Yet how could this be?
If she had truly come into contact with the Beast of Regression, how could she possibly have failed to notice?
Sajyou Manaka's red star pupils flickered slightly, and she finally turned to pull the bedroom door gently shut.
She needed to find a way to investigate this thoroughly... she whispered softly to herself in her heart.
Lan Ze opened his eyes in a daze.
The sky had already grown somewhat dim. Having slept for an entire day, his head still felt a little dizzy.
The surroundings were completely quiet, but Lan Ze could still barely make out his environment.
The pitch-black sea area was profoundly deep, the sound of waves faintly audible. When the sea breeze brushed across his cheeks, it carried a bone-chilling cold.
Fortunately, Lan Ze was currently curled up in Tiamat's arms, so he was not particularly cold.
This was probably the warmth brought by maternal love.
Looking at the expanse of sea before him, Lan Ze was deep in thought.
This place seemingly wasn't the Imaginary Number World, but exactly where it was, he still didn't know.
The woman currently holding Lan Ze was none other than Tiamat, one of the creation gods from Mesopotamian mythology.
She was abandoned right after creating the world, used merely as the soil to nurture life, yet once Earth's environment stabilized, she was cast away into the Imaginary Number World as useless trash.
To the planet and even to humanity, she was an obstacle.
She contributed everything she possibly could, only to receive betrayal in the end. Such was Tiamat's life.
Perhaps for Tiamat, what she missed most wasn't the ocean and the sky, but a world that had never given birth to any life.
If she hadn't created everything, she wouldn't have been exiled... perhaps that was what she thought.
Lan Ze silently gazed at Tiamat, suddenly feeling a sense of sorrow.
After creating everything, she was betrayed by the gods and banished to a lifeless Imaginary Number World. Just thinking about it brought an inexplicable feeling of sadness.
This woman was like a creature sealed away in a small box, knowing nothing, slumbering for a long time until Goetia released her from the Imaginary Number World one day, overjoyed because she saw so much life.
Yet she discovered that all that life feared her, for she was a Beast, the Principle of Regression that would destroy the world.
Thinking of this, Lan Ze let out a soft sigh and tried to shift his body, but because he was being held much too tightly and couldn't break free at all, he gave up, peacefully enjoying this warm embrace and the soft, tender touch against his cheek.
Tiamat noticed the movement in her arms, looked down at Lan Ze, and said softly, "Aaa (Good child)."
As she spoke, her brows relaxed, and a tranquil, gentle smile graced her face.
Lan Ze hesitated for a moment and asked, "Mother Goddess Tiamat, why won't you drive me out?"
He felt somewhat bewildered. He had assumed that by accidentally barging into such a place, Tiamat would likely destroy him on the spot. Instead of being killed, he was currently enjoying a mother's embrace.
Tiamat looked down at the boy, blinked, and said softly, "Aaaa (Call me Mother)."
"No, no matter how you think about it, that's a bit strange—"
However, just as Lan Ze reached this point, he saw the cyan-haired woman puff out her cheeks, looking displeased: "Aaaa (Call me Mother!)"
"Fine, Mother... can we talk now?" Lan Ze compromised.
Tiamat uttered two "Aaa" sounds. Lan Ze understood her meaning; the general gist was that someone wasn't afraid of her, and that alone made her very happy.
She could tell whether or not someone truly feared her, and from Lan Ze, she couldn't see a shred of fear.
Noticing Lan Ze's thoughtful expression and realizing he had understood her, Tiamat's face broke into an even sweeter smile.
Looking at this healing smile, Lan Ze felt a pang of guilt. He looked up at Tiamat and let his gaze linger for a moment on that magnificent bosom.
...Seeing such a cute woman, he'd have to be a ghost to feel afraid.
If he were a total degenerate, he might have already defected and joined Tiamat's faction by now.
"Aaaaa (Are you going to leave later?)"
At that moment, Tiamat's voice suddenly rang out, pulling Lan Ze back to reality.
He originally wanted to nod, but looking into Tiamat's moist eyes, he couldn't find the heart to do so at that moment, and could only say, "Even if I leave, I'll come back to find you very soon."
