Denial

Bai Mo and Ishtar walked to the door, and just as they were about to open it, a voice suddenly came from behind the door—a somewhat familiar female voice.

"What do you mean you don't know? When I went over there, you were the only one here, weren't you? Is it because there's too much wool blocking your eyes, or do you think this wool coat can protect you?"

Hearing the sound, Bai Mo and Ishtar exchanged a glance. Bai Mo knocked on the door, but the person behind it seemed to be busy and didn't hear the knock at all. Ishtar clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, then opened the door and went inside.

On that flat palace stood Ereshkigal, the goddess of the Underworld. Dressed in deep red robes, she was both beautiful and majestic.

But her current behavior was anything but dignified; she was grabbing a golden sheep and swinging it around like a little girl throwing her large plush toy in frustration.

"Wait, Ereshkigal!"

"Hmm? Do you have anything else to say? You haven't even finished carving the flowers in the hall. I really can't think of any reason not to kill you."

The golden sheep pointed its hoof at Bai Mo and said in a calm tone, "Even if you're going to kill, you can't do it in front of the guests."

Ereshkigal looked at the two before her, her cheeks like ripe apples. She released her grip, and the golden sheep fell to the ground with a soft thud. Ishtar glanced at her with a mocking look, while Bai Mo looked away, showing the last bit of respect he could offer this goddess of the Underworld.

"How... how did you just walk in? Didn't I put a seal on the door?"

Neither Bai Mo nor Ishtar answered. Dumuzi continued in his usual flat and irritating voice, "Why would you think the lock on the room that was just broken into would be intact?"

Ereshkigal shrank back again, shrinking her body and using the cloak behind her to cover herself, before slowly moving from the chair to the back.

A powerful force surged, causing the entire Underworld to tremble. Behind the chair, it was as if a sleeping behemoth had opened its eyes. A massive skeleton appeared before Bai Mo, its internal bones seemingly stuffed with rose petals, or perhaps crimson organs.

With a white veil covering his head and a huge spear in one hand, he exuded an incomparably majestic posture and a vast and magnificent aura.

"Fear, humans, for this is the countenance of Ereshkigal, the goddess of the Underworld!"

Bai Mo and Ishtar's gazes were almost tinged with pity. The atmosphere of the Underworld was so quiet it was suffocating. Ereshkigal's hands trembled as she asked in a slightly shaking voice, "You... you all saw it."

The two nodded.

Then, somewhat dejectedly, she lowered her hands and muttered to herself:

"I've been seen! My authority is completely gone! Ugh, now I have no choice but to beat you all to your knees and then erase this memory!"

Having said that, to the astonishment of the two, Ereshkigal swung down her massive spear with overwhelming force. Ishtar exclaimed in shock, "Five hundred thousand horses? Why are you all taller than me?!"

"You lazy, good-for-nothing goddess, of course you're at the bottom!" Ereshkigal roared as she thrust her spear at Ishtar. The familiar spear was right in front of her, but in the next moment, a figure appeared in front of her.

Bai Mo raised his hand as if to soothe a wild beast, touching the spear. This gentle movement made Ereshkigal feel as if he were wrestling with the Bull of Heaven, and the spear in his hand flew out uncontrollably.

Bai Mo stepped on his spear, his figure as fast as lightning, gathering power in his hands—300,000 bolts of power— the Whale-Killing Cannon!

The enormous body took the full force of the attack, and the giant phantom that Ereshkigal had transformed into was sent flying backward. This was completely unexpected, and the majestic goddess of the Underworld let out a very embarrassing wail.

"Waaaaah!"

With a loud bang, Bai Mo was also somewhat puzzled. He had already held back his strength, and just as he had expected, the giant ghost was directly repelled, but the force of the repulsion was somewhat unexpected.

"What's going on... Did you have some other trump cards up your sleeve? That's too much! You're already so strong, yet you're hiding your power to humiliate me!"

Just as Ereshkigal getting furious, a familiar voice came from the shadows in the corner.

"Ereshkigal, as the goddess of the Underworld, is forever trapped in the Underworld, but in exchange, she has gained near-invincible power within Underworld. Generally speaking, only humans living in the present can escape the Underworld's 'must-kill' rule."

Although you are not strictly speaking a human living in the present, I foresaw this and made preparations!

As soon as she finished speaking, Ereshkigal's light spear shattered into pieces. Incredulity flickered in the giant skull's red eye sockets, for this attack not only caused great damage to her avatar containing Magnetic Field Power, but also suppressed her authority.

"How is this possible... This is a ' Kingship Me '? You actually gave him something like that?"

Ereshkigal's voice revealed an unimaginable power: the Sumer Kingship Me granted the right to question the gods, and even ghosts, as long as they held this Kingship Me, could break free from her constraints in the Underworld and question everything about her.

Meanwhile, Ishtar's eyes gleamed behind him. The Kingship Me was actually in Bai Mo's possession? Didn't that mean that before he returned it, Mesopotamia humans?

Bai Mo watched the figure slowly walk out and said, "You slept really soundly."

The figure in the shadows was Gilgamesh, whom they hadn't encountered on their journey through the Underworld. They were surprised to find him already inside Ereshkigal's palace. He smiled and said:

"I've kept you waiting, Ereshkigal. In terms of strategy, you're still a cut above me. Did you think that gaining power would make you invincible? Foolish! Your wisdom is no match for mine! Hahaha!"

If the Kingship Me were still in Gilgamesh's possession, its effect would be greatly reduced, because without the Magnetic Field Power, even with the Me suppressing him, Gilgamesh would simply be slapped away by Ereshkigal using his unreasonable Magnetic Field Power.

But now, this thing has a completely different meaning for Bai Mo. She can no longer see any hope of victory.

"Ereshkigal, please stop. I didn't come here to start a conflict. Now that Gilgamesh has been found, it's time for me to leave."

Upon seeing Gilgamesh, Bai Mo spoke slowly. Meanwhile, Ereshkigal's enormous ghost rose again, glanced coldly at Gilgamesh, and said:

"Leave? No soul can leave my Underworld without my permission. And why should you go back?"

With a wave of her hand, countless flames of soul light up, each flame in the surrounding prison representing a living human being. Ereshkigal spoke slowly.

"Look at these souls, living peacefully here. Although it's just a small prison, it's their sanctuary. You've all walked this Daichi yourselves and seen those lives worse than death, haven't you?"

"A fate worse than death, haha, truly a fate worse than death. Since that's the case, I might as well destroy all of humanity in Mesopotamia. At least here there will be no hunger or suffering, and I won't become food for those monsters!"

The shattered light spear was reshaped by her power, and then an incomparably powerful Magnetic Field Power surged forth. This astonishing flow of power raged and transformed into a long spear that illuminated the Underworld, shimmering with golden light.

She gazed intently at Bai Mo and his group, and said with unwavering resolve, "This is my duty as the Goddess of the Underworld, and it is the only decision that Ereshkigal has made in thousands of years based solely on her own will!"

She reached out her hand, like a corpse rising from the dead, towards her still-living best friend, and said with unwavering determination: This place is better than the human world.

"Are you going to deny the existence of this place?"

Her voice lost its goddess-like majesty, sounding like that of a little girl who had been working hard silently, hoping to receive praise and recognition from others.

"Of course, what else can be said about something so wrong except to deny it?"

Bai Mo's answer was very calm, as if he were answering a trivial matter.