That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Saber's expression changed drastically, and she gripped the holy sword tightly: "Undead! No, human souls! What a cruel practice! Imprisoning human souls in cages, the souls will only suffer eternal torment. Master, is that goddess of the underworld such a cruel person?"

Hall was prepared for this and shrugged: "Gods and humans have different standards of judgment. What may seem incredibly cruel to us may be a blessing in the eyes of the goddess of the underworld."

Saber shook her head: "The one who bears the consequences is a real human being. No matter what her intentions were, this is just too cruel."

“I agree, but this is not our business right now.”

"clear."

As they continued forward, the environment changed drastically, transforming from a forest landscape into a demonic realm unsuitable for life. White mist filled the air, temperatures plummeted, and the number of gun cages increased accordingly, becoming ubiquitous.

Hall managed to find the right path by relying on his memory. Suddenly, the view opened up, and the two arrived at a wide cliff crevice. Judging by the distance, the other side was at least several hundred meters away. The only way to the other side was a suspended stone bridge, which was just wide enough for a carriage to pass through. However, because there was no support under the bridge, one couldn't help but wonder if the first step on the stone bridge would cause them to fall into the cliff together.

On the stone bridge, there are simple archways made of stone at intervals.

"The Seven Gates of the Underworld, she actually restored this thing too?" Hall was speechless with astonishment.

"The Seven Gates of the Underworld?"

"The trials that the living will face when they enter the underworld are the gates of justice that question the good and evil of the soul. There are seven gates in total. Good and evil are of equal value, so there is no right or wrong in the questions. Only the value of the person being questioned will change."

“This is truly a test that suits the goddess’s perverse tastes.” Saber shook her head, her impression of Ereshkigal growing increasingly worse.

"Let's go."

Hall pondered that the questioning by the Seven Gates of the Underworld was entirely based on the interests of the Goddess of the Underworld. As long as he chose an answer that pleased the goddess, he would be fine. However, if he was someone she disliked, he would be punished even if he chose the correct answer.

In short, it's like your girlfriend asking you, "If your girlfriend and your mother fell into the water, who would you save?"

To put it simply, it's like a reclusive goddess living in the underworld measuring whether someone shares her values ​​and is worth befriending.

As Hall stepped onto the stone bridge and approached the stone gate, he heard a low, hoarse voice.

"Ask Hall, the sinful living man."

"Good and evil are of equal value. Everyone has a different definition of good, but there is still a line between good and evil. What do you think is the line between good and evil?"

"One: The majority choice."

"Second: Self-judgment."

"Two." Hall answered without hesitation. Most choices are not necessarily correct. In the absence of a third option, or when he had to find the answer himself, Hall was more inclined to rely on his own judgment.

After a brief silence, Shimen did not offer a conclusion on right or wrong, but instead said, "Give the arrogant and haughty the appropriate despair."

呲味~

As if an electric current was flowing through his body, Hall suddenly felt a portion of his magical power being stripped away, resulting in a reduction in his strength.

"Saber, were you unaffected?"

"I didn't feel anything."

"It seems to be targeting me alone."

Hall frowned. The impact wasn't too great. The underworld's biggest influence was on divinity. As long as one was a god, the higher one's divinity, the more suppression one would receive. Hall was being suppressed purely because of his status as a living being.

"keep going."

The second stone gate.

"Fear of death is an instinct of all human beings, but that is a misconception about the underworld. Eternal life is accompanied by suffering and fleeting pleasures will disappear."

"One: Endure suffering to gain eternity."

Second: fleeting pleasures will be gone forever.

"One," Hall answered without the slightest hesitation.

Pain can be taken to heart, but no one knows what it means to disappear forever.

This time, Hall passed through the stone gate without being punished.

"Master, why choose the second option? Isn't that just agreeing with the cruel act of the goddess of the underworld imprisoning souls?" Saber asked, puzzled.

“That’s truly what I think, because I’m not an ordinary person. I always have a way to break out of the gun prison. To disappear forever means there’s no chance left. Saber, don’t worry about it. This question is only directed at me personally. I told you from the beginning that the questioning by the Seven Gates of the Underworld has no right or wrong, it’s just a judgment of my personal value.”

Walking on the stone bridge, Hall glanced at the abyss on both sides. It was impossible to use magic to fly across here. Below the stone bridge was the Sea of ​​Nothingness, similar to the imaginary space. Legend has it that Abzu and Tiamat created the Mesopotamian world from the Sea of ​​Nothingness.

According to Hall's Eye of Magic, the so-called Sea of ​​Nothingness is the depths of the imaginary space. The imaginary space that Hall opened earlier was like a shallow beach, where one could escape if caught in it. However, once one falls into the Sea of ​​Nothingness, even a god of Tiamat's level would find it extremely difficult to return.

Chapter 165 The Serious Goddess

The third stone gate.

"Self-selection is the embodiment of value. Value itself has different levels, and life has different importance. If there are five people who are about to die, you can choose to kill one of them and save the other five. Otherwise, if you do not make a choice, all five people will die."

"One: Kill one person and save the remaining five."

"Second: Do nothing."

Hall stroked his chin. Isn't this the original version of the trolley problem?

"one."

Hall replied that he had roughly figured out Ereshkigal's personality and the significance of the Seven Gates of the Underworld.

The trolley problem is that doing nothing inevitably leads to moral condemnation, but killing someone to save them also makes one a criminal. This tests what humanity calls morality, which is mostly based on the principle of "providing the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people."

In this trolley problem, Ereshkigal undoubtedly belongs to the first category: spending his entire life in the underworld is equivalent to being morally punished, yet he protects humanity in his own way.

