Playing with a Snake?

"Mm! She possessed the authority of the heavens, while Lady Ereshkigal could command the earth!"

"She governed harvests and life, while Lady Ereshkigal represented withering and death!"

"She enjoyed worship in Uruk, the most prosperous city, while Lady Ereshkigal was the sovereign of the entire Underworld!"

"Besides, you personally taught her a lesson. In a one-on-one fight, you would absolutely crush her in every respect!"

The ancient snake perked up, raising its head and hissing excitedly.

The faint worship and praise between those lines made Ereshkigal, who had initially felt inferior before Ishtar, bloom with delight. The more she looked at her pet, the more pleasing it seemed.

But in an instant, the little fellow that had just been indignant seemed to remember something. It dejectedly lowered its head, and its voice grew subdued.

"But the only flaw is that she can command the strongest divine beast, the Bull of Heaven Gurra, while I'm just a useless snake..."

"Even though I'm the only living creature in the Underworld, I'm still so pathetic. I've embarrassed you..."

Then, the ancient snake rallied itself. Its vertical pupils shimmered brightly, filled with longing and aspiration.

"But even if I'm weak now, one day I'll become as powerful as the Bull of Heaven Gurra and become the strongest divine beast in the Underworld!"

"Lady Ereshkigal is perfect! I can't let you be slandered because of me!"

That determined cry, erupting from its dejection, left Ereshkigal stunned for a moment. A smile bloomed on her lovely face as her delicate hand gently rubbed the little fellow's head.

So it wanted to grow stronger only because it wanted to protect me?

This tiny little thing actually arrogantly wanted to compare itself to the strongest divine beast of heaven.

How adorably foolish.

Still, now that she thought about it, if they met in the future...

That nemesis Ishtar would ride the Bull of Heaven Gurra, galloping majestically through the skies.

And she... would be playing with a snake?

No, no! The contrast would be too stark. It would be too embarrassing!

Ereshkigal's imagination ran wild. At the thought of that awful goddess standing atop the Bull of Heaven in the future and laughing arrogantly at her, she grew rather indignant.

Mm! It was decided, then!

Even if she could not train Samael into an existence comparable to Gugalanna, she at least had to make him a qualified guardian beast of the Underworld!

"Learning magecraft and combat techniques is very hard. Can you endure it?"

Having made up her mind, the goddess leaned on her spear and asked solemnly.

"For Lady Ereshkigal! Take down that bull!"

The ancient snake excitedly raised its triangular head and bared its fangs with a hiss, secretly overjoyed.

His owner could not help coughing awkwardly, her face flushing, but she did not stop him outright. Clearly, she was quite pleased by it.

Excellent, persuasion successful!

With such a grand goal, his owner Ereshkigal would most likely grit her teeth and devote herself to training him.

Moreover, if he awakened the authority bestowed by Origin Mother Goddess Tiamat during this process and displayed extraordinary power, he would have a perfect scapegoat.

After all, if he wanted to compete with the Gods of Babylon for territory, outwit them, shake the foundations of their rule, and bring Tiamat back, he first had to learn to hide and carefully conceal the abnormalities that could easily draw attention.

Only by keeping a low profile could he live long.

"Very well. From now on, I'll set aside time every evening specifically to train your combat abilities!"

The diligent and serious Underworld Goddess straightened her expression and solemnly announced her decision.

Then, her gaze drifted toward the depths of the mountains. The floating soul flames there made her cough lightly, her expression turning somewhat strange.

"However, before that, you need to learn a very important skill!"

"What is it?"

The ancient snake brushed its raised tail over its head as though scratching it, looking utterly expectant.

"Use magical power to refine metal, reinforce barriers, and make Spear Cages!"

Ereshkigal solemnly patted the ancient snake's head, speaking with righteous conviction.

Lin Xian's expression froze for a moment, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

You dare say you aren't teaching me this just to slack off and reduce your workload?

How could you bear to squeeze such a cute and loyal pet to death?

Mining and making Spear Cages during the day, learning combat techniques at night, and keeping you company while you slept. Other than three meals a day, there wasn't even any pay.

