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Sleipnir, the pegasus from Norse mythology, capable of traversing the entire sky and even easily reaching the underworld. However, in this era, the underworld was merely a place reached by digging into the ground, so it actually had little to do with Sleipnir. At present, this pegasus served merely as an ordinary mount.
Asher rode the pegasus into the underworld. His gaze swept around, taking in the pervasive gloom. Long, cage-like structures filled with a faint blue light were scattered everywhere. These were the "prison lances," woven by the Goddess of the Underworld to serve as dwellings for the deceased.
"The aura of death here is truly potent," Asher murmured to himself, then turned slightly, his gaze falling upon a narrow cliff path not far away. He could sense an even stronger aura of death emanating from there.
Asher dismissed Sleipnir and stepped towards the small, narrow crevice. Before him appeared a door.
The Seven Gates of the Underworld. One had to answer a
relevant question at each gate. Although it was said there were no standard answers, any response was acceptable. However, the longer one stayed here, the more their "fate power" would decrease. Fate power, simply put, was luck.
Once it was exhausted, one would become an unlucky person. But for Asher, this was not an issue. The Goddess of Death's blessing allowed him to resist the debuffs cast by the underworld, and he didn't need to worry about his luck becoming E-rank from staying too long.
This place looks quite new. I wonder if Sister Morgan also knows about the so-called Underworld? Asher surveyed the door before him, which felt profoundly deep at first glance, and pondered silently. He stepped forward, lightly knocked on the doorframe, and called out loudly, "Hey, anyone there?"
"Hey"
Boom! A loud bang echoed in the underworld, followed by an extremely unpleasant sound, like rusty gears turning: "Thou dost not belong here, nor art thou a living being, unknown Servant, what is thy purpose in coming here?"
"Just passing by, felt a bit of familiarity, so I came down to take a look," Asher said. "Can we talk? I'm a bit curious if the death aura of different pantheons is interconnected."
The voice in the underworld immediately fell silent. The goddess, who had resided here for tens of thousands of years and was overly lonely, was either moved by Asher's suggestion to 'chat together' or angered by Asher's tone, which sounded like an old neighbor casually dropping by.
"Where's everyone?" Asher muttered. "Doesn't work, huh?"
"Cough... Considering thou hast gone through immense hardships to appear here, I shall grant thee the opportunity to enter my palace, Servant who has fallen
into the underworld, answer my question."
"Actually, I was just passing by," Asher added. The voice
caught in its throat for a moment, and its tone seemed to carry a hint of anger, becoming harsh and shrill. She quickened her pace and asked, "The standards of beauty seem varied, yet there is an absolute existence. Between the Goddess of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, and the Goddess of Heaven, Ishtar, who is more beautiful?"
Asher frowned. Honestly, he really hated these kinds of questions. Asher remembered back in the Land of Shadows, Morgan often asked him such questions, and even his Shishou asked similar ones. But never mind, the one asking now wasn't his Shishou or Morgan. For these
two goddesses, answering either one was the same.
Ereshkigal and Ishtar... Asher thought for a moment.
"Ereshkigal, I suppose."
Asher had only met the Goddess of Heaven so far.
Although she wore very little clothing and showed an arrogant yet somewhat silly side, she was indeed a quite beautiful goddess. However, her personality was simply terrible. While she had a somewhat clumsy but cute vibe, since they were in the underworld, he naturally had to answer with the Goddess of the Underworld.
"Ding-dong-dong, correct answer!"
This question was practically given away. Asher grumbled inwardly, stepped through the first gate, and quickly arrived before the second. "If all earthly wealth were to be guarded by one person, should that person be the Goddess of Heaven, or the Goddess of the Underworld?"
And it's all these obvious questions... Asher decisively answered "Goddess of the Underworld" and smoothly passed through the second gate. The question for the third gate quickly came: "If a living person were to mistakenly enter this place at this moment, and only one of you two could leave, whom do you think is more suitable to leave?"
"Me." Asher pointed to himself.
