At the beginning, unlimited skill tree!

She fell in love with Tammuz, the god of plants, at first sight, and they were a pair of lovers who truly loved each other.

But her brother Utu urged him to accept the love of the shepherd god Dumuzi, so Ishtar and Dumuzi had an unhappy union.

From then on, Ishtar became lustful and liked to abuse her lover.

Ishtar was an ambitious woman. She tried to replace the great god Enlil. After failing, she turned her attention to the underworld.

Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, was Ishtar's sister. In order to realize her ambition to control the power of life and death in the underworld, Ishtar decided to take the risk of going to the underworld.

To be on the safe side, she sent her auxiliary gods to beg for help from the three gods, and if she could not survive, they would come to rescue her immediately.

When Ishtar arrived at the gate of the "land of no return", the auxiliary gods had already arrived at the residence of the three gods, but her grandfather Enlil and her father Nannar refused to provide assistance.

Only the kind and wise god Enki fabricated two elves to rush to hell as external aid.

There are seven gates in hell. If you want to pass through, the gatekeeper will take off a piece of Ishtar's clothes at each gate, and she will lose a piece of power.

When she finally arrived at the palace of Hades, she was naked and completely powerless, waiting helplessly for the arrangement of fate.

The Queen of the Underworld cast a deathly look at her, and Ishtar immediately turned into a corpse.

The Queen of the Underworld hung her sister's body on the wall of the palace. The two elves arrived, and the queen agreed to release her sister.

However, the rule of "going but not returning home" in the underworld cannot be broken. Unless Ishtar can find a substitute in the world, she cannot be resurrected.

The two elves took Ishtar to find her husband Dumuzi...

Dumuzi was unwilling to die for his wife, so he hurriedly fled to his sister, but was still caught.

Dumuzi's sister said that she was willing to die in place of her brother, and Ishtar said generously: "Okay, you for half a year, he for half a year."

The goddess Venus had never loved the shepherd god, and their marriage was forced.

How could she be nice to the shepherd god at this time?

In order to be resurrected, Ishtar didn't care about Dumuzi's life or death.

Agreeing to his sister's request was Ishtar's last concession, although it sounded overbearing.

So--

As a shepherd god, Dumuzi was also the god of the grassland. The half year he was exiled to the underworld was the dry season on the grassland.

This natural disaster caused a famine with a great impact in ancient Babylon, which was mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry.

The people of Uruk went to the forest to hunt for food.

However, there were monsters set up by Enlil, the god of storms, in the fir forest, which would endanger people's safety.

(…——! Monster in the forest?! Everyone’s expression was very interesting for a moment, and they had already guessed who the monster was.)

In order to protect the cedar forest, Enlil made him a terror to the world. That’s right——that’s Humbaba.

(This is combined with the question that after killing Humbaba, Gilgamesh was asked why he wanted to attack Humbaba. Gilgamesh replied that it was to protect Uruk. ‘If all the evil here is not expelled, the people will die of hunger.’ I just connected it here.

One is that Gilgamesh believes that Humbaba’s existence is a monster and evil, which will pose a threat to the people of Uruk, so he wants to destroy it.

The other problem is hunger. It is related to the story that when the shepherd god went to hell, droughts occurred everywhere on the earth.

From this point of view, it seems that there is also this reason why Gilgamesh prepared the holy marriage ceremony and wanted to ask the gods for good weather and good harvests!)

Chapter 456 Gil and I have long been aware of being hated!

The underworld——

“Does the underworld really exist in the world?” Yuzuha said with some palpitations.

"Even the gods, the Goddess of Shepherd and Venus, were powerless to resist... The Lord of the Underworld is so powerful!" The little princess' eyes were full of longing stars.

"It's all the fault of the Goddess of Venus! If she hadn't gone to trouble the Goddess of the Underworld, she wouldn't have died...

If she hadn't died, the Goddess of Shepherd wouldn't have died for her, and there wouldn't have been a famine on earth.

Going to the underworld... even her clothes were taken off. She was simply crushed by strength! Why did she have the courage to challenge the Goddess of the Underworld when she was so weak?" Someone muttered to herself, completely unable to understand.

The epic also said that the two were sisters... They were born to the same parents, so why was there such a big gap?

In fact, the underworld is a very special place. If it were another place, even if Ishtar couldn't beat Ereshkigal, the difference in strength would not be so big.

When Ishtar arrived in front of Ereshkigal, all her ornaments had been taken off her body and she had lost all her strength.

How could a goddess who had lost her strength be a match for the Lord of the Underworld?

On the other hand, Hermitos also thought of this, but felt a chill in his back.

This world also has many powers related to the underworld, such as the gods described in the epic, Ereshkigal, and he knows a lot about them.

Hermitos regarded the underworld as the manifestation of the power of the Lord of the Underworld.

And the idea of ​​the goddess Venus wanting to fight for this power of the underworld is really too bold.

In the past, the mythological system of various regions seemed to be the authority of one god.

There is no such thing as two gods with the same priesthood in one myth. (Hemetos speculates)

Looking at the descriptions in the epic, the souls of humans, gods, and souls after death in the Sumerian region are basically managed by the goddess of the underworld...

In that case, the power of this goddess will be strengthened to such a terrifying and powerful degree!

Hermitus could understand why Ishtar was moved, but Ishtar was too reckless. He could only be amazed by this method of seizing it.

