Silence.
At this moment, the room was completely silent.
An atmosphere of stillness filled every corner.
After Emiya Shirou's bold declaration, everyone present stared at his back with different expressions.
Among all those gazes, Merlin's eyes were filled with pure admiration.
As a self-proclaimed romantic incubus, even Merlin had never considered provoking a goddess like that.
In his eyes, goddesses were all terrifying existences.
He couldn't even properly deal with female elves, let alone goddesses.
Because of that, the look he gave Shirou was one of sincere appreciation.
And encouragement.
Ana, standing nearby, had a faint flush on her face.
It was obvious she had unconsciously linked Ishtar to someone else.
As for Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka-
The expressions on their faces could only be described as frozen.
This scene was simply too shocking.
Their brains stalled completely.
They couldn't react.
That was, until a scream snapped them out of it.
"Eh-!!!"
Ereshkigal's mouth was slightly open.
Her face was completely red.
Tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes, and her expression was one of extreme embarrassment.
At the same time, her body-still bound tightly by chains-couldn't help but writhe.
Her two long, unrestrained legs kicked wildly in the air.
"Y-you you-what kind of joke is that supposed to be?!"
Ereshkigal shouted in a panic.
"Teasing a goddess is a capital crime! I'll punish you severely!"
Her words sounded vicious.
Extremely so.
But no one present sensed even a trace of anger from her.
What they saw was pure fluster.
Pure panic.
It was obvious.
Everything she was saying right now was nonsense born of embarrassment.
"Haha, you got it."
Emiya Shirou laughed loudly, patting Ereshkigal on the shoulder.
"I was just kidding."
The moment those words landed, Ereshkigal suddenly went quiet.
She lowered her head.
Her body trembled slightly.
"...Eh?"
Shirou tilted his head.
"What's wrong?"
"Don't tell me you're crying."
Seeing her like that, he reached out toward her head, trying to check her expression.
But at that exact moment-
Ereshkigal suddenly lunged forward.
She snapped her teeth toward Shirou's palm.
Fortunately, Shirou had been on guard.
He immediately pulled his arm back.
Otherwise, he would've been bitten cleanly.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Are you a dog? You're actually trying to bite someone?"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
Because of that sudden lunge, Ereshkigal lost her balance and fell from her seat onto the ground.
Even so, she continued to shout viciously.
"I'll kill you! I'll harvest your soul and roast it in hellfire for ten thousand years!"
"To toy with a goddess's feelings like that-this is a capital crime!"
Looking at the goddess rolling on the floor, the expressions of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others were filled with helplessness.
"How did it end up like this?"
"Didn't we just offend her beyond saving?"
"It's over. Everything's ruined."
Feeling the gazes from all directions, Emiya Shirou scratched his head.
...Did I mess this up?
He asked himself silently.
But almost immediately, his thoughts began to race.
He started thinking about how to salvage the situation.
Just as he fell silent, Fujimaru Ritsuka-unable to bring herself to blame him-was about to step forward and try speaking to the goddess.
At that moment, Fou suddenly cried out.
"Fou?"
Mash gently picked Fou up.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"
Merlin's expression changed instantly.
As Fou's former caretaker, he understood immediately.
"Everyone, stay alert."
"Enemies may have appeared."
"Ana."
Hearing Merlin's call, Ana immediately rushed out the door to investigate.
What she saw made her eyes widen.
From all directions, countless skeletons were surging toward them.
"Doctor, it's bad!"
"The city is filled with skeletons!"
Mash, who had also stepped outside, quickly relayed the information to Roman back at Chaldea.
"Is that so?"
Roman stared at the monitor in front of him, fingers moving nonstop.
"But there's no reaction on our end at all!"
"There's only an enormous concentration of magical energy."
"No abnormalities detected so far."
As he continued checking the data, realization struck him.
"...I see."
"So that's how it is."
"No wonder we couldn't detect it."
"If this were A.D., this level of magical energy would've been flagged as abnormal long ago."
"But this is the Age of Gods."
"Moving corpses alone don't create detectable magical fluctuations."
"For that era, this level of activity doesn't count as anything."
"...This is troublesome."
Roman's voice grew tense.
"The number of corpses emerging now already exceeds Cuthah's total population."
Merlin looked outside and let out a whistle.
"Did eight generations' worth of ancestors all crawl out?"
"It looks like we need to retreat."
"Fortunately, we already recovered the Tablet of Destinies."
Hearing that, Roman immediately shouted.
"Evacuate Cuthah at full speed!"
"If you don't, you'll be buried under skeletons!"
"Yes!"
Seeing how the situation had escalated, Emiya Shirou gave orders immediately.
"Ritsuka."
"You four retreat first."
"I'll catch up after untying this goddess."
"Understood, Senpai Shirou."
"Please be careful."
Ritsuka understood.
Shirou was deliberately waiting until they left before releasing Ereshkigal.
He didn't want a potential clash between the two of them to affect the others.
"You liar!"
"Once I'm free, I'll definitely kill you!"
"Yes, yes."
"And then roast my soul in hellfire for ten thousand years."
Shirou nodded along casually.
"Right, Mistress of the Underworld."
"...Ereshkigal."
Ereshkigal froze.
Her eyes widened.
She hadn't expected her identity to be exposed at all.
The realization hit her so hard that even her anger toward Shirou was instantly pushed aside.
Panic filled her expression.
"When did you know?"
"When?"
Shirou tilted his head.
"Before you woke up."
"...Then that means-!"
Recalling the things she had said while impersonating Ishtar, Ereshkigal's gaze darted away.
The embarrassment was unbearable.
Being exposed after impersonating someone else to that extent-
It was far too humiliating.
After helping her back onto the seat, Shirou leaned in close.
He brought his mouth near her ear and whispered.
"Once I unlock the chains on you..."
"Whether you fight me or not, I'll accept it."
"But in that case..."
"You need to be mentally prepared."
"...Prepared for what?"
Ereshkigal asked quietly.
Her earlier momentum was gone.
"For becoming my possession."
"After your defeat."
"...?!"
Shirou straightened slightly.
"And just so you know."
"I wasn't joking about that part."
"The joke..."
"Was everything that came after."
🔥🔥 You can find chapters ahead here
Support link: pat_reon.com/Redon1
Also other exciting fanfic available 🔥🔥
----------------------------------------------------------
__________________________
🍊 Boost This Fanfic! 🍊
Every 350 Power Stones gets 2 bonus chapters! 🚀
Want faster updates? Show your support by dropping Power Stones, leaving reviews, and sharing your thoughts in the comments! Your engagement keeps the story going strong!