In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

'Are you a friend of Jingu?' she asked.

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Offering my loyalty to Her Majesty the Empress!

—Book recommendation.

Chapter 259 The Goddess of Warcraft Attacks

Although the rescue plan in the underworld encountered many unexpected situations compared to expectations, the final result was still a happy one.

As dawn broke, Gilgamesh's soul returned to Uruk on its own, while Lore, Merlin, and Saber Alter returned to Uruk together.

Nitocris did not follow.

She said there was a city in the underworld that needed protection and management, and that too many souls from the underworld had been captured by Ereshkigal. It would be too time-consuming for her to release them all by herself. She didn't know how long such a huge project would take to complete, so she decided to stay a while longer to help Ereshkigal release all the captured souls, and then come back to meet up with them after confirming the relocation of all the residents.

Although they were reluctant to part, knowing that they were both safe and sound was the greatest joy for her. Their time together was short-lived, and neither of them would let the tenderness of this moment interfere with more important matters.

Luo Wei naturally didn't force her; instead, he supported her choice, believing that this was the right thing to do.

After all, helping someone doesn't just mean being physically present.

In addition, Ereshkigal, who was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties, also expressed his attitude with a rather arrogant tone.

She said that she was a goddess who was summoned to this singularity along with Ishtar. Originally, the state of this singularity was none of her business. However, as a goddess and Hades, who controls life and death, she could not turn a blind eye to the complete imbalance of life and death in this singularity. This was Hades' mission and could not be changed. However, her plans had been completely trampled on by you all, so as a loser, she naturally had nothing to say. After all, she could not do anything she wanted. But she could not predict how the outcome would be.

Although the words were spoken in a roundabout, even cryptic, manner, aside from the rather stubborn Black Gunner Alter who still regarded her as a potential enemy, Merlin and Loewy, two masters of language, were present and could easily discern the true meaning of the words.

This is just a typical example of someone who has already accepted you and really wants to stand on the side of humanity, but because they were too embarrassed just now, they can't bring themselves to make excuses.

However, no one pointed it out. After all, the essence of this war had already changed when Tiamat and Goetia appeared one after another and became increasingly bizarre. It was no longer a war between humans and gods, but rather a relationship that he had to deal with and resolve the problems between himself and two evil humans.

In this situation, it would be enough if Ereshkigal did not assist either side. He did not intend to use Ereshkigal's underworld as a battlefield. All he needed was for her to set the gates of the underworld to allow the living to enter and take refuge, which would be the greatest help he could receive.

Upon hearing the mention of Ereshkigal, Lovi and the others, halfway through their journey, realized that they seemed to have forgotten something, or rather, that something was missing from their group. However, because the two goddesses beside them were distracted by each other's yin and yang, they didn't realize until the latter part of the journey that Ereshkigal seemed to be using Ishtar's body. Because in the underworld, Ishtar's divinity was greatly weakened and she did not regain her body, and Ereshkigal had obviously forgotten about this as well.

Whether she did it intentionally, accidentally, or intentionally and accidentally, no one knows.

However, knowing Ereshkigal's personality, and knowing that the other party definitely wouldn't harm Ishtar, at most giving her a few good beatings before releasing her later, everyone wouldn't need to worry about her anymore. Letting this scarce goddess undergo personality correction in the Underworld would be a rare experience. More importantly, going back through the entire process for Ishtar would be too much of a waste of time.

Compared to Ereshkigal and Nitocris, who each had their own troubles, Scáthach, having just finished a face-to-face battle, left quite decisively.

Anyway, she wasn't familiar with Ereshkigal. From the beginning, she had summoned her own Gate of Death in the depths of the Underworld and was hiding in the Shadow Kingdom waiting for Lovi to come. She had no intention of getting involved in the affairs of this world. If she hadn't sensed a familiar aura in the labyrinth below and then met her old acquaintance Gilgamesh, she probably would have slept for a long time. Now that she had met the person she was looking for, she naturally left quite gracefully.

Although this battle ended in a disappointing failure, since she could see that the ten rings on Luo Wei's hand and many other trump cards were unusable for her, it was enough that she was certain he was doing well and had become very strong. She hadn't come here for the battle in the first place.

The only thing that annoyed her was that the atmosphere was just right, and she was all set to make a move, when Black Gunner, who was watching them fight, suddenly burst through the door with his Holy Lance, interrupting her plans.

In that guy's eyes, fighting was fine, but fighting in that area was not, especially with a bunch of all-seeing eyes watching.

Although Scáthach was somewhat angry about this, she still showed an indifferent attitude on her face, after all, she was not in a hurry. However, the atmosphere between her and Alter Alter became very strange along the way, especially for Rowe, who was caught in the middle.

"Um... could you please let go of me and go your own way?"

