Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

—If something happens to the goddess of the underworld, the living on earth will also be greatly affected.

Recalling what Gilgamesh had told him before, Yan Ming was determined that the goddess named Ereshkigal must not be affected under any circumstances.

Otherwise, the citizens of Uruk living on the ground would certainly suffer an unexpected disaster.

"You don't need to worry about your current situation."

Suddenly, the old man's figure began to appear and disappear intermittently.

"You are not dead, and this half-awake state should not last long. You will soon be able to return to the ground. You just need to protect your safety during this time."

"I will do my best to stop the rebellion of the souls in the underworld in order to save the fate of the underworld."

As soon as those words were spoken, his figure completely disappeared.

Yan Ming was not shocked by this and calmly gazed into the distance.

"...The survival of the underworld, is it?"

According to the old man, he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

He has dealt with all the spirits in the vicinity. He only needs to stay where he is. Soon his consciousness should be able to return to his body, and then everything will be over.

but.

Since I was able to attack and defeat those spirits before—

That means he has the ability to stop them here.

…He has the ability to help this place called the Underworld.

Yan Ming could leave at any time, and he had no obligation to get involved in such a matter.

But his gaze changed immediately.

Maintaining his transformed state, Yan Ming continued walking slowly towards the road ahead.

If I can help... I'll lend a hand for now.

He walked silently along the straight road, and thus, he continued deeper into the underworld.

The Demon King began his battle in the world of the dead.

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Then, he had already walked quite close to the deepest part of the area.

Surrounding them were all those dangerous spirits.

Roar—!! It was clearly a soul, yet it kept emitting roars like a ferocious beast.

The souls approached Yan Ming with an extremely dangerous aura, and a power even stronger than their original strength surged continuously within his body.

Yan Ming was surrounded in the very center.

He casually took a watch face off his arm.

Turn it, press the button, put it on your waist, and turn the belt at the same time.

"Ghost! Armor Time!"

Orange flames slowly ignited around Yan Ming's body.

A tangible shadow appeared before him, splitting into several small pieces that then adhered to his body, transforming into a tangible armor.

"Open your eyes! Ghost!"

To deal with spirits, one must naturally use the power of the soul itself.

Countless souls were shocked by the aura of power emanating from Yan Ming—the power of ghosts.

And...it's even stronger than them.

Whether it was because they couldn't accept this or simply because they were going berserk, the souls became even more frenzied after seeing Yan Ming use the power of Ghost.

And it charged straight toward him.

As Yan Ming raised his hands, a layer of orange light instantly enveloped his body.

He leaped lightly into the air and crashed to the ground like a heavy hammer.

boom!!

The overwhelming force spread outwards in the form of shockwaves.

The souls affected by that force were mostly blasted away, and a very small number were even annihilated in an instant.

"Finish Time! Ghost!"

Pressing the buttons on both sides of the dial, a huge icon appears behind him, and the power of the fifteen heroes is poured into his feet in the form of a stream of light.

The remaining souls surrounded him again, and Yan Ming, now encircled by them, simply lifted his foot.

"Omega Time Break!"

then.

He unleashed a powerful spinning kick in a 360-degree arc from the spot.

The orange-black light burst destroyed the structure of the souls from within, and the shattered souls turned into tiny fragments, all falling towards the abyss of the underworld.

Only Yan Ming remained standing, completely unharmed.

"...The restrictions in this underworld space seem to be quite great."

He shook hands, having sensed something of it during the previous battle.

He cannot fly.

Even with the power of Ghost, one cannot fly; at most, one can only float. However, beyond a certain height, one cannot continue flying. But one can manipulate gravity through the power of Newton's Soul to achieve a near-flying effect.

This seems to be influenced by some kind of law within the underworld.

Yan Ming didn't know what it was either. In any case, the closer he got to the abyss of the underworld, the greater the influence of this power on him.

Still in his transformed state, Yan Ming continued walking forward, but he could no longer see any trace of any soul.

Instead.