Tiamat gazed at the boy in her arms. After a moment, she gently shook her head, then picked Lan Ze up and nuzzled his cheek, acting as clingy and affectionate as an intimate little kitten.
"Ah, this... this isn't good, please stop..." Lan Ze tried his best to push Tiamat's face away, but the disparity in their strength was like heaven and earth; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free.
He looked at Tiamat's fair and delicate face, a wisp of cyan hair cascading down her cheek, lending her a flawless, three-dimensional beauty. It was an effortless beauty, completely unpolished by any artifice. Her elastic lips, parting and closing, seemed imbued with a unique allure.
"Mother, please stop—" Despite saying that, Lan Ze didn't offer much resistance, his gaze deeply captivated by Tiamat's face.
And right at that moment, two square windows suddenly popped up before him.
[task 1: Complete a kiss with Tiamat within one minute. Reward: None]
[Task 2: Confess your love to Tiamat within the day. Reward: None]
Lan Ze: "?"
"You've got to be kidding me, are you seriously messing with me?!" Lan Ze roared in his heart.
[Host, I merely initiated a task based on your psychological desires just now. Please do not pin every blame on this system.]
Whether it was his imagination or not, Lan Ze felt like he could actually hear a hint of disdain in the voice of this broken machine.
Lan Ze was currently facing a monumental challenge.
The system's task was for him to kiss Mother, and he was agonizing over the feasibility of this objective.
After much deliberation, Lan Ze finally reached a conclusion.
This was a completely unrealistic task.
"System, you're definitely messing with me!" Lan Ze yelled internally.
The system gave no response.
Lan Ze grew angry. "I want to abandon this task!"
Are you kidding me, asking him to kiss this Creation Mother Goddess?
Was he really that tired of living?!
A square window materialized before Lan Ze.
[Do you wish to abandon kissing Tiamat? Confirming abandonment will trigger a penalty (the severity of the penalty varies depending on the task rank).]
Lan Ze's heart skipped a beat. "System, what kind of penalty are you talking about?"
Yet, the system still remained entirely silent, and another window simply popped up: [Do you wish to abandon kissing Tiamat? Yes / No. After abandoning, your Luck stat will drop to Rank E within half a month.]
"Do you really think a mere game penalty can scare me?" Lan Ze sneered, clicking "No" on the window.
He massaged his temples and let out a silent sigh, feeling a mild ache in his head.
Only kissing Mother counted as completing the task, but could it really go that smoothly? What if he told her right now: Mother, I want to kiss you, is that alright?
He wondered how she would respond.
If her temper was good, she'd probably pat him on the head and say, "Be a good boy and don't make a fuss." If her temper was bad, or if she grew shy, she'd probably hurl him away like a javelin.
"Aaaa (What are you worrying about?)"
Tiamat lowered her head slightly, her small mouth parted, tilting her lovely head as she looked at him in puzzlement.
She could clearly sense that her child's emotions seemed somewhat troubled.
Lan Ze managed to pull his thoughts together, shook his head with a smile, and said, "I'm not worrying about anything, don't worry."
Tiamat obviously didn't believe him. A pair of red star pupils quietly peered at the boy in her arms. She pondered for a moment and said softly, "Aaaa (Do you want to leave?)"
Seeing the quiet desolation within the woman's bright, beautiful eyes, Lan Ze couldn't bear it, so he spoke a falsehood against his own heart: "I don't want to leave. I think staying here is pretty nice."
No, that wasn't entirely a lie either.
He truly felt that staying in a place like this all the time would be too boring, but if he were just to leave right now, for some reason, he would feel a twinge of reluctance.
Lan Ze had been like this for a long time; he always felt reluctant to part with things he had used and experiences he had been through. The erasers, game cartridges, and even the broken yo-yos from his childhood were still kept in his drawer, sealed away in the depths of his memories to this day.
He had known Tiamat for less than a day, but looking at the woman's gentle smile, he felt an irrepressible sense of pity.
