“Well, first of all, now that the Divine Hall for the gods and Baal’s Temple of the Sky are somewhat complete….”
“Now what?”
“I should probably make a place for my own temple too. But it’s starting to feel kinda troubling.”
“Should I just roughly finish up and let the gods who come here handle the rest? That way, I’d have peace of mind.”
“Hmm~ What should I do~? Maybe I’ll think of something while other tasks keep piling up.”
“Aah… If only I had one more of myself, I could split the work in half and get things done faster.”
“Ah! That’s right! How about creating something like artificial intelligence? No, not AI exactly, but maybe an automated response system!”
“The biggest part of my job right now is responding to believers’ prayers as the Goddess of Life.”
“If I made something that could handle that automatically—AI or an auto-response system—it might cut down my workload by 20%, no, 30%!”
“Well, even if I wanted to create AI, I don’t even know where to start. Are there computers in this world? Calculators? Vacuum tubes? Nothing at all.”
“For now, I’ll put that idea aside and think about it more later.”
“Woah… That’s impressive…”
While I was admiring the roughly finished Divine Hall, an exclamation of awe came from behind me.
“Huh. Now that I think about it, someone’s been sticking around back there the whole time.”
“So quiet that I almost forgot they were there.”
“To witness the creation of a new world… It truly is astonishing.”
Nyx’s voice filled with wonder. She must never have seen anything like this before.
“Of course, since she’s a newly born god, everything must seem fresh and exciting.”
“This is the world where the gods will reside. I built it above the clouds so it can’t be easily accessed.”
“Ohh… What is this world called?”
“I’ve named it ‘Divine Hall.'”
“Divine Hall…”
“The hall where countless gods dwell. That’s the meaning. Though, calling it a hall might be a bit misleading; it’s more like a whole world.”
“Will all gods live here?”
I shook my head slightly at Nyx’s question. All gods… That would be impossible.
Not because this place is too small or insufficient, but because some gods simply cannot leave their essence. For example, Mountain Gods or River Gods.
They can’t stray far from the natural elements that define them. You could say they’re akin to spirits bound to their places—or divine spirits, since they’re gods.
Anyway, such gods wouldn’t be able to live here. They might visit briefly, but that’s all.
For a god to move away from their essence isn’t just difficult—it’s dangerous. Even for minor Mountain or River Gods, it would be out of the question.
Perhaps only powerful beings like Sagarmatha or Thetis could manage it. The gods being born now are too weak for that.
Only gods whose essence allows them freedom, or those powerful enough to distance themselves from their essence, could come here.
“Then… fewer gods will come here than expected?”
“But we need to consider how many gods might be born in the future.”
The space itself expands proportionally with the number of gods and the faith directed toward them, but there is a maximum limit, which concerns me a bit.
By the way, the maximum size matches the breadth of the sky in this world. In terms of height, it’s roughly equivalent to the upper stratosphere—about 40 kilometers?
Temperature and UV radiation aren’t issues since this is a separate world.
“But, how will other gods get here if it’s so high up?”
“Hmm?”
“Not all gods can fly, right? I can’t either…”
Ah, that’s true. Another issue I hadn’t considered.
Since I and the Children possess immense power and flying isn’t much of a problem for us… I overlooked that.
What to do? I can’t lower the height now, and building a ladder to reach here sounds both impractical and troublesome.
Hmm… A ladder reaching the sky… Stairs… Ah!
A rainbow? Like Bifrost in Norse mythology?
Ugh, does that mean I have to abandon the concept of it opening only at dawn and dusk? Using the rainbow as a bridge would look pretty cool, but I really want to keep that concept.
Plus, if I build a rainbow bridge, surely humans will try to climb it.
Hmm… Alright, here’s what I’ll do.
Let people ascend via the rainbow, but don’t let them enter the Divine Hall directly.
Another gateway… Again with the gateways. I already made so many for the Underworld…
Anyway, I’ll create a waiting area on the clouds where those entering the Divine Hall can stay. Kind of like a checkpoint. If I assign a trustworthy god to manage entry, that should work.
That way, even if humans or other races somehow make it up, it won’t cause problems.
Rainbows may appear frequently, but… Well, I’ll just make it different from an ordinary rainbow. Establishing points across the world connected regularly by a rainbow bridge.
Or, better yet, make it a rainbow invisible to humans. Place restrictions so only those with divinity can see and use it.
That seems better. Visible to gods but imperceptible and inaccessible to mortals.
And… Hmm. Instead of a rainbow bridge, how about a rainbow elevator? Feels more appropriate for ascending. Given the considerable height, climbing stairs would take forever.
If only all gods could fly, I wouldn’t have to bother with all this. So annoying.
Thus, I created a waiting area on the clouds before entering the Divine Hall and placed rainbow elevators throughout the world to connect the lower realm with the Divine Hall.
The elevator is cylindrical and attached to the rainbow. Its speed is quite fast, taking about five minutes from boarding to reaching the entrance of the Divine Hall.
Inside the elevator, I isolated the space from the outside to ensure no discomfort… Hmm… Am I overthinking this a bit?
It should be fine even if I didn’t pay so much attention to detail. Hmm.
Well, might as well do it right if I’m making it.
After testing the completed elevator a few times…
“Incredible! The ground disappears in an instant!”
Nyx gave it a good review. Hmm. Nice. This should be sufficient.
Let’s see… Then…
I’ll go fetch a god to guard the entrance to the Divine Hall.
—
The entrance to the Divine Hall must be thoroughly managed and entrusted to a god I trust.
The number of gods will continue to grow until human intelligence advances further, and inevitably, some gods will act recklessly.
There will surely be gods who wish to bring favored humans into the Divine Hall.
Therefore, the guardian of the entrance must possess enough power to restrain other gods and be someone I can trust.
Naturally, the candidate has already been decided.
“It’s been a while.”
Compared to its past glory, the temple is rather dilapidated now. It’s hard to imagine this was once the main shrine of the nation of Arcadia, devoted to the God of Beasts.
In the center of the shrine, atop the divine throne, a small dog curled up, spotting me and standing up.
The First Beast. The God of Beastmen.
Long ago, alongside the Hero and myself, he traveled the world.
Centuries have passed. Due to the influence of beastmen, the God of Beasts once received national devotion, but lost much of his faith when Arcadia’s primary worship shifted to other gods.
“Kyeeeng…”
I stroked the God of Beasts, who now rested at my feet, rubbing his head against me. Despite losing much faith, I didn’t expect him to shrink this much.
I had heard rumors about the decline of faith in Arcadia, but I didn’t anticipate him becoming this small.
This situation arose due to the influx of foreign ethnicities altering Arcadia’s population composition and the changing beliefs of younger beastmen.
In the past, beastmen were often marginalized compared to other races, and even among themselves, conflicts arose based on which animal they represented. Therefore, unity through belief in the First Beast and the psychological support it provided were crucial.
Now, however, beastmen have gained better standing, and with the luxury to believe in multiple gods, there’s no longer a necessity to solely worship the First Beast.
Thus, the First Beast gradually lost faith since he couldn’t offer meaningful blessings like other gods.
His current form—a small dog—reflects this state.
“Come along. I’ve prepared a place for you.”
Still, we traveled together once. I can’t just leave him like this.
“Kyeeeng…”
But the First Beast turned his head, emitting a small sound as if saying he couldn’t come.
As if declaring he couldn’t leave this old, dusty temple.
