Ves knew he could have gained Gloriana's approval if he put her in charge.

However, he knew he would never be able to get his grand ritual off the ground if he did so. Gloriana was too damn perfectionist to settle for less!

For example, her suggestion to employ 66 proto-gods instead of 6 proto-gods to represent the phase of godhood was too impractical!

Ves had to scrape deep into his collection of design spirits to even come up with this much. There was no way he could muster enough spiritual energy and other essential ingredients to create at least fifty new design spirits in a short amount of time.

In fact, Ves didn't even possess enough P-stones to house all of their essence!

And this was just one of her absurd demands.

"In fact, if you truly want to represent the phase of women, you should have invited six female Hexer expert pilots!" Gloriana lectured to him. "While it is arguably better if they are ace pilots instead, I understand that can be a little difficult, so I can accept it if we settle for less."

A little difficult?

Ves would probably get slapped to death if he approached the Hegemony with such a ludicrous proposal! Ace pilots were the most supreme and honorable champions of a second-rate state. Such exalted existences already enjoyed a status comparable to Master Mech Designers!

"What possessed you to use the remains of dead sandmen to represent the phase of dust? They're not even human! If you truly wanted to make a sincere attempt at embodying the phase of dust, you should have harvested the soil from a cemetery on one of our settled planets! When we die, our mortal coils eventually break down. All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."

Ves coughed. "I would rather keep my head intact, thank you very much."

All of these complaints and more continued to vindicate his choice of going his own way. Even if he made a million of perceived errors in her perspective, it didn't matter to him! All he wanted was the grandeur of a ritual.

After he empowered the Larkinson Mandate and created the Golden Cat, Ves had analyzed what had taken place.

Ves came up with two important conclusions why he was able to create a remarkable spiritual product on the day of the founding of the clan.

First, as the creator, his mood played a very great role in the creation of his works. Whether he intended to create mechs, design spirits or anything else, his mood was paramount when it came to establishing their spiritual properties.

The grander the occasion, the more Ves became focused. The more he tailored the environment around his act of creation, the more he was able to channel all of the right attributes into his design spirit!

It was similar to the difference between working at home and working at an office. Even though virtual technology allowed lots of people to work at home without lacking any of the facilities they depended upon, in most cases their productivity wasn't as good.

Eschewing a suit and tie for a t-shirt and boxers was not a good way to stay focused. Even if someone worked from home, it still made a huge difference to dress up as if you were about to head to the office.

Therefore, all of the pomp and circumstance today served a very important purpose. It didn't matter if Hexers like Gloriana thought that Ves was making tons of errors. As long as his choices steered his mood in the right direction, then everything was fine!

Ves never intended to hold a legitimate religious ritual. Every religion was superstition as far as he was concerned, so why should he adhere to orthodoxy? In hexism, boys like him probably weren't allowed to preside over rituals in the first place! The fact that he even thought about it was a big taboo!

All of that sounded silly in his opinion. Ves did not care about taboos, especially ones based around superstition.

The second reason why the creation of the Golden Cat was so successful was the involvement of other people.

Previously, Ves created his spiritual product on his own or with Gloriana. The involvement of so few people didn't impart the created spiritual entities with any external influences.

This was a missed opportunity.

The difference between the Golden Cat and his other design spirits were very clear. Ves theorized that holding a show and aligning the moods of the audience would channel the properties of new creation to an even greater degree!

This was very valuable. Whenever he performed his spiritual restoration technique, he exerted very little control over the final state of the end product.

Ves learned how to narrow down the variability by preparing specific ingredients. However, even then, there were countless ways to combine the ingredients. Whether the final product combined the ingredients in the manner he wanted was still a mystery!

This was why a crowd was important. As long as the thoughts of a collective became aligned, they could exert a notable amount of influence to the birth of a new spiritual product!

This was one of the reasons why the Golden Cat aligned so well with the Larkinsons. She had literally been birthed from their common desire to be a part of a strong clan that retained their original heritage!

In short, Ves pretty much treated this occasion similar to one of his product reveal events. The large crowd of men occupying the zone representing the phase of life was his true audience! As long as he manipulated their impressionable minds, he could do anything!

Unfortunately, Gloriana stood in his way. If possible, Ves just wanted to step around his girlfriend and proceed with the ritual, but unfortunately he needed her assistance. Her role was indispensable in the creation of his next design spirit!

"—and why did you pick up random locals from the street to make up the phase of life? If you wanted to create a Hexer proto-god, then you should have brought in actual Hexer citizens!

