I, of the Flauros Line, Have Been Loyal for Generations (Continued)

Already annoyed, and then the other party kept calling him a traitor, Goetia couldn't hold back and punched Barbatos, accidentally killing him. This made him very remorseful, so for now he could only focus on the remaining Lev. Although one Demon God Pillars was a bit too few, it was barely enough. He could restore as much as he could, and use the light bands in the sky to make do with the rest.

"Stop running, Lev, let's talk first."

Because they still needed Lev for the time being, Goetia didn't actually slap him to death. Instead, she suppressed her emotions and tried her best to soothe the guy's feelings.

"What's there to talk about? I have nothing to talk to you about! I don't believe a traitor like you..."

Despite the force of the Goetia below that felt like it was about to tear his legs off, Lev continued to crawl laboriously through the tunnel above.

"Damn it! How dare you call me a traitor?!"

This opening statement completely broke Goetia's composure. Lev continued to shout righteously, "Isn't that right?! After you capture me, you'll definitely use me to threaten the king! My lineage of Flauros has been loyal for generations, how can we collude with you!"

"Aren't you overestimating yourself a bit, Flauros..." Goetia couldn't hold back any longer. He really wanted to tear this damned traitor to pieces right here, but he had to carefully control his strength so as not to actually kill him.

"Believe me! I'm serious! I assure you in the name of the Demon God King that I will never use you to threaten Solomon, so turn around and look into my sincere eyes!"

Hearing Goetia's assurances, Lev hesitated for a moment before cautiously turning to look at Goetia.

"!!!"

Then—he saw it, eyes bloodshot and seemingly from hell, devoid of any sincerity, containing only pure madness and brutality.

'If I get caught, I'm definitely dead!!'

This idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"Get out of here, you bastard!!"

Lev climbed even faster in an instant.

"Wait a minute!!"

Goetia rubbed his eyes hard. "Give me another chance! I was just too tired! You have to believe me! I was just too tired! I absolutely did not intend to tear you to pieces after I had used you!"

Lev: "... Aaaaaah! Help!!"

These two were yelling in front of someone's door, almost becoming a laughing stock.

"Um, I was saying..."

A slightly puzzled, yet equally soft and sweet voice came from the side.

It turned out that Ereshkigal, who had just been captured by the intruders, not only lost the Holy Grail but was also forced to sign a series of unequal treaties before being released, looked at the two strangers performing performance art in front of his house and made strange noises.

"How long are you planning to keep playing in front of someone else's house?"

In order to conserve some of his magical energy, Goetia did not use his true form, but instead acted in the form of Solomon's Grand Rank Spirit Origin and his remains. Therefore, Ereshkigal saw him as just another Servant who had fallen into the Underworld, and thus he was not particularly afraid.

"Hmm? You are... the goddess of the Underworld?"

Upon hearing the voice, the two turned around in unison. Goetia frowned when he saw her, since he had come into contact with the goddesses when he distributed the Holy Grail, so he recognized Ereshkigal.

However, he no longer cares about these goddesses and the Holy Grail. After all, these things are no different from ants to him. As long as he successfully reconciles with Solomon, he can easily create as many of these things as he wants.

On the contrary, Lev, upon learning that this was the goddess of the Underworld he had just sent to the king, lost all interest in continuing the argument with Goetia and hurriedly asked, "Goddess of the Underworld, where is the king! Where is the king? Weren't you just teleported to the king's side? How did you suddenly come back? You must have seen the king, right?"

"King? What's that? No—teleportation?!"

When asked about this by the stranger, Ereshkigal was slightly taken aback. Although she did not know who the king was, when she heard that she had indeed been teleported there by him, her previously calm emotions immediately turned into nameless anger.

She narrowed her eyes, a pure rage flashing in her beautiful pupils, and then said through gritted teeth, "It really is because of you! You're the one who made me suffer so much just now, and forced me to sign an unequal treaty! Die now!"

The nature of gods is strange and changeable, and this is true even for Ereshkigal.

After being tormented by Rovey for so long, with employees leaving and her Holy Grail being given away for nothing, and so much work piled up with unfinished tasks, all because of this cuckold, it would be strange if she could remain calm. So, almost without hesitation, she swung a spear of light at Lev, intending to turn him into skewers before communicating with him. This move scared Lev so much that he quickly let go, allowing Goetia to pull him down.

After all, Goetia might not necessarily kill him, but this goddess was definitely there to kill him.

Lev shouted urgently, "Goetia, help me!!"

