My mother's love song

……

Ereshkigal's palace was in the open space ahead.

Gilgamesh put his hands on his hips and said to the boy beside him, "Ereshkigal is a pillar of the Three Goddesses Alliance. He is an opponent that must be defeated at all costs.

Since I am here to help you, you will surely win. I won't say more about this. But... after you defeat her, I will leave the issue of dealing with that guy to you."

Humph... this old fox, Rhodes sneered disdainfully.

The reason why the King of Heroes said this was obviously because he expected that he could use Ereshkigal as he did with Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl.

But... that's exactly what I meant.

After walking for some distance, they came to an open wilderness.

"We're here." Rhodes said.

"This is the fever temple of Ereshkigal."

"..."

Ishtar had a stern face and stared at the lifeless scenery below her feet with great displeasure.

Gilgamesh raised his head and looked up at the sky above the wilderness: "Show yourself, Ereshkigal. Queen of the galula spirits who gaze upon the dark sky."

"Don't call out my name so easily... a mere human king."

Accompanied by an ethereal female voice, the mistress of the underworld descended into her temple.

The horrifying white bones slowly appeared, and Ereshkigal coldly declared: "Praise, fear, despair, you ignorant people.

I am the ruler of death. Mistress of the underworld, the one who tramples the sacred peaks. One of the pillars of the [Three Goddesses Alliance], Ereshkigal. "

"Ishtar, wait here for me."

Rhodes gently held the little goddess sitting on top of his head and put her in the air.

"Huh? What are you going to do?"

Rhodes smiled and walked towards the huge skeleton ghost without hesitation.

"Wait! Rod, don't get close to her! It's dangerous!"

Ishtar looked at the boy's back in panic, but was worried about angering the god of the underworld. After all, she would be killed instantly if he touched her even the slightest bit.

The giant undead skeleton watched Rhodes approach while looking down at Ishtar flying in the air with an absolute zero gaze.

"Oh? I was wondering why I heard such a noisy flapping sound, isn't this the poor goddess?

With your body smaller than the tip of my claws, you can still yell. Come on, let me smash you to pieces."

“Ha… How outrageous!” Ishtar mustered up her courage and retorted.

"Just because you are ugly, you want to defile beautiful things. Because no one comes to see you, you place the throne on the top of the sacred peak.

Blame it all on you! How dare someone like this be my half? It's so shameful!

Fine, kill me or chop me up as you please! But after that, you will be listed among the ugliest women in Sumer!"

Rhodes walked in front of the skeleton monster and stood still.

"Stop arguing, both of you. Ishtar, Ereshkigal."

"Wow... do you want to die... How dare you talk to Ereshkigal like that?"

Even for Gilgamesh, who had entered the underworld many times, this was the first time he actually saw the mistress of the underworld.

The King of Uruk couldn't help feeling a little nervous when he thought of the previous victim [Dumuzd] who had been imprisoned here for ten thousand years.

He stared at Rhode's back with full concentration: "So... what will you do? Let me see how you can convince the cold-blooded death god!"

"Ereshkigal, here I come."

While greeting, Rhodes stretched out his arms and hugged the skeleton body of the Queen of the Underworld.

Everyone: “…Huh!?”

Ereshkigal brushed his bony claws across the boy's back and spoke calmly.

"Are you finally here? You've kept me waiting, my son."

"Sorry, it took a little time along the way." Rhodes said, looking up.

"what……?"

The close and natural attitude between Ereshkigal and Rod surprised everyone.

Then, amid the trembling gazes of the crowd and the rapidly dropping temperature.

Rhodes raised the corner of his mouth and continued with a smile.

"Goddess, I followed your instructions... I brought all these thieves here."

……

……

……

"Haha... you are really my good boy. I will reward you well later."

Ereshkigal said this in an emotionless and cold voice, then stretched out his bone claws and pointed the tips of his fingers at everyone.

The first one to notice something was wrong was Gilgamesh. The king shouted loudly while taking out the seal of divine power from the depths of his soul.

"Something's wrong... Mashu, prepare to fight!"

“Eh? What…!?”

Mashu was stunned.

What did Rhodes mean just now?

Were we brought to the goddess of death by him on purpose?

By the time you react, it's too late.

The next moment, four cages appeared out of nowhere and trapped Mashu, Ritsuka, Gilgamesh, and Ishtar inside.

"What... is this a gun prison?"

As soon as she entered the cage, Mashu was forced to stop the combat state. The round table and armor disappeared, and her body was unable to exert any strength.

