The Holy Grail War of God's Blessing

"Of course. In the Age of Gods, the heavens, the earth, and the underworld were all on the same scroll. The afterlife and the firmament world became metaphysical existences only after entering your human world."

"Then this place really is the underworld!"

The two of them couldn't help sighing, looking at the scene of the underworld from here.

"Yes, it's amazing... Hey, what is that? There are long, thin birdcage-like things everywhere..."

"Those are the souls of humans who died on the ground. It's better not to get close to them unless necessary."

In those cages, countless points of light float inside, and if you get close you can hear the groans like the wailing of souls.

The souls of the dead in the Sumerian world could never be redeemed, and this was the only fate they could accept.

"These cages are Ereshkigal's gun cages. They are used to imprison souls in them to prevent them from losing their bodies and dying over time. They can also prevent them from floating to other places."

Manshu took the two of them for a stroll in this rocky and desolate underworld. All they could see in this underworld were stones that could not be used at all and gray-black land, and then there were cages that imprisoned souls randomly stuck in the ground among the rocks.

No matter how you look at it, there is no aesthetic appeal here. However, it is consistent with the Sumerian world's understanding of the underworld: it is a dusty, dark, damp and cold place that makes people unable to feel any love for it.

"Next, we must go directly to where Ereshkigal is. If we want to take the souls of the dead from her hands, we must first meet her."

"Where is Ereshkigal?"

"It's right there. There are eighty-seven gates across the narrow cliff. Behind the seven gates is the palace of Erewushkigal. The goddess is in his palace. She has been staying there for a long time.

Even though she was the goddess who ruled over the entire underworld, Ereshkigal was unable to leave this place just like the souls she imprisoned in the gun cage.

Ereshkigal's weapon imprisoned the soul here, and she herself was also imprisoned in the underworld, and the seven gates were to face Ereshkigal's greatest threat. "

Manshu stretched out his hand to point the direction for the two people, speaking with emotion.

"That's what happened to Miss Ishtar in the story of her descent into the underworld. After passing through the seven gates of the underworld, Ishtar had her seven treasures taken away and was eventually killed in front of Ereshkigal."

The few of them had already discussed this story in advance. These seven gates needed to go through Ereshkigal's seven tests before they could be passed successfully.

Of course, it is definitely not possible to pass it normally at this time. At least Manshu has no intention of doing such a thing.

“Go to the door first. Ereshkigal will give her test. Go and answer it. This test cannot hinder me.

There is no need for the living to stay in the underworld for too long, so do it as soon as possible. As long as you stay in the underworld, your body will be affected, and the death that is full of the underworld will reduce your body's values and destiny."

So after pointing out the direction, Manshu turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared in front of the two people, and all they had to do was pass Ereshkigal's test.

Anyway, Ereshkigal would not do anything to these seven gates, so Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others would be able to pass through smoothly until they reached the front of Ereshkigal's palace.

Manjushri himself was going to use his knowledge of the underworld and the seven gates to get through. After all, he possessed the identity of the underworld god and the knowledge of the seven gates of Ereshkigal.

The two followed Mansu's instructions and went to the seven gates in front of Ereshkigal's palace, where they answered Ereshkigal's questions and tests.

After all, it is common sense to understand that living people cannot stay in the underworld for a long time, so the two of them did not waste time and proceeded quickly.

However, what you will face at the door are not only problems but also tests. In other words, there are monsters. In the underworld, there are quite a lot of such things.

The most basic are the Garula spirits. These evil spirits are extremely ferocious. According to legends, they are ugly and extremely ferocious.

In the legend of Ishtar's descent into the underworld, it was they who crawled out of the underworld to track down the fertility god Dumuzi and pursue the goddess Ishtar.

In order to deal with these spirits, Fujimaru Ritsuka summoned the saint Georgios, with whom he once had a connection. Together with Mashu, the dragon-slaying saint built an impeccable defensive formation and steadily slaughtered the evil spirits that were pouring up.