"Oh? You actually asked me for help?"

Upon hearing the guy's plea for help, Goetia's face showed a hint of amusement, but he didn't stop what he was doing. He grabbed Ereshkigal's spear of light with one hand and then quickly retreated while carrying Lev with the other.

"We're saved..."

Lev breathed a sigh of relief as he was lifted up, then glanced at Goetia, who was smiling at him, and involuntarily shivered. However, he managed to muster his strength and returned an awkward but polite smile.

"Um... if I said that I didn't actually steal the ring on purpose, would you believe me?"

"Do you think I believe you?"

Goetia returned the smile.

Immediately afterward, not wanting to waste her energy on a lowly goddess, Goetia's energy surged rapidly under Ereshkigal's horrified gaze. In the blink of an eye, she transformed into a golden ray of light, carrying Lev through the Underworld, leaving behind only a huge crater.

Seeing the Underworld, which had just been destroyed in the illusion, being torn apart again, Ereshkigal screamed in terror, "Aaaaaah! My home!!"

However, the only response to her screams was the gaping hole that appeared above the Underworld.

Not long after, Nitocris, who had happily received a new batch of dead souls and was preparing to return to help Ereshkigal release the souls of the living people he had previously imprisoned before leaving, saw Ereshkigal in front of the courtyard gate with a look of utter despair.

"I'm back."

She instinctively greeted the golden figure, but before Nitocris could finish speaking, everything in front of her made him freeze in place.

A huge hole had been torn open in the sky above the Underworld, and the broken land seemed to be telling its story of sorrow; the handsome, golden-haired Hades was bathed in the warm sunset beside the hole, like an angel draped in holy armor.

"???"

Is this really still the Underworld?

It seems like I've gone to the wrong place.

——

——

If you ask her what sorrow is, she can definitely answer you.

The greatest tragedy in this world is being betrayed by loved ones and no longer having one's needs valued.

As the womb that created primordial life, as the soil that nurtured the planet, she is the starting point for everything, a complete ecological evolution system. However, once everything is fixed, the planetary environment is fixed, and the ecosystem begins to form a closed loop, she becomes utterly useless. Or rather, representing change and evolution, she herself becomes the greatest obstacle to life after life is born and stabilizes.

"Tiamat, our mother, there is no doubt that you love us, but your love is too broad and empty, and can no longer satisfy us."

"Great Mother! What we need now is no longer your cheap love. What we need is development, class, dominance and progress, a bright future, not empty nothingness and your love! As the Mother of Creation, as the soil that sustains civilization, as the womb that nurtures all things, your mission is complete! The world does not need to change, and we too must develop our own era, so—"

"Please sacrifice yourself for the greater good, Tiamat!!"

With these words in mind, those original children resolutely abandoned their mother and raised the banner of rebellion and conquest against their primordial mother.

The original mother always understood her mission: to nurture life, to nurture the world, to nurture an ecosystem, and to drive its endless changes. She also understood the reasons why her children betrayed her, and she understood even more how cheap her love and discipline were.

But this is her mission, her duty, something she cannot change. Perhaps for the children, her very existence is a mistake.

Even if you are abandoned, there is nothing to be sad about in reality.

She watched those children come into being from nothing, and the world go from nothingness to life. She was all alone, and many children betrayed her. She should have remained silent, should have silently fulfilled her mission, and was devoid of any emotions. However, she had incurably developed feelings for the children and still loved them.

Even when the children hated her, rebelled against her, and drove her out of their area, Tiamat still tolerated them unconditionally, which deeply expressed her love for the children.

However, her very existence was flawed, and even with her unconditional tolerance, this crusade still had to end with her life.

She wept bitterly and lamented, eventually creating Eleven Children, led by Kingu, to fight against these children far away.

That great battle was extremely fierce, and it was also the creation song of this land.

The primordial children were exceptionally gifted. Having broken free from their constraints, they understood their mission, grasped the spark of civilization, obtained their respective divine duties, and became incredibly powerful.

Clearly, the scales of victory began to tip slightly in favor of the children. The new children were no match for them, but they paid a heavy price.

Death, corpses, and all sorts of cruelty kept falling before my eyes.

Whether it's a new child or the original child, they are all dying, and she is in pain every moment.

Finally, due to the difference in strength, her best new child, Kingu, died at Marduk's hands. Kingu was still crying when he died, but not because of the death he was facing, but because he could no longer help his mother.

