章 341: 341: Preparations Completed
Chapter 341: Preparations Completed
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The underworld, located in the underground region of Uruk. Gently lit up by the caged souls around the area, this was a dark and gloomy place indeed.
An arena stood on the ground, at the center of this terrain. Currently, the lord of this domain, the ruler of the underworld, Ereshkigal was lying on her back in the arena.
With her arms raised over her head and her face forming a frightened expression, she pleaded in a sweet voice.
"I-I am sorry!!! P-please don't hit me anymore!"
The muscle in Neji's forearms spasmed as he held back an attack. Right now, he was just about to punch her in the face. But it'd be rather inhumane of him to continue hitting her after hearing that plea.
Neji stopped attacking.
[Ding! Quest, "Death God Hunt" has been completed!]
It seemed, just like with Quetzalcoatl, a quest was initiated when the fight with Ereshkigal started.
He technically hadn't defeated her yet, as that lich was more like armor around her real body. However, Neji knew from his memories that this girl wasn't the type to play tricks. She truly was surrendering. His system counting as a win confirmed that hypothesis.
That was the sign that she accepted her defeat and had surrendered.
Releasing a puff of breath, Neji canceled all his buffs. It was a little painful to use the Eight Gates in his current weak state, but it wasn't life-threatening. He had the Yin-Yang Release, after all.
"Ah…"
Neji's transformations vanished, his floating hair crashing down on his forehead, as the Goddess of Death stared at his face and then lost consciousness.
Ereshkigal's body was bruised, and she looked to be in pain even as she lost herself to the land of dreams. Perhaps this battle indeed was a little too much for her.
Neji hesitated in his mind before sighing and picking her up in his arms. The others ran to him right away, all looking concerned.
"Hey, are you all right?"
"Uh, those holes earlier looked painful."
"T-thanks for protecting us."
Vinci, Mash, and Fujimaru spoke simultaneously. Only Jaguarman was silent, left speechless by the show of power. As a God herself, she knew what she witnessed was something most other Gods couldn't replicate. Then he was supposed to be in a weak state, too.
"I am all right, and you're welcome."
Neji said and ignored them. With his Jogan activating again, he looked around the terrain in search of… something.
"Ah, found it."
The secret gate to Ereshkigal's abode.
"Follow me, girls. We will talk afterward."
* * *
===
Quest: Death God Hunt
Details: The Goddess of Death, Ereshkigal, has promised to kill your physical body and keep your soul all to herself for eternity to come. Consequently, she would kill your comrades too. What choice do you have now, other than to beat the shit out of her?
Main Objective: Defeat Ereshkigal; alone or teamed up isn't of any concern.
Bonus Objective 1: Make Ereshkigal admit defeat and surrender.
Bonus Objective 2: Kill Ereshkigal—for having dared to even want to keep you imprisoned, away from your loved ones.
Main Objective Reward: [10 Levels], 20x HP Potions, 30x Mana Potions, 50x Stamina Potions.
Bonus Objective 1 Reward: [40 Levels]. The personal diary of a 9th Circle [Death-Mage].
Bonus Objective 2 Reward: [100 Levels]. You will attain the Divinity, [Loved by Death] as will your Familiar, Kurai.
===
[The Main Objective has been met!]
[The Bonus Objective 1 has been met!]
[The Bonus Objective 2 has not been met!]
[The rewards have been distributed accordingly, please check your inventory!]
[You have reached Level 2250! The Legendary Grail's debuff has been lessened to 77.5%]
"…."
The [Bonus Objective 2] hadn't been met. That had quite the fearsome reward though…
'Should I have just killed her?'
Looking to the side, where he had put Ereshkigal on a royal king-sized bed. Thinking about it again, Neji just sighed and shook his head.
'No, that [Loved by Death] sounds I will get entangled with Lady Death, the omniversal entity. That would have complicated things with Luck. I recall the Agent of Death saying something about some beef between Luck and Death.'
…Perhaps he would have killed her in a possible timeline—and perhaps that one future had been changed due to the 'Curse of Fate'. If that was true, this probably was the better outcome. He would have been sad if Luck hated him.
Though Neji wondered one thing. Why would killing a Goddess of Death make him 'Loved by Death'? Whatever, he supposed.
Anyhow, the room Neji was in was spacious. It was located inside an edgy, dark, and ominous castle. Though contrary to the castle's general feel, this bedroom was colorful. The bed sheet was bright red, and roses were growing out of the walls.
There were maidservants in here, too. They were the dead souls whom Ereshkigal adored and therefore kept close to her. The servants reacted quite fiercely when he walked into the palace, using Kamui to pass through the space-barrier. However, they didn't cause trouble when he beat them up once and promised not to harm their ruler.
"Is she all right?"
Walking up to Neji, Jaguarman asked about Ereshkigal's health. She wore an unusually serious expression. She wasn't acting goofy anymore.
