Everyone's thoughts momentarily froze.
Except for Bastet.
She separated a wisp of silver mist that turned into a spirit cat, biting Imhotep's trailing robe. After the man crouched down, she whispered a few words in his ear. Soon, the dissipating spirit cat used all its strength to drag a sun golden scripture back to Bastet.
The Valkyrie grabbed the heavy book, flipped it open, and aimed it directly at the diminished Anubis, Guardian of the Duat.
"Bastet..."
The shrunken jackal looked like a black Husky, and his attempts at fierce howling turned into somewhat comical babbling. Bastet solemnly turned to a certain page of the sun golden scripture, and divine words leaped out from the golden pages one by one—
"I will only seal you for a hundred years." The cat-headed Valkyrie looked at the nearly silent Anubis, Guardian of the Duat. His defeat was certain. Now that the plan to ascend to the Multiverse had failed, he had nothing left to say to the gods.
Bastet said she would seal him for a hundred years, but in reality, it would only take ten years. Once the Valkyrie finished digesting her own divine power, she would have the strength to awaken the Sun God.
And it was hard to say what the Sun God would do to a deity who had stolen his divine power.
Everything was about to end.
"I was so close to succeeding..." The phantom of a chariot racing out of the golden pages sped like lightning. The guards upon it pierced Anubis, Guardian of the Duat's body with sharp pitchforks and spears, dragging him toward another World.
"Multiverse..."
"Bastet, sooner or later... sooner or later, you will make the same choice!"
"Multiverse!!"
A black gust of wind howled, the River of Death retracted to the Origin Point, and after the chariot and Anubis, Guardian of the Duat vanished through the portal, it suddenly turned into a bubble and vanished with a 'pop' from the space of the mortal realm.
The dome returned to normal, and that pale blue gem continued to rotate silently.
It was over... a heart-pounding battle had ended in a somewhat ridiculous way. The black cat, skilled in combat and perception, had long ago discovered that a great terror was hidden behind Mori Tsukisa—but who would have thought of her mother? Such a terrifying Creator God was her mother?
"Who is your father?"
This was what the black cat wanted to ask most.
Mori Tsukisa wanted to know too.
"The fledgling defeated a god alone... This time, your name will be known by even more high-level beings..." Bastet lamented, but the girl didn't take the credit, shaking her head vigorously.
"It was with your and ilúvatar's help. How can it be considered alone?"
"Huh? You think you could have defeated Anubis, Guardian of the Duat in that state?" Bastet was amused: "Although he couldn't fully replace them, by stealing divine power, he controlled almost half the power of the Ancient Egypt divine camp."
"You want to face half a pantheon alone? Do you even know what a pantheon is?"
"Think about it with that nut-sized brain of yours!"
Mori Tsukisa was startled, her eyes widening: "Did you hide a nut in my head?"
Nagini approached at some point and teased with a look of realization: "I told you she asked the Master to hide the nut..."
Bastet immediately turned around, giving this unscrupulous Master-servant pair a view of her black backside: "You guys are going to use this lame joke for the rest of your lives, aren't you..."
The sound of soft groans of awakening broke the chatter.
Looking back, Baru was holding Sheeta. The two slowly opened their eyes, looked at each other, and then looked toward Mori Tsukisa from a distance.
"Hi! How did you sleep last night?"
"We... slept for a night?"
..."I can see it now. You just like to tease those silly fellows." Bastet glanced at Baru and Sheeta, who almost believed it, and sneered disdainfully: "You really have a lot of quirks."
"I just like to tease those silly little fellows." Mori Tsukisa agreed and reached out a small white paw to pinch the black cat's tail... "Mori Tsukisa!"
Several people walked directly under the giant flying stone, bypassing Muska's corpse. Before them was the power source of this floating castle, the Children of the Wind's flying stone.
Inside the pale blue crystal, the surface of a box, faintly tinged with black and silver, was visible—Bastet's god box.
"How do we get it out?" The topic returned to the beginning. Mori Tsukisa looked at the tight-lipped Sheeta, then at the excited Baru.
Baru had gone through so much hardship and spent years longing to reach this legendary city, yet less than half a day after stepping onto this land, she would have to destroy it with her own hands.
It was indeed cruel.
"It can only be shattered." Bastet's ruthless words shattered their hopes: "I need to touch the god box itself... That... Sheeta?"
After traveling with Mori Tsukisa, this black cat had finally learned how to be apologetic and embarrassed. She looked up and paced to Sheeta: "I'm sorry, but I must do this. I need my divine power."
"As compensation, I can grant you one wish, descendant of Laputa." She paused and added: "Within the scope of my Ability."
Before Sheeta could reply, Mori Tsukisa excitedly started giving suggestions: immortality, countless gold coins, spellcasting abilities, or making her her pet!
Even Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun, who had once committed regicide for love, couldn't help but look askance at Mori Tsukisa's greed... What a bold (idiotic) Lady Witch... "Master..." Nagini hesitated, gently tugging at Mori Tsukisa's sleeve: "That's a bit too..."
"Greedy." Bastet glanced at the girl, then at Sheeta: "That's Mori Tsukisa's idea. What about you? Do you want to make a wish like that too?"
"The end of Laputa is a foregone conclusion. I suggest you think carefully about what kind of request you want to make of me."
As for immortality... to be honest, with Mori Tsukisa around, Bastet didn't want to resort to the methods of Apep, the Chaos Serpent—like... immortality?
"—From today on, you're an immortal... tree. You won't be able to speak or move; you won't even have eyes. You can only feel the external wind and rain through your branches and bark, and draw nutrients through roots deep in the ground."
This is another form of immortality... would they like it?
—Gold coins, endless gold coins? Appearing from the vestibule of your pale pink brain. Just ten would burst a Mortal's skull.
—Spellcasting ability? Good... from today, you will be able to use magic. But the price is, every time you use it, your lifespan decreases by a hundred years.
Do you like it?
—Want a god to be a Mortal's pet? Sure.
When the identities of Master and pet are confirmed, that is the moment the Mortal dies. After all, when playing with cats and dogs, one occasionally hurts oneself. Keeping a god... Her 'hurt' means the soul dissipates.
Do you like it?
The answer given by people like Mori Tsukisa is exactly the kind that Abyss creatures and monsters in the Chaos Sea love most: full of holes like a sieve, and the requester isn't very smart... Generally, when you answer, you've almost lost everything.
Unless like the current situation: there is a powerful deterrent (Miss Sen and her mother), and the wish-granter is on the side of good gods—probably. This is the basic guarantee for the safety of the requester.
But it doesn't mean the god will satisfy your greedy wishes.
—Mortals love to wag their tongues at dragons when they are unarmed, thinking the other won't dare swallow them. They even think they can bind those battle-hardened, naturally transcendent creatures with mere words.
How arrogant.
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