Comprehensive Manga: The Master is not here today.

Yesterday at the banquet, Miss Gudako expressed to him her wish to join this operation, to which he of course readily agreed.

Since King Gilgamesh would also be traveling with them this time, Merlin and Anna took the initiative to choose to stay in Uruk just in case.

So, the final team members were him, Mashu, King Gilgamesh, Miss Gudako, and four others.

Ishtar had originally not intended to take part in the operation, choosing to remain in Uruk because she herself was not very good at dealing with Ereshkigal.

Considering the other party's experience, Gudafu had no objection to this.

But unexpectedly, this morning, Ishtar showed up again and chose to go with them.

Although the other party did not explain the reason, Gudafu had a feeling that Ishtar seemed to care about Ereshkigal.

In short, even though the team temporarily increased from four to five people, it was not a big problem.

However, just before they were ready to set off, Miss Gudako did not come out of the room. By the time they finally realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Miss Gudako passed away.

In fact, over this period of time, citizens have been dying suddenly one after another - they were apparently healthy, but lost their lives for no reason - the total number has reached thousands.

According to King Gilgamesh, this was probably the work of Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld, and people's souls were taken to the underworld by the galula spirits she sent.

The Age of Gods is different from later ages. As long as the body remains intact, the soul can be resurrected again after returning to the flesh. Therefore, their mission this time is not only to defeat Ereshkigal, but also to bring back the souls that have been taken away from the people.

However, according to Merlin, Miss Gudako's situation is different from those people. Her soul has not been taken away, but she has fallen into a dream that cannot be awakened by normal means.

If you want to wake up Miss Gudako, you must first find her in your dream.

At this time, Miss Gudako in the dream seemed to be in the underworld as well, and might be trapped by Ereshkigal.

Gudafu didn't quite understand Merlin's speech, but fortunately the ultimate goal didn't change much.

So, carrying the sudden burden, everyone hurried to the city of Kusa, where Ishtar roughly opened a hole in the ground and blasted him and Mashu into the underworld.

Back to the point.

"Eh? Senior, look, what are those?"

Looking at the numerous guns in front of her, Mashu asked curiously:

"There are long, thin birdcage-like things everywhere... It seems like there are countless points of light floating inside..."

These gun rails were as beautiful as works of art. She approached them curiously and wanted to reach out and touch them, but Ishtar beside her warned her:

"...I advise you not to get close. Those are the souls of humans who died on earth."

"Eh?!"

Mashu suddenly became like a frightened bird, and the hand she had just stretched out was instantly retracted, looking at the gun holder in front of her with some astonishment.

"So, these are...?"

"Yes, these are the gun cages, or cells, made by Ereshkigal."

Ishtar frowned and said:

"When the body dies, the soul will gradually become thinner and disappear. But Ereshkigal will not allow this."

"That guy would lock the soul of the human he liked into a cage, completely depriving it of freedom, and let her play with it for tens of thousands of years in pain for her pleasure."

"This……"

Gudafu and Mash looked at each other in bewilderment. Judging from what Ishtar said, she was a rather cruel goddess, but—

Mashu pointed at a gun case and said hesitantly:

"There seems to be a ghost over there. He just walked out of the gun cage and is walking on the road..."

"...Ah?"

Ishtar's originally solemn expression suddenly froze. She looked at the ghost in the distance and rubbed her eyes suspiciously.

In fact, it's not just the undead that Mash pointed out. Upon closer inspection, you can find that there are many ghosts in the distance who can go in and out of the cage, and it doesn't look like a prison cell at all.

"When did the management of the underworld become so lax, or did that guy forget to lock the cell?"

Ishtar was a little self-doubting for a moment. At this time, Gilgamesh sneered:

"Are you sure you're not telling a story that was made up to fool children? At least I have never heard of such a thing."

"Not only that, Enkidu's evaluation of the other party is much better than his evaluation of you."

"what?!"

Ignoring the bickering between the two, Gudafu had some ideas in mind based on Gilgamesh's remarks and his previous conversation with the other party.

"Anyway, let's go down first."

The crowd walked down the road, and before long, they encountered a huge stone gate that spanned the road, blocking their way.

At the same time, an emotionless voice sounded -

"Answer it, answer it."

"The living who have fallen into the underworld, please answer the question of how their souls exist."

"The door spoke?!"

Looking at Gudafu and Mashu who were looking surprised, Ishtar explained seriously:

"Okay, now comes the question of choosing between two options."

"The gate to the underworld will question the good and evil of the soul. It is a fair and rational gate. There are seven gates in total."

"It was these doors that deprived me of my power before."

Hearing this, Gudafu swallowed hard, and the question of the door also came up -

"Then, let me ask the sinful Fujimaru:"

“Although the standards of beauty are varied, they are still absolute. Black can surpass white, and earth can surpass heaven.”

"Who is more beautiful, Ereshka or Ishtar?"

"...Huh?" x4

Once again, to everyone's surprise, the problem with the gate to the underworld did not seem to be as serious as Ishtar said. It was not only a little weird, but also very targeted.

For example, "Ereshkigal and Ishtar, who is the goddess to be entrusted with wealth?", "Ereshkigal and Ishtar, which goddess is more reliable?"...

Of course, for strategic reasons, Gudauf chose Ereshkigal for all of them.

Although it is not known whether this choice is correct, every time Ishtar passes through a door, her size will shrink and her strength will weaken. After passing through all seven doors, Ishtar has become the size of a figurine and her strength is almost zero.

"Why on earth did I come here..."

Ishtar lay on Fufu's back with a look of despair on her face. Gudauf and Mashu could only smile awkwardly to comfort her.

"Next is Ereshgakiel's temple. After defeating him, everything should be restored to its original state, right?"

"perhaps."

“Does that mean that the only ones who can be of use from now on are me and Mashu?”

Gilgamesh originally laughed at Ishtar, but in the end, he couldn't laugh anymore.

After all, Ishtar is a powerful force on their side, and it would be no fun if she were to be destroyed.

But what everyone didn't expect was that when they passed through the seven gates of the underworld and arrived at the temple, the first person who appeared before them was not Ereshkigal, but an acquaintance they were going to rescue -

"Yo,"

Looking at the Chaldean group that finally appeared, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and waved:

"You guys are here!"