Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

Just as she was ready to use her body as a shield to block the attacks for the innocent souls behind her.

Time stood still.

Then, as if descending from the sky, a huge golden light instantly appeared in front of him.

"Gh·Gh·Gh·Ghost! Final Attack Time Break!"

It was a black-gold figure with golden totem power wrapped around its right foot.

Enveloped in the power of fifteen great men, he delivered a flying kick that struck countless souls.

An immense power swept across the heavens and the earth.

Like a vortex, the black-gold color that burst forth twisted and eroded in all directions, piercing through the bodies of all the souls present and burning away the ominous things within them with the power of a great man.

Ereshkigal was dumbfounded and immediately straddled the ground.

"Eh...?"

Blue ghostly flames, an aura of chaos.

She looked at the figure that had appeared in front of her.

A figure clad in black and gold armor, with a face as astonished as an LCD screen.

With an air of mysterious oppression, he slowly turned around.

The two looked at each other.

"Are you alright?"

The Demon King's calm greeting awakened the consciousness of the Goddess of the Underworld.

She stared incredulously at the figure standing before her.

Volume 8, Mesopotamian Absolute Demonic Front: Chapter 330 Enjoying a Moment of Communication in the Underworld

unbelievable.

Someone actually came to this underworld?!

Ereshkigal still finds it hard to believe. She stares at the figure that suddenly appears before her, watching as the person removes something from their waist and disarms themselves of their ornate armor.

He looks like... just an ordinary human being.

However, upon closer inspection, the other person is indeed quite different from ordinary people, but that's only in terms of temperament...

"Thank you... for saving me."

Huh?

After scrutinizing Yan Ming several times, Ereshkigal exclaimed in disbelief.

"what?"

"I can't sense the presence of either the living or the dead? How could this be!"

The goddess of the underworld stood up abruptly, looking at him with an expression even more exaggerated than if she had seen a ghost.

"Who exactly are you...?!"

Ignoring the other party's shouting, Yan Ming first checked the surrounding situation.

The unresolved issues are practically invisible now.

It seems that no dangerous spirits are rushing this way for the time being... at least for now, everything is fine.

Only then did Yan Ming turn his attention back to the other person.

"Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld... is that you?"

"You know me...?"

"I think your reputation as a goddess should be quite famous in this world."

Of course, Yan Ming only learned about this from Woz and Gilgamesh.

Logically speaking, an ordinary person shouldn't know about the goddess, and it would be difficult to recognize that this girl with this appearance is the goddess, so he should be suspected by the other party.

but.

Ereshkigal blinked and nodded at him, looking somewhat confused.

"Oh...I see, is that how it is..."

—So you believe in yourself now?

Even he himself felt that this explanation seemed a bit hasty, but he didn't expect her to believe it without any doubt.

"Wait a minute! Most people shouldn't know my name, so who are you anyway?!"

Finally, there's some reaction.

Putting aside his speechlessness at her reaction, Yan Ming walked over to her and checked on her condition.

He looked weak, but at least he wasn't injured.

"Explain to me why the underworld has become like this."

When Yan Ming questioned him, Ereshkigal initially seemed somewhat distrustful, but after thinking about it, he realized that Yan Ming was the only person he could talk to now.

The blonde goddess wiped the sweat from her forehead, her expression turning somber.

“I don’t know the specifics, but… about a day ago, I sensed that most of the souls were in a slight uproar.”

“I used my power to suppress their riots and successfully restored them to their original state... I never expected that things would develop into this situation today.”

Standing beside her, Yan Ming could directly sense the powerlessness and weakness emanating from Ereshkigal.

Are you feeling very unwell?

"I'm afraid it's because the power that originally belonged to me was taken away."

Ereshkigal's handsome face appeared slightly pale.

"I am the goddess of the underworld. I originally possessed the power to control everything in the underworld, but now, most of that power has been usurped by those riotous souls."

"Right now, I probably retain less than 40% of the Netherworld's authority. In my current state, I'm completely incapable of repairing the Netherworld..."

