Chapter 460: He Wants to Weave the [Dragon Eater] into Myth
Athena was staring with horror at the materializing figure before her.
It was a massive cross, with someone nailed to it?
Their entire body was tightly bound in restraints?
Even their eyes seemed sewn shut, with bloody tears streaming from the seams—a truly spine-chilling sight.
As the figure grew clearer, it became apparent that the upper half of the body had pitch-black wings, giving the impression of a Fallen Angel mounted on an execution frame?
Hmm? The lower half was also coming into focus—was that a serpent's tail?
Upon closer inspection, it resembled more the slender, scaled form of a dragon.
So, what kind of monster was this, half-Fallen Angel and half-serpent, bound head to toe in restraints and pierced by countless nails? What kind of sin would warrant such a cruel and horrifying punishment?
"Ughhhh...!"
A ghastly sound emanated from the restrained mouth, sending shivers down Athena's spine.
"What in the world is this? Asherah?"
Athena turned with an even grimmer expression to the young man who had fully materialized beside her earlier.
After all, the previous experiment involved him taking Asherah away.
Now, upon his return, he brought back this monster that felt like a natural predator to her. Had Asherah been subjected to some experiment, or had some mutation occurred?
"It's not Asherah. Have any of you heard the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Why were they cast out?"
"Are you saying... this is the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve?"
Lucretia immediately grasped the implication.
In the woven mythological tale, Adam and Eve, tempted by the serpent, defied God's command and ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus incurring divine wrath that led to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Could this anomalous serpent before them be the very same one from the myth?
Was this cruel punishment inflicted upon the serpent after God learned of its wicked deeds?
No such story was known in this realm.
Ah, it finally dawned on Lucretia—this serpent did not originate from this world's mythology but was instead the serpent from another world's myths.
After all, it made no effort to conceal its foreign origins, likely hailing from a parallel world like the Bright-Eyed Princess, yet not from her specific dimension.
"This serpent bears a title in our world—Dragon Eater."
"Dragon Eater!"
Athena's eyelids twitched as she murmured the name.
Bestowed with such an epithet, it logically followed that this creature specialized in preying upon dragons as its sustenance, did it not?
Thus, Athena—herself an embodiment of dragon-serpent divinity—instinctively sensed that primal threat of a natural predator, correct?
Yet currently, the monster merely evoked in Athena a predator-like sense of peril, without genuinely projecting power that could endanger her.
After all, this entity did not truly belong to this world.
Suddenly, as a realization struck her, Athena's face paled dramatically.
"You... could it be that you intend to tamper with mythology, weaving this creature into the myths?"
She voiced her speculation in a voice tinged with a slight tremble.
"As expected of the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena."
The one who said this—Renji—also began to clap, earning him a dead-fish-eyed glare from the loli goddess.
He indeed intended to alter the myths, turning this Dragon Eater into an assassin for the Earth Mother Goddesses of this world.
Of course, it wasn't meant to target goddesses like Athena who hadn't yet submitted, but rather to counter the supporters of [The Last King]—his supporters being those Divine Ancestors.
Moreover, the one behind [The Last King] was also a goddess, and since the goddesses of this world were almost all related to dragons and serpents, it might prove effective against her as well.
Just as his words fell, a series of snapping sounds suddenly echoed—the restraints binding the Dragon Eater had been broken.
Originally, these restraints possessed special powers, but after arriving in this world, their power had faded, allowing the Dragon Eater to break free through brute strength.
So, the moment it broke free, it unhesitatingly lunged to kill Athena.
Thus, Renji also released Athena's abilities, wanting to see just how capable the Dragon Eater in its current state could be in this world.
This was a space filled with gray nothingness.
This was the end of the Netherworld.
This was the entrance to the immortal realm.
"Aisha~ Aisha~"
It seemed her foster mother was calling her again.
So, Lady Aisha groggily opened her eyes and saw a blurry figure before her.
"Hmm? It really is a dream, otherwise why would it stay so blurry?"
She rubbed her eyes several times, but it remained just as hazy, almost on the verge of disappearing. The outline of its body flickered unsteadily, like a character from a television with poor signal.
"Aisha, Aisha, can you hear my voice?"
"I can hear you, foster mother. What did you want to tell me?"
"Can you still control the corridor? Is there any way to close it?"
"Ah? That... I'm sorry, foster mother. I don't have the power of a Campione at all right now. Oh, but I have this kind of power now, look—"
Lady Aisha manifested the six wings on her back, and a halo appeared above her head, making her look exactly like an angel...
So, the foster mother, who had suddenly become a bit clearer before her eyes, was left utterly stunned.
"Uh, this... you, you've become an angel?"
Pandora said in a flustered tone.
"Mhm, mhm, mhm! I came to another parallel world where I can hardly use any of the Authorities of a Campione, but I joined the church and became a nun. In the end, I was even noticed by Miss Gabriel and reborn as a beautiful maiden angel~"
Aisha said this playfully, giving off a childlike, unfinished feeling, and she struck a holy pose, acting cute.
"Miss Gabriel? Over there, she's female?"
"Yes, and also, the Lord over there is the second generation."
After the other party appeared, they also explained some matters to Miss Gabriel and even summoned a monster that frightened Aisha.
That Asherah was so scared she fainted on the spot and lost control, wetting the ground.
By the time Aisha regained her senses, the other party had already left with that monster, leaving Lady Aisha feeling somewhat awkward and a little resentful.
From start to finish, it was as if she had been ignored—she was still a beautiful maiden, after all.
Perhaps it was also because Miss Gabriel was too beautiful, and she was merely a six-winged angel, so there was no need to pay her much attention.
No, wait—it seemed he had glanced at her a few more times, but not because of her charm. The extra glances seemed more out of surprise that there was a brown-skinned angel among them?
This gave Lady Aisha a slight sense of being discriminated against.
"Second generation? Let's not dwell on that 0.6. Aisha, can you find a way to close those corridors? Otherwise, we're in big trouble."
"Huh? Why?"
"All the corridors you opened in the past are now undergoing spacetime distortions, connecting to other parallel worlds."
"What? Are they all connected to my world?"
"No, probably not. The world you're in is too distant. More corridor entrances are linking to another parallel world, causing the myths of the two worlds to collide intensely."
This was the reason for Pandora's current panic.
The cause of all this was that woman. She had gone mad, driven by some unknown stimulus, and was about to trigger a conflict between the myths of two worlds.
Most importantly, this woman wasn't just connecting two worlds—she was preparing to link a third parallel world as well.
So, Pandora urgently needed Aisha to close her corridors as soon as possible.