The Holy Grail War Blessed by the Gods

"This is interesting. The Sumerian god who was summoned was only one pillar, but now..."

Merlin looked at the man standing at the door holding a lion-headed mace and a sickle, shook his head and said with a smile.

"Otherwise, the Sumerian god who was summoned will still only have one pillar. The rest have nothing to do with the Magic King, the Holy Grail he sent, or this land."

Manshu shook his head and walked towards the crowd.

"If the other party is Nergal, or has knowledge of Nergal, then they can indeed guide us in the direction of the underworld."

Like Ereshkigal, Nergal is a god of the underworld in Sumerian mythology. However, unlike Ereshkigal, who never leaves his abode, this god sometimes leaves the underworld and walks on earth in the name of Era.

In mythology, Ereshkigal became Nergal's wife because she refused to leave the underworld.

It is said that during one of Anu’s gatherings, all the gods came here to feast and offer gifts to Anu, but Ereshkigal refused to leave the underworld and refused to come here to join them.

2. After deliberation, the gods allowed Ereshkigal to freely choose whether or not to attend the banquet. However, he was required to present gifts as a sign of respect to the gods.

(9) Ereshkigal was furious upon hearing this and summoned Namtar, the monster of plague and death, and sent him to the banquet with a basket of food.

The gods of silk were horrified when they saw Namtar and hurriedly urged him to leave. After he left, the banquet continued as before.

In order to make Ereshkigal submit, the gods decided to send Nergal to the underworld.

Henairgal carried fourteen demons with him, or some say it was due to the generous help of the god Enki, which allowed him to pass through the gates of the underworld.

Sanelgal stormed into Ereshkigal's dwelling, grabbed the goddess by the hair, pulled her off the throne, and was about to kill her.

⑤ Seeing that the situation was not good, Ereshkigal had no choice but to plead desperately, expressing her willingness to become Nergal's wife and to give him the vast land of the underworld.

⑹Nergal was overjoyed and stayed in the Underworld, becoming its ruler.

4 Of course, this is one version. Another version is that Nergal was arrogant and rude to the messenger sent by Ereshkigal, so Ereshkigal wanted to kill him and invited Nergal to the underworld to kill him.

The two versions differ only in the cause; the process and the final result are the same: Nergal broke through the gates of the underworld and seized power from it.

However, the latter can also be seen as having the same cause. Nergal's arrogance and rudeness also stemmed from the fact that Ereshkigal could not leave the underworld and could only send his messengers to attend the banquet of the gods.

“But those things are not important. What is important is that Nergal is the son of the god Enlil, just like Ninurta, and these two gods have been confused many times.”

Merlin said this, and that was why he wasn't surprised by Nergal's visit, since the same thing had happened before.

"So, how should we address you, sir?"

“Then call me Nergal. This name will help you return from the underworld, won’t it? Going to Ishtar is not a good omen. I don’t think anyone would want to sacrifice themselves like Dumuz.”

Manshu said with a smile that, at least in the mythology, Ishtar's experience in the underworld was not good. Although Ishtar successfully returned from the underworld, her husband Dumuz was dragged into the underworld as a substitute.

“既然奈尔2伽尔神这样说jiu了，那就4让我们０动身4吧，前往冥界㈢救出吉5尔伽liu美什4王。”

So where is the entrance to the underworld? This is quite simple and clear; it is naturally in the place where the goddess resides, in the city of Kusa.

Getting in isn't difficult; just lift up the ground, and the underground cavity will be revealed. Then, just jump down.

"Let's go, to the underworld!"

Anna did not accompany them this time, nor could Quetzal Koyatl go along.

Divinity becomes a side effect in the underworld, where a system has been constructed that renders even the gods powerless, causing powerful divinity to weaken.

Chapter 165 The Test

"Everyone, are you all ready? Once the operation begins, there will be no room for regret or remorse."

The five of them stood on the ground in Kusa. Manju gently tapped the ground beneath his feet with his cane, listened to the echo, and then spoke to the others.

"no problem."

"Alright, everyone, please step back a few steps. I will open the gate to the underworld."