The road, which originally stretched straight forward, began to extend downwards.

Moreover, it is in a spiral downwards form.

Without a doubt, this is the direction leading to the deepest part of the underworld.

Yan Ming walked down this path, but he didn't follow it. That would be too slow, and who knew how much longer he could stay in the underworld?

Buzz—! Manipulating his spiritual power, he floated up and fell from the center of the spiral staircase like a free fall.

Everything around was changing downwards.

It's unclear how long this continued, but finally, Yan Ming reached the deepest part.

A vast, unexpected space.

The earth shimmered with a ghostly blue light, and a scene of countless cage-like objects stuck into the ground.

This area is very spacious, at least much larger than a typical football field.

And it was there that Yan Ming saw it.

A figure remained in the depths of this vast, empty space.

“…That is it.”

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A young girl was struggling to hold on.

She used all her current power to create a barrier-like structure that blocked the attacks of those souls.

But despite this—

"...Is this all the authority the Underworld has left?"

Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld.

A beautiful young woman with long golden hair, dressed in a red and black robe, and gazing ahead with red eyes, she is the legendary goddess.

Judging from her appearance, she looks like an ordinary high school girl, very cute and beautiful. If it weren't for the fact that her clothes are too close to those of the Age of Gods, it would be difficult for people to recognize her as the legendary goddess of the underworld.

Meanwhile, Ereshkigal was having a very difficult time.

First of all, as she said, most of her authority over the underworld has been taken away.

If you want to resist these souls now, you have to put in at least several times the effort.

"Ugh...!"

Her hands were trembling slightly.

The girl's expression gradually became strained. She bit her lip, and the spear-like object took shape in front of her, freezing her in place.

Zzzzt! Golden lightning formed a new protective line once again.

The lightning shattered countless souls, turning them into ordinary ones, but the rampaging souls endured it with their own bodies.

The monsters seemed to be laughing at her.

Completely disregarding the goddess's attacks, the golden lightning and the red spear she had formed with all her might were nothing more than weak attacks that caused her no pain or itch.

"Damn it... if the authority of the underworld were still there...!"

Ereshkigal possesses the power to govern everything within the underworld.

Normally, without her permission, no soul could possibly do such a thing, and in terms of power alone, no soul should be able to contend with her.

But these souls all possess power far exceeding that of the original body.

Furthermore, through some unknown means, they even seized most of the underworld authority that belonged to Ereshkigal.

The power and authority that can still be controlled now are probably less than half of what they were originally.

That translates to less than 40%.

Despite this, Ereshkigal continued to fight.

Why? Just to avoid being destroyed, and to prevent the underworld from being destroyed?

That's not all.

Clang—!! Some souls stretched out their sharp, sword-like skeletal arms and all pierced into her barrier.

But Ereshkigal continued to fight with all his might.

"I will absolutely... not let you touch them!"

Upon closer inspection, it turns out that... behind her are countless uncorrupted souls.

Those souls emitted a normal, dim glow, while in contrast, the vast number of souls, like a tidal wave, completely enveloped the area directly in front of them.

Once Ereshkigal's defenses are breached, all the uncorrupted souls will eventually rebel, and the underworld will face utter destruction.

But Ereshkigal would not allow such a thing to happen.

She wasn't just fighting to protect the underworld; more so... for the dead.

She would not allow the souls of the dead to be defiled again, nor would she allow them to force themselves to do things they did not want to do, to run to the ground and harm the living.

Even if I can't hold on any longer.

Even as the ghosts' arms pierced his body with spikes.

Ereshkigal, as the goddess who guards the underworld, must also vow to protect the final safety of the dead...!

"Waaah...!"

But... she really couldn't hold on any longer.

His hands became completely powerless, and Ereshkigal even knelt on the ground.

The last line of defense was breached.

Countless sharp hands attacked her, and at that moment... even the goddess of the underworld realized that her fate was about to end.

"...Is it going to end?"

She recalled everything that had happened so far, and then closed her eyes with immense resentment.