Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
Golden chains and ashen spear cages materialized around Roy, their tricky positioning and terrifying force making it hard for him to keep up.
His heartfelt speech seemed to have failed to sway Ereshkigal, instead fueling her anger further.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
In the underworld, Ereshkigal, as its mistress, wielded unmatched power, so fearsome even the God-King Anu would hesitate before her.
Her slight anger was enough to overwhelm the spear cages Roy had been suppressing with his vast mana. They shattered his bounded field in an instant.
It wasn't that Roy's mana was insufficient or his barrier weak, it was simply that no defensive barrier could withstand the full force of the underworld's mistress. Her spear could pierce through anything as if it were paper.
"Idiot, dodge! Ereshkigal's really pissed this time!!"
Ishtar, sent to the sidelines by Roy, stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Seeing him surrounded by countless golden chains and spear cages, her face showed rare concern as she shouted a warning.
"Shut up! You'll be punished too, Ishtar!!"
Her ill-timed shout drew Ereshkigal's attention.
The giant skeletal goddess raised a hand, and as with Roy, countless ashen spear cages appeared, surging toward Ishtar with terrifying force,
"What a hassle…"
Tezcatlipoca sighed, preparing to intervene, but Roy was faster.
Seizing the moment Ereshkigal was distracted, he tore off the limiter pendant around his neck. White magical flames erupted around him, followed by a blinding black light. With a speed too fast for the eye to follow, he wove through the barrage of spear cages. In an instant, the black light seemed to transcend time, appearing before Ishtar.
This was the power Roy trusted most, his pride.
He rarely used it, reserving it for emergencies or dire situations.
Like teleportation, he materialized in front of Ishtar.
Without hesitation, he faced the countless terrifying spear cages in the air and raised his fingers,
"Barrier, deploy-"
Buzz…
A surge of strange mana erupted, and a colored light, vastly different from the Third Magic, flooded their vision.
The light carried a hint of floral fragrance, followed by an ancient elven chant. A radiant pillar enveloped Roy and Ishtar.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
The colored barrier sprang up, effortlessly blocking Ereshkigal's terrifying spear cages.
No matter how she channeled her divine power or unleashed the underworld's might, she couldn't breach the colored wall.
"…How is this possible?"
The skeletal goddess Ereshkigal's eyes widened in disbelief. How could a human's barrier withstand the underworld's spear cages, feared even by God-King Anu?
Amid her confusion, a flicker of longing appeared in her eyes…
Through the colored pillar, she saw not just Roy but a glimpse of a beautiful world behind him, a paradise she'd always dreamed of,
"…Is that a sea of flowers?"
She murmured.
"No, not a sea of flowers. It's the paradise within the Reverse Side of the World, the land of the faeries, the isolated utopia, Avalon." Roy replied softly.
"The utopia, Avalon… It's beautiful… Such a place exists…"
Ereshkigal's eyes trembled.
"Well, Merlin says it's nice, but I haven't been there myself." Roy said, maintaining Avalon's defensive barrier while gazing into Ereshkigal's eyes. "Can you stop now, Lady Ereshkigal?"
"As you see, I've isolated myself in this barrier, just as you've hidden yourself in that giant skeletal shell. Without seeing your true face, how can I give you a true answer?"
"If I chose you just to please you or gain your help, that would be dishonest to myself and an insult to you."
"That's something I can't do."
"Exactly! If you're competing in beauty, come out and face me fair and square. I, Ishtar, goddess of love and beauty, will take on your reckless challenge!"
Ishtar, hiding behind Roy, jumped out, shouting in agreement. "Hiding in that hard shell, what's that about? You're a goddess! Why don't you even dare show your face?"
"Liar…"
"You're all liars…"
Ereshkigal muttered at Ishtar's challenge, her grip tightening on the massive golden spear, shattering the temple's floor.
