Author note:
There is no mystery behind the fact that Rama knows Shirou's talents. Lancelot/ the White Queen has already fought him.
About Shirou's abilities, since the beginning of Moonchild (despite the accusations of some readers) my goal has ALWAYS been to make him stronger, able to kill a Heretic God. And chapter after chapter, I never stopped developing his strength and skills.
- Shirou starts by learning to use his new body (different from the old one) and begins to understand Archer's techniques.
- Shirou trains with Luo Hao to learn the basics of weapons handling.
- Helped by Godou Kusanagi he kills an Imugi and receives a (small) part of its power.
- Thanks to the power crystals discovered in the Imugi cave, Rin creates a black Kevlar-like armor for Shirou.
- Aided by Erica Blandelli, Shirou learns the base principles of alchemy, which help him to unlock the Alteration Magecraft, allowing him to copy Archer when he transforms a Sword Noble Phantasm into an Arrow NP.
- After a difficult fight, he won against Sir Lancelot du Lac, the Queen of the Amazon, and daughter of the Greek god of war Ares.
- Then he fights against three Greats Divine Beasts (Golden Oozaru).
- In Chapter 42, Shiro fights Salvatore Doni and, certainly, loses the fight, but it is an honorable defeat because the Campion only wins by a small margin.
- And in the last chapter, Shirou gets a copy of Archer's famous red coat which will help him a lot.
- He also became the cornerstone of the alliance's defense strategy against Rama.
- Now he's going through the final test. The White Queen is going to force him to push his limits.
Many readers reproach me for the way I portray Shirou, he is not 'heroic'. According to them, an individual who will tirelessly train to harden and overcome his own weakness, who suffers but continues to advance despite his suffering, who fights to triumph over stronger and stronger (god-like) adversaries is nothing heroic.
We obviously do not have the same values.
Les héros ont notre langage, nos faiblesses, nos forces. Leur univers n'est ni plus beau ni plus édifiant que le nôtre. Mais eux, du moins, courent jusqu'au bout de leur destin et il n'est même jamais de si bouleversants héros que ceux qui vont jusqu'à l'extrémité de leur passion.
(Heroes have our language, our weaknesses, our strengths. Their universe is neither more beautiful nor more edifying than ours. But they, at least, run to the end of their destiny and there is never even such deeply moving heroes as those who go to the end of their passion.)
Quote from L'homme révolté of Albert Camus.
Important: This chapter will again plunge us deep into a confrontation between two numerous groups of Gods and Campiones with very powerful individuals. As in chapter 40, I decided to focus on the fights of the main characters. It's not that the other characters don't deserve me to tell their heroic deeds, sacrifices, or deaths... but it would take at least ten supplementary chapters!
Other Important Note: I advise you to reread Chapter 15 before reading this one.
Return of the Wolf King
The shock shook the Castello Cicogna-Mozzoni, the cracked ceiling, and dust fell as the floor slabs fractured.
The Campiones had jumped up to their feet and looked around. Each of them had a different expression. Luo Hao and Lord Salvatore Doni were exalted. Black Prince Alec seemed impassive... but the control he exercised over himself did not hide his concern. Behind his mask, no one could guess what John Pluto Smith thought, but like the other Devil Kings, he had risen from his chair to look out the window.
Godou Kusanagi, was the least experienced Godslayer, despite his predator smile, his skin had become very pale and his hands were shaking... fear or excitement, even he did not really know.
Luo Hao was the first to speak.
"He has arrived."
The other Devil Kings agreed and followed her as she went outside. From the pergola, they could see the small lake and the surrounding countryside. Above the water hovered a strange aircraft in the form of a step pyramid, or more precisely in the form of a Rātha (1).
Ishtar, accompanied by Ereshkigal and Hakuno Kishinami, followed the Campiones. Seeing the strange flying object, she trembled.
"The King of the End!"
Rama went out through a door that had just suffered in the flank of his Vimana and jumped to the ground gently. He was joined by a blond man dressed in white who was riding a Pegasus: Perseus. As well as by two monkey men, the oldest of whom held a golden stick: Sun Wukong and Hanuman.
