Nurturing Humanity

Medea smiled gently and looked at the young girl beside her. “Lilith, you are the heir to the kingdom. You shouldn’t be crying. Death is just part of life after all.”

Medea sported a perfect figure, and she was dressed in a dark mysterious sorcerer’s robe with azure stripes. She stood before the huge statue of the God of Wisdom.

“Oh, revered God of Wisdom. Forgive us for eventually letting you down. We foolish mortals did not manage to take that step. We did not manage to comprehend the last of the mystical alchemy of life and pry open the holy gate of truth…”

“Oh, thrice-greatest Hermes, we failed.”

At her side, faint sorrow was seen on Cassandra’s gentle face as well.

She tilted her head and let the gentle ray of the sun bask on her beautiful face, looking up to the sky and said, “The end is upon us. You imparted knowledge to the three witches all those years ago. Time passed and they all walked their separate paths. Circe has fallen into decline. It is indeed a pity that we’re at different sides of the world now, and we might never see each other ever again.”

“Report!”

A palace guard came from afar and handed over a pelt at that moment.

Medea flinched as she took the pelt and looked at it. She then smiled in relief. “The three of us have been bickering among ourselves throughout our lives, yet Circe has yet to forget us and she wrote us a letter.”

“Circe…”

Cassandra looked rather uneasy as she read what was written on the pelt, feeling as if she saw the smile and heard the voice of another woman, who had been with her for over a century.

“So, even you are nearing your end then.”

…

In the palace of Babylon, outside the plaza of the Temple of Wisdom.

“Even the three great, undying witches are about to perish!”

Countless citizens surrounded the royal palace as they lay prostrate on the ground, lamenting and weeping.

It was a day that the entire kingdom cried.

The citizens of Babylon all knew that the two guardian goddesses of the kingdom were near the end of their lives. White cloths were seen being hung outside households, as the people sang requiems and folk songs of the kingdom.

Children gathered on the streets as they sang nursery rhymes.

The songs illustrated the story of the lives of the three great witches. Their fighting prowess might not have reached that of Gilgamesh, yet their great deeds were long deemed comparable to that of the gods.

They were deemed the goddesses of mankind.

Medea the Witch of War, ruled over chaotic wars and glory.

Cassandra the Witch of Spring, ruled over the occultism of medicine and herding.

The cursed witch, Circe, who was exiled for treason, ruled over debauchery and curses.

Despite her sins and crimes, the people remembered her great deeds of the past all the same. It was a pity that Witch Circe chose to stubbornly remain waiting for her end to come at some unknown corner of the world, instead of coming back to her home country to meet her friends, sending home nothing but a letter.

“Even if Witch Circe were to return once again, standing at the Palace of Babylon, sitting on the throne, and standing abreast with the other two witches… none would lay a finger on her due to the moment being the last in the Kingdom of Babylon. Her glory is capable of taking on everything.”

Countless people remained silent and all manner of thoughts ran through their minds.

Witch Circe had once been a great trailblazer. She was a great pioneer of civilization. Many throughout the Kingdom of Babylon resented her at the end of her life, yet no one was completely hostile towards her.

Her deeds were after all, greater than her sins.

The three witches had risen during uncivilized times.

It was the three witches who rose, covered in the blood of countless women who had perished in their tribe. It was the three of them that protected their tribe, which had once been small and weak.

It was the three witches who rose at a time when the tribe was in its most difficult time. The three of them put their lives on the line to fight the Beast of Barbuk, being enlightened during the time of life and death, creating the air hammer of sorcery and war while appearing invincible, slaying the Beast of Barbuk and reaching new heights.

It was the three witches who developed the different specialization of sorcerers, developing what would eventually lead to the development of meditation, sorcery, and alchemy, passing down books such as ‘Beginning Level of Meditation and Rudiments of Sorcery’, ‘The Gate of Truth of the Witches’ and so on, benefitting the people and bringing about the beginning of civilization.

It was still the three witches, who led the Tribe of Babylon in conquering the Great Forest of Pattuchyner, slaying the great beasts and bringing about a peaceful living environment to the tribe, enabling them to build their kingdom on the newly conquered flatland.

There were simply too many glorious great deeds that the three great guardians of Babylon had performed throughout their lives to count.

The three of them brought about the age of sorcerers, leading mankind to rise from mediocrity and fight against nature and great beast alike for survival, as well as fighting against themselves for longevity.

There were even those who compared the three witches of Babylon with the era where the Sumerian king of heroes, Gilgamesh, reigned, thinking that the three witches were every bit on par with that king of heroes.

Yet, the three witches were nearing the end of their lives all the same.

“There is no need to weep for us.”

“Death is part of life, and it is something that even we could not avoid. With our passing, there will be no longer anyone else to keep watch over Babylon. It will be a time where you all need to move forward on your own.”

The two witches smiled all of a sudden as they looked at each other.

They looked up as they stood at the plaza, worshipping the great statue of Hermes. Tears streamed on their beautiful faces as they looked at the vast blue sky above them.

“We would have no regrets if we were to be able to see the thrice-greatest God of Wisdom coming before us once again.”

“We both have let our great god down. We are too foolish to decipher the alchemy of life. For that, we apologize.”

“My lord, would you care to come and see us once again? The two of us are near the end of our lives, and we do not come to commit deicide.”

