"From this moment on, I, Ereshkigal, am the new mistress of this Underworld!"
Slamming her spear into the pitch-black soil of the realm of the dead, Ereshkigal stood proudly beside Hoshino, hands on her hips, wearing a haughty expression.
"You did great, Eresh-chan~ I knew it! Once you saw the wandering, lost souls of the Underworld, you wouldn't be able to stand by and do nothing."
"Well of course! As a goddess who once ruled the Underworld, how could I just sit back and watch souls endlessly drift without peace?"
A faint blush flashed across Ereshkigal's delicate cheeks as she mumbled, "But most importantly, it's because now I can protect you here in this land..."
"Hmm? What was that, Eresh-chan?"
"N-Nothing! Geez, even if you're my Master, falling into the Underworld on your own like that—you're getting a spanking later!"
"Well, if that's how it is…" Hoshino pouted slightly, rubbing her sore backside from the fall. "Then go easy on me, okay? That landing really hurt."
That small gesture made Ereshkigal's blush deepen even further. She immediately panicked, her words stumbling over themselves.
"T-That—of course I was just joking! W-Who said anything about spanking?! What kind of shameless girl are you, Master?!"
With a sly grin, Hoshino looked back at the flustered goddess and teased, "Oh? If you miss this chance, there might not be another~ If you don't want to, I guess I'll just have to accept that~"
"W-Wait a sec!"
Swallowing nervously, Ereshkigal hesitated. Hoshino's playful taunting left her with the feeling that if she backed off now, she'd regret it forever. And she had to admit... Hoshino's posture was kind of tempting.
"If you really want it that badly, Master… then maybe I could—"
"YOU DAMN BRATS—ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME?!"
The roar shattered the moment. The hand Ereshkigal was about to raise froze as Bakura, who had just stood back up, let out a furious scream. His right leg, which Ereshkigal had sliced off earlier, had already regenerated.
"'Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal'? Never heard of you. You think you can take over the Underworld? Do me a favor and crawl back into whatever hole you came from."
Ereshkigal's brow furrowed with unprecedented fury. She drew her spear and snarled, "How dare you! You interrupted my moment with Master—no! I mean, you dare insult the noble goddess Ereshkigal?! Then witness the true power of the goddess who rules the land of death and guards the mountains of the Underworld!"
As her rage surged, the Underworld itself quaked violently. Lava burst forth from the scorched land in searing crimson waves.
"W-Woah! Incredible! You really are the great goddess of the Underworld!"
Struggling to stay upright amid the shaking, Hoshino clung tightly to Ereshkigal for balance.
Strangely enough, after Hoshino grabbed onto her, the tremors seemed to grow even stronger… or was that just her imagination?
Bakura raised a brow. The way the Underworld trembled with her presence—this woman truly had inherited a significant portion of its power.
"Hmph! It's just bluster! As long as I still wield the Underworld's true power, you'll never defeat me!"
Clinging to Ereshkigal's waist with her thighs, mimicking how Mana hugged Atem, Hoshino countered, "True power of the Underworld? Don't kid yourself, Bakura! Eresh-chan, show him what real power looks like!"
"I-I get it, but Master, can you please get off me first…"
Oh no—my heart's beating too fast! If Master hears it, my cool goddess image will totally collapse!
But really, Ereshkigal, you don't need to worry—"cool goddess" was never your strong suit anyway.
"Hmph! This is the realm of the dead! The greatest power of the Underworld is the ability to command the souls of the departed!"
Bakura's lips curled into a wicked grin as he slowly raised his hand, summoning his dark power.
"Spirits who have wandered for millennia in the Underworld! Obey my command and devour the living before you!"
The blackened earth split open as rotting, ancient spirits clawed their way out, radiating overwhelming malice and resentment.
"Bwahaha! See that?! This is my power! You may have taken some of the Underworld's authority, but as long as I control the dead, you don't stand a chance!"
"Just summoning a bunch of lost spirits and calling that 'controlling the dead'? Don't make me laugh."
Pointing to the ghouls rising from the ground, Ereshkigal's expression turned sharp and resolute.
"Even souls that have wandered for a thousand years still possess their own will. They won't obey someone like you!"
Bakura laughed so hard he clutched his belly. "Souls with willpower? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard..."
Spirit #1: "Ooooh! I love kind Lady Ereshkigal the most!"
Spirit #2: "Lady Eresh is my light, my hope, my everything!"
Spirit #3: "All hail Lady Eresh! Even though I'm already dead…"
ALL: "We will forever follow Lady Ereshkigal!!"
Bakura's grin froze solid. The spirits he summoned—every single one of them—had turned on him. The scene could not have been more humiliating.
"This... This can't be! You're just a bunch of corpses! How could you—?!"
With her spear leveled at the stunned Bakura, Ereshkigal declared, "Even the dead have regrets and lingering feelings. You abandoned them—and this Underworld—for thousands of years, leaving them to wander in confusion. A god like you is unfit to rule the land of the dead!"
Spirit #32: "Indeed! When I was lost and alone, it was Lady Eresh who gave me comfort! I thought I saw an angel in the Underworld!"
Seeing how deeply the spirits admired Ereshkigal, Hoshino let go of her waist and beamed, "Eresh-chan, you really are a good girl!"
"W-Well, I suppose…" Brushing her golden hair aside, Ereshkigal was touched—but also overwhelmed by the undead's fierce devotion.
"You, former master of the Underworld! It's time you faced justice for your sins! Spirits, unleash your thousand years of rage!"
Spirits: "We've been waiting for this moment for so long!"
The spirits, once summoned by Zorc, collectively roared in anger and turned their hostility back toward him.
