Chapter: 50
The Black Knight, Talos, began to tirelessly smash rocks that were just like him with his greatsword.
Hmm. Nice. Good. As expected, hunting is auto-hunting. Mining is also auto-mining.
I did come down and dig holes with my bare hands, but it was a hassle, so…
In that sense, Talos was truly a golem made at just the right time.
Although Talos was busy expanding the space by smashing rocks with the greatsword I made for him, I had this feeling he was cursing me with his eyes for some reason. But hey, what can I do?
I created Talos. I am your master after all!
Anyway, while Talos was smashing the black rocks and pushing the fragments behind him, I started to visualize the afterlife by magically moving the fragments outside.
Let’s see. How many gates do we need? Would about seven be enough?
Since the first gate, Talos, is ready, I need to secure the other six.
After passing the seventh and last gate, if some sort of god ruling the underworld appears… Hmm. I like this idea.
Now, let’s think about which gatekeepers to prepare.
Well, one of them is already decided.
If we’re talking about a gatekeeper of the underworld, it naturally has to be that.
A guard dog or wolf to prevent the souls from escaping the afterlife.
In Greek mythology, there was Cerberus, and in Norse mythology, Garmr. So we definitely need a wolf or dog to keep those souls in check, right?
Ah, and I’d like to have this too. The ferryman. Was it Charon?
But for the ferryman to ferry the souls, you need a river… Unfortunately, all we have here are black rocks, which complicates things.
Well, if there isn’t one, I’ll just have to make it. What else can I do?
As for the other gatekeepers… Hmm… I’ll think about it later.
For now, I can just leave it at this and gradually expand it.
So, what form should my afterlife take? Should I gather the dead in heaven or hell? Or should I reincarnate souls into a cycle of rebirth?
Well, my heart has already been leaning in a certain direction.
I was planning to create an afterlife that mixes both options.
If both have their pros and cons, why not combine them? That was the thought process behind my decision… Although it might be a bit of a lazy choice.
But hey, if the advantages of both come together, that would be nice.
Reality, however, is cruel. It usually combines the disadvantages of both…
Still, I wanted to create a combined afterlife.
First, the image I have for the afterlife looks like this.
First off, the dark spirits. In the future, those will be called the reapers of death, gathering the souls of the dead from all corners of the world and bringing them here.
From the entrance of the underworld, they would slowly descend, showcasing the appearance of the underworld to make the souls regret their sins.
Well, it doesn’t matter if they don’t regret it, but it’s better if they do… Hmm.
If they do regret it, then their sins will be slightly lessened during the final judgment.
Those souls will head deep into the underworld, passing through various terrifying gatekeepers. Souls without bodies won’t even be able to think about escaping or avoiding them.
Oh! I mustn’t forget to show the suffering souls during their descent into the underworld. Various forms of torture will be necessary. Just watching those scenes should make them start regretting their sins.
Anyway, by showing them these horrifying scenes, it will be easier for them to confess their sins. Then, I’ll meticulously record their names, causes of death, and the sins they committed.
Finally, the souls’ sins will be judged.
The scales will weigh the sins, and if they’re heavy, they will drop down. It’s through that process that the souls will be judged.
Souls without sins or with minor sins will be allowed into heaven, and if they wish, they can be sent off to reincarnation.
And for the souls with sins…
Well, they will suffer in the underworld.
Depending on the sins they committed, they’ll roll around in various hells and suffer.
This way, the impurities in the soul will be scattered, leaving only the pure soul behind for reincarnation.
If there are plenty of sins, then the impurities will be more abundant… meaning more suffering for them.
Sure, I could just crush them all with overwhelming power, but wouldn’t that be too much work?
It would be way more efficient to process them all at once in a larger space. Just push them all in together!
After I’ve cleaned up the impurities, the pure souls will be reincarnated, and that will wrap up the process. Thus, my envisioned afterlife will be complete.
Of course, there’s the issue of placing the souls into newborn babies later, but… That’s something clouds formed by souls floating above do automatically anyway.
Hmm… It would be nice if there were angels who inserted souls into newborns. That seems way more organized than just tossing souls around randomly.
Well, I’ll save that for later.
Even while I was planning all this, Talos kept sending out the fragments of smashed rocks tirelessly.
“Ugh! Chah!”
After loosening my slightly stiff body, I looked out at the icy sea buffeted by fierce winds.
No, to be precise, I looked at what used to be a sea.
“It’s really filling in.”
Between the small island and the continent, there was a sea with cold waves swirling, but now it was filled with black rocks that had sunk down.
I lightly jumped onto the black rocks that had risen in front of the island.
These rocks are stacked firmly enough not to shake even when I stand on them. Thanks to these rocks, a thin bridge is forming between the continent and the island.
Hmm… I could leave it like this, but somehow, it just doesn’t feel right.
Alright, let’s carve it! I’ll reshape it into a proper bridge! If it doesn’t look good, it won’t satisfy me!
After setting up the waterway, I began to infuse magic into the black rocks to carve them.
First, I trimmed the rough parts to make them flat, stuck the cut pieces onto both ends, and then carved them into handles of a decent height.
I didn’t touch the rocks facing the sea; just adding a simple touch to the top part resulted in a surprisingly decent bridge.
Alright! With a bridge like this, anyone should be able to cross it. Even giants or dragons will do just fine!
[O Creator Dragon God!!]
Suddenly, I heard someone calling me. No, it wasn’t exactly a voice I heard but my Godtalk reacting.
Who’s calling me?
[O Creator Dragon God!!! We need your help!!!]
A voice echoed from a distance. The owner of this voice is…
Ah! That’s right! It’s the voice of the child I appointed as Dragon Lord before!
It took me a bit to recall because it’d been a while since I last heard that voice; it was a bit fuzzy.
I lightly jumped up and soared in the direction the voice was coming from through Godtalk.
[O Creator Dragon God!!!!]
“Why are you calling out to me like that?”
A giant dragon with golden scales. The Dragon Lord was desperately calling for me.
[Oh… O Creator Dragon God… You’re in such a remote place. We need your help…]
“Help? My help?”
I asked, looking puzzled, and the Dragon Lord nodded in agreement.
[There has been an incident we cannot handle. Please, help us!]
An incident the dragons can’t handle? They usually keep to themselves, but what could possibly be so serious?
“I thought there was nothing you couldn’t do. To think you’d come looking for me… You’ve piqued my curiosity.”
Dragons are supposed to be capable of everything.
Sure, they live quietly out of fear of me, but still, they’re dragons…
[I truly apologize. But we could not resolve this alone. Allow me to guide you.]
With that, the Dragon Lord started leading me, and I followed closely behind.
Finally, we arrived at the location.
“This is…”
[A place where foolish bodies are buried.]
It was the exact spot where dragons had turned into spirits in search of dark spirits.
“What on earth happened here?”
[We didn’t mean to trouble you, but an anomaly occurred here, and one of our dragons was investigating it.]
An anomaly?
Could it be…
[There was an anomaly where all the dark spirits that were here disappeared.]
Am I the cause?
No, that’s not an anomaly! They scattered because I had work for them!
[While investigating this anomaly, a black dragon, like my younger sister, was suddenly engulfed by a malicious and bizarre energy surging from the ground… It seeped into the child’s body.]
Malicious and bizarre energy? What’s that?
I just had the dark spirits doing their tasks; why is this strange energy popping up?
Could it possibly be…? Erebus, is it you again?!
[This way, please.]
Following the Dragon Lord’s direction, I stepped into a nearby cave.
[Ughhh…]
Inside the cave, I saw a black dragon in a state that made it hard to believe it was still alive.
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