…

"In order to protect the cedar forest, Enlil made her become a terror in the world, so that those who want to enter the forest will be afraid to stop!"

This sentence was once used by Enkidu to persuade Gilgamesh not to conquer Humbaba.

And when they spent a month and a half walking long distances to find the entrance deep into the fir forest.

Enkidu was injured by the curse of the forest.

Gilgamesh hesitated because of this. Faced with his friend's serious injury, he had the idea of ​​giving up the crusade against Humbaba.

However, Enkidu turned around this time and encouraged Gilgamesh with a smile.

"Think about what you said in Uruk! Don't give up, keep moving forward! You are the son of Uruk!"

The sun god Shemash appeared, and he gave Shen and En the blessing and protection of victory.

Shemash: "I will give you victory. The blocked roads will be opened and unobstructed. Wherever your footsteps go, the mountains will become clear roads."

Gilgamesh then dreamed of the features of the [mountain] that symbolized Humbaba. Enkidu told him that it was a good dream that foreshadowed their victory.

With the help of the Sun God and Enkidu's constant encouragement.

The two continued on until they found Humbaba.

Finally, after a fierce battle, Enkidu and Gilgamesh defeated Humbaba.

From Enkidu's perspective, people saw——

Humbaba's plea for mercy after being knocked down and about to be killed.

At this time, Gilgamesh once again had the idea of ​​letting Humbaba go.

If Humbaba, the guardian of the forest, is killed, a disaster will occur in the forest.

When people saw the plot develop to this point, they held their breath and waited nervously.

When they found out that Winky was about to give up on killing Humbaba, "Fortunately... at least it's not the worst outcome" - everyone just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.

Enkidu suddenly spoke.

He advised Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba and not to believe those words that would affect the forest.

Since they are enemies, they must be eradicated.

Such Enkidu caused Gilgamesh to later say that even he sometimes couldn't understand his friend's words.

As a son of nature, Enkidu is loved by the forest and wild beasts, but sometimes under special circumstances, his kindheartedness will show an unbelievable cold and cruel side.

Humbaba is killed at the end, at the end of his rope...in despair.

The moment the forest air became deeper and colder - "that" appeared in front of the mound.

The "words" echoing inside expanded, and the mound immediately instinctively understood that it was the "perfect human being".

Unable to decide whether to call him or her, the "that" person recognized by the mud ball spread out in the forest——

He let out a boundless voice of resentment that always hated everything in the world.

She cursed the two of them...

No one knows that Humbaba is not only Enkidu’s friend and adoptive mother, but also Gilgamesh’s childhood playmate. (Records in newly unearthed clay tablets.)

Let me ask——

For Humbaba, those who were once extremely close friends ended up killing him for the sake of humanity.

With such despair, the whole world would probably be filled!

"...!" People's eyes widened, how could that happen? !

The cold words were like a basin of cold water pouring on everyone's brains, sending chills down people's spines.

They didn't expect that Shine would kill Humbaba in the end, and that Gilgamesh would actually have such an unknown relationship with Humbaba.

Although it is said above that it is for the sake of mankind to eradicate this threat.

But in the royal capital, the human readers were all dumb and silent at this time, and their hearts were agitated and blocked.

The discomfort and unnatural emotions arising from the subconscious mind such as "wrong..." reflect the most straightforward inner voice of people.

How innocent Humbaba is!

Just because he poses a threat to humans, just because he protects the cedar forest, should he be punished?

A strong sense of guilt arises from people's hearts.

They are obviously human beings, and they are on the beneficiary side, but they cannot deceive their inner emotions without conscience.

In the epic, the two people who successfully defeated the monster did not show any joy at all.

A huge wave of regret suddenly emerged from the hearts of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

The two men who killed Humbaba and listened to the endless sound of complaints.

'I don't understand...what this glitch in my heart is. ’ Enkidu suddenly covered his heart and fell to his knees weakly.

"The moans of tens of thousands of people emanated from Humbaba's entrails. If these moans are directed at the object of their pain, then that's fine. Because Gilgamesh and I have long been hated. consciousness."

Regret——

Enkidu regrets telling Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba.

Not because of Humbaba's final curse.

It's the inner emotions that can no longer be suppressed and cannot be deceived.

"Why is she wearing that flower crown?" Enkidu couldn't help but whisper.

On Humbaba's dead body, Enkidu saw something that made him shed tears.

On its head, there were flowers that Enkidu had planted in the Cedar Forest. Small light-colored flowers.

For that monster with a girlish heart, the garden displayed by the Law of the Earth was distorted.

『The pure heart will be happy because of such a string of ornaments. 』

Gilgamesh, standing next to Enkidu, said this and left the second flower crown for his friend.

... Gratitude, regret or nostalgia for Humbaba, at this turning point in life, it was in regret that he realized the warmth from Humbaba's flowers.

And people also had a feeling in their hearts in a trance...

[Heroes... have grown up].

But is this kind of growth really what they want?

——That must be a very painful price. If they are given a second chance to choose, will the future lead to a different result?

Chapter 457 There are also different types of protection! This is the king's responsibility!

"Ahhh! Humbaba is dead!" The little princess cried out in grief, feeling extremely distressed.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh's final regrets made her swallow back the words she wanted to curse.

In the end, she could only accept this fact.