PART 1

THE BEGINNING

*2 weeks later*

"Lifeless and formless you are, but I breathe life unto you. With my Divine Essence, rise and do my bidding…"

As soon as I finished saying those words, the numerous rocks in front of me started shaking. They rose in the air and started growing in size until they looked humanoid with their long arms and feet and stood at about 1.80 meters in height. Their appearance looked very crude, the surface of their body was a mash of small and rough rocks that multiplied from a single piece. After several seconds, the last one completed its transformation and there were two hundred who stood silently, awaiting my orders.

Forty immediately stepped forward from the rest and stood around the very large circular table that I leaned on with my arms. On it, was an equally large and very detailed map of The Capital, beside it were numerous scrolls that Mai made duplicates of.

"Okay…" I took a deep breath before exhaling. "So it's the usual today, Teams A, B, C and D will continue with their survey in their designated areas as usual." I say as I pointed and tapped on several points on the map with a stick that I found earlier. From the center of the city, was my Temple and the castle of the royal family back to back with some space between each other. The search was done in an outward fashion.

"Search the buildings, leave no stone unturned. I want every relevant thing inside them to be taken and presented on the foot of my Temple an hour before sunset. Your first priority is to see if there are still any humans in this city. Do NOT engage under any circumstances. If hostile, apprehend but do not hurt them and then immediately notify me."

"Also," I continued. "I require some wild animals, carnivorous ones to be precise. I need to perform some tests."

The forty nodded in unison and formed a line before their other siblings. Then, I opened some of my Gates and dropped tools and weapons that they will use for their tasks. Once I was done, all one hundred and sixty golems started getting their equipment in a speedy, yet organized fashion. It didn't take long, their movements were a blur and they moved as one like those machines in factories back in my other world. The forty "leaders" were the last to get their things, but theirs were different from the rest. They wielded enchanted weaponry and armour that Mai personally chose for their tasks.

I saw them off as they marched out of what used to be a barracks that I was currently in. I'll have to assign some to repair this place… There were massive holes on the roof and craters on the floor, sunlight was peeking above, as well as some vines and vegetation that had fallen. This place looks like a breath away from collapsing…

I've done some reading and had Mai teach me some things over the past few weeks, inside of my pocket dimension mostly so as to be as efficient as possible when using my time. Apparently, there are magic tiers or ranks in this world that are categorized by its denizens.

Rank 0 to 6 are what normal magic casters can achieve. You'd see spellcasters of this rank in academies and in the magical unit of armies. Mercenaries, adventurers, whatever jobs a magic user can be employed in this world. Rank 7 to 8 are considered to be the highest form of spells that can be cast, very few have reached this. During the 56 years of war, there were only ten people in the Kingdom who could cast such spells. Torschi Treunt Bol, Lunoa Gelia, Iri Rusmoni and Xenia Einforvoz were among them. The remaining six had perished over the course of the war. There are still two more ranks but they only exist in legends and myths.

The magic that I used to make those golems was rank 5, but they can be enhanced further by overlapping spells with each other. Magical Enhancement, Structural Improvement, Versatility and Adaptability, Initiative and Intelligence, Life Sense, Coordination, Combat Prowess, Arms Mastery, Physical Strength, Long-Distance Communication and Stealth were what I applied on them to make them reach rank 8. The Minister of Architecture, Torschi, used construction golems in her time to fortify and repair The Capital's defenses during the siege.

A normal human would need an average of twenty years to do what I did, but I managed to do it in a day and a half. I guess being part Human and part God is really overpowered.

Since Gods and Divines are elemental and primordial beings, they can't access human spells. They draw their power from the planet itself, which is the same with any magic user in this world but that is where the similarities end. Their essence is permanent and unchanging which is why they can't learn new sophisticated and intricate things, save for some special abilities specific to them. Mortals on the other hand, can innovate and improve. But since I'm part Human now, I can do it and enhance it, as well as speed up my learning process. And when I say enhance, it REALLY enhances it a hundred fold, maybe even more. Even Torschi was only able to command fifty golems of the same rank and enhanced with the same that's just on paper, Mai said that they were far stronger than what they appear to be, and I haven't even refined their appearance and other little details yet. After mastering it, I slowly started summoning more and more until I could command two hundred. I know that I could summon maybe a another two hundred, but Mai advised against it since it may draw too much attention or drive away any survivors.