Even Gilgamesh's seal of divine authority dissipated like mist.

"Don't even think about struggling. Ereshkigal's power is absolute." Rhodes said calmly.

Exactly. Ereshkigal looked at the imprisoned human with pleasure.

"This is where you will live for the next tens of thousands of years. You will watch me destroy the world with my own hands and spend the rest of your life in despair and regret."

"..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka stood up from the cage and stared at the boy standing shoulder to shoulder with Ereshkigal.

"Lord, why are you just watching? Are you really betraying me?!"

Yeah. The boy nodded.

“The reason I accompanied you here was actually because of Ereshkigal’s instructions.

"Bring the Chaldean magicians and servants, as well as the soul of King Gilgamesh and the body of Ishtar to the Fever Temple." I agreed to Meili's request for this purpose from the beginning."

“This is only natural, right?

On one side is Uruk, whose king has died and is on the verge of collapse; on the other side is the goddess of the underworld who built a world of the dead underground in Sumer.

Then there is only one answer..."

Rhodes paused and said.

"There is no two suns in the sky! There is only one Utu [sun] in my heart, Ereshkigal!"

Ritsuka: “…………”

First he recognized Ishtar as his mother, but when the situation got wrong he kicked her away and turned around to recognize Ereshkigal as his mother. What kind of behavior is this from Lu Bu, the God of War!

Although some people would say "surrender to the enemy" or "surrender to the enemy" after seeing a cute villain, Rhode is probably the first one to actually surrender to the enemy.

Everyone was speechless in the face of this absurd development. They couldn't even get angry and just felt speechless.

"It's a lie... How is that possible?"

Ishtar fell to her knees with a plop, revealing a look of grief.

Was I... deceived by Rhodes? Was I abandoned by him?

These days, the daily life I have spent with this child, the relationship between us... are they all just my wishful thinking?

"Rod, this isn't true...are you really going to abandon me and choose my half!?"

“Hmm… That’s it, Ishtar. This child chose me.

Just like going through seven gates, no matter how many times he chooses me. "

In fact, Ereshkigal was so happy that she almost cried, but she still maintained her cold and aloof Pluto persona and spoke calmly.

"Oh, right. You should thank this kid very much. If it weren't for his plea, I would have destroyed the bodies of those two foreigners as well."

No, impossible! Rhodes would never betray me!

There must be some mistake! Ereshkigal, the evil and ugly goddess, must have bewitched him in some way!

Ishtar grabbed the bars of the gun cell and shouted:

"Rod! Don't be fooled! That's Ereshkigal! The embodiment of death, maggots, mildew, and filth! The ugly goddess who hates all living things, Ereshkigal!"

Ereshkigal glanced at Ishtar with displeasure.

"...You haven't changed at all, my poor sister who only knows how to talk...Okay, you just said I'm ugly.

Although I must have been possessed to reveal my true identity to you, it is also shameful for a goddess to be willing to be insulted without resistance.

...I will let you see it for a while. No, that's not right...I've had enough of this way of talking!"

He closed his huge skeletal claws and placed them on his chest, and Ereshkigal made up his mind to return to his true form.

"...?"

Everyone looked up at Ereshkigal.

"I'll let you see this for yourself! Be surprised, this is my true face as a goddess!"

唰

A blinding cold light burst out from the chest of the Garula spirit which was dozens of meters away.

Immediately afterwards, the skeleton body forged by the divine power shattered like glass and fell like snowflakes.

The goddess with a confident smile walked out from the white light of scattered stars.

Under the black crown is a peerless beauty that perfectly fits the word "goddess".

With her regular facial features, it's no surprise that she was mistaken for a goddess of beauty.

Her bright golden hair fell to her waist, and her scarlet eyes sparkled.

The pitch-black divine robe matched with the purple-red cloak outlines the perfect female figure.

The slender right foot is wrapped in black stockings inlaid with gold, and the exposed left leg is plump, round, healthy and energetic.

"Hum hum……"

Ereshkigal confidently pushed his blond hair away from his shoulders and smiled a perfect smile.

"Are you scared? It seems like you are scared? You are scared, right? Of course, the appearance of the Garula spirit is just fake!

This appearance, which even the Sumerian gods have never seen, is the true form of me, Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld, who is worthy of the name of Lot's mother!"

Romani: “What!”

Gilgamesh: What?

Mashu: “Actually…”

Ishtar: "Impossible..."

Fu Fu: "Fuwuwuwu..."