I, the Weakest Traveler, Start by Taming the gods of the Old World.

"I understand my duty. I am your clone and the goddess who will rule over this sanctuary. That much I get, but can I request one thing from you?" asked the naked goddess, her foot standing on the surface of the burning flames.

She was the goddess Ereshkigal.

And the woman standing before her was the depressed goddess of the heavens, Ishtar.

"You may ask."

"The man whom we are in love with. The one who disappeared never to be seen. Do we cast him aside?"

Ishtar raised her head a bit. "When the time comes, I'll make that decision. All you need to do is watch over your domain. My burden is your burden, my responsibility is yours as well."

Ereshkigal had a lot of questions, none she could ask considering Ishtar's mental state.

"As you wish."

She was made the goddess of hell.

'How many centuries have passed...'

Ereshkigal watched over hell, peeking into the human world once in a while, only to see Ishtar wasting her life in despair.

'How long have I been taking on the responsibility of another? How long will I have to keep this oath I've made?'

Loneliness. Despair. Doubt.

All crept into her mind as she was stuck in isolation.

The secluded goddess of hell.

That wasn't the case for long, when she noticed the arrival of a young man who had made his way to the great kingdom of Camelot.

Or rather, his soul.

"Traveler?" She could barely keep her eyes shut.

She wasn't supposed to see him again. He was gone according to what Ishtar told her.

Which could only mean one thing... This traveler was one birth away from reincarnation.

The other gods did not agree to this reincarnation; he was deemed too dangerous.

Ereshkigal bargained and pleaded and was successful at it.

She blessed the traveler with a bit of her powers, giving him one of the abilities the old traveler had.

But that wasn't enough, so she blessed him with the ability to tap into the world's infinite layers of mana.

Ereshkigal wanted nothing more than to meet him, hold him, ask him if he remembered the time they spent together.

Her obsession caused her to make a selfish decision.

She cast aside her looks, shading her skin to bear the face of another—a beautiful maid who served the royal family, Pendragon.

Ereshkigal became Yukio, and Yukio became Ereshkigal.

One was in love with the Traveler, and the other soon came to respect him more than she did herself.

So different yet one and the same.

They watched over the traveler, each day better than the last.

Occasionally, Yukio would return to hell to look after the dead, before returning back to her life as the young lord's personal secretary.

"He doesn't remember..."

"This traveler has not yet been stained by the world. This traveler still clings to his belief. This traveler...is the one I wish to protect this time, even if it costs me my life. I want nothing more than to remain by his side."

The vow she made to herself, constantly, each and every day.

Nothing was going to take him away from her...

Or so she thought.

.....

"What?"

Even with her veil covering her face, Ereshkigal's shock was still evident.

"You need not act so surprised. I am Gilgamesh, after all. You might have fooled everyone else around you, but fooling me is a different question."

Gilgamesh folded her arms.

"Was hell too boring for you? Too tasking? That you decide to take on a human form just to wander among the humans with a false identity?"

Ereshkigal was still in shock.

"Go on, speak. I shall grant you the chance to do so before I erase you from this world," Gilgamesh added.

"How di..."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

She kept quiet; asking how Gilgamesh found out her identity was pointless.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. "Why do you want to kill the king?"

"Why do I wish the death of the handsome man? I expected you to beg for your life, yet you question me instead. You've grown bold."

Gilgamesh tilted her head up a bit. "To answer your question, let's just say I made a promise to someone a long time ago, and I'm here to fulfill that promise, whatever the cost may be."

"A promise?"

"He is a smart man; he does everything for a reason. If you understand nothing of what I've just said, I see no point in continuing this conversation."

Ereshkigal sighed. "And you want to kill me because you know I won't let you kill the king?"

"Oh, definitely not. I want you dead because you've been influencing this from the very beginning. If I ask you to lift the blessing you gave him, it's more than obvious you'll refuse. Killing you is the only advisable option."

Ereshkigal glared. "I beg you to reconsider this."

