim expression.
"Of course I can do something as minor as teleportation magecraft." Ishtar said helplessly. "But what happens after teleporting would be terrifying, wouldn't it? What if our power got sealed the instant we teleported, and we fell to our deaths? Since we can get here just by digging, it's better not to teleport if we don't have to!"
"The communication link is connected. I was worried whether we could observe the situation in the Underworld, but it seems I was worrying for nothing."
Roman's voice came from the wristband as well. "Though this is only beneath Kusa City, right...?"
"Huh? I thought this was another dimension... Is this what the Age of Gods is like?" Mash looked at Ishtar.
"I can't speak for other Ages of Gods, but in Mesopotamia, the sky, the earth, and the Underworld are all on the same 'cloth.'" Ishtar nodded. It was an era in which humans and gods coexisted, but there was no need to explain too much. Seeing that the three were unharmed, she took the lead and walked ahead.
"Anyway, just follow me. I've been here once, so I know the way fairly well."
As Amber followed Chaldea onward, she sensed the power around her.
Although this was the Underworld, the density and quality of mana were even greater than they were above ground.
Was it because no life existed here, or because everything was a spiritual body...? In any case, her strength had not declined.
Led by Ishtar, they soon arrived before a gate. Though it was called a gate, it looked like nothing more than three stone pillars piled together.
"This counts as the first entrance." Ishtar explained. "The Underworld Gate is a Gate of Axiom that questions souls about good and evil. Good and evil are equal in value, and only human values change through the choices people make, so no answer is ever absolutely correct."
"Anyway, every option is unpleasant, so just choose whichever side you think is easier."
As she spoke, she pointed ahead. "Once you hear the question, just think of your answer as you walk through the gate."
The moment she finished speaking, the Underworld Gate began to speak.
"Answer me—"
"Answer me—"
Isn't that Ereshkigal's voice? Why is she forcing her pitch so low...?
Amber was somewhat confused.
"Living person who has fallen into the Underworld—Fu Hua."
"Hm? Does this gate designate who must answer?" Ishtar froze for a moment, then looked at the three behind her. "Come to think of it, who is Fu Hua?"
"Huh...?"
That question stunned Ritsuka and Mash.
Mash, who was always straightforward and innocent, looked back and forth between Ishtar and Amber with puzzled eyes before she could not help asking, "Aren't you two friends? Fu Hua... is the Immortal's real name."
Ishtar: ...Come to think of it, Crimson Kite Immortal was a title the emperor gave her...
Amber: ...I introduced myself to Chaldea at the beginning, but since everyone kept calling me Immortal and such, I forgot that I hadn't introduced myself in a long time...
The Underworld Gate suddenly flashed with dazzling light, which slowly faded away again.
The heavy yet pleasant voice continued. "Standards of beauty come in all forms, yet absolutes still exist. Black triumphs over white, earth triumphs over heaven. Therefore—between Ereshkigal and Ishtar, who is more beautiful?"
"...?" x4
"Wait!? This is different from before, isn't it!?" Ishtar's eyes turned golden in her panic.
"Excellent, a completely irrational question. So what is the Immortal's answer?" Roman, who had been watching from the back, laughed at the question.
"You know how to choose, don't you, Fu—Hua—!"
Ishtar suddenly turned to stare at Amber. Her golden eyes clearly radiated gloom and coercion. Already guilty, Amber could only nod. "It's Ishtar..."
"That's right. Just choose the easier answer, the one that follows your heart."
Upon hearing that, Ishtar's expression immediately brightened. She smoothed her long hair and confidently displayed her charm. "Though I was certain you would say that. One is the goddess of plants and decay, the other is the goddess of beauty and harvest. The answer is obviously clear, but thank you anyway."
"Are—you—an—idiot—!"
The stone gate's blue light turned red, and enormous lightning instantly struck Ishtar.
"Ishtar!?" Ritsuka and Mash hurriedly supported the goddess, who had been briefly dazed by the strike.
As for Amber...
Amber did not dare support her.
