To become a king and a magician

Finally, after giving the answer "Ereshkigal," Natsukawa Torato and Ishtar were allowed to pass through the Gates of the Underworld, and the same was true for the subsequent Six Gates.

After crossing the last door, Natsukawa Tora sighed slightly: "This was really quite a hassle. I had to ask seven questions in a row about whether Ishtar or Ereshkigal was better—is this the fair and rational door you mentioned?"

Even though he knew this would happen, Natsukawa Tiger was still somewhat amused and exasperated. Ereshkigal really liked to compete with Ishtar. He hadn't even met her yet, and now things had turned out like this.

"How would I know? I've never encountered this kind of problem when I went down to the underworld before."

Ishtar, whose size had shrunk to the size of Natsukawa Torata's palm, looked helpless and dissatisfied.

The questions she faced in the Underworld last time were not these at all. One can only imagine that Ereshkigal used her power in the Underworld to change the mechanism of the Underworld Gate, or that she directly intervened in the judgment of the Underworld Gate.

In either case, it shows her resistance and disgust towards herself.

(I really shouldn't have gone to the underworld this time... But even so, I can't leave now.)

Having passed through the seven gates of the underworld, Ishtar's powers and divinity have been completely stripped away. Only by receiving Ereshkigal's return can she return to her original form. Even for her own sake, Ishtar must stay with Natsukawa Tora until the very end.

Floating onto Natsukawa Torato's shoulder and sitting down, Ishtar patted his face: "I'm not of any use to you anymore, so you'll have to do your best to protect me."

"You should also take care of protecting yourself."

"Then what use are you to me?"

Ishtar naturally took Natsukawa Tiger as her bodyguard, and just then, another chain swung from somewhere and hit Ishtar directly, scaring her so much that she quickly scurried into Natsukawa Tiger's clothes.

"Snapped!"

With a single punch, Xia Chuanhu shattered the chains. He frowned and asked, "I've been wondering about this since just now. Are these chains also part of the underworld's punishment mechanism?"

In Xia Chuanhu's mind, the underworld shouldn't have such a mechanism. Moreover, the pattern of the chains appearing was a bit strange. Apart from the first time he was attacked, the chains always appeared when Ishtar and he were fighting, and each time they were aimed at Ishtar.

It looked like an attack targeting Ishtar.

Moreover, the more Xia Chuanhu looked at these chains, the more familiar they felt—not in terms of their appearance, although there was some familiarity, but more in terms of a sense of familiarity through contact, as if he had been very familiar with these chains before... or rather, with the people who used the chains.

But this is the underworld; there shouldn't be anyone he knows here.

Furthermore, the questions posed by the seven gates of the underworld were rather strange, containing many abrupt elements that seemed to be hinting at something.

"Who knows?"

Ishtar, who peeked out from Natsukawa Torato's collar, shook her head: "I've never seen chains like this before. They don't seem to be a product of the Underworld itself. But since the attack is coming at me, I'll just stay here with you from now on, so I don't get suddenly whipped away."

"Rather than being flung away, you'd probably be snapped in two right now—don't bite my flesh, it hurts."

"Humph!"

Ishtar snorted and pointed into the distance: "If you keep going along this road, you'll reach the deepest part of the underworld. Ereshkigal is there. Although goddesses usually build their own temples, she probably doesn't, so you don't need to worry about her being too strong. Just take her out cleanly."

Goddesses all have their own temples, either to gather faith or to strengthen themselves. Especially in this late age of gods, temples can also help goddesses better exert their powers.

However, Ereshkigal does not have her own temple because she is the mistress of the underworld. She is already invincible in the underworld and does not need the enhancement of a temple. If you have to say, the underworld itself is her temple.

Therefore, the deepest part of the underworld has always been a desolate wasteland, devoid of anything. In fact, when Ishtar came to the deepest part of the underworld before, there was nothing there either, except for a dark goddess who was making gun prisons in solitude, imprisoning souls for her own amusement.

Logically, this should be the situation.

However, due to the inherent characteristics of the underworld, Natsukawa Torato's perception as a spirit was also hindered, making it insufficient to perceive the actual situation in the deepest part of the underworld.

