I Can See Health Bars in Real Life

Chapter 528 21: Netherworld Goddess

The so-called Celestial Realm.The so-called Netherworld.

Generally speaking, they belong to a metaphysical existence, differing from the real-world dimensions, entirely another dimension domain's mystery. Thus, the Celestial Kingdom is not above the atmosphere, nor can hell be dug out from the depths of the earth. The afterlife and the world above are not distanced from reality merely in physical terms.

However, now this is the Age of Gods...

The Netherworld and the present world are connected by soil. This afterlife indeed exists beneath the Mesopotamian earth, a subterranean space unimaginable from a geological perspective.

Even using the straightforward and brutal method of the Ishtar Goddess, descending to the Netherworld would involve blasting through the ground in one breath and jumping straight down.

With various related information flashing through his mind, Gu Mo wandered like a ghost in the Netherworld's night. As an uninvited guest, he was roaming around someone else's home under the cover of darkness, looking here and there, touching things.

The air of the afterlife was chilly, and even standing here, he couldn't help but feel a distinct coldness.

Once infiltrated and soaked by this nether chill, it probably equates to accepting death.

The space was dim and dark, yet speckled with soft glows, sprawling infinitely forward. Amidst the chill filled with nether energy, spirit bodies, like ghosts, occasionally floated across from afar. However, according to Mesopotamian mythology, shouldn't these be called Galura Spirits?

The so-called messengers of the Netherworld, their general status equates to Ghost Soldiers in the Underworld.

Gu Mo pondered, but armed with his aura concealment skill, he blended seamlessly into the dark and was in no danger of being discovered by these patrolling Netherworld messengers, provided he didn't cause too much commotion...

Estimating the time, he stepped forward. Although appearing here primarily to further grasp and become proficient with the Night Wanderer's power of authority, it was also to get familiar with the Netherworld's environment in advance. Naturally, he couldn't just take a look and turn back immediately.

Speaking of which, this is the afterlife...

Once a regular person every day, he probably never thought that one day he would tread on such conceptual land.

Walking step by step on the dark and cold Netherland, Gu Mo had a peculiar feeling in his heart.

The Netherworld still posed a threat to him, and the nether energy would also infiltrate his body, but it couldn't directly claim his life as straightforwardly as it would with ordinary people. He could sustain himself for a long enough period and wander freely on the Netherworld's ground during this time.

The Galura Spirits occasionally hovered back and forth in the dark space, yet even passing closely by him, they couldn't detect the guest walking in the dimness.

The night is the best ally.

Those tiny soft glows were the light sources of this underground space. Upon approaching, the whole picture became clear—Gu Mo stood before a light source, looking up at this large and slender, birdcage-like entity. They were placed disorderly on the Netherworld's ground, seemingly everywhere.

—Inside the cage were countless light dots.

—Those were souls.

This is Ereshkigal's spear prison. In myth, this goddess would use spear prisons to imprison human souls for torture and amusement. Even if the imprisoned souls were frozen into ice blocks by the Netherworld's chill, suffering so much they'd rather disappear forever, they wouldn't find release.

However, based on Gu Mo's careful observation at this moment, these spear prisons appear to be more of "comfortable residences", protective barriers for the souls.

Because despite these light dots being pure souls, through mental perception, he could still sense their most fundamental feelings and emotions. If they were indeed suffering from the punishment, the wavelengths emitted instinctively by the souls would be absolutely telling...

Yet at this moment, these souls seemed very peaceful and serene, as if asleep.

Exactly matching the information he knew, having observed and checked several so-called spear prisons, more aptly described as Netherworld's allotted housing, Gu Mo nodded lightly and continued forward.

During this period, the Cloudy Fang at his waist seemed a bit restless, eager to move.

This demon blade, symbolizing the Netherworld, was quite sinister. Now entering this space where it has home-field advantage, naturally, it became more lively. However, the scabbard made of Divine Wood and the Sword Scabbard Spirit, along with numerous seals and barriers set up all around, suppressed the somewhat restless ancient evil spirit.

Before being unsheathed, Cloudy Fang couldn't do much.

Gu Mo didn't have a better way to deal with it either. Ever since losing the possessed empowerment of the Nine-tailed Fox Power, Cloudy Fang seemed to sense something and became slightly less submissive.

Perhaps the ancient evil spirit began doubting the reality of its new master's identity, even questioning the authenticity of the extraordinarily strong Demonic Power he previously displayed... So this demon sword now showed a tendency to want to get into action, no longer as docile as before.

......

Not much time passed.

Roaming the Netherworld's ground, examining those disordered spear prisons one by one, Gu Mo gradually discovered that the spear prisons ahead began to appear empty, no longer like the previous ones with countless soul light dots within.

And in the distant darkness, a narrow cliff path vaguely emerged.

