"Kind, gentle, cute, and beautiful Lady Ereshkigal, thank you for taking me in."
The Underworld Goddess unconsciously read the cuneiform beneath her in a soft voice. After staring blankly for a moment, her face flushed red, and her words became hesitant and stammering.
"C-Cute and beautiful?"
"I... I'm not that wonderful, am I?"
Amid a rustling sound behind her, the ancient snake flicked its tail, tossed aside the stone, and rubbed its head against its owner's hand. It pointed her toward a new line of cuneiform.
"Though standards of beauty may vary endlessly, beauty itself remains absolute."
"Black can surpass white; earth can surpass heaven."
"In my eyes, you in the underworld are naturally more dazzling than the stars in the sky!"
Black could surpass white? Earth could surpass heaven?
Ereshkigal's delicate body trembled. She murmured those words as if struck by inspiration, and the light in her eyes grew brighter.
Her soft hands, which had been twisting helplessly at the hem of her clothes, gradually clenched into fists. At last, filled with excitement and a hint of release, she swung one forcefully into the air.
That's right! How could I possibly lose to that spoiled, indulged, awful woman!
Yet in a daze, Ereshkigal's wandering gaze fell upon the dark, gloomy mist surrounding her and the territory shrouded in desolation and decay.
The goddess shifted uneasily, biting her lower lip with pearly teeth as uncertainty crept into her expression.
"But I am an unfortunate being who governs decay and death..."
"In the underworld, not even a flower can bloom, nor can a single grapevine grow..."
Facing the self-pitying goddess, the ancient snake flicked its tongue and tail, continuing to write its reply upon the stone.
"Light is born from darkness, and death is new life..."
"Because humans die, they cherish the preciousness of life even more..."
"Perhaps fools can see only the filth and darkness left behind after plants decay, yet those things are the foundation from which beauty is born."
"So compared to lives that bask in sunlight and squander their time, decay and death, buried deep within the earth in obscurity, are more deserving of praise—and in greater need of it!"
This subversive yet resounding philosophy gradually stirred waves within the Underworld Goddess's heart.
"Even if the underworld is dark and gloomy, and not even a tiny grapevine can grow."
"Lady Eresh, you have provided shelter for countless souls, and you even took me in."
"In this barren land, you are the most beautiful flower of the underworld!"
The ancient snake scratched hard across the stone slab. After finishing its words, the stone stylus curled in its tail tapped rhythmically against a blank space, while its faintly glowing vertical pupils seemed to be pondering something.
A moment later, Lin Xian's gaze softened with reverence, and he solemnly added one final line.
"And the only one!"
Hearing those thunderous words of affirmation, the self-destructive gloom that had long shrouded the Underworld Goddess's heart was torn open by a narrow crack.
In the past, she had heard countless pleas, curses, and insults from the dead souls.
Though all things had beginnings and ends, new life, which represented "beginning," was often praised, while death, standing at "the end," was always blamed.
Over countless years, this was the first time Ereshkigal had heard such recognition.
And she had never imagined those words would come from the mouth of a snake.
Could the Immortal Herb also grant intelligence?
At the same time, the overwhelming emotion made it impossible for the Underworld Goddess to maintain her outward dignity any longer, and her pretty face turned crimson.
Her subtle reluctance to accept the praise added a touch more humanity to her, along with an endearing warmth.
"Well, well, even if I did save you, there's no need to say nothing but nice things."
Mm, this owner was a little thin-skinned. That was enough; any more praise would seem deliberate.
The ancient snake put on a proper show, revealing a hesitant expression before lowering its head in slight unwillingness.
The Underworld Goddess held her pet in her arms, gently stroking its smooth, cool little head with her fingertips. Then she waved a hand over the stone covered in cuneiform and erased the markings.
"Oh, right. Did you just call me Eresh?"
"Hmm, it differs somewhat from my True Name of God, but it sounds similar enough, and it doesn't sound bad."
"Well, as a reward for what you said earlier, you may keep calling me that from now on. It's decided."
