Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King's Personal Knight

Credits: pheonix rampant

So I first arrived at the Inner Sea, and then was sent to the Singularity by Tezcatlipoca? Thinking about this, Alaric couldn't help but admire his brilliance.

"But… why?"

Alaric couldn't figure out Tezcatlipoca's motives. There's no such thing as help without reason. To have Tezcatlipoca intervene, kick him out of the Inner Sea, and even resurrect him multiple times…

There's no such thing as a free lunch. What's the price for these benefits?

"Forget it, now that I'm here, who cares—"

"As long as I can stay alive, that's good enough."

Alaric had come to terms with it. Just staying alive was already the best possible outcome. Any other issues could be dealt with later.

Besides, these questions could probably only be answered by Tezcatlipoca himself.

How could he meet Tezcatlipoca?

 By dying, perhaps.

Suppressing the thoughts swirling in his mind, Alaric regarded Tezcatlipoca as both a distant and yet deeply intertwined deity. But in this Singularity, Tezcatlipoca wasn't a figure of immediate concern.

Far less important than the Goddess Quetzalcoatl, who stood right before him.

When LAlaric returned to his senses and looked at Quetzalcoatl again, he found himself locking eyes with her gaze, filled with laughter.

"Hmm~ Looks like you've figured something out. Do you have anything you want to say to big sis? Like about Tezcatlipoca?"

Quetzalcoatl stared at Alaric with great interest.

After she had mentioned paradise, Alaric had fallen into deep thought, clearly reminded of something.

As for why Alaric had been taken care of by Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl knew absolutely nothing.

The two were supposed to be archrivals. Even if summoned into the present world, there was a high chance they would pull each other into a chain summoning.

But this time, Tezcatlipoca hadn't come alongside Quetzalcoatl to this Singularity. Instead, that jaguar had shown up first.

At first, Quetzalcoatl hadn't thought much of it—perhaps the summoning quota had been taken, or maybe Tezcatlipoca simply wasn't conscious enough to manifest here.

Until Alaric appeared in front of her.

With her divine eyes, Quetzalcoatl had easily detected traces of Tezcatlipoca's power on Alaric.

That unmistakable mark of someone who had returned from the realm of death.

There was no doubt, Alaric was a warrior recognized by Tezcatlipoca, one who had made a pact with him. As a living being, Alaric was now bound to fight endlessly until death—a warrior of absolute resolve.

As for the contents of the pact, that was something Quetzalcoatl couldn't know. If Tezcatlipoca, the omnipotent god, wanted to keep it hidden from her, it would be all too easy.

Even though Quetzalcoatl had been summoned to Mesopotamia in 2650 BCE, and Alaric's first arrival point was in the 13th-century Middle East, Quetzalcoatl couldn't shake the sense that Tezcatlipoca had secretly made his move before anyone else.

Unforgivable!

Thinking this, the cheerful smile on Quetzalcoatl's face grew dark and sinister. Her shark-like teeth parted as she exhaled a hot breath like a wild beast preparing to pounce.

When it came to her archrival, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl's attitude was entirely different from how she treated humans like Alaric.

"I need to give that guy a proper suplex!"

Quetzalcoatl continued to pinch and knead Alaric's cheeks, her tone full of excitement as she declared, "And big sis here~ will definitely, definitely snatch you away from that jerk~~!"

It wasn't just because of Tezcatlipoca. What mattered more was that Quetzalcoatl adored Alaric's unyielding human spirit.

This was the kind of human she admired, the kind she was infatuated with.

Not only was his heart strong, but even his wrestling skills were exceptional!

During their battle, which had lasted several dozen minutes, Alaric had even played Mexican wrestling with Quetzalcoatl. This had given the wrestling-obsessed Quetzalcoatl an enormous surprise.

How could she possibly let such a little one fall into the hands of that jerk Tezcatlipoca? No way!

"Rawr!! Kuku's going to fight Smoking Mirror again! Rawr!!"

Nearby, Jaguar Man was all too eager to fan the flames, cheering loudly.

"Kuku! Kuku! Kuku!"

Alaric had no idea what Quetzalcoatl was thinking at that moment. He only saw her staring at him with a fierce expression.

Even her hands, which were pinching his cheeks, now felt like vices, gripping him tightly.

"Am I popular?"

Two supreme gods fighting over him—Alaric would never have dared to imagine such a thing.

And yet, it was happening.

Before long, Quetzalcoatl finally let go of Alaric. She stuck her tongue out sheepishly, looking a bit embarrassed about rubbing his cheeks red.

With that, the topic of Tezcatlipoca came to an end, and a new issue was placed before Alaric.

The Goddess Quetzalcoatl had no intention of accepting Alaric's proposal to work together.

"No can do~~ Big sis already made a promise with someone else. Everyone has to compete fairly for the humans~~!"

"A promise?! With whom?"

Hearing this, Alaric's expression grew serious.

Promises weren't made lightly. For someone to make a pact with a Goddess, their standing couldn't be insignificant.

Could it be one of the other goddesses?

Thinking of this, Alaric immediately asked, "Goddess Quetzalcoatl, who did you make this promise with? And what kind of promise was it?"

Quetzalcoatl raised a finger, a mischievous smile on her face. She replied, "Mmm~ It's with someone on the other side of the frontlines in Mesopotamia, the one you call the Beast Goddess—Gorgon!"

"And as for the promise, it's a lady's agreement to compete fairly and not interfere with each other until the end~~!"

"Beast Goddess… a promise—"

Alaric immediately recalled the monstrous creature he had encountered a few days prior in the jungle.

When he entered the forest the second time, there were no similar beasts to be found.

If that beast had been sent by the Beast Goddess Gorgon to meet with Quetzalcoatl and form a goddess pact, then it all made sense.

"Too late."

If he had killed the beast before the pact was made, Alaric might have had a chance to bring Quetzalcoatl to his side.

The addition of a supreme god would undoubtedly be a tremendous help in facing the disaster Merlin had mentioned.

Disaster—

As Alaric thought again of the disaster Merlin had pointed out, the image of a blue-haired girl sleeping deep beneath the ocean rose unbidden in his mind.

The beautiful figure of the primordial goddess, Tiamat.