The Holy Grail War Blessed by the Gods

However, it seems that military tactics not mentioned in the story were still used here, with the King of Arata appearing as an adversary in the Underworld.

Arata doesn't appear in human form, but in the form of a dragon, a dragon that has seized wealth, until it seems as if this is due to the phenomenon of a dragon.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka summoned a dragon-slaying hero, and Ascalon's light pierced through the evil dragon, allowing them to pass through the third gate.

However, the danger is gradually increasing. Passing through these seven gates, the danger is not only the surging enemies, but also the terrain beneath their feet.

The road leading to the Palace of Ereshkigal is a stone path suspended above an abyss, with endless drops on both sides. If you fall in, there is probably no way to save you.

The abyss below is the Sea of ​​Nothingness, the birthplace of Apsu and Tiamat, the sea of ​​dawn before the birth of life, and the abyss where Enki resides.

In other words, the Abyss of Apsu is located even below the Underworld, and since Enki, the god who governs the Abyss, no longer exists here, there is no way to save someone who falls into it.

Next to appear were the giant demonic boar and the powerful Servants who still possessed considerable strength, causing Mash and Georgios's defenses to become somewhat ineffective in their offensive efforts.

At this moment, Gilgamesh, who had been spying from the sidelines, stepped forward and retrieved a superior weapon from his treasury to help the two.

"Hahahaha! Thank you for coming to greet me! It seems you've been chilled by the excessive cold of the Underworld. Would you like me, who is familiar with the Underworld, to lead the way?"

Gilgamesh's loud laughter was always something that could not be ignored, and the shimmering golden light was a perfect symbol of his power.

"It's King Gilgamesh—!"

Mashu was somewhat incredulous at the sudden appearance of reinforcements.

"Why are you here? Weren't you imprisoned by Ereshkigal?"

"Hmph. The underworld is nothing more than my backyard. I know it very well and have been here many times."

Gilgamesh said dismissively.

"Although I died by accident, before Garura arrived, I hid in the shadows, held my breath, and entered a meditative state of aura concealment EX. After perfectly escaping from under their noses, I was here pondering what to do when you appeared. That's all!"

"Not Zhong → ∪QUN: Bait ⊥ 〕 Old Death 〇［【Four 3§∮⒌liu≈4 Ashamed to be the king, still the same as before!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka made her usual sarcastic remark.

"You too, Fujimaru. After all, with your headstrong personality, I knew you would come to the Underworld."

"Now that we have found King Gilgamesh, may we..."

"Of course not, you're a fool. I am indeed dead. As a dead man, I am bound by the laws of Ereshkigal. Even if I want to return to Uruk, I cannot leave the Underworld without that guy's permission."

"I don't believe that fellow will obediently let me go back. Since that's the case, you should understand, right, Fujimaru? I order: for my sake, pass through the gates of the underworld and teach that despicable Ereshkigal a lesson!"

With Gilgamesh's help, the remaining challenges were easily overcome.

After passing through seven gates, they returned to an open space, where Ereshkigal's palace lay before them.

Chapter 166 News

"The seven gates have all been broken through. Ereshkigal's palace is in the open space in front of the nine directions. Ereshkigal is a pillar of the Three Goddess Alliance and an opponent that must be defeated no matter what."

"With my assistance, victory is assured; I need not elaborate further. However… the matter of dealing with that guy after defeating her is entirely up to Fujimaru. First, consider the goddess's treatment."

Gilgamesh naturally began to plan what to do after the victory, without worrying about any unexpected events or other problems.

"This is... the palace of the underworld... Come to think of it... this is just an ordinary wilderness. If this is considered a palace, then it's rather—"

Mashu was clearly taken aback by Gilgamesh's words and looked at the vast space in front of her.

There were no buildings ahead, just a path that wasn't much different from the one they had traveled before.

At most, the jagged rocks have been neatly arranged into a flat area; otherwise, there are still jagged rocks and gun cages stuck between the rocks.

"This is the so-called underworld, where nothing magnificent exists. Isn't that right, Ereshkigal? Queen of the Garura spirits who gaze upon the dark sky?"

Gilgamesh spoke thus, this time with an exclamation, yet filled with provocation. Upon hearing these words, the master of this place also made no attempt to conceal himself, revealing himself in a terrifying form.

"You talk like you know everything. You're just a mere demigod king."

