Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

The underworld is, after all, a hell of death and corruption.

As time goes by, even with the protection of the gun cage, without the support of a physical body, these souls will gradually have their memories and emotions eroded away, eventually becoming nothingness.

Therefore, this land is ultimately more silent than noisy.

However, when the rustling sound of scales sliding came from the stone path shrouded in deathly mist, the underworld inhabitants who were still drowsy inside the gun cage were suddenly awakened, and their soul fires throbbed violently.

At this moment, a snake with black patterns slithered along, hissing and flicking its tongue as it passed by a group of gun cages, seemingly greeting the residents in a friendly manner.

His demeanor was like that of a landlord inspecting his territory.

"Uncle Balag, old Um said yesterday that the ale brewed with your family's secret recipe must taste like horse piss!"

"Kussim, Nash, didn't you two want to fight? Don't chicken out!"

“Brother Ningnuta, I’ve found the culprit! It’s that bastard from Dam, who slept with your wife and beat your child after you died!”

hum!

Inside the once deathly quiet gun cage, chaos erupted as the underworld residents, having found their targets, began to curse and swear.

They greeted each other's female relatives and longed to establish a father-son relationship that transcended blood ties.

Ah, what a vibrant, bustling, and wonderful day!

The snake gazed at the flickering figures inside the gun cage, listening intently to the various words expressing friendliness. Satisfied, it swished its tail and slithered towards the quiet valley.

Dry!

This bad thing!

The enraged inhabitants of the underworld, using the gestures they had learned, raised their middle fingers and uttered fierce words to bid farewell to the inhuman snake.

Unfortunately, these mindless Garura spirits instinctively avoided the evil worm tainted with the aura of the Meslamthea Temple.

Otherwise, the residents would really like the snake to be chopped into seventy or eighty pieces and then stewed into soup.

Just as the deathly silent underworld was beginning to stir with lively ripples, the instigator was already coiled under a bluish-black rock.

After a moment, the black serpent cleared its mind, its consciousness spreading upwards, conveying a pleasant message.

Good morning, Mom...

After an unknown amount of time, the air began to vibrate faintly, and a barely perceptible ripple emanated from the void, as if offering some kind of weak response.

It worked!

The snake's vertical pupils, which were looking upwards, narrowed slightly, and its triangular head nodded excitedly.

Above its head, an invisible "spider web" is spreading straight up from the core of the soul, piercing through the outer wall of the world bubble and penetrating deep into the sea of ​​imaginary numbers.

Finally, the loop at the end of the rope wrapped around the right ring finger of a certain majestic being.

In some mysterious way, the two sides established a subtle connection through this fragile spider silk.

Mother Goddess…

The snake hissed, flicking its tongue, suppressing its instinctive excitement, and murmured softly, a hint of satisfaction showing on its parted lips.

In fact, we should thank Gilgamesh for banishing them.

Indeed, the power of the divinely created weapon, the Ea, which tore the world apart, repelled Lin Xuan's unstable soul once again into the outer sea of ​​imaginary numbers, almost destroying it.

However, Lin Xian also met Tiamat, the goddess who gave him a new life.

In addition, while this Origin Mother Goddess helped "Aizi" return, she also established a faint connection between the Imaginary Sea and the World Bubble, as well as between herself and Lin Xian.

In this way, Lin Xian became an anchor embedded in the inner side of the world.

Tiamat, this ark of life that floats and sails in the sea of ​​imaginary numbers, may be able to gradually approach the distance to the real world, secured and pulled by the anchor.

Of course, fantasy is beautiful, but reality is ultimately more cruel.

Lin Xian tried to pull the thin anchor line in the soul fire, but as a result, not only did he have a splitting headache, but the majestic figure floating in the sea of ​​imaginary numbers remained completely still.

A mere snake dares to try and pull the banished Origin Mother Goddess back to reality; it is truly overestimating its own abilities!

Having come to terms with the situation, Lin Xuan hung his head helplessly and mocked himself, realizing his own wishful thinking.

Its small, frail body couldn't possibly lift the massive shipwreck of Tiamat, a goddess with a combined mass of billions of tons.

So, if I want to help, do I need to become stronger?

And what other anchoring lines support the return of the mother goddess Tiamat?

Lin Xian looked down at himself thoughtfully, a bitter smile playing on his lips.

I was going to help, but isn't the "love" you're giving me a little too much?

In fact, the one who benefited the most from establishing a connection with the primordial mother goddess Tiamat was this weak ancient serpent.

The loving Mother Goddess of Origin, in order to give the newborn "child" in the world bubble the ability to protect itself, bestowed a strand of power upon it through this spider silk.

The power of the beast—self-modification!

That is, it can use its own magic to construct the framework of life and reshape the physical body in different forms.

In other words, I can be a human being again?

Lin Xian subconsciously thought of using self-modification to reshape the first life form of his physical body, and he was extremely excited.

He crawls on his belly every day and has almost forgotten what walking feels like. He worries that if this continues, he will completely degenerate into a snake.

It's not safe outside, should we go back and try?

Hmm, I'll give it a try!

The ancient serpent excitedly flew swiftly through the deadly fog, darting all the way to a corner of the Meslamthea Temple.

Facial features should have the three-dimensionality of the West, while also possessing the softness and delicacy of the East!

You can't be too short!

Good looks are definitely a plus! This is a world that judges by appearance!

Lin Xian muttered to himself, and hurriedly mobilized the sliver of power he had gained within his body, wanting to begin gradually shaping his face.

