Why Is This Otto So Wicked?
"These noodles are really chewy," Fujimaru Ritsuka said as she slurped the noodles in her mouth, not holding back her words of praise at all.
"After all, they are noodles made by slamming and throwing themselves," Xia Yu said as a matter of course. "It's only normal that the taste is a bit better."
"Ah, I've been craving this bite of food for a long time," Merlin had no table manners whatsoever, looking as if he wanted to bury his entire face in the bowl.
He was the one maintaining the dreamscape with Tiamat, so he naturally knew what was happening inside. Watching Xia Yu take Tiamat out to eat and drink all day like that had made him absolutely die of envy.
"Yeah, Big Sister Kiana's cooking is truly superb," Mash also couldn't help but give Xia Yu a thumbs-up.
Beside them, Anna sipped her soup quietly, merely nodding continuously to express her agreement.
"Hmph, my attendant is naturally the best," Ereshkigal raised her head proudly, looking as though she herself was the one being praised.
"Wait, that's not right," Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly reacted at this point. "Miss Ishtar hasn't told us about the Three Goddess Alliance yet!"
"About that, let's talk while we eat," Ereshkigal took a slurp of noodles and then said, "Ask away. As long as it's within the scope of what I can answer, it's fine."
"Thank you," Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression turned serious upon hearing this. "Why are you attacking Uruk?"
"We are competing," Ereshkigal said as she ate. "To see who can destroy Uruk first and obtain the Holy Grail in King Gilgamesh's hands. The first goddess to obtain the Uruk Holy Grail can claim this land as her own."
"That is our reason. Pretty simple, right?"
"Then what are the True Names of the other two?" Fujimaru Ritsuka continued to ask.
"I can't tell you that," Ereshkigal shook her head.
"Why?" Fujimaru Ritsuka pressed.
Ereshkigal sighed and replied, "The three of us goddesses are bound by a covenant of non-aggression directly forbidding us from invading each other's domains, and our True Names are part of that. Even if you kill me right now, it's impossible for me to say it, you know."
In reality, while the alliance was nominally aimed at seizing the Uruk Holy Grail and exterminating humanity, the stances and intentions among its members actually differed significantly.
Gorgon was the one most wholeheartedly carrying out the goal without the slightest compromise, which was why the Humanity Order had sent out Anna, who was specifically tailored to counter her.
Although Quetzalcoatl went around capturing people to build a temple, she at least hadn't killed anyone. Her original intention was also to protect humans, and defeating those warriors was merely to temper them.
As for the Ereshkigal in front of them, she was even more pure. She felt that the destruction of Uruk was inevitable, so she chose to gather all the souls into the Underworld to wait for an opportunity to revive civilization in the future.
If one were to ask why her choice was so passive... there was actually a reason for it.
Just look at what kind of monsters and demons were around her.
Gorgon was the weakest one, but having stolen Tiamat's authority, she was not to be underestimated when it came to attacking cities.
Quetzalcoatl was even more so; as an aspect of the supreme god of South America, any normal Heroic Spirit or even a god wanting to defeat her was simply dreaming. She was an absolute adversary that could not be faced by force.
In the shadows, the King of Mages, who had destroyed Pan-Human History, was also glaring like a tiger watching its prey.
And what about Ereshkigal?
The Mistress of the Underworld sounded very powerful, but she could only act imperiously within the Underworld. Inside the Underworld, she could even clash with Quetzalcoatl and even triumph over her. In the original timeline, when she fought with her life on the line, she could even rely on her Underworld Authority to seal Tiamat, who had unleashed Nega-Genesis, for a period of time.
But the awkward part was that it was fundamentally impossible for her to leave the Underworld. Therefore, in this competition among the three goddesses, she had lost the possibility of winning from the very start.
Unable to leave the Underworld, what did she have to compete with the other two goddesses? She could only watch helplessly as they acted wantonly in Uruk.
The others weren't fools either; they wouldn't actively descend into the Underworld to fight an underworld god like her. It was true that she inherently stood in an impregnable position, but being undefeated didn't mean she could win.
Furthermore, even if she won, what use would it be? She couldn't leave the Underworld anyway, so how was she going to rule the world on the surface?
Thus, this competition was a dead end for her from the very beginning. She could only silently collect souls and then scheme for the future.
Or rather, looking at it from Uruk's perspective, Ereshkigal's choice to preserve the sparks of civilization was already considerably pragmatic. Looking at those monstrous opponents one by one, who wouldn't feel despair upon seeing them?
She had already done everything she could possibly do. As an underworld god who couldn't leave the Underworld, could you really expect her to pull off a desperate turnaround?