A colossal undead creature rose from the pile of rubble, accompanied by a chilling wind and terrifying air pressure. The ruler of the underworld brought with her a deadly environment the moment she appeared.

"Fear, pray, despair, humans. I am the administrator of death, the mistress of the underworld, the one who tramples the spirit peaks—one of the Three Goddess Alliance, Aizou↓≥Shuqun:⑧five′〕seven6…6♂〃㈢四'四＂/2Reshkigal."

The appearance of Ereshkigal brings wind with an eerie voice, and she chants her identity with a chilling tone, bringing death and fear to those who face God.

"That's the goddess Ereshkigal...! I can feel an intense chill, Master...! The air temperature hasn't changed, but the perceived temperature is dropping rapidly...!"

They have fought several battles against the gods, battles that must be won and where life and death are at stake, and have won every time.

Even so, people still gasp in awe when facing the gods, and are struck by the oppressive force emanating from them.

Moreover, this oppression is not merely a sensory experience, but something that is already happening in reality.

"According to the measurements here, the atmospheric conditions over there have reached 500 hPa!? This is the air pressure that is only found on mountaintops at altitudes of over 5 meters!"

What's happening there isn't cold, it's high! This is a low temperature caused by adiabatic cooling; the temperature in your environment is probably already -6 degrees Celsius!

"We're nearing the limits of our life force. If this continues, not only will we develop decompression sickness, but our alveoli will rupture from the pressure. So we must hurry and defeat Ereshkigal before that happens, Fujimaru!"

The impact of Aerys II and Kygal 9's appearance on the environment made this place even less suitable for human survival. Not to mention, the deathly aura that permeates the underworld itself will cause the human body's quality to decline continuously, and staying there for too long will inevitably lead to death.

"How boring. I've only just shown myself, and I'm already so flustered. It seems the Chaldea commander is a coward. Isn't this a completely pointless contest?"

Ereshkigal naturally heard Dr. Roman's overly surprised and loudly read-out analysis of the situation and spoke up.

……

"This is an unprecedentedly good environment. I'm afraid it would be difficult to get so close to the place of the Age of Gods except here."

Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka and his group were confronting Ereshkigal, Manju was behind them at the suspended path leading to Ereshkigal's location. However, instead of walking on the natural stone bridge, he jumped off and wandered into the abyss.

This abyss can indeed be called the ocean before the dawn of life, wherever it may be.

In mythology, this is the area where Apsu's body was transformed. Enki built a temple on Apsu's remains, and that temple was also called Apsu.

According to the creation epic Enuma Elish, Apsuben is the embodiment of the cosmic sea, the origin of life, and the manifestation of the primordial forces of nature.

In Sumerian mythology, it was here that Enki instructed Ninmakh to mold clay figures from mud, creating humans to replace the gods in performing earthly tasks.

This abyss is inaccessible to the three of them because it has lost anyone who can control it or is familiar with it.

After all, this place is located at the very bottom of the entire Sumerian landmass. Falling downwards, one might never see the end, and would lose all sense of direction and everything else.

However, Manshu had no need to fear this matter, so she immersed herself in it and felt it deeply, almost forgetting the time.

On the other side of the land, the battle had clearly begun, with Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, Gilgamesh, and Arjuna summoned as spirit shadows to fight Ereshkigal.

This battle was clearly not a serious or intense one. Although Ereshkigal, the ruler of the underworld, possessed only average divinity among all living beings, she was undoubtedly able to wield the power of the ruler of the underworld. Even ignoring the underworld's constraints on gods, few gods could defeat her in a pure contest of strength.

At this moment, Ereshkigal was only using the power of the underworld's judgment, merely activating the most basic effects of the underworld, allowing this curse of death to seal the abilities of intruders and disruptors, and to sever people's life force so that they could not recover.

Even so, the fight between the group was surprisingly even, with the group holding back far too much. Manshu glanced at them and decided that she probably didn't need to help at all, so she continued to sink into the abyss.

"What superb skill you possess, old man. Even as a god of the underworld, I still cannot perceive when you arrived before me."

But at this time when no one should be visiting, Manshu sensed a presence on the ground in front of him, standing on a stone.

This was a familiar aura, coming from the traveler in the secluded valley. So Man Sishu immediately got up and went ashore, curious about the other party's intentions.

"I don't think there's anything here that would be worth the old man of the mountain doing for me right now, or should I still call you Jusudera?"

