Chapter 29: Ereshkigal

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Warning! A certain God of Death is interested in your existence! Please respond immediately!

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That notification dealt a good amount of damage to my sanity. Why the hell could a God of Death be interested in me!?

[Ah, apparently not a God, but a Goddess.]

That didn't make it better! I was contemplating with myself until I heard a foreign voice in my head. It sounded like a timid woman forcing herself to make conversation.

⟨Aaa… Aaa… C-Can you hear me?⟩

The voice was so soft I could barely hear her. I crawled backwards until my back touched the stalagmites behind me.

"Who the hell are you!? Why am I hearing your voice in my head!?"

⟨Hiiiiiee!!! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to peep on you! I was just interested since a lot of souls came to me in a short period of time!⟩

Huh? Wasn't I the one who should be panicking at times like this? All my fear was blown away by the fact that she was so timid and cowardly. I had been thinking that she should be scary and all, as a Goddess of Death, but ironically it wasn't the case.

[Calm down, Farenna isn't mad at you. She's just clueless and ignorant.]

"Are you calming her down or just plainly making fun of me? Which one is it?"

⟨I-I beg your pardon… I didn't mean to startle you. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.⟩

It was chaotic as heck. A timid Goddess who just kept apologizing, a former Goddess who became a ghostly skill, and me, the victim who was always dragged into problems. It took a while for us to calm down and enter the main concern.

"So…", I crossed my arms and questioned the mysterious Goddess. "Who are you? How could you speak inside my head?"

The mysterious Goddess didn't answer it immediately. Instead, she ignored me and spoke to Bona.

⟨What should I do? Am I bothering her?⟩

[Nah, you're fine. Don't think too much and just state your business.]

I could hear everything though.

⟨Uhm… Miss Farenna?⟩

"You still haven't answered my question…", I sighed. "Haaah… What is it? I don't even know your name."

⟨Ah! I'm sorry! My name is 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲. I'm in charge to guide souls who died in battle to their final slumber.⟩

Huh? What the heck? I tried rubbing my ears and asked her again.

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear your name."

⟨My name is 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲.⟩

It wasn't me getting deaf. Her pronunciation of her name was weird. No, it was obviously impossible for me to understand what she said.

[𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲, you were using the ancient language to spell your name. Farenna won't get it, as she's clueless and problematic in the head.]

Bona interfered. Wait, you could spell her name!? And didn't you just roast me!?

[Tsk.]

Did you just click your tongue on me!?

⟨Ah, I'm sorry! My name is Ere— Achoooo! Uuuuweeeeh…⟩

She inhaled her own snot after sneezing. Just how nervous could she be?

"Calm down. Take a deep breath. Inhale… Let it out…"

She followed my instructions and started to calm down.

⟨I'm fine now…⟩

She pauses for a brief moment.

⟨My name is Ereshkigal. I'm sorry for confusing you earlier.⟩

The timid Goddess stated her unusual name. I never heard of her even in my past lives.

[It's understandable that you never heard of her, Farenna. She's an Outer God, forgotten by mankind. But to tell you the truth, she's the one responsible for guiding souls of the deceased, not Hades or the other Gods of Death.]

If Bona said that, then it must be true. There were a lot of ancient books and scriptures that had been lost after the Abyss showed up. But why did a forgotten deity contact me all of sudden? And she got interested in my existence to make it worse.

⟨It's kinda sad when you said it that way, Sis.⟩

"Sis?"

⟨Ah, Sis— I mean Goddess Bona Dea was the only one who actually cared for me when mankind began to forget me. She's an older sister figure for me.⟩

Hmm… Despite how she behaved now, Bona Dea used to be a fine Goddess. I was enchanted by her charm before, but now, meh.

[I'll pretend to not hear it for now.]

Fuck, I messed up.

"... Then, what business brings you here, Ereshkigal?"

I jumped straight into the main point to avoid being roasted by Bona again.

⟨Uhm… Maybe you'll find this so preposterous for a forgotten one like me… Will you make a contract with me?⟩

I got a hunch that it was the case. It wasn't strange for a Vessel to get contracted by more than one God at the same time. But why me? I became a monster and no longer a human.

