Son of the Hero King

Chapter 259 CH 232: BASTET OR SEKHMET

*Whoosh*

Under the illumination of the starry sky, the wind blew gently, bringing a chilly air with it as it rustled the leaves of the tree in the large garden.

Sitting on a beautiful chair that seemed to be made out of pure crystal was a crimson-haired woman with a voluptuous figure, sipping on wine as she waited in silence.

Despite the cold of the night, she was clad in an attire that showed a great amount of her skin without seeming obscene in the slightest.

*Crack*

The sound of a twig breaking under the step of someone intruding in the serenity of this sanctuary rose her from her wandering spirit.

Taking a look at the intruder, Nent showed a gentle smile.

“I am surprised you came.”

Giving her a supercilious stare, Kiyohime did not bother to answer as she took the seat opposite to Nent.

“You wouldn’t call me here for no reason. What is the problem?”

Her tone was cold but Nent was already happy that Kiyohime at least was willing to speak with her.

“Did you feel it? The way the atmosphere in the territory changed lately.”

Nent crossed her legs, showing an enticing sight as her dress parted and revealed a hint of her beautiful thighs.

Ignoring the tantalizing sight in front of her, Kiyohime mulled a little and reluctantly nodded.

The atmosphere in the air was indeed becoming heavier. Everything began on that night. The night where Tiamat showed her might once again.

Kiyohime still did not know where her mother went, but the aura and power she showed on that day had made the territory incredibly calm. She had indirectly reminded everyone why she was the supreme ruler here.

Still, this didn’t stop here. Through Kiyohime, Tiamat had sent different orders related to increasing the spatial defense of the territory and regulating the flux of people entering and getting out of the territory through the official portal at the crossroads.

As if it wasn’t enough, she was even asked to eradicate all the Duke levels in the lower circle of Tartarus. The culling generally happened at a fixed time so it was surprising for the date to have been pushed forward.

At the end of the day, Kiyohime was no idiot.

Though Tiamat never said anything, it was clear that something big was going on. Still, there was something that disturbed her.

“Sol should know what's going on.”

Kiyohime clenched her fists at Nent’s declaration. Sol had been acting more withdrawn lately. Always brooding. He emanated a slightly nervous feeling.

It was clear that Sol had gotten hold of more than troubling information and it was disturbing him. But there was nothing Kiyohime could do.

“Jealous?”

Kiyohime did not answer the question. The response was already more than evident.

‘This murky feeling in my chest is spreading again.’

She was already used to that feeling. The deep and searing disgusting feeling of jealousy and envy. The kind of feeling that could destroy you from within progressively with no way of avoiding it.

She hated that feeling. She hated feeling jealous. But how could she not?

Still, all her life, Kiyohime had acted as the understanding big sister so for once she wanted to be a little selfish. She just wanted to say exactly how she felt and there was nothing in particular she expected.

The moment she opened wide the door of the throne room and strolled in,

“Mother! I want to...”

Kiyohime was stopped by the weird scene she was witnessing.

In the throne room, only two people were present. They were both Tiamat and Sol. If that was all there was, she wouldn’t be so surprised but that wasn’t the case.

On the ground, sitting on what looked like a ritual circle with lit candles all around was a white cat that Kiyohime easily recognized as Sekhmet, Sol’s magical pet.

“Hah...Kiyohime? Look, this isn’t what you are thinking.”

Kiyohime threw a weird look at Sol, “You mean to say that you didn’t put the cat that has a high chance of housing a demigod that was officially dead under a seal in order to inspect it while preventing all possible problems?”

Sol’s mouth hung open while he kept a finger in the air before slowly lowering it with a puzzled expression.

In the end, “*Ahem* Well, I take back what I said. This is exactly what you are thinking.”

Sol shrugged while Tiamat snickered as she threw a look at Kiyohime, “I can more or less guess why you are here today. Let’s talk alone later, you and me. There are many things we need to discuss. But now...”

The smile in her eyes vanished as she looked at the cat that was watching them innocently with its head tilted to the side,

*Meow*

“Heh, how cute. To think the fierce Bastet really fell so low.”

Tiamat mocked openly. Bastet was one of the rare independent demigods that she recognized. The woman was a fierce warrior who didn’t hesitate to rush in any and everything fight.

The simple fact that a normal magical beast had managed to evolve to the level of demigod and bring normal elements such as ice and fire to the conceptual level was more than a little impressive.

*Meow*

Even as Tiamat spoke, Sekhmet did nothing but look cutely at Tiamat and then proceeded to ignore her to lick her paw.

“You....”

Kiyohime, standing on the side, took a few steps forward to have a better vision. She was surprised that Tiamat wasn’t using force. She knew that her mother wasn’t really the patient type when people defied her authority.

In the end, it was Sol who spoke, as he crouched down; “Look, are you Bastet or Sekhmet? I don’t really know, nor do I care. Even though I do not know your circumstances, I believe that you hold no ill will toward me.”

Sol of course was bluffing. Many reasons could explain why Sekhmet didn’t hurt him until now even if she had wished to do so. But, from Skuld’s vision and words, he knew that Sekhmet would protect him until the end.

He didn’t know why, but the only thing that mattered was that she did.

“I want to protect people I care about. But as I am now, I am helpless to do so. This is why I need help—your help. We are not trying to threaten you or force you in any way. Please, lend us a hand.”

Sol gave his plea sincerely. If his earlier words were a lie, now he was being serious. He knew that his words weren’t spoken in the best way. But in this case, rather than beautiful sounding words, he believed honesty was the best answer.

As the silence that filled the room grew longer, Sol was slowly losing hope and wondered if they should give up on obtaining her help when...

*Sigh*

A low sigh filled the room as the expression of the cat changed to a quasi-human-like one. The circle below her paws began to shine and flicker as they were activated because of the divine energy that coursed through the body of the once normal cat.

Looking up at Sol, Sekhmet or rather, Bastet, finally spoke for the first time,

“Tell me exactly what you want my help for. Then I will decide.”