[Astral Realm — Phoenix Territory]

It had been around six months since Sol left the Dragon territory and Nent returned to her home— the Phoenix territory.

The axis of time was moving closer and closer to the prime time as it brought the Astral Realm to a time level equal to that of the Mortal Realm.

The phoenix territory, with its multiple suns and heat and the large sea of sand, had the same exotic and dangerous beauty as it always had.

Each of the four King-ranked phoenixes had their own cities over the sandy territory in which they reigned and Nephthys stood at the peak as the Queen of the whole territory with the blessing of Gabriel who had delegated all her power and authority to her.

Usually, Gabriel would be seen seated, asleep in her throne room. The weight of time could not easily be shrugged off by a Divine Beast and for someone like her who had seen basically everything there was to see in the universe, sleeping was the easiest way to waste time and deal with cumbersome memories and visions of the past. A past… not worth remembering.

Today, however, she could be seen walking in a settlement near Nent’s city, the piece of the sandy territory she controlled and ruled over. Her chocolate-colored skin gave a somewhat tantalizing contrast with her white robes which revealed quite a bit of her graceful body.

Her golden eyes shone quietly behind the veil that covered her face as she observed the city Nent had developed throughout the eons, not through her divine sight, but with her own two eyes.

“Mother.”

Gabriel ignored her daughter’s landing behind her and continued to observe the city with her blank eyes, the heat of the sand crunching beneath her bare feet did not seem to bother her and she took a deep breath as she came to a conclusion that she had reached millennia ago, but was not willing to reveal to her dear daughter…

“I hated your city.”

Gabriel was straightforward with her remarks this time around. She had always hidden her true opinion about Nent’s activities for as long as she remembered. But, for one reason or another, she decided to come clean about them right now.

“I hated how cold and focused it is. I hated how they showed no emotions and were only focused on making more coins, forgetting the simple value of life.”

Out of all the cities in the phoenix realm, Nent’s was the most structured, with a clear hierarchy and capitalism in place that bounded all the denizens who took root in this place. All those concepts were like blasphemies to her creed that Gabriel could not come to appreciate. But she had never intervened in the works of her daughter.

“What you did with your family was wrong, dear child. The way you treated your children was wrong as well. It was vile and disgusting to its very core. Even more so because you were hiding your own selfishness under the veil of evolution and progress

“Even so… Even though I didn't like any of your decisions, did you know why I have never stopped you?”

Gabriel finally turned around and looked at her daughter in the eyes.

Since she had created her four daughters through the separation of her divine energy, the similarities between the two of them were great. But Nent was taller and had a more warrior-like figure than Gabriel’s smoother and softer features. They were identical, yet had their own contrasts.

“It was because I felt guilty. It was because… I felt unworthy…”

“Mother…”

“Let me finish first… Please, dear child.”

Gabriel flashed a sad smile to her dear daughter. Sadness was an everlasting concept that bound their twisted family, “It’s a parent's duty to bring their children to the right path. I failed to understand how much those humans meant to you. I thought that they were just passersby in your long existence that would soon be forgotten with time. That you were just throwing a temper tantrum at me, a late rebellious phase of sorts if you will. By the time I understood how hurt you actually were — It was already too late for me to do anything anymore.”

Gabriel grimaced slightly as she recalled those times and the deeds that she herself engineered that led to her daughter’s state of apathy, solitude, and madness. Like all divine beasts, she was quite distant from her children. Even then, Gabriel never wished to outright ignore them altogether like Tiamat. She wished them all the greatest happiness possible in the world as she loved them as her greatest creations.

Gabriel sighed as she gazed once again at the city. It had only been six months, but the changes were so startling that it was simply ridiculous.

It was hard to describe in words, but one could say that the city felt more ‘alive’ than it once was. The sense of barren dread and coldness that permeated the whole city like a mechanism running on oil was no more and was soon replaced by a hint of refreshing euphoria of life. The atmosphere was lighter and the people seemed to be happier than they once were.

“I realized that you changed the moment you came back. What I couldn’t imagine was how much you changed. How much ‘he’ changed you…”

From the moment she laid her eyes on ‘him’ to now, around a year went by. For those who lived for tens of thousands of years, one measly year was not even equal to a minute of their lives.

“This is why I am so angry at myself right now.”

She could only let herself leak a bleak laugh, “700 years. I watched the bright and gentle woman slowly self-destruct herself and push away all those that loved her for SEVEN HUNDRED years and now you are telling me that this problem I was so helpless about got resolved by some young man who didn’t even live for 0.0000001% of the time I spent in this world? Don’t you think it’s utterly ridiculous, dear child?”

She was truly happy. Happy that Sol helped bring the Old Nent back even if it was only partially.

But… It felt utterly and heart-wrenchingly sad. It was as if all her internal struggles were just meaningless.

“Well. I guess I shouldn’t complain. I am the one who couldn’t do the job well. So, tell me, how does it feel to have a lover?”

“Mother!”

“Oh, posh. Don’t look at me like that now. You weren’t that shy when you seduced the young boy when he came to this place. Or when you were doing those immoral acts throughout the territory like there was no tomorrow.”

The earlier dreary atmosphere seemed to change with a snap. Looking at the flushed Nent, a calm joy lit up in Gabriel’s heart.

Nent coughed slightly in a desperate attempt to hide her embarrassment and spoke in a low voice, “Well, I admit that having him on my side felt nice. Though if you are so interested, why not find a mate yourself?”

Gabriel shrugged her shoulders, “I never had the occasion to do that. I am not like that fox who didn’t hesitate to descend on the mortal world and mate with a mortal.”

Even now just thinking about it baffled Gabriel. It was normally impossible for a mortal to even come close to a demigod. Much less mate with one.

The good thing was that since that fox was under the Virtue of Patience, her concept was not really aggressive. All she had to do was to focus on controlling her strength.

“In my case, I don’t think anyone outside of a demigod or a powerful King can approach me with lustful thoughts.”

She was the divine beast of chastity. This was not really a friendly concept when it came to finding a mate.

“Heh… I believe that soon there will be a perfect candidate.”

“What do you… Ah!”

This time it was Gabriel's turn to blush and cough. “Are you insane!? Do you wish to have our entire family under him?”

“I doubt Neith is interested in that. I don’t know about Hathor and Nephthys obviously has Anubis. So you don’t have to worry about that. You should simply focus on what you want to do.”

Nent laughed quietly. She may have lost a little of the darkness in her heart, but this did not mean her goal had simply vanished.

If Sol had a child with each of the four of them, she would be able to witness firsthand how the blood and the power level of the parents could affect the talent of the future children.

‘Though, I must admit that this is quite shameless… Hmmm. Should I perhaps add one of my daughters?’

Nefertiti was her granddaughter so this meant they lacked one generation for the perfect link.

Of course, she would first ask Sol’s opinion on the matter. But… ‘That boy is also quite the hidden pervert.’

Would Sol resist the chance to make love to four generations of the same family? [1]

If Gabriel could read the thoughts of her daughter who was already ready to sell her whole to Sol, she would have slapped her silly. Sadly for her, she did not have such powers. Truly sad, indeed.

“Speaking of, you made a deal with Tiamat, right?”

Gabriel did not wait for Nent to finish her sentence as she immediately vanished from her spot and left a quizzical daughter behind.

[1]: That moment when you began to ask yourself where the hell you made a mistake as an author. Just realized how absurd Sol’s relationships in the Astral realm are. I need to become pure once again. He took ‘imma fuck your mom’ to a whole new level.