"Poison of Light," Samael

"There are still twelve hundred Spear Cages left to make. If I'd known, I never would've slept in."

Within the mist-shrouded valley, the goddess slumped atop a bluish-black stone, counting the newly arrived souls in the underworld on her fingers. Then she looked around at the empty surroundings and felt like life had lost all meaning.

"Aaaah! I'm dying! I'm dying! I'm dying!"

Ereshkigal frantically tugged at both ends of a lock of golden hair, stuffed it into her mouth, and gnawed on it with muffled whimpers, venting the frustration in her heart.

Her puffed-up cheeks formed a round, adorable curve, becoming an especially amusing sight amid this desolate, hostile landscape.

Humans really were troublesome creatures!

When all their souls flooded into the underworld at once, they only increased my workload!

Making prisons to confine souls is exhausting!

As the mistress of the underworld complained, her ruby-like eyes fell upon the human-shaped phantoms drifting and dissolving in the black river, and the furrow between her brows slowly eased.

Well, they're only Spear Cages. It's not that big a deal.

As the ruler of this land, I should provide the souls entering the underworld with basic accommodations.

After all, they'll all be this goddess's subjects. If things are too shabby, wouldn't that make me look bad too?

Having convinced herself, Ereshkigal patted the dust from her red-and-black gown and prepared to resume work, pouring out magical power to create spear-barred cages that restrained and protected souls.

Heh, heh. This not-so-honest owner was just too cute.

With a rustle, the ancient serpent that had crawled into a cool crevice to sleep lazily poked out his head and watched his owner's expressive pantomime with great interest.

In truth, the authorities of death, withering, and decay permeated the entire underworld.

Once ordinary souls entered, their memories, emotions, and reason would be continuously eroded until they finally turned into pure "mana" and returned to the origin.

Yet this Underworld Goddess, who never stopped grumbling and complaining, was diligent by nature and skilled at caring for others.

By pouring out her own magical power and creating Spear Cages, she allowed these ghosts to retain their reason for longer.

In the mythological origins of Ancient Babylon, humans were tools of service King of Kings Marduk created for the gods after defeating Tiamat.

Thus, most gods felt little compassion or affection for humanity.

An exception like his owner, who carefully tended even to souls, was practically a little angel among the gods.

Unfortunately, despite possessing such a compassionate heart, she had become the Underworld Goddess who represented terror and death.

Just as the ancient serpent watched his owner's every movement from the perspective of a voyeur, Ereshkigal sensed him and abruptly turned around.

The goddess's outstretched right hand then seized the tip of Lin Xian's tail like lightning and dragged him over, indignantly pulling and stretching her lively pet into all sorts of shapes.

"Hmph! It's because you're too... too..."

"...too noisy!"

Putting on a fierce and imposing expression, Ereshkigal scolded the Pet Snake. While venting her frustration, she did not forget to shift the blame.

Hey, hey, hey, owner. Could you at least think through your words before lying?

You were clearly the one who slept in and lost track of time. How can you pin this on me?

The ancient serpent rolled his eyes and grumbled inwardly.

Since there was no sun in the underworld, the Meslamthea Temple Ereshkigal had built absorbed magma and geothermal heat, serving as a divine celestial body that gave off a little warmth and light.

But at the same time, the interior of the Meslamthea Temple was rather sweltering and stuffy.

Even with Ereshkigal's authority maintaining it, staying inside for long periods was far from pleasant.

Especially when sleeping.

Thus, as a cold-blooded creature, the ancient serpent had become a certain mistress's long body pillow for cooling off.

Judging by Ereshkigal's recently improved sleep quality and her increasingly late wake-up times,

the effect of this particular tool snake was probably quite good.

"Hey! Stop spacing out! You have to help too!"

The dark-red metal spear blank in the Underworld Goddess's hand knocked against Lin Xian's head. She gave orders with a soft snort, trying to conceal her earlier lapse.

Forced into service, the ancient serpent could only raise his tail, curl it around a basket of dark-red iron ore, and pass it to his owner.

Not bad, not bad. You're quite clever. I'll give you an extra meal tonight.

Hmph. Who says the underworld only has death and rot? Once this goddess has her first living citizen, there'll be a second and a third!

Seeing this, Ereshkigal reservedly raised a hand and drew several ores from the basket, continuing to weave Spear Cages. The corners of her lips unconsciously lifted as she quietly took pride in herself.

Still, wishful thinking was wishful thinking. Such an unrealistic plan was nearly impossible to achieve.

Because the snake behind her was a special case.

He possessed immortality suited to the underworld's environment, allowing him to survive here normally rather than wither and rot away.

Combined with the discussions among the latest batch of Uruk dead and the disturbances on the surface, the snake's true origins were naturally obvious.

"Hey, little fellow, I heard you were thrown into the underworld because you stole and ate the Immortal Herb that Gilgamesh had obtained after untold hardship?"

Lin Xian hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly, a trace of complexity and helplessness flashing in his eyes.

The snake you're looking for was the one before it shed its skin. What does that have to do with me, Lin Xian?

Why is every black pot being dumped on my head?

What's worse, I can't even refuse it.

"Hahahaha! That arrogant bastard actually had a day when he suffered a loss? Well done!"

At this, Ereshkigal beamed and leisurely reached out to stroke the ancient serpent's cool head.

The Underworld Goddess and the king on the surface did not have a particularly harmonious relationship.

In his pursuit of immortality, Gilgamesh had entered the underworld and bothered her several times.

Worse still, that fellow had even kept the corpse of his close friend Enkidu in the underworld.

Seriously! What does he take this place for? A garden? Or a graveyard?

The goddess grumbled on. Naturally delighted by Gilgamesh's misfortune, she looked at her Pet Snake with a few more degrees of gentleness and satisfaction.

"Right, always calling you 'little fellow,' 'little fellow' is a bit too casual. Let's give you a proper name."

The moment Lin Xian heard that, he immediately perked up. His tail nimbly curled a pebble from the basket, and he wrote a line of cuneiform on a relatively flat, smooth stone slab nearby.

Then the ancient serpent held a corner of his owner's cloak in his mouth and guided Ereshkigal's gaze toward it.

"My name is Samael, meaning 'Poison of Light.'"

Samael was the serpent of original sin in Jewish legend who tempted Adam and Eve to pluck the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. At the same time, he bore the image of a fallen angel, carrying twelve serpentine wings.

We're all of the same kind. Since this name can get me by in this land between the rivers, then yours is mine.

As the ancient serpent muttered to himself, he glanced at another passage of writing on the stone and curled his lips into a strange smile.