That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Ishtar didn't really mind Hall's request. She herself possessed the qualities of a marriage, and after merging with Rin Tohsaka to become an independent entity, she was no longer the Inanna she once was, and thus became more restrained.

"No... I won't lose to you."

Ereshkigal glanced at Ishtar, then stared at Hall, took a deep breath, and nodded shyly.

"Then I'll start."

The radiance faded, the goddess's clothes disappeared, and she stood gracefully, her skin as smooth as jade.

Ishtar cupped her sister's pretty face in her hands, finding it amusing to see Ereshkigal so shy for the first time. "Sister~ relax, there's plenty of time tonight, Hall and I will teach you slowly~"

“Mm,” Ereshkigal replied softly.

The dense forest, protected by the barrier, remained a shimmering expanse until dawn.

Chapter 445 The Ordinary Magician Hall

Three days later, Hall and his group returned from the dense forest to the south gate of Uruk.

The scenery remained the same, but apart from the drowsy soldiers stationed at the south gate, it was deserted.

Merlin, holding his staff, bowed slightly to the crowd in a gesture of politeness. With his silver hair and elegant, composed demeanor, he said in a clear voice, "Well then, let's part ways here. I will give King Gilgamesh a detailed report on this incident. It was quite an interesting experience, to say the least."

Anna's small face was hidden by the cat-ear hood. She was listless due to insufficient magic power and nodded softly: "Yes, I need to go back to the North Wall to deal with the monsters."

Ishtar, suspended in mid-air, stretched and yawned, revealing her graceful curves: "Then I'll go back to the temple and get some rest. Siduri should have already prepared a magnificent welcoming ceremony for me."

Hall simply nodded, offering no particular response.

Although the group managed to defeat Quetzalcoatl this time, they couldn't persuade her to join the human camp like Fujimaru Ritsuka did in the original timeline. Merlin tried to persuade her, but Quetzalcoatl directly refused. Merlin wasn't the one who truly defeated her, and said that she could accept the request if it were Howl who made it.

Hall had relinquished the right to make demands to Ishtar in exchange for that one night of passion.

In Ishtar's mind, the importance of treasure to the survival of humanity was naturally a thousand times greater than that of the former.

Furthermore, Hall was unaware of what request Merlin had made to Quetzalcoatl.

Ishtar, having emptied Eridu's last gem, reaped a rich harvest and has been in high spirits these past few days.

Anna, a participant yet an outsider, was sullen throughout the journey. Apart from acting as a hostage and clearing monsters from the road, she played no other role.

"The Uruk delegation for the wrestling tournament is hereby disbanded." With that, Merlin slammed his staff into the ground, and his body transformed into a shower of petals that scattered across the ground.

Anna vanished from her spot in an instant.

"It's over, and it was more fun than I imagined."

Ishtar, riding on her Heavenly Bow, landed beside Hall and covered her mouth with a mischievous smile, saying, "Hall, do you want to come back with me? As my Master, I allow you to live with me in the temple and enjoy the same treatment as a city god. You can also do whatever you want with the priestesses who serve me."

Hall understood Ishtar's underlying meaning, rolled his eyes at her, and said irritably, "Who do you take me for? How can you say I'm as shameless as Gilgamesh in his youth?"

Incidentally, in his youth, King Gilgamesh was undoubtedly a prolific seed-laying machine in Uruk.

Ishtar retorted sarcastically, "Isn't that right? Just the day before yesterday, she asked her sister to do something so outrageous. Ahh~ it was the first time I'd ever seen her like that, it was so funny."

Just two days ago, on a whim, Hall ate the Sister's Donburi, so he couldn't really refute it. He pouted and said, "Didn't you say you didn't want to see me and Ellie together?"

“Of course, but everything has its priorities. Compared to others, I feel much more at ease seeing you with her. Someone with her personality can't beat me.” Ishtar patted her chest, a confident smile playing on her lips.

"But I like Ereshkigal more than you."

"what?"

"No way!?" Ishtar's mouth dropped open in panic. "Why? No matter how you look at it, I, as the mistress of heaven, am much more charming! Are you saying this on purpose to provoke me? Is that it? It must be!"

As she finished speaking, Ishtar's pretty face darkened, revealing a hint of pleading.

Hall's words were a significant blow to her.

Seeing Ishtar's utterly dejected look, Hall chuckled and added, "I pretend I did nothing wrong."

"Then what is it exactly?" Ishtar persisted.

Just as you thought.

Hall had one more thing he didn't say, which was indeed meant to provoke her, but that doesn't mean it was a lie.

"That's the right way; anything else won't do."

The goddess Venus immediately stopped crying and started laughing, putting her hands on her hips and regaining her radiant smile: "I am your goddess of victory."

The two entered through the south gate, where the two guards stood at attention and bowed respectfully: "Your...Goddess!?"

"Goddess Ishtar!"

In high spirits, Ishtar waved and replied with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, you're welcome."

"yes!?"

The soldiers looked at each other in astonishment, unable to believe that the kind woman before them was the legendary, cruel goddess Venus.

······

Back in his dorm room alone, Hall lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and pondered deeply.

By breaking down our thinking, we can analyze this event from completely different perspectives and deduce the motives of all those involved from the outcome.

"Aileen's attitude is strange. She's not the type to keep things to herself. What role does she play in this incident?"

Before encountering Quetzalcoatl, Hall had a vague feeling that something was wrong. After defeating Quetzalcoatl, he was able to confirm that Ereshkigal was involved in the matter by eating the Sister Donburi.

