***Midhold***

***Angrod***

Thinking back, defiling Celes to make a new body for Seria was fun. But as with so many things, the pleasure was too short compared to the price which had to be paid in end. No matter how I think about it, paying for a lifetime for ten minutes of fun... the price is just too steep.

I shudder as I stroll leisurely through the city, mingling with the population. At least, we are past the diaper-stage now.

A few years have passed since the Awakening. Enough time for the damages of the war to disappear and for our society to settle down.

The people had no choice but to move on with their lives. Which meant that other problems came up, but nothing that a few threats from a soul-mage couldn't fix. Even gods tend to listen when they are threatened with worse than a simple reincarnation.

Thus, having solved our internal problems, we naturally tried to explore the Void Zone in order to leave this world. Many smart people worked on the problem, but we soon had to admit that we are stuck on this world.

Nobody can travel the Void without the pathways and simple teleportation isn't fit for interdimensional travel. We could build a good old starship and try to fly out, but nobody knows how big this Void Zone actually is. It could very well be that it spans over dimensions, which would make escape efforts futile.

I guess that is why Tjenemit took the approach of letting himself get summoned.

After taking my sweet time interrogating him, I came to the conclusion that there really is no other solution to the problem. Getting in or out of the Void Zone is easy as long as you have a summoning anchor, which Tjenemit smuggled in by attaching it to Seria, as it turned out.

His way out was another matter. He prepared an exit strategy. Unfortunately for him, it was one which needed time to prepare.

And unfortunately for me, using it would mean that anyone who takes it would end up in the centre of the Crystal City, surrounded by enemies. It was never meant to be used by more than one person.

I never had much contact with the Council aside from Tjenemit. So, the upside is that I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the Council and its members, particularly their capabilities.

El Shaddai is his usual self, playing the leader and sticking to his looks, imitating a golden statue of Buddha. He is a creepy fellow who seems completely nice in one moment and calls down the apocalypse on anything he dislikes the next. During the great war between the gods, he gathered the Council members around himself and created peace by defeating everyone else and sealing his enemies away by some unknown means.

As it turns out, those unknown means involve throwing the victim's soul into a black hole... I have to revisit that topic at some point with my prisoner of war. Sadly, it seems like he isn't privy to the details.

The war back then was a time of chaos, because it was everyone against everyone. As of now, the only gods who remember that time are the Council members themselves and some of the elder gods who live inside the Crystal City. They belong to the Council's personal army and are fanatics if I understood it correctly.

Then there is Lada. She is something like the conscience of the Council, but nobody gives a shit about her opinion. I have never had a lot to do with her, so I have to rely on Tjenemit's point of view. She is a brown haired, normal looking woman with a fondness for too short skirts? I am not sure why Tjenemit insisted on that particular piece of information.

Amaru is a technology freak and responsible for the Council's victory in the great war. He has the appearance of an old scholar with grey hair and a monocle, which is his personal treasure.

He found out how to use the Sphere of Sight, which gives them the ability to spy on everyone almost anywhere. He also invented various weapons, but the Mana Crystals are beyond him. It is a relief to know that the Crystal City existed way before the Council and that they just took it over during the war, never knowing who created it.

Some of that I knew and other things I simply assumed. It means that I am most likely ahead of them in terms of warfare once I arm a few trusted followers with crystal weapons which are capable of striking down gods.

It is also good to know that if I want details about this black hole affair, I have to get my hands on Amaru.

The history of the multiverse may be way more complicated than we thought, given that I am relatively certain that Tjenemit told me the truth, at least as he knows it. I have no way to confirm that he himself is not a puppet.

Then we have Enyo who is a crazy fighting maniac. Most of the time she is in charge of the army. If she has some free time, she always indulges herself in carnage and destruction, following the urges of her divinity. Judging from Tjenemit's description, I am happy to never have met that crazy bitch. It sounded to me like she is a perfect candidate for the Council's black hole sealing method.

She is easy to recognize, as her whole body is covered with tattoos and she has short, white hair. There is also her tendency to wear full body armour.

Eris isn't much different from Enyo regarding her potential for causing trouble. She is always striving to create discord. There is nothing she is more happy about than to see others struggle with each other.

Usually, she sticks to an appearance with black hair and really pale skin, but otherwise, she looks like an ordinary human being.

I actually don't think that she will be a problem. As it so happened, my expertise was once necessary to 'fix' her after an accident involving her soul. I am sure that Tjenemit's men checked her inside out after I was done fixing her. But let's be honest, those plebeians in the Council's employ wouldn't recognize a proper curse if I layered it three stages deep around her entire body.

And they gave me days with her.

Lastly, we have Elohim. He is a mysterious fellow who keeps to himself. A balanced individual.

