She Who Decreed II

It had impressed Irwin that everything Nintur did before and during her death was at odds with the natural order of the universe.

Demihumans such as they did not have souls or any spiritual anthema to a body in any way so possible, merely a husk that contained esoteric power collected from the leaks and creases of the universe.

To be revived at such speed and to regain what had been long lost was, without a doubt, the single most impressive thing he had seen a pagan do. Yet he was sure that would soon be washed away by the next series of events.

He bent his head in slight deference to Ereshkigal, being cognizant enough to know that there was a mutual bond of trust between the two of them and that bond was as thin as a strand of Nintur's hair.

"It's good of you to aid me in my endeavor, ma'am. I apologize for, uh, killing your kin," Irwin said pithily, having a conversation with Ereshkigal as if Nintur wasn't actively trying to cast her divine ability.

"Please, they were barely gods, much less my kin." Ereshkigal snorted, having the same apathetic attitude as the Sassuratu. "Death is but their natural fate. Isn't that right, Ninhursag?"

Nintur halted her casting, eyes glowing with a milky white light. The antlers on her forehead trembled like a branch during a hurricane, powerless against a more cunning foe.

"We have no grievances, Caretaker. Leave me be and I'll let your champion free." Nintur knew the folly of taking on Ereshkigal, who's supposed champion she had trouble fighting.

"Oh, yes, you do." Ereshkigal stepped out of the shadows and showed her corporeal form. 

Steeped in soot and ashes, the hollow yet willowy woman bore no resemblance to the pagan gods that he had killed before. There was a certain sadness in her pure yellow eyes and jaundiced face, a ghost of a smile ever present in her face. Her steepled fingers were hewn in front of her heavy bosoms as a long, curtailed veil hung over her entire body.

"The dead are supposed to stay dead, dear sister. Your decree had once made you invaluable and untouchable, but that era had long gone by. It is time to lay to rest this foolishness of yo–"

"Foolishness?" Nintur spat a drawl of blood near Ereshkigal's foot, a betrayed look on her face. "I gave you purpose. I gave you worship, yet this is how you repay me? I am the mother of all gods that came before me, bow down to me!"

The entire chamber became alight with disruption, cracks growing along the ceiling and walls with whereupon dozens of rotting, bony hands crawled out.

Ereshkigal sighed, prompting Irwin to ask: "You got me?"

"I do." 

Irwin rushed forward at her command, the Indestructible Hex Bag appearing in his hand before bursting into azure flames.

Within a beat, Irwin was next to Nintur and ready to slice her in half but before he could, she rotated her head and faced Irwin to release a swarm of mosquitos from her mouth. A cascading wave of fruit flies and an assortment of bugs barreled Irwin, forcing him a few steps back.

'Fucking biblical curses,' Irwin spat out a mosquito that had gotten lodged in his throat before ducking from another wave of bugs.

"Fuck this!" The Flaming Whip wrapped around his left arm as he pummeled the ground with a roar, "Brimstone Blow!"

The wave of blue flames burned the bugs to ashes as the floor melted from the explosion, burning away most of Irwin's clothes. Still, he rushed forward when his arm was still hot and caved Nintur's chest inwards.

The pagan goddess was sent rolling towards a pillar, breaking off the midsection that went with her as she crashed into the jail cells. Metal and granite compounded into a mountain of rubble that trapped Nintur underneath.

"How's your magik?" Ereshkigal asked as Irwin walked towards the enemy.

"Good enough, thanks to you. Might want to step back, though." Irwin warned as he whipped his weapon forward, letting its spiked tip to mark the floor below him with a scorching glow. 

Ereshkigal stepped past the cracks on the floor as Nintur arise from the rubble with a broken antler and a crackling chest. They eyed each other for a moment before Ereshkigal snapped her fingers, causing the flames tearing through the chamber to converge upon her palms.

"This is the flame of life. A burning that never falters, even in the face of calamity." She gazed at the tortuous flames that slowly burned her pale skin. "I have long submitted to the fact that our era is long gone and have benefitted from it. I oversee one of the Underworlds, a part of hell with which bureaucracy rules and our culture guides. My authority allows me to handle my cravings, consuming damned souls in exchange for handling the millions that pass through every second of every day for all of eternity. Don't you think that's grand, Irwin? To have something to call home when your own has been torn down by belligerent pests."

