After a long while, the expected terror never descended. Only then did Shamhat, her face deathly pale and the flame of her soul flickering, let out a long, lingering breath of relief. Some color gradually returned to her face.
"You almost got us killed just now, you idiot!"
Seeing that Shamhat's lingering fear was genuine, the man immediately lowered his head and admitted his mistake, his eyes full of apology.
"Sorry, teacher."
Having calmed down somewhat, the Holy Prostitute gave him a solemn, earnest warning.
"Luckily, we were still in the Underworld just now. This place is self-contained and can block the will and authority of the gods. Otherwise, we would have been in serious trouble!"
"We'll be returning to the surface soon. If you want to live longer, you must remember my advice."
"Never casually speak a god's true name!"
"Especially when you bear hostility or are discussing a major secret!"
"It can easily create a resonance. If those lofty beings notice a freak like you, they'll definitely stew you first thing!"
The man nodded gravely. True names really did possess extraordinary power, especially in the Age of Gods.
What he had done just now had indeed been rash. He would have to take it as a warning and watch his words and actions from now on.
Back then, although Ereshkigal had been forced to become the pillar guarding the Underworld, she had also been granted enormous authority.
Even Ishtar, the Lady of Heaven who held equal rank, had been stripped of her authority without any ability to resist after barging in, and was ultimately taught a brutal lesson.
Thanks to his master's protection, and because he rarely spoke as a snake, he had been able to break such taboos several times without drawing the attention of those unseen beings.
Now, the world above had already become a complete mess. Unlike the self-contained Underworld, it was not nearly as secure.
In this era, gods and humans were moving toward separation, but their ties had not yet been completely severed.
Who knew how much attention they were still paying to the current Mesopotamian world?
And unfortunately, as far as he knew, most gods could be quite petty at times.
From now on, Ereshkigal would no longer be able to use the authority of the Underworld to keep protecting him.
Still, thinking about it now, he had inadvertently done one thing right.
Changing his name and hiding his true past!
Samael—the name he had voluntarily placed upon himself—was itself a deception. It could effectively protect his secrets and conceal his tracks.
If they tried to act against that name, as long as they could not connect it to that Snake Molt, they would probably have no way to investigate further.
To be safe, from the moment he walked out of that cave, Lin Xian no longer existed. He only needed to remember the name he would bear from now on.
The ancient snake murmured inwardly, burying the last traces of his former self deep within his heart.
(From this point onward, the ancient snake who transformed into a human will simply use the name Samael. It'll also be easier for everyone to understand. In any case, the character Xian was only used to bait Tiamat, so there's no longer any need for it to exist.)
The seemingly complicated train of thought had actually taken only a brief instant. When Samael raised his head, the Holy Prostitute, who had also calmed herself, finally spoke slowly.
"The original Fate Tablet appeared in the war of creation that opened up Mesopotamia..."
"At the time, it was worn by Kingu, Tiamat's son. It symbolized the authority and proof of ruling the world."
"But you know how that battle ended. The Fate Tablet subsequently fell into the hands of the King of All Kings as spoils of war."
"From then on, the transfer of authority in the Age of Gods, from the Origin Mother Goddess to the King of All Kings, had taken shape."
As Samael hurried onward, he listened carefully to his teacher Shamhat's account, gradually filling in the gaps in his knowledge of Mesopotamian Age of Gods history.
According to the mythological epic "Enuma Elish," after the Gods of Babylon committed the wicked act of patricide, they provoked the wrath of Mother Goddess Tiamat.
The Origin Goddess created the Eleven Demon Beasts to confront the Gods of Babylon.
Knowing Tiamat's strength well, the Gods of Babylon joined forces in hopes of finding a god who could help them win the war.
At the time, Marduk, son of Earth God Ea, answered the call to battle. His reward for success would be to be honored as the leader of the gods, the King of All Kings.
Because Tiamat had been too merciful, and because these rebellious gods had grasped her weakness and come well prepared, the Origin Mother Goddess was ultimately defeated and stripped of her divinity.
Afterward, Marduk, growing stronger with every battle, fought Kingu, Tiamat's son, who continued leading the Eleven Demon Beasts in resistance, and utterly suppressed him.
In the end, Marduk of the new generation won a complete victory and forcibly seized the Fate Tablet Kingu wore upon his chest, stamped it with his own mark, and hung it from his own chest.
In mythology, this symbolized the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy.
After the battle ended, the flesh and blood of the remaining Kingu was reshaped into humanity after his death, to bear labor in his place.
Under Marduk's rule, the Gods of Babylon lived leisurely and at ease, while humans were burdened with the weight of survival from the moment they were born, all while pleasing the gods in the heavens.
Gradually, the threads of Babylonian mythology in Samael's mind became clearer, and he gained a rough understanding of what the Fate Tablet represented.
The Divine Authority Seal, the Destiny of All Things!
Shamhat's description of the item was quite apt.
The primordial Fate Tablet maintained the legitimacy and justification of the gods' seizure of power. It was the proof that allowed them to stand above all others and enjoy every resource.
Marduk, the King of All Kings, was both the new master of the Fate Tablet and its greatest beneficiary.
At the same time, as the world took shape, this supercomputer managing the Mesopotamian world server had also recorded the destinies of all things.
The prophecies and divisions concerning the four ages of human civilization—Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Black Iron—were programs written by the Fate Tablet.
In other words, the gods had long known every detail of the Third Storm sweeping across Mesopotamia. They had even chosen to stand by and let it happen in order to preserve the operation of the Fate Tablet's system.
Because only by allowing fate to continue could these beneficiaries avoid suffering any loss.
As for whether those two-legged livestock on the ground lived or died, it did not matter. If one batch disappeared, another would emerge to fill the void.
Since when did gods need to care about the thoughts of ants?
Besides that, the inconsistencies Samael noticed when reviewing the history of the Mesopotamian world could also support this view.
The Sumerian civilization of this land was actually a collective term for one independent city-state after another.
Because they followed polytheism, nearly every city had its own patron god.
For example, Kutha was Ereshkigal's territory, while Uruk's city god was Ishtar.
And the ruined city of Babylon, destroyed by the demonic beast tide, had been protected by Marduk, the King of All Kings.
Since Uruk, which had not suffered any serious attack during the early stages of the great disaster, had shrine maidens conduct rituals to communicate with the gods and summon divine spirits—
Then how could Babylon, already surrounded by demonic beasts, possibly have failed to pray to the god who protected them?
But ironically, even after Babylon fell and became a nest for demonic beasts, their city god had shown no reaction whatsoever.
Expanding the scope further, Sumerian city-states such as Nash and Edessa could not possibly all have concealed such a catastrophe from the gods.
Yet no matter how they begged, prayed, or wailed, not one of the gods humanity had once supported responded.
Instead, Uruk, which remained in a safe region, successfully summoned Ishtar.
The answer behind that was rather thought-provoking.
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