That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Why resist?

What can be gained from this pointless action?

Ereshkigal couldn't understand it; in her view, humans would inevitably face death sooner or later, and their souls would return to the underworld.

Her divinity made it impossible for her to understand humans, beings with a concept of lifespan. However, because she had merged with the soul of a human girl, and was not a complete goddess of the underworld, the resonance of humanity drove her to want to understand humans.

"Is such a scene rare?" Hall asked, stroking his chin.

Ereshkigalli's tone wavered, and he nodded solemnly: "Of course, it's completely different from any human war I've ever seen before."

"It's probably because the opponents are different."

"opponent?"

"That's right. When the opponent is human, the war is more complicated, but when the enemy is a monster that has wiped out humanity, humanity will show unprecedented strength and resilience. The more the species called human is pushed to the brink, the stronger it becomes. Humans are multiple individuals, and when they are unified under the pressure of external forces, they can unleash power that surpasses that of the gods."

Ereshkigal glanced at Hall with his phoenix eyes, still disbelieving, and snorted, "Beyond the gods? Don't talk nonsense. I admit that the humans before us have performed unexpectedly, but a single Bull of Heaven is enough to wipe out all of humanity."

"That might have been the case before, but now the King of Heroes has appeared."

"He is the wedge of heaven that connects humanity and the gods."

"He and Enkidu both chose to be human."

Ereshkigal shook her head, her golden twin ponytails bobbing like rattles: "You don't understand. The gods have gone far away. How cruel it is to let humans continue to live in this world. One day, the underworld will also disappear, and then even the human soul will lose its end."

Hall stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, then a thought struck him, and a broad smile appeared on his lips: "You're really stubborn. How about we make a bet?"

The goddess of the underworld seemed to have heard an amusing joke, and covered her mouth with her delicate hand and chuckled: "Making a bet with a goddess? You're a human, you really have courage. With the powers of a goddess, I can even predict the future."

In stark contrast to the goddess's relaxed demeanor, Hall declared with utmost seriousness: "The stake is my soul."

"..."

"I admit that your soul is a rare treasure. Even in a human form, you can sense some kind of influence that is of a higher level than Inanna's. Isn't that interesting? Tell me what it is."

"In one year, I will completely change your view of humanity and dispel your desire to exterminate it."

Ereshkigal was taken aback. He looked into Hall's eyes and sensed that Hall wasn't joking. He changed his attitude as well: "It's very interesting. It's as if humans are willingly offering themselves as sacrifices. I will accept your soul without hesitation because I know I can't change anything."

“If I win, you will wear this.” Hall smiled and took out a ring, which was naturally a contract for a spirit summoning spell.

"ring!?"

"You know the meaning of the ring, don't you?"

In this era, rings can at most be considered jewelry, rather than a symbol of marriage.

Ereshkigal waved his hands hastily, saying, "Isn't that obvious! Rings... rings and such, even if... it doesn't need to be this complicated..."

The goddess of the underworld took the ring, examined its contents, and raised an eyebrow: "Hmm? This ring... contains a contractual power even stronger than that of the Three Goddess Alliance."

“That’s right. If I win, the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, will be my contractor forever from this day forward.”

Ereshkigal stared at Hall with crimson eyes, a hint of amusement in his gaze: "Hmm, you really have a big appetite, wanting to have a goddess. I mean, you have only courage to back it up, and the rest is just foolishness to match. I admit this is an equal agreement."

Hall added, "Oh, right, there's one more condition. We can't let you hide in the underworld for a year or two. The additional condition is that you should try to act with me as much as possible in the future."

"Yes, but I can't come to the ground during the day; I can only act with you at night."

"The contract is established."

Ereshkigal chuckled mischievously: "Goddesses are all stubborn creatures. There's a saying in Uruk: 'Goddesses are like the sky.' This means that goddesses are capricious and unpredictable."

"It doesn't matter."

The goddess of the underworld patted her chest confidently: "It will be too late to regret it when your soul belongs to me! Then we'll take all the souls of the humans in Uruk together."

······

"Damn it, why did this happen!"

"Could it be that those humans were prepared all along?"

Commander Kitaburiel, who commanded the monsters, stood on a hill far from the battlefield, overlooking the entire area. The human counterattack was more ferocious than ever before.

It was as if they had been preparing for this all along, waiting for the monsters to attack.

Nighttime is clearly the true domain of Warcraft, as they generally possess night vision and, because it is night, the concept of human cities is weakened, while the magical power within them becomes more active.

Kitaburier couldn't understand why such a massive attack by assembling a huge number of monsters would end up like this.

"What's with those iron bars? They were wooden fences this morning."

The assembled horde of monsters crashed into an impenetrable wall, baring their fangs and claws as they tried to tear apart the human soldiers behind the iron bars, only to be wiped out by a well-organized counterattack.

Spears pierced the monsters' bellies, arrows sank into their heads, and molten iron launched by catapults blasted hordes of monsters away.

Kitaburiel endured five agonizing minutes as its spirits sank lower and lower. It had just boasted to its eldest son that it would capture the North Wall, yet the monster horde saw not a glimmer of hope in breaching the walls.

"We can't just watch. The advantage of our numbers can't be utilized. We must create an opening for attack."

"Without the protection of those iron bars, fragile humans are nothing more than food for their offspring."

With this thought in mind, Kitaburier plunged into the ground.

