"You've got to hand it to the Creation Goddess, she really knows how to play the game."
Zenith looked at the Hero's Sword embedded in the ground. In a daze, he felt something familiar radiating from it—a sensation similar to when he placed blocks or used a Crafting Table.
It felt like some kind of Authority.
This sword was connected to the fate of the world. Whoever pulled it out would become the protagonist, the world's acknowledged Hero. The grand flow of destiny would bend to the Hero's will—luck, treasures, and opportunities would all fall into their lap until the quest to defeat the Demon King was complete, at which point everything would return to zero.
If this show were called *Himmel at Journey's End*, Himmel would absolutely be able to pull the Hero's Sword. Unfortunately, the protagonist was Frieren, and her class was a mage, not a warrior.
This sword was destined to never meet its true master.
"It's a cheat item hand-crafted by the Creation Goddess," Zenith evaluated. "Grabbing this sword is just a straight-up speedrun. Where's the fun in that?"
The Hero's party spent ten years defeating the Demon King. Aside from helping people everywhere and grinding monsters to level up, a big part of it was simply enjoying the thrill of the adventure.
If someone actually pulled the Hero's Sword, they could just charge straight at the Demon King's castle right now. Gods and demons alike would flee before them; the only thing that would take time was the travel distance.
Everyone tried their hand at pulling the Hero's Sword, but naturally, no one succeeded. Himmel wasn't discouraged in the slightest. He never believed in fate to begin with. He turned around and asked Zenith,
"Lord Zenith, aren't you going to give it a try?"
"Oh? If it's you, you might actually be able to pull it out." Serie looked at Zenith with keen interest. "Want to try?"
"Might as well." Zenith raised an eyebrow, stepping forward to grasp the hilt of the Hero's Sword.
Wait, no. The moment the skin of his palm touched the hilt, Zenith sensed something was wrong. Text from his conceptual analysis constantly jumped before his eyes, as if slowly loading some kind of progress bar.
An anomaly occurred. Countless arcs of electricity began flashing from the blade, and a terrifying pressure instantly forced everyone else to the ground.
Zenith's eyes faintly began to emit a white light. He felt himself continuously rising, suddenly breaking free from the shackles of his physical body and arriving in a completely pitch-black space.
He raised a hand. It was so dark he couldn't see his fingers—wait, his blocky, square arm was covered in mottled pixels. He looked down at his body to see cyan pants and a light blue shirt.
*Great. My soul is actually in the freaking shape of Steve.*
"Creation Goddess? I really don't appreciate these sudden surprises. If you ever pull a stunt like this on me again, I'll crash your server right here and now, believe it or not."
Zenith glanced at the status bar in his field of vision. A new status effect had appeared, constantly refreshing between zero and one second.
*Wait, I'm in Creative mode right now. Does that mean I can just file a Notch compensation claim?* This was clearly a temporary buff, an automatic defense mechanism triggered by his body suddenly sensing a divine aura.
Although he didn't have any lost items that needed compensating, only an idiot would pass up a free advantage. There were still plenty of god-tier items in his mod list that he hadn't crafted yet.
A second later, he gave up. He couldn't open his inventory interface in this mode. The compensation plan was a bust.
However, he wasn't particularly nervous. He could still sense his physical body and could return at any time. He just lacked experience this first time; next time, it wouldn't be so easy for anyone to drag him into a forced chat.
Holy white wings, long silver hair cascading down to her thighs, iconic elf ears, and a pair of profound eyes overflowing with maternal love.
*Too bad she's only 1.5 meters tall. Speaking of which, why are all female elves stuck in this height range? Is it some kind of hidden setting?*
"I'm quite surprised as well. I originally only intended to speak with you telepathically, but you ended up following the divine connection all the way here yourself."
Zenith looked around. It was a chaotic, dark space, surrounded by what looked like a skybox texture of a starry galaxy. Beneath his feet, he could see a faintly glowing planet. If he looked closely, he could even vaguely make out the satellites that the SPW Foundation had launched earlier.
"So the world you built is literally just a single sphere? Can world-building really be this half-assed?"
A hint of embarrassment flashed across the Creation Goddess's gentle face. "It's a humble little realm, please forgive the sight. But since you're already here, would you like to visit my palace as a guest?"
Zenith glanced downward. The entire world seemed to have ceased functioning, as if someone had hit the pause button.
In that case, it didn't matter. Otherwise, given the sheer power that had just erupted from the Hero's Sword, Zenith was genuinely worried that while he was sipping tea with the Goddess up here, his entire party would be dropping dead down there.
The palace was magnificent, yet it felt warm and inviting. Unlike a typical royal palace that felt empty and desolate, this place was filled with people laughing and playing. It was exactly what one would imagine Heaven to be.
And that wasn't wrong. For the people of this world, this was indeed the Heaven they ascended to after death.
"As gods, there are very few who can truly communicate with us. In the past, I also enjoyed taking an avatar to walk among mortals, but repeating the same cycles over and over again offered nothing new. Gradually, I stopped going."
From her words, Zenith could sense an indescribable loneliness. Fortunately, he wasn't a prisoner confined to a single world. Countless universes awaited his exploration; there would never be an end to his journey.
"Don't you have any friends?"
"Eru Ilúvatar." At the mention of friends, the Creation Goddess smiled again. "I'm quite fond of his Music of the Ainur, and I occasionally drop by for a visit. Unfortunately, I can't leave for too long, or my world will collapse."
Eru Ilúvatar was the creator god of Arda, the Middle-earth universe. Zenith nodded in understanding. "I'll have to go give it a listen when I have the time. It's a shame my world is still pretty barren and unpopulated, otherwise I'd invite you over for a tour."
The conversation stalled there. Zenith had no idea what to talk about with a Creation Goddess. The previous encounters he had with Gaia and Alaya were merely messages passed through EMIYA; this was his first time truly speaking face-to-face with a god.
Overall, Zenith felt the atmosphere was a bit awkward. It was like two people who barely knew each other desperately trying to make small talk. The second-hand embarrassment was making his toes curl, and he just wanted to flee on the spot.
The Creation Goddess clearly noticed Zenith's discomfort and took the initiative to stand up. "Let us chat again next time. I hope you can share stories of your travels then... A young, free-spirited god. How truly enviable."
To be honest, the Creation Goddess's gentle attitude made Zenith feel a bit guilty for coming out swinging with threats right off the bat. He was the type of person who would match aggression with even more aggression, but would immediately soften up if spoken to nicely.
In layman's terms, he just needed to be stroked with the grain.
Zenith said that wouldn't be a problem. Just before leaving, he suddenly remembered something. "Do you have any magic for creating intelligent life over here? I've got two figurehead rulers back at my place who built cities but don't have any citizens to rule."
That's right, he was talking about Saber and Gilgamesh. Especially that guy Gilgamesh, who would pester him every other day whenever he caught him, demanding to know when the population would be sorted out.
If Zenith hadn't stopped him, Gilgamesh would have already gone around kidnapping people from the Fate universe. He might not be able to snatch citizens from major powers, but raiding small cities, minor nations, and primitive island tribes would definitely yield enough people.
Population? That was far too easy for the Creation Goddess. From a world's beginning to its end, through countless cycles of reincarnation, the one thing it would never lack was people. The Creation Goddess handed Zenith a transparent crystal bottle.
"There are roughly twenty million primitive humans inside. They are perfectly suited for the initial development of a world."
*She's too nice. Don't worry, I'll definitely make sure the Himmel and Frieren ship is locked down tight, so they stay together honestly for the rest of their lives.*
"I'll bring you some stories next time I visit. See ya."
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