Amidst the news of the destruction of so many ships, people couldn’t find much solace in the new game that was announced by Darkflame Technologies. Many treated the game as a way to distract the public from the horrible news. Of course, there were a few diehard fans that cared more about the game than others, but they were ultimately the minority.

Around the same time, another piece of news was released to the public. Great progress had been achieved related to fifth tier magic. A research paper was submitted anonymously to an elven magic college in Gandor, containing countless new patterns to apply to the microscopic fifth tier spell formations.

According to this research paper, fifth tier geometric spells could be measured as ‘grains’, with each spell formation equivalent to a grain of sand. A true fifth-tier spell would only be achieved when a minimum of ten grains were cast together. However, whether it was the cost, the complexity, or the compression, fifth tier magic was far beyond the reach of almost all mortals.

Perhaps for that reason, a magic item had been submitted with the research paper as a proof of concept, which was immediately taken by the Queen of Gandor as a national treasure. This magic item was a glass sphere, enchanted with a fifth tier spell that had ten grains. According to the instructions that accompanied the item, this was an intelligent magic item that would activate whenever a hazardous event occurred to the area that it was protecting.

Once the event was detected to transpire, the item would activate, analyzing the situation and determining the appropriate course of action. Compared to a fourth tier spell, these ten grains of the fifth tier were capable of unleashing countless variations of spells, whether offense, defense, healing, or even directly beseeching the Goddess of Magic.

When the news of this item appeared, people began to speculate who had submitted it. Some believed that it may have been the Goddess herself, but others denied this. If it were so, why would she submit an anonymous paper? Instead, with her personality, she would boldly proclaim her achievements to the world. This led them to believe that it may have been a secret disciple of Ryone that was doing her best to contribute to the world while remaining hidden from the public eye.

Finally, the last piece of news that was revealed within these few weeks. The Another World Research Group announced the beginning of their World Creation experiments. This led to a series of mixed responses. Some were hopeful for the power to create worlds being in the hands of mortals, while others felt as though new universes weren’t anything new. After all, you could step through the Fairy Ring without a key and arrive at a previously unexplored universe.

When it came time for the experiment, a large number of Fallen Gods were mobilized as guardians to allow normal people who wanted to attend to witness the demonstration. They seemed to be taking this very seriously, perhaps to make amends for their previous blunder.

Chelsea was the one performing the demonstration, her voice appearing in everyone’s minds. Today, I have five devices that I am intending to test, each with slightly different settings. Due to these differences in settings, I am only expecting one or two of the devices to work properly. Even that would be considered a great success.

Fallen Gods, please make sure that no void monsters approach the area, and that the void influence does not erode the bystanders. After saying that, she pulled out a small, metal orb with a single red button. The void is merely a mass of information. Because of this, it does not take a grand machine to create something like a world within the void. Instead, all that is required is a medium that can interface with the void and transform that information.

Saying so, Chelsea pressed the button on the device and threw it forward. Everyone waited, and then suddenly saw how the red and black energy of the void seemed to converge on the item like a vortex.

Chelsea stood at the front of the assembly, arms crossed in front of herself as she watched the event unfold. This was uncharted territory, even for herself. In truth, she would have preferred avoiding making this a public display, but it couldn’t be helped. There was no way that they could completely block off the void from travel, so there were always going to be witnesses.

If that was the case, it was better to have the witnesses in a controlled environment, as opposed to them interfering in the experiment. Still, she kept her attention focused, monitoring the process. The energy was converging into a writhing sphere, bubbling all along its surface. Chelsea shook her head, realizing that this attempt did not have the stability necessary to solidify the world barrier.

With a wave of her hand, she erected a giant shield within the void, blocking the view for herself and the spectators behind. The spectators were briefly confused, before the shield trembled from an impact, cracks forming along it.

When the shield was lowered, the world that had started to take shape was no more. Even the spherical device that had initiated the process could not be seen. As I said, failures are normal here.

Chelsea’s voice was calm as she dispersed the chaotic energy, letting the void settle before throwing out the second sphere. For the most part, this process went much the same as the first one. Seeing this, the audience naturally believed that this was another failure, as nothing had changed. However, to Chelsea, there was indeed a startling change. The sphere that was created in this attempt was contorting, but it was not bubbling.

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Chelsea kept herself ready to produce a shield at any moment, but wanted to see this through as much as she could. The world laws that had been designed for this sphere were identical to those found in Earth’s universe, so she was hopeful for a certain degree of stability.

