SON OF THE HERO KING

The moment Skuld kissed Sol, Tiamat narrowed her eyes and was immediately about to separate the two of them.

For mortals, a kiss might be something romantic, but it wasn’t only that for people like them.

For any magical being, the exterior of their bodies gave them a protection against magical attacks of varying degrees. This was even more so for Chaos Dragons like her and Sol.

Since Sol wasn’t able to nullify all magical attacks like her, kissing him was the perfect way to break past his defense and use a spell on him.

Tiamat immediately remarked on the oddity of the situation. After all, for Skuld to act like this, it meant that she already knew that Sol was a Chaos Dragon and prepared herself for it. It gave even more credibility to the gibberish she was spouting.

Still, Tiamat wasn’t willing to play around with the security of her grandson. There were plenty of ways to discover if all of this was the truth or not.

“I am alright, Big Sis.”

Tiamat immediately yanked Skuld away and approached Sol to inspect his current state.

“I am really alright.”

Tiamat stopped and looked at the calm but firm eyes looking back at her.

‘Something changed.’

She couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but it was like Sol had matured in just an instant. For a boy already as mature as he was, such an obvious change in such a short amount of time should have been impossible.

“What did you do?”

Tiamat spoke quietly as she directed an icy gaze towards Skuld. It was clear that this time, she was well and truly angry.

The world itself seemed to react to the anger of the Empress as both Skuld and Verdandi felt an urge to kneel under the pressure that was crushing them.

It wasn’t even gravity. It was just a pure and unadulterated feeling of awe that was filling them down to their marrow.

“Please.”

Hearing the pleading tone in Sol’s voice, Tiamat faltered and her pressure receded as fast as it appeared.

Now she was really worried.

Even when Sol had asked her help the last time regarding Sheherazade, he had done it with an air full of confidence.

After passing the last few days with Sol, Tiamat understood that Sol was truly a dragon. Despite his gentle and mild exterior appearance, he was someone full of pride.

The only thing that could make him lower his head was a problem that concerned people he cared about and it shouldn’t be a small problem.

Thinking about it like this, Tiamat decided to not act rashly.

When Sol saw that Tiamat had once again listened to him, he gave a weak but gentle smile full of gratitude. He really appreciated that Tiamat was willing to do so much for him.

‘All of this is my fault.’

The love and care Tiamat had and showed for him made him feel even more guilty about all the pain and destruction his presence would bring to her and her family.

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he shook his head and berated himself inwardly.

Now wasn’t the time to act like such a wretch. He could wallow in guilt and despair all he wanted once the situation was resolved.

“Let me explain everything…”

—---

Tiamat listened silently as Sol explained everything to her while Skuld unwillingly chimed on the side as she gave further precision.

If at first she had been full of disbelief, when Sol finished with the last words of the future him, Tiamat entered deep in thought though, compared to what Sol may have imagined, her thoughts were following a completely different track.

The fact that the future Sol had a hint of divinity even without being Blessed showed that he had traced an entirely new and different path.

If he had truly managed to become strong enough to rewrite and rewind the entire world back to thousands of years… Tiamat could only shudder at how strong he must have become.

Inwardly, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should keep everything on track just to see the birth of such a mighty being. However she immediately discarded this thought.

She didn’t want to see Sol go through unneeded suffering and she certainly didn’t wish to see her realm get destroyed.

Of course, all of this hung on the fact that what Skuld said was the truth rather than an elaborate trap to trick them.

“You are saying that you can make him even stronger than he was in the vision?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

Skuld admitted frankly and explained the reason. Future Sol had reached a height of power unheard of. He was unable to enter godhood in the end but he still managed to become a false god that was no weaker than any of the goddesses.

Be it Ymir or the Sins and Virtue Goddesses.

Still, the transformation of his Zone as a Duke or the True Name he received as a King, none of them were fixed.

After all, those were dependent on too many external factors such as the experience, memories, and way of thinking.

If they managed to avert the approaching crisis, would the Sol who didn’t go through all that pain and suffering still manage to reach the same level or surpass his future self?

This was a question no one could answer.

“So this is why you showed me all those memories.”

Sol muttered to which Skuld concurred.

“That’s right. While it’s impossible for us to completely recreate the situation, by showing you those memories we can at least bring you to a state of mind that is a little closer to him. Well, whether it will be enough or not is uncertain but Darling was never worried about this.”

Tiamat nodded, “One last question…Why did Sol lose his blessings?”

Skuld sneered at Tiamat, “Do you think those haughty goddesses would accept getting erased because of Sol's wish to go back to the past? The spell wasn’t safe. Darling literally collided the normal world and the reverse world against each other to fuel the energy necessary for the rewind.

“Failure would have meant the death of everyone. In the last moments of his life, darling could be said to have become the enemy of the world itself. Of course, you were no exception and were even one of our greatest hunters. If not because of the Supreme Witch and the Necromancer King giving help, we would have never succeeded.”

Tiamat frowned.

Would she really chase after Sol because of the goddesses order?

No matter how weakened she might have been, Tiamat did not believe that she was the kind of person to do something like this.

Did her mental state deteriorate? Or was it because she was unwilling to put her destiny at the end of Sol's crazy plan?

Sol didn't even try to think about this. What the future Tiamat did was of no importance to the current situation.

As for Anubis and Ambrosia helping him, Sol wasn't particularly surprised.

Whatever he did, having the knowledge of Ambrosia who was a master at witchcraft and of Anubis who was one of the first mortal demigods would have been a great boon.

Furthermore, while he didn't know Anubis, if he loved his daughter even half as much as Ambrosia loved hers, then with Isis and Medea dead, the situation was normal.

Ruffling his hair, Sol tried to keep his train of thoughts straight and steady.

His head throbbed and all he wanted was to lay down and sleep but he couldn't afford to.

Not now at least.

Even as he closed his eyes, he could still see the horrors that were previously shown to him.

If he had seen those pictures before his training in Tartarus, he would have most likely snapped.

"Sol?"

"*Sigh*....Okay. Okay. I am good. Don’t worry. I…"

"I believe this is enough for today."

Sol wanted to continue the discussion but was stopped short by Tiamat.

"There is no point in insisting. My decision is taken. You need to rest today. We will continue later after all of us have rested a little."

Sol closed his mouth as he had been on the verge of complaining but since he knew his current state more than anything, he understood that his mind wasn't at its best now.

"I understand. So please, let's make things a little clearer."

Sol rained his fingers, "First, while I believe in Skuld, we need to investigate the truth of the matter. After all, it isn't impossible that she may be getting manipulated without her knowledge."

Skuld simply shrugged, not surprised. In fact she would have been pretty disappointed if Sol simply accepted everything she said, even though she would have been happy for the trust.

'Darling is still darling after all.'

Skuld thought with a complicated smile.

Sol, who did not know Skuld’s thought, continued, "Second, if everything is the truth, we need to make preparations. I don't know if Ymir will still use this moment to strike. But it's necessary to prepare ourselves."

Sol wanted to understand everything about his future self and all his power. The better understanding he had the more he could make a difference later.

"As for the last one…"

Sol thought about a beautiful but lazy cat that had been following him since the Phoenix's territory.

It seemed like it was time to make a decision.