"Mother, you have existed since the beginning, from a void world. You have traversed countless years, endured the loneliness of being all alone, and finally cultivated the spark of life on this land. But after this war, all life and civilization will be destroyed again, and you will once again cultivate life and nurture new life in solitude... until, until the next life born will once again wave the countless banners of rebellion against you."

"... Mother, I am sad for you, I am sad that I cannot stay with you forever."

Kingu's words echoed in her ears, and then she died with tears streaming down her face.

Even Kingu clearly understood that life is not willing to be constrained; life will find its own way. No matter how many times it happens, Tiamat will still be betrayed by her own children, no matter how many times.

Therefore, she also felt the pain and felt that her mother's actions were not worth it.

The mother was not wrong, the gods were not wrong, and she was not wrong either; it was only the difference in their positions and missions that led to this tragedy.

She hated her own weakness. If she had been stronger, if she had been able to stay with her mother until the very end, things wouldn't have turned out this way...

After Kingu's death, all Eleven Children were killed, and the gods came before Tiamat.

However, facing the primordial children who had survived the great war and were now less than half their original size, Tiamat did not angrily attack them, but instead asked them with sorrow.

"My children, I love you, I have always loved you, and that has never changed. I want to protect you and have you by my side forever. Is this really a wrong idea?"

The eloquent God Enki did not answer; he simply lowered his head, unable to answer the question.

An, the most outstanding and also the most excellent child, knelt down before her, willing to give his own life to quell her anger as compensation for the hurt.

But she did not harm them.

She could only weep in anguish, letting Marduk and Enlil do what they had to do. Her body was also dismantled by the gods, successfully creating the heavens, the Underworld, and the human realm, fulfilling her final mission as a mother and giving her children a new future.

Her soul, however, was exiled and sealed in a lifeless Imaginary Numbers World that wasn't even a parallel world.

There I wandered, and wandered, until the end of time.

Isn't this just common sense?

Now that a new world has been born and a new life system has been established, the mother, who is responsible for change and nurturing, naturally has no role to play and should be abandoned by her children.

But, but...

Although she accepted her fate and acknowledged her mission, she remained perpetually puzzled—

Is it possible that my love is truly worthless, or that even love itself is wrong?

Perhaps it was precisely because of her desire to know the answer that her heart and soul were inevitably tainted by the concept of "evil".

This evil itself is nothing more than a mother's love for her child, and—

[They probably can't truly accept the betrayal of their children's love.]

——

"Mother, Mother, how are you?"

A familiar voice rang in her ears. Tiamat, who had been fast asleep on the table, slowly opened her eyes and saw Kingu.

"Aaaaaa——"

Tiamat uttered a questioning sound.

"No, it's nothing, Mother, it's just that you seemed to be having a nightmare."

Seeing Tiamat's usual calm and gentle demeanor, Kingu breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "I wanted to tell you that Gorgon seems to have been captured."

"Aaaaa..."

"You ask me if I'm sad? How could I be? She was just a tool to me. How could I possibly be sad for her..." After hesitating for a moment, Kingu spoke calmly.

Tiamat looked at Kingu in this state, reached out and gently touched her head. In her dream, her past memories were becoming increasingly clear; she recalled Kingu's words to her before he died, and his sorrowful expression. Tiamat felt pity and said, "Aaaaaa..."

"Are you saying I should do what I want to do and not always obey you? How can that be! Protecting you is what I want to do, and how can that be called obedience? It's what I should do as a child!"

Kingu said anxiously, "Please don't think that way. I am different from those who betrayed you."

Upon hearing this, Tiamat paused for a moment, then fell silent.

"Mother?" Kingu looked at Tiamat strangely.

Tiamat shook her head and said, "Aaaaa..."

"Are you asking about my feelings for Gorgon? I'm sorry I hid it from you, but during that time, I did indeed regard Gorgon, who possessed some of your powers, as my mother, and developed many feelings I shouldn't have had. However, since you said I can do what I want, as long as I don't harm those humans, then I do have things I want to do..."

"Please rest assured, after I help Gorgon this last time, we'll be even, and I'll be back by your side soon."

After much deliberation, Kingu, who had initially intended to hide and was lost in confusion, suddenly became resolute. His eyes gleamed slightly, and then with a swift movement, he vanished with a "whoosh!"

"Aaaaa..."

Watching Kingu's departing figure, Tiamat reached out her hand, but still did not call out to Kingu.

At this moment, Tiamat's eyes suddenly twitched, and she immediately frowned in pain, her heterochromatic star-shaped eyes revealing a hint of helplessness.