I have been doing this for three and a half weeks and I have still yet to find a single inhabitant in this city. The Capital was a perfect circle from above with a radius of about twenty five kilometers, which is to say, absolutely massive. The first of the gigantic walls that surrounded the city was the innermost one, there were still fortifications and castles further beyond.

After I willed the balls of light that shone over the table to vanish, as well as reach out with my mind and shut the large doors shut, I sat down on the chair behind me and sighed.

"Hachiman-sama, I see that you are working hard as usual." I heard Mai's voice from within me. She was currently fixing a strange machine that was the size of three tractors in my pocket dimension. Its appearance was something of a cross between a steamroller, a crane and…that contraption that you use to wash your clothes in my other world. A..washing machine, I think it was called. Or I don't know, how can I compare something that I have just seen with memories that are missing and all over the place? Whenever I ask her what it is, she just smiles and says that it's a surprise. On the other hand, my memories are still incomplete and I still can't recall much.

I might even say that I'm losing some as time goes on. I sometimes even forget the most basic thing, like what country I hailed from and whatnot.

"Yes, what about on your end?"

Even though she replaced her elegant robes, removed her veil and the long white cloth on her head with a sleeveless tunic and leather pants, she still looked pretty as ever. She tied her brown hair in a ponytail, and it must have been a preference from one of my selves, I don't know why but I really liked it.

A sudden image of a girl with silvery-blue hair tied in a ponytail came to mind. I could not see her face since she was facing away from me.

Huh, what was that?

…Must be nothing.

I turned my attention back to Mai. She was sitting down on a chair as a book that flipped its pages floated in the air in front of her. Since she's a part of me, she also has her own pocket dimension, though it wasn't infinite like mine, it was still very large and I can expand it without problem any time. She was in her "room", many kinds of tools were organized around her as she continued studying the machine.

"Still not quite there yet Hachiman-sama. I still have much to do. Will you be coming back?" She asked and turned to me. Even though she wasn't physically with me, I still instinctively shook my head.

"No…" I yawned and put my legs on the table. "Anyway, are you sure you alright? You haven't come out for several days. And since I only go there when I feel like it, it must have been a long time."

She shook her head and smiled. "I am quite fine Hachiman-sama, thank you for your concern." She gave me a slight bow. "What will you be doing today? Will you be exploring the ruins as usual or should I send some tomes for you to practice and learn new spells? Or perhaps you would like to eat?"

"I'll be doing something different today…" I say with a grin and opened a Gate below my chair as I started falling. In an instant, all I saw were bright lights everywhere, then my surrounding changed from the barracks that was in tatters, to her "room" inside my mind. Her room was very organized, and like myself, there were many things on the walls that were displayed, this was just a fraction of her own power as a Divine Familiar/Construct after all.

Like Master, like Familiar I guess. Or Servant. I still can't choose which term to use even until now. God, Deity, Divine, as well as Servant, Familiar and Construct, all of them sound too cool for me to just pick one.

I fell but slowly floated once I made the chair disappear to another part of my treasury. I lied on my back and floated around her, like I was swimming.

"H-Hachiman-sama! You said you wouldn't c-come! My room is a mess and is unsightly to look at, please come back after a little while!" Mai stood up and started pouting and flailing her arms around. I just ignored her and continued 'swimming' in the air.

"Don't mind me, I'm just going back to the Temple. Or something." I say. My spirit form in the physical world is currently flying back to my destination since it's much faster than me sprinting. I still haven't mastered flight, so this form of travel is the fastest that I could think of.

I still can't quite control myself when I'm running, it feels like my feet leave the ground too early and I stay in the air too long, not to mention that I get faster and faster until I crash into some buildings. Good thing that I'm part God since all the rubble that fell down on me didn't even leave a scratch. I can't say the same for my robes though, but it's fine since Mai repaired it and reinforced it for me.

Mai looked like she was about to protest, but then sighed and sat back down. "As you wish…" Her pout turned into a small smile as she continued watching me "swimming".

After a little while, a couch appeared beside her and I helped myself to it. Floating down slowly on it like those flying vehicles in my other world, the one that had propellers on top of it? I don't know what it's called. A heli-something. Heli-plane…?

"Mai…"

"Yes, Hachiman-sama?" She turned to me, eager to hear my words and follow any commands.

