World Keeper

Chapter 670: Sanctum

Chapter 670: Sanctum

Within the God-Queen’s palace of Deckan, the incarnations of the gods were observing one another. The connections to their deities had been restored, and thus they were aware that the battle had concluded. For most of them, that meant that they were preparing to leave. However, there was one girl that immediately ran to another room, shoving the door open and lunging at its occupant.

Julia blinked in surprise as she was tackled by Aurivy, the girl’s arms shuddering as they wrapped around her. After a moment, she realized what was happening, and let out a small smile. “Welcome back, Rivy.” She said softly, knowing that the ‘true persona’ of Aurivy had returned to the body of this incarnation.

“You… you…” Aurivy was having trouble finding her words. “You almost…”

“Yeah.” Julia agreed silently, her hand coming down to stroke Aurivy’s back. She knew what the goddess meant to say. Julia’s near brush with death had struck Aurivy hard, making her rush over as soon as she was able to return. The two of them had been close friends for so long, she did not find it surprising in the slightest.

She would never admonish the goddess for failing to display the dignity befitting her post, especially not in a situation such as this. “But you know… I think this means we’re homeless, now…” She muttered with the faintest of pouts on her lips. “Our planet was sort of destroyed…”

“Don’t care… we can find somewhere new.” Aurivy shook her head, leaning further into Julia, which caused the elven girl to let out a light laugh. “Just… don’t do something like that again, okay?”

Julia grinned, one hand coming up to lightly poke Aurivy’s cheek. “Got it, I’ll do my best to never be on a planet that’s about to be destroyed by a massive galactic fleet in the future.” As she was pulling her hand back, her wrist was grabbed by Aurivy, who began to lean her head against the hand. Seeing that, Julia’s expression softened, and she whispered in a comforting tone. “I’m alright, Rivy. Let’s go find a new home?”

Aurivy didn’t speak, simply nodding her head against that hand as golden mist wrapped around their bodies. They had been together a long time, and she was the Goddess of Love. It was only natural for her to get incredibly attached to someone, especially someone that saw her as a person, as opposed to an object of worship. She had a lot of love to give, and not many people who accepted her to give it to.

When the two of them reappeared, they were out in the vast emptiness of space, with Julia looking around in confusion. She had expected them to appear at a real estate office, or at the edge of some great city. She looked down at Aurivy, as if expecting some answers, but the halfling goddess only turned around to lean back against her.

Aurivy’s hands stretched out as if grabbing something within the darkness. A soft voice transmitted into Julia’s mind, though not directed at her. We’re missing Earth, but… I’ll handle the framework. Everyone… please help me with this.

After Aurivy’s voice faded, more figures began to appear within the emptiness around them, all of whom Julia recognized. It was not uncommon for the other members of the Greater Pantheon to visit in order to spend some time with Aurivy. The first to appear was Leowynn, standing off to Aurivy’s left. Her hand stretched forward and into the darkness, as well.

The next to appear was Accalia, and then Bihena, before finally Tryval and Ashley arrived to complete the assembly. It was rather strange seeing a centaur standing on nothing, but Tryval did not seem to mind the occasion. As that thought crossed Julia’s mind, it was accompanied once more by Aurivy’s voice.

I desire a great dungeon, one upon which all life may grow. A dungeon of rock and soil. As she said that, golden light streamed out from her hands, moving to converge a large distance away. Afterwards, the others began to speak, one by one, each playing their part.

What I wish for is the boundless ocean, the ebb and flow of the tide. Bihena’s voice called out as her own divine energy turned into a stream, flowing to join Aurivy’s power.

By my power, let the wind flow, that all things may breathe within the world. Accalia softly spoke next, contributing her divinity to the growing mass.

The breath of life, the fire of creation, bestow your warmth upon this land. Ashley seemed to pray, her head bowed as golden radiance shone out from her body.

Next was Tryval, who pointed a single finger towards the mass. I grant you the seed of life. His proclamation was perhaps the simplest of them all, yet it was no less powerful. Until finally, it was Leowynn’s turn.

Leowynn clasped her hands together, her silver hair turning golden. Brilliant light within the deepest shadow, granting life and warmth to all beneath its radiance. A single spark to light the flame, a single moment to last eternal. Capture the world within your embrace, and guide it through the galaxy.

Leowynn’s power burst out from her body in two streams, one moving towards the mass created by everyone else while the other sailed far into the distance. Once it stopped, golden light seemed to shine within the empty space, the two streams connecting in front of Leowynn.

The original mass, fueled by everyone’s power, began to writhe as it took shape. The different divinities were clinging to one another and churning, growing as they took a solid form. Aurivy clenched her fist, the energy flowing more powerfully from her. I desire the evolution of the world.

