The cat goddess Bastet, a war goddess and guardian deity within the Heliopolis pantheon, presided over war, protection, music, dance, family, and the moon.
Within the Heliopolis pantheon, her status was comparable to that of Athena.
However, unlike the mutual dislike between Athena and Zeus, Bastet had a much better relationship with Ra.
During the daily procession of the solar barque, she was responsible for battling the great enemy of the sun god Ra, the chaos serpent Apophis.
From this alone, her combat strength was not to be underestimated, at the very least placing her at the level of a chief god.
But now, she had lost the authority of a god and was no different from an ordinary Phantasmal Species.
Although her strength still placed her among the top tier of Phantasmal Species, without divine power, it was almost impossible for her to return to her peak state.
Bastet had abandoned her divine throne and followed Alaric back to Greece, naturally, there was a reason for this.
Within the Heliopolis pantheon, most of the major gods under Ra were his offspring. Bastet alone was an exception.
This cat goddess had originally been a divine beast that ascended into godhood. In the beginning, she was worshipped by the primitive humans of Lower Egypt.
As a divine beast, she was powerful, but for a long time, she had never encountered any "kind" with strength equal to her own.
The only beings she could communicate with, humans, had such fleeting lifespans. This plunged the goddess into deep loneliness.
Later, when the Heliopolis pantheon arrived, she found them "interesting" and considered them "companions with similar power," and so the lonely Bastet took the initiative to join their pantheon.
Although she was a goddess, this cat deity still retained parts of her feline nature.
She had little of the ambition for power struggles that ordinary gods possessed.
Her greatest joys were simply eating, drinking, sleeping, and she could spend an entire day just chasing her own tail.
After joining the Heliopolis pantheon, despite the innate laziness of a feline, she still diligently, day after day, fought against the greatest enemy of the Heliopolis pantheon, the chaos serpent Apophis, without asking for any reward (having only the desires of a cat, and none of those of humans or gods).
She could be considered a model worker.
If this goddess had been one of Ra's offspring, it would have been one thing.
But she was precisely the kind who joined of her own accord (without even participating in any divine wars), and yet carried out the hardest tasks every single day (aside from Ra himself, only she could do it).
For such a Bastet, she was the one Ra felt he owed the most.
For the dignity of the Heliopolis pantheon, Ra could indeed face the end of all things, but how could he bear to bring Bastet along with him into the twilight of the gods?
Originally, he had no way to save the cat goddess. Even if she could be downgraded from a god to a Saint, a Saint was not invincible.
No matter how strong Bastet was, she was still just a particularly intelligent cat.
Though quick-witted, she could not match the cunning of humans. In such a state, as a Saint, who knew when she might be tricked or taken advantage of.
Thus, Ra had never been at ease with this last-resort plan.
Until Alaric appeared.
As a mortal, Alaric's power astonished Ra.
He was certain, there was not a trace of divine power within this man, yet his strength rivaled that of the gods.
And in terms of wisdom, Ra had to admit that even gods fell short compared to him.
This was also why Ra had tacitly allowed the name of the god of wisdom, Thoth, to be spread.
Because of Alaric's help toward Egypt and toward Nitocris, Ra also recognized his character. Thus, he took a liking to this man.
Power, wisdom, character, wasn't this the perfect person to entrust Bastet to?
And so, Bastet was handed over to Alaric by Ra.
At first, Alaric refused this request.
Because he felt that just because someone told him to accept her didn't mean he should immediately do so, first, he had to test it.
He didn't want to accept Bastet only to later discover that the two of them couldn't get along.
Creatures like cats had a cold and aloof side, especially those that had been raised for many years.
Such cats usually ignored strangers, and if not raised properly, they might even treat their own owners the same way.
But when he actually met Bastet…
Well, she was irresistible.
Alaric truly had no resistance when it came to cats.
Especially when the cat in question was this adorable.
The first time Alaric met Bastet was when he had been invited aboard Ra's solar barque and was wandering around the ship.
At the time, he had simply thought she was an ordinary divine beast aboard the solar barque and had not realized her true identity.
Seeing this completely black cat, with only a pair of bright, gleaming eyes, she looked especially cute. Alaric immediately felt an itch in his hands, he wanted to pet her.
Why were cats so cute?
Of course, when encountering an unfamiliar cat, it wasn't easy to pet it without making it angry.
Alaric hadn't raised a cat in his previous life, but in this life, he could already be considered an experienced "cat owner."
Although he had only raised one, Himari, and, oh right, had also taken care of Hermione's Crookshanks, through long-term interaction, he had learned powerful cat-petting techniques from Himari.
His hands could easily make Himari feel utterly blissful (ahem).
So, facing the black cat before him, Alaric skillfully made his move.
First, he cautiously extended his hand, gently stroking the cat's head with one hand.
When he noticed that the cat in front of him did not resist his touch and instead simply lay down, he understood that she was willing to accept his petting.
So he slowly began to stroke her back, running his hand from head to tail, repeating the motion again and again…
"Meow, "
Under Alaric's technique, the black cat narrowed her eyes in comfort.
She looked like she was thoroughly enjoying it.
And Alaric also found that the cat felt exceptionally good to the touch.
So he moved his hand to the cat's chin and gently scratched it.
This made the cat even more comfortable. She even let out a soft purring sound and lifted her chin, as if asking for more.
Alright then, he would oblige.
Alaric became even more enthusiastic in his petting. After a while, the little one simply lay on the ground, exposing her belly.
This was practically a completely defenseless posture.
Hey, hey, she was clearly a cat raised by the gods, yet she was so familiar with strangers. Was she really this lacking in vigilance?
But since she offered such goodwill, Alaric naturally accepted it without hesitation.
This black cat must have grown up on cuteness alone.
Thus, when he went to meet Ra, Alaric was simply holding the black cat in his arms.
When Ra proposed that Alaric take care of Bastet, he naturally refused without hesitation, using the excuse that he wasn't familiar with her.
Then the black cat in his arms immediately stood up in dissatisfaction and smacked him.
Of course, she used her soft paw pads.
Just as Alaric was left dumbfounded, Ra let out a strange laugh.
"Hehehe… and you say you're not familiar with Bastet? Look, she's right there in your arms, isn't she?"