"I'm bored. Tell me something interesting. Something that I don't know…" I say. I know that I can just go and pick up one of the innumerable books from my own library, but I want Mai to be the one to tell me.

She cutely tilted her head to the side and then put a finger to her lips. "Something interesting? Well, if you say so… Hmm, give me a moment…" Her eyes closed as I heard her make humming sounds, sometimes nodding and shaking her head at her own train of thought.

After a little while, she started giggling and then turned to me, barely containing it. "Oh! I know!" She snapped her finger, one of her drawers nearby opened and out flew something small, it looked like a thin piece of firm paper. Her clothes shone when she got up and sat down next to me and she was back to her usual robbed attire.

She showed the thing to me. It was some sort of painting, yet the image that it held was extremely detailed. The colours were vibrant and striking, as if they were alive. The magic of this world truly is amazing.

There were many people in it, around thirty. Adult men and women in priestly robes, a few children and a man and woman dressed like royalty with their daughter. In the middle of everything was a smiling Mai wearing the same clothes with the same hairstyle that she had right now. Not to mention the same body, I guess she really is immortal.

But on her lap was a child.

No, an infant in white and gold robes that fitted him, he wore a smaller version of the white cloth over his tiny head. His jet black hair was nicely combed to and his small hands were balled into fists as they grabbed Mai's finger. The tiny thing looked cute, but he had a look in his half-lidded eyes that irked me for some reason. He was frowning and pouting.

"Tch, this little brat has this annoying look in his face. I want to pinch his cheeks." Upon my words, Mai's pleasant laughter echoed around her room.

"Hehehehe! Is that so?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, and her giggling intensified. "What? Is there something about this little baby that I should know?"

She calmed down and wiped away some tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes. "Yes, it is something significant that you should always remember."

I arched a brow at her and looked at the baby again. "Hmm…" Then I finally understood what she meant. I summoned a mirror to my hand and looked at my own reflection. These eyes of mine and the ones that the baby possessed… The shape and the form of it…

They look the same.

Wait… Don't tell me…

"M-Mai, who is this baby, really? Who are his parents? No jokes or I'll tie you up again like last time…" I say and she just laughed it off. Tch, this cheeky…! I'm not even kidding!"

"Hehehe, I see that I have piqued Hachiman-sama's interest. But before that, as a God, what did you represent, Hachiman-sama…?" She asked. I can tell that she's really having fun with this but I'll go along with her for now.

"The Heavens, Fertility, Parenthood and Nature."

She nodded. "Remember what I taught you before? Ideas and symbols such as that are quite wide in scope, so it does not come as strange if there are other Gods out there who represent the same things such as yourself. There is a hierarchy, the God or Goddess with the highest influence has the Authority and strength that only one can possess at a time. Authority is a very powerful skill, the leaders of the two factions during the war had the highest Authority. There are many Deities that represent war for example, but only the most bloodthirsty and warmonger among them can claim to have the highest Authority."

"Yes yes you already told me that I have very high Authority on the last three, but I do not know about the the first one. And also the fact that Gods lose some of their 'traits' overtime at the absence of followers, faith, influence and whatnot. If that happens, they'll lose their Authority over it. The worst case scenario is that they'd lose everything and return to the planet's Core." I roll my eyes and bade her to continue and hurry up explaining.

"Let's see…it has been 178 years since you disappeared, the war lasted for 56 years so… Ah, roughly 254 years ago and 20 years before the start of the war, a large meteor was on a collision course with the planet. Astronomers from nearby nations warned their Patron Gods but they refused to act. Since the result of such an event would hardly put their nations in danger. They saw it as a natural phenomenon, and as primordial beings, they were not bothered much by it. The meteor's trajectory would impact the countryside of Rhozgelia and would decimate much of the landscape, not to mention that there was a city with 150,000 inhabitants nearby. You left me in The Capital did the unthinkable.

You flew and met it head on as it entered the planet's atmosphere, and obliterated it. The debris that fell were also quickly taken care of by the Rhozhgelian Flotilla. You used so much of your Divinity that you almost faded into nothingness and returned to the planet's core. Once it was done, you fell from the sky, burning just like the meteor that you destroyed and crashed. The place where you landed was venerated and declared as a holy site.

When the soldiers found you, they discovered that you had turned into an infant."