In this way, they broke through two gates in succession, and the third gate was also locked. Only a slightly surprising creature appeared, which was the one that the king before Gilgamesh had defeated.

Although the first king of Uruk was Meskandhaja according to the Sumerian King List, it has been mentioned before that the description of this king was more like a description of the sun, and there are no more records besides that.

After him, King Enmerkar, who was recorded in the King List, was long regarded as the founder of Uruk. This king also has a certain number of legends.

He is said to have founded the city of Uruk, led the people to dig ditches and lead an orderly life, and invented writing in order to obtain the treasure of Arata so that information could be passed on to others.

The story of "Enmerkar and the King of Arata" records this incident, but in the legend, Enmerkar conquered the people of Arata with his wisdom and obtained the wealth of Arata.

At that time, King Arata made three requests to Enmerkar, namely, to put barley into fishing nets and transport it to Arata, to make a scepter that was not made of wood, and to let a warrior who could not wear clothes of any color to duel.

Faced with the same problem, Enmerkar picked up a piece of mud, wrote the sentence on the clay tablet, and directly invented writing to transmit the information back to Uruk to solve the problem.

Enmerka sent people to pick out the old barley from the barley and soak them in water to let them germinate, and then selected fishing nets with small meshes to catch the sprouted barley.

Chisel open the reeds, pour a kind of gelatinous substance into the reeds, expose them to the sun for three days until they are dry and hard, then use an axe to split the reeds.

Let the warriors cover their heads with colorful scarves and put lion skins on their bodies before going to duel.

It just seems that military means that were not mentioned in the story were still used here, and the King of Arata appeared as an opponent in the underworld.

Arata did not appear in the form of a human, but in the form of a dragon, an evil dragon that occupied the wealth, until it looked like it was caused by the evil dragon phenomenon.

But it happened that Fujimaru Ritsuka summoned a dragon-slaying hero, and the light of Ascalon pierced the evil dragon, allowing them to pass through the third gate.

However, the danger is also gradually increasing. What is dangerous when passing through these seven gates is not only the enemies that are pouring in, but also the terrain under their feet.

The road leading to Ereshkigal's palace was a stone road suspended above the abyss. On both sides of the road were endless abysses. If you fell into it, there would be no one to save you.

The abyss below is the Sea of Nothingness, where the gods Apsu and Tiamat were born, the Dawn Sea before the birth of life, and the abyss where the god Enki lives.

That is to say, the abyss of Apsu is further below the underworld, and when the god Enki, the keeper of the abyss, no longer exists here, there is no way to be rescued if you fall into it.

Next, a giant demon pig and some powerful servants appeared one after another. Mashu and Georgos's defense began to look a little weak in attack.

Then Gilgamesh, who had been watching from the side, stepped out and took out the best weapons from the treasure house to help the two.

“Hahahahaha! Thank you for coming to greet me! It seems that you are frightened by the excessive coldness of the underworld. Do you need me, who is familiar with the underworld, to lead the way?”

Gilgamesh's loud laughter is always hard to ignore, and the glittering golden light is a perfect symbol.

"It's King Gilgamesh—!"

Seeing the sudden appearance of reinforcements, Mashu felt a little surprised.

"Why are you here? Aren't you imprisoned by Ereshkigal?"

"Humph. The underworld is just my backyard. I am naturally very familiar with it and have been here many times."

Gilgamesh said with disdain.

"Although I died accidentally, before the Garula spirit arrived, I hid in the dark and held my breath to enter the meditation breath blocking EX. After escaping perfectly from under their noses, I was here thinking about what to do when you appeared, that's all!"

"No, you are still the same as always, you are the king!"

Ritsuka Fujimaru complained out of habit.

"You too, Fujimaru. After all, you have such a reckless personality. I had expected that you would come to the underworld."

"Since we have found King Gilgamesh, can we..."

“Of course it’s impossible, idiot. I am indeed dead. As a dead person, I am subject to the laws of Ereshkigal. Even if I want to return to Uruk, I cannot leave the underworld without his permission.