"Sorry..."

Blades began to appear all around Gilgamesh, each hovering in the air and aimed at Ereshkigal.

"Are you really so stubborn you would kill me for your selfish agenda?"

"Yes."

Srrrrrk!

Three blades went charging forward, so fast the naked eye would have difficulty following them.

Ereshkigal raised her hand, summoning a barrier before her.

"That is pointless; my weapons can pierce anything, even this very reality."

Just as Gilgamesh said, the blade stabbed through the barrier, almost damaging Ereshkigal's forehead.

Ereshkigal hissed, putting down the barrier to summon a giant scythe in her hand.

She stretched it to the side and sliced her front.

The slash of dark energy sped toward Gilgamesh.

"You've gotten sloppy," Gilgamesh said as she grabbed the hilt of a blade.

Just as the energy was speeding towards her, Gilgamesh sliced it in two with a small movement of her hand.

The energy split in two.

But it wasn't just that.

Ereshkigal was damaged from the counter. The slash didn't only divide the energy in two; it also cut open her chest.

Blood dripped to the ground as Ereshkigal fell to her knees, her hand covering the wound on her chest, trying to stop her energy from leaking.

"If you hadn't divided your powers into two places, and also given half your blessings to my handsome man, you may have had a chance."

Gilgamesh walked forward. "Right now, you are nothing but a lesser god. Not even one I should waste my time on—a total disgrace."

Ereshkigal looked to the ground, her sight becoming blurry.

"I'm doing this for the sake of the world. If it makes you feel any better, this was what he wanted...."

Gilgamesh raised her blade to the sky.

"Rest well, fallen goddess of death..."

...

Yukio suddenly stopped, her eyes widening while Ha Joon did the same.

They were walking down the hall when Ha Joon noticed Yukio had stopped moving.

"Eh? Are you alright? See, you're still acting weird. Should we just leave now? I can arrange that if it will make you calm..."

Before Ha Joon could complete his words, Yukio threw herself at him, locking lips with him.

She kissed him, her eyes watering... Tears.

Sinex was initially shocked, but then she saw the sad look on Yukio's face when she pulled away from the kiss.

Ha Joon knew Yukio wasn't the type to suddenly kiss him like that.

"Yukio...." he called out with a serious expression on his face.

"I'm sorry..." Yukio cried, her hands covering her face as she stepped back.

"I'm sorry for everything, Ha Joon. I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I'm sorry."

She sobbed.

"You need to calm down; what happened? I'm sure it's not that bad..."

Ha Joon's eyes widened in shock. Yukio's body was vanishing.

"Hey! The hell? What's going on with your body?!" he screamed.

Yukio simply raised her head to look at him; though she was still crying, her smile was brighter.

"Ha Joon..."

She called out to him. "If I ever get reincarnated in the same world as you again..." She smiled. "Can I trust you to make me your wife this time?"

"Don't say stuff like..."

Terror hitched on Ha Joon's face as Yukio disappeared into the air, her maid clothes the only thing that was left behind.

"Nooo! Yukio!"

Ha Joon charged forward, grabbing her clothes before they could touch the ground.

"No, no, no, no, what's happening, think, think, Ha Joon, think!"

He looked around frantically, unable to make any step.

He had no idea what had just happened.

She only disappeared; there was still a chance it was simply just a...

[Ciel wishes to inform you: The maid Yukio and goddess Ereshkigal no longer exist in this world.]

[You no longer have the blessings from the goddess of death.]

Ha Joon fell silent.

"Hah, hey now, stop with the jokes already. People don't just vanish without reason. Right, Sinex? Yukio wouldn't just vanish into thin air, right? Tell me you think so too..."

He looked at her.

Sinex couldn't keep her eyes on him.

Why?

For the first time, she saw her love cry.

Tears streaming down his eyes, at the same time, his heart filled with rage... rage with no target to unleash it on.

...

[A\\N: Go back to chapter 12 if you wish to understand.]