⟨You see… The souls from the people you killed before were extraordinarily clean. It was as if each one of them was cleansed and purified thoroughly.⟩

She paused for a bit.

⟨That made my work easier. Thank you, Miss Farenna.⟩

Wow… I never expected to be thanked like this. Even Bona never did—

[Ahem! Are you thinking something rude?]

"No… Not at all…"

⟨I'm glad to see Sis and Miss Farenna get along well like this.⟩

[W-Who is getting along with who…!?]

Tsundere? Now of all times? Weren't you being too greedy for claiming lots of traits at the same time, Bona?

"This conversation won't go any further than this.", I stood up and patted my butt. "Let's talk while walking, won't we?"

I started walking towards the 16th floor entrance. I then found a natural stoney staircase going deeper into the ground. I didn't know who carved it and didn't have the time to even think so. I waited for Ereshkigal and Bona to speak again.

⟨Uhm… If you made a contract with me, I would grant you a Legendary Weapon that—⟩

I raised my spear on my right hand.

"Nope, don't need it. I already have Vermillion."

⟨Ugh… T-Then how about a skill to boost your growth—⟩

"I have [Growth Boost] already…"

⟨Uuuuuu… T-Then how about the right to escape the reincarnation cycle—⟩

[Err… Ere, I actually have granted Farenna that privilege once she completes her tasks… I'm sorry.]

⟨Uuuuuueeeeeeh…⟩

She was pitiful. I felt like being a bully to her.

⟨T-Then how about this!⟩

The next moment, a sphere-like object appeared in front of me. It was so black and oozed a load of miasma.

[Ere! Don't tell me that's…!]

⟨I know! But I have nothing else to make a deal with, Sis…⟩

[Just how desperate are you!? Ugh…]

What? I tilted my head in confusion.

[Appraise it, Farenna.]

"M'kay… Appraisal."

My eyes widened in shock after that.

"What the fuck is this!?"

I was in shock to see the object in front of me. If I were still greedy for wealth, how much money would I make from this single thing alone? I would probably be living lavishly without the worry that the money would be all spent for the rest of my life.

[Farenna, please make a contract with her. You know how important that thing is, right?]

Damn. Of course I knew! Even a professional Diver would die happily for this shit right here. Even so for Vessel. Getting this thing meant an instant power up and limit break.

"Ugh… What's the condition?"

I asked while looking at the black sphere floating in front of me.

⟨I don't encourage you to kill more humans, but… When you do, please use your [Devour] on the corpses, please.⟩

What kind of deal was this? I had planned to do that even from the beginning. I grinned and immediately snatched the sphere.

"Deal! You won't take this back right?"

⟨I swear on my name I'll never back down on my own words.⟩

***

In the distance, a familiar gate was seen, and I was actually heading for it. Ereshkigal just disappeared after we made a deal and it had been several hours after that. I was humming happily until some familiar faces showed up in front of me.

"W-Who are you!? State your business!"

"Huh?", I let out a weird sound from my mouth. "Erm… Are you guys serious?"

Those little Nymphs were pointing their respective weapons to me while making cautious stances. And there, I spotted a masculine Nymph with a big mace on her right hand.

"Oh, Sue! Can you tell these guys to—"

"How the hell do you know my name!? Who are you!?"

Oh my… By the time I was lost for words, I could hear steps running towards my direction.

"Make a way! Please!"

A familiar voice. Then, a girl with chiffon layered hair stopped in front of me. She smiled and approached me slowly.

"Welcome back, Enna…"

She hugged me tightly. The difference in our height was so clear. Well, after evolving, I grew taller and became 150 cm in height, while the normal height for Nymphs was around 120 to 130'ish.

"I'm back, Gia."

I stroked her hair gently and suddenly, I felt my chest getting wet. I tried to look at it and found out she was crying silently. The other Nymphs were so speechless and slowly approached me as well.

"I'm home, guys."

I tried to hold my tears but the cloud in my eyes prevented me from doing so. I then drowned myself in the embraces of these little guys.