Luo Hao come en garde and had a smile of a carnivore discovering a prey:
"Greetings to you, O Rama Chandra, the incarnation of Vishnu as the god of the Danush-bān (Bow and Arrows)."
The King Who Manifest at the World's End replied with a haughty nod.
Hakuno was surprised to discover that Rama looked like a young man with long black hair and fair skin. He had no fierce expression, and his eyes were melancholic.
However, the Sovereign of the Moon turned away from the god by seeing Godou's harem coming in as backup.
"Where is Shirou?"
Ishtar jolted and looked around.
Not seeing the redhead, an expression of concern appeared on her face.
"He went out earlier to experiment with Tracing Magecraft with the help of his new coat. Why isn't he here?"
The answer came from Rama. The god of war clasped his hands and bowed.
"Nāmsaskar (greeting) Mother Goddess of the Land Between the Two Rivers, the red-haired man faces his own trial. But maybe you want to join him?"
With a wave of his hand, the King of the End pointed to a point on his side of the lake.
"The mortal is in this direction, facing my servants, the White Queen and Queen Guenivere. You will need assistance to face them."
Hakuno had opened a holographic window when she heard Rama. She shook her head.
"I can't reach Shirou."
"Perhaps he cannot answer," Ereshkigal said to reassure her sister.
But Hakuno shook her head again and showed another translucent window floating near her.
"No. It doesn't even appear on the map."
Ishtar hurried away, without saying a word. Her face -as pale as milk- was upset with anxiety. As she floated above the ground, the Goddess of Venus flew over the lake without having to go around it and disappeared behind the trees on the shore.
Ereshkigal lifted up Hakuno, holding her in her arms like a princess.
"Come; let's not leave my sister without help."
As the Goddess of the Netherworld disappeared in pursuit of the Queen of Heaven, Rama clapped his hands against each other. The slamming resounded with the force of a cymbal stroke.
Immediately, the vegetation began to decay around the King Who Manifest at the World's End. The leaves on the trees turned yellow and withered, the ferns turned dull and brown, withered, the grass fell to dust, and the earth suddenly stripped of its green mantle cracked as all moisture evaporated. The phenomenon spread quickly...
The air was covered with heat waves that distorted vision.
Do you know why the Heretics Gods are so feared in the Campioneverse? Because they are powerful? Dangerous? Because they refuse to remain in their legends? Yes... yes... Of course... but especially because - at the fundamental level- a god is an existence whose desires SHAPE reality.
If a goddess of love descends among mortals, then unbridled passion but also the most unbridled sexuality, sickly jealousy and all that flows from it (mischief and passion crime) will spread among humans.
A rain god will unleash thunderstorms, upsetting the climate, causing cataclysmic rains and huge floods.
The presence of a god of war will mean that all disputes will be settled by violence, that all clashes will turn into a fight to the death, and that the slightest diplomatic incident will trigger wars.
The influence of a single god extending over hundreds of square kilometers, a single Heretic God is enough to cause catastrophes capable of plunging an entire continent into chaos.
The legend of Rama says that his first great feat was to destroy the evil forest that covered half of India in mythical times. Therefore, the god was the scourge of vegetation. He killed the plants to appropriate the magic energy present in the mightiest trees, as in the humblest of blades of grass, amplifying exponentially his strength.
"I am Rama Chandra Sūryvamsa the Anasya (the Indestructible), the greatest hero of Bhārata-varsa (ancient name of India). Now I will send you to the deepest of the Pātāl (2) despicable Campiones. I will free humanity from Kali-yuga (3) since it is my duty. My only act of mercy to you profaners will be to kill you quickly."
Plunging his hand to the neckline of his kurta (4), Rama took one of the steel beads from his Rudraks Mālā (rosary) and invoked his bow.
A few minutes earlier, the place must have been a field delimited by electrified fences and some trees.
But the vegetation had perished. The grass was grey and stunted, as the parched skeletons of the trees stretched out dead branches towards the dazzling blue sky where a merciless and scorching sun spread waves of heat.
Ishtar flew over the field and stopped when she saw three silhouettes. She immediately recognized Shirou's red coat and red hair.