"I do." Irwin nodded, keeping an ear to her words. "But I don't think she would want that. I think this is the end for her. Although it'd be a shame since the Sky Gods are already dead and the rest are in hiding."

"True enough." Ereshkigal shrugged her shoulders.

Nintur sagged her shoulders as she stood shakily, nearly tripping on a piece of rebar on her way down the mountain of rubble. Like a jilted bride, she glared at Irwin with an askance expression; no longer was there an ounce of a fight within her body and, frankly, Irwin could not see any hints of magik coursing through her form.

"It's a shame, really. I thought I would be fighting against a powerful god," Irwin remarked before noticing the look on Ereshkigal's face. "Not that I'd want to, nor would I survive, but, you know, I have a bomb and all that. It's just a shame, is what I'm saying."

"If you would prefer, I'm more than capable of allowing her to regain a fraction of her power. Give you a round or two before we kill her. I'll even retract the empowering spell upon your body." Ereshkigal smiled innocently, as if she wasn't tangling a poison hook at Irwin.

"No, thanks." Irwin shook his head as he withdrew an Angel Blade from his bangle, activated True Strike, and launched the blade straight at Nintur's forehead.

The blade pierced her head and down she fell without so much as a fanfare, dying once more and negating centuries of preparation and sacrifice. Irwin felt nothing unusual as she dropped to the ground, merely curious as to how his trading subsystem would categorize her.

He looked towards the remaining pagan goddess in the chamber with upturned eyes. "So, you're working for the demons, huh?"

"With, Irwin, not for." She corrected him as she drew close to Nintur's body–the body that had once been the grandmother of Linda Brown–and stole a kiss from the corpse. "May you fare better in your next life."

"Yeah, as if the Empty would let her go again." Irwin remarked before resuming his questioning. "Really, though, are you gonna tell the demons what you know about me?"

"That implies that they do not know of your secrets, Irwin." She replied.

"Yeah, well, I have many secrets. God, just trying to keep them in place–Wait." He stopped his words, curious as to the reason he was being glibbed around her. "Really? Enchanting me?"

Ereshkigal failed to hide the smile on her face. "I would never."

"Funny. Look, I need to rest, and I think you have a job to do." Irwin produced another contract scroll and extended it towards Ereshkigal. "I won't force you into submission. Just want a non-aggression with you. Keep my secrets and we'll be friends during the war."

She hummed thoughtfully, "I am in need of friends… especially now that you've killed many of mine. Still, that deal sounds awfully light for someone who had been using my amulet without my say so."

Irwin shrugged. "It's been… passively helpful. Besides, it's been allowing you to spy on me during my raid on the island and the deal with Heaven."

She kept meek on his rebuttal, merely looking at him with an inquisitive gaze. Irwin was short of patience at this time given that he had been fighting pagan gods back to back and merely sighed before acquiescing to her demands.

"Fine. What do you want for it?" He rolled his eyes.

"A favor. Help me as long as I call upon you." She said.

He scoffed, "Sounds ominous and not at all fair. I can have another mystical artifact with the same powers as this amulet in a jiffy, you know…"

She tilted her head and Irwin could see a moment's hesitation pass through her yellowed eyes. "Fine. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for any malevolent forces coming your way and, in exchange, I keep a helping hand in my back pocket. Fair?"

"We have a deal." He extended the scroll even further, but she made no move to take it. "What?"

She shook her head and swiped the front of her veil to the side. "That's now how demons make deals, Irwin."

"You're not a demon." He said.

"But I prefer their methods." She countered. "What? Am I not attractive, Irwin? Do you not like my current form?"

Irwin grinned, waving a finger as a warning. "I know better than to say that to a woman, at least. C'mon, then. Give me a smooch!"

Irwin dove right in, a wet sensation pervading his lips before his retina flashed with blue and white.

■■

[Congratulations! You have advanced to Level 6]

■■