Chapter 236

Athena had no objection at first to Lancermello putting Aphrodite's real body projection into the Trial of the Seven Gates - but it was not until she saw with her own eyes the Paradise Fairies arranging the Trial for the Saints that she realized that the Paradise Fairies' judgment of the difficulty of the Trial might be a little different from the public's perception.

Or, to be more precise - in terms of setting up the trial, the style of Paradise Fairy and that of the Demi-Dream are exactly the same.

Deitel, the only one who passed the first gate trial, stood on the training ground of the sanctuary, tiredly helping Lansemello to confirm the progress of the saints. In order to save time, this trial was a non-designated mode, different from the seventh singularity Fujimaru Ritsuka faced, which allowed all saints to take the trial together.

——Of course, based on the custom of the Saints, Lancermello also allowed them to choose a one-on-one.

It's just that the problems everyone faces remain the same.

Then Dieter watched helplessly as the Saints all chose a one-on-one challenge after Lancermello took the initiative to let him win. Because he had easily dealt with the group of Nagas, Dieter knew that Lancermello would definitely adjust the difficulty of the next trial...

——But no one expected that the first test would be against the devil.

When Athena was invited to the training ground by Dieter in a euphemistic way, the first thing she saw was the Saints who were almost beaten to death by the demons in the training ground, and then saved by the Noble Phantasm that Asclepius had used in advance. Although the Paradise Fairy sitting in the corner did not say anything, the output of magic power to the projected creatures was visibly reduced.

"You let them fight demons at the first gate?" After arriving at the training ground, Athena did not stop the trial process directly, but asked Lansemello for details first, "Didn't you let them win?"

"They chose to fight one-on-one - how can you fight Hades one-on-one?!" Athena asked this, causing Lancermello, who was in charge of the trial, to complain angrily, "I suggested that they cooperate from the beginning - but when they heard that it was a one-on-one, they all went for it!"

"These are not ordinary demons or high-level demons. I am preparing for high-level demons. I am letting them down by not preparing the dark kid!!!"

"How about this..." Athena sighed and suggested to Lancermello, "Why don't you just let them fight Ereshkigal's Garula spirit form - after all, we are going to fight Hades, and fighting Ereshkigal can also be considered as a kind of experience, right?"

"Besides, when they really face gods as enemies, I think they will no longer stick to the old rules."

Thus, the Trial of the Seven Gates came to an abrupt end - the Saints didn't even have time to catch their breath before they were pinned down by the pressure from the being that looked like Hades. Dieter, the only one who could control his own body, stood with his companions at Athena's signal, and watched in silence as a huge white ghost with a bloody skeleton appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Be afraid. Pray. Fall into despair, humans." The huge undead made a sound like thunder and looked down at the tiny saints on the ground. "I am the manager of death. The mistress of the underworld, the one who treads on the sacred peaks - the oldest lord of the underworld, Ereshkigal."

The extremely low pressure and coldness that were imposed on Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu in the past shrouded the entire training ground. Athena, who gave advice, only held up a protective barrier for her own human flesh and body, and began to look forward to the Saints' response choices in their first real battle with the God of the Underworld.

At this moment, Lancer-Mello, who controls Garula's spiritual body, is still repeating Ereshkigal's words from the past records to strengthen this body. The most knowledgeable Aquarius has begun to organize the Saints who are exhausted due to repeated failures in the trials to counterattack Ereshkigal who has revealed his attacking form.

"I am Ereshkigal, the god entrusted to the underworld...! My purpose and destiny is to bring all humans and souls to the underworld!"

"This cold is not caused by freezing air or something like that, but the concept of where we exist has changed, or something else has changed." Dieter simply comforted his companions who were feeling uncomfortable due to the sudden drop in temperature, while organizing everyone to fight back, "But this does not make sense for us to explore now."

"Because the only thing we can be sure of right now is that only by defeating Ereshkigal can we stop the changes happening on the training ground!"

In any case, she is a god of the underworld - and because of her ancient nature, she possesses the powers of many gods of the underworld.

In other words—

"If you fail in this battle, you will really die." Athena looked at the people in the training ground with a smile, and added leisurely, "Although my Krilonomia can also resurrect, the resurrected person will forget everything in the past - I don't think anyone is willing to experience such an experience."

"Besides, the constant resurrection of Asclepius before was enough to make them feel exhausted."

