Ishtar stared at Ereshkigal standing on the surface, disbelief written all over her face.
As the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal possessed an overwhelming home-field advantage while inside the Underworld. Very few gods would ever want to fight a god of the dead on her own turf. But by the same logic, the god of the dead was never supposed to be able to come up to the surface. That was a rule of the world itself.
And yet, right here and now, Ereshkigal was standing on solid ground.
This was no longer the Underworld. This was the world above.
Most importantly, she looked completely fine.
It overturned everything Ishtar thought she knew.
"How did you do that?" Ishtar turned to look at Koji. This strange human always managed to do impossible things.
"Blessing of the Surface: while standing on the ground, you receive the protection of the Heavenly Principles."
"I gave Ereshkigal that blessing, and that let her break free of the Underworld's laws and come up to the surface," Koji said lightly.
Not allowed to leave the Underworld? Simple. One blessing solved it.
There was nothing blessings couldn't solve.
"..."
Ishtar did not even know where to begin with that. Blessings really were absurdly all-purpose.
Then she looked at Ereshkigal and the others again.
Yeah. Blessings really did seem to be handed out like they were free.
"So this is what it feels like on the surface... How novel. So this is sunlight..."
Ereshkigal raised a hand slightly to shield her eyes. The sunlight was dazzling, but she still enjoyed it immensely.
There was no sunlight in the Underworld.
Only the glow of souls.
A soft breeze brushed across her face. Warm sunlight. Pleasant air...
These were all things she rarely, if ever, got to experience.
All things the Underworld lacked.
How wonderful.
Deep down, she really had envied Ishtar's freedom to wander the surface as she pleased.
But now, she too could walk upon the earth.
Seeing how happy Ereshkigal was, Ishtar smiled helplessly. This was actually the scene she had wanted to see all those years ago, even if she had failed to make it happen back then.
Good. Very good.
She felt genuinely relieved inside, but of course she would never show it.
This definitely was not her being tsundere.
...
After Gilgamesh "came back to life," he once again threw himself into his mountain of work.
He wanted to rest.
Unfortunately, the current situation simply did not allow it.
Siduri looked rather helpless. She was worried Gilgamesh might wind up returning to the Underworld again, but right now, there was no one who could replace him in handling all of this work.
"Siduri, there's no need to worry. I won't be in any danger for the time being," Gilgamesh said with a smile. There was no way he could fail to notice what Siduri was worried about.
He was in excellent condition right now. He was not going to work himself to death again anytime soon. Besides, with Koji there to cover the worst-case scenario, he could relax a little.
"My King, at least take some time to rest now and then," Siduri said.
"I know."
Gilgamesh nodded, then lowered his head and returned to his paperwork.
Siduri let out a soft sigh.
Did you really hear that at all, Your Majesty?
After Koji and the others returned to their residence in Uruk City, Ereshkigal became very curious about the things being sold at the market, so she dragged Ishtar off to go shopping.
Honestly, no matter what era it was, women always seemed to be pretty interested in shopping.
"Anna, what do you think? If I summoned your two older sisters too, do you think Gorgon would be happy about it?" Koji suggested.
He was capable of targeted Servant summoning, and when it came to Gorgon, Medusa's two beloved older sisters were a pretty fitting choice.
Anna: "..."
As the younger Medusa, Anna was utterly speechless.
Would Gorgon be happy or not? She had no idea.
But she herself was definitely going to have a stress reaction.
It was not that her relationship with her two sisters was bad.
It was just that those two exhausted her to death.
"I think that sounds interesting," Merlin said, delighted to stir up trouble.
Rumble...
Merlin looked up at the sky.
I was only agreeing with it. Koji was the one who came up with the idea.
...
Koji brushed aside a strand of Anna's hair and immediately began the summoning.
Two figures stepped out from the light.
The two goddesses who had been suddenly summoned both looked a little dazed. They were gods. How on earth had someone managed to summon them as Servants?
"You're pretty handsome. How exactly did you summon us?" Euryale asked with interest.
"With this little one's hair." Koji pointed at Anna, who was standing behind them.
"Hm?"
Stheno and Euryale turned around, then both froze slightly.
Naturally, they were extremely familiar with Anna's appearance.
"Little Medusa?" Euryale's eyes lit up instantly.
This tiny form really brought back memories.
She was just too adorable.
Stheno's eyes lit up as well. This was a truly delightful surprise. Teasing little Medusa was definitely going to be fun.
"Big Sisters..."
Anna's expression nearly fell apart, and her body trembled slightly.
That was pure reflex.
Her two sisters loved her dearly and were incredibly protective of her.
But they also bullied her plenty.
The psychological scars had piled up into a truly enormous shadow over her heart.
It was a very particular kind of fear.
Honestly, she felt like seeing Gorgon would be slightly better than seeing her two sisters.
"So cute~"
Euryale immediately pulled Anna into her arms and rubbed against her with great enthusiasm.
Childhood Anna really was even more lovable.
"Mmph—mmph—mmph..."
Because the hug was so tight, Anna felt like her lungs had stopped working.
She knew this would happen.
Her two sisters' little-sister obsession had fully exploded.
At this point, she might as well just die.
After Euryale hugged Anna for a while and got her full dose of Anna energy, Stheno also pulled Anna into her arms.
And she hugged her just as tightly.
Anna felt exhausted.
Her sisters smelled nice, sure, but could they please stop treating her like an actual child?
"Well done." Merlin gave Koji a thumbs-up. This was exactly what he had wanted to see.
If he had been able to summon those two goddesses, he would have done it ages ago.
This was the most entertaining way to tease little Anna.
Sadly, existences like goddesses were not something just anyone could summon as Servants. Only someone like Koji could pull off something like that.
All Merlin could do was stand by and enjoy the show.
Still, this trip had absolutely been worth it.
"How tragic. Anna really has no way of resisting when it comes to her two sisters," Lumine said sympathetically.
Good thing she did not have an older sister.
An older sister would definitely suppress the younger one.
But an older brother was different.
Take her and Aether, for example. They could chase their brother around and beat him up whenever they wanted.
"Darling, were you doing that on purpose, or was it an accident?"
Koji thought about it, then smiled with a sly, dark little grin.
"Summoning two goddesses was definitely for dealing with Gorgon."
"But teasing Anna a little along the way was also acceptable."
Everyone could not help laughing.
What a convenient little side benefit.
The world where only Anna gets hurt had officially been achieved.
Anna: Doesn't anyone want to speak up for me?
Euryale / Stheno: Hehe, little Medusa.
Anna: Mmph—mmph—mmph...
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]