Chapter 216

Paradise is structured so that only souls who have undergone judgment in the Underworld and received permission may enter.

Of course, there was absolutely no way to enter Paradise from any other place.

At least, that’s how it was… until now.

“Huh? What’s this?”

In one corner of Paradise, a tunnel made of rainbow had appeared, its arch stretching out with a rainbow bridge that connected directly to Paradise.

And through that rainbow bridge, many gods were passing back and forth.

“Those are…”

“They’re Valkyries.”

Lower-level gods belonging to the Aesir. They call themselves Valkyries.

Well, even though they’re called “gods,” most of them are just descendants of divine bloodlines or something, so they’re not particularly powerful. But that’s not the important part right now.

“Why are those guys here?”

“I’d like to ask the same thing! How did they get into Paradise?”

“It seems they came through that rainbow pathway… Hmm…”

Could Odin have made a passage like this? No, I told him to create a new world, not a passage between worlds…

Well, I’ll find out soon enough. Whether it’s Odin or someone else, anyone messing with my carefully crafted Paradise will face consequences.

I let out a small sigh as I approached where the Aesir gods were gathered… Hm?

“What is this?”

An invisible barrier blocked my path. What is this? I didn’t create anything like it. Why does it exist?

“Ahh…”

“Keres, do you know anything about this?”

“Um, well, you see…”

After some stammering, Keres finally began to speak.

“Yes, yes! Please don’t be angry while you listen.”

What could she possibly be about to say?

“It depends on the contents.”

“Grrr… Yes. Um…”

After much hesitation, Keres finally spoke up.

“You remember that promise you made me before? About creating an afterlife for dragons in exchange for me becoming the God of Death?”

“That’s right.”

Since dragons have such long lifespans and none had died yet, I kept putting it off…

Though the oldest dragon is still only a few thousand years old, right? As far as I know, all dragons are still kicking and none have passed away.

“But since Lady Goddess kept postponing it… I thought I’d try making one myself?”

“You tried yourself?”

“Yes. Lady Goddess seemed busy with other matters, so I decided to give it a shot. Even Gods of Death can accumulate faith power, you know.”

Hmm. True, I did neglect that promise for quite some time.

But with no dead dragons yet, it would have felt wasteful to create it prematurely. Should I have just done it sooner?

“When I tried to make it, creating a whole world turned out to be much harder than expected. So I examined Paradise closely to see how you did it.”

Examined it, huh… That alone wouldn’t cause any problems. But what does that have to do with this invisible barrier?

“As I was examining Paradise, I got curious and… well… I touched it a little bit.”

“Touched it?”

“Yes, yes! You see… I thought referencing your methods might help… So I touched it just a little… And suddenly Paradise expanded incredibly!”

“The size?”

Ah, now that I think about it, Paradise does seem larger than when I created it. I assumed it grew due to more souls arriving…

Could it have expanded when Keres touched it, recognizing her as another soul of Paradise?

“So I panicked a bit and put up walls to prevent other souls from entering the expanded space.”

“Hmm. Are these walls the invisible barriers?”

“Yes. I didn’t want any of Paradise’s souls accidentally crossing over into the new space.”

Hmm… While it wasn’t right of her to tamper with my creation, she did take precautions to prevent other souls from crossing over. I suppose I can overlook this.

Considering it was partially my fault for not fulfilling my promise earlier…

“In the future, consult me before making changes. If there’s a problem, I need to be able to address it immediately.”

“I’m sorry!”

It’s not a major issue that Paradise expanded somewhat. It would have been worse if souls had crossed over and caused problems.

“And I’ll create that afterlife for dragons soon. It’ll be an empty space for now, but…”

“Really? Thank you!”

Continuing to delay it wouldn’t be good either.

“Let’s head over there for now.”

“Yes!”

I split the invisible barrier with my magical power and passed through.

Hmm… An afterlife for dragons… Should I link it to Paradise?

If I surround Paradise with the dragon afterlife, perhaps the dragons could protect it from intruders?

We’ll consider that later.

“While I’d love to beat them all to a pulp… doing so in the Paradise created by the Goddess of Life would be problematic.”

“As long as it doesn’t affect Paradise, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“Let’s see… I’ll sneak around first. I’m curious how they found their way here.”

“Yes. I’ll wait here quietly.”

Leaving Keres behind, I concealed myself and approached the Aesir gods.

“How did Odin discover a place like this?”

“He’s the wisest of the gods. Perhaps that’s how he figured it out?”

“We heard he learned of this place through a sage.”

The Valkyries continued their chatter while moving various items – weapons, stones, armor imbued with special powers. Likely artifacts blessed by the gods themselves.

Are they planning a war?

“Hurry up with the baggage instead of chatting! We need to move quickly!”

“Yes! Yes sir!”

A Valkyrie wearing more ornate armor shouted orders, causing the others to scramble. She must be in charge.

“This place will become our new world for the Aesir! Since Odin has declared this world ours, we must work tirelessly as his agents!”

Odin? This world? Hmm?

I merely asked him to create a new world. How did that lead to creating a connection to Paradise?

Perhaps it was accidental while creating another world? If so, it’s a minor issue.

As long as it wasn’t intentional, we can treat this as a trivial matter.

Let’s find the highest-ranking god among those present and calmly discuss this.

After observing the Aesir gods who had come to Paradise…

“The fortification of Valhalla is proceeding smoothly. The foundation should be complete in about three days.”

“Good to hear. Still, we should urge the Valkyries to finish as quickly as possible, just in case Odin’s madness causes trouble.”

“Yes, Lady Freyja.”

Inside a temporary tent, I spotted the highest-ranking goddess.

The beautiful blonde goddess nodded slightly after receiving a report from a Valkyrie.

So this is Freyja? The most beautiful goddess of the Aesir, indeed.

“Any other reports?”

“No. I shall take my leave.”

“Very well. Your hard work is appreciated.”

After the Valkyrie bowed and left…

“Phew… I’m exhausted.”

The regal beauty instantly slumped onto the floor.

“Ugh… Why Valhalla? Why can’t we just stay at the Divine Hall? And this place is extremely dangerous… We’ll be in big trouble if we’re discovered by the Goddess of Life…”

She started whining in a surprisingly cute voice.

“That old man Odin is crazy! Completely insane! He’s trying to drag all the Aesir gods along with his fear of death!”

Hmm?

“What’s this about Valhalla?! What nonsense about Paradise?! That senile one-eyed old man!!! Is stealing souls with Valkyries not enough for him?!”

“Did someone just say something?”

“KYAA?!”

I heard something I couldn’t ignore.

“Stealing souls, you say?”

“Wh-Who’s there?! Show yourself!!”

Slowly, I revealed myself to Freyja.

“Odin, that fool, has been stealing souls…?”

“GYAAAAH?! W-W-Who are you?!”

“Confess everything. Is it true that Odin sent Valkyries to steal souls?”

“S-Spirit of Life…?!”

Freyja began trembling upon seeing me, like a small animal encountering its predator.