However, before he could make a move, a bone claw formed from the gray deathly mist in the hall grabbed the tip of his raised tail and dragged the long worm all the way to a large bed.

"Don't make noise..."

"I've had too much work lately, I really don't want to get up this early to make gun cages..."

The blonde goddess, unwilling to open her eyes, seemed to be talking to herself, or perhaps muttering a complaint.

The oppressive heat from the temple's projection of light into the underworld caused the woman to kick off the covers, roll over, and hang like a koala on the cool, black striped cushion.

"Hmm, yes, I'll sleep a little longer..."

The ancient snake, held tightly by its owner, slowly stretched its stiff body as the exhausted goddess of the underworld fell asleep again, seemingly having attained enlightenment.

Actually, whether or not you act like a decent human being is really not important.

Then, the black snake head stretched out and drooped down, resting comfortably against its owner's slightly heaving chest.

Chapter Six "The Poison of Radiance" Samael

"There are still 1,200 gun cages to finish. I should have known better than to sleep in."

Within the misty valley, the goddess, slumped on a dark blue-green rock, counted the newly added souls of the underworld on her fingers, then looked around at the empty surroundings, feeling utterly hopeless.

"Aaaaaah! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

Ereshkigal frantically yanked at the ends of a lock of golden hair, stuffed it into his mouth, and whimpered and bit it, venting his inner frustration.

Her chubby cheeks, with their round and adorable curves, became an extremely interesting sight in this remote and impoverished place.

Humans are such a troublesome creature!

Their souls flooding into the underworld will only increase my workload!

Creating prisons to imprison souls is a very difficult task!

As the mistress of the underworld complained, her ruby-like eyes caught sight of the humanoid phantom floating and disintegrating in the black river, and her tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

Well, it's just a gun cage, nothing serious.

As the ruler of this territory, I should provide basic shelter for the souls who reside in the underworld.

After all, they will all be my subjects. If they are too shabby, wouldn't I also lose face?

Ereshkigal convinced himself of this, then dusted off his red and black dress and prepared to continue working, channeling his magic to create a gun cage that would restrain and protect the soul.

Tsk tsk, this not-so-honest pet owner is just too cute.

A rustling sound arose as the ancient snake, which had been sleeping in a cool crevice in the rocks, lazily poked its head out, watching with great interest the pantomime of its owner's expressive face.

In fact, the powers of death, decay, and corruption surround the entire underworld.

Once an ordinary soul enters, its memories, emotions, and rationality will be continuously eroded, eventually turning into pure "Mana" and returning to its origin.

However, this goddess of the underworld, who constantly grumbles and complains, is actually very diligent and good at taking care of others.

She creates gun cages by channeling her magic, thus allowing these ghosts to maintain their rationality for longer.

In the mythological origins of ancient Babylon, humans were created by Marduk, the king of kings, as servants of the gods after defeating Tiamat.

Therefore, most gods have little pity or love for humankind.

An anomaly like its owner, who requires meticulous care even for the soul, is practically a little angel among the gods.

Unfortunately, despite having a kind heart, she became the goddess of the underworld, representing terror and death.

Just as the ancient serpent was observing its owner's every move from a voyeur's perspective, Ereshkigal, sensing something amiss, suddenly turned around.

Immediately, the goddess reached out her right hand and grabbed the tip of Lin Xian's tail with lightning speed, dragging him all the way to her, and angrily pulling this lively pet into various shapes.

"Hmph! It's all because you picked it up too..."

"…It's noisy!"

Ereshkigal put on a fierce and stern look, scolding the pet snake to relieve his annoyance and, while doing so, also shifting the blame onto the snake.

Hey, owner, could you please organize your thoughts before lying?

It was clearly because you overslept and forgot the time, how can you blame it on me?

The ancient snake rolled its eyes and muttered to itself.

Since there is no sun in the underworld, the Temple of Meslamthea, built by the Lord of the Underworld, served as a slightly heated and luminous celestial body by absorbing magma and geothermal heat.

However, the interior of the Meslamthea Temple was also quite hot and stuffy.

Even with the power of Ereshkigal maintaining it, staying inside for a long time is really not a good experience.

Especially when falling asleep.

Therefore, the ancient snake, being a cold-blooded animal, became a strip-shaped pillow used by a certain female owner to cool down.

This is evident from Ereshkigal's recently improved sleep quality and his increasingly longer wake-up time.

The effect of that tool snake should be quite good.

Hey! Stop spacing out! You need to help too!

The goddess of the underworld raised the dark red metal spearhead and tapped it on Lin Xian's head, giving a soft command to cover up her earlier lapse in composure.

Forced into business, the ancient snake had no choice but to raise its tail, coil over a basket of dark red iron ore, and hand it to its owner.

Not bad, not bad, very clever. I'll give you an extra meal tonight.

Hmph, who says the underworld is only about death and decay? This goddess has her first living citizen, and she will have a second, and a third!

Seeing this, Ereshkigal demurely raised his hand, took a few ores from the basket, and continued weaving the gun cage. An unconscious smile crept onto his lips, and he felt a little smug.

However, as far as it may seem, such an unrealistic plan is almost impossible to realize.

Because the snake behind them was an exception.

It possesses an immortality that allows it to adapt to the environment of the underworld, enabling it to survive there without decaying or rotting.

Given the recent discussions surrounding a new batch of Uruk spirits and the commotion on the ground, the true origin of this snake is becoming increasingly clear.

"Hey, little guy, I heard you were thrown into the underworld because you stole Gilgamesh's hard-earned immortal herb?"

Lin Xian hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly, her eyes flashing with a complex mix of emotions and helplessness.