A few minutes later, Tomoe Gozen, who was standing on the city wall directing the archers, raised her right hand, and the Spirit Origin Enhancement Device projected a blue pointer that steadily pointed north.

"This is the magic detection function. Only magic of a certain intensity will trigger a reaction, so even if the enemy launches a surprise attack from underground, it can be detected in advance."

"As expected, it's that magical beast that can only walk on the ground."

Tomoe Gozen drew a flaming arrow from the quiver on her back, pulled back the bowstring, and the arrowhead burst into flames, following the direction the projection pointed.

A powerful magical reaction swept across the battlefield and through the iron bars, just as its scorpion tail emerged from the ground, about to pierce a soldier's chest.

Tomoe Gozen shouted, "Eleventh Squad, get out of there!"

boom!

The flaming arrows shot out and silently sank into the ground. The terrifyingly high temperature melted the surrounding soil without even causing an explosion.

The scorpion's tail trembled, then suddenly retracted into the ground.

"It's that scorpion monster we encountered this morning!"

"This is not the time to talk about these things. If you don't want to be burned to death, run away quickly!"

"retreat!"

Having witnessed the power of Tomoe Gozen's arrows, the soldiers fled in panic when they saw the danger.

Tomoe Gozen leaped down from the castle wall, longbow in one hand, sword in the other, and spear in the other, declaring with imposing presence: "Come out, and let me be your opponent!"

The scorpion-man Kitaburiel crawled out from underground, staring at Tomoe Gozen with a strange look in his eyes, and sighed softly: "A beautiful being, a non-human being burning with hatred, why do you stand in my way?"

The sword burst into flames.

Tomoe Gozen pointed her sword at Kitaburiel and replied resolutely, "Because the enemy is here."

"your name."

"Tomoe Gozen".

After saying that, a raging fire blazed up, completely transforming into a demon on the battlefield. He swung his spear, and the swirling flames instantly turned the iron bars into molten iron.

呲味~

"It is beautiful, but also dangerous."

“Beautiful being, my name is Kitaburil.”

Scorpion-man Kitaburier raised his hands, transforming them into sharp blades, and charged towards the Crimson Flame Demon.

······

The war continued until the first rays of dawn.

Under Leonidas I's command, the ferocious horde of monsters failed to breach the North Wall. That night, the humans slayed more monsters than in the previous days combined, and suffered fewer casualties.

On the other side, Tomoe Gozen and the Beast Commander, Scorpionman Kitaburiel, were unable to determine a winner.

Tomoe Gozen was concerned that the human soldiers around her could not use their full strength, otherwise the north wall would be burned down along with it.

The scorpion-man Kitaburiel consistently avoided battle. Its goal was not to kill Tomoe Gozen, but to break down the human defenses and create an opening. If successful, the human defenses would be breached by the monsters like a broken dam.

In fact, it succeeded several times, and the gaps were quickly filled by Tomoe Gozen, thus turning the danger into safety under the skillful command of Leonidas I.

When the corpses of the monsters covered the plains, and the monsters no longer had the power to destroy the North Wall, Kitaburiel had no choice but to issue a signal to retreat.

······

On the high wall, Ereshkigal stared wide-eyed: "I can't believe that such a long war has only resulted in the deaths of a few dozen soldiers. As the goddess of the underworld, I have been waiting here all night!"

Beside him, Hall quipped, "Just like I said, the more difficulties humanity faces, the stronger it becomes."

Ereshkigal puffed out his cheeks, unwilling to give up, and said, "Hmph, it doesn't matter. The weight of your soul alone is equivalent to that of half of the humans in Uruk. So I haven't come away empty-handed tonight."

"This bet has only just begun."

“Yes, I’m really looking forward to the appointed day.” Ereshkigal put his hands on his hips, as if he could see his victory and strike a pose of superiority.

As a ray of sunlight shone on the city wall, a fleeting look of reluctance crossed Ereshkigal's face. She said to Hall in a light tone, "Well... the sun's out. Oh well, that's enough for today. Goodbye."

Hall nodded: "Looking forward to our next meeting."

Ereshkigal put his hands on his hips and pouted, "I'm not looking forward to it at all, but because of the agreement and the interesting story you told me—no, I mean what you saw and heard—I'm very interested. Next time, you'd better prepare a good offering to welcome me, otherwise..."

"Humph."

Ereshkigal's body gradually faded, and he flew to Hall's side, whispering in Hall's ear: "I curse you~!"

Hall watched Ereshkigal's figure disappear, the goddess's smile remaining radiant and bright, like the first ray of sunshine in the morning, warm and lovely.

People live for Ereshkigal!

A moment later, Hall, who was immersed in the bright smile of the goddess of the underworld, heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Leonidas I walking towards him with a tiger-like gait, his muscles bulging and his body stained with the blood of a monster.

A hunky man has arrived.

These four words popped into Hall's mind.

Leonidas I spread his arms wide and laughed heartily: "A great victory! A victory beyond imagination! It feels like we've returned to Thermopylae, where one man can hold off ten thousand!"

He walked up to Hall, wanting to give him a warm hug, but seeing that Hall only smiled calmly, he stopped himself, patted Hall on the shoulder and sighed, "You deserve the most credit for holding back this monster tide. You used magic to change the battlefield facilities, creating an environment almost identical to the Demobil Pass. Besides brute force, the most important factor in determining the outcome of a war is terrain!"

"I only did what little I could," Hall responded modestly.