One-way traffic

"Even if you are living beings, you are still no match for me, who holds absolute authority!"

Boom! The violent force caused the ground within a radius of tens of meters to sink by several centimeters.

Matthew's strength was not fully utilized.

In this underworld, everything is under the control of Ereshkigal. The output of power and the use of abilities are all powers that cannot be exercised freely without the permission of this goddess.

The reason they've been able to stay in this stalemate is simply because neither of them is considered dead.

It was only through this reason that she was able to barely break free from the influence of Ereshkigal, but she still could not rival that absolute goddess of the underworld.

Boom——! !

This time, a despairing, distorted sound emanated once again from Matthew's shield.

"As the goddess of the underworld, I have been in charge of everything in the underworld and the souls of the dead for tens of thousands of years."

"Throughout the long years... I have always borne this loneliness alone, only able to gaze at my own half, while Ishtar of Venus roams freely in the world, and I can feel nothing at all!"

"Now that things have come to this... you actually want to punish me for all the contributions I've made? Is that what you're thinking too?! Fujimaru Ritsuka!"

Snap—the shield was pushed down even further.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, who kept her hand on Matthew's back and relied on her magic circuits to fill him with magic power, showed no intention of wavering.

"...I won't praise you as you are now."

"..."

"You have protected all of this so far, which is indeed admirable, but! Protecting the underworld is what you should have done, it is your duty!"

He spoke these words to the mistress of the underworld in his human form.

Fujimaru Ritsuka was indeed very afraid, and she could definitely feel the oppressive aura coming at her.

However, she did not back down because of this.

This is what she truly wanted to say after seeing what Ereshkigal had gone through; these were the words she wanted to say to her.

"You want to degrade yourself by belittling your position to make yourself evil, but that's not how it works! Ereshkigal, everything you did... was clearly to protect everyone!"

"Shut up--!"

"No way! You big liar! Stop stubbornly clinging to this act of bravado now!!"

Even the girl he valued so much didn't intend to praise or acknowledge him at all.

and so.

Ereshkigal has no intention of holding back anymore.

Zzzgoo—! !!!

An even more powerful current concentrated on a single point of the spear of light.

Bang! !

In an instant, the already enormous spear became even larger than Ereshkigal's massive body.

"Oh no—Matthew!"

"Since even you don't intend to praise me or understand what I'm saying—!!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately planned to unleash the spirit spell on her right hand to empower Matthew's magic, thereby unleashing her Noble Phantasm.

But it's too slow.

At this moment, Ereshkigal had already expanded that power to its strongest level.

Whether it's the blessing from the underworld, the blessing from one's own enlightenment, or the pure output of power.

They showed no mercy whatsoever.

That devastating blow, with an unshakeable and overwhelming momentum.

They bombarded it head-on.

"Ugh...! Master, please hold on tight to my body!"

Matthew was prepared to protect Fujimaru Ritsuka even if it meant serious injury—or even death.

In that moment.

—Another ominous shadow appeared here.

His speed completely surpassed his opponent's moves; this speed was not due to his own inherent abilities.

Rather, the faster the opponent is, the faster you will be.

Bang! ! !

"Varied--?!"

Not only Ereshkigal was surprised, but Matthew and Fujimaru Ritsuka were also surprised.

Because the person blocking the crimson spear of light was someone who stopped everything with just his bare hands.

A white-haired, red-eyed figure with six purple generators floating behind him.

"Mr. Accelerator!!"

The strongest Level 5 esper in Academy City.

Accelerating with an energy source reconstructed based on plasma, he manipulated all the particles while directly blocking Ereshkigal's attack.

He blocked the strongest blow with just his bare hands.

"You, you bastard—!!"

The goddess of the underworld was surprised by this sudden appearance.

She unleashed a power that surpassed all limits, allowing all her awareness and will to erupt in this single strike.

but.

The six generators, however, shone with an even more dazzling purple-white light once again.

"...QuicksilverStrike".

A single, understated sentence, and it was all over.

