Conquest of the Underworld
Ereshkigal looked her younger sister up and down.
“I’ve heard you’ve gotten bigger lately…”
Her long, curvaceous figure was markedly different from the well-developed little girl she had once been. Her face, too, had matured considerably, now carrying a clear sensuality.
But what truly grated on Ereshkigal’s nerves was something else entirely.
“…Looking this much alike is downright unpleasant.”
Even before it had been noticeable, but now that she had grown, it was truly like staring into a mirror.
Naturally, Inanna bristled at the remark.
“I don’t look like you. You look like me.”
“Just a little annoyed and you show your true colors. Body’s grown, but inside you’re still a brat.”
“What? You finished?”
Barely reunited, the two of them were already bickering the way they always had.
“I came because I felt a speck of pity for you becoming a widow, but it was wasted worry!”
“Oh? Thanks for worrying, in your own way. Hearing that while you’re standing there naked is so comforting.”
Ereshkigal cackled, openly mocking the fuming Inanna. Not content with that, she even stepped down from the throne to watch her sister’s discomfort up close.
Inanna’s eyes flashed like a predator locking onto prey.
I could shove her aside and take the throne right now.
The throne of the Underworld itself held power. Merely sitting upon it would place the Underworld’s strength and authority in her hands.
But that alone was not enough.
“Fine. Mock me all you want.”
Inanna straightened her back. Her full, elastic breasts swayed like droplets of water with the motion.
“You’ll have nothing left to laugh about soon enough.”
She formed a golden spear and drove it into the floor.
Boom!
The Underworld shuddered as if struck by an earthquake—not from mere physical force, but from the space itself reacting to her overwhelming presence.
“What are you doing?”
Ereshkigal’s expression hardened.
“What does it look like? I’m taking this Underworld for myself.”
“…I’ve always known you never know when to stop, but I didn’t expect you to be this blatant about it.”
Inanna and Ereshkigal faced each other. Same height, same face—yet the auras they radiated were similar and utterly different at once.
“I want to kill you right now for that insolent arrogance… but out of courtesy, I’ll ask once. You’ve already got plenty. Why do you want this dreary Underworld?”
“Well~ honestly, you’re right—it is a bit lacking. But right now the only thing I can give him is the throne of the Underworld.”
“Him? Ah! That man of yours no one knows about?”
Though Ereshkigal could never leave the Underworld, she still heard the rumors that circulated through the divine realm.
“Why? Does that man you cherish so much want to become king of the Underworld?”
“No. He doesn’t know. It’s a surprise gift. At the very least, being king of one world should be enough to uphold his dignity.”
“Pfft. How much of a fool is he to make the woman clinging to him think of something like that?”
“…You’ve got a mouth, so you just run it however you like?”
Inanna’s face turned cold. In answer, Ereshkigal released her divinity. Heat and cold tangled together, warping the air around them.
“Even for a fool, I didn’t think you’d be this thoughtless. You didn’t even realize that the deeper you go into the Underworld, the more your divinity is halved. You should have at least tried a proper ambush.”
Just as Ereshkigal said, her divinity easily pushed Inanna’s back. The chill of the Underworld steadily swallowed the heat of life.
“I need at least this much of a weakness. Otherwise, where’s the fun in fighting?”
“Foolish woman.”
Ereshkigal flicked her wrist. Dark death energy rose from the floor and began to encroach upon Inanna. If she closed her hand now, the goddess of love and war would die.
Or so she believed.
Thud!
“Huh?”
The first thing she felt was an inexplicable impact. Then came the sound. Only after that did the pain arrive.
“Guh!”
Ereshkigal flew backward, twin streams of blood pouring from her nose, and slammed into the wall. The impact brought down an entire face of the massive castle. Heavy rubble crashed down onto her fallen form, piling into a small hill.
Of course, Ereshkigal cleared the debris without much trouble and rose again.
What?
She touched her face with a hand still trembling from the pain. Her nose was broken, and her entire philtrum had been crushed flat.
What just happened?
What hit her? How had it been so fast…
Countless thoughts whirled through her mind, leaving her dizzy. More than anything, the knowledge that their physical abilities should have been equal—and yet she had completely failed to register a simple physical strike—wounded her pride.
The wound on her face healed in moments, leaving no trace. The wound to her pride did not fade so easily.
“I’ve always wanted to punch you in the face every time I saw you.”
Wearing the most refreshed expression of her life, Inanna casually shook out her fist.
“Lady Inanna has gone to the Underworld?”
At the news Ninshubur delivered, Sunya’s eyes widened.
“Yes.”
His agitation was greater than she had expected, and Ninshubur felt a flicker of unease. Sunya covered his mouth for a moment as if thinking, then spoke.
“Pardon me, but do you know the entrance to the Underworld?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I believe I need to go there.”
“….”
Ninshubur’s brow furrowed. She thought he was overstepping.
“My lady would not wish it.”
“This concerns Lady Inanna’s safety. Please reconsider, just once more.”
“Do you not trust my lady?”
“It isn’t that I don’t trust her… rather, there is something I know separately, shall we say.”
“Something you know?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I can tell you that.”
“…Even if you know the entrance, neither humans nor ordinary gods can guarantee their lives there.”
“I will take full responsibility.”
“My duty is to inform you of my lady’s whereabouts, not to take you to the Underworld. In fact, my lady would want me to keep you here.”
“If I tell her I insisted strongly, Lady Inanna will understand.”
It was the first time Ninshubur had spoken with Sunya at such length. Somehow, unlike her first impression of him, his words carried a strange weight. It was not something as simple as a low voice. There was nothing particularly logical about them, yet each one settled into the heart.
It did not feel like he was overpowering her reason or enchanting her. On the contrary, her mind was clearer than it had ever been—clear enough that even the suggestion Inanna might be in danger left her calmly composed.
And yet she found herself accepting his words as reasonable, as if there were something more behind them.
If an ordinary person claimed without evidence that the sky was falling, Ninshubur would dismiss it as nonsense. But if a high god like Enki or Enlil said the same thing, she would not take it lightly even without knowing the full reason. In other words, the same statement was received differently depending on who spoke it—on external factors such as status or power.
And right now, Ninshubur felt that weight of words from Sunya. More than from Enki or Enlil.
What is this? Why? How?
All she knew about him was that he was her mistress’s lover. Inanna had never spoken much about Sunya, and Ninshubur had never asked. It was difficult to approach him casually, yet taking his words this seriously was, coldly speaking, strange.
She calmly searched for the reason. Fortunately, her mind was working better than usual, and because of that she soon understood.
She realized it.
Presence.
The vast presence of Sunya that she had been unconsciously sensing was lending sincerity to every word he spoke. Even without roaring flames or explosions, a towering mountain or a boundless sea inspires awe and pressure simply by existing.
The only reason she had not noticed until now was that Sunya himself had been holding it back.
“Just… who are you…?”
Once she began to recognize it, more became visible. Sunya was a far more extraordinary being than she had imagined.
Where in the world did someone like this come from?
As if reading her doubt, Sunya continued.
“I will explain the details later. For now, I would like you to show me the way to the entrance of the Underworld.”
“…Understood.”
In the end, Ninshubur yielded. Even if it earned her mistress’s displeasure, placing her safety first was what she believed a servant’s duty to be.