…

Xu Zhi sat on the chair at his door as he ate quietly.

“You have done a good job. Both of you are of unparalleled talents and are geniuses like no other. You both possess the power to change the world, blazing the path to civilization all on your own. You are both far from being foolish,” he sighed.

He bit down on the carrot in his lunchbox, thinking how the usually delicious dishes cooked for him by that brat, felt rather tasteless at the moment.

“If it hadn’t been for the two of you, I wouldn’t be able to further my training now. In comparison to you two, I perhaps would be the actual foolish one… The two of you shouldn’t leave with regret and remorse, thinking that you are foolish for not comprehending the wisdom of gods.”

People are not things, and true unfeeling beings do not exist.

Gilgamesh passed all those years ago, and at the moment, it was the turn of the three witches. All of them were great heroes with charisma unique to monarchs, and all of them inevitably came to the end of their lives, dissipating in the dust of history.

They had all been glorious once, leaving behind great deeds and exploits in the history of mankind’s fight against nature. However, the end of one’s life remained inevitable, and Xu Zhi himself was deeply troubled by his own numbered days.

Xu Zhi remained exasperated, despite such a parting being his second.

However, it was rather unpragmatic for the two of them to wish to see Xu Zhi in the flesh once again before their lives eventually come to an end.

He was not the giant of wisdom at the moment, and he was unable to descend upon the sandbox just like that.

The emergence of Mercury the God of Wisdom meant that he had to close the sandbox, and once again enter the game to further the evolution of those spores. That required at least half a day of buffering before yet another new species could be developed and be allowed to enter the world of the great sandbox.

“If I couldn’t meet the two of you before you pass…”

Xu Zhi sighed and put his lunchbox down quietly.

He nonetheless wanted to do something for them.

“Insecta AI, slow the passing of their time for a bit. Turn it back to 1:1.”

He stood and took up the watering can by his side, dropping essential oil of red rose in it and turning the liquid in the can into a faint red color.

He took up the can and sprayed it far and wide on the field.

“Here it is. At the end of the lives of the three witches, a rain of blood fell from the sky and its fragrance traveled for thousands of miles. The world shall weep for you!”

Boom!

A booming voice was heard throughout the sky.

The voice of God was majestic and brimming, bursting through the clouds and descending upon the mountains, rivers, and the fields of the entire world of the sandbox, reverberating throughout the Palace of Babylon.

“What!?”

“It’s a miracle!”

“It’s the voice of Mercury, the God of Wisdom!”

Tears streamed down the face of the wizened Medea as she heard the voice reverberating throughout the world.

The fragrant red rain from the sky filled every inch of the earth all of a sudden. The faint scent seemed to have filled the entire world in an ocean of flowers.

“The rain smelled so nice.”

Medea and Cassandra looked at each other.

The rain fell on the supple faces of the two witches, as they flashed a superbly beautiful smile of happiness. “This is really, really beautiful. The God of Wisdom made all of this with his powers…”

Xu Zhi then picked a flower from the compound.

He carved their names on the stalk of the flower.

His power far surpassed that of common man, so much so that he reached the absolute limit of the likes of powerlifters. His mental powers became extremely formidable after becoming a sorcerer, enabling him to easily do micro-sized carving on the stalk of a lychee flower.

He flicked his hand.

Shoop!

The pink flower shot tens of meters away like a sword, landing straight onto the miniature plaza in that palace of the sandbox.

“As the three witches are nearing their end, a monument of flower rained from the sky, standing over 100 meters tall. The world shall mourn your passing!”

Boom!

A booming voice was heard once again from the clouds.

That terrifyingly huge flower of over 100 meters in height, which was every bit comparable to the majestic, massive Palace of Babylon, descended from the boundless clouds above, stabbing straight onto the plaza and shaking the entire place.

“What a terrifyingly huge flower!”

Countless fledgling witches bowed in shock, impressed with the beauty of the huge flower. The names of the two legendary witches were carved on the stalk of the flower.

Medea and Cassandra were both girls who liked to dress themselves up. A fragrant rain of blood and a huge flower monument were the most romantic of miracles that could dress their passing. “We’d be willing to serve you for the entirety of our lives, God of Wisdom. It is a pity that the two of us are nearing our end…”

Xu Zhi sighed and felt as if he was mourning the passing of old friends as he sent them on their coming journey.

“I’m unable to save the two of you from your deaths. The only ones who would be able to save you are yourselves. This is the only thing I could do for the two of you, just like how I answered three questions from Gilgamesh all those years ago before he passed.”

He took out his phone and played the Symphony of Fate from Beethoven, which reverberated throughout the entire sandbox. “I could only do my best to ensure that you pass with no regrets.”

“The music of the gods shall be played at the end of the lives of the three witches, mourning them for thousands of miles over. The world is saddened by their passing!”

The sky shook.

The clouds began to shake and part, which then dissipated like rings of ripples.

Boom!

The brimming sound of music reverberated throughout the entire world as the bright sun shone above them.

“This is the sound of heaven!”

“Such beautiful music! It’s like a river of heavens descending onto the earth.”

The Symphony of Fate from Beethoven was a world-renowned stunning piece of music.

The majestic and beautiful requiem descended from the sky in a brimming fashion. The people of the Kingdom of Babylon felt as if they heard a story of a battle against fate, which eventually ended with the complete, overwhelming victory of light, from that song of the gods.