With each of the two women holding one of his arms, they walked from the Underworld all the way to the wasteland leading to Uruk. Lovi, feeling a bit of a headache, said to them.

Although there are these few sentences:

'What goes around comes around.'

"If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet."

Since these are debts I incurred myself, it's only natural to pay them back now. However, it's easy to say it's okay, but only when you experience it firsthand can you understand how terrifying it truly is.

"What's wrong? My dear Master, have you finally grown tired of the black dragon beside you? As expected of my Master, you're just like me. Would you like me to tame her for you? As a Celtic warrior, taming magical beasts is my duty, you know~"

Scáthach blinked and then spoke in a harmonious tone, but her words were full of sarcasm towards Saber Alter. Hearing her sharp words, which were clearly aimed at her, Saber Alter also retaliated without hesitation.

"If you want to be torn apart by the mother dragon you speak of, then go ahead and try, Queen of the Land of the Dead. Instead of diligently fulfilling your duties like Ereshkigal, you're running around recklessly, which is dereliction of duty. I can take you back."

"Is that so? However, it's quite disjointed to hear such words as 'fulfilling one's duties' coming from the mouth of a fallen god like you. Have you completed your mission? Or do you no longer have a mission?"

Black Gun: "You—!!"

Clang!

There was no point in saying more than necessary. In just a moment, the purple and dark red light collided violently and burst forth directly before Luo Wei's eyes.

The crimson demonic spear and the dark red holy spear collided simultaneously half a meter in front of him, bursting into a shower of sparks.

"Could you please stop fighting for now?"

Seeing this, Luo Wei, who had been holding back all the way, could no longer bear it. He stretched out both hands, grasped a gun on each side, and forcefully suppressed the overflowing magical power between them, stopping the fight between the two.

Seeing that Rowe had already taken action, the two of them initially cooperated well and didn't make things difficult for him. Or rather, Scáthach and Saber Alter were only fighting in secret and hadn't really gone all out, otherwise the situation wouldn't have escalated to this point. However, Merlin, standing to the side, watched this scene with amusement, occasionally fanning the flames as a small act of revenge by Rowe for not helping him when he was burned at the stake.

However, Scáthach and Alter Alter knew Merlin too well, so they didn't believe a single word he said. Their hearts were full of prejudice against Merlin. So, as soon as Merlin started to speak, they each punched him to the ground and threw him into the wilderness, waiting for him to catch up with him.

Later, with Luo Wei's concesion, the strange atmosphere surrounding the lineup gradually calmed down.

Both of them gave Luo Wei face and wouldn't really get angry. Even if they wanted to fight, they would definitely make a point of avoiding him.

On the final stretch of the journey back to Uruk, Rowe stood atop a cliff, where he could see a long, continuous wall of defenses in the distance. Before that wall, on that vast, desolate land, monsters roamed, while the soldiers of Uruk, relying on the wall, engaged in a fierce battle with the monsters.

The roars were incessant, the air was thick with the stench of blood, and the ground was covered in crimson.

Has the Gorgon completely gone mad?

Looking at the waves of magical beasts that had subsided but were now stirring up again, Luo Wei knew that something must have happened on Gorgon's side, probably causing the magical beasts across the entire plain to become unruly.

After all, with Kingu ceasing to control the monsters to attack, Gorgon is now the only remaining entity in the singularity capable of commanding monsters.

"Humans—!!"

Just then, the earth began to churn, and the figure of the Beast Goddess Gorgon emerged from the swirling dust of the battlefield. She glared angrily at the battle lines and city walls ahead, letting out a furious roar.

"—Prepare to die!!"

Gorgon roared fiercely, and then a petrifying beam shot out from her eyes, blasting towards the monster defense line.

"Oh no! Everyone get out of the way!!"

At the center of the city gate, Leonidas, who was in charge of leading the troops guarding the monster defense line, saw this scene and his tone was solemn. After all, knowing the true nature of the monsters and their strength, he knew that the human defense line could not possibly withstand an attack of this level. So he quickly released his defensive artifact, "Flame Gate Guardian," and immediately summoned three hundred brave Spartan warriors who had fought alongside him in the Battle of Thermopylae. Then, he materialized three hundred shields of heroic spirits and stood alone to block the petrifying beams of Gorgon for the soldiers behind him.

Boom—!!

A deafening roar erupted before the city gates. The shields of the three hundred Heroic Spirits summoned by Leonidas's Noble Phantasm successfully blocked the terrifying petrifying ray. However, for Leonidas, taking such a high-level divine attack as a Servant was no easy task, especially with the petrifying ray being a continuous barrage. Under Gorgon's watchful gaze, the blue Heroic Spirit shields in the hands of the three hundred warriors were visibly cracking, accompanied by a series of piercing sounds like "—crack crack crack!!" The entire defensive line was being breached.

