SON OF THE HERO KING

The discussion didn’t last long as Tiamat wasn’t that much interested in Nidhogg herself.

She generally lacked interest in anyone aside from her eight direct children and even then it was to a limited amount.

The only reason she even wanted to meet the girl in the first place was that she got interested in what kind of girl Yggdrasil would teach and what kind of power she had that interested him.

After all, as divine beasts who lived for thousands of years, few things could really pique their interest. They had simply seen too much.

What she saw didn't disappoint her. She had to admit that the result was pretty impressive and that her old friend's vision was still as good as in the past. He had found a raw gem.

Tiamat wasn’t one of those who shunned poison users for some reasons such as it being too sneaky. She believed that a warrior should use every weapon in their arsenal when it came to fighting.

After all, people only had one life. During the war, people like Yggdrasil and to a certain extent, Hydra, were far more useful than having an entire army on the battlefield.

They could easily tear apart the rabble and avoid having them drowned in a sea of chaos spawn while Tiamat and the other heavy hitters took care of the powerhouses.

As such, she was happy to have another powerful poison user on her side. Should the war resume, Nidhogg would be incredibly useful.

What made her lose interest in the girl was that while her poison was incredibly powerful and deadly, there was nothing else to it. Nidhogg was now the pet project of Yggdrasil and she had no wish to meddle in the situation.

Looking as Nidhogg and Phoebe left together, Sol understood once again how lucky he was.

Tiamat’s affection was not something she granted so easily. It was clear that she was extremely utilitarian and rather cold. He wondered if he would be appreciated like he was currently if he wasn’t Blaze’s son or didn’t have Chaos Physique and Dimensional magic.

“Your face is pretty scrunched.”

Tiamat commented idly on the side, causing Sol to turn towards her. He simply shrugged.

“I just thought you were quite harsh.”

Sol didn’t hide his feelings for there was no need to. Tiamat had clearly grasped them so it would simply be a waste of time.

“I like how direct you are.” Tiamat smiled, “I understand how callous I seem, but this is how I have always been. Are you disillusioned now?”

Tiamat wondered how he would answer. She distinctively remembered the same discussion happening between her and Blaze in much the same circumstances.

Though back then, the one she had sent away was Fafnir.

Blaze had been pretty outraged by the difference in treatments between her and her siblings and this had been the spark for one of their biggest disputes. All of it ended in a huge fight where Tiamat completely whipped Blaze's ass.

She didn’t need anyone to tell her how she was. She knew it very well more than anyone in this world and she had no wish to change it.

Was it wrong of her to do as a mother?

Probably yes. However, Tiamat never pretended to be a good mother.

She was a selfish, callous, prideful, and warmongering woman. She had many qualities but also had just as many flaws if not more.

But, did someone flawless even exist in the first place? At the very least, Tiamat knew that even the so-called Goddesses were not flawless.

Sol did not know Tiamat’s thoughts but he didn’t even need to think deeply about his answer. He shook his head with a smile.

“I have no reasons to be disillusioned. To be honest, I have no interest in how you treat other people. As long as I am being treated well, that is more than enough.”

Sol wasn’t a saint. Why would he risk his current position to fight for people he didn’t know nor care about?

The only dragon he was close to aside from Tiamat was Kiyohime and the woman clearly didn’t need anyone to fight on her behalf.

Tiamat opened her eyes wide at his answer before she exploded in laughter.

‘Truly, how delightful.’

Tiamat realized that she had been projecting the image of Blaze on Sol unconsciously. Perhaps it was out of her desire to see her daughter again? She didn’t know.

But with this, the illusion was completely broken.

Sol wasn’t Blaze. He had his own ideas and his own thoughts.

“I like your way of thinking.”

If before she had been caring for Sol out of guilt and a desire to see how far he could go, now she began to truly appreciate him for who he was.

Like her, he was a selfish, callous, prideful, and warmongering man.

But unlike her, he had way more people he cared for, people who also cared for him equally in return.

Having obtained more insights into Sol's personality, Tiamat decided to cut the conversation short.

“Well, let’s go visit those two Titans. We have something to uncover.”

She had been listening to the two sisters while they were imprisoned and from what she gathered the current situation was rather interesting.

She had been wondering how to get the help of the sisters. After all, while they were tightly constrained, there were limits to how much she could push them. The number of Titans that had defected to Order's side was extremely low and they didn’t want to push them away.

Thankfully, it seemed that the situation was easier than she thought.

Once again the power of Fate was something incredible.

“Let’s go.”

With a wave of her hand, both Sol and Tiamat vanished.

—-

“Look Skuld, we need to discuss how to…”

“How to do what?”

Verdandi tightened her fists at the unexpected voice before she turned to face Tiamat with a polite smile.

“Empress, it is very kind of you to honor us with your presence.”

Tiamat looked deeply at Verdandi, not misled by her fake smile. She knew that while that woman was one who acted weakly, once she decided that there was no other way, she would fight in the craziest way.

Her power represented the present. There was nothing more important than the present for her and so she was able to act however she wanted.

Verdandi meanwhile was sweating buckets. She had already contacted Ud to inform her of the situation but even though Ud was a demigod, intruding on Tiamat’s territory without justification would be suicide.

She thought that Tiamat would take more time in order to reminisce and whatnot with her descendants. It seemed that she was wrong.

Thankfully, Tiamat didn’t scrutinize her for too long and focused on Skuld.

“Little girl…”

“I am older than you.”

Skuld interrupted calmly, causing Tiamat to narrow her eyes.

In a way, Skuld wasn’t wrong. The Norns were part of the first generation of Titans. They were part of the same generation as Lucifer, Tiamat's predecessor as the divine beast of Pride.

As such, despite looking like a teen, Skuld was indeed older than Tiamat and that by quite a bit.

However, age was not everything.

“Are you provoking me?”

“Skuld!”

“Don’t worry sister. She won’t hurt us. At least not now. She still needs our help.”

Tiamat snarled, there were few things she hated more than people presuming what she could or not do. She could let it pass when it was from people she cared for. But from strangers?

A heavy aura began to emit out of her as she prepared herself to crush the impertinent girl.

“Before you decide to do away with me. Are you not curious about whether we can really help darling do what neither you nor Lucifer could? Because the answer is yes, we can do it.”

Tiamat stopped, “Speak and know that if your answer disappoints me, you will regret your insolence.”

Skuld's disposition had clearly changed. She wasn’t the smiling and excited young girl she portrayed herself to be but rather a wise woman whose experience and knowledge belied her appearance.

“Darling alone is really talented. More than you can imagine. He will create a zone out of this world. However, it won’t be enough. No matter what you do, he won’t be able to break the wall. But, if he has our help…He will succeed.”

As she said so, she threw a look filled with love at Sol. A look none present missed.

“Why do you want to help me?”

Sol, who had stayed silent until now, finally asked. He had an inkling of the answer, but he wanted to hear it clearly from her.

“Because you are my one and only Darling.”

Skuld gave one short answer that explained nothing but at the same time was filled with meaning.

The love Skuld had for Sol was clearly real or Skuld was a godly actress.

Still, there was one thing that was really puzzling Sol.

“Big sis. Tell me honestly, just what do you wish to do with me?”

This was seriously becoming worrying.

In order to just help him awaken his zone, Tiamat was using her own inheritance, the dragon pool, and the help of two Kings and perhaps another demigod-ranked Titans?

Just what the hell kind of Zone was she trying to make him awaken?

“Do you want me to be able to kill a King ranked as a Duke or something?”

Tiamat smiled bitterly.

“If only…”