"What an unhesitating answer. You are merely a Servant; even if you dissipate, nothing would happen, right?"
"While it's true nothing would happen if I dissipate, I have other things to do here," Asher said. "Besides, I don't know that person." He shrugged, "After all, when asked moral questions, most people can unhesitatingly say what aligns with moral standards, but when they actually experience it themselves, they might give themselves special treatment. It's like standing on dry land and criticizing someone struggling in water, expecting others to do what you yourself cannot. So, I just answered your question honestly."
The voice on the other end quickly fell silent, and even the aura of death that had spread earlier paused for a moment. Then, the entire underworld seemed to tremble, and even Asher almost lost his footing.
"Very well, you are an honest fellow. But merely this, the questions are not yet over. Continue forward, let me see how you answer the other questions." Although her tone was incredibly cold, it was not difficult to imagine that the girl speaking now was undoubtedly seated on her throne, looking impatient, eagerly hoping that Asher would continue towards the fourth gate so she could continue questioning him. After all, besides the King, no living being had entered the underworld for a very long time, let alone talked to her... she meant taking her test.
"Quickly, move forward, unknown Servant, your test is not yet over." The voice began to urge, but Asher remained standing, chin in hand, lost in thought.
"Quickly, move forward, unknown Servant..."
"Move forward, Servant..."
Asher still didn't move, deep in thought, and the urging voice grew weaker and weaker, sounding as if it was wronged and wanted to squat in a corner drawing circles. At that moment, Asher finally moved. He took a step forward. But only one step, then stopped.
"Servant, why do you stop?"
Asher ignored the voice, called out Sleipnir, and then mounted it.
"Eh?!" The voice finally panicked, hastily asking, "Where are you going?!"
"It feels too troublesome. I only came in to take a look because I sensed a familiar aura of death, but continuously answering questions is too much trouble.
I'm going back."
"The remaining questions are all very simple..."
"All simple?"
"Yes, they're all multiple-choice questions, very easy to answer..." Perhaps it was because she hadn't chatted with anyone for too long, the voice suddenly softened considerably.
"That's pretty good," Asher nodded gently.
"Then"
"But never mind, I refuse to answer. I didn't really have anything to ask you anyway, and someone's waiting for me outside."
The voice stopped abruptly. Asher patted Sleipnir's head.
The pegasus flapped its wings and flew towards the ground. From behind, an annoyed voice came: "You'll regret this, you'll definitely regret this!"
This was the first time the Goddess of the Underworld had been so angered. She felt she had been played. He clearly sounded like he intended to answer the questions, but then he suddenly ran off. He just brazenly rode that horse away, and she had no way to stop him. The horse was completely immune to the restrictions of the underworld; as long as he didn't enter the deep palace of the underworld, she had no way to restrict him.
"You will definitely regret this! I will not forgive you!
Even if you prostrate yourself at the feet of the Goddess of the Underworld, kneeling for three days and three nights, you will never gain her forgiveness!" By the end, her voice was much softer, muttering, "I hate bad children the most."
Asher didn't care much, riding Sleipnir out of the underworld.
...
"So slow. Should've just gone in with Father King."
Mordred annoyed scratched her head, impatiently drawing her greatsword. "I should just go down and see."
As she spoke, she took a step forward, but Jeanne was quick-witted and pulled Mordred back.
"Calm down. If your Father King comes back now, wouldn't you two just miss each other?"
"You're right..." Mordred plopped down, arms crossed, looking very frustrated. Jeanne couldn't help but show a faint smile. This was truly completely different from Ash; he wouldn't be so impatient.
"What are you looking at?" Mordred noticed Jeanne's gaze and turned to her. "Oh, right, what are you to my Father King? Why do you seem so close to him?" Jeanne's smile from earlier stiffened slightly. "What are what to him?"