Therefore, Natsukawa Torato could only apply what he knew about the deepest part of the underworld to his thinking.

However, just as the two arrived at a place where they could see the deepest part of the underworld, the scene that came into their view made them freeze in place.

"flower?"

Ishtar's tone was somewhat incredulous.

The bottom of the underworld, which should have been empty, is now filled with a vast and boundless sea of ​​flowers.

How could this be? Could it be that Ereshkigal used her powers to create it? But putting aside the fact that she is not the goddess of plants and does not have the ability to make the underworld bloom, Ereshkigal has absolutely no knowledge of flowers!

She was offered to the underworld as a foundation stone at birth and has never left the underworld for thousands of years. She knows nothing about anything on earth, so naturally, she doesn't know what a flower is either.

It would be impossible for Ereshkigal to create such a vast sea of ​​flowers in the underworld.

"This sea of ​​flowers..."

Like Ishtar, Natsukawa Tiger was also momentarily shocked when he saw this sea of ​​flowers, but his shock was not entirely because this sea of ​​flowers could exist in the underworld, but more because he knew about this sea of ​​flowers.

Or rather, he had seen or even visited this sea of ​​flowers.

More than ten years ago, in that dream world where the crimson moon hung, he had unintentionally stepped into this sea of ​​flowers, and there he had his first contact with one of the most important people to him.

Arcueid...?

Xia Chuanhu blurted out the name without thinking.

The next moment, amidst the sea of ​​flowers, a blonde girl in a white dress slowly revealed herself. Under Natsukawa Tora's gaze, she gradually switched to the familiar image of a girl next door in white and black, smiling and waving at him.

"Yeah, I've been waiting for you for a long time, you silly tiger."

"Long time no see~~~"

33. Ereshkigal, who can't even get a disguise.

Arcueid.

Princess of the True Ancestor, spirit of the Earth, Princess of the Moon, known as the White Princess.

The last time Natsukawa Tora met her was eight years ago during the Night of Wallachia. After that incident, she returned to the Millennium City that she had conjured up in her imagination and sealed herself into a deep sleep to suppress her vampiric urges.

Eight years have passed since they parted. Although eight years is just a blink of an eye for the two of them, and even if thousands of years have passed, the two of them will not change. However, eight years is not a long time.

But her presence here still surprised Natsukawa Tora.

Leaping down from the road into the sea of ​​flowers, Natsukawa Torato looked at Arcueid: "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Millennium City?"

"You're asking questions right off the bat. I thought you were going to give me a long-awaited hug."

Arcueid pouted, but quickly smiled again: "Well, the reason is simple. After all, that's the situation outside. Everything has been burned to the ground, even my Millennium City. Although I don't usually die, being burned all the time is quite uncomfortable. So before the Millennium City was burned to the point of collapse, I used my imagination to materialize at full speed and ran to the place where I could sense the most mystery."

Was it due to the influence of the burning of human beings?

That makes sense. Even Arcueid couldn't possibly resist the burning of human reason. So, in order to protect herself, she ran all the way to this singularity and ended up in the underworld?

"You really ran quite a distance."

"It's not that far. The place where I was sleeping was in a deep mountain in Western Europe. If I run here at full speed, it won't take long."

Arcueid explained with a smile.

Seeing that the two seemed quite familiar with each other, Ishtar poked her head out and asked, "What, is she someone you know?"

“Yes, she’s someone very important to me,” Natsukawa Tora said with a smile. “Let me introduce you. She is Arcueid, Arcueid Brunstadt, a True Ancestor. And Arcueid, this little one is Ishtar.”

"I know her, please guide me, little goddess."

Arcueid laughed as she flicked the miniature Ishtar, causing her to panic again and shrink back into Natsukawa Torato's clothes.

(True Ancestor... Elf... What kind of monsters do you know, man?)

With Ishtar's keen eyesight, she could naturally see Arcueid's true situation. As two people with the same Star Touch, it would be reasonable for them to know each other, but even so, it was still somewhat surprising.

After all, elves have basically disappeared from the surface world and migrated to the inner world of the planet. It's understandable that acquired elves like Natsukawa Tora exist, but it's really unexpected that natural elves like Arcueid still remain on the surface.