I don’t think that guy will let me go. If that’s the case, you should understand, right, Fujimaru? I order you to go through the gate of Hades for me and teach that despicable Ereshkigal a lesson!

With the addition of Gilgamesh, the tests of the remaining doors were easily passed.

After passing through seven gates, they came to an open space again, and Ereshkigal's palace was in front of them.

Chapter 166 News

"All seven gates have been breached. Ereshkigal's palace is now open space in the front nine. Ereshkigal is a pillar of the Three Goddesses Alliance and is an opponent that must be defeated at all costs.

Since I am here to help you, you will surely win. I won't say much about that. But... after we defeat her, I will leave the issue of how to deal with that guy to Fujimaru. Please consider the treatment of the goddess first."

Gilgamesh naturally began to think about what to do after victory, without worrying about any accidents or anything else.

"This is... the palace of the underworld... Anyway... this is just an ordinary wilderness. If this is considered a palace, it's too--"

Mashu was obviously stunned when he heard Gilgamesh's words, and looked at the vast space in front of him.

There were no buildings ahead, and the road was not much different from the one they had walked before.

At most, the rugged rocks were leveled into a flat area, but other than that there were still rocks and gun cages stuck between the rocks.

"This is the so-called underworld. There is nothing fancy here. Right, Ereshkigal? The queen of the garula spirits who look out at the dark sky."

Gilgamesh said this, this time with a sigh, but full of provocation. Upon hearing these words, the owner of this place also showed up without hiding, in a terrifying appearance.

"You speak as if you know a lot. He is just a demigod king."

A gigantic undead creature rose from the rubble, and a chilly wind came along with the terrifying air pressure. The ruler of the underworld created an environment that was deadly enough when she appeared.

"Fear, pray, and fall into despair, humans. I am the manager of death, the mistress of the underworld, the one who tramples the sacred peaks - one of the three goddesses alliance, Ai Nuo↓≥Human Group:⑧Five′〕Seven6…６♂〃㈢四'四＂/2Leshkigale."

The appearing Ereshkigal brought the wind with a strange voice, recited her identity with a chilling feeling, and brought death and fear to those who faced God.

"That's the goddess Ereshkigal...! I can feel a strong chill, Master...! The air temperature hasn't changed, but the temperature I feel is dropping rapidly...!"

They have experienced several life-and-death battles with gods as enemies, and they have successfully won every time.

But even so, when facing the gods, people will still exclaim in surprise, and lament the oppression brought by the gods themselves.

Moreover, this oppression is not just a sensory thing, but something that has already happened in reality.

"According to the measurements here, the atmospheric pressure over there has actually reached 500hpa!? This is the air pressure that only occurs on the top of a mountain with an altitude of more than 5 meters!

What is happening there is not cold, but high! This is low temperature caused by adiabatic cooling. I am afraid that the temperature in your environment is already minus six degrees!

"You're already approaching the limit of your life activities. If you continue like this, not only will you get decompression sickness, but even your alveoli will rupture due to the pressure. So you must hurry up and defeat Ereshkigal before that happens, Fujimaru!"

The impact of Ereshkigal's appearance on the environment makes this place even more unsuitable for human survival. Not to mention that the underworld itself is filled with the breath of death, which will cause the quality of the human body to continue to decline. If you stay there for too long, you will inevitably die.

"How boring. I just showed up and you're already at a loss. It seems that the commander of Chaldea is a coward. Isn't it worthwhile to fight him?"

Ereshkigal naturally heard the analysis of the situation that Dr. Roman read out loud in excessive surprise, and made a sound.

……

"This is an unprecedented environment. I'm afraid it's difficult to get so close to the Age of Gods at any other time except here."

While Fujimaru Ritsuka and his group were confronting Ereshkigal, Mansu was behind them, at the suspended road leading to Ereshkigal's location. However, he did not walk on the natural bridge made of stones, but jumped directly from it and wandered in the abyss.

This abyss, no matter where it is, can indeed be called the ocean before the dawn of life.

In mythology, this is the area where Apsu's body turned into a temple. The god Enki built a temple on Apsu's remains, and that temple was also called Apsu.

