The moment he suddenly realized that the cat in his arms was not some ordinary divine beast but a famous Egyptian deity, Alaric was startled.
Then, looking at Bastet's fierce expression, filled with the emotion of "how dare you dislike me", Alaric did not hesitate in the slightest and promptly petted her from head to toe.
Mm, her anger instantly vanished into thin air.
Bastet's entire body went limp in Alaric's arms, allowing him to stroke her as much as he pleased.
In fact, as a cat deity, Bastet had not lived particularly well within the Heliopolis pantheon.
It wasn't that the Egyptian gods mistreated her, but the truth was that, as a cat, her life was far less fulfilling than Himari's under Alaric's care.
After all, although cats are independent and aloof, that depends on the context, cats also need social interaction.
When cats are familiar with one another, they groom each other, comfort each other, and engage in various forms of interaction.
And a domesticated cat like Himari would also receive affection and petting from its owner.
But what about Bastet?
Within the Heliopolis pantheon, she was the noble and aloof cat goddess, Ra's capable assistant.
Aside from Ra, every god both revered her strength and kept their distance due to fear and differences in temperament, just as humans instinctively avoid fierce beasts like lions and tigers, even if those beasts are tamed and would not harm them.
After all, in the eyes of most gods, she was a terrifying and frenzied warrior, even capable of pinning down and beating the chaos serpent Apophis, whom the gods feared like a tiger.
Even her fellow gods treated her this way, let alone the lesser deities who served her.
The only exception was Ra, but even he regarded her as a subordinate within the pantheon rather than as something like a companion or pet.
Thus, even after joining the Heliopolis pantheon, Bastet could not escape a sense of loneliness.
However, this was not enough to make her consider leaving the pantheon.
At the very least, the gods of Heliopolis were beings she could communicate with. If she left, the only ones she would find were short-lived mortals, and she had even less in common with them.
And so, when Bastet was being petted by Alaric, a certain happiness arose from deep within her heart.
It was the first time someone had dared to approach her so directly, to touch her so openly, and to stroke her without the slightest trace of fear.
This feeling caused her to sink into it almost instantly. For the first time, she felt that Ra's decision might not be so unacceptable after all.
In truth, Alaric being able to win Bastet over so quickly was also a stroke of luck. This little wild cat had never been raised by anyone before.
Even Ra had only treated her as a colleague and subordinate.
And Alaric was the first person who wanted to treat her as a pet, as an ordinary cat to be petted.
Thus, just like that, relying solely on his two hands, through a relentless petting offensive, Alaric successfully "conquered" the goddess and took Bastet away.
And very quickly, she acknowledged him as her master (at least, that's what Alaric believed).
However, raising this cat goddess was far from a smooth matter.
When Alaric returned to Greece, to Colchis, to the Mistra Academy, all of his goddesses and students came to welcome him.
Setting Hecate aside for the moment, Aphrodite, Stheno, Euryale, Medusa, Daedalus, Circe, Medea, Atalanta, the unicorn, the head maid Sakuya Izayoi, the automaton magecraft doll Orianna, the witches from the Harry Potter world, and the Amazon warriors led by Hippolyta and Penthesilea… without realizing it, Alaric had already formed so many bonds in this world.
By the way, because the Amazons had caused heavy losses to the Argonauts and effectively buried the Argonaut expedition (an excuse used by the gods), they were abandoned by the gods. Even Ares no longer protected them.
As a result, they suffered divine punishment and were on the brink of extinction.
At that moment, Hippolyta recalled Alaric's words from before, resolved to give it a try, and prayed for protection, receiving Hecate's salvation. Thus, they joined the magic pantheon.
Alaric greeted them one by one, after such a long time apart.
Finally, he saw a small white cat.
That was Himari.
Originally, this nekomata should have already been able to take human form.
However, Alaric had purified her bloodline, setting her on the path toward becoming an immortal.
In this way, her future would naturally far surpass that of an ordinary nekomata.
But under such circumstances, like a fox spirit, she would cultivate tails as she grew, from one tail to nine tails. Each tail represented a life, and only after completing nine tails and nine lives could she transform into a human.
Although watching the girls around Alaric increase one after another made Himari long to take human form, considering her desire to grow stronger and to do more for her master, she still steeled herself and chose the more difficult path.
However, cats are, after all, creatures with strong possessiveness…
Another newcomer appeared by her master's side, I endured it.
A horse (actually a unicorn) also tried to get close to her master, I endured that too.
But now, another of her own kind was shamelessly clinging to her master, how could she tolerate that?
Thus, upon seeing Bastet lazily lying in Alaric's arms, Himari could no longer hold back…
She didn't even bother to get close to her master after their long separation and directly went to pick a fight with Bastet.
She arched her back, her five already cultivated tails fully revealed, letting out a threatening "wuu wuu" growl.
"Uh…"
Seeing Himari's sudden hostility toward Bastet, Alaric was, to be honest, at a bit of a loss.
He had thought the two cats would get along well.
Who knew things would turn out like this the moment they met?
"Sorry," Alaric said, gently patting Bastet's head, "Himari doesn't mean it."
"Meow."
Bastet gracefully rolled over, rubbed against his neck, and indicated that she didn't mind.
Then she jumped down from Alaric's arms.
"Meow… "
Seeing the great enemy who had stolen her master come right before her, Himari's hostility intensified.
"Your girl seems to care about you quite a lot," Bastet's mature, lady-like voice sounded in Alaric's mind. "Let us handle matters between our own kind, meow."
"Himari is still young, you… don't bully her," Alaric said helplessly.
"Don't worry, meow," Bastet's voice was filled with cheerful excitement. "It's been a long time since I've met a 'kind' like this, I definitely won't bully her."
"Really?"
A trace of cold sweat unconsciously slid down Alaric's forehead.
Judging by Bastet's eager expression, it looked like Himari was about to be in trouble.
After finally finding a "owner" to dote on her, Bastet had now encountered someone she could truly call her own kind (a being whose lifespan allowed them to coexist for a long time, making them equals).
She felt that her life as a cat had finally reached its peak.
Toward this fellow of her kind, she harbored an extraordinary level of enthusiasm.