The silver moon-mist suddenly scattered in alarm after the black cat spoke.
The girl, no longer having antlers, turned her head. In her vision, the golden earring on the cat's right ear was extremely eye-catching. It found a spot not far from the girl to lie down, leisurely tucking in its paws, its large emerald-green eyes looking at Mori Tsukisa.
"I see. You want to torture that man."
The black cat's voice was very distinctive; within the delicate and soft female voice, Mori Tsukisa could actually sense a certain cold and stern aura.
Roars, blood, swords.
"Of course, I used to be in this line of work."
The black cat flicked its tail with some pride. "Aren't you curious?" It meant—aren't you surprised that a cat can speak human language?
However, it didn't expect Mori Tsukisa to nod in realization. She puffed out her cheeks and turned around, calling out with a tentative and inquiring tone... "...Mama?"
The black cat froze.
"Mama... meow?"
Cat:..."No... you doing this..."
"Makes you even cuter than me..."
"Meow meow Mama?"
"Sigh." A cat paw reached out to cover its eyes, letting out a very human-like sigh. "I... I am not."
Mori Tsukisa didn't care if she was being silly. Anyway, ever since Oshtur appeared, everyone looked like a mother to her, so much so that the girl often fantasized about how her next mother would appear.
A cat... should be much cuter than that 'yellow-material' mother.
"I said I'm not!" The female meowing voice rose another pitch. "No wonder. I heard your name a long time ago, I just didn't expect..."
Under the girl's innocent gaze, the black cat swallowed the words it was about to say. "Didn't expect... you to be so cute."
"So, should I ask who you are?"
The person and the cat sat on the roof, chatting to the moon, while the man's screams drifted up from below from time to time.
"I am Bastet."
The voice finally became majestic. "Bastet?"
Bastet.
She remembered that name.
—The cat goddess of Ancient Egyptian mythology, once the goddess of war in Lower Egypt, later becoming the guardian of the home.
—She had always represented the moon.
"Meow." The black cat let out a cry. "Not the silver moon you're thinking of."
The black cat stood up. Under Mori Tsukisa's curious gaze, it arched its back and stretched. "I don't have a background as grand as yours. I am merely a fading Ancient Egyptian deity."
Mori Tsukisa had become very familiar with Egyptian mythology over these days. "Mm, a cat goddess whose ancestors were once prominent."
The black cat's little face crumpled up just like a human's. It got angry in a huff and turned its head away, refusing to look at her.
"Hey."
The black cat ignored her petulantly.
"Lady?"
Ignored, ignored.
The girl's emerald-green nails curled into her palms. She made fists at the sides of her chin, gave them a little twist, and smiled with her eyes crinkling. "Meow~?"
"Hmph!" It seemed Mori Tsukisa's 'cute attack' was super effective against this goddess. She reluctantly turned her face and stole a glance at Mori Tsukisa's adorable pose. "Hmph..."
It was hard to tell if the human was petting the cat or the cat was 'petting' the human, but from the looks of it, the possibility of the cat 'petting' Mori Tsukisa was greater.
"Cough, young new god, I am Bastet, and I have a deal—"
"Wait, did you say new god?" Mori Tsukisa lowered her hand. "Am I a deity?"
"It was just a figure of speech, I just said it on a whim!!" The short fur on the black cat's head puffed up. "Don't interrupt me! It took me a lot of effort to come up with those lines!"
Mori Tsukisa: "...Oh."
"Cough cough, young new god, I am—" The black cat recited for a long time in a monotone voice... but in the end, it still forgot the words it had prepared before coming.
This made it extremely annoyed.
"Hateful nails, hateful nails, bite you to death, bite you to death..."
Watching the black cat venting its anger on its own paws, Mori Tsukisa tentatively reached out and stroked... the cat's head.
Purr, purr, purr... As expected, it felt quite nice.
"Hmph, anyway, let's make a deal, Planeswalker."
"Eh, you knew? Then why say 'young new god'?" When the girl's nails touched the cat's chin, it seemed to trigger a button. This ancient deity instantly lifted its head, squinted its eyes, and comfortably placed its head in Mori Tsukisa's palm.
Purr, purr... "Comfortable... Oh, wasn't that cooler... I of course... yes, scratch there... I of course know you're a Planeswalker." Bastet flicked its ears. "Want to make a deal, super—cute little thing?"