I took a moment to collect my thoughts and process what she just said. "So this baby…" I pointed at the small painting. "is me?"

"Yes. Your accomplishment spread quickly all over our continent and beyond. With the legendary influence that you received, you immediately became the Prime God of the Heavens. And even after many years had passed, no other God could surpass your Authority."

She continued. "It also must have been a fail-safe on your part, that before you put too much strain on your Core and fade away, you automatically revert back to infancy. In the history of this world, it was the first time that something such as this happened. You were still a God though, the only things that changed was your ability to effectively control your powers and your age. Your adult mentality was miraculously intact. You could not speak so you communicated via telepathy. Hachiman-sama was trapped in this unaging form for 15 years." She opened her own Gate and presented more images for me to see, as well as several statues and busts. They ranged from small ones that one can hold with their hand to large paintings that would be worthy in museums.

It had a wide array of moments, from formal portraits of myself, me floating away while Mai tried to grab onto me as several Gates were around, what appears to be the royal family eating with me on the grass, to one where I was dressed in ceremonial clothes and being paraded across The Capital.

Thankfully, I have no memory of these happening, since if I did recall them, I would have died from the embarrassment!

"Oh! I remember this one!" She said excitedly and showed me another one. There was a very pretty girl with bright green hair, around my current age holding me in her arms. She gave out a toothy smile while mine was a toothless one. At first glance she looked like your average teenager, but the crown on her head and her clothes befitting for royalty gave away her true identity.

"This is Grand Duchess Yvette Un Braven, Lady Mother of King Frexian. During the fifteen years that you were in this state, she would frequently visit the Temple and seek you out to play. This painting was made during your 14th year in your state. On the year that followed, you were able to draw enough power from yourself to finally go back to normal."

I nodded and took a closer look at her eyes. "Oh, so that is why she looks familiar, her son got his eyes from her."

"Yes. Also, many of your fellow Patron Gods would come to see and tease you. Unfortunately, those paintings that were made with them in it are tightly sealed within you, even I can't access them for you." Mai said with a wistful voice. That was a smart move, the Me right now would have definitely done the same to prevent further shame and humiliation. I was about to ask Mai on who they were, but I remembered that just like myself, her memories are still incomplete.

Since Gods are born from the ideas and are a reflection of the thoughts from sentient life in this world, all of us are born from the Core of the planet. In a way, we were all siblings. I have read some of their names from the books that I read, but no memory of them really came back to me.

Mai and I spoke for maybe an hour and a half, time passed by at the same pace outside since I was travelling and doing it on purpose. I was about to change my room to the place where I stored vehicles when I sensed that my spirit form had arrived at my destination. Mai sensed it too and with a snap of her fingers, all the images and other visual presentations of me as an infant disappeared. I guess I'll have to open the topic some other time then.

"Oh, looks like I arrived." I say while standing up and stretching my joints. Something flashed in Mai's eyes, it happens when she's seeing through my own vision in the physical world. After a second, she shook her head and sighed in exasperation.

"Hachiman-sama… Don't tell me that you are going to do it again…"

I puffed out my chest to her. "Yes, and I will not stop until I master it. Running around from the Temple to the barracks wastes much of my time."

Our surroundings started to change until it became my private quarters. Wordlessly, Mai stood up from her chair and sat at the foot of my large bed. Crossing her arms across her sizeable chest and her lips giving unimpressed-look through her transparent veil that covered the lower half of her face. "…"

"Don't give me that look. Who knows, I might get it right this time?"

She gave me a playful smile and did an exaggerated bow. "Your hard work inspires me so. I wish you luck, Hachiman-sama."

I opened a Gate on the floor in front of me and just jumped down on it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

This was a terrible way to start today's training.

The wind was screaming against me as I fell towards the ground below. The wall that I jumped from was a blur as I made my ungraceful descent. It's a good thing that I enhanced my robes so they won't flap around, or worse, come off of me.

I willed myself to slow down, so I can at least control my landing but nothing happened.

God of the Heavens my ass! I can't even fly!

"HHHNNNGGG-! COME OOOOOOOOOOON!" Since flight is an innate ability that I used to have, it cannot be channeled like mortal-made spells. It comes as natural as breathing or walking, at least that is what Mai said. It was only for a moment, but I felt myself slightly slow down before falling again. I tried jerking my legs, but all it did was make me look like an idiot.

