Conquest of the Underworld
Contrary to Sunya's expectations, the fight unfolded in Inanna's favor from start to finish.
—Kaaang!
Sparks flew as the golden spear clashed against the whip.
Just as Inanna fought by conjuring spears of gold, Ereshkigal wielded a long whip as her primary weapon. Where her younger sister moved like a wild beast, the Queen of the Underworld fought with a relatively calm and measured style.
Ereshkigal's whip was elegant and precise, a near-perfect fusion of offense and defense — and yet, for some reason, today she found it increasingly difficult to keep the spear at bay.
What's going on?
With a single sweep of her whip she gracefully deflected a dozen spears that had materialized from thin air, but her face was full of bewilderment. Inanna was stronger than she had anticipated.
Too fast.
It was true that Inanna's divinity and authority had been weakened — but sheer speed of movement alone was enough to leave Ereshkigal unable to respond. Inanna kept forcing the fight into ranges that favored her, never giving her sister the opening to use her powers.
"Felt pretty good strutting around as Queen of the Underworld all this time, didn't it?"
Flushed with triumph, Inanna thrust her spear. Ereshkigal raised her whip to block, but the impact threw her off balance. The second strike grazed her shoulder and tore open her calf. Whenever she tried to close the distance, she was kicked in the shin or the gut. At last she could hold no longer and was sent flying.
—Kugugu...
The shockwave brought down yet another section of the palace. Ereshkigal healed her wounds in an instant, clicked her tongue, and cracked her whip through empty air. Inanna charged forward and bent her waist with fluid grace — and the walls and buildings behind her split open along the whip's trajectory.
The whip, swinging at blistering speed, carved out a kind of domain. The pressure of the wind swept away the rubble of the surrounding buildings. Every time the whip scoured earth and sky, it set off chain explosions that scrambled the field of vision.
"Run!!"
"Stay around here and you'll get caught in it!"
The dead scrambled for the outskirts of the city. Inanna, however, pressed forward — throwing herself headlong into the storm.
I can't give her time to use her authority.
Truth be told, everything so far had been little more than luck. If Ereshkigal ever decided to unleash the full power of the Underworld, the Inanna of today would have no answer. She had come prepared for that possibility, wearing ornaments charged with power — but every last one of them had been stripped from her as she passed through the gates. That was why she had been forcing a close-quarters brawl from the start: press hard, leave no gaps, and deny her sister any chance to call on her authority.
In raw technique and refinement, Inanna and Ereshkigal were not so far apart. Their styles differed, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, and ranking one above the other was largely meaningless. Without Sunya, she never could have dominated like this.
Even Inanna had not spent every day with Sunya merely in bed. Well — they did it every day, but that wasn't all they did. Sometimes they sparred, and he would refine her martial technique.
Honestly, my lady, your technique itself is already complete.
Sunya's understanding of martial arts ran far deeper than Inanna had ever imagined.
The reason your spear never touches me is that I already know it's coming.
How do you know that?
If I said I read the movement of the muscles, the eyes, the presence itself — would that make sense?
Why?
Unlike the long-lived gods, humans are fragile. They die easily. Even a minor wound can cost a life. So humans had no choice but to study how to dodge better and block better.
But that's a human story, isn't it? Dodging and blocking well doesn't seem like it'd be much use in a fight between gods. We don't die that easily.
True. But I later discovered it helps against gods as well.
Why?
Because so many gods take forms similar to humans. At a comparable size, human martial arts are surprisingly useful. Reading your opponent, especially — learn that, and it will serve you well someday.
It was exactly as Sunya had said. Through Ereshkigal's gaze, the shift of her muscles, the flow of her divinity — Inanna could anticipate how her sister would move. Simply knowing where and how the next attack would come was enough to seize this kind of advantage. She had never imagined that knowing what the other would do, and how to answer it, could feel this exhilarating.
Most humans needed decades of training to acquire the art of reading an opponent. That Inanna had grasped it in less than a month made "genius" feel like an understatement.