It was just that this method was somewhat unacceptable in the eyes of the people of Uruk—falling asleep and dying just like that, without even being able to find a cause. Who wouldn't be terrified?
But she had no choice either. After all, the other two goddesses were still around, so she couldn't possibly tell the people of Uruk about her plan directly.
"I see," Fujimaru Ritsuka felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this. With this covenant in place, it seemed she wouldn't be able to pry out any useful information.
"Oh? You're giving up just like that?" Ereshkigal was a bit surprised.
Fujimaru Ritsuka spread her hands. "Since you're Big Sister Kiana's friend, I can't exactly cross-examine a friend's friend to the bitter end, right?"
"Hmm, consider it having some self-awareness," Ereshkigal's gaze toward her became a few degrees friendlier. "In that case, I'll throw in another piece of information for you guys as a bonus."
Ereshkigal pulled out a tissue handed over by Xia Yu, wiped her mouth, and said, "I was summoned by the priestesses of Uruk, but the other two were drawn here by the Holy Grail."
"Was it the King of Mages' doing?" Merlin couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.
"That's not something I can know," Ereshkigal shook her head.
"But compared to that," a successful smile appeared on her face, "it's already late at night, you know."
"Aren't you going to check your surroundings?"
Just as her voice fell, countless skeletons silently appeared beside the house, surrounding everyone in layers.
"What's going on?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked in shock. "Where did these skeletons come from?"
"Ha, is this the past eighteen generations of Kutha's ancestors returning to their hometown to visit relatives?" Merlin shrugged, then drew his long sword. "We should retreat."
"Oh dear, I wanted to rest here a bit longer. Tsk, I remember General Leonidas's records never mentioned that there would be undead roaming around Kutha at night."
Hearing this, Xia Yu cast a glance at Ereshkigal.
The latter gave a playful smile.
As the Mistress of the Underworld, being able to summon the past eighteen generations of Kutha's ancestors in this place that was incredibly close to the Underworld was actually a very normal thing, right?
"Retreat!" Anna's actions were even more decisive, her scythe flying up to shatter the skeletons surging in from the doorway. "Fortunately, we have already obtained the target tablet!"
"The numbers are too great!" Mash walked up to the second floor, looking at the densely packed skeleton soldiers around them. "Senpai, let's leave along the rooftops!"
"There's no need to go to all that trouble," Ereshkigal called upon the heavenly boat Maanna upon hearing this. As Ishtar's sister, combined with being a 'half-body' summoned using the same vessel, using the other party's weapon within Ishtar's body was actually a very simple matter for her.
With a few magic bullets fired down, she cleared a path for the Chaldea group.
"Many thanks for the goddess's whim!" Merlin took everyone and jumped down upon seeing this.
"You guys go ahead," Xia Yu leisurely packed up the bowls and chopsticks. "I should head back to the temple as well."
"Alright, then be careful, Big Sister Kiana," even though she knew her words were redundant, Fujimaru Ritsuka said them anyway.
Then the group turned and retreated.
"I say, is this really okay?" Xia Yu stood up, looking at the mess below. "Summoning so many of the deceased, only to dismantle them with your own hands."
Xia Yu gently nudged Ereshkigal's waist with her elbow. "Do you hear that? They are weeping, you know."
"Come off it," Ereshkigal rolled her eyes at her. "You're not an underworld god, and these are just the simplest skeletons. How could you possibly communicate with them?"
Besides, I didn't hear these skeletons weeping either.
She glanced at the skeletons around them; yep, there definitely weren't any.
"So what was the point of going through the trouble of summoning so many skeletons to force them away?" Xia Yu linked arms with her, asking curiously, "Was it just because they exposed your embarrassing story during the day? Is there a need to be so petty?"
"Huh? Embarrassing story?" Ereshkigal's eyes darted around upon hearing this. "How come I don't remember ever doing any embarrassing story?"
"That look of yours, refusing to admit it..." Xia Yu put on an expression as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. "Forget it, whatever you say is right."
Instead, Ereshkigal wasn't having it upon hearing this. She curiously continued to ask, "So what exactly was the embarrassing story?"
She also loved listening to gossip about Ishtar!
Thus, Xia Yu spilled everything that had happened at the pasture during the day.
"Ha, such a stupid thing really sounds like something she would do... No," Ereshkigal was just about to mock her when she remembered she was still wearing a disguise, and hastily shut her mouth. "This is absolutely not something I could do!"
Indeed, raising the banner of helping humanity only to almost completely ruin Uruk's agriculture and animal husbandry, and the reason turned out to be that she had once helped humans for free but was backstabbed, so now she had to collect a reward every time...
