That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

"What are you doing?"

This is so awkward.

The two stared at each other, leaving Hall both amused and exasperated.

Now that things had come to this, Hall had no intention of backing down. After a brief internal struggle, he said gently, "Leave it to me."

Ereshkigal bit her cherry lips. "Wait... I'm not Ishtar."

"I know."

"I am the goddess of the underworld."

"It's ok."

"I...I don't know what to do. It's so sudden, and it's me! Everyone's scared..."

Although Hall finds Ereshkigal incredibly adorable, Ereshkigal harbors deep-seated inferiority about her status as a goddess of the underworld. Her personality is gloomy, and she is feared by the people of Uruk. She longs to connect with others but is burdened by a profound sense of insecurity.

Hall took Ereshkigal's stiff little hand in his, interlocking their fingers, and slowly soothed her.

Seemingly due to the effects of her body, Ereshkigal's eyes became misty, gradually becoming hazy and then burning, and her delicate body writhed restlessly.

······

After a sleepless night, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the sky, Ishtar rose from Hall's embrace, feeling refreshed. All the magic she had expended the previous day had been restored through the mana replenishment ritual.

However, Ishtar remembered that she had lost consciousness halfway through and knew exactly what had happened.

“Last night…” Ishtar frowned, pondered for a moment, and asked, “She came?”

"Ah."

"Then?"

Hall shrugged.

Ishtar stared at Hall and cursed resentfully, "Vulgar! Beast! Scum!"

Is it my fault?

Hall took Ishtar's small hand and embraced her.

Ishtar turned around and nestled in Hall's arms, resting her chin on her left hand and pinching Hall's cheek with her right, scolding, "We are both responsible for this. I know how that child feels about you, and I don't care, but you must make it up to that child."

"I know."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hall felt Ishtar's fingers tighten, her smile bright, and even her eyes narrowed, but he couldn't feel any real smile. Instead, he felt a chill run down his spine and quickly said, "No, I must make it up to you."

Ishtar smiled smugly, "Since you insist, I have no choice but to accept. Remember to dedicate any gems or Holy Grails you find to me in the future, Master~"

Sorry, it's late.

The main thing was to delete and write, and then delete again.

It took at least one or two more chapters of work to go back and forth.

Chapter 402 Medusa Lily

Nippur, on the ruins of broken city walls.

Hall stood amidst the rubble and debris, gazing at the northern wall on the other side of the plain. Nipur was situated on extremely high ground, and the city walls protecting the city were the tallest structures in Nipur, offering panoramic views of the plain.

After a sleepless night, Hall entered a period of reflection, taking the opportunity to enjoy the scenery and draft and revise his plans.

The general plan is to make Tiamat the Star Brain, but there are no specific details to implement it because there are too many variables. We only need to consider which variables need to be eliminated and which direction is more conducive to controlling the situation.

Only a few groups of monsters are active around Nippur City, posing no threat to the city.

Hall's magic eye was focused on the northern wall on the distant horizon. With eyesight comparable to an astronomical telescope, the magic eye could clearly see the movements of the soldiers on the northern wall. It was a truce period, and the soldiers were either patrolling, maintaining their weapons, or training Hall.

Leonidas I has returned and is deploying his troops and training their teamwork.

"Master~? What are you looking at?"

With a lively and crisp voice, Ishtar approached Hall from behind, resting her chin on Hall's shoulder, her body suspended in mid-air.

"Just browsing."

Ishtar grabbed Hall's mouth with her right hand, pinched and played with it, and said teasingly, "Hall, you really are human, and a fairly ordinary human at that."

What do you want to say?

"Your personality, especially your tendency to say one thing and mean another, is quite similar to Ereshkigal's."

"My personality is very similar to Ellie's? What makes you say that?" Hall raised an eyebrow.

"To give an example, if I wanted to destroy humanity, I would carry it out ruthlessly without any hesitation or doubt. But you are different. No matter how powerful you are, you always retain human emotions. You feel compassion for your fellow human beings, guilt, sadness, and the like."

That's human nature.

“That’s right, that’s human nature. After listening to your plan yesterday, I’m sure you haven’t abandoned your humanity. In this respect, you’re not even as good as some excellent magicians.”

"I neither want to be a partner of justice nor to save humanity. All my actions are based on the fact that I am a human being and act according to the desires of ordinary humans. Abandoning humanity is tantamount to going against my ideals."

"You're really funny."

Ishtar floated in front of Hall, her subtle gaze sweeping over him. She laughed heartily, then, after calming down, said with a straightforward and sincere look, "However, I really like this about you."

Ishtar landed beside Hall and naturally took his arm, looking together at the distant northern wall on the horizon. She said softly, "That wall will stand forever. It will neither be breached nor will the monsters stop attacking."