According to the creation epic "Enuma Elish", Apsu is the incarnation of the cosmic ocean, the origin of life, and the embodiment of the original natural force.

In the mythology of the Sumerian period, it was here that the god Enki asked Ninmakh to mold clay dolls and create humans to replace the gods in completing the work on earth.

This 4abyss is an unreachable place for the three of them because they have lost the person who can control it, or in other words, the person who is familiar with this place.

After all, this place is located at the bottom of the entire Sumerian land. If you fall downwards, you will probably never see the end and will lose your direction and everything.

However, Manshu was not afraid of this matter, so he was immersed in it and felt it so deeply that he almost forgot the time.

On the other side of the land, the battle has apparently begun, and Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mashu, Gilgamesh, and Arjuna are summoned as the Shadow of Inspiration to fight Ereshkigal.

This battle was obviously not a serious one. As the master of the underworld, Ereshkigal's divinity was not very high among all living beings, but only at an average level. However, in the underworld, she was undoubtedly able to exercise her power as the master who dominated this place. Even if the constraints of the underworld on the gods were ignored, there would probably be few gods who could defeat her in a pure contest of strength.

The authority Ereshkigal used at this time was only the judgment of the underworld, which only enabled the most basic effect of the underworld, allowing this curse of death to seal the ability of intruders and disruptors, and to block people's vitality so that they could not recover.

But even so, the few of them were fighting back and forth, and there were too many people letting the enemy off the hook. Manshu only took a glance and concluded that he might not need to help at all, so he continued to sink into the abyss.

"What an outstanding skill, old man! Even as the god of the underworld, I still can't tell when you came to me."

But at this time when no one should be visiting, Manshu sensed a presence appearing on the land in front of him, standing on the stone.

This was a familiar breath, coming from a traveler in the deep valley, so Man Sishu got up and went ashore directly, curious about the other party's purpose.

"There shouldn't be anything here that's worth an old man from the mountain to do, right? Or should I still call you Jusudela?"

The name is of course unimportant. After all, what Manshu is doing now makes no difference. The old man in the mountain naturally just waved his hand and told Manshu to do as he pleases, and then talked about the purpose of his visit.

"I was planning to do this, but Apsu is more interesting to me now. Since you are here, old man, I will continue to trouble you."

If he could do less, Manshu would naturally not bother to bother himself. He could also handle the matter of Ereshkigal, but Nergal's identity did not seem to be very good, so he should just be thrown into the underworld he created.

Things over there won't be any problems anyway as the old man in the mountains is taking care of them, as long as nothing unexpected happens. It's even more incredible what kind of accident could happen at this time.

It was not until the few of them set out on their return journey that Manshu climbed out of the abyss and greeted everyone on the road.

"I didn't expect that I only played the role of a guide this time, and you all successfully completed the task of pulling the goddess into the camp. However, it was successfully completed and things can continue to move in the normal direction, so there is nothing to blame.

Everything is done, and I should take my leave and continue to complete the work I should do. Let us part here. "

Manshu did not plan to leave with the others, but planned to stay in this Sumerian underworld for a while longer, to experience the place carefully before leaving.

Of course, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others couldn't stay too long, and they were also busy with their schedule, so they chatted for a few minutes before parting ways.

It was not a big problem for Manshu to stay in the abyss, and Ereshkigal probably would not pay any attention or care about it.

Although the abyss is located in the underworld, it is further below the underworld and is not under the jurisdiction of the god of the underworld. Therefore, theoretically, the book seller is not in the underworld. Therefore, he is too lazy to meet the owner of this place, and cannot see the owner of the abyss.

After going up, Fujimaru Ritsuka and his companions rushed back to Uruk from Kusa City. After resting, they visited Ishtar to win over the last goddess they knew could be won over.

The Alliance of Three Goddesses has completely collapsed at this point. Two of the three goddesses in the alliance have betrayed the alliance, and the only remaining enemies are the Warcraft goddesses Gorgon and Kingo.