Chapter 33: But I Was the First One Here!
It was as if her little secret had been popped like a bubble. Ereshkigal's cheeks were once again stained with a crimson flush, appearing quite alluring under the glow of the bright moon.
"I still haven't settled the score with you for trying to prank me during the transition of dawn last time. Now you dare come to see me—aren't you afraid I'll take revenge on you?"
Shirou said this while leaning slightly closer to her.
Ereshkigal was startled; she immediately scrambled to put distance between them, retreating about a meter from what had been mere inches of separation. Taking a deep breath, the silent Ereshkigal raised her head slightly and spoke.
"Hmph! That's right! I wanted to do that! Now that you know my plan, you're the one who should be worried about being dragged off to the Underworld!"
Beneath her feigned toughness was a shy and timid heart. No sooner had she finished the sentence than she felt quite ashamed, and she immediately pursed her lips tightly.
"I'm so scared," Shirou said perfunctorily.
"..." Hearing this, Ereshkigal only felt her cheeks burning. After all, the man before her had defeated both Ishtar and Gorgon, and even Quetzalcoatl was no match for him. In his presence, she, the Goddess of the Underworld, really didn't seem to amount to much.
Shirou then addressed her: "Stop digging that tunnel of yours and just come join me instead."
"Ha? I've already dug nearly halfway; how could I let all that effort go to waste!" Ereshkigal refused without hesitation. "Even if I don't want to, you could still force... steal..."
It seemed he actually could. Realizing this belatedly, Ereshkigal fell into silence.
"You don't need to worry about that. If you don't want to, I won't force you." Unless the time of Tiamat's arrival was delayed, her plan could never succeed anyway. Furthermore, even if it did come to that, Shirou would simply step in to plug the tunnel.
"Anyway, you just want me to join so you can do all sorts of strange things to me after, don't you?!" Ereshkigal straightened her back, glared at Shirou, and spoke with a tone of certainty.
"What kind of strange things?" Shirou countered.
"J-just..." Ereshkigal blushed, stammering and unable to get the words out. Finally, she stood up, stomped her foot in anger, and ran away, trotting downstairs.
"What a shy goddess," Shirou muttered with a shrug.
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Dawn gradually broke, and a golden halo appeared on the horizon. Early in the morning, Siduri rushed in a panic to the place where everyone was staying.
"Oh, no! King Gilgamesh, he—"
The veiled woman covered her face and wept, appearing completely inconsolable. Gudako and the others' expressions changed, and they hurriedly stepped forward to ask.
"What happened, Siduri?"
Tears streaming down her face, Siduri told them, "Last night, King Gilgamesh was working through the night. Mid-way, I went to handle some affairs, and when I returned... the King had already fallen into an eternal sleep on his throne..."
Hearing this, Merlin's expression froze. "That's impossible! He is the man who sees through the future and actively became a Magus. To avoid dying on the battlefield, he always remained on his throne to give commands—that was the pact between him and me! How could such a King die!"
Hearing these events, Roman's voice came through the communicator. "You're right! Dying of overwork is just too ridiculous!"
Da Vinci's voice chimed in as well. "Romani, if you don't deny this, I think your own life might be in danger too!"
But Roman retorted dismissively, "If he could die from something like this, he would have died countless times over by now!"
"Indeed," Gudako agreed with a nod.
"This... because it happened so suddenly, I lost my cool for a moment. Now that I think about it, something is indeed not right." After a brief moment of confusion, Merlin regained his composure and looked at Siduri. "Siduri, since we left for Ur, has Uruk undergone any abnormal changes?"
"This..." Siduri recalled carefully, then opened her eyes wide. "That's it! At the time, there were many reports of people dying of exhaustion within Uruk."
"Dying of exhaustion?" Ishtar asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Although I was thrown into disarray by the King's passing, the number of such reports was indeed abnormal, as if the entire city of Uruk were surrounded by an aura of death," Siduri answered.
At this point, Quetzalcoatl, who had been quietly staying beside Ishtar, spoke up. "This is far too abnormal. This must be the work of the 'Three Goddess Alliance'."
"But who could it be?" Gudako wondered.
Hearing her question, Quetzalcoatl answered decisively: "It can only be Ereshkigal, the 'Mistress of the Underworld'."
"Ha? You said Ereshkigal!?" Ishtar exclaimed, hearing her sister's name.
It appeared she still didn't know that she had been transforming into Ereshkigal at night. Although the situation at dawn that day should have made her realize something, Archer Rin was, after all, a 'dummy goddess.' Shirou could only shake his head at this.
Meanwhile, Quetzalcoatl continued from where she left off: "The aura filling Uruk is the scent of Ereshkigal's death. The Gallu spirits she commands steal the souls of those who have lost their strength. King Gilgamesh's soul must also have been taken to the Underworld by the Gallu."
Hearing Quetzalcoatl's words, Mash's expression turned puzzled. "Wait a minute! Isn't the 'Three Goddess Alliance' composed of Gorgon, Goddess Quetzalcoatl, and..."
Mash shifted her gaze toward Ishtar. The rest of the sentence went without saying: she thought Ishtar was also one of the three goddesses. If there were four goddesses in the 'Three Goddess Alliance,' it would be far too strange.
Noticing Mash's questioning look, Ishtar shook her head. "I am not one of them."
"Eh!?" Mash exclaimed in surprise.
Then, Quetzalcoatl explained to her: "The members of the 'Three Goddess Alliance' are Gorgon, myself, and the 'Goddess of the Underworld,' Ereshkigal."
Ishtar immediately followed up, looking perplexed: "Forget that for a second! Ereshkigal has been resurrected? What on earth is going on here!"
"Doctor, do you know what's happening?" Gudako asked the communicator on her wrist.
"Hmm... so the final goddess, Ereshkigal, has also made her entrance."
"But isn't Ishtar-san the only one who retains Sumerian divinity in this era?" Mash asked.
Ishtar added: "That's right! But I was the first one here!"
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