"There!" I tried to do it again, but it was easier said than done. The ground was coming fast and I flipped myself with my feet downwards and opened a Gate as I braced myself. In an instant, my feet made contact with something solid. I knelt with one foot while I drove away the dust cloud that had formed with a wave of my hand.

"Tch!" I peered over the edge, the same one where I just jumped from several seconds ago. The ground was far below and behind me were the ruins of The Capital. Beyond was a plain with rolling hills and parts covered by dense trees. There were still signs that a battle had taken place here, craters here and there, ruined siege engines, but nature had done its job at reclaiming the place. I turned around and squinted my eyes once I enhanced my vision, I could see a small figure walking in the distance, one of the two hundred golems that I summoned this morning with its brethren behind it. And in the middle of the city, far away, was my Temple and the Royal Palace.

I sighed and sat down on the edge of the massive walls that surrounded The Capital. When I first saw these walls from afar, I just thought that they were tall and huge, naturally. But after coming here myself for the first time several days ago ago, they were absolutely massive. A marvel of engineering. No wonder it took so long for the invading armies to tear one of these down.

Let's see, judging from the maps that I had memorized, to my far east east would be the nation of Avant Heim of the Flugel's, a race of flying long-lived Humanoids with wings possessing high affinity for magic. Their cities floated above the ground and were prevented from floating away by massive vines and roots. They were allied with Rhozgelia during the war and primarily supported the Rhozgelian Flotilla as screening units that defended the Battleships and other larger and slower moving aerial vessels. The Flugels had no Patron God of their own since they were a strong race from the beginning but I do feel a warm feeling within me when I think of them. Last I remember, they raised their capital city to the skies and moved it away from the advancing hostile armies. I asked Mai if I had any special relations with them, but her memories were still in shambles like myself. I can barely remember the details of our alliance.

It is already midday, the Sun is at it's highest. I have been training myself for flight but I still cannot get the proper way to go about it. At some point, I will have to go out of The Capital and explore the rest of Rhozgelia. And flight is obviously the most optimal means of transportation. Perhaps it is just The Capital that looks like this, maybe the other cities are doing fine. But then again, not going back to the seat of your nation after the war is a really big deal. Who knows why the surviving Rhozgelians never bothered to come back?

Maybe all of them are…

…

I shook my head to drive those thoughts away.

Still, I was able to manifest thanks to the Divinity and extra things that I gained from my other world, it must have compensated for my damaged Core. Since the Essence and Divinity that I gained was foreign, only time would tell as to what kinds of abilities it gave me. Mai and I summarized three things as to why my return caused gaps in my memory, which in turn affected my abilities:

First - My first transit with my Core being damaged caused some miscalculations, and while I came back here good as new, it caused delay of 178 years. The sacrifice to return with a fully repaired Core must have been a very late and long return time.

Second - My other Self fiercely rejected the Me from here, which caused conflict until he was subjugated and the two merged as one, resulting in the Me right now.

Third - The survivors of the nation of Rhozgelia were systematically… Which caused some of my influence and Authority to decline… Removing the influence of a God from their Shrines and Temples takes centuries, and it gradually disappears overtime. Therefore, the fastest way to defeat a God was to kill their followers to decrease their influence and Authority to hopefully weaken them enough…

In short… Genocide.

I have learned many things after spending time in my library where the flow of time is slower, doing nothing but reading the history of this world. During that time, I crafted and mastered a unique spell that allows me to absorb the knowledge of an entire book without flipping a single page from it. I think I may have read several hundred books to date.

The past battles between Gods in this world are unimaginably destructive and massive in scope, the seas would roar and the ground would quake. But they are proud beings who would very seldom stoop so low as to kill mortals. They seek a challenge, it would be like stepping on an ant and proclaiming yourself to be the master of the universe. Doing so is seen as very petty, other Gods would undoubtedly look down on you.

On this side of the continent, it was relatively peaceful, but it was completely different in the others. Stories and tales of genocide and horrible atrocities committed in war were a commonplace. In my other world, I recall that there was an organization called the United Nations which formed rules and regulations for all other nations to follow. While it was not perfect, it still kept nations in check and prevented pointless wars over territories and resources. Unfortunately, in this world, no such organization similar to that exists.