But as she descended to the ground, she realized that he was standing next to an adorable little girl dressed in a Victorian dress that was vaguely familiar to her. The Queen of Heaven had met her briefly in London.
Queen Guenivere, of course... the Divine Ancestor seemed about to cry. As for the one Rama had called the White Queen... Ishtar frowned when she recognized Lancelot. But the Goddess of Steel had her face frozen, her eyes empty.
As for Shirou... he was in a state of hardly believable exaltation! He trembled and spasmodically closed his hands talking constantly... saying barely comprehensible words about Sakura, Saber, Rider, and herself (well, Rin Tohsaka)... Oh? In fact, it was some illusion of a harem route! And the naughty little rascal had quite particular fantasies... well, Ishtar wasn't the type to blush when the conversation switched to sex, but Shirou's imagination was... over the top!
Each in their own way, no member of the trio was in his normal state. As for the Mesopotamian Goddess of Love, she had passed the stage of worry and was about to panic.
"What did you do to Shirou?"
The White Queen did not move a muscle, but Guinevere lowered her head and shoulders as if the Mistress of Heaven had just hit her.
After an anxious look at her friend, the Witch Queen bowed awkwardly.
"Divine Ishtar, Lady of Eternal Power Who Shine Forever, this humble Guinevere begs you spare your anger to Sir Lancelot... she is not in her normal state."
"Rama?"
The Divine Ancestor nodded, confirming the intuition of the Mesopotamian goddess.
"Yes, Sir Lancelot is... this Guinevere doesn't really know what the King of the End did to Sir Lancelot... but now she's the White Queen, a simple piece of a chess game for My King."
"I... I see. What about Shirou?"
"Shirou Emiya is under the influence of one of Sir Lancelot's Divine Authority, Sir Knight has amplified Sir Shirou's power and taken him under her control. The backlash of this Authority is that Sir Shirou has lost his lucidity and... that... his libido is exacerbated!
Ok, Berserker sexual maniac Shirou... Ishtar had a sudden urge to break something... something big... level a mountain range for example, but she forced herself to calm down. The Great Goddess Ishtar was not going mad, just because an upstart with no manners dares to enslave HER Shirou (her and no one else's)! While the Greatest Goddess of All Mesopotamia was deprived of this right even though it is she who created this moronic idiot's new body... therefore normally... Shirou is her property according to Mesopotamian law! But no, she's not going to take this the wrong way... she's not going to get angry... she's not going to destroy half of Italy!
"Since you didn't attack me, I guess you're about to make me an offer I can't refuse, Queen Guinevere. Go ahead, I'm listening."
The Queen of Brittany cursied again, lifting the bottom of her dress.
"This Guinevere thanks you for your kindness, Lady of Truth Radiating Brilliant Light. My King makes you say by my mouth that he has no animosity towards you and does not desire that blood flow between us. He has enemies only among the Campiones. If you remain neutral, Shirou Emiya will be returned to you."
"I see..."
Despite her anger, Ishtar had to admit that Rama was awesome. The King of the End immediately understood that Shirou could prevent him from using his bow. Most bad guys in movies or novels would have immediately decided to eliminate the threat. The obvious, brutal... and stupid answer. But Rama thought ahead. Where others would have seen an obstacle, the Heretic God had seen an opportunity to do well. This placed him in the top category. Nevertheless, Ishtar was especially impressed that the Strongest Steel had not merely ordered Shirou to attack them. On the contrary, Rama had decided to use the redhead as a hostage to guarantee the neutrality of the two Mesopotamian goddesses and, consequently, of Hakuno Kishinami...
With one movement, he wanted to push four pieces out of the chessboard. Nothing less!
And without killing anyone, it was worth highlighting. Queen Guinevere had even presented the thing diplomatically, the King of the End wanted to avoid bloodshed... Implying, Ishtar must have felt grateful that Rama spared her.
This plan was just great, brilliant in its simplicity, and almost unstoppable. Because in order to free a hostage, you absolutely have to eliminate the one who holds him hostage. Logical, isn't it? Except that Shirou (the new ally of the Strongest Steel) was the guardian of the hostage Shirou.