The sphere continued to grow, finally coming to a halt after five long minutes. Once done, it seemed pristine, with a swirling nebula of energy rotating within it. It appears that a world has been created. I will send an avatar inside to investigate, and transmit the scene for everyone here to see.

As Chelsea said that, she produced a large screen above her head, and a clone of herself in front of her. The clone walked over to the sphere, and could see just how thin the world barrier was. If she wasn’t careful, she could accidentally pierce it by mistake. It was clear that the Digital Conversion system wouldn’t be usable in this universe, for fear of puncturing the barrier.

Carefully, the avatar opened a portal, taking a full thirty seconds to do so while ensuring that her actions were not damaging the world she was infiltrating. After that time, she vanished from view, and the screen lit up to display what the avatar saw. There was a swirling cloud of multicolored gasses that stretched out through space.

It would appear that this world was created without any form of time acceleration. Because of this, cosmic dust has only just scattered throughout the universe, and we would need a great deal of time to wait for any planets to form. Perhaps the world’s barrier would become more solid as the space within stabilizes over time?

Chelsea brought her avatar out of the world as she narrated, before addressing the crowd again. This can be considered a small success. However, because this world is incapable of producing life without waiting for billions of years, and its barrier is so weak, I will be disposing of it. The alternative is to allow a void beast to do so, and risk them gaining a modifier similar to those that attacked during V-Day.

At first, the crowd wanted to resist the idea of destroying an entire universe. However, at the mention of V-Day, their protests died down before they could arise. Despite it having transpired decades ago, the effects were still being felt in the present day.

Seeing nobody object to her decision, Chelsea lightly slashed out with her hand. A blade formed within the void, popping the fragile bubble that was the world. She noted to herself that the laws of the world seemed at least somewhat stable, as she hadn’t felt any disturbance in her avatar when it was sent into the world.

Like this, the third and fourth tests progressed, each ending in an explosive collapse. On the fifth test, however, a result similar to the second appeared. This surprised Chelsea, as the world barrier for this test was firmer than that of the second. It was still a far cry short of a system-created world, but she wasn’t in danger of popping it with just a casual gesture.

The density of this world barrier can be compared to those that had been created for the improved void generators in the past. Chelsea noted, sharing her observations with the crowd. However, this world is similarly in a state of cosmic infancy. Because of this, I will once again terminate the world.

This time, there was less resistance to her suggestion, as they still clearly remembered her words from earlier. Thankfully, with these worlds being lifeless, there was no risk of karmic backlash like what James had previously faced.

When she slashed out, the world first cracked, and then began to dissolve in front of them. Chelsea turned to address the crowd with a firm nod. As you can see, we have made great strides in our research. In time, we hope to be able to create fully functioning worlds, all with technology reproducible with mortal means. For now, I’d like to ask the Fallen Gods present to escort everyone here back to their universe of origin.

After she said that, Chelsea took her leave, returning to the research base with the observations that she had gained from this experiment.

Sprigga sat on a large tree overlooking a lush forest. There was a melancholic look on her face, which she was doing her best to hide. This tree she was on now was one of her cuttings, having come here with the vessels that established the Hyperlane Network in the area. As this was related to the safety of her daughters, she had to witness the process firsthand. Thankfully, those in charge agreed to her request, and allowed her to remain behind when they left.

Now, she was doing her best to hide her loneliness from her daughter, who was managing the grove below. She only allowed her true feelings to show on her face at moments like this, when she knew that she was alone. Or, at least, that’s what she believed.

“You know, if you go around looking like that, someone might get the wrong idea.” A voice spoke up to Sprigga from behind, causing her eyes to shoot wide open. She jumped to her feet, turning around. Standing behind her was a figure that she thought she wouldn’t see again, or at least, not in the same form.

“You? But… your incarnation? You haven’t changed.” Sprigga noted, causing Giles to chuckle slightly.

“I’ve just picked my incarnation.” He assured her, stepping forward to caress her cheek. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pair of elven and merkin parents? I couldn’t find a pair that was expecting any time soon, so I’ll be reborn as the child of a pair of elves in Spica. I’ve already made the arrangements.”

“Than… how are you here?” Sprigga asked in confusion.

“This is just a projection. Because I was a Fallen God, I can project myself from the void. It’s… not easy to do this, admittedly. I guess that goes to show how effective the barriers are. As I am now, I can’t utilize any of my power, and can only project my physical form. I just wanted to let you know…”

Sprigga nodded her head, a bright smile blooming on her face as she lifted her hand up to grab his. “Spica, right..? I’ll be waiting for you, so hurry up, and don’t keep me waiting any longer.”