"...A-Are you serious?"
Ishtar's face turned deathly pale. Trembling, she looked to Rozen for confirmation.
"Ereshkigal uses my body to act at night? That's a lie, right? You're just trying to scare me, right? Do you know that lying to a goddess brings curses? If you say now that this is all a joke, I might still forgive you, okay?"
Ishtar clearly did not want to admit this truth.
And that was understandable.
Anyone would react the same way if they suddenly found out that their body was being silently possessed without their knowledge.
Even more so for Ishtar—Ereshkigal was a nightmare to her.
In Sumerian mythology, Ishtar had everything go her way, always smooth sailing, except for that one time when she descended into the Underworld.
There, she was utterly defeated by Ereshkigal—killed, dismembered, stripped of her Authority.
If Dumuzi hadn't revived her, she might have bid farewell to the world for good and wouldn't be here now, carefree as ever.
So in that context, hearing that her body was being hijacked nightly by Ereshkigal was understandably unbearable.
Unfortunately, it was the truth.
"Then let me ask you—do you remember what happened that day in the cedar forest, after you lured Kingu away for us?"
Rozen asked.
"That day?" Ishtar furrowed her brows, clearly trying hard to recall. "Of course I remember. I lured away that imposter, and as the sun was setting, that guy seemed to notice something happening back in the cedar forest, so he rushed back."
"And after that?" Mash asked quickly. "Did anything else happen?"
"After that?" Ishtar replied without hesitation. "I just went straight back and went to bed early. Nothing else happened."
At those words, Mash fell silent.
From that alone, she could confirm Rozen had been telling the truth.
Because...
"That night, after sunset, we encountered Quetzalcoatl, one of the Three Goddess Alliance, and then Miss Ishtar appeared too—as a pillar of the Alliance."
Mash said quietly.
Ishtar was completely stunned.
Naturally, she had no recollection of that event whatsoever.
And...
"Do you remember what happened the night you were brought to Uruk and settled in the Chaldean Embassy?"
Rozen asked next.
"Th-That night?" Ishtar's voice trembled. "Didn't I just go to bed early too? The next morning, I remember hearing you guys talk badly about me..."
That answer made everything crystal clear.
"That morning, I got up earlier than usual. It was still dark. When I went downstairs, you were already awake, sitting in the lobby, and we even talked about the Three Goddess Alliance."
Rozen said with a faint smile.
Ishtar was rendered speechless.
The facts were now undeniable.
Once night fell, Ishtar became Ereshkigal.
That night in the Chaldean Embassy, the one Rozen spoke with wasn't Ishtar, but Ereshkigal—who had taken over her body.
Naturally, the same applied to the incident in the cedar forest. The one who appeared as a pillar of the Three Goddess Alliance was also Ereshkigal, who unleashed the stench of death and commanded an army of undead-type monsters, posing a great threat to Uruk.
Ishtar wasn't a member of the Three Goddess Alliance. It was her kindred spirit, Ereshkigal, who was.
"I think, because you both possess the same divine essence—two sides of the same coin—when you were summoned by the priestesses of Uruk, Ereshkigal was linked and summoned alongside you."
Rozen stated firmly.
"And the High Priestess of the temple died right after that summoning. That was likely because Ereshkigal took her soul."
Now, everything was perfectly clear.
Even if she didn't want to admit it, Ishtar had to face the truth: her sister, the Goddess of the Underworld with whom she shared deep karmic ties, had truly manifested.
"...I see. So that's why you came to Kutha. It's because Ereshkigal did something to Uruk, and you're following up on it, right?"
Ishtar sighed, finally calming down, and muttered with a defeated tone.
"The reason Kutha became a cursed land is because of Ereshkigal's stench of death. The Underworld still exists. If I'm not wrong, your goal is to enter the Underworld, isn't it?"
Clearly, Ishtar wasn't stupid—she had pieced everything together.
However...
"Are you guys idiots? You're living beings, yet you're seriously planning to enter the Underworld? Are you tired of living?"
Ishtar ruthlessly voiced her criticism.
"That's the realm of death that even I was stripped bare and turned into a powerless doll, slaughtered without the slightest chance to resist. Even though the laws of the Underworld don't apply to the living, the environment alone is unbearable for humans. Not to mention the dead—once they smell human life, they'll swarm in and tear you apart."
Her words were harsh, but entirely true.
Descending into the Underworld was an incredibly dangerous act—there was no doubt about that.
"And besides, the Underworld is huge. Do you even know where Ereshkigal is? Do you know the way?"
Ishtar added, continuing her barrage.
"If you don't, and you get lost, even if you don't encounter any enemies, just the passage of time will be enough to let the Underworld's deathly miasma corrupt you. You'll never return."
All things considered, Ishtar had zero confidence in Rozen's plan to descend into the Underworld.
"We..."
Mash wanted to say something.
But Rozen gently placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.
He merely looked at Ishtar.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Rozen asked calmly.
Ishtar fell silent.
Silence spread through the surroundings.
"Sigh..."
Not long after, Ishtar let out a deep sigh, as if she'd made some kind of decision. She stood up from the ground.
"I'll take you."
She said it simply and clearly.
"W-What?"
Everyone, including Mash, was stunned. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"I said I'll lead the way." Ishtar repeated, annoyed, sighing again. "Since that girl has returned, maybe this really is fate. I guess I'm meant to be involved in this after all."
Saying that, she steadied herself and put her hands on her hips.
"I'll take you to meet Ereshkigal. But remember—once we're in the Underworld, even I won't be able to do anything. Whatever it is you want to achieve, you'll have to rely on yourselves. Understand?"
Hearing that, Mash immediately nodded.
Even Rozen smiled faintly, thinking to himself:
"Success."