With her call, the divinities merged together, the golden glow vanishing. What Julia saw as it faded was a massive ball of blue and green, with white clouds rolling across it. A world formed from the divine energy of several members from the Greater Pantheon. However, as she looked to those that had gathered here, their energy seemed to have dimmed by a fair bit.

The worst off was Aurivy, who had acted as both the foundation and the final push. Julia could feel the energy within her incarnation flickering, as if it were a spark that could be snuffed out at any moment. Placing one hand on Aurivy’s chest, she closed her eyes and prayed, sending her divine energy into the halfling goddess.

As Julia was a subordinate goddess to Aurivy, her divine power was not rejected, and helped to refill the nearly empty vessel. Aurivy turned her head to offer a small smile of thanks, before turning to look at the second stream of energy that Leowynn had released.

Julia’s gaze followed that of her pink-haired friend, but knew that she would not immediately see the result. It was easy to guess what Leowynn was creating, though the idea seemed almost absurd. It took all of these deities to create a single planet, but Leowynn was creating an entire star on her own?

Though, as she thought about it, it began to make sense. Each of them only have domains that contribute to one part of a planet… but Leowynn has Stars as a domain directly. After reaching that realization, she waited for the moment when she could witness the birth of a star.

Nearly ten minutes later, after all of the others aside from Aurivy and Leowynn had left, the golden light in the distance seemed to erupt. The star that Leowynn created looked vaguely yellow, but it was not the same as a normal yellow sun. Instead, the celestial object gave off a distinctly golden light, one that matched the color of divine energy itself.

This color made it unique among the stars in space, though its light would not be seen in other worlds for several years at the earliest. Julia still was not sure just how deep into space they had gone, and they may even be on the other end of the galaxy for all she knew. However, she couldn’t help but smile at seeing the birth of both a new planet as well as a star.

I’ll need to wait for my energy to build up a little bit more. Aurivy muttered into Julia’s mind. But… I plan to make this a world of gods. A haven for all divine beings that wish to live as a community. For that, I have to create two commands, accessible only to gods. ‘I wish to enter the Divine Realm’ and ‘I wish to enter the Mortal Realm’. The former will teleport them here, while the latter will send them back.

You can do something like that? Julia asked in surprise, not previously aware that such a thing was possible. Though, the more she thought about it, the more she recalled previous incidents where new elements had been introduced unto the world. The most iconic would undoubtedly be the Boundless Caravan’s trade platform.

Jules, there is so much you can do with your divinity, once you learn how to wield it. Aurivy smiled slightly towards her friend, taking her hand and guiding her towards the new world. Now… would you like to do the honors, and name it?

Julia blinked, having expected that its name would simply be the ‘Divine Realm’ going by Aurivy’s previous remark. You want me to name a world created by the Greater Pantheon? She asked, looking between Aurivy and the planet she had created.

No… I want you to name our new home. She returned, her hand squeezing Julia’s gently. Julia’s eyes softened, and she gave a small nod of acceptance.

Then… Sanctum. Would that work as the name? A sacred place made by the gods, a sanctuary for those within it. Somewhere to protect what is important to us. Julia could feel the wind brushing against her face as she and Aurivy entered the world, rapidly descending towards the ground below.

“Sanctum… I like it.” Aurivy nodded her agreement, speaking aloud now that they were no longer within the void of space. “Then, this world shall be known as Sanctum, with us as its first inhabitants.”

Julia nodded, before thinking of something as her lips twitched lightly. “But… does it have internet access?” Aurivy briefly froze at that question, before letting out a heartfelt laugh.

“Ashley!” She called out with a grin, the demon goddess appearing alongside them as they landed on the ground. “We need the internet!”

Ashley’s brow twitched, her eyes rolling softly. “Of course you do…” Thankfully, giving this world something like internet access was an easy thing for the Goddess of Technology. “Give me a moment, I’m going to try something.”

After saying so, she knelt down, one hand on the ground as she focused. “This world is partly created from my divinity. Although I used the domain of fire to form the heart of the world, it should still be compatible with me. Then, if I tweak it just slightly…” She muttered, as though talking herself through what she wanted to accomplish.

A small mote of golden light gathered in her hand, before abruptly entering the soil. “I… think that worked.” She said as she stood up. Aurivy blinked, closing her eyes and sensing the change to the world.

“Global wireless internet, feeding through the divine energy of the world?” She asked in surprise. “Now that’s a world wide web…”

Ashley let out a faint groan at that comment. “Don’t make me take it back. Anyways, if you want it to connect with the internet in the other worlds, that’s a you thing. You’ll need to open up a path for the connection to travel from here to Desbar. Otherwise, this will be a closed network for this planet.”

Aurivy nodded her head quickly, before pausing. “Okay, but… what’s the WiFi password?” She asked, an amused smile on her face. Ashley blinked, before chuckling and shaking her head.

“Sanctum.”