Shepherding Humanity

After Xu Zhi was done, he left his phone by the sandbox with the music still on, and returned to his chair to continue eating his lunch.

"I thank you for all you have done for me. These three miracles are my way of saying goodbye."

Rumble!

Golden beams of light pierced through the heavy clouds, falling on the land of Babylon along with the majestic crimson rain.

On the surface, the people looked up to the sky.

"The God of Wisdom has acknowledged the great achievements of the Three Witches!"

They people were in tears as they sang Hermes’ praises..

"This requiem is also a hymn of praise!"

The people of Babylon raised their voices in appreciation as they listened to the heavenly music.

The symphony resounded throughout heaven and earth, and touched something deep inside them. They could feel their hairs standing on end, and their bodies trembling with excitement. The stirring symphony was imbued with the weight of history. The people of Babylon felt as if they could hear within the music man’s struggle against fate: the battle against nature, the fight against wild beasts, the struggle against old age…

They stood in a trance, and recalled their difficult history.

They saw the godlike Hero King Gilgamesh, sword of Damocles in hand, raging against the world’s giant beasts:

"The history of man's struggle against nature is a saga of passion and courage!!!"

"I have ordered the recording of history so that future generations will know the courage of their ancestors!!!"

The image went hazy, then the Three Witches appeared before them. They stood amidst a sea of corpses after having taken in the blood of the Evil Eye, and vowed to continue the saga of passion and courage:

"Death will not crush our will and bend our spine!!!"

In the streets of Babylon, countless merchants, artisans, old men, nobles, and witches holding wooden staves silently wept. Their faces were stained with tears.

O mankind…

We have struggled our entire lives…

This is our era.

This song is an anthem praising mankind's courageous struggle against fate.

"Great God of Wisdom, thank you, thank you for all that you have done for our Queens."

The elders of Babylon knew well how difficult life had been when their civilization was still in its primitive stages. They prostrated on the ground, their aged bodies trembling, their faces wet with tears.

Before the temple.

"I’m satisfied. I’m already satisfied… The crimson rain, the flower monument, the glorious hymn of praise…"

Medea smiled happily, her face radiant as a blooming flower.

She locked eyes with Cassandra beside her, and the two of them shared a contented smile. They held hands as they gazed at each other in front of the temple of Hermes. As they slowly closed their eyes and spread their arms, their powerless bodies slowly fell backwards.

The two proud and beautiful figures fell…

Under the crimson rain.

Beneath the giant flower monument.

Amidst the requiem of fate that resounded throughout heaven and earth.

This exquisitely beautiful scene was engraved in legend, and preserved on stone murals for all eternity.

"Our queens have fallen."

In the next second, the sound of wailing spread throughout the land, and the entire world bitterly wept.

The kingdom of Babylon had lost two invincible legendary witches. The Three Witches had ruled the world for more than two hundred years, and sheltered the entire Western human tribe. Noone knew what awaited the kingdom in the future.

In later years, "The Spear of Witchcraft" would record this moment of national grief thus:

[In the 198th year of Babylon, the Three Great Witches who were nearing the end of their lives prayed at the temple of Hermes. The God of Wisdom answered their prayers, and sent down a fragrant crimson rain, a flower monument, and a heavenly requiem to send them on their way.]

………

Deep in the Balchik Mountains.

Circe looked up in awe at the miracles descending from heaven, and gently smiled: "God himself has come to send you off. This is such a great honor for you two. I'm stronger than the two of you, and will depart this world a little later. You may have accepted your death, but not me."

Circe was stronger than the two great witches, but not by much. She would not live much longer. She sat on her throne and looked down at the group of evil witches who served her.

"Hear me! My life won’t end with my death! After I die, you will continue on in my stead, and bring me back a few hundred years later. I will live again."

She likewise fell into her coffin, and silently closed her eyes.

In the otherworldly palace of darkness, the walls were covered in bloody murals that depicted the Evil Eye demons with their hideous tentacles. It was like a scene from Hell. Countless evil witches, who held scarlet staves and wore robes decorated with crimson roses, knelt down and lamented.

"Our queen will return to rule over the world, and achieve true eternal life."

……..

Xu Zhi sat in the courtyard as he ate his meal. He left the music on for a while, and then turned off his phone.

It was fine to leave the flower monument where it was. Flowers were environmentally friendly, after all.

However, there was still a lot of the water scented with rose oil left in the watering can. He could not use it to water plants and had to pour it down the toilet.

"I just started my magic training yesterday. I did not think that I’d already be saying goodbye to my teachers, the Three Witches who had developed magic, this morning."

Xu Zhi finished his breakfast, washed the dishes, then went next door to return the lunch box Chen Xi.

He contemplated the sandbox in silence.

"However, with the Three Witches gone, the sandbox world no longer has an absolute ruler. It's the perfect moment for me to do research and put in a new supernatural species."

With an absolute ruler dominating the world, a new supernatural species wouldn’t have the breathing room to reproduce.

During the Three Witches’ reign, the Evil Eyes had been kept in captivity within the swamp, and constantly killed for their blood so that the new witches could undergo the deadly initiation ritual.

The Evil Eyes had a truly miserable existence!

They had been reduced to living blood packages!

Now that the Three Witches were dead, their lives should be a little easier.

Babylon’s magic system had the following levels of mastery: Apprentice Magician, Level One Magician, Level Two Magician… and the Three Witches were Level Six Magicians with terrifying power. As for what came after Level Six, they reached the end of their lifespan before they could find out.

The new ruler Lilith was only a Level Four Magician, and was already the strongest of them all.

It couldn't be helped. Heroes were born in chaotic times. The Three Witches' talents were beyond compare. Otherwise, how else could they have opened up an entire path of cultivation with only the three of them.

"It’s a good opportunity to add a couple of new species, and introduce some competition."

Xu Zhi, the NEET who wasn’t even an Apprentice Magician yet, silently studied the sandbox. "Early this morning, the second beta test of the Land of Genesis should have begun. I hope you guys have made some good species that I can sneak into the sandbox which currently does not have a ruler."

After all, the history of the Sumerian and Babylonian eras were mostly about the tribes opposing nature, while struggling in their earlier years. It was quite monotonous.

They have grown used to the challenge and were about to officially “pass the level” so to speak, thanks to the spread of their magic system, and the creation of witches.

Ordinary giant beasts like the Tyrannosaurus were no longer a threat to them.

"It's time to diversify the ecosystem of the sandbox and give them a ‘difficult mode’."

Xu Zhi's idea was simple. In the next era, he will be the mastermind behind the scenes, and secretly push civilization to evolve. The sandbox will completely turn into a world of magic, and all manners of supernatural monsters from Western mythology will appear to complement the Evil Eye of Cthulhu Mythos. 

The world will be filled with mystery, danger, and death.

This was the world of magic that he wanted, the world of great wizards who tirelessly pursued Truth with wooden staves in hand.

"I’m getting excited just thinking about it."

Xu Zhi would not last much longer with his cancer. It was time to perfect this magic civilization, and start working on a cure.

"I'm counting on you, second beta testers, to help me decide the future of the sandbox."