But what I said about how Gods fought was only a thing in the past, that was before the war that tore this nation apart.

While I was exploring the other day with my own personal Guard of golems, I came upon the skeletal remains of a human. The cause of death was a spear straight to its gut. Strangely, I didn't feel scared as before. As I commanded my golems to search the surrounding area, a memory suddenly came back.

I was hovering several hundred meters over a large village, the night was cloudy and therefore pitch-black. There were people walking in the street, adults and children alike walking to their homes carrying lamps. I remember clasping my hands together, as if praying. Then, the clouds above me parted, revealing a massive magic circle that shone white and temporarily blinded the villagers below. Its white light focused and intensified on them, until it was a large pillar that stood against the darkness of the night. They were caught in it.

There were no screams, or debris and rubble flying in all direction, nor mangled and dismembered bodies beyond recognition. An explosion didn't occur. A deafening sound never arrived, there was only the low hum as the light engulfed the village. After several seconds, the light decreased its intensity, until I closed the magic circle above.

Where there was a village that occupied the land seconds ago, now there was nothing. Not even grass. The only evidence that something had at least happened here was that the ground was slightly smoldering. It was like it was just erased from existence. The lives of those villagers, gone like that.

The place was literally…cleansed.

Afterwards, I sighed out in satisfaction before rising in the air and zooming through the night sky, breaking the sound barrier in the process.

When I remember what I did, I don't really feel anything. Guilt, remorse, vengeance or anything like that. Perhaps this is my God side kicking in, seeing the lives of mortals as insignificant and all. In a way, it was scary, how I didn't even bat an eye during and after the ordeal.

I guess I'm not sinless after all.

I sensed something, a bird was some distance away from me. Looking at me curiously. From its perspective, I must look like a strange strange creature who that hurled himself from the wall several times already, only to reappear on top of it after failing to fly a few moments later.

I let out some of my divine aura to deliberately give it an idea as to who I am. It hopped back in surprise, before flying towards the hand that I held out. I opened a Gate and gave it some bread to eat. As I watched the tiny thing eat from my hand, I asked Mai something that I just thought of right now.

"Mai."

My vision had changed to her room, she was still fixing the machine but answered me immediately. "Yes, Hachiman-sama?"

"I have some power of Nature, correct?"

"Yes, that is true."

"Is it possible to know who has the highest Authority among the other Gods of Nature right now?"

She shook her head and made a difficult face. "Unfortunately not. It depends on the influence of the others, as well as the number of them left in this world. There is a Council that oversees such an act." She straightened up and bit her thumb when a dark-look passed over her face. "But… Hypothetically speaking, if all of them have faded away and died when we came back, then… By default…that leaves you as the Prime God with the highest Authority."

With my other hand, I put a hand under my chin and started thinking. Gods can only 'die' when they are forgotten by their worshipers and have lost faith in them or at the hands of another God. Even with that, they will inevitably return to the Core the planet, though it would take centuries for them to come back. And by 'come back', they do so as whole new God with no connection. The Core of the planet is where we come from. If it is a large mold of clay, then we are just tiny pieces taken from it. When we 'die', we return and become one with the Core into primordial energy and magic.

"I see… Well, going back to the Nature part. Does that extend to living beings as well?"

What I said must have been a first since she had a look of surprise and took a few moments to reply. "I… I would like to believe so. Though you can already command and speak to animals, as well as bend plants to your will, just like Hachiman-sama from before. You were experimenting different spells on animals, these past few days. Healing, offensive, defensive, utility and whatnot… Is there something that you want to try, Hachiman-sama…?"

"Something like that…" I turned my attention back to the bird that continued eating and narrowed my eyes at it as I focused on seeing it's life force from a God's perspective. It took some time, but I finally did it. Then I started manipulating and contorting it to try out a little experiment, one that I haven't tried before. It was like I was molding a piece of clay in my mind. Though this clay was the very life force of this bird.

I have done some…unsavory things lately. Since offensive spells can only get you so far against inanimate objects like rocks and boulders… And I can't really harm myself to test healing spells since I am impervious… My only option was to try it on a living and breathing being. When it's the former, I don't make them suffer too long, but if not, then… I don't think I need to continue myself, do I?