With one move, the King Who Rules at the World's End had shattered the entire strategy patiently devised to fight him. Not only was the battle plan prepared by Hakuno obsolete, since Shirou would not fight the King of the End, but without the power of the Mesopotamian goddesses and without Hakuno... the Campiones had to fight individually, without coordination!
In other words, they had no chance of winning.
Whether you love or hate Rama, you had to be in awe!
Seeing that Ereshkigal was coming, guided by Hakuno, Ishtar asked for a break in negotiations to confer with her sister.
While summarizing the discussion at the Queen of Irkala, Ishtar looked at two colossi that clashed a few hundred meters away. Transformed into a giant, Sun Wukong used his divine staff Ruyi Jingu Bang against a golden metal Buddha statue that retaliated with blows from the palm of its hand (5).
The ground trembled as the titans clashed; trees fell to the ground, and long cracks opened in the ground.
The confrontation between the Heretics Gods and the Campiones became increasingly violent. Suddenly a horse with a mane of fire (Goudou's White Stallion) came down from the sun while shaking. But an arrow (6) intercepted the Divine Authority and... the flying horse disappeared, as if erased from the sky by a quick rub of the eraser.
Without Shirou to counter Rama's arrows, the Campiones must have been unable to advance towards the King of the End, becoming mere targets for the archer god... exactly what Kishinami had explained during the conference.
Ereshkigal turned to the Inheritor of the Moon.
"What do you think, Hakuno? What should we do?"
The Japanese teenager with caramel-colored eyes and hair shuddered and focused on the virtual screens floating around her. She remained silent for many seconds and finally shook her head.
"Defeating an enemy is possible, even with lower power. But to capture a living opponent, you have to be much more powerful than him."
Hakuno Kishinami pointed to Ereshkigal and then to Ishtar.
"There are two of you."
She turned to Guinevere and her group.
"There are four of them."
The Mistress of Heaven shudders.
"Four?"
She didn't really question what Hakuno had just said. Again and again, the teenager had proved to be much more perceptive than the two goddesses... a feat. But Guinevere, Sir Lancelot... even counting Shirou... that was only three opponents.
Suddenly a laugh resounded, the shadow of Guinevere stretched and acquired a third dimension before metamorphosing into a dark-skinned man whose legs were a whirlwind of darkness.
"Not bad; not bad at all... considering it was a human baby girl who discovered my presence. Let me name myself, I am Lakshmana, I am the younger brother of this tiger among the gods you know as Rama Chandra."
Ishtar's mood was getting darker and darker.
... Ok, Rama also thought of sending his brother, a minor god literally capable of becoming a shadow, to secretly monitor the situation in case things didn't turn out as planned. The King Who Rules at the World's End was almost like a chess grandmaster that was always three moves ahead of his opponents.
They were completely outmaneuvered, hopelessly outgunned.
Lakshmana laughs again, mocking and contemptuous.
"Now that you have acknowledged my brother's superiority, watch the slaughter of your allies, tremble and bow down before the Strongest Steel in the hope that he will not change his mind and agree to spare you, pathetic goddesses crawling in the shadow of his splendor."
As humiliated as if she had been struck in the face, Ishtar clenched her fists under the effect of helpless rage.
"Maybe it's time I stopped being a spectator and stepped in, then."
This unknown voice startled everyone. Neither Hakuno, Guinevere, nor Lakshmana had noticed that someone was spying on them. The stranger had managed to remain hidden... but to be exact; he had been hiding from everyone for several months, waiting for his time.
All eyes turned to the extremity of the field. An old man dressed in an elegant and old-fashioned way, with a white shirt, a black tie, and a black coat with a wide collar, had just pushed the gate at the entrance. His face was hidden by the shadow of a soft hat. He walked with his hand on the shoulder of an adorable little girl in a frilly dress with a witch hat. She held in her hands a thick book with a cover decorated with iron fittings.
The intervention of a stranger had surprised Guinevere, like all the other participants. But she was first to react.
"Go away, otherwise..."
The Witch of Brittany did not end her threat. Instead, she cast a spell. Two wind guillotines formed. Digging a double furrow in the ground, the wind blades converged on the duo. Guinevere was not bloodthirsty, and it was a simple warning shot that had to pass in front of the old man and the little girl.