After teasing Ishtar for a bit, Arcueid suddenly looked to the other side: "Oh right, I almost forgot—Ereshkigal! Come out, stop hiding!"

"Waaaaah—!"

A trembling cry suddenly rang out from somewhere in the sea of ​​flowers, and then, near the two pillars in the flower field, another figure gradually appeared in the flower field.

Just as Natsukawa Tora had thought, it was a girl quite similar to Ishtar. However, unlike the scantily clad Ishtar, the goddess with beautiful blonde hair was dressed in a gorgeous black outfit, with a black cloak draped over her shoulders, making her look quite dashing.

However, the somewhat awkward and shy look on her face completely ruined her cool demeanor.

She is the goddess of the underworld, and Natsukawa Tora's target on this trip—Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld.

Running up to Ereshkigal, Arcueid smiled and said, "Let me introduce you, Tiger. This is Ereshkigal, my friend, the kind goddess who took me in!"

When Arcueid first arrived at this singularity, she landed right in the Underworld. Being unfamiliar with the place, she was helped by Ereshkigal. Although there wasn't much to do in the Underworld, Ereshkigal did his best to help Arcueid settle in.

After spending about six months together, the two have become very good friends, and Arcueid often talks to Ereshkigal about things on the surface of the earth.

Natsukawa Tora smiled and extended his hand to Ereshkigal: "Hello, Goddess Ereshkigal, I am Natsukawa Tora. I'm so sorry that you've been taking care of Arcueid all this time. She's quite a troublemaker and must have caused you some inconvenience."

"Hey! You idiot Tiger! Who are you saying will cause trouble for others?!" Arcueid poked Natsukawa Tiger angrily. "You're the one who'll cause trouble for others! Even when I'm asleep, I know everything about you the moment I wake up! You're such a problem child!"

Do you have the right to talk about me like that?

The two of them habitually began their familiar daily routine.

Looking at Natsukawa Tora's outstretched hand, Ereshkigal, having been informed of the events on the ground by Arcueid, understood his intentions. However, she didn't take his hand. Instead, she lowered her voice slightly and asked in a deliberately indifferent tone, "You should know that I am a member of the Three Goddesses Alliance, right? What are your intentions in expressing goodwill towards me like this?"

"Huh? Ah... I think so?"

Natsukawa Tora smiled: "But it is true that you took care of Arcueid, isn't it? I do have to thank you for that, Goddess Ereshkigal."

"Also, regarding the so-called Three Goddess Alliance, I actually know everything about your situation—you are different from the Beast Goddess. You are not a goddess who truly wants to destroy humanity, but rather, like the Forest Goddess Quetzal Koyatl, you are a kind goddess who intends to save humanity in your own way, right?"

"Huh? How did you know...?"

“Because Tiger has been to the Root once,” Arcueid explained with a smile. “No, it should be said that he came into contact with the Root. At that time, he acquired all kinds of knowledge and memories from countless parallel worlds, some of which should be related to you, Ereshkigal. Right, Tiger?”

Natsukawa Tora nodded: "That's about it, so please don't bother with any more pretense or disguise, Goddess Ereshkigal, I know everything you've done."

"Then, as the representative of Uruk and Chaldea, I formally request you, with your kind heart, to lend us your power to defend against the greatest enemy that will eventually come."

34. Heaven's Chains: Shadows Die Twice

Goddess Ereshkigal.

In mythology, she is described as a dark goddess who imprisons the souls of the dead in her own prison, keeping them by her side to play with, ensuring they can never be reincarnated. She is a rather cold-blooded and ruthless goddess.

As a victim who had been severely punished, Ishtar expressed considerable certainty about this.

But in fact it is not the case.

Ereshkigal was an incredibly gentle goddess.

She was not indifferent to the souls. The gun prison was not built to imprison them, but to provide a comfortable home for souls who had nowhere else to go. After all, the underworld was a desolate place where there was no comfort. In order to settle the souls of the dead, Ereshkigal was busy building gun prisons every day, and then had to consider various issues such as whether the souls would feel uncomfortable.

She is an extremely considerate and kind goddess who is incredibly gentle to the soul.

Her reason for joining the Three Goddess Alliance was also based on her self-respect and concern for humanity.