After casually tossing that specific arrow into a random corner of the Gate of Babylon, Li Xiang brushed the dust from his palms, spun around, and began walking toward the dense forest located on the outskirts of Snowfield.
Inside his mind, the spiritual link connecting him to the Divine Underworld flared to life once more.
“Gil,” Ereshkigal’s voice, laced with a trace of curiosity, echoed within the depths of Li Xiang’s heart.
“When you were taking inventory of the enemies hidden in this city earlier, you mentioned a goddess with an incredibly foul personality?
You couldn’t possibly be referring to my troublesome little sister, could you?”
Hearing his wife’s inquiry, Li Xiang slowed his pace, responding with his thoughts as if chatting with a lover strolling right alongside him:
“Yeah, it’s none other than that world-renowned Goddess of Venus, Ishtar.”
During that specific lifetime of Li Xiang’s, though Ishtar had flown into a vengeful rage after her proposal was rejected—even going so far as to weep before Anu to bring down the Bull of Heaven—she had suffered a massive reality check and quieted down significantly after Li Xiang and Enkidu teamed up to beat the anomaly to a pulp, and Ereshkigal forcefully intervened in the heavens to preserve Enkidu’s soul.
In the long years that followed, Li Xiang and this Goddess of Venus managed a barely tolerable coexistence.
After all, Ishtar herself was fully aware that her actions were entirely in the wrong.
Thus, by the end, a delicate equilibrium was established between the two factions.
As the King of Uruk, Li Xiang continued to offer tributes to the pantheon, while Ishtar executed her divine responsibilities.
At most, whenever the two occasionally crossed paths at a temple or a festival, they would simply exchange sour expressions and trade a few sarcastic barbs.
However, the Ishtar who had manifested in Snowfield at this exact moment was an entirely different story.
“The sister belonging to this world…
seems to have a massive issue?” Ereshkigal accurately picked up on the cold edge present in her husband’s tone.
“Calling it a ‘massive issue’ is an understatement.”
Li Xiang sighed, explaining the parameters to his wife within his mind: “You can use your imagination a bit.
Picture your already spoiled, willful little sister, except completely strip away any trace of human compassion from her disposition.
Imagine her treating everyone else strictly as a toy to be played with at her leisure, and then amplify her overbearing arrogance and tyranny several times over…”
“The Ishtar manifested in this Holy Grail War exists precisely in that state.”
Hearing this breakdown, Ereshkigal couldn’t help but shudder slightly.
Though she and Ishtar were sisters, as the Mistress of the Underworld who governed death and order, the one behavior she absolutely despised was the unprincipled treating of human lives like worthless weeds.
“Just hearing you lay out the parameters like that…” Ereshkigal ground her teeth, declaring, “gives me an acute urge to pin her rigidly against a wall.”
“Haha, same here.”
Sensing his wife’s emotional resonance, Li Xiang couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
He proceeded to break down the underlying mechanics to Ereshkigal:
“Under normal parameters, it should have been completely impossible to summon Ishtar.
However, a few anomalies occurred on this side.
Not only did the local Masters summon that version of me who only knows how to spam Noble Phantasms, but they even managed to pull Enkidu onto the field.”
“The simultaneous manifestation of those two triggered a chain curse, allowing Ishtar to piggyback off that curse, occupy the body of an Einzbern homunculus, and descend upon this city.”
“Precisely because she manifested via a residual curse, this Ishtar retains one hundred percent of her Divine Spirit status,” Li Xiang delivered the concluding summary.
“Right now, she is a pure tyrant who dreams of dragging the entire world back into the Divine Age so she can domesticate all of humanity like cattle.”
“Therefore, executing a peaceful negotiation sequence is out of the question.
Expecting to talk reason with her in this state is pure fantasy.”
“Later down the line, we’re going to have to go pay her a very hostile visit.”
“I stand behind you completely, Gil!” Ereshkigal nodded heavily within his mind, her tone brimming with unadulterated trust and reliance.
“If you encounter any hazards, draw upon my authority without hesitation.”
“Don’t worry, she currently sits at the very peak of my restaurant menu.
If she manages to drag that massive thing, the Bull of Heaven, into the equation as an extra course, then I’ll make sure to properly cook both of them together.”
Li Xiang stretched his frame casually, the coldness on his features shifting back into an expectant grin.
“However, before I dig into that particular feast, I need to go meet a specific individual first.”
“I need to go see the true friend of this world.”
Upon hearing that name, Ereshkigal fell silent for half a second, her voice turning significantly softer: “Does the Enkidu of this world differ heavily from the Clay we know?”
“Fundamentally distinct.”
The image of that green-haired beauty—the one back in his underworld who constantly assisted Ereshkigal with administrative duties and occasionally had to endure their public displays of affection—rose in Li Xiang’s mind, inspiring a trace of sentimentality.
“The Clay here isn’t too familiar with you.
After all, you saw it yourself; with that version of me encountered in the canyon—the one whose arrogance breaks the scales and who values his pride above his own life—how could he possibly cross paths with you under the same parameters as I did, letting you sacrifice yourself for him?”
“In that timeline, no one stood up to argue his case in the heavens.
Consequently, at that juncture, he truly died completely alone.
It wasn’t until right now that he was summoned back into this world as a Heroic Spirit.”
“So that’s how it is…” Ereshkigal let out a gentle sigh.
“Go see him then, Gil.
Deliver my greetings to him.”
“I will.”
…
Meanwhile, deep within the heart of the forest, far removed from the city’s noise and the canyon’s warfare.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, illuminating a massive synthetic beast possessing beautiful silver fur that lay peacefully beneath an ancient tree.
Seated directly beside it was a green-haired figure whose beauty resembled that of a natural woodland sprite.
Enkidu, manifesting as the Lancer of this False Holy Grail War, currently kept their eyes closed, silently enjoying this rare pocket of tranquility.
Their fingers gently stroked the silver wolf’s soft coat, tuning into the ambient breaths of the flora and fauna across the forest.
Amidst this serene atmosphere, Enkidu’s hand stroking the silver wolf suddenly locked.
They slowly opened a pair of emerald-clear eyes, turning their head to cast their gaze toward a specific vector along the outer perimeter of the forest.
Over there, a unique presence was approaching their location without making any attempt to mask its vector.
An exceptionally rare trace of confusion and astonishment flashed deep within Enkidu’s eyes.
The pulsing vibrations of the earth clearly transmitted the traveler’s footsteps to them.
The baseline wavelength belonged undeniably to “Gilgamesh,” yet…
the underlying texture felt completely wrong.
The Gil who had traded greetings with them across the desert sky yesterday using Ea possessed a presence that was arrogant, blinding, and impossible to look upon directly—resembling a high-and-mighty sun.
But this “Gilgamesh” currently closing in was fundamentally distinct.
His footsteps were weighted and absolute.
From that completely unsuppressed fighting spirit, Enkidu could faintly hear the clashing resonance of blades, alongside a raw warrior’s texture forged through close-quarters slaughter across mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Furthermore, wrapped around his frame was a profound yet entirely non-malicious concept of death.
It felt as though he had taken half the authority of a specific underworld and slung it across his shoulders as a matter of course.
“This is truly incredible.”
Enkidu stood up, their simple white tunic fluttering gently in the woodland breeze.
“Another…
highly distinct Gil?”
Across Enkidu’s androgynous, beautiful face, a smile brimming with deep curiosity and anticipation slowly bloomed.
“If that’s the case, then I am very, very eager to have an audience with him.”