After his explanation and the naming of the new, independent realm, the bright sun above the sky seemed to shine even more clearly and flicker slightly.
The countless, differently colored crystal spheres on the altars followed suit and lit up, as if they had been charged like a dead phone battery.
The Realm of the Divine. It was a very special, independent space and was meant to become the foundation of development for the inhabitants of his galaxy, beyond their mortality.
This space had several functions.
On the one hand, it was the central hub of the new system that Asher wanted to introduce to his galaxy and the mortal worlds, and on the other hand, it was itself part of the progression.
The Realm of the Divine was a place that would be entered by those who had reached the power level of the Transcendent Rank. Here, based on their personality, strength, life path, and traits, they would be granted a lesser divinity, by which they would receive the title of a Constellation and count among the highest beings of the galaxy.
The stone statues in the great temple represented those very highest beings, who had transcended mortality and become Constellations.
The new system. The so-called Sponsor System, or simply "System", was to simplify the awakening and enhancement of strength for the beings of the galaxy and support them.
However, it was largely designed for the highest beings, also known as Transcendents.
Those who had ascended to become the highest beings of the galaxy and had received the title of a Constellation were granted special privileges through the System.
The first privilege was the ability to ascend to the immortal world, which remained untouched by the downfall and was considered the eternal world—and due to its rich, immortal energies, perfect for development. But in return, after their ascension, they would no longer be able to descend into the mortal worlds.
The second privilege of the Constellations was the very System designed by Asher, through which they were able, despite the pressure of the worlds, to indirectly intervene in the mortal worlds, which they could no longer enter after their ascension.
After it was forbidden for the Constellations to descend again into one of the mortal worlds after their ascension into the immortal world, they were now able, in exchange for causality, to intervene in the mortal worlds in the form of ghostly apparitions, messages, or other means.
Thus, they could search for subordinates or disciples who worshipped them, to increase their lesser divinity through faith or perform other tasks for them.
Causality was also a special currency system created by Asher and closely resembled the faith points of a creator god.
As a Constellation, the more distinct and abundant the divinity one possessed, the more causality one owned. For example, one could increase their causality by taking in the faith of people and walking the path of a god.
It was important to note, however, that the faith one could obtain with a lesser divinity was different from that of a true divinity.
For creator gods could become stronger and gather faith points through the existent belief across all their worlds, whether directed at them or others, while highest beings with lesser divinity could only become stronger through faith directed directly at them and thus gather causality.
The Constellations were also divided into different ranks based on their strength and, with higher rank, possessed more and better privileges through the system.
As a minimum requirement to become a Constellation, one had to be at the Transcendent Rank, and such were referred to as Fable Constellations.
The Constellations of the Legendary and Mystical Ranks, in turn, were called Heavenly Constellations, and those on the Planetary Rank or above were known as Divine Constellations.
In the galaxy of the gray dwarf, there currently existed twelve Constellations, all of which were on the Fable Rank.
However, the system did not only offer opportunities to the Constellations, but also to the mortals. Among other things, it included a feature called "Storyteller".
This system feature was not exclusive to mortals but was intended to offer them a great opportunity.
One of the advantages of the feature was that one was able to accumulate lesser divinity—or faith in the form of fables—even before reaching the Transcendent Rank.
Mortals could, through their deeds and achievements performed during their lifetime, write special fables and thereby acquire special abilities, traits, or even a slight divinity, based on these fables and the deeds described within them.
In the end, the fables were meant to help mortals form their own lesser divinity and increase it through the faith of others.
With each written fable, one would accumulate faith depending on the type of story they had written.
Thus, fables were also a way to gather causality and increase one's own powers, which made them a feature valuable for both mortals and Constellations, offering many ways to grow stronger and gain influence.
They would thus become an essential method of gaining power, as the only way to obtain lesser divinity was either through the faith of others or by cultivating one's own divine energy.
Fables. Through performing great, outstanding deeds and achieving special feats, one was able to write fables, gather faith, and thereby, in the future, form a lesser divinity and obtain powers matching the achievements.
The current Constellations of the galaxy also possessed their own fables, even though they had been granted to them afterward, once the system had been established and fully integrated.
An example of such a fable would be the fable: "Dragonslayer", which Siegfried had "written" by slaying a powerful, evil dragon to free a city from its terror and then bathing in its blood.
Of course, Siegfried had not truly done this, except in the Nibelungen saga. But during his creation, this fable had been granted to him as part of his abilities.
Another example was the fable "Warlord," of Achilles of Troy. He had created this fable by commanding a vast army and achieving overwhelming victory in many battles.
After he had successfully created the independent space—the Realm of the Divine—and thus laid the foundation for the further development of power, Asher returned to the peak of the galaxy.
"The World Tree was quite expensive. But creating the Realm of the Divine and integrating the Sponsor System was much cheaper."
After the massive consumption of faith points, Asher still had a little over three million left.
After his return from the Abyss, he had gained a significant amount of faith points and was already nearing the next ascension to the rank of god.
"Congratulations, Master. Your plans seem to have been executed perfectly," Renas congratulated him in his robotic tone.
Asher ignored the congratulations indifferently and observed from a distance the development of the mortal worlds and the World Tree.
After the World Tree had successfully grown, Asher had accelerated the flow of time for both the mortal and immortal worlds to ensure faster development and to avoid having to wait for the worlds to evolve from the ground up.
The worlds were developing quite well so far, even though they were all still in the Stone Age.