"Get him!"
"I'm punching!"
"I'm kicking!"
"W-Wait! Let's talk this out! I'm still the god of the Underworld—ugh!"
Having lost most of his power and only retaining Zorc's immortality, Bakura was utterly overwhelmed by the furious spirits who had been holding onto centuries of resentment. They beat him mercilessly.
"The only ruler of the Underworld we acknowledge is Lady Ereshkigal!"
"You bunch of dead people... ugh! Don't get so full of yourselves..."
The once-mighty dark evil god Zorc—who once stood at the very pinnacle of the Underworld—was now being pummeled senseless, unable to even form proper words.
"Fine! I give up! You win!!"
But Hoshino wasn't about to let him off so easily. She answered coldly:
"This isn't a situation where you can just say 'I give up' and walk away. You tried to destroy history—to wipe out the entire world. I can't forgive that. Not as a representative of humanity!"
Zorc, who had started to beg, now flared up in anger again.
"Then what are you going to do, Hoshino?! Even if you've stripped me of my power, you still can't kill me here in the Underworld!"
"Even if I can't destroy you completely, there are plenty of ways to make sure you never cause trouble again."
Hoshino's eyes hardened as she signaled to Ereshkigal.
"Do it, Ereshkigal. A sinner like him deserves the harshest punishment."
"Been ready all along, Master!"
Ereshkigal shook a miniature prison in her hand and warned:
"Everyone, step back. You don't want to get caught up in this."
The spirits, though reluctant, obeyed after hearing her clear, bell-like command.
"Since it's Lady Ereshkigal's order, you're lucky today!"
"Still, Zorc used to be kinda respectable when he was alive... So even if we stop, we should all spit on him first."
"Hup—tui!!"
Though he had been humiliated, Bakura's fear of the cage Ereshkigal held far outweighed his anger.
"W-What are you doing?! I'm immortal!"
"Of course you are. That's why I'm sending you to the deepest abyss of the Underworld!!"
A massive iron cage dropped from above with a thunderous crash, trapping Zorc inside.
"This is a custom-made, ultra-secure one-room-no-kitchen apartment—your new home for the rest of eternity!"
"A personal cage made by Lady Ereshkigal? I'm so jealous~"
"Consider yourself lucky to meet such a kind and wise goddess!"
But Bakura wasn't feeling lucky. Clutching the bars, he was trapped physically, mentally, and spiritually. His senses, his thoughts—everything was sealed away.
To be imprisoned in this cage at the bottom of the Underworld would be true eternal damnation.
"Hoshino! I was wrong! Please, have mercy! We were classmates, weren't we? Let me go, I promise I'll behave!"
"Classmates? Don't make me sick, Zorc."
Even though he wore Bakura's face, the one before her was undeniably Zorc. The real Bakura was likely still unconscious at the KC Grand Prix venue.
"Now, Ereshkigal—do it!"
With red lightning crackling around her spear, Ereshkigal slammed it into the ground. A chain of explosions raced toward Zorc's cage.
"—O ocean of the heavens, prison of the earth, my footsteps are the wrath of the Underworld! Repent forever for your sins! Kur Kigal Irkalla!!"
The earth split violently. Flames roared up from its wounds, magma geysers bursting from deep fissures.
Hoshino gave her final verdict as Zorc was swallowed by the abyss:
"To the very bottom of the Underworld with you, Zorc—fall into hell!"
Engulfed in magma, the once-immortal dark god screamed endlessly in agony as he sank into the deepest part of his own Underworld...
—Until he finally gave up thinking altogether.
"Hooray! Lady Ereshkigal's glorious victory!"
"From now on, the Underworld has only one ruler: Lady Ereshkigal!"
The spirits cheered wildly, more than satisfied with Zorc's tragic downfall. Clearly, their thousand-year resentment had finally reached its release.
"Whew, we wrapped that up nicely, Master."
Letting out a long sigh, Ereshkigal turned to Hoshino with a bright smile.
"Yeah, I could only come to the Underworld with Zorc because I knew I could count on you, Ereshkigal."
Hoshino grasped her soft hands tightly.
"So, I'm just gonna go ahead and declare you the MVP of this game!"
"E-Eh?! MVP... isn't that a bit much? Everyone worked so hard for this victory, I saw it all from the Underworld..."
Blushing, Ereshkigal lowered her head and mumbled softly:
"MVP isn't the point... I mean, Master... about that thing you said earlier... about your butt..."
Tilting her head, Hoshino blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Butt? What are you talking about, Ereshkigal?"
"I mean... that..."
Spirit #32: "Let's cheer three times for Lady Ereshkigal, purest and noblest of souls!"
"Oh! Oh! Oh! ┗|｀O′|┛"
With so many spirits watching, Ereshkigal couldn't bring herself to voice her more personal request.
"Never mind! Just forget it! Ugh, I always mess it up at the last moment! Anyway, Master, it's time to send you back. Living humans shouldn't stay in the Underworld too long, and your friends are still waiting for you."
She opened the gate of the Underworld to send Hoshino off.
"Master, be sure to summon me often, okay? Or I'll get lonely!"
Hoshino nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah yeah, definitely!"
—Egypt—
"If we just go back to the real world, won't aibo be trapped in the Underworld forever?"
Kaiba, who had been silent until now, suddenly burned with determination.
"The Underworld... If that's how it is, then even if I have to use the entire fortune of Kaiba Corporation, I'll break open the gates of the Underworld and drag that arrogant bastard back!"
Just then, Hoshino stepped quietly out of the Underworld and slapped Kaiba hard on the back.
"Who are you calling 'arrogant,' rich boy Kaiba?"