The whip kept reshaping the terrain with every strike, but it could not stop Inanna.
"You're dodging all of this?"
Inanna's knee exploded into Ereshkigal's stunned face — a technique that would one day be called a flying knee kick. The blow landed clean. Ereshkigal's face caved in so violently that for an instant its shape was unrecognizable. Fragments of shattered teeth spun through the air.
In the brief opening that followed, Inanna brought her spear down and severed Ereshkigal's arm. Sensing the danger, Ereshkigal tried to step back on pure reflex — but Inanna planted a foot on her instep with exquisite precision and pinned her in place.
Crack.
It wasn't merely that she couldn't move. Her foot was crushed completely. The force was so great that the ground cracked and sank beneath them.
Danger!
Ereshkigal released her divinity in a single burst and shoved Inanna away. Even Inanna could not dodge that — but she was only driven back a short distance, and took no real harm. She flipped through the air and landed lightly on her feet.
With distance opened, Ereshkigal should have used her authority to crush her sister then and there. But even a goddess could not be expected to make rational decisions when, in the span of moments, her face had been caved in, her left arm severed, and her right foot pulverized.
Focus on healing? Or attack...?
Her thoughts lagged. Even a god, so long as she possessed a body, could not help it. Inanna did not miss the opening. She charged.
Even so, they were sisters. She had no intention of killing her. She dismissed the spear, slipped behind Ereshkigal, seized her around the waist, and slammed her into the ground.
—Kugugugugugu...
The earth shook under the tremendous impact. A vast crater opened with Ereshkigal at its center, her head driven into the dirt. She was not dead — but she had taken far too many decisive hits, and her consciousness cut out.
"Take a little nap. It'll all be over by the time you wake up."
Humming under her breath, Inanna strolled on with a light step. The palace of the Underworld had collapsed entirely, and half the sprawling city lay in ruins — yet the throne of the Underworld still stood, proud and intact in its original form.
"How...?"
Inanna walked past Namtar, who stood half out of his mind. As Ereshkigal's attendant, he had served her for a very long time. He knew better than anyone that in the Underworld, Ereshkigal was stronger than any other god. Even An, called the father of the gods, could not be confidently said to prevail against her here. That simple truth had been thoroughly shattered. For Namtar, the scene before him was pure astonishment.
To lose like this before she could even properly do anything...
Or rather, the opposite. She had won precisely by ensuring her opponent could do nothing at all.
While Namtar stood dazed, Inanna seated herself upon the throne of the Underworld. She crossed her legs with arrogant ease and looked out over her surroundings.
"Nice view."
And then she declared:
"The Underworld has a new master now — me!"
Just as Inanna was settling onto the throne of the Underworld, Sunya — guided by Ninshubur — arrived at the entrance to the realm of the dead.
"This is the place."
"Thank you. You may return now."
With that, Sunya promptly knocked upon the gate.
"Is anyone there?"
Someone rose up from beneath the earth and revealed himself. He was a man far larger than Sunya — or something like a man. He wore no clothes, and below the waist he was bare and empty. There was no scar as if something had been removed. He seemed to have been that way from the beginning.
"I am Neti, guardian of the gate. Who are you to set foot in the Underworld?"
Sunya answered honestly.
"There is someone I am looking for. Lady Inanna entered this place, did she not? I have come to bring her back."
"...What is your relationship to her?"
"For the time being... I suppose one could call me her husband?"
At Sunya's words, Neti's face filled with surprise.
"She had a consort?"
"Yes. It's a little embarrassing to say it myself, but — haha. In any case, might you let me through?"
"No."
Neti was firm.
"This is the land of the dead. Without the leave of the Lady of the Underworld, no one may set foot here."
"Hmm. I suspect my manner of speaking may have given you the wrong impression."
Sunya opened his eyes a fraction. His blue irises flashed with a sharp light.
"I am not asking for permission."