No, three meals my ass! There were practically no normal living creatures in the Underworld besides me!

He had not starved to death only because he gnawed on Magic Crystals every day. In other words, he was literally eating dirt!

Heh, even those heartless 007 sweatshops from his previous life had not been this harsh, had they?

More importantly, few spearmen in history had ended well.

If I learn how to make Spear Cages first, will I end up cursed with Luck E? Who knows.

I'm already unlucky enough. How about you focus on hollowing out Uruk, and when you have time, go cause trouble for Gilgamesh? Can you stop screwing over this snake?

Protecting animals is everyone's responsibility!

Perhaps feeling a little guilty under the snake's strange stare, Ereshkigal's eyes wandered as she changed the subject.

"Well, you don't need to learn the practical use of magical power today. It's still a little too early for that."

"I'll first explain some basic knowledge about the world of Mesopotamia in the Age of Gods..."

Lin Xian lowered his gaze and obediently coiled up before his owner, setting his writing board and stone stylus straight as he prepared to listen.

Forget it. He would treat the work of making Spear Cages as tuition.

His owner had to protect human souls while also being restrained by the contract of the Triple Goddess Alliance. It was not easy for her either.

Understanding was everything.

Pleased by the ancient snake's earnest attitude, Ereshkigal nodded. After organizing her thoughts, she began to speak thoughtfully.

"First, mystery often follows this rule: the older something is, the more mysterious it is; the more mysterious it is, the stronger it is."

"That is because when the world was still steeped in chaos, the ancient lives called gods were born from the purest source essence."

"Absorbing Aether Factors and wielding the Rules of nature were easier than breathing for them. They were authorities they had been born with."

"Thus, those earliest beings possessed the highest starting point and nearly limitless room to grow."

"But as heaven and earth separated, as the sun, moon, and stars gathered and rose and fell, as time and space were divided, and as the concepts of life, death, withering, and flourishing took shape, the framework of the world gradually stabilized."

"During this process, species upon the earth changed and multiplied generation after generation."

"Their bloodlines, which had once been able to absorb aether and connect with source essence, were continually degraded and diluted. As the world's structure stabilized, the upper limits of their growth were gradually suppressed as well."

Lin Xian listened with rapt attention, occasionally nodding his snake head. Combined with his own understanding, her words struck a deep chord within him.

Different mythologies all seemed to share similar traits in their descriptions of the primordial world.

At the beginning, the air was filled with high concentrations of Aether Factors, food could be found everywhere, milk and honey flowed across the land, and all things grew freely.

Moreover, high-purity energy gave birth to creatures such as gods. Everything was as dreamlike and beautiful as a rainbow soap bubble.

However, as the world took shape, this "soap bubble" floating within the Sea of Imaginary Numbers would gradually squeeze out its dreamlike and irrational elements, sinking toward a real surface.

As mystery gradually faded, the Age of Gods, with its infinite plasticity, shrank and descended into a fixed and real human world.

In the end, World Bubbles born from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers tore away their protective films and anchored themselves in different regions of Earth, forming the origins of human civilization.

If, during this process, high-purity blocks of magical power were inserted to recharge the World Bubbles whose mystery had faded, distort their reality, and then detonate the foundations of human civilization...

Then restarting the entire era would become possible.

However, human civilization had multiple origins. What humanity excelled at most was being reborn from ruins.

Simply detonating one node could not guarantee the destruction of the miracles these insignificant beings had built.

That was why Demon God King Goetia had inserted Holy Grails into seven crucial nodes of civilization one after another, intending to demolish them and overturn the grand edifice of human history.

Yet now, the great cavities that resembled demolition holes had been plugged, and no one knew who had swallowed the Holy Grails that had been delivered right to their door.

The troublemaking fiend wandering outside the World Bubbles had truly lost both the bait and the fish.

But what Lin Xian could not understand was this: if even Tiamat, stripped of her divinity, could resolve such a minor scheme...

Then what had the gods who were supposed to protect Mesopotamia been doing?

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may simply have been renamed!