Until the very end—

Boom!!

Relying solely on human power, Leonidas ultimately lost to Gorgon, who had acquired a portion of Tiamat's authority. Leonidas's strongest Noble Phantasm, "Guardian of the Flame Gate," was shattered by this beam of light, wiping out more than half of his soldiers. His weapon also lost its luster due to being petrified by the petrifying beam. In the final moments, even his entire Noble Phantasm was completely destroyed.

Bang--!!

Under the impact, Leonidas was knocked against the wall by the force of Gorgon's impact, smashing a huge hole in it. He looked disheveled and grimaced. He looked at Gorgon, who had suddenly barged into the battlefield, gritted his teeth, and let out a sound of resentment.

"Damn it, I really can't compare to my ancestors in defeating such a monster? I'm still too weak..."

"—Hahaha! Descendant of Perseus, you are utterly weak!"

Seeing that Leonidas's prized defensive artifact had been pierced by her, Gorgon let out a maniacal laugh, her eyes once again gathering light as she prepared to shatter it completely.

Gorgon laughed furiously: "Go and die with your tiny, barely perceptible hopes!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the light emanating from Gorgon's eyes shot out again toward the city.

'Oops!!'

Upon witnessing this scene, not only Leonidas, but also Ushiwakamaru, who was unable to participate in such a battle due to the poor compatibility of his Noble Phantasms, felt a bad premonition.

The compatibility is too poor, the gap is too big.

Ordinary Servant Spirit Origins are no match for these goddesses. She clearly realized this when facing Gorgon. In fact, Leonidas's Noble Phantasm was the one with the best compatibility and the strongest defense on their side, but even so, it only barely withstood the first attack. Now that the second attack is coming, and Leonidas's Noble Phantasm is invincible, she doesn't know what to do.

"No, I have to go..."

Realizing this, and knowing he was no match for Gorgon, Ushiwakamaru still drew his sword, ready to fight to the death.

In any case, Ushiwakamaru could not stand by and watch Leonidas die in front of her while she could only watch helplessly.

However, at this moment—

"Ugh, I'm so fed up with you humans! You're all utterly useless! But if this place breaks down, I'll definitely get captured by that terrifying green-hatted monster again, so get out of my way, let me handle this one!!"

Just as Ushiwakamaru was about to go into battle, an unexpected voice suddenly appeared in her ears. It turned out that Ibaraki-dōji, whom she had captured and taught a lesson some time ago, had not only not taken advantage of the chaos to escape, but was standing on the highest point of the city wall, raising her spiked club.

Because of his fear of Leif, which led him to believe that if he lost his job here, he would likely fall into the hands of that cuckold, Ibaraki-dōji dared not run away. He was determined to defend this place no matter what.

Only those who have experienced hardship and displacement can understand how great it is to work here. Not only are there fewer World of Warcraft players, but she also gets days off every day, and can eat as much malt candy as she wants. The city kids also pester her to play with them. Looking back, she realizes how miserable her life had been before.

Even if it's not for the sake of morality, but just to live a better life, she's going to give it her all today!

"The arm, lost and found, transforms into a monster. Burn fiercely, prepare to be attacked—Rashoumon Daiengi!!"

Unusually roused, Ibaraki-doji unceremoniously pointed her arm at Gorgon below. After a few incantations, a giant hand of fire, covering several meters, shot towards Gorgon like a rocket, leaving a dazzling trail of fire in the air. The intense heat caused the monsters below to howl in agony.

—Bear bear bear bear!!

"what?!"

In an instant, Gorgon, whose attention was entirely focused on Leonidas, realized that it was too late when she saw the rapidly approaching fiery hand. The giant fiery hand had already reached her face, collided with her petrifying beam, and then exploded violently. The huge impact even made her whole body tremble.

"Well done, Ibaraki-dōji! I really underestimated you!!"

Ushiwakamaru was so excited to see that Ibaraki-dōji had such a move that he jumped up. However, Ibaraki-dōji was a little exhausted at the moment and fell from the height, where he was caught in Ushiwakamaru's arms.

"You wretched humans, forget about me for now, hurry up and kill that snake demon..."

Ibaraki-doji was somewhat weak, and her Noble Phantasm was a one-time use weapon that she had just used and could no longer use.

"I see."

Ushiwakamaru nodded solemnly in response, then drew his sword and prepared to go into battle.

Both Leonidas and Ibaraki-doji have done their utmost, and now she must also fulfill her mission.

Ushiwakamaru glanced at the enormous body of Gorgon below, took a deep breath, but couldn't help looking around. However, she still couldn't see that familiar figure, and sighed.

"So he's deserted again, hasn't he, Musashibo..."