However, unlike the partners of justice, Ereshkigal is more inclined towards ordinary people and wants others to acknowledge the sacrifices she has made. Little does she know that such acknowledgment is itself a desecration of her duty as the goddess of the underworld.

Naturally, this answer was approved as well.

We arrived at the fourth stone gate.

"The standard of beauty is still the same, black can surpass white, and earth can surpass heaven. In that case, who is more beautiful, the Knight King or Ereshkigal?"

"One: The Knight King".

"Second: Ereshkigal."

Huh? Why are you suddenly acting so unserious?

Hall's lips twitched, and he glanced at Saber beside him, whose pretty face was full of confusion.

"Two," Hall answered decisively.

This time, Hall was not punished either.

Hall and Saber continued on their way. After walking for a while, Saber suddenly asked, "Master, was the answer you chose just now to please that goddess of the underworld?"

Hall smiled and gave a vague reply: "Guess."

Saner grumbled discontentedly, "Sigh~ Master really learned bad habits from Irisviel."

Hall didn't want to not answer, but his strong survival instinct told him that the goddess of the underworld was likely still watching him. In reality, Hall couldn't judge either. When beauty reaches a certain level, it loses its distinction between high and low, like putting an ordinary person in an exhibition hall of abstract painting masters and asking them to judge the quality of the paintings.

The fifth stone gate.

"Faith is something that yields no reward, and prayer is something that is given as charity. People do not seek favors from God, but only offer them; they are slaves for life."

"In that case, answer me, who is the goddess who is worthy of receiving such noble labor?"

"One: Ishtar."

"Second: Ereshkigal."

"Two," Hall replied immediately, feeling that the questioning by the Seven Gates of the Underworld was going further and further astray, becoming increasingly simplistic.

As Hall had expected, the next two stone doors posed mostly trivial questions; all that was needed was to choose answers that favored Ereshkigal.

Having successfully passed through the stone gate, Howl and Saber arrived at the other side of the underworld.

The surrounding area remained desolate, with gun cells used to imprison souls scattered everywhere.

After a brief silence, the temperature plummeted, and the pervasive white mist coalesced into a gigantic white shadow. The girl's majestic voice resounded throughout the underworld: "Fear! Pray! Despair, you living beings!"

“I am the administrator of death, the lord of the underworld, the one who tramples the spirit peaks, Ereshkigal, you…”

"what?"

The goddess of the underworld, who solemnly proclaimed her identity, suddenly let out a strange cry, as if she had startled a young girl.

As the white shadow appeared, the temperature dropped to below minus ten degrees Celsius. However, this was not caused by the low temperature, but by the appearance of Ereshkigal, which caused a shift in the concept of this space. It is likely that the underworld is now equivalent to being on a mountain peak with an altitude of over five thousand meters.

Hall's magic eye glowed, revealing that the white shadow was a mixture of filth, including the concept of death, maggots, withered bones, and mold, enough to instill fear in the living.

but····

Hall raised his hand, a half-smile on his face, and asked, "Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld, we should have met before."

"Cough cough! Cough cough cough cough cough! It's you. Now that you've seen my true face, there's no point in hiding it anymore." The girl answered shyly, and a burst of light shone, dispelling the white shadow and revealing the true form of the goddess of the underworld.

"Rin!?" Saber exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Ereshkigal's appearance. Apart from her silver-white hair, she looked very similar to Rin Tohsaka.

"Is there anything strange about my appearance?" Ereshkigal asked, puzzled.

Saber glanced at Hall, and seeing that Hall didn't react, she shook her head: "No, it's just that you look a lot like someone I know."

“This happens often, and besides, this isn’t how I am normally.”

Ereshkigal didn't care and looked at Hall with his chin held high, asking, "What are you doing here? Are you here to offer tribute? No, there shouldn't be any other choice. As the master of the underworld, I'm very busy."

“I have brought the offerings. These are flower seeds, and this book is a classification of flowers by modern humans, as well as a record of various knowledge related to flowers.” Hall presented what he had hastily prepared.

The goddess of the underworld's eyes lit up, but she quickly concealed it, feigning anger: "Hmph, how dare incompetent humans offer the knowledge they created as tribute to the goddess?"

Hall immediately took the items back: "Alright, then I'll go back and prepare more valuable offerings."

Hall was about to turn and leave when the Goddess of the Underworld, unable to sit still, coughed a few times to attract attention. Her beautiful eyes avoided meeting Hall's gaze, and she looked to the other side, her face flushed as she forced a smile and said, "Wait! ...Wait, cough cough cough, although your value is not enough to be offered as tribute to the Goddess of the Underworld, you just passed through the Seven Gates of the Underworld. As the Lord of the Underworld, I acknowledge the value of your soul and will reluctantly accept your tribute."

Hall was suppressing a laugh.

After accepting the gift, Ereshkigal glanced at Saber and asked Hall seriously, "So, what is your purpose in coming to the Underworld as a living being?"

“I am an ally of the Hero King Gilgamesh, so I will assist you in protecting the stronghold as an ally.”

Ereshkigal's eyes widened in surprise: "Wow, you've actually become an ally of that tyrant? How could you be so foolish? Unless you're an exceptional hero or completely out of your mind, you wouldn't even be able to talk to that kind of tyrant."

Saber nodded in deep agreement.

Hall explained, "That's Gilgamesh as an adult tyrant. Right now, he's still a boy, so there's not much to worry about."

"Never mind, it's none of my business anyway. I was summoned as a Servant, and although I was abandoned, I made a contract with the King of Heroes. I will give you a pass to the Underworld, but unless something important happens, I hope you will not disturb me."