"You chose me before, so why hesitate now?! Didn't you say appearance isn't the only measure of a goddess's beauty? What's this then?! You're a liar…"
"Just as bad as Ishtar!!"
She roared, summoning more golden spear cages to surge toward Roy.
Her sudden fury shook the underworld's sky and earth.
Terrifying mana surged, dark red lightning crackled above, and countless spear cages rose from below, a barrage of devastating attacks converging.
The combined force tore through the surroundings, leaving Tezcatlipoca in awe and Ishtar trembling in fear.
"Hey, Roy, is this Avalon barrier really reliable?! Can it hold against an attack like that?!"
Seeing the terrifying orb of lightning forming above the skeletal goddess, Ishtar grabbed Roy's arm, asking urgently, "That kind of attack… if it hits, we're done for!!"
"What do we do now?!!"
"Scared now, Ishtar… and you, liar?!"
"Too late. I'll use the underworld's power to shatter your useless barrier and lock you both in here to atone forever!!"
"Gods are such capricious beings…"
Seeing Ereshkigal's escalating rage, Roy sighed helplessly, but his eyes and words held no retreat.
"I won't give up halfway, not just for myself but to save you…"
"Hey, Ishtar."
Roy turned to the panicked Ishtar. "Didn't you have something to say to your sister? Say it now. Don't worry, I'll handle the incoming attacks."
"Oh… okay! Got it."
Ishtar froze, glancing at Roy, still holding up the barrier. She nodded, muttering a quick, "Thanks."
Encouraged by Roy, Ishtar, previously paralyzed by the terrifying force above, found her courage. Standing beside him, she took a deep breath and shouted at the skeletal goddess, "Hey, Ereshkigal, my sister…"
"Gramps and Father told me you're my sister, born to bear the underworld's burden, a child bound by duty."
"But! Don't just accept that imposed duty!! If you're unhappy, if you hate the underworld, fight back! Why let a path you didn't choose bind you, driving you mad with jealousy? If you don't like it, leave!!"
"Come with me to the plains and skies of Mesopotamia to have fun. Let this damned underworld and its duties be Father and Gramps's problem!! We're goddesses, free and unrestrained, that's who we really are!!"
"Did you hear that, Lady Ereshkigal? That's what Ishtar wanted to say…"
Roy, hearing Ishtar's utterly irresponsible words, shook his head slightly.
Classic Ishtar.
No heartfelt or comforting words, just brash, unreasonable demands that might backfire. But that was fine, it was Ishtar being Ishtar. And she'd conveyed her true feelings, hadn't she?
"She's not here to show off. Her words may sound reckless, but they're from the heart."
Roy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ishtar, gazing earnestly into Ereshkigal's empty eyes, burning with ghostly green flames, and explained firmly, "Ishtar genuinely wants to help you, to take you out of the underworld."
"You may not have truly met or understood each other, but you're still sisters, aren't you?"
"Instead of fighting, why not resolve this peacefully, like sitting down to talk?"
Despite Roy's efforts to mediate the sisters' conflict, goddesses were goddesses. Ereshkigal, in her fury, didn't listen.
The giant skeletal goddess opened her maw, letting out a piercing scream. The golden spear in her hand, infused with the underworld's raging lightning, surged with power.
"Roy, is it?! You've got some nerve, but you're just a human, a liar, acting like you know me…!!"
"Wait till I rip out your soul and lock you by my side forever, then talk!!"
The skeletal goddess Ereshkigal roared, her power coalescing into the spear, far beyond mortal resistance. Its divine might, at the peak of godhood, shook the entire underworld.
Roy knew words alone wouldn't sway her now.
Her anger wasn't just about Ishtar's taunts but the betrayal of her supposed "understander."
Her chant echoed through the underworld,
"The heavens have an endless sea, the earth a prison, my heel is the underworld's wrath!"
The skeletal goddess drove her golden spear, crackling with crimson lightning, into the ground. Terrifying power surged around Avalon.