Mana, too, had not yet been discovered in any of the mortal worlds—except by mutated, magical beasts—despite having been part of the atmosphere from the very beginning and nourishing nature and all life.
"Well, even with the help of the World Tree, it will take some time for the worlds to develop properly. Until then, I might as well create the space I've been wanting for a while…"
"Master, are you referring to the hall you mentioned before?" Renas asked curiously.
Asher nodded, stood up from his armchair, and stretched lazily. "Yes, but first, I have something to do in Heaven."
With that, he vanished again, disappearing from the spot in an instant, and reappeared in his divine form in the throne room of his palace in the Divine Realm.
After he had seated himself on his gigantic throne, Asher summoned the current archangels and ordered them to appear in the throne room.
It took only a moment, a short instant, until all eight archangels arrived and entered their god's throne room through the two massive gates. In this colossal hall, they seemed like tiny ants.
The angels all wore immaculate white robes, had radiant, pure skin, sparkling eyes, and were each equipped with four white-feathered wings and a halo floating above their heads.
Their appearances were truly the very definition of the word "heavenly."
The current eight archangels included the former King of Brandt and Emperor of the First Holy Empire, Aaron Brandt, his wife Silvia Brandt, her father—the first pope of the Church of Salvation—Mannheim, the ancestor of the elven race, Narun, and the ancestor of the dwarves, Karat, as well as the previous three saints of the Church of Salvation: Maria, Ethan, and Kronos, who had ascended to the Divine Realm after their deaths and, thanks to their abilities and powers, had quickly become archangels.
"We greet our Lord, the Creator."
The archangels knelt before Asher and greeted him with enthusiastic and submissive voices.
"Mmh." Asher waved his hand, gesturing for them to rise. "I have summoned you today to make an announcement," he explained with his indifferent, distorted voice.
He waved his hand lightly, and before him appeared twelve transparent bubbles floating in the air. The strange, human-sized, translucent bubbles contained various objects, like clear eggs in which something was incubating. One contained a burning sword, another a golden-shimmering book, while another held a black scythe, and so on.
After the appearance of the strange bubbles and the items within, Asher continued his explanation under the curious and fascinated gazes of the archangels.
"I have decided—since there will likely be more and more archangels in the future—that I will select twelve archangels who will be subordinate only to me and who shall lead the other angels and archangels and govern the Divine Realm!"
The archangels all looked astonished as they heard their Lord's proclamation. However, none of them seemed opposed—some even nodded in agreement while they continued to listen silently, without voicing any objections.
For all of them, the word of God was law, and none would dare contradict Him.
"There is, however, no need to rush, as I will only choose those who prove themselves worthy and have at least reached the peak of the Legendary Rank."
"The System will surely help you to progress further. And as long as you do not neglect your duties and continue to lead souls into Heaven, a brilliant future awaits each of you."
The Soul Summoning Crystal. This crystal was a kind of portal that existed both in the Divine Realm and in the endless war-hell and served as the passage for deceased souls into the respective independent realms.
These portals, however, were not absolute. One could imagine them as oversized vacuum cleaners floating in the sky above the mortal worlds, constantly drawing in the souls of the dead and transporting them either to Heaven or to Hell.
The pull of these portals, though not weak, covered barely more than 80% of a world and was thus unable to draw in every single soul.
Not to mention souls that, due to strong emotions felt at the time of their death or attachment to specific places, remained behind. The pull of the portal could only partially—or not at all—reach such souls.
That's where the angels of the Divine Realm came in. Their main task was to appear in the form of astral or ghostly apparitions and guide those deceased souls that had not been caught by the portal and still lingered in their respective mortal worlds into the afterlife.
Hm~ Still, this will surely take a while, and I can't stay here the whole time to supervise everything…
Asher paused for a moment and seemed lost in thought.
Suddenly, the soap-like bubbles floating in the air burst and dissolved into nothingness, along with their respective contents.
"I did say that I would only select the twelve archangels once you had reached the peak of the Legendary Rank, but I now wish to appoint the first…"
Asher had changed his mind quickly, as he realized it would be simpler to name a representative who could command the angels in his absence, allowing him to focus his attention on other matters.
With a deputy in place to rule Heaven in his name and lead its forces, it would surely be easier for the angels than having to wait for orders from a higher power. In this way, the Divine Realm would function far more autonomously—and Asher, as their god, would become the very symbol of their rule.
He stretched out his hand and commanded: "Aaron, my faithful servant, step forward."
Aaron flinched in surprise but immediately stepped out from the line of archangels. He bowed once more, placing his hand before his chest, and awaited what was to come with eager anticipation.
Asher raised his hand solemnly and proclaimed: "I hereby appoint you, Aaron Brandt, as the first of the twelve archangels, and grant you the title: Michael, Viceroy of God!"
He paused briefly, then continued. "As my viceroy, you shall henceforth be the leader of the heavenly host and my right hand in the Divine Realm!"
Aaron Brandt—now Michael—bowed as deeply as he could and replied, "As you wish, my Lord. I thank you for your generosity and shall carry out your command. I will care for your divine kingdom with the utmost devotion and lead it into a glorious future! Let your name be praised and worshipped in all worlds!"
Suddenly, moments after his oath, Michael began to shine with a brilliant light. The blinding, sun-like glow enveloped his entire body and caused him to float several meters above the ground.
The other archangels widened their eyes in awe at the dazzling divine light and marveled at the spectacle before them.
They were free of envy or hatred and filled with excitement and joy for their comrade.
It did not take long before the light surrounding Michael slowly faded—and his transformed appearance came back into view.