However...
In the hands of the girl, the book suddenly opened, and the pages began to turn by themselves. Simultaneously, she began to speak of a voice without inflection:
"Spell searching, finished. Orb of Invulnerability. chanting. Your Excellency, please accept the magic's working."
As the pages stopped turning, a translucent sphere of white light formed around the duo. Glyphs and magic circles were inscribed on the surface of the sphere.
The two Winds Blades hit the defense spell and disappeared.
The danger passed, and the little girl closed her spell book, waiting patiently for the continuation of the events.
The old man took his hat and laid it on his heart while bowing courteously toward the Queen of Brittany.
"It's good to see you again, Queen Guinevere."
Bug-eyed the Witch Queen looked at the old man's face... his eyes of a fluorescent green shining with a supernatural light, his pointed ears... it was impossible! She knew only one man with this characteristic appearance.
"Marquis Voban," she said in an incredulous voice.
Ereshkigal shuddered.
"Sasha Dejanstahl Voban, the First Campione? But... but you are dead!"
Initially, the remark seemed to surprise Marquis Voban, and then he burst out laughing...
"Before saying I'm dead, noble Mistress of the Netherworld wait until you can spit on my dead body!"
To understand how Marquis Voban survived his fight with Iskandar, let's go back in time.
Four months ago, in Hungary (7)
Only the speed of Gordius Wheel had allowed Iskandar to survive Voban attack. In the sky of Hungary, he was shaking his head in amazement... except during his fight against Goldie, he had never seen an opponent massacre his army in only one attack. Voban was far more dangerous than he thought. But he felt no fear. On the contrary, his heartbeat was like a war drum giving the order of the charge.
Iskandar laughed.
The First Campione also reappeared, ejected into the real world after the annihilation of Iskandar's Reality Marble.
He was exhausted and gasping... yet... he had to resort to his most dangerous Authority... an Authority that required his own death as a trigger. If he won he could come back to life but could lose some of his strength. Using Otherland's Dragon was really his very last card, an asset that he only revealed if he was cornered.
Duke Voban recited the incantation releasing this Authority... Ironically, he had won it by defeating Inanna, the Campioneverse's version of the goddess Ishtar.
"Open, gate of the underworld. Queen of the underworld, the elder sister of mother earth, descending to the territory of the fearsome Ereshkigal, now is the time I surpass death."
The First Campione collapsed, his body asleep lying on the ground as if dead, but his soul had incarnated in the form of a hideous black dragon, titanic and covered with scales as hard as armor plates of a battleship.
The monster was flying straight to Gordius Wheel.
More maneuverable, the king of Macedonia dodged the first attack, but the monster was already returning to him.
Iskandar burst out laughing.
"Light is at the other end of the world — conquer! Via Expugnatio!"
Enveloped in monumental lightning which struck all around him, the war wagon was now heading towards the dragon...
The meeting of the two flying objects generated a powerful blast that made the mountains tremble, causing landslides many kilometers away.
The immense dragon pursued the war chariot, but Iskandar avoided every attack. The oxen roared pulling the vehicle into the sky as the wheels generated prodigious lightning that hit the Otherland's Dragon. Despite its power, this Divine Authority took damage with each attack. The dragon, who had been the most powerful embodiment of Inanna, roared.
Finally, on the fifth or sixth pass, the huge reptilian monster was paralyzed by electric shocks and stopped flapping his wings, falling to the ground like a stone.
The crash was violent. The huge mass dug a crater in the ground and finally stopped then... for a moment the dragon appeared translucent and purplish... before turning into a violet smoke that dispersed.
Iskandar went down to the ground, inspecting the battlefield, and drove his wagon to the ground before stopping next to the body of Marquis Voban.
The King of Macedonia went down to the ground and inspected the Campione... he was dead!
Obviously, the death of the dragon animated by his soul had caused the death of the Godslayer.
Crossing his arms on his mighty chest, the King of the Conqueror shook his head.
"It was honorable combat against a strong and determined enemy, worthy of entering the legend of Iskandar."