Yan Ming glanced at the goddess in front of him, and then looked at everything behind her.

Those are souls that have not yet been defiled.

Why are you working so hard?

Ereshkigal, who was standing to the side, was taken aback when he heard the question.

"Why...why are you asking me that?"

"I'm just curious, if you want to escape, it shouldn't be too difficult, so why go to such lengths to protect the souls behind you?"

"...Because it's my duty."

With his previous expression gone, Ereshkigal immediately adopted a serious demeanor.

"Protecting everything in the underworld and ensuring that what happens here doesn't affect unrelated people on the surface is what I'm supposed to do... I won't let them be corrupted like other souls. In my care, there can never be another innocent soul that becomes like that."

"Even if it puts your life in danger, it's the same?"

"Yes, because this is what I should do, it's my duty."

The two looked at each other, and in Yan Ming's eyes, Ereshkigal's eyes seemed to be very... full of conviction.

She will not back down when faced with difficulties, and even if it means her own sacrifice, she will still protect everything in the underworld and on earth at the last moment.

…very good.

Once this is basically confirmed, that's enough.

"I'll help you with that next."

Therefore, Yan Ming did not hesitate to tell his plan.

"...Huh?"

"I will help you solve the problems of the underworld, rescue all those innocent souls, and restore the underworld to its original state."

"Wait—you mean! You want to get involved in this situation?!"

Ereshkigal couldn't help but show a very surprised expression.

"This is too reckless! This is the Underworld. Fighting without my permission is dangerous enough, let alone under these special circumstances..."

"No difference."

This, this man—!

Ereshkigal felt a surge of anger rising in her head; she was even somewhat annoyed by Yan Ming's reaction.

"You...do you even know what you're saying?! I am the goddess of the underworld, so it's fine for me to continue, but if you, as a human, continue fighting here, you might very well die! You really might die!!"

Even after she said that, Yan Ming just stood there without moving, clearly determined to help Ereshkigal.

The girl bit her lip and thought for a long time, but even a goddess like her couldn't come up with anything that could effectively persuade the other party.

"Oh, really... whatever you like! You big idiot!"

Even after being verbally abused, the man simply stood motionless, gazing at the pitch-black distance of the underworld.

She suddenly felt utterly powerless. She wanted to say something, but could only sigh and lean against the side.

"Ugh~ Talking to you is so tiring! Who are you anyway? Normal people wouldn't even show up in a place like the underworld!"

"I don't even know why I came here."

"What did you say…?"

"You should be able to tell from my current state."

If that's the case, it does seem to make sense, because this person has neither the aura of the living nor the aura of the dead...

This kind of thing is not only rare, it has never happened before.

"That's strange... What's going on with you?"

"Even if you ask me, you won't get an answer."

Unfortunately, even if Ereshkigal asked Yan Ming, he wouldn't know the answer either.

The goddess of the underworld walked directly to Yan Ming's side.

Although she still wanted to continue solving the problems of the underworld, but...

She felt dizzy after standing for just a short while.

"Ugh..."

"You'd better rest a bit more."

With Yan Ming's help, Ereshkigal sat down on the ground and took a few breaths before feeling a little better.

"...On another note."

After sitting there for a while and thinking, Ereshkigal looked at Yan Ming again.

"You said you'd help me solve my problems here, but why would you help me?"

Ereshkigal had already witnessed the strength of the human before him.

Although it's unclear how the other party did it, that armor does seem to grant him considerable power, considering that a single flying kick dealt with all those berserk souls.

After confirming the other party's strength, Ereshkigal began to ponder... the reasons why the other party would help him.

"It's very simple."

The other party calmly stated their motive.

"I helped you simply because I knew you were risking your life to protect innocent people."

"…ha?"

"The souls behind you truly want to help them, truly want to protect this underworld, and truly don't want innocent people on the ground to be implicated."

"So—so for this reason that you risked so much danger to help me?!"

"Aren't you the same? To protect so many things, you're willing to risk your life to hold out here until the very end."

Uh—! Now Ereshkigal was completely speechless.