"Tina..."
Soothed by the head pat, the goddess—crouched on the ground with her limbs spread—first pointed at herself and let out a stammering murmur.
Then she lifted her delicate face, her watery, cross-shaped pupils blinking as she gazed eagerly at the ancient serpent, a trace of longing in her eyes.
"Sa... Samael... like!"
The ancient serpent set aside the clay tablet, gave a helpless chuckle, then opened the cage behind him. He pulled out a tiny, rabbit-like creature trembling in fear by its ears and handed it into the divine vessel's arms.
"Good girl, play with it for now. Be gentle, don't squeeze it to death."
"Mm!"
Tina nodded enthusiastically, hugging the little rabbit as she played with it on the floor. From a distance, she looked irresistibly cute.
Samael covered his face with one hand, unable to bear looking straight at her.
There's no way his Tiamom could be this cute!
But there was no doubt—the body before him truly contained the reason and divinity of the Mother Goddess Tiamat.
Back then, to prevent heaven and earth from falling back into chaos, to stop the extinction of all species and the outbreak of divine war, the Mother of Creation had willingly scattered her own divinity, embedding it into the world of Mesopotamia.
As a result, she had lost her reason, leaving only her beastly shell, exiling herself to the Sea of Imaginary Numbers so she wouldn't harm her children.
The vessel Samael created had drawn a spark of intellect back into that body.
Right now, Tina—only a few months old, the human form of the goddess Tiamat—possessed no more than the mind and emotions of an infant, capable only of simple syllables to express basic perception.
It was much like the state she had once been in, drifting in the Persian Gulf, driven purely by instinct.
As her divinity grew, the gap with her beastly nature would slowly shrink, and her former emotions would gradually return.
But if, one day in the distant future, the Mother Goddess truly regained her reason... this period would no doubt become an embarrassing chapter she could never erase.
Perhaps then, as her rebellious son, he would be hammered by Tiamat in a fit of rage—headbutt after headbutt—until he ended up with a concussion and memory loss.
Of course, that was only a half-joking fantasy.
The real issue was that using her divinity to suppress her beastly nature and awaken her memories, emotions, and reason again was a nightmare-level challenge.
The beastly body adrift in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers was on the level of a creator god.
And the tiny spark of divinity within Tina could never compare to the vast ocean of beastly power in the dragon's body. The difference alone was enough to make Samael despair.
Yes, the Greek World had a dense concentration of Ether, perfect for the growth of divinity and strengthening of the self.
But the Mother Goddess's beastly body in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers wasn't idle either—it was also steadily growing!
Otherwise, why would Marduk, who had already united Mesopotamian divinity, still be so wary of a banished beast of calamity?
So even in the Greek World, while it was possible for the gap between divinity and beastliness to narrow, it could just as easily widen.
To think of restoring the Mother Goddess's reason through slow accumulation, step by step... who knew when that day would ever come?
With a headache, Samael tapped his chisel against the clay tablet, and a question in Lakin's style rose in his mind.
"The first question—what should I do right now?"
"As soon as possible, aid the Mother Goddess's human form. Strengthen her divinity, suppress her beastly nature, awaken her emotions."
The chisel in the ancient serpent's hand raced across the clay tablet, writing down the answer.
"The second question—how should I do it?"
Samael paused in thought, then pressed the stylus down, each stroke cautious and deliberate.
"Wait for the right moment. Steal a divine throne! Mobilize the entire Greek World's resources to strengthen the foundation of Tiamat's divinity!"
The god of salvation and the serpent of original sin?
In the end, he really had become the villain. And what lay ahead of him now was a task brimming with danger—one that could cost him his life...
Mother Goddess, this is all for you. When it's over, let's just forget this dark chapter, alright?
Samael shook his head, then looked intently at Tina—still sprawled on the ground, chasing rabbits around the room—and muttered under his breath.
"The third question: given the current situation in the Greek World, what strategies can actually be refined at this stage?"
The ancient serpent withdrew his gaze, continuing his self-questioning brainstorm.
According to history, the Twelve Titans of Mount Othrys, led by Kronos, would eventually be replaced by the Twelve Olympians, led by Zeus.
This father-against-son family drama was about to play out soon.
When it did, the war of the gods would drag on for at least ten years.
Most of the forces in the Greek World would be swept into it, each side choosing to support either Othrys or Olympus.
Take sides?
Samael frowned slightly and wrote the names Kronos and Zeus on the clay tablet.
Siding with Kronos meant standing against this world's fate]. If he were to intervene at a critical moment, he could potentially turn the tide.
The gains, in that case, would be immense.
But even with the Tablet of Destinies in hand, the problem was that he was essentially an illegal stowaway here.
If he made too much noise, he risked drawing the eyes of the Greek gods onto himself.
Whether Kronos or Zeus, for now this was merely a matter of divine authority shifting hands. With the advantage of foreknowledge, things remained within his control.
However, the Greek World wasn't just these few gods and god-kings on the surface.
In the beginning, legend said that from Chaos were born Gaia, the Earth Mother; Tartarus, god of the Abyss; Erebus, god of masculine darkness; Nyx, goddess of feminine darkness; and Eros, god of desire.
There was also Ananke, embodiment of inevitability, and Gaia again, who might well be connected to the very self-awareness of the planet itself.
Even if those messy, contradictory records couldn't all be trusted, one thing was certain—the waters of the Greek World ran deep.
To leap in recklessly was nothing short of asking for death.
Yes, it would mean he was tired of living...
Don't be fooled by the human vessel of the Mother Goddess Tiamat, who, like him, had only just ascended to the rank of a lesser god.
At worst, destroying this vessel would simply return that fragment of intellect to her draconic body, where it would again be smothered by her beastly nature.
But a certain snake who seized divine authority and godhood? He wouldn't be so lucky. Getting hacked into a dozen pieces and torn apart would be the lightest punishment.
Caution wasn't for the sake of protecting the Mother Goddess. It was for protecting himself.
Tina, I've already made such a sacrifice. You'd better treat me well in the future, understand?
The ancient serpent cast a resentful glance at the Dragon Mother, who was still gleefully chasing rabbits, and couldn't help but grumble.
After some brief thought, Samael crossed out Kronos's name.
In a world so unfamiliar, openly opposing fate would be pure suicide.
Besides, the Twelve Titans were still at their peak, showing no signs of weakness. The idea that such beings would bother with a newly risen lesser serpent god like him was laughable.
And judging by the temperament of Kronos and the other Titans, betrayal later down the line wasn't impossible either.
At least Zeus's generation—the third godly dynasty—rarely broke their word.
So then... should he follow the Mandate of Heaven, side with the new Olympian gods, and use it as his path to godhood and divine authority?
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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