Both Ereshkigal and Ishtar were her friends. Gilgamesh had accidentally fallen into the Underworld, and she had come to ask a friend to release him. Even if they had no choice but to fight in the end, that would be a matter for later. For now, she still had to approach this as someone asking a favor.
Yet the very first gate had exposed a question involving Ishtar that she found difficult to face. Not wanting to make Ishtar unhappy, she had blurted out the answer without thinking.
And that answer had gotten Ishtar struck by lightning.
"It's... Ereshkigal..."
"Cor—rect—"
After hearing that answer, the red light on the gate finally disappeared, and the entire gate turned into an utterly inconspicuous pile of stone.
"There's no need to go against your true feelings, Fu Hua!" Once Ishtar recovered, annoyance covered her face. "This has nothing to do with your answer. That woman is gradually weakening my divinity! Just answer with the correct answer!"
"This is Ereshkigal's territory, after all. Unless it becomes absolutely necessary, there is no need to forcibly oppose her."
Seeing that Ishtar was clearly unwilling to admit defeat, Amber reminded her.
"Ereshkigal!?"
Ishtar's expression became even angrier. "Since when!?"
She would not have been surprised if the Underworld Gate had spoken Amber's name, because it was the Underworld Gate. But Amber using the more intimate nickname "Eresh" was entirely different. The two clearly knew each other already!
"..." Amber felt cold sweat pouring down her back. Pretending to be confused to avoid the core issue, she answered, "Because her name is Ereshkigal... Calling her Eresh is smoother in Shenzhou pronunciation."
"Hmph! Fine!"
Ishtar did not intend to press the matter, but still said, "From now on, you have to answer every single question with the 'correct' answer! We absolutely cannot let that gloomy goddess keep feeling smug!"
"...Fine."
That's the last update for today. Thank you all for sticking with me!
And please, I'm begging for votes! Please bookmark it! Please support me!
Vote for the next arc
Honestly, I've considered quite a lot for the next arc, but unfortunately I wasn't satisfied with most of them. The things I want to write aren't very popular, but at this point when the story is about to go premium, I need to write something popular to avoid dying immediately.
After considering everything, I chose Jujutsu Kaisen as the next setting. I originally wanted Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night, but everyone made a fair point: those two are too old, too many people have written them, and I'm not confident I can make them feel fresh.
Jujutsu Kaisen:
Shier (Special Grade Cursed Spirit Black Hikiya)
Mei
Dreamer's Heart (Special Grade Cursed Tool, old man)
For now, that's all. They're relatively popular, and I can write these three personalities more easily. (Though Shadow's popularity seems lower than before.)
Everyone can offer some suggestions too. It would be best if they are relatively popular. I want to build up some popularity over the first three arcs, so once my popularity is stable, I can write some more niche ideas.
For example, Liuying in Code Geass, Vita in The Witch from Mercury, the sword-pointing lady and Jingliu having a martial arts imperial city PK match or something like that. (Though the sword-pointing lady would be easily taken down.) I'm also rather interested in Sorazaki Hina in The Eminence in Shadow.
(Though I've only watched the anime of The Eminence in Shadow.)
Uruk Comedy
Though Ishtar's pride was as high as the heavens, even after learning of Ereshkigal's intentions, she was unwilling to let her gain even the slightest advantage. Because she could obtain anything, she naturally believed that everything belonging to her rightfully belonged to her. Even friendship was no exception.
When facing others, this thought would be suppressed. But when facing Ereshkigal, who was practically her other half while also being completely opposed to her, that thought had reached its peak.
Thus, after passing through seven stone gates, Ishtar's body had been weakened alongside her divinity until she was only one-seventh of her original size. Literally to the point where Ereshkigal could easily crush her to death.
"This is quite something. I originally found it interesting, but now I can't bear to watch anymore." Gilgamesh, whom they had encountered at the third gate, wore an ugly expression. "This is already an undeniable decline in combat power. If Ishtar continues to remain in this useless state, things will become very troublesome."
"Huh? But we have the Immortal on our side..." Mash looked at Amber beside her.
"Hmm... In terms of strength, the Crimson Kite Immortal may already stand at the peak among ordinary Servants. Even among Divine Spirit Servants, she would still be among the best."
Before you continue