SHK CH 735 (Patreon)

After his discussion with Sol ended, Anubis announced Sol’s awakening to the whole tower. It went as one could have expected. His room was immediately swarmed by dozens of women, all caring for his well-being. Isis, in fact, was already crying and hugging Sol, but no one mocked her as even the most stoic women of the group were slightly teary-eyed. 

This reaction was quite normal. After all, this was undoubtedly Sol’s first time to be wounded to such an extent. Even after having a hole made in his body by the Wolf King’s spear during the war, Sol had simply shrugged the wounds off and healed. 

Anubis smiled at this sight and left. Now that Sol was awake, his job here was done. He would leave the rest to the girls. 

Walking in the hallway, he briefly looked to his right and whistled. 

“Not going to meet him?” He asked the tall, dark-skinned woman who was resting against the wall not far from Sol’s room.

Nent. One of the Phoenix Queens and perhaps the strongest phoenix alive after Gabriel. The Eldest of them all and a war veteran who once stood in the frontline alongside the dragon Queen, Kiyohime, against the force of Chaos.

She was a beautiful woman. Long flowing red hair and a voluptuous body that many men would die for. No matter what opinions he may have had about her, her physical beauty was undeniable. 

But for Anubis. Such ephemeral beauty was simply worthless. All he cared was the interior, the soul and for that very reason, in the past, Anubis had found Nent to be nothing but an eyesore. An ugly, worthless, demented woman who was running towards her own ruin and alienating all those who cared for her in a desire for revenge and recognition.

Her desperation and growing madness reminded him too much of Echidna, and he knew that such a road was a direct path to self-destruction.

Now, though, her sad and rotten soul was bright enough that one would think she bathed in holy water regularly. Which he was sure she did. But it was simply because Holy water was not all that rare in the Astral Realm.

Some even said that it was very good for the skin.

Nent gave a mature smile and ignored the strange glance Anubis sent her. She knew what opinion Anubis had about her in the past and thought their relationship had considerably eased off, but there was still a little awkwardness between them.

“I have time. For now, I will just let the women here spend time with him.” She answered his question with a short shrug. She was in no hurry. She always had full confidence in Sol's ability to wake up and heal, and as such, she had been less worried than the other women. 

After all, she had seen firsthand what kind of miracle he could accomplish. In her opinion, there was little Sol could not accomplish if given enough time.

“I just wanted to take a closer look at some of those women.” She mused.

She was more interested in observing the women around Sol. During the last few days, she had not been able to look at or discuss properly with them as everyone was tense and isolated. Sol was their anchor, and with him in a dire situation, there were few reasons for them to mingle.

Now that she was here, she could see that Sol was truly surrounded by a group of monsters. 

All extremely talented in their own right, and some more than others. She had always thought that Sol was exaggerating when he described them but now she realized that he had, in fact, been underselling them.

“If those women were born and raised in the Astral Realm, they would have been monsters.” She muttered. 

Anubis looked behind him, his eyes landing on the women hugging Sol for an instant, but then shook his head.

“This is where you are wrong. Sure, they are talented. But this talent would have never blossomed if they were born in the current Astral Realm. Things might have been different if they were born during one of the wars, though.”

He grinned. “Mortal struggles. To reach the peak, combat and struggles are inevitable. This is why so many of them can reach the King rank while only a limited number of Divine Beasts reached the King rank in the Astral World.”

Anubis laughed. Talent was great, but it was never enough to reach the apex. A lot of luck and a lot of hard work were necessary as well. 

Nent nodded in acknowledgement and started walking away. 

Meeting Sol was nice, but this was not why she came down to the Mortal Realm. 

It was now time for her to meet Nefertiti.

***

Watching Nent’s departing back, Anubis nodded to himself. She had truly changed. Her goal was still the same, but she lacked the all-consuming darkness that had once filled her heart and mind.

My son-in-law is really incredible.

Anubis laughed and took the stairs. His direction, the hanging garden. Nent was not the only one who had put on pause an important discussion while waiting for Sol to wake up. 

Now that they were sure that the boy was in no danger, it was time for him to meet with people who had once been very dear to him. 

He could have just flown to the rooftop or teleported, but his steps were slow even as he climbed the Tower. 

Memories he had thought long buried were resurfacing. Some were warm and others much less so. 

His adventures in the past had not always been all roses and sunshine. In fact, he suffered greatly as a bastard born to the Demon King. 

A union between an unwilling, lowly woman and an all-powerful King that nearly ruled the entire world. The result was easy to guess. When compared to his numerous siblings, he had nothing special and was just a low born.

Mocked, despised, and rejected by a world he had never wished to be born into, Anubis went nearly mad and perhaps he would have done so had he not met them. 

Stopping at the Hanging Garden gate, Anubis gazed at the two women sitting face to face and gave a bitter smile.

“Ambrosia. Echidna. It has been a while.”

This should have been a happy reunion. But Anubis knew.

The three young dreamers of yesteryears were no more.