Hall nodded: "Humanity is destined to perish in six months. The so-called Three Goddess Alliance is just a pretense to restrain each other. They are both allies and competitors."

The key to breaking the alliance of the three goddesses lies in the North Wall. Once the monsters breach the North Wall, the three goddesses will have to get serious in order to compete for the Holy Grail of Uruk.

This is also the ingenious aspect of Jin Gu's scheme.

Humanity may seem to be on the verge of collapse, but in reality, it will be destroyed in just six months. There is no more time, and no less time.

The alliance of the three goddesses lasted until the extinction of humanity and the acquisition of the Holy Grail.

If Chaldea hadn't interfered, the final battle would have been a duel between Gorgon and the remaining two goddesses.

Both Quetzalcoatl and Ereshkigal were aware of this, and Ereshkigal had even prepared a gate to the underworld in Uruk in advance.

It doesn't matter who the final winner is; if Gorgon obtains the Holy Grail, he can directly use its power to awaken Tiamat from her slumber.

If Gorgon is killed, the death will be synchronized with Tiamat's slumbering state, and the result will be the same.

In any case, humanity is facing an intractable deadlock.

Hall asked casually, "If Uruk were to face a life-or-death situation, what would you choose?"

"It doesn't matter."

Ishtar answered easily, adding, "Although it doesn't matter, I would also feel troubled if humans didn't offer me treasures, so I might still choose to stand on the side of humans."

Just how much do you like gemstones?

goo goo~

Strange sounds came from beneath Hall's feet, and a small rock wall rose from the ground, naturally forming a mud tablet with cuneiform writing on it.

The earth elemental spirit familiar, the cuneiform script on the clay tablet is the state it discovered.

Hall picked up the slate and examined the information on it.

"What's wrong?" Ishtar asked curiously.

"There was a reaction from a Servant in the cedar forest, but it doesn't belong to any Servant I know, and the Spirit Origin reaction wasn't strong."

"You seem to know who this Servant is."

"The aura is very familiar; it appeared earlier than I expected."

"who is it?"

Hall pointed to the Sky Bow Ma Anna, "Give me a ride, and you'll know who she is when you see her."

"I hate this kind of thing."

"Me too."

"Come on up."

······

In less than two minutes, Ishtar, piloting the Sky Bow Maana, brought Hall to the skies above the cedar forest. Without Hall needing to specify the destination, they could see that a section of the cedar forest had been felled, revealing a large open space.

After landing, traces of a fierce battle could be seen.

Numerous trees were cut down by sharp blades, and the corpses of monsters were everywhere, their blood soaking the green leaves.

Ishtar examined the carcass of a monster the size of an Asian elephant and frowned, saying, "The wounds are strange, they come with a special curse, and all the life force of these monsters has been drained."

Hall walked up to a grayish-white monster corpse, where the corpse, blood, and even the surrounding land and trees were petrified.

"Cybele (Petrifying Eyes)!" Ishtar exclaimed in surprise as she followed. She knew of only one Servant with this ability: Gorgon, the goddess of vengeance.

But if it were Gorgon, the goddess of vengeance, the traces of battle wouldn't be so few, and she certainly wouldn't be so bored as to slaughter her own offspring.

Hall activated the magic circuit of the Mystic Eyes, triggering the [Past Vision] ability. His two eyes saw completely different scenes. The Mystic Eyes saw a scene from half an hour ago, where a petite figure in a black robe was hunting a small group of magical beasts. After sensing the surveillance of the earth elemental spirit familiar, she quickly fled the scene.

Hall headed in the direction she had fled, while the Magic Eye continued to track the traces she had left in the forest.

"Hall, what did you find?"

"Come with me."

After entering the dense forest and advancing a distance, they encountered few monsters despite being close to the cedar forest, the stronghold of the monsters.

The reason is probably the fierce battle traces and monster corpses left along the way. Strangely, apart from the curses on the wounds, the remaining life force of these corpses has not been taken away.

Hall paused to observe the traces left by the battle and concluded, "The traces left by the battle are getting more and more chaotic. It's clear that she didn't win easily, and she might even be injured."

As for the reason, Hall could more or less guess.

The Servant that appeared in this forest is, unsurprisingly, Medusa Lily, the benevolent aspect of Gorgon, the goddess of vengeance, who was likely summoned in the last few days.

Hall had been here before and had not detected any trace of a Servant.

Medusa Lily's combat ability is not strong; she is more than capable of dealing with ordinary magical beasts. However, she is not summoned by her Master, so without a supply of magical energy, she can only obtain magical energy by hunting magical beasts.

The earth elemental spirit familiar's surveillance made her feel threatened, so she moved away and wanted to hide her tracks.

At this moment, Medusa Lily has no time to draw magic power from the magical beasts she hunts, creating a vicious cycle.