Chapter 236: Wrapping Up (12)
Chapter 236: Wrapping Up (12)
Tiamat kept very few followers.
Before she ascended to godhood, she was originally a dragon.
Dragons were the most powerful mortal beings and were solitary by nature. Perhaps because she was so accustomed to this, she never felt the need to gather subordinates or build a faction.
Furthermore, even during her time as a mortal, her strength was so immense that it was difficult to compare her to other dragons.
While dragons might cooperate on occasion, they generally preferred to live alone within their own territories. Even so, it was common for them to gather various intelligent beings to serve their whims or desires, forming a base of power.
Tiamat, however, was unique in that she felt no such need.
As mentioned before, her overwhelming power was one of the primary reasons.
Because Tiamat was such a formidable existence, other dragons and gods viewed her solitary path as a sign of arrogance, yet they did not find it strange.
"If it's Tiamat, it makes sense."
"She's so strong that subordinates might actually get in her way."
That was how other dragons thought of her when she was one of them, and the sentiment remained the same after she ascended as a god.
However, there was one more reason why she didn't create many subordinates.
It was a reason that those who already knew her—those who understood the sheer magnitude of her power—would find hard to believe.
Surprisingly, the hidden reason Tiamat didn't gather many followers was that she hated seeing them get hurt or die. She hated the thought of them dying before her.
On the surface, Tiamat appeared to be a sublime being who remained indifferent to others.
But contrary to this common perception, she was someone who cared deeply for her subordinates and paid them a great deal of attention.
In truth, it wasn't that Tiamat had never created subordinates from the start.
However, it broke her heart to see her first followers get caught up in battles and die... or to watch those whose lifespans were clearly shorter than hers pass away as their time ran out.
Because of that, Tiamat had intended to never take subordinates again.
But after becoming a god and fighting against the Evil Gods, she realized the necessity of having followers.
The Evil Gods were worshipped by demons and used them to commit atrocities, destroying and shattering various worlds. It was too difficult for Tiamat to step in and stop every single one of these acts personally.
The demonic hosts were massive, and the Evil Gods who opposed Tiamat would immediately move to block her whenever she intervened. Thus, it was impossible for her to eliminate every demon and prevent all damage on her own.
This was an unavoidable reality, even for a being who had become a powerful god.
Ultimately, Tiamat decided to create followers...
But when she began to do so, she differed from other gods. She kept only a very small number of followers and took special care to grant them immense power.
While some other gods occasionally did this as well, Tiamat put an extraordinary amount of effort into it.
It was an act quite unlike her usual indifferent and disinterested persona.
Even so, she didn't try to make a show of it. Instead, she remained silent, wordlessly granting them power without interfering in their lives.
Tiamat knew that when a superior tries too hard to be kind or helpful, it can often feel burdensome to those beneath them.
This was the Tiamat who, while she was forced into a slumber, decided to appoint a Proxy to help her followers and prevent the Evil Gods and demons from escaping Nippur to Earth.
That was how Han Shin became Tiamat’s Proxy.
And just as Tiamat had hoped, he performed better than she could have ever expected.
He grew strong at an incredible pace, and she could see him working tirelessly to thwart the demons' schemes and minimize the damage they caused.
Furthermore, Tiamat had grown fond of Han Shin.
She had been worried about him on one hand, but he had performed so well that her concerns proved to be entirely unnecessary.
When Tiamat first selected Han Shin as her Proxy, circumstances hadn't allowed her to invest much time in ensuring he was truly the right person for the job.
She had simply chosen him because he had shown a tendency to act for the sake of others and seemed kind-hearted, and at the time, he was in a desperate situation. He was the best choice available.
However, humans are dualistic beings, prone to changing abruptly depending on their circumstances.
Since her days as a dragon, Tiamat knew the nature of humans all too well, so she naturally had her concerns.
That was also why Tiamat had been watching Han Shin’s party.
Becoming a God’s Proxy was no laughing matter.
He had become a being with immense power. If he were to fall into the depths of greed or harbor twisted intentions, the possibility that he might neglect his duties to satisfy his own selfish desires could not be ignored.
Yet, rendering Tiamat’s worries moot, Han Shin had done exceptionally well.
The praise she had just given him was her honest, unfiltered opinion, spoken with the directness of someone who disliked beating around the bush.
He had gone from being unable to use his body properly to a full recovery, which gave him plenty of room to perform his duties half-heartedly while turning his attention to improper matters.
Tiamat had even told him that she would have to fall into a slumber because she had exhausted her strength reinforcing the Dimensional Barrier, meaning there were no shackles left on him at all.
Because of this, though she hadn't told Han Shin, Tiamat had watched every single move of Han Shin’s party while in a state of light sleep.
Tiamat had fallen asleep to recover, but she had devised a way to keep her mind partially awake to sense the situation outside.
As a former member of the dragons—the most powerful magical race among mortals—she possessed vast knowledge of various spells.
Using her dreamscape as a foundation, she projected a portion of her consciousness there, allowing her to see and hear everything through the eyes and ears of her Proxy and followers.
It was similar to the Sanctuaries she created for her followers, but she watched them in a format that felt like viewing a television in a pure white space.
Since she’d never had a reason to do such a thing before, this was a first for Tiamat as well.
She had truly watched everything... and it was no exaggeration to say she knew everything about Han Shin’s party.
‘I can see how flustered he is.’
Tiamat watched Han Shin’s obvious panic and embarrassed reaction. Her expression remained unchanged on the outside, but she was secretly amused.
Just as Han Shin had asked, Tiamat had watched every single moment of him mating with the women.
‘He only did what he had to do, yet he’s so flustered... That’s so like Han Shin.’
From what Tiamat had observed, Han Shin was the most sensible person in the group.
That was why his embarrassment was understandable.
She was his superior, and while she had told him she would be sleeping to recover, she had intentionally omitted the fact that she would be watching.
So, finding out that she had seen him having sex naturally made him feel incredibly ashamed.
‘That aside, I really didn't expect him to become a Dragon Knight...’
Tiamat hadn't been paying him empty compliments.
She truly hadn't known that Han Shin would awaken as a Dragon Knight.
Time had been short, and after appointing him as her Proxy, she had simply hoped he would awaken according to his own talents with Grace’s help. And that was exactly what happened.
She hadn't designated a specific power for him; she had assumed he would awaken on his own based on his aptitude.
In such a situation, the fact that Han Shin had awakened as a Dragon Knight meant that he possessed the innate talent for it.
"I never managed to create a Dragon Knight even before I became a god. Those with the talent are so rare among intelligent beings that I could never find one."
Tiamat spoke with a serious face, her arms crossed.
The sight of a silver-haired girl of about ten years old speaking in such a manner would have looked incredibly awkward and strange to a third party, but to Han Shin, it didn't feel out of place at all.
He would never dream of disrespecting Tiamat.
‘I was Tiamat’s first Dragon Knight...?’
Tiamat’s words were completely unexpected to Han Shin, and the realization that he was her very first Dragon Knight gave him a strange feeling.
He felt good about it, but at the same time, he felt the weight of responsibility growing heavier.
"Then, should I assume the source of my power was possible because you were once a dragon, Lady Tiamat?"
"Indeed. Just as you and the others suspected, it is linked to the draconic power latent within me."
Having his suspicions confirmed by Tiamat, Han Shin found himself with even more questions.