Generally speaking, if other people want to enter the underworld, they must break through the land separating the underworld from the earth.

Of course, there are also legends of a deep cave that leads directly to the underworld, but obviously that thing cannot be found here for the time being, and the underworld is indeed located below this city.

Manshu didn't need to use overly violent methods to tear the entire city apart, so he simply swung the lion-headed club in his hand and struck the ground beneath his feet.

The ground that was struck immediately caved in, forming a small vortex that swept up all the soil and rocks. When the vortex subsided, a passage appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Quetzal Koyatl and Merlin, you two will be up there to support us. If anything goes wrong, news will come from Nippur."

The passage opened, but Manshu didn't rush into action. Instead, he spoke to the two people beside him.

This matter was within the scope of previous discussions, the reasons had been explained clearly, and there was nothing to question. Quetzal Koyatl was somewhat confused about the place name Manshu mentioned.

"Nipour? Is it the only remaining city on the northern wall of the Warcraft Front?"

"That is it, that is the earthly dwelling place of the god Enlil, the great Ekul is the courtyard of the gods, the temple where Enlil is worshipped." (Eight)

Manju's face remained expressionless; he didn't perform any unnecessary actions, thus revealing nothing. He simply spoke calmly.

"Quetzalcoatl is probably unaware of Enlil's resurgence in Nippur, the former god-king of this land." 7.

"Is that so? I was just asking casually. Actually, I'd really like to go down and take a look. Then please bring Fujimaru and Mashu back safely!" (vi)

Quetzal Koyatl smiled indifferently and called over Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, preparing to jump down into the portal he had opened to travel to the Underworld. 6.

"There's no need to worry about that. Having you stay is only to guard against the lowest possible possibility, and to minimize the chances of accidents happening from the outside. While the Underworld is a treacherous place, I don't think I'll lose; at most, I'll just get deeply involved." (Part Three)

Having said that, Manju jumped into the cave first, passed through a dark tunnel, and landed on the ground. (4)

"No problems at all, safe landing."

Manju stood firmly on the ground, opening his eyes to take in the scene of the Sumerian underworld. II

"what!"

Mashu fell from the sky, shield in hand. The shield absorbed most of the force, allowing the two to land safely on the ground.

They had already experienced falling from a great height once on their first visit to this singularity, so this time it was no problem for them at all.

"Welcome to the Sumerian underworld, you two!"

After the two recovered from the shock of the landing, Manshu stretched out his hand and addressed them as if he were the master of the place.

"Great, it's connected! I was worried about whether we could observe the underworld since we were going there, but it seems I was worrying unnecessarily! After all, this is just the cool underground. The real thing looks really fierce! It turns out the underworld and the mortal world are connected by soil!"

Dr. Roman's voice came through the communication device quite quickly. It was indeed quite surprising that the underworld was directly connected to the real world.

"So that's how it is. It's not some other dimensional realm or anything like that?"

"Of course, in the Age of Gods, the heavens, the earth, and the underworld were all on the same scroll. The afterlife and the celestial realm became metaphysical entities only after they entered your human world."

"So this really is the underworld!"

The two continued to sigh, gazing at the scene of this underworld.

"Yes, it's amazing...wait, what's that? There are long, thin, birdcage-like things everywhere..."

"Those are the souls of humans who died on the ground. It's best not to get close unless absolutely necessary."

Inside those cages, countless points of light floated, and if you got close, you could hear groans like the wails of souls.

The souls of the dead in the Sumerian world could not ultimately find redemption; this was the only fate they could accept.

“These cages are Ereshkigal’s gun cells, used to imprison souls to prevent them from fading away over time after losing their bodies, and also to prevent them from drifting away to other places.”

Manshu led the two on a stroll through this desolate underworld, littered with jagged rocks. All Zhang Mu could see in this underworld were unusable stones and gray-black earth, and then cages imprisoning souls, randomly stuck in the ground among the rocks.

No matter how you look at it, this place is utterly devoid of beauty. However, it does fit the Sumerian world's perception of the underworld: a place full of dust, darkness, dampness, and coldness, a place that evokes no fondness whatsoever.

