To become a king and a magician

No matter how much we struggle, humanity will be wiped out. So, while the underworld of the gods still exists on the surface, let's bring as many human souls as possible to this underworld for protection.

This is why Ereshkigal joined the alliance of the three goddesses, because only in this way could the soul be protected in a relatively safe and absolutely reasonable manner.

In fact, Ereshkigal originally planned not to tell anyone, since there was no one to communicate with in the underworld. Although she was the goddess of the underworld, she did not have the ability to communicate with souls.

She was already prepared to continue enduring being misunderstood by everyone and to continue being alone, just like she had done for countless years before.

However, now, apart from Arcueid, who suddenly appeared as an exception, another person who understands him has appeared.

"You... really are just like Arcueid said, a strange fellow."

After a moment of silence, Ereshkigal sighed.

"Don't be afraid of things you should be afraid of—Arcquet said she was the same way when she officially met you."

At that time, Arcueid was already in the form of seventeen pieces. A normal person would run away as soon as they saw it, let alone get close. The fact that Natsukawa Tora took it back and pieced it back together was simply incomprehensible, making people wonder if he had lost his mind.

Xia Chuanhu smiled and said, "Because I already knew what kind of people you were. And since I knew, there's nothing to be afraid of, right? Living beings only fear the unknown, and once the unknown becomes known, the fear is greatly reduced."

“Sigh… He really is a strange person.” Ereshkigal sighed again. “Getting back to the point, does asking me to lend you my power mean… to help you fight against Gorgon? I’m sorry, but based on the covenant of the Three Goddesses Alliance, we cannot attack each other, and violating that will cause me great harm.”

No, that's not what I meant.

Xia Chuanhu shook his head: "I can handle a goddess like Gorgon on my own, not to mention that we also have Arcueid now, and the fighting force on Uruk is also sufficient. Gorgon is no longer a threat."

"I hope you can join us in fighting against the true goddess of monsters who is now sleeping in the Persian Gulf—Tiamat."

"What did you say?!"

Before Ereshkigal could say anything, Ishtar flew out of Natsukawa Torato's clothes: "Mother is right now... in the Persian Gulf?! That's impossible, Mother has been gone for a long time—"

"Exiled to the Imaginary Space, is that right?" Natsukawa Torato added, "That was indeed the case before, but now Tiamat has been returned from the Imaginary Space... It must have been the Magic King who did it. He personally sent the Holy Grail to this era and awakened Tiamat."

"But that's not the point. The point is what Tiamat will do after she awakens."

In the myth, Tiamat deeply loved her children and indulged all their behavior, but in the end, she was abandoned and killed by them, and banished to the imaginary space by a world that no longer needed her.

Now, through the collapse of the foundations of humanity and the power of the Holy Grail, she has returned to this side of the world.

At the same time, driven by her hatred, loathing, and sorrow at being ruthlessly abandoned, and by her instinct to reshape the Earth's ecosystem, she decided to obey her instincts and begin scavenging and destroying humanity.

"Mother wants to destroy humanity... It's unbelievable, but it doesn't seem so unbelievable either."

Ishtar let out a long sigh.

"So, you're planning to stop—no, you're planning to overthrow Mother?"

“Hmm.” Natsukawa Tora nodded. “Leaving aside the old scores from the mythological era, I am 100% against the destruction of humanity, and I am 100% against the burning of human reason. So I will do everything in my power to stop Tiamat.”

"But how do we stop her? She's our mother, after all. In terms of divinity, she's on a completely different level from us."

Ishtar considered herself omnipotent, but even she, as a deity, was worlds apart from Tiamat.

Natsukawa Tora gently patted her head: "Don't worry, I have a way to deal with Tiamat from the knowledge I gained from the parallel world, and the power of the goddess Ereshkigal is necessary for that."

At this point, Natsukawa Tora extended his hand to Ereshkigal again: "In conclusion, may I ask if you can help us, Goddess Ereshkigal?"

"Not yet."

Ereshkigal shook his head: "It may be a bit inappropriate to say this, but—I don't trust you, even if you are Arcueid's friend, and besides, the fact that 'Mother has returned' is just your side of the story and has no credibility whatsoever."

"If you want me to help you, first show me evidence that will convince me."

"Hmm... So, you're willing to help me if Tiamat truly appears?"

You can understand it this way.

Ereshkigal had some concerns, which Natsukawa Tiger could understand. After all, he didn't intend to gain her complete trust on their first meeting; he just wanted to be able to communicate with her properly.

“I understand. Then let’s deal with this after I defeat Gorgon.”

“You’re quite confident, aren’t you? Let me warn you, there’s more than one Gorgon over there,” Ereshkigal hinted. “There’s another one over there—”

"Enkidu, or rather, Jingu, right?"

Natsukawa Torato said, "King Gilgamesh has already told me, and also told me that when I see it, I should not be polite and should destroy it completely... Well, that's what he said, but I don't know what he actually did."

"But no matter what Gilgamesh thinks, what I'm going to do won't change."

"I will definitely bury Enkidu a second time, along with his soul."

35. Ishtar's excellent buttocks

After that, Natsukawa Tora continued to talk to Ereshkigal about some other things.

For example, the souls she protected, and the things she didn't have to bear alone... Although it was their first meeting, thanks to the connection of Arcueid, Ereshkigal's only friend, the two had a fairly amicable conversation.

