[After an unknown period, you followed the miko step by step to the altar at the top of the temple.]
[Upon reaching the summit, the first thing that caught your eye was a massive statue of a god.
After discerning its general appearance, you knew to whom this magnificent temple belonged.]
[The statue wore what looked like a crown, with a cape draped over its back, beneath which was an extremely luxurious outfit.
Looking further down, you couldn’t help but blush, as this attire, even by your modern standards, was quite daring.]
[The lower half did not continue the luxurious style of the upper half; instead, it featured a swimsuit-like design that cinched the unmentionable area, and of the two legs below, only one had a thigh-high stocking.]
[The statue held a cage resembling a birdcage in its outstretched hand, but its face remained indistinct, no matter how hard you tried to see it clearly.]
[However, you already understood her identity.]
[It’s really you, Super Cosmic Monster Ereshkigal!]
[What surprised you was that it wasn’t as small as imagined; rather, it was quite spacious.
By your estimation, it was at least the size of a modern football field.
Many stone pillars were erected on it, carved with exquisite patterns.
You couldn’t help but lament that you still didn’t have a clear understanding of your own Age of Gods.]
Doros suppressed the shock in his heart and cautiously looked around, his mind turbulent.
At this moment, the miko in front turned to look at Doros, who stood motionless, seemingly sensing the shock in his heart.
She said, “Kusha’s main temple is one of the best in all of Sumer.
It is said to have existed since Kusha was first founded, and its current scale is due to continuous renovation by generations of people.
As far as I know, the only one that can rival it is the temple of Uruk’s city god.”
Hearing this, Doros couldn’t help but nod, though it seemed that this miko lady’s tone was not very friendly when she mentioned Uruk’s city god.
However, after remembering who that city god was, Doros instantly understood why the miko lady’s tone was so unfriendly.
Ishtar, also known as Inanna.
The Goddess of Beauty, Harvest, and War in Mesopotamian mythology.
Legend says she was the most spoiled by the gods—no, the most beloved by the gods.
Her Sumerian name is Inanna, which is older in origin.
Ishtar is her Akkadian name.
She is the Goddess of Venus, presiding over the harvest that brings prosperity to humanity, and also the Goddess of Battle and Destruction.
From this series of titles, one can see how much the gods loved her.
And as the god worshipped by Kusha, Irigal—no, Ereshkigal.
The Goddess of the Underworld in Sumerian mythology, mistress of the underworld, ruler of death and the spirits of the dead.
Since her birth, she was sent to the underworld to manage it, knowing nothing of the surface world or freedom.
She is Ishtar’s older sister, but the two sisters have always been at odds.
The reason for this was that Ishtar, relying on the gods’ affection for her, often ran to the Underworld to cause trouble, and liked to provoke Ereshkigal by saying things like, “How beautiful the outside world is, and how gloomy your Underworld is,” or “Look, here’s a flower I brought from outside, do you like it?”
Upon hearing these words, Ereshkigal naturally didn’t show her any good face.
As the mistress of the Underworld, she couldn’t easily leave it, and as the final resting place for the dead, the Underworld naturally contained no other life besides departed souls.
Correspondingly, Ereshkigal, having been born in the Underworld, had long since made its authority her own, to the point where even the gods in heaven dared not easily descend.
Or perhaps, the gods knew they owed Ereshkigal too much, so they dared not descend.
And every time Ishtar went to the Underworld, she was, without exception, beaten up and thrown out of the Underworld with all her divine artifacts stripped away.
Thinking of this, Doros couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.
Poor Eresh-chan…
While the miko was explaining to Doros, neither of them noticed that the aura emanating from the statue in the center of the temple suddenly seemed to grow a little colder.
__________
“Hmph, what’s with that?
Just relying on the gods’ favor to constantly challenge the dignity of the Underworld.”
Clapping her hands, Ereshkigal smoothed out her clothes, restoring her slightly wrinkled attire to its original state.
Then she looked at the spoils of war piled almost into a small mountain before her.
Having just taught her “good” sister a lesson, her mood was indescribably joyful.
After all, money-sending boys are common, but money-sending goddesses are not.
Aside from some of Ishtar’s words always raising her blood pressure, she constantly said her Underworld was too lonely, too gloomy.
Thinking of this, Ereshkigal’s beautiful face couldn’t help but look a little mournful.
She didn’t want the Underworld to be so desolate, but the nature of the Underworld dictated that no living things could exist there…
If only a single flower could bloom in the Underworld.
But at least I’m not as disliked as Ishtar says, am I?
What’s wrong with being the Goddess of the Underworld?
There are still people who worship This Goddess as a city god.
Hehehe.
Then Ereshkigal seemed to remember something, and she looked up blankly.
Oh, speaking of which, wasn’t someone from Kusha supposed to come to pray today?
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah, how could I forget about this?
If Ishtar hadn’t suddenly shown up, how could I have forgotten about it?
Ereshkigal secretly decided that next time she would definitely teach Ishtar a lesson.
She almost made her forget such a big matter; there’s no way she can let it slide.