24 I admire your sister
The hope that had just risen was extinguished once again, and Ishtar's beautiful face became marred once more.
Anger, irritation, shame... all kinds of emotions that hadn't been there before swirled within her heart.
But one thing she had to say; this kind of experience has never happened to her
The Mesopotamian gods were naturally manifested gods.
They were essentially planetary phenomena devoid of joy or sorrow, with any semblance of intelligence only superficially granted by the beliefs of living creatures.
But the surface is just a surface after all, a disguised appearance.
The nature of gods is more or less cold.
This is also a manifestation of 'divinity'.
But now, Ishtar really experienced the disturbance in her mind.
Such a feeling...
It's so shameful——
Looking at the goddess in front of him who seemed to be twisted into the famous painting
"The Scream" from later generations, Luo Wei held his forehead.
Then he saw Ishtar suddenly calm down.
"That's not right!" She seemed to have realized something.
The human goddess clenched her right fist and struck her left palm, as if she had just realized, "You're deliberately saying something sarcastic, right?"
"I've heard that many people do this—the more they care about something, the more they rebelliously show disgust!"
Thinking of this, she covered her face, showed an inexplicable smile, and let out a burst of weird laughter.
She looked like a weird old witch.
Luo Wei: "..."
He had long known that Ishtar, who thought she had figured out 'human nature,' would never admit to her failure.
Although he had to admit that this kind of trying to find reasons for one's failure was indeed very human to a certain extent.
It also added a certain vitality and charm to this goddess.
But since she had no intention of killing him, Luo Wei had no need to make excuses with her.
He could only go back, disappointed...
"Hmph, huh, aren't you talking? Did I guess it?" Ishtar over there looked more and more like she was flying, as if she had already grasped the victory: "I knew it - I am also a Venus after all.
This goddess also has a sister from the underworld who controls the souls of the dead.
All things with beautiful souls are nothing to this goddess!"
She counted her 'glories'.
Luo Wei's steps that he had just raised suddenly stopped and he looked at him sharply.
Ishtar was still laughing.
But when she was looked like this, she gradually felt her heart quiver, her expression stiffened, and the raised corner of her mouth shifted from a smile to a silent twitch.
"You...what are you looking at? You rude mortal!"
The goddess's face turned slightly red.
"You just said, Goddess of the Underworld, right?" Luo Wei spoke in a low voice.
"Yes...so what?" Ishtar suppressed the shyness that resurfaced and said loudly, as if to hide it:
"You have been a priest to the gods after all, and you don't even know this?"
Luo Wei did know.
Ishtar was the daughter of the god Anu and the most beloved among the gods.
But in fact, she had a twin sister who looked the same as her, Ereshkigal..um, let's call her Elli.
Of course, they were sisters, but there was a vast difference between her and Ishtar.
In contrast to Ishtar, the Goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, who was most beloved among the gods and known for her reckless actions, easily traversing between the realms of heaven and humans, her sister Ereshkigal was the underworld and the dead, responsible for governing the afterlife, residing in a realm of eternal cold and silence.
She often gazed longingly at the flames of the human world from below but couldn't leave her duties as the goddess of the underworld.
Yes, ordinarily, Elli couldn't touch the human world.
That was how it had been for a long time.
According to the mythological records of later generations and the accounts of the gods that he had observed as a priest, the goddess of the underworld herself was a forgotten 'major god' of the underworld.
Even Ishtar, who was closely related to her, rarely mentioned Ereshkigal, even in casual conversation.
But now, perhaps because of the influence of the human nature attached to the body, this Venus goddess blurted out.
This also reminded Luo Wei——
He still has a chance.
Ishtar never mentions her, not because she doesn't care, nor because she hates her.
On the contrary, she cares about her very much, and it was precisely because she and her sister have similar origins but different circumstances that she had complicated emotions in her heart, so the goddess kept silent.
They were sisters after all.
Goddesses originating from the same source and born from the same body.
They cared deeply for each other.
So Ishtar never mentioned it and didn't allow outsiders to bring it up, let alone... mock it.
Luo Wei smiled.
"What? What's going on with your smile? It's a bit...disgusting..." Ishtar showed a disgusted expression, but the blush on his face became more obvious.
Could this guy... be really attracted to her?
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became.
The more she pondered, the more she looked forward to it.
The more she contemplated... the more she feared...
"I just finally understand why I care so much about you." Luo Wei opened his mouth to tell lies.
How could you care?
If you scold me as soon as we meet, does that mean you care?
Ishtar's eyes widened.
Then she heard Luo Wei's scalp-numbing laugh.
"Huh ha ha ha..."
Hey hey hey, was that an imitation of Gilgamesh?
Ignoring Ishtar's crazy and twisted emotions, Luo Wei's actions were actually not difficult to understand.
He just wanted to express his 'feelings' to the goddess in front him.
To show that he...
"I have even greater admiration for your sister, Ereshkigal!"
Click—
As soon as the silver teeth were bitten, there seemed to be a shattering sound.
Ishtar's red eyes widened.
Although this was far from an expression of love, it was close to a 'confession'...but not to her, but to her sister.
Ishtar, will you be angry?
It doesn't matter if she's not angry.
As goddesses of the same origin, there was some inexplicable connection between Ishtar and Elli.
This kind of connection might no longer exist with the gradual fading of the age of gods.
But if Luo Wei remembered correctly...earlier, he had merged the powers of Heaven's Chew, Heaven's Key, and Heaven's Lock into one, shaking the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity.
The boundaries between the Three Realms had been disrupted, and this sensation had likely been restored.
If he disclosed it to Ishtar... the goddess Ereshkigal might also hear it and become curious.
After all, for a long time, even if the goddess of the underworld was mentioned, she was always feared and reviled, never praised or even admired.
But under normal circumstances, she could not leave the underworld.
So the most likely outcome was... she would let him enter the underworld.
To enter the underworld is to die.
It is still very easy for the goddess of the underworld to make living beings die, and even the 'Key to Heaven' is no exception.
At that time, he would be the only one to remain in the underworld, and he would naturally be able to ascend to the Seat of Heroes.
And if Elli chose not to do this—that was fine.
Anyway, it's just an attempt.
Luo Wei never thought he would succeed.
But if he succeeds, he will die after confessing to the goddesses..
It's unprecedented, right?
And from now on, he will have one more reason to go to the underworld...
Kill two birds with one stone, and the plan will work!
Luo Wei's smile became even brighter.
he--
"The one I admire is your sister."
Such a sound echoed in the deep alley where the sun was setting, and the red leaves were everywhere.
It even echoed in the ears of the two goddesses..
Shocking the goddess Venus and even more so, the goddess of the underworld.
"What... is this sound?" In the deepest part of the underworld, the goddess Ereshkigal raised her head, looking up at a broken trace that had appeared above, and at the glimmer of light in the corner of the human world.
From the gap, a voice came.
Subtle. But clear.
Disturbing.