Accelerator delivered a powerful right punch from the side.

Bang! !

With just such a simple punch, Ereshkigal's spear was instantly deflected.

Those were seventeen consecutive strikes born at the very beginning of destruction and the instant of annihilation.

The first person clenched both fists, and after the right fist exploded, the left fist followed immediately.

The purplish-black energy flow twisted in front of him like a real black hole.

"Ugh—ah?!"

The blessing from the underworld is not a problem.

The power of inner enlightenment is not a problem.

In terms of pure power output, there is no problem.

—If that's the case, then why are we still being suppressed by the enemy in front of us?!

"How can it be!"

This already represents the maximum extent to which the power of the underworld has been amplified and the strength of the enemy has been weakened.

But the purplish-black shadow, which seemed capable of splitting the heavens and earth and was even more powerful than a black hole, could not be stopped.

Seventeen consecutive plasma convergence punches.

Every punch released by manipulating all the particles in the world to gather energy has the power to profoundly shake the entire Earth's biosphere.

boom--! ! ! !

That final punch, delivered in the most direct and powerful manner, struck the tip of the goddess's spear squarely.

No, to be honest, from the very first strike, the spear was completely crushed from the base.

The aftershocks alone spread throughout the entire underworld in an instant, and even the surface of the earth above it suffered an unparalleled annihilation effect.

Mountains disappeared, oceans were cut off.

But all of this is still just the aftermath of the aftermath.

It's likely that in the uninhabited areas on the other side of this planet, disasters of the magnitude of tsunamis or earthquakes have already occurred.

The reason it's called an uninhabited area is because Accelerator had already calculated the point of output for this power.

That means his ability to control the direction of energy is truly terrifyingly precise.

So, what fate awaits Ereshkigal, who took the hit head-on?

Click click click click——

The enormous shadow of the undead vanished almost instantly.

Instead, a petite young girl collapsed to the ground.

"Ereshkigal...?"

That was the true form of the mistress of the underworld.

Upon seeing the girl lying on the ground, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Matthew rushed over.

pat.

Accelerator landed back on the surface of the underworld and put away the six generators.

"It seems I underestimated you."

"What, this little bit is enough to scare you so much you'll lose your teeth? You golden-haired, red-eyed king."

"Stop talking. You have the same red eyes as me, you fool. You have no right to talk about me like that."

Standing beside him was the soul of Gilgamesh.

Even in this ghostly form, the two still couldn't resist having a little argument.

Following closely behind was another figure, dressed somewhat provocatively, but clearly not an ordinary person.

"..."

"Oh? I didn't expect that even the goddess of Venus would be speechless with surprise?"

Gilgamesh smiled provocatively and looked at the person behind him.

Ishtar, the goddess of Venus.

At the same time, this goddess is also the guardian deity of the city of Uruk.

…But now, she looked at the white-haired, red-eyed human with an incredulous expression.

"How, how can anyone believe that?! That's Ereshkigal! That guy with the blessing of the underworld, although he might not act in his true form! But no matter what, that kind of guy is extremely troublesome, a dangerous character that even the divinity of gods can restrain!"

"I have absolutely no connection with any of those nonsensical gods, so why should I be restricted by such a thing?"

Accelerator's casual remark completely terrified Ishtar.

She had never met this human, although she had heard from Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, and that golden king over there that someone called Accelerator had mentioned something.

But what you hear about is often less impactful than what you see for yourself.

Only after witnessing it firsthand did she dare to be certain that the human before her truly possessed the strength to defeat even a goddess like Gorgon with his bare hands.

just.

"You...you're really just a simple human being?!"

"Huh? Aren't you a goddess yourself? Can't you tell whether I have any kind of divinity or not?"

"Hmm, as for divinity, there is some... but I can't see what that divinity is at all!"

"What a fool, Ishtar! What's so sad about it if you just admit that this human's power belongs to him?"

Let's ignore the conversation between these inhuman beings for now.

As for Fujimaru Ritsuka, it seems she has already taken care of Ereshkigal, who has gotten up again.