"Just... just that," Mordred scratched her hair and sighed, "Ah, never mind, just pretend I didn't ask." Jeanne looked at Mordred with some surprise. She hadn't expected this girl to have such a keen sense of smell. She and Asher hadn't shown any intimate behavior, yet Mordred could still sense something. This girl seemed a bit rough and tumble, but perhaps not as oblivious as she seemed.
The atmosphere fell silent again. Jeanne glanced at Mordred, who was now closing her eyes, seemingly trying to suppress the restlessness in her heart. Jeanne couldn't help but show a kind smile: "Listening to your conversation with Ash... Father King, just now, you seem to like your Father King very much?"
Mordred opened her eyes and nodded as if it were obvious: "Of course. He is the King of Britain. All the Knights of the Round Table used to follow his arrangements. Even Morgan and Scathach listened to him. While others would be timid around those two women, Father King was different."
"Sounds very impressive," Jeanne said with a faint smile,
thinking to herself, Why can't I see Ash having such a strong side, and even making Morgan and Scathach listen to him? Aren't those two his sister and his Shishou? It seemed like others deliberately created an "omnipotent Father King" atmosphere for Mordred, and they all cooperated with Asher in front of Mordred?
"Right?! Super impressive! You really get it." Mordred grinned, suddenly seeming much closer to Jeanne.
"What about your Queen Mother?" Jeanne asked.
Mordred's smile from earlier quickly faded, and she said sullenly, "The person I hate most is Queen Mother."
"Is her personality bad?" Jeanne asked.
"I didn't say that about her. If you say bad things about her again, don't blame me if I lay hands on you," Mordred glared at Jeanne with a fierce look.
Jeanne: "..." This is truly a very awkward personality. She only inferred Artoria's personality wasn't good based on Mordred's words. Only allowed herself to speak ill of her mother... she really is protective. Jeanne smiled, intending to continue asking, when a horse's neigh sounded, and Asher rode Sleipnir back to them.
"Let's go back," he said.
"Father King!" Mordred immediately rushed over. "What's going on in there?"
Asher shook his head, "Nothing, there was a god down there who kept asking me questions. I felt it was too much trouble, so I came back. It's getting late, let's go back first." Mordred nodded, and the three returned to their residence together. As it was late, they didn't chat much further but each returned to their respective rooms.
The next morning, Asher woke up, but before he could fully recover, he heard hurried footsteps approaching.
Then, a veiled priestess quickly came to the door of his room and lifted the curtain: "Lord Asher, something bad has happened!"
"What's wrong?" Asher looked up and asked in confusion.
"The King has passed away!"
Asher froze for a moment, his voice raising a few octaves: "What did you say?!"
"The King died from overwork early this morning," the priestess said, lowering her head with a mournful expression. Asher immediately went to the main hall and found that, besides Merlin, who had been ordered to find the Tablet of Destinies, and the Servants who had gone to defend against the beasts early this morning, the other Servants were all gathered there. Mordred was not present either; clearly, she was not one to sit still, and had run out of the northern wall with Ushiwakamaru early this morning.
Asher looked up at Gilgamesh, who was leaning on the throne. If he hadn't asked others and confirmed that Gilgamesh had suddenly died early this morning, he would probably have thought the other party was just resting for a moment.
"The King said that your pegasus Sleipnir can fly freely to all parts of the world, Lord Asher. May I ask you to go to the underworld and bring the King's soul back to the living world?" Siduri bowed slightly to Asher and respectfully asked.
Asher nodded gently.
Gilgamesh was the main reason he came here this time;
he couldn't let Gilgamesh just sleep in the underworld like this. It seemed he had to make another trip to the underworld... As if remembering something, Asher's body suddenly stiffened, and the events of last night, along with the Goddess of the Underworld's final annoyed voice, came back to him. Clearly, she had indeed been angered by Asher's sudden departure from the underworld on horseback last night.
"What's wrong, Lord Asher?" Siduri noticed Asher's abnormality and asked in confusion.
"Nothing..." Asher shook his head, muttering with a subtle tone: "I'm currently considering what kneeling posture would best obtain that goddess's forgiveness."
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