Listening to Ereshkigal's explanation, others might only feel a chill run down their spines.
But Rozen heard the sadness hidden in her words.
Therefore…
"Are these your true feelings?"
Rozen confirmed just like that.
"Of course," Ereshkigal replied without hesitation. "I am Ereshkigal, the mistress entrusted with ruling the depths of the Underworld. My existence and duty are to gather all humans, all souls, into this realm. I am merely fulfilling my assigned task—bringing human souls into the Underworld. Or do you intend to tell me this is wrong?"
If this was wrong, then why was she appointed to the Underworld in the first place?
If this was wrong, then why had she been forcibly made the cornerstone of this subterranean realm?
The gods created the Underworld to manage the souls of the dead. And Ereshkigal was the one the unwilling gods shoved into this role—condemned to never leave, bound to forever govern the dead.
Since this identity and duty were all she had, if fulfilling them to the end was wrong, then that would mean the gods had erred from the very beginning.
"They took everything from me and gave me only this duty and mission. Now, after all that, of course I will see it through to the very end."
Ereshkigal declared firmly.
"Do you intend to deny me, last Master of mankind?"
At that, Rozen fell silent.
Seeing him like this, the others couldn't help but panic.
"Why are you staying quiet!?"
Ishtar grabbed at Rozen's hair.
"Hurry up and deny her!"
Olga Marie's anxious voice came through the communicator.
"It's true that the goddess is fulfilling her duty—but her method is wrong!"
Da Vinci pointed out the crux of the matter directly.
"The Underworld can only house the souls of the dead—it cannot actively create death on the surface! That's reversing the order of duty and mission!"
Roman's voice rang out.
Ereshkigal was in the wrong.
Even if her duty was to collect and manage souls, to deliberately cause death in the surface world for that purpose was unacceptable.
It was the same as Gorgon—turning from victim into perpetrator. No matter how you framed it, it could not be justified.
"The Underworld is a place to judge the good and evil of souls—just like the purpose of the Seven Gates," Mash said earnestly, raising her head to look at Rozen.
"Please deny her, and show the truth of the human soul's good and evil, Senpai."
With that, Mash voiced her plea.
Everyone waited for Rozen to reject Ereshkigal.
But instead of doing so, Rozen asked a completely different question.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
He set aside all positions and identities to ask something seemingly unrelated.
"Huh?"
Ereshkigal was momentarily stunned.
And not just her—everyone present froze for a moment.
But Rozen ignored their reactions, keeping his gaze fixed on Ereshkigal as he spoke.
"You know I'm Chaldea's Master, and you know I'm here to repair this era, inevitably making me your enemy as one of the Three Goddess Alliance, right?"
Rozen pressed the question.
"If that's the case, when you took Ishtar's body and appeared on the surface, why didn't you kill me?"
It was contradictory, wasn't it?
"From the standpoint of your role as a member of the Three Goddess Alliance, eliminating me—a foe who's overcome six Singularities—should have been your top priority."
"From your duty's perspective, you've said your goal is to claim all human souls. I should have been one of your targets as well."
"Yet, on both previous occasions, not only did you not kill me—you even protected me in front of the other goddesses. Why?"
Rozen's blunt accusation left Ereshkigal momentarily speechless.
"I…" Her voice weakened. "I just felt the timing wasn't right, and I didn't want you to fall into the hands of the other goddesses."
It wasn't exactly a far-fetched explanation.
Back at the embassy, because of Rozen's instructions, Altera had kept her eyes on Ishtar—and thus on Ereshkigal, who was possessing her. Under those circumstances, it would have been difficult for Ereshkigal to make a move on Rozen.
And during the cedar forest incident, Ereshkigal had openly said she acted to monopolize Rozen, which was why she protected him.
By that logic, the explanation seemed reasonable enough.
But…
"That doesn't add up, does it?"
Rozen mercilessly poked holes in her reasoning.
"Back at the embassy, even if you failed, the one who'd be in trouble would only be Ishtar, whose body you were possessing. You and Ishtar are enemies anyway—whether you succeeded or failed wouldn't matter to you. You could have taken the chance to strike, couldn't you?"
Exactly.
If she succeeded, she'd remove a dangerous enemy—a great outcome.
If she failed, she could withdraw unharmed.
After all, it wasn't her own body at risk. If something happened to Ishtar, Ereshkigal would feel no loss—in fact, she'd be pleased.
Given that, there was no reason for her to hold back.
Not to mention…
"Even if I were killed by another goddess, my soul would still be taken by the Garula spirits and end up in your possession. So it wouldn't matter to you who killed me, right?"
Rozen laid bare every flaw in her statements without pause.
"And even if none of that holds, why would you risk breaking your alliance's pact to give me intelligence on the Three Goddess Alliance?"
That was yet another point that didn't make sense.
Taken together…
"I have every reason to believe that everything you've said is a lie."
Rozen's voice echoed through the space.
"You should have realized last time we spoke that I've walked countless battlefields. I can tell whether someone's reason for fighting is real or fake. Do you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"If you want me to treat you as an enemy, then give me a better reason."
"Or… tell me the truth. Let me know what kind of goddess you really are, Ereshkigal."
Hearing those words, Ereshkigal's breathing quickened.
Unconsciously, she took several steps back.
But…
"Do you think saying things like that will shake me?"
She forced her emotions down and spoke coldly.
"You've already invaded the Underworld while still alive, and you dare say I need a better reason to fight you?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Ereshkigal's mana flared to its fullest.