To ease her pet's disappointment, Eresh offered a simple incentive.
The ancient snake raised its head and hissed excitedly. Its two-meter-long body slid and coiled around its owner's chest and neck, displaying its affection.
"Ah! That tickles..."
The tingling sensation of snake scales rubbing against her neck and chest made Eresh tremble like a flower in the wind as she burst into giggles.
After fooling around for a while, the goddess grabbed her pet by the tail and pulled the clingy little fellow off herself. Then, imitating the way shepherds trained dogs, she gave the snake an order.
"Sit! Stop messing around!"
The ancient snake obediently slid down from Eresh and coiled atop the center of a dark bluish-green boulder. It used its tail to pick up several pieces of ore and handed them to its owner.
"Ah! Oh no, oh no! I still have more than half my work left!"
The moment the goddess accepted the ore, she looked up at the gradually fading light of the temple and immediately began rushing about in a panic.
"It's all your fault! All you do every day is cause trouble! If I don't finish this time, don't even think about going anywhere!"
Growing more flustered the busier she became, Eresh constantly channeled magic power to refine metal materials for forging the Spear Cage from the ore while complaining angrily.
Well, she was just a little girl lacking affection and recognition.
Lin Xian obediently worked alongside his owner. The earnest, diligent figure before him made the corners of his mouth rise slightly.
Come to think of it, it had been several months since Gilgamesh had thrown him into the underworld.
Thanks to the immortality within his body, he had thrived here, with both his size and magic power steadily increasing.
Moreover, during his spare time, Lin Xian had learned the basics of cuneiform from the undead spirits of the underworld.
By organizing the information he gathered, he had also roughly grasped the distribution of city-state powers in Mesopotamia and the related myths of the gods, laying a foundation for his future entry into the cities aboveground.
All in all, this exile had instead turned misfortune into a blessing.
One thing was certain: the Heroic King had indeed kept his promise and spared him generously.
However, as Lin Xian reviewed the details of his earlier debate with King Gilgamesh, he vaguely recalled something that filled him with doubt.
When he mentioned the prophecy that Gilgamesh would reunite with Enkidu, the Heroic King had not seemed surprised.
Could it be that Gilgamesh had already seen that outcome through his Thousand-Mile Eye, which perceived the future?
Then why had his desperate gamble of buying his life with that information still succeeded?
As Lin Xian pondered, he did not forget his work. He curled his tail around a metal spear blank engraved with Wedge-shaped Divine Script and planted it into the earth, forming a barrier that sheltered souls.
Suddenly, the ancient snake seemed to remember something. It turned around and scratched out a question before poking its head toward its owner, Eresh, for advice.
"Lady Eresh, did you know every time I secretly slipped out?"
"Of course!"
"But the temple is too stuffy. If you stayed inside all the time, you'd be stifled, so I pretended not to notice."
"Hehe, but the way you sneak out of the blankets all furtively every time is really amusing."
The goddess paused slightly, savoring that past entertainment as the corners of her lips curved upward.
"Weren't you asleep?"
Lin Xian, who had believed his stealth was flawless every time, asked gloomily.
"Little one, this world is dangerous. If you want to live well, you must maintain at least a basic level of vigilance even while sleeping."
"Besides, you're too weak. You can't even conceal your aura. I don't need divine perception to see your every move."
"Furthermore, without the aura of my divinity protecting you, any wandering Garuda Spirit could follow the scent of the living and tear you apart. Don't be so reckless again."
Mistress Eresh curled a finger and flicked Lin Xian on the forehead, speaking with earnest gravity.
The ancient snake's body stiffened. It seemed to realize something, suddenly awakening to the truth. After hesitating for a moment, it wrote a broken line of words upon the stone slab.
"Then... what about King Gilgamesh?"
"If I encounter him asleep again, can I..."
The smile on the Underworld Goddess's face froze. Her brows furrowed tightly, and a strange look slowly emerged in her eyes as she murmured solemnly.
"Run! As far away as possible!"
Before you continue