[Standing before you is a unique existence: the Mother of Creation, the goddess Tiamat.]
[At the dawn of creation, she was betrayed by the gods and imprisoned in a world of imagination, where she slept for ages. When she awakens, her actions will no longer be guided by complex thought, but by the most fundamental instinct—an instinct to "return everything to nothingness."]
Thump, thump...
When Izaya saw the system reminder before him, it felt as if a heavy heartbeat resonated straight into his soul.
But reality gave no time for thought.
A pair of majestic, beastly eyes slowly opened. Looking at the small human before her, those eyes held neither anger nor murderous intent. There was only a "motherly love" so powerful it seemed to pour into everything she did.
"Come back, my child..."
But what greeted Izaya's childish embrace was not Tiamat's gentle hug, but endless sticky black mud—a force that was more than mere magic. This mud could dissolve any "individual" and return all things to the original "Sea of Life!"
[Even when suddenly faced with the 'awakened' Tiamat and her incredibly gentle maternal love, you could not feel at ease. Because you know exactly what fate awaits if you touch the 'Sea of Life.']
[Yet, before the true goddess of creation, neither Mystic Eyes of Disaster nor the One Thread of Fate could analyze or find any trace of life before this absolute motherly love.]
[No matter what you do, it seems you cannot calm this mother who only wants to 'recycle' you.]
A huge hand, formed from condensed black mud, swept across the sand like a child consuming it.
But at that moment—
Boom!
A special, absolute gravity exploded outward without warning, its center focused on Izaya's body.
This wasn't his own power. Instead, gravity, with an unquestionable will, "ruled" over everything, repelling all the black mud approaching him.
Izaya bowed his head and gazed at his hands, as if faintly realizing something. He muttered to himself, "The Foreign God?"
After the simulated return, he searched his pockets, but the seed given by the Foreign God was gone.
Could it be... at that time, she returned with me?
There was no time to ponder. In this precious moment of respite, he pushed his strength, already past its limit, outward without hesitation.
[Talent: Empathy – Extreme Activation!]
He didn't resist. Instead, he conveyed pure human emotions—struggle, pain, and the will to "live"—directly to Tiamat.
For a single instant, Tiamat's massive form trembled. For the first time, in those once-vacant eyes, a fleeting trace of clarity appeared.
"You..."
What she first saw was the black-haired man before her. The giant hand of black mud, which had been bearing down on the sand, stopped in midair.
With the last fragment of reason, she tore open the imagined world before her, creating a "crack" leading to the outer world.
A gentle voice, as if holding back emotion, resounded directly in Izaya's heart.
"Quickly..."
Her eyes brimmed with sorrow. Through "Empathy," Izaya glimpsed the loneliness and isolation of her long imprisonment.
So dark... so cold... Alone... How long has it been...? Children... Where are all my children? Why... ...won't you let me be with them...?
A powerful suction drew Izaya into the spatial rift. As he was about to be swallowed, he couldn't help but harbor doubts.
Surely, the simulator wouldn't assign an impossible mission for no reason. After all, the mission was not to destroy Tiamat, but to make her sleep again.
So, how should he make her sleep?
...Wait. The assignment was to put her to sleep, but it never specified where she should sleep, did it?
Izaya's eyes suddenly sparkled with an idea.
Just as the rift was closing and Izaya was about to be teleported, the crack suddenly widened again!
Tiamat, as if straining with disbelief, slowly lifted her head. Spotting the black-haired man in the gap, she reached for it with all her might, her upper body entering the cage of nothingness.
"Tiamat!"
With the face of the Mother of Creation before him, he reached out his hand through the crack.
"My name is Izaya. I promise, I will save you one day.
So... get out of here with me now!"
"Follow... are you... ...leaving?"
She let out a confused, halting voice.
But Izaya had no time to speak further. He simply gripped the crack with one hand, extending the other, holding out his hand for her to take.
Time seemed to stretch out, yet it was only an instant.
Finally, under the stern and determined gaze of Izaya, Tiamat hesitantly extended her hand.
Her immense fingertip gently touched Izaya's small palm, and a unique form of magic quietly activated in the space.
[Beast's Cradle EX!]
The moment they touched, the inorganic domain was forcibly overwritten by the laws of an entirely different world.
In the next instant, they were already standing on land shrouded in a peaceful night.
A brilliant galaxy streamed overhead, and countless rare plants glowed gently in the dark earth.
The moment Tiamat appeared, her instinct as the Mother of Creation immediately activated—not out of hostility, but an instinctual compulsion, to "return" everything to the beginning of creation.
Unexpectedly, when the immense Sea of Life touched this land, it quietly settled down.
The root reason for Tiamat creating the black mud was to save her children from the suffering of independent existence. But inside this unique Tunguska cultural barrier, the law itself told Tiamat, "Your children can finally sleep peacefully."
Thus, her instinct to "recycle" everything lost its driving force.
No more pain, no more hearing the sorrow of her children. For Tiamat, this was the perfect "cradle."
Her immense form finally stilled, and in that moment, she stopped her destructive impulse for "return."
Izaya gazed at her incomparable beauty and closed eyes. At last, the tension in his body relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Rest well, Tiamat.
From now on, I promise I'll find a way to truly save you."
The sleeping goddess seemed to hear his voice. A distant, gentle "Aaa..." echoed from the earth in reply.
[System Prompt: Target Beast II's spiritual activity has temporarily dropped to the minimum threshold.]
['Sleeping Mother' simulation ended...]
...
Izaya suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath.
At some point, cold sweat had seeped across his brow.
Unexpectedly, his second simulation task was also related to Tiamat.
Thanks to that mission, for now, he was not allowed to "save" the Mother... Otherwise, even if the Foreign Gods fought, the odds were slim.
"The Foreign Gods..."
Izaya recalled the powerful "gravity" that had repelled the Sea of Life in the simulation.
Where did that power come from?
Knock, knock—
Just then, a sudden knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
Rubbing his aching head, Izaya got up from bed.
The moment he opened the door, his eyes were unconsciously drawn to the girl standing before him.
What caught his gaze was her delicate, porcelain-white cheeks.
The girl wore an elegant, classic sky-blue dress, a pure white ribbon tied at her slender waist, tracing a soft, graceful curve. The corridor's light gently illuminated her supple golden hair. Her small lips were slightly pursed, and she wore a sweet, bright smile.
Izaya blinked, dazed for a moment. "...Manaka?"
Before he could react, the girl had already stepped forward, hugging him. Her soft body pressed close.
A clear voice, brimming with nostalgia and joy, rang out:
"Long time no see... Elder brother."
…