Ishtar, witnessing this, was utterly terrified, her earlier bravado gone. She cowered behind Roy, seeking safety.
Facing this divine might, Roy's eyes flashed with resolve.
In the underworld, Ereshkigal's unleashed power matched a chief god's full strength, far surpassing Quetzalcoatl's restrained Servant form. Even Tezcatlipoca, a Grand Servant, might not match such an attack.
Without Avalon, Roy wouldn't even try to resist, he'd flee without looking back.
But he needed Ereshkigal's help and to touch her heart with his actions.
Running would mean losing that chance.
So…
"Mere underworld power? Watch me push it back! Avalon's not just for show."
"Fully deploy, Avalon, the utopia isolated from the world."
As Roy unleashed his full power, pouring endless mana into the glowing orb at his chest, Avalon's light grew blinding.
The colored pillar surged with a might rivaling the underworld's, piercing the gloomy sky, shining brilliantly against the golden spears and crimson lightning.
"Manifest, blazing temple. Reflect well, the forge that treads the underworld's peak!!"
Boom!!!
With the final chant, crimson lightning poured from the underworld's sky, crashing into the radiant colored pillar. The dark ground trembled, ghostly blue flames flickered, and the underworld's earth shattered. Countless ashen spear cages erupted with world-splitting force, intertwining with the sky's lightning, unleashing a terrifying spectacle.
In an instant, Avalon's colored pillar was swallowed by the lightning and spears, the entire underworld consumed by their clashing energy.
Roy and Ishtar vanished from the underworld.
Only the ruined temple and endless scorched earth remained.
"Did they die?"
Ereshkigal, having unleashed her strongest attack, stared in shock at the colored pillar engulfed by lightning. Regret flickered in her eyes, her hand trembling as it gripped the spear.
She hadn't meant to kill Roy…
She just wanted to hear the truth from her "understander." Did he truly like her, or was it mere flattery? What was she in his heart? But…
She didn't know why, but seeing Ishtar, her emotions spiraled out of control. And seeing Roy protect her and lecture her, she felt a piercing betrayal.
So she… so she…
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
"I didn't mean to hurt you, but… why, why did it turn out like this?"
With silent sobs, the giant skeletal goddess faded. Ereshkigal descended from the air, gazing at the ruined temple and the vanished Roy, her eyes filled with sorrow.
She'd finally had an understander visit her, only to kill him…
She should've been calmer, given him a chance to explain.
Dishonest…
Yes, she'd prepared to meet him but hid behind that skeletal form to test him, even forcing him to answer.
If that wasn't dishonesty, what was?
She'd ruined everything again. She truly was a useless, wicked goddess.
Perhaps a calamity like her deserved to be locked in the underworld forever.
As Ereshkigal wept softly, two warm fingers gently touched her forehead.
"Finally caught the real you, Eresh-chan…"
"That was quite a lot of trouble."
A wry male voice sounded.
"Huh?!!"
Ereshkigal looked up in shock, seeing a young man with short black hair standing before her, wearing the same smile as when they first met.
It was Roy, he was alive!!
Despite that world-shattering attack, he stood before her unscathed.
"How… how is this possible? How are you unharmed… what is this…"
His fingers gently pressed against her forehead. At such close range, Ereshkigal panicked.
She couldn't fathom how Roy survived that attack unscathed. Why didn't he attack her? Why could he still smile at her…
"Damn it…"
Realizing her true face was exposed, Ereshkigal tried to recover from her lapse, reaching for the fallen spear to strike again. But she froze…
A warmth like the sun enveloped her, and she stiffened, standing dazed.
The unfamiliar sensation overwhelmed her, and the golden spear, poised to strike, lost its glow.
She was being embraced, by her understander, the first embrace since her birth.
This strange feeling was so warm, like a sun she'd never known…
"You've worked hard, Eresh-chan."
___
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