A little later, Ereshkigal sat among the flowers, hugging her knees, most of her face hidden behind her legs, her embarrassment impossible to conceal.
"Have you finally calmed down, mistress of the Underworld?" Shiomi stepped down from the treetop, landing before Ereshkigal and asking calmly.
Ereshkigal looked up slightly, her embarrassed gaze tinged with suspicion. "Who are you? I've never heard of anyone capable of such things in the Underworld."
It was only natural for her to ask.
The Underworld, the realm of the dead, inherently rejected the concept of "life."
Normally, just setting foot past its gates would attract the wandering Gallû Spirits, who would devour one's life force, turning them into yet another dead soul of the realm.
Shiomi and his group had passed through unchallenged because they carried an aura far beyond that of ordinary humans. The Gallû Spirits didn't dare show themselves before them, instinctively fearing annihilation of a different order.
"Naturally... it's authority. Goddess Ereshkigal, you should understand that well." Scáthach leaned casually against a tree, watching her with composed ease.
"Authority? How could a human possibly—" Ereshkigal's eyes widened. As she focused her senses on Shiomi, cold sweat slid down her cheek. "...You... no longer possess 'death'?"
"Seems like it." Shiomi shrugged. "I didn't expect this either. It started with curiosity—when I attempted something forbidden in the Land of Shadows..."
"The Land of Shadows..." Ereshkigal recognized the name.
In other mythologies, it was equivalent to the Underworld. Though much more recent than her era, upon arriving at this Singularity, she had gained some knowledge of it.
Only now did she notice that the purple-haired woman over there shared a certain similar aura with herself.
"You and I, in some sense, carry similar duties," Scáthach said lightly, giving a small wave. "I am Scáthach, Queen of the Land of Shadows. At the moment, I'm here on my own behalf, helping my beloved disciple from Chaldea with the Human Order Incineration. Incidentally, the one standing in front of you is that disciple."
"...I see." Ereshkigal slowly pieced the situation together.
But even so, some questions still lingered.
The idea of growing flowers in the Underworld wasn't entirely new. Enkidu had once tried it out of goodwill while he was alive, but as expected, he failed.
Yet the person before her had not only passed through the seven gates she had set upon the path to the Underworld, but also, in an instant, created flowers and trees that should never survive in this realm.
"Then—" Shiomi spoke again, "Allow me to ask once more: is enmity the only path between us?"
The question reminded Ereshkigal that she had initially taken them for intruders and launched an attack.
Yet after just one exchange, she had lost the will to fight due to illusionary magic—and made an incredibly humiliating display.
By all rights, she should now rise to preserve her dignity, fight to the death, and ensure that everyone who had witnessed her disgrace perished in the Underworld, so the secret would never leave.
But she hesitated.
"If I say... I want to continue the battle, what would you do?" Ereshkigal asked cautiously.
Shiomi traced a circular arc with his hand, and flames flared up from his palm.
"Then naturally, we won't back down either. This concerns our survival. You're one of the Three Goddess Alliance—so even if we have to burn the Underworld to ash, we will never surrender."
His stance was unmistakable. If the goddess of the Underworld insisted on continuing the fight, this place would turn into a sea of flames.
"Wait, wait, wait—hold on! Aren't you being a little too violent?! Are you really planning to burn this forest, this meadow, and all these flowers to cinders?!" Ereshkigal panicked.
"Then what do you suggest?" Shiomi asked. "The choice is yours."
Ereshkigal wasn't afraid of battle, but she couldn't bear the thought of this fragile garden—one she didn't even know how long would last—being reduced to ashes before she'd had her fill of admiring it.
Win or lose, she wouldn't be able to sleep afterward.
"...Fine, let's say I'm giving in to your threats." Suddenly realizing what the others were after, Ereshkigal decided to play along. She straightened her posture. "If there's something to talk about, then let's sit and talk. If it turns out we really can't reach an understanding, we can fight again later."
Sakura, who had been behind Shiomi with her wand raised and fully prepared for battle, finally let out a breath of relief.
The three of them walked over and sat down with Shiomi among the flowers, ready to talk with the mistress of the Underworld.
"First question: Why did you join the Three Goddess Alliance to destroy Uruk? Kutha, which worshipped you, has already become a dead city. What's the point of all this?" Shiomi asked.
"I thought I'd already explained that... Fine, I'll say it again. The Three Goddess Alliance isn't an alliance of offense and defense—it's a competitive one. Whoever reaches Uruk first, destroys the city, and claims the Great Cup of Uruk—"
"Wait. Did you say... the Great Cup of Uruk?" Shiomi interrupted her.
Ereshkigal gave an exasperated look. "You don't know? The Great Cup of Uruk—it's in that Gilgamesh's treasury. It's what you people call the Holy Grail."
"That's not right," Morgan said calmly.
"What do you mean it's not right?" Ereshkigal shot back.
"The reason this Singularity exists is due to the Holy Grail created by the King of Magecraft. And the Grail that created this Singularity was personally sent to this era by him," Sakura explained. "Don't you know that?"
"The King of Magecraft's Holy Grail... isn't that Gilgamesh's—" Ereshkigal started, hesitating mid-sentence.
Then she realized her mistake.
"...So there's more than one Holy Grail in this era," Scáthach said with a smile. "The Great Cup of Uruk that King Gilgamesh originally possessed, and the true Holy Grail of the King of Magecraft—the one that created this Singularity."
Ereshkigal's eyes widened. "You're telling me that I... No, that all of us in the Three Goddess Alliance have been deceived?"
"In the end, who told you that the Great Cup of Uruk was the King of Magecraft's Holy Grail?" Shiomi pressed, seeing a chance.
If they could make Ereshkigal believe they weren't lying, the Three Goddess Alliance could unravel on its own.
"Kingu," Ereshkigal said, naming the source. "That guy who looks exactly like Enkidu. You've met him, haven't you?"
Shiomi gave a confident smile.
"Then the answer's clear. The one who lied to you, Goddess Ereshkigal, is that fake Enkidu—Kingu."
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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