He looked around, the valley was devastated, and the castle of Voban was on fire. There was no one left. All the Campione's human servants had fled. The Rider-class Heroic Spirit boarded his wagon and snapped the reins.
The two oxen roared and the battle wagon left the ground.
He left Voban's body there so that it could be found and buried... at least that was what Iskandar had thought.
Yet... the members of the magical societies that inspected the battlefield the next day did not find the corpse of the Balkan's King.
A few minutes after Iskandar's disappearance, a cold wind rose on the battlefield... and a ghostly dragon appeared. The creature was translucent and immaterial. Approaching the corpse of Marquis Voban, the dragon... in fact, Voban's soul under the guise of a dragon... used a power of this incarnation of Inanna: Dimensional Traveling.
Indeed, this dragon shape symbolized one of the most powerful Sumerian myths, the death of the goddess of love and her journey in Ereshkigal's Land of the Dead.
Voban's dead body and the ghostly dragon were surrounded by a vortex of purple light forming a dark corridor... a corridor that allowed traveling between the universes.
The vortex disappeared a moment after the ghost dragon and Voban's body entered it.
In the days that followed, members of the various magical societies searched everywhere for the Balkan King without finding him and eventually concluded that the First Devil King was dead.
They were right... and wrong.
And if they found no trace of the Marquis on Earth it was simply because he was not on Earth.
But you know how Inanna/Ishtar's journey to the Netherworld ends?
Yes, you are right. The Sumerian goddess comes back to life!
Voban in his dragon body was half indestructible. Even if the dragon's body has been destroyed, he can return like a ghost. This Authority was also capable of performing a miracle action: Resurrection.
Normally the power of resurrection could be used almost instantly, but Sasha Dejanstahl Voban had been exhausted by the long clash against Iskandar. It took him months to gather the energy to begin his own recovery.
Back to the present.
Hakuno Kishinami frowned as Marquis Voban burst out laughing. For some reason, the Campione seemed very amused to fight alongside the Mesopotamian goddesses.
"I have just made a long trip to your kingdom, Noble Ereshkigal... well not exactly your's, to the kingdom of this world Ereshkigal... but I am back. I must be too stubborn to stay dead!"
The old man turned to Hakuno.
"Since you are the strategist here, tell me, are we now strong enough to triumph over the servants of the King Who Rule at the World's End?"
Hakuno focused on the virtual screens floating around her, analyzing the information.
"Can you counter Guinevere's magic?"
Voban laid his hand on the shoulder of the little girl who accompanied him.
"It is the materialization of one of my Divine Authorities, the Singing Spellbook. This ancient book of magic spells contains all the magical knowledge of the demon Baphomet. But since I am not a magician myself and I do not like to search the book in search of spells I need, the book created this... doll... to please me."
While Lakshmana disappeared again in the shadows, without the red dot representing him disappearing from Hakuno's map, the White Queen summoned her long shield and her lance. Rama's servants understood that the arrival of Marquis Voban had put an end to the negotiations. Everyone was preparing for battle.
Hakuno looked at the goddess in knight's armor.
"Can you face the White Queen?"
Ares' daughter raised her spear and knights in armor arise in a ripple of air. Raising their shields, the knights rushed forward.
But Voban's only reaction was a predatory smile. Around him appeared skeletal knights, dressed in torn chainmail and rusty armor, but also undead magicians whose dresses were reduced to rags. Lifting their staffs and wands, they struck down many of the White King knights with their spells before the Undead Knights intercepted the survivors and began to fight them.
"I think I am quite ready to face this Heretic Goddess!"
Lancelot suddenly threw himself forward and her lance pierced... the ground where Voban had stood. With surprising speed and agility for a man of his age, the Marquis had jumped back.
He answered with the words of the incantation calling The Legion of Hungry Wolves' Authority:
"Like the star shining in the daytime…the light of Lykos reach even the heavens!"
Sasha Dejanstahl Voban bent forward and began to growl, suddenly turning into a huge werewolf without losing his strangely bright eyes.
He placed his arms, now covered with long gray hairs, on his chest with his long clawed hands on his shoulders.