The dark green cat eyes were somewhat similar to the color of Mori Tsukisa's nails. It lightly stepped its small paws, pacing around Mori Tsukisa with a hint of longing in its expression.
Mori Tsukisa's fingers brushed across the cat's back, and the short black fur twitched a few times.
"Let's hear it?"
"The god box." The black cat raised a front paw and licked the back of it with its pink tongue. "This World is gradually stripping away deities and breaking free from supernatural influence. Before long, an era without magic will arrive."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Bastet: "..."
"What do you know, you little bean-toe?" The black cat rolled its eyes at Mori Tsukisa, meowing curses under its breath. "Isn't your Source World also undergoing a Mystery Recovery?"
Mori Tsukisa's counterattack was to clamp the cat's head between her two cool little hands and rub it back and forth rapidly in her palms—then, the dizzy feline turned into a liquid state, slumped limply on the roof, limbs sprawled, revealing its soft belly.
"Whew... I almost want to be your Mama... To be petted by you every day, enjoy the comfort for a while, and then pet you back..."
No, if it's just for that, you don't necessarily have to be a mother... Bastet lazily lifted its cat head. "I once gave a group of humans a fragment of my divine power to protect them from failing in war."
This former goddess of war slowly recounted the legends preserved in books and scriptures. "But I took a nap, and when I opened my eyes, I found they were almost extinct."
Divine power only favors these humans, but it cannot prevent them from killing each other.
That day, the earth sank and the sky shattered.
But even after a thousand years, that fragment of Bastet's divine power is still sealed within the god box.
—To keep that fragment staying quietly with the humans and not presumptuously returning to the main body, Bastet had specifically asked Anubis, Guardian of the Duat, to create a gemstone box that would isolate the fragment's perception.
After speaking, the black cat twitched its whiskers. "Now it's troublesome. If I am not 'complete,' I cannot resist the World's stripping process. I've even gradually become unable to use my own power."
"It was just a nap, and that group of humans actually vanished from history..."
"Becoming a legend."
Mori Tsukisa nodded thoughtfully. "It sounds like a story about a cunning demon deceitfully tricking an innocent and cute girl into breaking its seal..."
"Innocent and cute..." Bastet sat next to Mori Tsukisa and looked at her sideways. "Rest assured, even facing the outcome of being stripped by the World is better than choosing to provoke you."
"Also, don't you want a dragon?"
That was the finishing move.
Sure enough, as soon as she heard 'dragon,' Mori Tsukisa immediately sat up excitedly. "Dragon! Dragon!"
"How about it?"
"Deal, deal, deal, deal! We have a deal, Lady Demon!"
Huh?
"I told you I'm not a demon! Have you not been listening to me at all?!"
The black cat sat down dejectedly, hugging its already somewhat balding paw and venting its anger again. "Bite you to death, bite you to death..."
Mori Tsukisa had indeed been listening intermittently. She looked down and stroked the black cat's small head apologetically. "Hee... I was looking at the moon. Your story was too long. Hey, stop biting, it's already going bald."
Suddenly, Bastet's pupils constricted inward into a slit. "Actually... you don't care what I am at all, do you?"
Mori Tsukisa nodded with a grin.
"What does it matter? I just want a dragon."
"Even if I really were a demon? After breaking the seal, destroying the World, tearing the earth apart..."
"What does it matter? I just want a dragon."
Bastet silently looked at the smiling Mori Tsukisa. There was not a single shadow on the girl's bright face. "I understand. Then, we have reached a deal, Walker of All Realms."
Its black body slowly melted into the deep night. "Find the book of the dead, recite the incantation, and resurrect the High Priest. Three thousand years ago, he had contact with that group of humans."
"Find out the city where my god box is hidden and the descendants of those humans."
Mori Tsukisa listened carefully this time. Just before the black cat faded away, the girl suddenly spoke.
"Um... have you always been a cat?"
"I mean, since you woke up."
"Of course... I have almost no power left."
Bastet's deliberately affected tone sounded like a stage actor in a play. "Before dusk arrives, light the candle flame. The Sun will become your compass, guiding you to the secrets buried beneath the yellow sands... Everything is in your hands, young..."
"Then, when you're in heat, do you also lick your own butt?"
Bastet:...Bite you to death, bite you to death!!
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