In the room, the other girls were present too. They were sitting on a sofa in the far and were being served tea and biscuits by a few maidservants. It was clear that the servants were trying to keep an eye out for their ruler's safety, but Neji didn't mind.
Neji nodded at Jaguarman.
"She appears so. I already healed her, but given she isn't up yet, she seemed to have gotten a mental shock."
"Will she wake up soon, my lord?"
The one who asked that wasn't Jaguarman. Neither was it anyone of the Chaldean girls. It was a blonde maid, a girl whom Neji refused to look at for long.
With ash blonde hair flowing down to her waist, this Head Maid had worried brown eyes as she looked at her lady.
Neji didn't like how she looked like Kimi. There were obvious differences, but there was still that feeling. It didn't help that she referred to him as 'My Lord' since he was Ereshkigal's brother.
…Perhaps he was just that disappointed at not meeting Kimi here, it was affecting his perception of reality. He was happy he found Ryuko, but it was true that he had come here for Kimi instead.
This reminded him, he had to finish here quickly. The next stop would be DxD, as he was now certain that's where she ended up. For a pervert, perhaps that was the obvious world she ended up in.
Forcing himself to not look at the maid, Neji nodded.
"She should wake up in… ah, 3, 2, 1."
"Mhm…"
"There, she is up."
Ereshkigal's eyelids twitched before she slowly opened her eyes. She jumped to sit up when she noticed Neji.
[Image Here]

Now she wore a black and red dress, with gold trimming and jewelry. Her blood red eyes looked at him a little fearfully, as she sat and stared at him.
Usually, Neji would comfort a girl whom he frightened so badly. However, he recently recalled he had to finish this soon.
Using his Tenseigan's Telekinesis, Neji lifted her up and brought her short form near him. He made her float in the air so that their eye level was equal.
"Uh… what now?"
While Jaguarman and the unnamed maid stepped back, Ereshkigal asked Neji who looked deep into her eyes.
"From this moment onwards, you will not help Goddess Gorgon. You will also stop the secret mission you were executing under Uruk, to destroy the city from beneath the ground. Lastly, you're now a part of the Treasury of Babylon. You belong to me, and therefore you are obliged by my orders."
"…."
"My first order is that you, Goddess Ereshkigal, would leave the underworld and fight for me in the outer world."
Though Ereshkigal was still processing all his words, doubtful that he was merely joking, she still choked on air when she heard his last words. Leave? She couldn't leave. No, she physically was unable to leave the underworld—it was a curse from the Gods.
"I am aware of the curse,"
Neji said as if he could read her mind. Gently, he pushed one of his thumbs on her forehead.
"I also have a fix to it. I am going to insert my mana into you, and you're not going to fight it. Otherwise, the technique will fail."
Well, that was quite the bold demand. To push mana into someone's body, and ask them to not fight that technique... What if he was placing a curse? In the end, Ereshkigal just nodded—feeling like she couldn't win anyway.
With a deep breath in, Neji circled Yin-Yang Release into his mana, and then gently pushed that mana into Ereshkigal's body. Then, he chanted a Jutsu.
"Unique Jutsu: Forced Shadow Clone."
That was it and a bubble of mana slipped out of Ereshkigal, the shape being her own, as it landed on the bed. By the time it landed on the bed, it had all the features of Ereshkigal, even the dress that the maids had made her wear.
Neji could easily alter existing Jutsus, if not create new Jutsus entirely. With the Yin-Yang Release, the chakra of the Sage of Six Path, it was an easy feat to pull off.
"That's a clone. It can live for 7 days, and complete all your jobs. It doesn't have any emotion, and is merely like an automated robot created to replace your tedious job. If you want to stay more than seven days, we can discuss the cost to make its 'battery' lengthier."
According to Gods' curse, Ereshkigal had to "stay" in the underworld all the time. It didn't say she couldn't "leave". So, if a copy of her stayed here, the real she could easily take a leave. The copy would maintain the souls just as easily as her real self, too. All in all, there were no worries.
"This is…"
The others seemed shocked at such a display of abilities, as was the Goddess in question. They had seen him make copies of himself, but they didn't know he could do the same for others too.
Neji ignored their shocked expressions and grabbed Ereshkigal by the waist. She yelped, but he didn't care. He grabbed Jaguarman the same way with his other hand, and the three Chaldean girls were no exception as telekinetic hands grabbed them and pulled them to him.
Vinci looked a little disappointed at not being able to finish the great tea, but Neji promised to feed her something tastier.
Neji gave the maid a last look, giving her a simple nod to take care of her boss' copy, and then activated Kamui to vanish from the spot along with the five girls.
Inside Uruk's palace, the Neji sitting on the throne activated Kamui at the same time. This allowed easy teleportation to happen, a spell that Neji couldn't use in the long distance as of right now. Neji cheated his way through and attained his last Goddess.
Now, it was time for war. By the time Omni-Neji-3 would return with Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl, Rumi and Kurai should reach here too.
That's when the War of Gods would begin.
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