The steep cliff path seemed as if carved by a knife or axe, with abyssal darkness swirling on both sides of the unfathomable depths, and a winding cliff path adorning seven hefty stone gates...

He halted his steps to observe, which suggests that up there is the surface location of the City of Kusa, right? Although Ereshkigal is the Mistress of the Netherworld, she is also the Guardian God of the City of Kusa, so the Netherworld's center, her palace, is located beneath the city of Kusa.

Staring deeply into the distance, Gu Mo contemplated seriously.

But just at this moment, a flustered voice rang out ahead:

"Huh? How come... ahem! No, wait! You who are a living soul entering the Netherworld, I ask you why you have come here?"

At first, it was a bit flustered, but then it seemed to quickly regain composure, and the voice changed immediately, sounding both steady and authoritative, as if inscrutable.

—Huh?

—Why did she come back so soon?!

Gu Mo was slightly taken aback. It was while the Lady Goddess secretly used his sister's account out of curiosity to explore the surface that he seized this gap to wander into the depths of the Netherworld, but he hadn't expected her to return so quickly.

Although she is indeed an angel of the Netherworld, she is also the one with the highest authority within this system and is fully committed to her duty as the ruler of the Netherworld...

This is precisely why he initially hesitated to descend into the Netherworld, because the risk was real. Despite the Lady Goddess being kind, she is also very serious, and if she obstinately insists on following the rules of the Netherworld, Gu Mo might directly fail the mission and be forced to exit the dungeon.

Just having caught a fleeting glimpse of Tiamat in a dream, even in slumber, the Mother of Creation exerted an unimaginable pressure and sense of powerlessness on him...

Knowing full well that he couldn't avoid making a trip to the Netherworld, he took advantage of Ereshkigal's absence to enter the Great Void underground through some carefully arranged contingencies, intending to probe things out...

Now it seemed he was caught red-handed, so to speak, by the returning mistress of the house, which made things a bit awkward.

So—

Should he just wake up now?

Thoughts whirled in his mind, and Gu Mo finally made a decision. There's no better day than today. After all, he needed to persuade the Lady Goddess... Although objectively speaking, she was indeed dangerous in the Netherworld, for certain reasons—the advantage was his!

"Since I've come to the Netherworld, naturally, it is to pay my respects to Lady Ereshkigal."

Having resolved, with a serious expression on his face, he stood in place, gazing ahead at the Sevenfold Gate, and declared aloud. It was as if he was making a formal visit to the Netherworld's mistress, with no hint that he had been contemplating retreating earlier.

"See... see me? How... how did you know of my existence?"

The voice sounded somewhat gloomy, but there was unmistakable surprise, after all, Ereshkigal considered her existence very hidden, and just a few days ago, she had used her silly sister's body and name to talk to this person.

But she hid very well, no one had discovered it, right?

Why, just a few days later, had this person directly come to the Netherworld?

"Uh, does knowing such a thing require an explanation?" The person on the other side seemed somewhat puzzled, tilting his head while scratching his cheek with a finger, and a peculiar smile appeared on his face. "Isn't this quite obvious?"

What's quite obvious... could it be that he sensed the existence of the Netherworld and thus discovered her existence?

No! That must be it! It definitely wasn't because she was exposed!

The Lady Goddess became a bit flustered, but forced herself to calm down, intending to feign a cold attitude and give this guy a good scare. This was the Netherworld after all, and the living must not be allowed to live, so did this guy recklessly enter thinking he could become her private possession?

But at that moment, the other side had already continued speaking leisurely: "After all, just the other day, we talked, didn't we, Lady Ereshkigal?"

Needless to say—a direct hit!

"Wha—wha—wha—ugh!"

The voice was gobstruck, stammering and stuttering, as if completely shocked, the brain a blank, and only after a long while did she finally react, vehemently denying—

"What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean we spoke the other day, I—I, I have never met you!"

The Lady Goddess was in such a panic, she couldn't even maintain her speech mannerisms, but deep down, she still clung to a sliver of hope.

She had secretly used her silly sister's account, parading around as Ishtar!

"No way, it was right there in the valley of Mount Abif, and everyone saw it..." Gu Mo pressed a hand to his chin, frowning in puzzlement, "When discussing the Three Goddess Alliance, you suddenly overrode Ishtar Goddess's consciousness to have a talk with us—"

"Aaahhhhh—!"

The abrupt scream interrupted his words. The owner of the voice no longer pretended to be mysterious but was driven out by this terrifying social kill attack.

A blond maiden emerged from the darkness ahead, her face flushed red, glaring at him with what seemed like tears in her eyes, waving her hands wildly in front of her.

As if hoping that by screaming and flailing her hands, she could resist his words and prevent him from continuing.

She was about to die of embarrassment!