"So, in this case, can you find a way to defeat the goddess of the underworld?"

No one could answer Athena's question. The Saints in the training ground were gathering their strength under command, looking for a way to defeat Ereshkigal.

However, speaking of gathering everyone's strength, the ones Dieter was most familiar with were only a few of his fellow Gold Saints - he did know the moves of other Saints, but he was not as familiar with the effects of the moves used by the Gold Saints as he was with them, so he couldn't make direct arrangements for the battle.

——But he did find members who were suitable for the current battlefield.

Ereshkigal's Garula spirit form was different from any of the Pluto's army members they had seen before. As the name suggests, Ereshkigal was now a giant spirit. All the physical attacks that the Saints were good at were ineffective against him. Even Detzel's freezing attack, which was not so common among the Saints, could not affect the movements of the dead soul.

Among the Gold Saints that Dietel knew, there were two whose attacks could affect spirits, and one of them was already dead - that left only one choice.

"Manigot." Dieter, who was in charge of this battle, named his Cancer companion and asked the blue-haired man, "I remember your moves... They should be the type that can attack spirits, right? So, can your moves work on the oldest god of the underworld?"

"Oh, it's the same special attack against spirits as the gravekeeper girl." Athena's eyes fell on Manigot and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Yeah, it's indeed aimed at the Garula spirit - but it's still impossible to attack Ereshkigal directly. However..."

——Just like Fujimaru Ritsuka’s past experience in the underworld, defeating this Garula spirit form is equivalent to defeating Ereshkigal.

——What’s more, the person who appeared here was actually just…

The gathered Saints charged at the giant Garula spirit, and Manigot, the only one who could attack spirits, had blue flames lighting up between his fingers. While the Saints were protecting Manigot and launching his attack, Lancermello had already returned to Athena with his magic wand in his arms.

"The corpse spirit is buried!"

The blue flames touched the body of the giant Garula Spirit. Then the giant Garula Spirit turned into pink and white petals and disappeared in front of everyone's eyes. The two goddesses stood together, smiling at the Saints who were unable to brake and fell to the ground because of the sudden disappearance of the giant Garula Spirit.

"Your cooperation is not up to par." Lancermello, who maintained his appearance in tune with Asclepius after the illusion was lifted, commented on the Saints who participated in the trial, "But considering that you can find special attacks, I will give you a point increase in score - well, that's just right, let me ask you one more question."

"If the world were to be destroyed tomorrow, would you still think that it was wrong for the God of the Underworld to claim the souls of all living things on earth and take them to the Underworld? If it has come to this, would you still think that it is wrong for the God of the Underworld to collect souls? Wouldn't anyone be willing to praise us, the 'God of the Underworld', who have been fulfilling our duties meticulously from ancient times to the present?"

"You're still letting her off the hook." The three servants who were in the depths of Lancermello's consciousness commented in unison on her actions at the moment.

"As for this question, any human being would not agree with you." Manigot, who was particularly concerned by Athena and Lancermello because of his special attack against spirits, answered this question, "Even though the fate of human beings is always death - from ancient times to the present, it has never changed, but just because we are destined to die, it does not mean that we can accept others to decide our ending."

"It's because the days before that, when we were alive, can never be replaced."

"Because time is irreplaceable, we accept the inevitable death and cannot accept the decision of the gods."

——A person’s life is meaningless until the last moment.

——But precisely because of this, we cannot say that human life is destined to die, and therefore meaningless and worthless.

——Even if the world is going to be destroyed tomorrow, it does not mean that people can die today according to the arrangement of God.

"And no one will praise you?" said Manigault, with an impatient look on his face. "That is your duty—not your behavior to win praise."

The moment he heard the complete answer, the god sighed with a smile.

"Announce the results, Alice." Athena smiled and looked at Lansemello. "It's time to respond."

"Correct answer." The sound effect of the correct answer rang out in the training field. Lansermero, wearing a bird-beak mask, sighed helplessly, "Also, this battle is your trial at the first level. Since you asked me to move the Garula spirit up at the first level, you should be mentally prepared for how difficult the trials at the sixth level will be, right?"

"Well, for the second level, please listen to the question—"

"If the world is destroyed and reborn at the same time, are you willing to embrace the mother's love, the 'sea of ​​life'?"