The Black Knight. Talos began relentlessly smashing rocks of the same material as himself into pieces with his greatsword.
Hmm, good, good. As expected, hunting is auto-hunting, and mining is auto-mining.
Although he did dig down using just his fists to make holes, it was troublesome.
In that regard, Talos was truly a well-timed golem creation.
Though, for some reason, Talos, who was breaking black rocks with the greatsword I painstakingly made for him and pushing the fragments back, seemed to be glaring at me as if cursing me in his eyes. What can I do about that?
I made Talos, so I am your master!
Anyway, as Talos crushed the black rocks and pushed the fragments back, I moved the fragments outside with magic while starting to conceptualize the afterlife.
Let’s see… First off, how many gates are needed? Roughly seven should be enough, right?
Since Talos is the first gate and is ready, I need to secure the remaining six, don’t I?
If some kind of god overseeing the underworld appears after passing through the final seventh gate… Hmm, nice. I like this idea.
Then, let’s think about which gatekeepers to prepare.
Well, one of them was already decided.
Naturally, because there must be one to guard the underworld.
The guardian hound of the underworld, you know.
There was Cerberus in Greek mythology and Garmr in Norse mythology, so there should be a wolf or dog to prevent souls from escaping, right?
Ah, and it would be good to have a ferryman too, Charon, wasn’t it?
But for the ferryman to row, a river is needed… Here, there’s nothing but black rocks, so it’s problematic.
Well, if it doesn’t exist, we’ll have to make it. What else can we do?
Other than the gatekeepers… Hmm… Let’s think about it later.
For now, this much will do, and we can expand gradually.
Alright then, what form should the afterlife I’m going to create take? Should I gather the dead in heaven or hell? Or should I reincarnate souls through rebirth?
Well, my mind was already set on something.
I intended to create an afterlife by blending two methods.
Since both sides have their pros and cons, wouldn’t combining them work? It might be a somewhat complacent decision, though.
Still, if only the advantages of both could be combined, it would be ideal.
Reality is cruel. Usually, when combined, the disadvantages come together…
But since I wanted to merge both afterlives…
First, here’s the concept of the afterlife I envisioned.
First, the spirits of darkness. In the future, those called grim reapers will gather the souls of the deceased from all over the world and bring them here.
Then, starting from the entrance to the underworld, they will slowly descend, showing the souls the appearance of the underworld, making them regret their sins.
Well, it’s fine even if they don’t regret, but it’s better if they do. Hmm.
If they regret, I’ll slightly reduce their sins during the final judgment.
Souls heading towards the depths of the underworld, passing various terrifying gatekeepers. Souls without physical bodies won’t be able to escape or evade the gatekeepers.
Ah! Showing the suffering souls during the descent into the underworld must not be forgotten. Various methods of torture will be necessary. The sight alone should instill a sense of regret for their sins.
Anyway, after witnessing such horrific scenes to encourage confession of their sins, detailed records of the soul’s name, cause of death, and committed sins will be kept.
Finally, the soul’s sins will be judged.
By weighing them on a scale, if the sins are heavy, the scale will tip down. This process will judge the soul.
Souls judged to have little or no sin will enter heaven, and if they wish, they can be sent for reincarnation.
As for sinful souls…
Well, they will suffer in the underworld according to the sins they committed.
By rolling around in various types of hell, the filth of the spirit (Pò) within the soul will scatter, leaving only the pure essence (Hún), allowing for reincarnation.
If the filth of the spirit is excessive due to the sins committed here…
It could be erased by overwhelming power, but isn’t that too much effort?
A large space where they can all be processed at once would be more efficient.
After cleaning the spirit, the pure essence will be reincarnated, completing the processing of the soul. Thus, my envisioned underworld is complete.
Of course, there will be issues afterward, like inserting the essence into newborn babies, but… Since the essences floating in the sky automatically formed clouds.
Hmm… Having something like angels to insert the essence into newborns would be good. It seems more thorough than doing it indiscriminately.
Well, let’s leave that for later.
While I was conceptualizing, I continued to send out the fragments of rocks shattered by Talos.
—
“Ugh! Tea!”
After stretching my slightly stiff body, I looked at the icy sea battered by fierce winds.
Or rather, what used to be the sea.
“This is really filling up.”
Between the small island and the continent, although the sea wasn’t very wide, it had cold waves crashing. Now, however, it was filled with black rocks sinking deep below.
I lightly jumped onto the towering black rock in front of the island.
Hmm. The rocks stacked solidly enough to not wobble even when I stepped on them. These rocks were creating a narrow connection between the continent and the island.
Hmm… Leaving it as is would be fine, but somehow it doesn’t feel right.
Good. Let’s carve it. Let’s refine the shape. We need to make a proper bridge!
After setting up the capital, I infused mana and started carving the black rocks.
First, I cut off the uneven parts to make it flat, attached the cut fragments to the ends, and carved them into appropriately sized hilts.
Without touching the rocks touching the sea, I simply refined the top part.
As a result, a surprisingly decent bridge was completed.
Good. A bridge like this should allow anyone to cross. Even giants or dragons should be fine!
—
「Oh mighty Creator Dragon God!!」
Suddenly, someone called out to me. Though, it wasn’t exactly a voice I heard; it seemed my GodTalk reacted.
Who’s calling me?
—
「Oh mighty Creator Dragon God!!! I need your help!!!」
A distant voice echoed. This voice belongs to…
Ah, that’s right! It’s the child I designated as a Dragon Lord long ago!
I hadn’t heard the voice in a while, so it took me a bit to recall.
I lightly leaped and flew swiftly in the direction the voice came from via GodTalk.
—
「Oh mighty Creator Dragon God!!!!」
“Why do you call me so urgently?”
A colossal dragon with golden scales, the Dragon Lord, was desperately summoning me.
—
「Oh… Creator Dragon God… You were in such a remote place. We need your help…」
“Help? Mine?”
I asked curiously, and the Dragon Lord nodded without denying.
—
「An event has occurred that we cannot handle. Please aid us!」
An event the dragons can’t handle? Although dragons are mostly quiet due to rarely engaging in external activities, still… what could it be?
—
“You guys can do anything. That you seek me out makes me curious.”
Dragons are incapable of nothing, aren’t they?
Even though they quietly stay away out of fear of me, they’re still dragons…
—
「We sincerely apologize. But it was beyond our ability to resolve. Allow me to guide you.」
Thus, the Dragon Lord began flying ahead, and I followed behind.
The place we arrived at was…
“Here…”
「The resting place of the foolish ones’ bodies.」
The very spot where the dragons transformed into spirits searching for dark spirits.
—
“What happened here?”
「Simply put, an anomaly occurred here while one of our dragons was investigating.」
Anomaly?
Could it be…?
「All the dark spirits residing here vanished, causing this anomaly.」
Is it my fault?!
No, that’s not an anomaly! I just sent them all out on a task!
—
「Our sister, a Black Dragon, was investigating this anomaly… Suddenly, an evil and strange energy surged from the ground… and seeped into her body.」
Evil and strange energy? What’s that?
I merely assigned tasks to the dark spirits… Why does such bizarre energy suddenly surge?
Could it be… Erebus, is it you again?!
—
「This way.」
Following the Dragon Lord’s guidance, I entered a nearby cave.
—
「Guh…」
Inside the cave, I saw a Black Dragon in a state that hardly seemed alive.