"Next, we will head directly to where Ereshkigal is. If we want to take the souls of the dead from her, we must first meet her."

Where is Ereshkigal?

"It's over there. Beyond this narrow cliff path, there are seven gates standing there. Behind the seven gates is the palace of Elevushkigal, where the goddess resides. She has stayed there for a long time."

Despite being the goddess who rules over the entire underworld, Ereshkigal, like the souls imprisoned in the gun cage, is unable to leave this place.

"Ereshkigal's weapons imprison souls here, while she herself is similarly imprisoned within the underworld. Those seven gates are the gateway to confronting Ereshkigal's greatest threat."

Manshu stretched out his hand to point the way for the two of them, speaking as if with emotion.

"That must be what happened to Miss Ishtar in the story of her going to the underworld. After passing through the seven gates of the underworld, Ishtar had seven treasures taken from her and was finally killed in front of Ereshkigal."

The group had already discussed this story beforehand: these seven gates require passing through seven trials by Ereshkigal to be successfully passed.

Of course, it wouldn't be possible to pass through normally at this point; at least, Manshu had no intention of doing such a thing.

"Go down to the door first. Ereshkigal should give you her test. Go and answer it. This test can't stop me."

Those who are alive ultimately don't need to stay in the underworld for too long, so do it as soon as possible. As long as you stay in the underworld, your body will be affected, and the death that fills the underworld will lower your physical attributes and destiny.

After pointing out the direction, Manjusaka turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared before their eyes, as long as the two of them passed Ereshkigal's test.

Anyway, Ereshkigal wouldn't do anything to the seven gates, so Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other person were able to pass through smoothly all the way to Ereshkigal's palace.

Manju intended to pass through the underworld using his knowledge of the seven gates, since he possessed the identity of the god of the underworld and the knowledge of the seven gates of Ereshkigal.

Following Manjus's instructions, the two went to the seven gates in front of Ereshkigal's palace to answer Ereshkigal's questions and tests.

After all, it's understandable that living people can't stay in the underworld for long, so the two of them didn't waste any time and quickly got to it.

However, what awaits at the gate is not just problems but also trials. In other words, there are monsters present, and in the underworld, such creatures are not uncommon.

The most basic is Garura Spirit. These evil spirits are extremely fierce. In legends, they are ugly and exceptionally vicious.

In the legend of Ishtar descending to the underworld, it was they who climbed out of the underworld to pursue the fertility god Dumuz and chase after the goddess Ishtar.

To deal with these spirits, Fujimaru Ritsuka summoned the saint Georgios, with whom she had a past connection. This dragon-slaying saint, together with Mash, constructed an impenetrable defensive formation, steadily slaughtering the surging evil spirits.

Thus, the two gates they had broken through in succession were closed on the third gate. However, a slightly surprising creation appeared, one that had been defeated by the king before Gilgamesh.

Although the first king of Uruk is Meschenkashe in the Sumerian King List, as mentioned before, the descriptions of him are more like descriptions of the sun, and there are no other records.

The king recorded in the King List after him, Enmelka, is the one who has long been regarded as the founder of Uruk, and this king also has a number of legends.

It is said that he founded the city of Uruk, led the people to dig ditches and live an orderly life, and invented writing in order to obtain the treasure of Alata so that he could pass information to others.

The story of "Enmelka and the King of Arata" records this event, but in the legend, Enmelka used her wisdom to subdue the Arata people and obtain their wealth.

At that time, King Alata made three demands of Enmelka: to transport barley in fishing nets to Alata, to make a scepter that was not made of wood, and to allow a warrior who could not wear any colored clothes to duel.

Faced with the same problem, Enmelka picked up a lump of mud, wrote the words on a mud tablet, and directly invented writing to send the information back to Uruk to solve the problem.

Enmerka sent people to pick out the old barley and soak it in water to make it sprout, then used small-mesh fishing nets to catch the sprouting barley.

Chisel open the reeds, then pour a kind of gelatinous substance into them, and leave them to dry in the sun until they are hard and dry. Then split the reeds open with an axe.

Make the warriors wear colorful scarves on their heads and lion skins on their bodies before they go to duel.