"ENOUGH!" Ves abruptly grabbed onto her shoulders and used his strength to shock her into silence! "I have listened to you long enough but I am not going to change a single detail! It's too late for that! I told you over and over again that the form of the ceremony doesn't matter! I'm not a priest and I am not conducting a divine ritual!"

"If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…"

"This is different! Look, I know you have a million objections, but this is MY show, not yours. Just let me do what I want and you can complain afterwards AFTER you have seen my results, not before. Even if you think that my chances of success are miniscule, at least give me the benefit of the doubt!"

"There is no room for doubt here!" Gloriana hissed back. "In my eyes, you are walking straight into a bottomless pit. What I am trying to do is to pull you back before it's too late. I don't want to lose you, Ves!"

"None of your fears will come true! Look, if you think that I am doing everything wrong, then your Hexer gods or whatever won't do a thing to me. After all, I'm not a qualified priest and my knowledge of hexism is too shallow. There shouldn't be any danger!"

"It's still wrong, Ves."

"Just give me a chance. Burn me afterwards. Say 'I told you so' if it turns out that you are right. I will accept any admonishment you give me then, but please wait until you see my end product. Can you at least do that, Gloriana?"

He reached out and poured out his heart to her. "I love you, Gloriana. I know I have some rather odd ideas every now and then, but they are all fueled by my passion. You wouldn't want to block me from pursuing my dreams, right? As my girlfriend, you should support me instead of condemning me. Even if the entire Hegemony turns against us, our love will always matter more!"

Gloriana began to look uncertain. "I… I don't know..."

"Our remaining mech design project is just the first of what is to come. If everything goes well, we can continue to design the powerful mechs the Hex Army needs to vanquish the Friday Coalition. You already know how powerful my glows can be. Just think of what will happen if every Hexer mech pilot benefits from them! If we wish to fulfill this ambition, then we need to impress the snobby matriarchs who hold all of the power with a design spirit that uniquely appeals to their sensibilities!"

"I want that too, Ves, but I'm afraid that your new proto-god will turn into a travesty! Your ceremony is all wrong!"

"Let. Me. Do. What. I. Want." He gritted his teeth.

The argument stretched on for half an hour before she reluctantly acquitted.

It took this much time to convince her that it was best for Ves to make his attempt and fail. In her opinion, this ceremony was doomed from the start. Ves just had to go through with it in order to realize how wrong he was to mock hexism.

After a considerable delay, Ves could finally proceed with the ceremony!

The crowd of waiting people all fell silent after a loud tone interrupted their conversations.

The boys from the phase of life, the Penitent Sisters from the phase of damnation and the Swordmaidens from the phase of woman all turned to the pair of mech designers floating over their heads.

Ves and Gloriana no longer displayed any conflict towards each other. They both put on their game faces now that they showed up in public. Both of them held their cats as they flew towards the tall statue.

"This face… isn't that your mother?!" Gloriana gasped.

Ves coughed. "That isn't important."

"I can't believe you, Ves." She hissed. "Not only is it enough for you to trample on the beliefs of Hexers. You can't even hold yourself back from trampling over the grave of your own mother!"

He ignored her. It was showtime now.

"Ladies and gentlemen." He spoke as he floated at head-height of the statue. "Welcome to this solemn occasion. Today, I will be conducting a ritual. Each of you will feel strange, but you have nothing to fear. My girlfriend and I are just about to form a new glow for one of my famed mechs."

A silence fell over the entire hexagon. None of the men felt inclined to talk or cause a disturbance. They had already been warned that they could kiss their 1000 sents goodbye if they interrupted anything!

Ves smiled at the well-behaved crowd of boys. He was already confident that the 666 Penitent Sisters and the 66 Swordmaidens would remain in line. Not because they were women, but because they were disciplined warriors.

The same didn't apply to the 66,666 men he faced, but that was what he sought! The weaker their minds, the easier it was to get them in tune!

He slowly began to concentrate his mind. He put on a spiritual mask he specifically designed for this occasion!

A sense of fervor and fanaticism spread from his body. Gloriana instantly sensed the changes and looked surprised!

As he spread out his influence, the entire crowd slowly became affected by his air. Each of them experienced a growing sense of worship and majesty towards the giant statue.

Some began to feel as if the statue depicted a goddess.

Others started to develop the illusion that the statue stood for their mothers.

More people began to see the statue as the most supreme Hexer in existence!

A spotlight from the air suddenly landed on the statue. Due to its white, marble-like texture, it began to take on a mysterious quality in everyone's eyes.