Chapter 2 – The Birth of Brahma
The vast chaos trembled. The laws and orders of the universe began to take shape, gradually forming an incomprehensible golden light.
Supreme and mysterious, it radiated soft resonances of Brahmanic sound.
"This… is the Cosmic Architect, Deva!"
Ray's consciousness turned toward the sudden golden light emerging from the boundless void, radiating supreme creative power.
This was one of the first unconscious gods born from Brahman—the Cosmic Architect, Deva, a deity of creation and craftsmanship.
He was the great primordial god, the originator of all twelve innate divine artifacts.
In a state of infinite unconsciousness, he embodied the highest law and order, possessing immeasurable divine power.
"Not Brahma yet?" Ray observed with mild surprise. "That's different from last time."
This was not what he'd seen in the previous kalpa. Normally, it should have been the unconscious Brahma born first, creating the universe using supreme spiritual power.
Suddenly, the cosmic sea trembled again.
From the infinite void, feminine energy emerged and began to coalesce.
Ray recognized it immediately: another unconscious god being born.
Shakti, the Cosmic Mother, the mother of feminine energy, the origin of action, the beginning, the force behind all karma.
Without a tangible form, she drifted beyond and within the world, an eternal source of power.
"Okay, so this is the Vedic version of the beginning," Ray said, watching. "Not the Puranic one I saw before."
As Ray witnessed Shakti's birth, he recalled the records in the Vedas.
"If this is the Vedic beginning, Vishnu should be next."
Sure enough, after Brahman nurtured Shakti, at the bottom of the endless void, supreme protective forces and the laws of order merged, gradually forming a figure.
A single-faced, four-armed being, lying atop a thousand-headed serpent.
This was Vishnu, in a state of infinite unconsciousness. An embodiment of order, drifting atop the serpent, repairing the gaps in Brahman.
The gods in this unconscious state were supreme, majestic, absolute.
Their power could no longer be called divine strength—it was the supreme spiritual force.
As embodiments of law, the power they wielded surpassed mere authority.
When they eventually became finite, conscious gods, their power would degrade into mere authority.
Ray observed all of it, understanding the mechanics of creation as it unfolded.
After Vishnu's birth in this infinite unconsciousness, the cosmic sea returned to calm. Brahman itself became dull and uneventful again.
Time passed quickly—a Mahayuga slipped by in an instant.
During this process, Ray gained a new authority: the measure of hours.
In Brahman, without sun or earth, Ray manifested a divine timekeeping instrument to record the passage of time.
The acquisition of the hour authority, and the minor divine power it brought, all stemmed from Ray's own essence.
Without him, such a power could not exist before the god of time appeared. Otherwise, it would have disrupted Brahman's order, and the unconscious Vishnu would have eliminated it.
"Jha~"
Above the boundless void, golden light exploded, splitting into twelve beams that vanished into the endless chaos.
"The mission of the Cosmic Architect, Deva, is complete," Ray observed. "Though consciousness never truly formed in him."
Those twelve beams were the twelve innate divine artifacts, each embodying the source of law and order.
They were supremely powerful—some capable of destroying heaven and earth, others to remake the cosmos entirely.
The birth of Deva existed to create these twelve artifacts.
"Hm? A seed of authority!" Ray said suddenly.
Ray's consciousness materialized, following the location where Deva dissipated. He saw a golden egg radiating brilliant light.
Before he could reach it, the egg vanished into the endless void.
Even though it hadn't yet formed a god, the seed's divine power was already immense.
Ray's moderate divine power could barely follow it.
"So the Cosmic Architect's consciousness was born in that final moment," Ray said, understanding. "That's how this works."
(Even with consciousness, it would still perish—Vishnu would intervene to maintain order.)
Seeing the seed, Ray knew with certainty: the aura radiating from the golden egg belonged to low-tier unbound authority.
"Aditya—the Cosmic Architect's daughter, the free goddess of Indian mythology, wife of Kashyapa. In the future, she will become a powerful high-tier god."
"Wait," Ray said, pausing. "My divine power… has increased."
Ray calmed himself and realized that his moderate divine power had indeed improved.
No—it wasn't just power increasing, it was the elevation of his authority.
Could it be due to the new hour authority?
No—it should have been noticed earlier.
"It is the consciousness born from the Cosmic Architect, Deva, that elevated my authority!" Ray realized.
Since becoming the God of Awareness, Ray knew that the birth of finite conscious gods would elevate his authority—but he hadn't expected such a dramatic increase.
His authority had nearly doubled.
Upon reflection, Ray concluded: the reason his authority rose so dramatically was that the conscious god born was Deva, the creator-level god.
If it had been one of the later fifth- or sixth-generation gods, even a hundred of them would not have brought such elevation.
"Interesting," Ray said to himself. "So the hierarchy matters. Creator-level gods give more power."
With the event of Deva's birth, Ray now understood the direction of his next efforts.
He looked toward the yoni, where the feminine energy had gathered deep in the void—the unconscious Shakti.
She, the Cosmic Mother, a creator-level god, could elevate his authority even further if she gained consciousness.
His moderate divine power might leap to high-tier, possibly even transform directly into high divine power.
"But the problem is: how do I awaken consciousness in the Cosmic Mother?" Ray wondered.
If consciousness authority became divine authority, that would be simple. But right now, Ray wasn't even qualified to assist Shakti in gaining consciousness.
"That's going to be tricky," Ray admitted to the void. "I need to figure out how to do this without disrupting the order."
"Om."
The endless void stirred again—the birth of another unconscious god.
Following the convergence of law, Ray saw Vishnu on the serpent begin to change.
Four new divine artifacts appeared in Vishnu's hands—all creations of the Cosmic Architect, Deva.
Ray watched, understanding that the cycle continued, and his journey through the kalpas was far from over.