At least it wasn't like Quetzalcoatl, who said he wanted to see how strong they were, but ended up fighting for an entire afternoon.

And finally—

My answer remains the same as before.

"Whether you ask me to help fight against Mother, or to liberate these souls from their cages, or to join forces with Uruk, my answer is to wait until everything you say becomes a reality."

"If Mother really does descend, then I will definitely provide you with help, and after everything is over, I will release my soul back to earth as promised."

This is Ereshkigal's last line of defense.

Her unwavering dignity and duty as a goddess do not allow her to give up halfway because of what others say.

Perched on Natsukawa Torato's shoulders, Ishtar sighed softly, "You really haven't changed. Aren't you tired of carrying everything on your own...?"

"Don't lump me in with idiots like you whose brains are full of jewels!"

"You—whose brain is full of jewels?!"

It's probably a case of natural incompatibility; these two goddesses started arguing again after only exchanging a few words.

Ignoring the two awkward sisters, Natsukawa Torato looked at Arcueid: "That concludes my business in the Underworld. I'm now preparing to return to Earth. Arcueid, would you like to come with me?"

"No, no need~~~"

Arcueid shook his head: "I've already told you, I want to meet with you alone, Tiger. If I go back with you, there are too many people on your side, not to mention those two annoying dream demons."

"Besides, I can't just leave Ereshkigal alone in the Underworld!"

Arcueid was Ereshkigal's first friend. Although their meeting was full of surprises, Ereshkigal valued his only friend very much, so Arcueid didn't want to just abandon her like that.

"But don't worry, Tiger. If you have to fight Tiamat later, I'll be there for you as soon as possible to help you! After all, that's a situation where only I can help you!"

indeed.

If the opponent is Tiamat, then only Natsukawa Torato and Arcueid can confront her head-on. As elves, the two can receive support from the planet itself, raising their power to a level where they can fight her.

As for the others... even Sajou Rei isn't quite qualified.

Natsukawa Tora smiled and said, "Well, see you soon then. Until then, behave yourself here and don't cause any trouble for Ereshkigal."

"I didn't cause any trouble! Tiger, I'm going to get angry if you keep talking nonsense like this!"

"Yes, yes, yes~~~"

Reaching out to pull Ishtar back from her argument with Ereshkigal, Natsukawa Torama continued, "It's about time we went back, Ishtar—Goddess Ereshkigal. May I ask if we can return Ishtar's powers and divinity to her?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot."

Rather than saying she almost forgot, it would be more accurate to say that Ereshkigal had completely forgotten about it. After all, the act of stripping Ishtar of her powers and divinity was not something she did voluntarily, but rather a manifestation of the Ishtar myth, a passive situation. Ereshkigal wouldn't care about such a thing.

Soon, with the return of divinity and power, Ishtar, who was originally only the size of a palm, instantly returned to her original form!

However......

Previously, Ishtar was being held in Natsukawa Torama's palm, but after her divinity and power were returned, the situation changed to Ishtar being held by the buttocks by Natsukawa Torama after she returned to her original form!

(It feels pretty good in the hand—)

The moment this thought crossed Xia Chuanhu's mind, Ishtar, her face full of shame and indignation, immediately covered her buttocks, broke free from Xia Chuanhu's hands, and turned around to kick him!

"Snapped!"

Catching the sudden kick, Natsukawa Tora explained with a righteous expression, "Although I think I know why you kicked me, this was actually an accident, wasn't it?"

"An unexpected situation? What happened when you pinched it just now?"

"Oh, that's just a habitual bodily behavior, and has nothing to do with my own will."

The question is that he was raised by those bad women in his family. After all, similar situations are repeated every night, and if a behavior is repeated more than thirty times, it will become a habit, not to mention that Xia Chuanhu has repeated it for ten years.

It's become instinctive, okay? Basically, as soon as you put your hand in the corresponding position, it will start moving on its own.

"And why are you reacting so strongly? In mythology, you're a goddess who falls in love with every girl she meets. You should be used to this by now, right? We often see you flying in the sky in those revealing clothes, and you never seem embarrassed."

"That has nothing to do with this! By the way, why are you looking at me like that? What's going on in your head?!"

"Before asking me this kind of question, can you at least change your clothes a bit?"

......

Seeing the two of them inexplicably starting to argue, Ereshkigal asked Arcueid with some confusion, "Arquette, what's going on with them...?"

"Hmm, so Tiger prefers this kind?"

Arcueid wasn't listening to what Ereshkigal was saying at all; instead, he was seriously recalling what had just happened.

After debating with Ishtar about their respective ideologies for quite a while, Natsukawa Tora sighed heavily: "Haa~~~ Never mind, I won't argue with you, I'll go up first."

"Huh?"

"Then Arcueid, goddess Ereshkigal, see you again when we fight Tiamat. I look forward to your guidance then."

As he said this, a gust of wind rose from beneath Xia Chuanhu's feet, and he soared into the sky.

Seeing this, Ishtar also quickly took to the air and flew towards the Netherworld hole that she had blasted open.

And just as Natsukawa Tiger was flying upwards—

"Hmm? That's...?"

A platform surrounded by a ring of gun emplacements caught his attention.

It looks like a tomb, but the soil has been dug up, making it look like it has been robbed.

"What are you looking at?"

Ishtar, who flew to Natsukawa Torata's side, asked, "Is there anything special over there?"