He always does what he believes to be the best for himself. Even though he was one of the few who backed Seria together with Lada, it looks like he did it for opportunistic reasons. He has green hair and is some kind of elf. There are always plants growing on him, which sounds creepy, but at least he should be easy to recognize once I meet him.

I mean, why should someone intentionally grow plants on his own body? There are not many gods who would willing do something like that.

I sigh, frustrated by our inability to get outside the Void. We could already be out there, checking out the situation, establishing ourselves.

“Daddy! More to the left! I want to see that statue!” My head gets yanked to the left.

The little girl who is riding on my shoulders uses my horns like a driving wheel. To spur me on, she digs in her heels while she uses me as a mount to explore the city.

Seria 2.0 has red hair and very similar features to her mother, though she is obviously much more than a child of seven years in age.

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“Daddy, what's that statue? It seems so familiar.” She points towards a stone statuette in front of a run-down building. Unlike the rest of the city, it looks like it wasn't maintained for a few years, just as the figurine of a buxom young woman with angel wings and a halo around her head.

“That's a statue of you, Seria,” I explain patiently, reminding myself that the Seria who is riding on my shoulders is a new person. She might regain the old Seria's memories in time, but that doesn't mean I can make a child responsible for the deeds of her former self.

The Seria of today wouldn't know why or for what she is being punished.

The damages to Seria's soul will without a doubt cause some changes in her personality, even if I am actively trying to help Seria remember the past.

The statue belongs to an old temple, representing the Goddess of Life and Death. In the past, Seria was the one and only deity on this world, worshipped by most of the population. She still is, but nowadays she is more of a national hero. With the Awakening, true religious belief was replaced by the knowledge that there is no supreme being.

On the other hand, if this world ever had one, then it was Seria.

“A statue of myself? But why am I naked!? Mom always chides me when I run around without clothes!” She uses my horns to stir me forward. “I wanna see that building from the inside!”

I slowly walk into the ordered direction, taking my time. Seria already regained some of her memories, though she clearly lost a lot thanks to her idiocy. From what I could gather, she only kept the more recent ones.

I would judge her mental age to be around ten, maybe twelve. Though, she has much more knowledge than any ten year old should have.

Unfortunately, she still doesn't remember how to travel the Void. I have hope that it will come back in time.

Other than to encourage and stimulate her growth, I do not dare to dabble with her mind any further. Reforming a soul after it got ripped to so many tiny pieces should have taken aeons.

A soul is a very delicate form of… energy wave of quantum fluctuations… in absence of a better term.

It's like the surface of a silent pond. If a stone is thrown inside, it gets disturbed and forms waves which can fluctuate and distort the pond of memories for a long time. It is possible to forcefully smooth the surface afterwards by creating an opposing wavefront which cancels out the previous one, but it is a delicate process. At some point, I simply run the risk that further meddling with her soul would only worsen the situation.

The best thing to do right now is to give her the time she needs to recover to its natural state. I don't have the guarantee that I really found all her pieces either. But they will naturally rejoin with the main body over time. Only time will tell.

We enter the deserted church, but the building looks just as desolate from the inside as from the outside. The religion of this world surely took a pretty heavy blow by the revelation of the Awakening.

I am not a religious person, but seeing the dust and the dirt makes me sad. There was a time when places like this one were kept in a pristine state. Who would have believed that a wonderful building like this temple could be run down to such a degree in just a few years?

The place seems abandoned and lonely, having lost its former glory. The main shrine with the statue of Seria in the centre of the room is desolate. Some of the wooden benches for those who want to spend time here are broken.

“What leads you here, lad?”

I turn my attention to the only other inhabitant of this place, an old woman with owl-like features. She is idling on a wooden bench next to the entrance. Her absolute stillness allowed her to stay almost unnoticeable until she made herself known.

“I am on a sightseeing tour with my dad to see the city!” Seria shouts proudly from above my head, her voice shrill enough to echo through the abandoned space.

The woman nonetheless cheers up at seeing the child's enthusiasm. “Hoh, and what's your name little one?”

“Hear and Behold! Seria herself is before you! The one and only Goddess of Life and Death!” Seria tries to sit a little straighter while holding onto my horns.

“Hahaha.” The old woman starts chuckling. “That's a really grand name, lass.”

I try my best not to start laughing. She obviously doesn't believe my daughter.

“Hmpf. It's the one my parents chose for me. So what are you doing here?” Seria studies the matron who is apparently just idling around.

“I am the head priestess of this temple. Or should I say, former head priestess?” The woman looks at the ground, frowning. “In any case. I see no reason to abandon my job, as there are always people who need someone to take care of their fears, be they gods or mortals. I'm just sitting here, waiting for anyone who might need my help.” She looks up, smiling at us.

