As the sudden voice reached everyone's ears, a figure slowly walked toward them from ahead.
With neatly cut short hair, a blue kimono, and a red coat, a girl both familiar and yet strange appeared before Rozen and Mash.
"You are…!?"
Mash was immediately startled, almost instinctively summoning her Round Table Shield and stepping in front of Rozen.
"Ryougi Shiki…"
Rozen gazed at her, calling out her name.
It was none other than Ryougi Shiki—the same person who had invaded Uruk last time, once posing a considerable threat to Rozen and his companions.
"So you really came. Pretty fast, too."
Shiki looked at Rozen, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
This time, however, she held no weapon in her hands.
The plain knife that had left such a strong impression last time seemed untouched, and not even her Mystic Eyes were active—only her black pupils watched Rozen.
"Relax. I'm not here to fight you. I'm just here to guide you."
She spread her hands as if to show she bore no hostility.
Her attitude was neither friendly nor cold—merely steeped in a kind of indifference, completely unpredictable.
Still, remembering the danger she had shown last time, Mash couldn't lower her guard.
Rozen, meanwhile, kept his gaze fixed on Shiki, lost in thought.
Shiki, of course, didn't press the matter—she simply let her hands fall.
"Since you've come to the Underworld and passed through the Seven Gates, that means you have the right to meet Ereshkigal face to face." She continued, "I don't know why you've come here—whether to talk or to fight—but in any case, you'll have to meet Ereshkigal first."
With that, Shiki turned around.
"Follow me. That goddess is waiting for you."
She began walking ahead.
Rozen and Mash stared at her back, frowning deeply.
"Who is she? A Servant?"
At that moment, Ishtar had also recovered, and perhaps having accepted her current situation, she looked at Shiki walking away and spoke in surprise.
"Didn't think there'd be a Servant in the Underworld. Was she recruited by Ereshkigal? That woman can actually get someone like her as a subordinate?"
Hearing this, Mash shifted Ishtar onto one shoulder and spoke.
"According to her, she's a 'guest' of the Underworld."
"A guest of the Underworld?" Ishtar repeated, looking even more confused and astonished. "She actually came here to be a guest? You've got to be kidding me."
Clearly, Shiki's very existence had left quite an impact on Ishtar as well.
That singularly unique girl always left a deep impression on people.
"Let's go."
Rozen was still looking at Shiki's back. After a moment, he finally spoke, following after her.
"Fou!"
Fou immediately scampered forward on its tiny limbs, following behind Rozen.
"Wait for me, Senpai."
Mash, carrying Ishtar, hurried to catch up.
The group soon caught up to Shiki, and under her guidance, made their way toward the deepest part of the Underworld.
All the while, no one spoke.
It was as if Shiki's presence had suppressed everyone else's, and with her remaining silent, no one seemed able to find a chance to speak, so the silence stretched on.
Ishtar, however, did make one remark.
"She's quite an impressive little girl."
Clearly, Ishtar felt both curiosity and admiration for Shiki.
Mash, on the other hand, maintained constant vigilance toward her.
Rozen remained calm as ever, but he too kept silent.
Since no one else spoke, Shiki likewise said nothing, simply leading the way in silence toward their destination.
Eventually—after who knew how long—they reached the end of the Underworld.
"Alright, we're here."
Shiki stopped, her hands slipped casually into the pockets of her coat, and with a flat tone, she said:
"This is Ereshkigal's palace."
At her words, no one could muster a reply.
Especially Rozen and Mash, who were struck speechless at the sight before them.
From Rozen's wrist, the voices of Chaldea's members rang out in equal disbelief.
"This is the palace of the Underworld goddess?"
"You've got to be kidding me."
"There's nothing here at all!"
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman all spoke in astonishment.
Indeed—
What appeared before them wasn't a grand palace at all, but simply a barren wasteland.
However…
"This is the Underworld," Shiki said calmly. "Here, anything beautiful or ornate simply doesn't exist. All there is is this subterranean world to house the dead. The Underworld goddess's palace is nothing more than this barren land."
Such was the Underworld—a place where nothing living could exist, where only souls were permitted to remain.
"The goddess Ereshkigal lives here?"
Mash asked in disbelief.
"That's right," Shiki replied bluntly. "The goddess traveling with you should know that well enough."
Her words made Mash look toward Ishtar, still perched on her shoulder.
"...Don't be surprised, Mash. It's all true."
Ishtar was silent for a while before sighing and speaking.
"It's because the Underworld is like this that, when it was created, no god wanted to take the position of its ruler. In the end, the newly born Ereshkigal was made a sacrifice—offered as the pillar of this land of the dead. Just like that, she became the mistress of the Underworld, managing the souls of the departed for countless millennia, never once spending even a moment in the mortal world or the heavens."
That was why the goddess of the Underworld could never leave it.
Mash was at a loss for words.
In her eyes shone nothing but sorrow.
In that moment, Mash thought of herself—
Because…
"Being imprisoned in one place, never able to see the blue sky or the sunlight… it must be unbearably sad, right?"
That was exactly how Mash had spent the first half of her life.
And yet, Mash had only endured such a life for a little over a decade.
Ereshkigal, by contrast, had endured it for countless thousands of years.
How could Mash not feel sadness for her?
But…
"That goddess has never voiced any resentment for it. She's endured it all, faithfully and dutifully, bearing her mission and responsibility, managing the dead here without fail."
Shiki looked toward Rozen.
"The reason she joined the Three Goddess Alliance this time was also because—"
Before Shiki could finish, her words were abruptly cut off.