First of all, the sister bowl is naturally Hall's perverse sense of humor. Given Ereshkigal's shyness and romantic girlish heart, she would not normally accept such a thing, and would run away if forced to.

She accepted it.

It's not hard to guess from the reward she mentioned that she felt guilty.

All the clues, when put together, are enough to draw a conclusion.

Hall smiled. "But the result wasn't bad either."

Hall was a simple man, a man full of base desires, lusting after the goddess sisters' bodies. No matter what Ereshkigal did, Hall felt the journey was worthwhile.

"As for Quetzalcoatl's purpose and Merlin's stance..."

Hall snorted. Gilgamesh had the all-knowing and all-powerful star, Merlin had the all-seeing eye, and Quetzalcoatl had the Sunstone. They had long seen through the truth of the burning of humanity.

Hall believed that his little tricks wouldn't escape their notice, so he didn't really try to hide them.

They know each other inside and out, and are testing each other, nothing more.

······

Uruk, the palace.

King Gilgamesh sat on his throne, holding a clay tablet and reviewing the information.

Beneath the throne were three people: Merlin, the High Priestess Xiduli, and Ushiwakamaru.

Merlin stepped forward and added details to the information recorded on the clay tablets: "I was not caught in the Realmbound of the Forest Goddess and do not know what happened, but the Realmbound did not disappear naturally, but was shattered by a powerful force that erupted from within."

"Judging from the result, it was the goddess Ishtar and the magician Hor who defeated the winged serpent from Aztec mythology."

"After the Reality Marble disappeared, the Sunstone showed signs of weakening and the Winged Serpent's Spirit Origin was damaged. The exact values ​​are recorded on the clay tablet."

"The above is the entire process of going to the Southern Forest to participate in the wrestling tournament hosted by the Forest Goddess."

After listening to Merlin's report, King Gilgamesh put down the clay tablet in his hand and exclaimed sincerely, "Damn it! Why do you always encounter such interesting things? The city of Ur is ruled by leopard people, and the gods are ridiculously powerful. I, the king, can only sit on the throne and handle state affairs. Don't you think that's a waste?"

The high priest, Siduli, coughed and said, "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words."

King Gilgamesh complained loudly, "I was just complaining, you're too harsh! High Priestess Siduri, you're being far too harsh on me! If this continues, I'll die suddenly on my throne sooner or later."

Siduli smiled, but her face was dark: "Really? This level is quite normal. I've been through it too. As long as you arrange your rest time properly, there won't be any problems."

"Ok."

King Gilgamesh was speechless and dared not say anything more. Siduri's words were indeed correct. When he abandoned Uruk to search for the elixir of immortality, it was Siduri who acted as king and took up the mantle of governing Uruk on her own.

"King Gilgamesh, I have one more thing to report," Merlin said solemnly.

"Anything else? Why not write it on the clay tablet?"

"Because this is my personal judgment, it is not a formal report."

King Gilgamesh narrowed his crimson eyes, his expression imposing and sharp. He snorted as if he had anticipated this, "It's related to the magician Hall, isn't it?"

Upon hearing Hall's name, the three people on the throne reacted with varying expressions.

Merlin answered frankly, "Exactly. Now I can understand why the Forest Goddess held the so-called wrestling tournament and why she invited us. She noticed something unusual about Magician Hall, and her real purpose was probably to test Magician Hall and let us understand him at the same time."

"continue."

"I can now confirm that the magician Hall has an extremely close relationship with Tiamat, the Beast of Original Sin who is still in a slumber. This connection even surpasses that of Kingu, who possessed Enkidu's body and claimed to be Tiamat's son."

Ushiwakamaru, who had been waiting patiently, looked up in surprise: "Isn't Tiamat, the creator goddess, in the northern forest?"

Merlin shook his head: "That was just impersonating the Mother Goddess of Creation... No, it can't be said for sure yet, but I can confirm the fact that the real Tiamat has not yet awakened."

Because Merlin's true form is maintaining Tiamat's drowsy dream state.

"Hmph, don't forget that the Forest Goddess is one of the three goddesses, and she is an enemy of mankind," King Gilgamesh said disdainfully.

Merlin calmly said, "King Gilgamesh, you know I am not blinded by my stance; I only believe what I believe."

King Gilgamesh sneered and retorted, "Even if what you say is true, that the magician Hall is related to his mother, so what? He accomplished what he was supposed to accomplish and proved the value of what he was supposed to prove. Therefore, I will bestow upon him a reward of equal value. This is the way of man and the law of my kingdom!"

Merlin explained, "I did not question the King's decision, and it would be too narrow-minded to use this conclusion to impeach Magician Hall."

"Hmph, I already know. Magician Merlin, step down."

"Yes."

Outside the palace, Ushiwakamaru and Merlin came out together. Ushiwakamaru asked, puzzled, "Lord Merlin, you should know that such advice will displease the king and will not change anything."

"There's nothing we can do about it; that's just Gilgamesh's personality," Merlin smiled, not bothered by it.

"Why did you have to say it?"

Merlin countered, "What do you think of what I said?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Ushiwakamaru readily replied, "I trust Lord Merlin, and I also trust Lord Hall. But no matter what, I am a summoned Servant, a Master's Blade. There is only one thing I need to do: obey my Master's orders and eliminate my Master's enemies. I will not hesitate otherwise."

"Haha, what a nostalgic style, the Knights of the Round Table were like that too. Lord Ushiwakamaru, do you know that human dreams are not a single scene? It's like a mirror that has been broken on the ground, and each fragment could be a completely different dream."

"I'm sorry, I'm just a martial artist and I don't know much about dreams."