It didn't take much convincing for Soloman to accept my handshake, marking his servitude to the house of Snow without him even realizing it. Revenge sure is a bitch. Although I hope Tenebrae uses him right. I'll have no say about him, but I know she'll use him to the best of her abilities.

"If that is all," I turned to my son, glaring daggers at me. "I'll like to speak to my son alone."

"Do not betray me, Arsene. You are not Mephisto." Solomon gravely warned, vanishing in a mist of enigmatic light.

"Zaid… Let me start by saying you did a great job down here. My original intention was to leave you here for a lot longer. But Mephisto came calling." I began feeling his gaze only intensify. "Don't look at me like that. It'll make me shy. Look. Even Mephisto said you did a great job. I have no other reason not to believe that."

"You! Do you think I need your validation?"

I sighed at the truth: "Honestly? You need something. No idea why you are glaring at me. This place was mine in the first place. From the beginning, it should have been obvious who owns it. So Zaid, my bastard. I have a mission for you."

"Yours you say," He said softly, and yet it echoed like a bellowing roar torn by grief. "I did everything asked of me! Everything! And with a gun to my head. Under threat of you killing me and my mother." He shuddered, those burning red eyes of his quivering with a ferocity seen only in the likes of demons. "But you~."

"Kid. Why don't you stop bitching… Do you think you are the only one? More than half of my life I spent getting fucked over. Literally, as a Mortal, I had to deal with the likes of Asmodeus, Baphomet, and that damn fucker Sitri. There was no winning; merely trying, hoping I'd not die. Do you realize how many people were after my head? I gave you a kingdom to get a taste of power, not for you to own it. This here is mine. If you want something, go out and make it yourself. You are my first—"

Pushing down my words as I was about to speak of sin, my eyes suddenly glowed: This bastard was hella greedy. He wants everything I have. No. He wants it all. While there isn't anything wrong with that. I have no intention of merely giving my children a legacy. They wield my blood. Isn't that enough?

"Why'd you stop," Zaid asked with a dark grimace, his instincts kicking in as he staggered to his feet. His knees buckled from the sheer pressure of his body.

"Kid. I'll give you something. Iza and Ves got a present from me. But you. It's a little late, but it's something you, as my son, deserve."

Staggering forth, he clenched my collar, piercing me with his measured stare tarnished by a loathing that kind of hurt.

It was strange. I had no attachment to Zaid. None but everything I did in a way mirrored my past. I had placed Zaid in a position that would cause pain where there was no way to win. He should hate me, but… why do I feel a little disappointed he does?

Is this why parents of gods send their kids down to a lower realm to train? Is it so the kids don't end up resenting them over the harsh reality of gaining strength? Everything comes with a price.

Swatting his hands away, Zaid nearly tumbled over; as I forced myself to hold back at the blatant disrespect.

"Hell has already taken me! Tarnish is my blood by the laws of this realm. I am nothing more than a Monster, a Demon, a Devil, and a Dragon. You have already given and taken—"

"Again, with the bitching." I lamented, rolling my eyes: "Do you think you can get strong without suffering? Zaid… Has your mother ever told you the time she got tortured?"

Seeing the look of shock, I shook my head in disappointment: " Yup. During her youth, a set of twins celestials struck, taking the mighty Tiamat, who had not even gained human form down. They chained and tormented her by stabbing large hooks into her flesh to drain blood, using her scales as material. They severed her trachea to stop her from roaring, clipped her wings to ensure she'd not fly, and dug out her eyes to implant them into themselves."

Zaid's expression couldn't have gotten paler as he stared at me in disbelief. A look I shared when I first heard that story from Tia herself. Honestly, I don't know a true monster that hasn't been tormented once. They have all faced adversity.

"How did she es—"

"I learned from the Celestials. I only had one head at the time, but the twins being celestials, they had the highest attunement from the Elements. I used all my senses and all my talent to learn everything I could from them. From how the Qi moved around their bodies to how they channeled Qi through their meridians." Tiamat said, opening the chamber doors to the Medical Hall, her cold red eyes filled with a tinge of amusement as she pulled herself back into the past.

She smirked: "Te'lvana and Te'Luvrara, Twin Celestrials of Primas. I tore them apart and shredded their entrails over the skies. What a beautiful sight that was. " She touched her ruby eyes: " Later... I implanted their souls in my eyes so that they could see how I burned their home to the ground. 9 Billion lives existed on Primas. And I watched as their souls burned to ash at the horror I laid wage on their home world. I left nothing, Not even a single stoke of grass. Nothing but blood and ash was left upon that fucking world."

"And did you know what she told me after that?" I growled, bearing down at the boy, intending to sever his useless head, but I held myself back. Now wasn't the time to lose control: "If she were cast back in time, she'd do it all over again. All that pain, all that suffering. It all has meaning."

"It's quite true. Those events tormented my mind for a while, but it did temper my will." Tiamat casually said, grinning ear to ear. She looked at me: " You didn't even come to visit me. Even after I gave some 'breath'."

"So all of this! All this bullshit was to what? To teach—"

"Sulk on your own time. I don't want to hear it. As I said, I have a gift for you. And I also have a mission." I told him, lifting my lips up on each end. "Zaid Snow. Seed of my very balls. You will create your very Kingdom of Dragons. That will be your mission. And in turn, for merely accepting this mission: I will give you the Abyssal Sin of Greed. No strings attached. "