There was only Tiamat here all by herself. If he just left like this, she would once again be left all alone in this desolate world.
He didn't know whether this was because of innate kindness or simply because he was a degenerate.
Perhaps it was a bit of both.
At any rate, looking at such an adorable Mother, it was truly hard for him to connect her with the world-destroying monster of his memories.
Tiamat seemed genuinely overjoyed by Lan Ze's answer, a gentle smile blooming across her face.
Watching this scene, Lan Ze couldn't help but wear a faint smile himself.
This feeling of being needed and even depended upon by someone felt truly wonderful.
Though judging by their postures right now, it looked much more like he was the one depending on Tiamat...
After all, he was currently being cradled in the arms of this Creation Mother Goddess like an infant.
[Please complete the kiss with Tiamat as soon as possible. Reward: None]
The system's cold, mechanical voice pulled Lan Ze back to reality, prompting him to mentally complain, You really don't know how to read the atmosphere, do you, system?
He was looking at Tiamat while muttering his complaints. The woman seemed to sense his gaze, lowering her head to look at him with a gentle, motherly radiance in her smile.
She brushed a lock of hair cascading over her chest behind her shoulder, her pristine white skin making Lan Ze's eyes glaze over slightly.
However, Lan Ze quickly bit his lower lip to keep his composure.
Stay calm, stay calm... Absolutely must not think about random, messy things.
If the system suddenly threw a task at him based on his inner thoughts—such as "Task: Complete a romantic confession to Tiamat and engage in zero-distance intimate contact"—then things would get hilariously out of hand.
"Mother, let's go back to sleep," Lan Ze said softly.
Tiamat asked with a puzzled look, "Aaa? (Are you sleepy?)"
"Yeah, very sleepy. This time, let's sleep together," Lan Ze said.
In truth, he wasn't sleepy at all; if anything, having slept for so long, his head felt a bit dizzy.
Still, giving it some thought just now, the system's task didn't seem all that difficult to accomplish.
It was hard to kiss Tiamat while she was awake, but wouldn't it be easy once she fell asleep?
Lan Ze silently gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his own cleverness, raised his eyelids to peer at Tiamat's magnificent bosom, and asked, "How does that sound?"
Tiamat nodded, looking utterly obedient.
She pulled Lan Ze even tighter into her embrace, holding him much like a body pillow while softly closing her eyes. Her long eyelashes fluttered gently, her complexion was rosy, and her cherry lips were slightly pursed, making her look precisely like a tranquil sleeping beauty.
Only, if this sleeping beauty were to truly awaken one day, the entire world would tremble in terror.
According to Lan Ze's memories, it had taken Uruk and Chaldea countless hardships, coupled with King Hassan discarding his Grand title and the fact that Mother had held back significantly, just to barely defeat her.
And right now, he was actually sleeping in the arms of such a terrifying entity...
Well, looking at her now, it was completely impossible to view Tiamat as a terrifying existence; she simply looked like an innocent and adorable woman.
And her bosom was very generous.
Time passed in a silent flash. Before he knew it, Lan Ze sensed that the woman holding him had completely stopped moving. He stealthily opened one eye to take a peek.
Tiamat had indeed drifted off into a deep slumber. She looked exceptionally peaceful as she slept. Her flowing, wavy cyan hair naturally cascaded down to her calves without any adornment, while the pair of giant horns on her head seemed to declare the woman's true identity. Her skin was fairer than snow; no matter how one looked at it, she was an exceptionally flawless woman.
Surely no artist in this world could ever sculpt such a perfection... Looking at this woman whose sleeping face was unusually captivating, this was the only thought in Lan Ze's mind.
He cautiously climbed out of Tiamat's embrace, looked up at her flawless, porcelain-like face, slowly, slowly brought his face closer to hers, and finally hovered right above her lips.
Those elastic lips appeared exceptionally alluring in Lan Ze's eyes at that moment.
All of this is just the system's task, I am definitely not trying to take advantage of someone in their sleep...
Lan Ze took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
He lowered his head slightly toward Tiamat's face and gently pressed his lips against her tender ones.
Before you continue