While he was howling wolf several balls formed on his back and were expelled falling all around him.
Behind the wolf-man, Hakuno spoke while reading the contents of several translucent windows floating around her.
"Marquis Voban, do not use lightning against the White Queen, she absorbs electrical energy to become more powerful."
The werewolf stopped for a brief moment, then turned his wolf head towards the teenager.
"I take good note of it."
As Voban dived forward and the White Queen blocked his paw by raising her shield, the Inheritor of the Moon turned to Ishtar and Ereshkigal.
"Now we need a plan to win against Shirou."
The Queen of Heaven nodded angrily.
"I think I can free him."
"How?"
"I must borrow the power of the Crown of Truth."
A little confused, Hakuno looked at the Mistress of Heaven then Ereshkigal. The first goddess seemed determined... but the second one was visibly frightened.
"I can do it but it will be risky," Ishtar insisted.
But her sister had laid one hand on her heart and had bleached, making a gesture of denial with the other hand.
"Risky? It's a power you could use in our homeworld... not here! I would rather say that it is suicide."
The Goddess of Venus replied with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well if it is, I hope I'll be welcome in your kingdom... My last two visits to Kur did not leave me with very good memories. Sincerely you should develop the reception of tourists in the Underworld, it's a popular spot after all. There is a club of heroes who managed to return from the Netherworld with Heracles, Orpheus, Gilgamesh, and many others. It must be my fault, I started a trend. It's hard to be as popular as me."
She pushed one of her pigtails over her shoulder, in a gesture that was meant to be nonchalant.
The Crescent Moon Goddess tried to sound mocking, confident, but her voice showed her tension. Ishtar knew that what she was trying to do had a name... a miracle!
Looking at the two goddesses, one after the other, Hakuko uses her legendary Head Tilt.
"Dangerous?"
Ereshkigal coughed and looked up.
"The Crown of Truth is Enki's title as the god of justice. Ishtar has a special connection with him... since... an incident (8). As she symbolizes innocence, virginity, and purity my sister can appeal to Enki's power to restore the truth and free Shirou."
Hakuno took a moment to think.
"Enki? The god of justice of the Mesopotamian pantheon... in our universe."
Ere agreed.
"That's the whole problem, Ishtar wants to borrow the power of a god... who doesn't exist in this universe, or at least a god who is different here... no one can predict what will happen!"
(1) Central pyramidal tower of a Hindu temple, but also a processional chariot.
(2) The lowest level of hell (Narak) in Indian mythology.
(3) Kali-Yuga: the age of Kali (goddess of vengeance), the last and worst of the ages crossed by humanity, an age of chaos and war.
(4) Indian garment resembling our modern T-shirt donning by the head and usually tight at the waist by a belt.
(5) Divine Might of Vajrapani, one of Luo Hao Authorities.
(6) Arrow of Hou Yi (true): This arrow has the power to override the Authorities based on the sun.
(7) Reread chapter 15 Rider of the Storm, if you do not remember the events.
(8) The rape of Inanna/ Ishtar by Skulkaetuda (Inanna and Skulkaetuda). Skulkaetuda was the gardener of the garden that grows the tree that bears the seven fruits of wisdom -identified with the island of Bahrain- and the origin of the myth of the biblical garden of Eden. Having found Inanna sleeping under a palm tree, Skulkaetuda raped her. Enki discovered Inanna grieving... he chased the criminal and judged him. This earned Enki the function of the god of justice and the nickname "Crown of Truth". But Ishtar also has the titles of "Lady of Truth" and "Loved by the Crown of Truth". The titles of a god are Divine Authorities; they represent what they can do. Moreover, by nature, Ishtar has the power to channel the power of other gods because she had "(...) grasped the seven reins of the divine power" and she is "(...) guardian of all godly power"
Note: the quotes above are from the Nin me šara (The exaltation of Inanna) a hymn dedicated to the goddess from the Akkadian era, circa 2300 BCE. This text is above all a collection of the titles of Inanna/ Ishtar... a collection of 153 lines covering three clay tablets. It would take an hour and a half to fully sing this hymn and quote all the titles of Ishtar (Ishtar's Divine Authorities).