How should one put it, Ishtar... was truly hard to describe in a few words.
"To be honest, I always find you a bit strange," Xia Yu said, rubbing her chin as she looked at her with an inquiring gaze.
"Strange? In what way?" Ereshkigal tilted her head in confusion.
Xia Yu put on a contemplative look, recalling, "It's just, how should I say it... it feels like the you during the day and the you at night don't have the same personality. Outgoing during the day, introverted at night."
"But you are a goddess after all, so you wouldn't have those kinds of strange legends about you, right? Based on the sun... No, you are the Goddess of Venus, so is it because Venus appears at night that it can affect your personality?"
"Ah, that... Right, exactly, that's how it is!" Ereshkigal nodded hastily upon hearing this.
Yes, a Goddess of Venus being influenced by Venus was a very normal thing, right?
"Then doesn't Kuku also have the divine core of Venus?" Xia Yu said in a casual manner. "I see her being as passionate as fire during the day, but I wonder if she becomes a bit quieter at night like you."
"About that..." Ereshkigal smiled awkwardly. "Maybe... Wait, you know her?"
"Yeah," Xia Yu said distressingly. "Kuku, no, she should be Quetzalcoatl. That woman is incredibly familiar with people; she wants to drag me around to fight all day long."
"The phrase 'as passionate as fire' can describe her entire personality."
"Then did she say anything to you..." Ereshkigal panicked a bit upon hearing this. "Like, things directly concerning the Three Goddess Alliance and the like?"
She was just afraid that Quetzalcoatl had sold her out.
"No," Xia Yu shook her head. "Actually, I'm not that close with her either."
"By the way, are you full? If not, should I go make you another bowl of noodles?"
Tonight, Merlin would likely be rushing through the night. That old fox had definitely seen through something, so he probably wouldn't stop to camp in the wilderness but would return to Uruk overnight instead.
So she couldn't go to the dreamscape either, and might as well just keep Ereshkigal company a bit longer.
"Can you tell me about your world?" Ereshkigal patted her stomach, feeling that she had eaten enough, and pulled Xia Yu to sit on the roof. Accompanied by a ring of undead around them, she invited Xia Yu to tell a story.
"My world..." Xia Yu fell silent for two seconds upon hearing this, and then said, "That is a world interspersed with hope and despair."
Then, she unfolded the story of the Honkai in detail, starting from the girl who walked with deep and shallow steps in the Siberian snowfield, carrying a large chameleon backpack, searching everywhere for her unreliable old man.
She spoke of her hardships over the years, of the meeting at Chiba Academy, of the terrifying nature of the Great Honkai in Nagazora City, and of those warm daily routines in St. Freya Academy.
At first, Ereshkigal listened very intently. Particularly when she heard about those warm daily routines, her eyes were filled with envy.
Then, everything took a sudden turn for the worse.
From being abducted by the headquarters, the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void, the onset of the Great Honkai, the planet where living beings were plunged into misery, to Himeko's sacrifice, and the solitary journey in Arc City...
The arduous past of the girl named Kiana was unveiled before Ereshkigal's eyes—one by one.
Until the appearance of the Herrscher of Domination, those honeys containing fatal poison were unknowingly delivered into her mouth, serving as the slight warmth she received while being ostracized among humans as the Herrscher of the Void... and then all that warmth tore off its mask...
The Herrscher of Domination wanted to destroy the will of the girl named Kiana in the most malicious way. But with the help of numerous companions, the girl finally crossed that high wall with her own will, defeating its conspiracy.
At the same time, because the theater shattered, she only had time to send out her unconscious companions, while she herself accidentally drifted into the Sea of Quanta, and then the story of her journey to find her way home.
"Why is this Otto so wicked!" Ereshkigal listened with tears in her eyes. "No way, I have to find a bad person, rename him Otto, and then burn him for twenty thousand years!"
"Not to that extent, really not to that extent," Xia Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she stopped her upon hearing this. "Otto is indeed not a good thing, rotten to the core."
"Mm, even more wicked than the King of Mages!" Ereshkigal nodded.
That was indeed true. Although Goetia had crushed Human History, at least his starting point was good, even though he truly didn't act like a human later on.
Otto was just... sigh.
A single glimpse of Kallen ruined his entire life.
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me! But for faster responses, please notify me on my discord server instead (link is in my profile). Thanks!
★ ★ ★
Shilling time!
Members of my [email protected]/quickinquickout can read advanced chapters on quick-tl(dot)com—and even customize translated terms to match their preferred names and terminology!