Names are of course irrelevant, since what Manshu is doing now is no different. The old man of the mountain simply waved his hand to let Manshu do as he pleased, and then talked about his purpose.

“I was planning to do this, but Apsu is more interesting to me now. Since you’re already here, I’ll continue to trouble you.”

If he could do less, Manshu naturally wouldn't bother with the troubles himself. He could handle the Ereshkigal matter himself, but Nergal's identity didn't seem quite right. He'd better just throw him into the underworld he created.

Anyway, with the old man in the mountains taking care of things over there, there shouldn't be any problems, as long as no accidents happen. In fact, what kind of accidents could happen at this time?

It wasn't until the group started their return journey that Manshu emerged from the abyss and greeted them on the road.

"I never expected that I only played the role of a guide on this trip, and you all successfully completed the task of bringing the three goddesses into the camp. However, since it was completed smoothly and things can continue to move in the right direction, there is nothing to criticize."

Now that everything is done, I should take my leave to continue the work I must complete. Let us part ways here.

Manju did not intend to leave with the others, but rather planned to stay in this Sumerian underworld a little longer, to experience it more thoroughly before leaving.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others naturally couldn't stay too long, and the planning was also quite rushed, so they parted ways after chatting for a few minutes.

It's not a big problem that Manjusaka is stuck in the abyss; Ereshkigal probably won't bother with him or care about him.

Although the Abyss is located in the Underworld, it lies further below the Underworld and is not under the jurisdiction of the God of the Underworld. Therefore, the book seller is not theoretically in the Underworld, and thus he is too lazy to meet the master of this place, and he cannot meet the master of the Abyss.

After Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others went up, they rushed back to Uruk from Kusa City. After resting, they visited Ishtar to win over the last goddess they knew they could win over.

The alliance of the three goddesses has completely collapsed here. Two of the three goddesses in the alliance have betrayed it, leaving only the goddess of monsters, Gorgon and Kingu as the remaining enemies.

At this point, all that's left is to prepare for the final battle, though before that, it's certainly necessary to clear away the last dust.

After lingering in the abyss for a while, Manju reached out and scooped up a handful of water with both hands. He then carried the water, which had traveled from the underworld of Ereshkigal to his own underworld, and placed it at the foot of the mountain in the center of the underworld.

"With that, this underworld seems to be without any problems. Once Nippur City is further improved, everything will be complete." (Nine)

Water was still quite important; the spirit of the gods walked on the surface of water, and in Sumerian mythology, the initial state of the universe was also a boundless ocean. ④

This abyss at the dawn of creation, and the ocean currents at the time of creation, have, to some extent, been helpful to this place. 8

Manjusaka instructed the body to place the water it had scooped up at the end of the ceaseless tide, where a lake eventually formed. (II)

The initial water fell into it, and Manjusaka controlled her body to scoop up the water and drink it. Four

In the underground underworld, this lake, which eventually forms, appears pitch black, ultimately devoid of any light. 3.

But even if light does appear, the lake surface still won't reflect much light, because only then can you truly see that the lake water itself is pitch black.

But the darkness didn't seem to originate from the water itself; rather, a completely black object was reflected in the water, occupying the entire surface, making it appear entirely black.

Manjushri returned the body to his temple, made his decision, and bestowed upon it a false consciousness, declaring it to rule the underworld as Nergal. (5)

"I entrust you with the vast underground space, except for the sun in the sky and the sun floating on the water, which are beyond your reach. Everything else is at your disposal." - Zhong

The two most important things could not possibly be entrusted to this newly constructed object, just as the giant cliffs and temples on the ground were not given to Ninurta.

Having come back to life, Nergal, upon receiving orders, fell into the underworld and settled on a high mountain in its center.

After two or three days of relative calm, communication between Uruk and Nepal gradually became more frequent, with information being exchanged between them.

Following Manjus's previous orders, the people in Nippur also requested Uruk to transport some building materials, such as bricks, salvaged from the ruins of Babylon.

Manju took away the building materials that had been brought to Babylon and went off to study other things.

However, the peaceful days here could not last long. Soon, another message came from Uruk, this time concerning the Goddess of the Beasts.

"More intelligence has come from Uruk. The monsters in the cedar forest have gathered in large numbers. They are about to launch another unprecedented all-out attack. We have already observed 10 monsters."

"Is there really 100,000 just from what I can see? That number is outrageous. The combined population of Uruk and Nippur is probably no more than 10,000. Only Sumer before all these things happened could have produced so many people."