“It doesn't look like there is anyone here, isn't just waiting lonely?” Seria points out the obvious, her voice sounding sad upon surveying our surroundings.

“Oh, there are enough who are still coming here to listen to me. It may be true that there used to be many more in the past, but every person I can help makes me happy.”

“And what could you do for them? Aren't we all gods now?” Seria sounds confused.

“Even if we are gods, it's still good if you have someone you can talk to. Some people are still coming here if they need advice or help. Yesterday, I had a pair who wanted an old fashioned marriage. Or for example, parents who have problematic children.” The old woman smirks at me and I smile back at her.

“Ha! How could the great Me be a problem child? I am Seria herself after all!” Seria returns to her proud pose.

“You shouldn't use her name like that. It's true that things have changed, but if I can believe my memories, she still saved all of us in one way or another.” The old priestess smile becomes a little bit forced. “We should be thankful to her.”

“But I am Seria! I may have lost some memories because I died, but I am the creator of this world. Hmpf!” Seria replies with a sullen tone in her voice, angry that there is someone who wouldn't recognize her in her current form.

“Oho! So you really are HER? Didn't you die to return all of our memories? So how can it be that you are back already?” the priestess asks.

Seria huffs. “Of course I did. Why would it be so hard to believe that I would reincarnate afterwards?”

“Hmmm.” The priestess still looks like she doesn't believe the girl, looking at me with pity in her eyes.

She is clearly thinking that I am a much-tested father with a delusional daughter.

I sigh.

She couldn't be more right and wrong at the same time.

“Fine! I will prove it!” Seria raises a hand pointing at the ceiling. “Who else but the great Goddess Seria herself... could ride on the King of all gods!?” She pats the top of my head.

I roll my eyes.

The woman looks at me, doubt in her eyes.

Then she pales as recognition sets in. “Y- y- your majesty! I am sorry! I didn't recognize you. Why are you here all alone!?” She hastily stands up and bows to me.

“It's fine.” I wave a hand. “As the princess said, I am just a mount today. Seria wanted to see her world... though I assume she just tried to get away from her mother.”

Seria starts fidgeting on my shoulders. “That's not true. I am not afraid of Mom. Though, she is very scary and strict when I don't eat the vegetables.”

“Ah.” I frown. “You didn't eat her cooking again? No wonder your brother distracted her so that you could petition me to head out with you.”

Seria gasps. “You knew!?”

I frown, deepening my voice to an educational one. “What did Papa teach you?”

She quickly collects herself. “Wh- what are you thinking? I totally did not bribe my brother to distract her.” Seria vehemently shakes her head. “I would never do something like that.”

“That's right.” I grin. “Always deny your misdeeds until the last moment and keep denying even after.”

“Kukuku... to think the king would go for a walk in my church. The world surely has changed.” The priestess chuckles.

“Though, it looks like it didn't go well for the church.” I contemplate our surroundings while I study the statue of Seria.

“It's true, but I hope that the people may realize in time that the church did more than just promise a religion and a great afterlife,” the priestess answers hopefully.

“Papa, can't you repair the churches?” Seria asks, hope in her voice. “It seems so sad that something that was dedicated to me just rots away.”

“I have no money for something like that.” I grunt. “Those buildings don't even have a proper use anymore.”

“What about the historical value! Cheapskate! I will use Mom against you!” Seria spouts a serious threat.

My self-assured expression drops. Celes is just the type who would count something like restoring the churches as cultural expenses.

For a second, I think about the possibilities and then I shudder. “I... I will consider it.”

“See, old hag? Another proof! Who else but the Goddess herself could give orders to the King?” Seria's voice sounds high and mighty through the empty hall.

The old woman smiles with pity at me. “Hah, I thank you for your help, my Goddess. But even if the temples are renovated, there is still the lack of people.”

I roll my head from side to side, trying to loosen the tense muscles. “Why don't you create a guild for spiritual guidance then?”

Seria starts nodding. “There are still enough mysteries and questions about the multiverse. There is always a new horizon behind the old one.”

The priestess looks contemplative, clearly giving the idea some thought. “Hoh. I may do just that. A non-religious approach to keep the institution running.” The old woman smiles warmly at Seria. “You may be the Goddess after all.”

Seria nods, satisfied with the priestess's admission. “Daddy, can we take a look at the new park now?! I heard they rebuilt it more wonderfully than before after big bro nuked it!” Seria pulls at my horns, forcing my head to look towards the door.

I sigh and wave goodbye to the priestess as I start walking, just like a good steed.

“Brrrrm! Step on the gas, Papa! We need to be there before Mom finds out that we are gone.” Again, she urges me forward by digging in her heels and we walk down the plaza.