The tiny bird raised its head at me when I ordered it not to fly away. Then, its small body was attacked with spasms, its wings twitching and legs jerking violently, some feathers falling down from it. I heard its tiny bones snap, some blood coming out of its eyes and beak. It was in intense pain since it made chirps, begging and pleading me to stop. I closed my eyes and willed myself to continue.

It's more painful to watch when I can hear and understand their thoughts. I can always tune them out, but that would be cowardly. "I am so sorry… I am so sorry please bear with it for a little longer…" I whispered as I healed its wounds. The open ones stitching itself back together and its blood going back to non-threatening levels.

The bird started getting smaller, the feathers on its body regressing back into its skin. It's black eyes continued staring at me until they were covered by pink tissue. The claws and beak that it had also got smaller until you can't distinguish them from the soft flesh that covered it. The ordeal was done after a mere sixty seconds.

The small adult bird on my hand had reverted back into a tiny pink and featherless chick.

Mai asked my permission to come out and I told her to go ahead. I heard the familiar low humming sound of a Gate being opened, and out she came. She was speechless, wide-eyed and sat down next to me at the edge of the wall.

"Oh my goodness. Hachiman-sama, even your former self was not able to do such a thing. Controlling the very life force and age of living beings… This is something truly extreme… At this point, perhaps you can…" She trailed off and took a closer look at the chick that I had in my hand. Since she was taller than me, she had to really lean into me. I tried to ignore the feeling of her breasts pressing themselves on my shoulder. They really feel soft though.

The chick started making noises as it moved around in my hand. I decided that it was enough and reversed the transformation to make in an adult again. It slowly grew and not as violent with spasms and twitching like last time. Brand new feathers covered its body as it got up and stretched its wings and legs, as well as craning its neck here and there to check the other parts of its body. I asked it if it felt anything strange that was not there before, to which it said no and it felt fine. In fact, it felt even better than before.

Mai and I gave it a smile and it chirped, asking me if the one next to me was my "mate".

She must have understood it as well since Mai started giggling. "Silly little bird, I am not Hachiman-sama's mate." She said and gently touched the tiny thing's head.

I fed it more food and water as compensation, as well as some food on its beak and claws to bring back to its nest. As a final act, I blessed it with stronger wings and gave it keener eyesight. After giving us what looked like a bow of sorts and promising not to tell its kind the events that just happened, it bade us farewell and flew away towards the forest beyond the walls. Once it had gone away, Mai spoke up.

"Hachiman-sama…"

"Hmm…?" I turn to her, but slightly scooted away when I realized that she was too close.

She pouted but didn't say anything. "Was it fine to tell it who you are…?" I sensed concern in her voice.

"Of course. I don't like to sound like a bad guy, but animals aren't all that smart. Deception and lies, they don't understand it. Oh, and when I made it promise to me, I included some incantations as well so it is bound by my Divinity and Authority." I smirked at her when she widened her eyes.

"That is very impressive, Hachiman-sama. Forgive me for saying this, but I honestly did not think that you had thought that far ahead."

I shrugged. "Eh, I have a feeling that my Self from my other world was a crafty and cunning sort of guy. You know, doing underhanded and unethical things to get things to go his way… But it's just a feeling, I still don't remember much of my life from there except for random trivial information."

"Ooooh, is that so… Hachiman-sama here is quite straightforward. Him using sneaky and underhanded methods is something that he never does. Mai nodded curiously, and after looking up at the sky, spoke once more. "Hachiman-sama, it is lunchtime. What will you be having?"

"You pick for me, heat and chill what you think is best. But before that, I'll make one last jump." I say and got up, I offered her my hand and she did so as well.

She breathed in deeply and stared out at the view in front of us. A breeze came by and the white hood-like cloth over her head swayed with it. "It has been so long… 178 years. This was all farmland back then. Farm animals used to roam the fields grazing while farmers planted their crops… Now, it's like none of that happened at all… I can't even remember where the roads are…" She sounded sad, and I couldn't blame her. A dry smile appeared on her lips when she peered down and I instinctively held her hand fearing that she'll fall. I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Ah, the great moat is still there at least. I guess that it to be expected."

I roll my eyes and pinch her side, which caused a yelp of surprise from her. "Stop it with the depressing talk, you are ruining the mood. There is nothing we can do about it. Lunch is going to taste bad if you keep up like this." I berated her and she immediately apologized and bowed.

I look up. The Sun was high in the sky and I felt that it was a bit too bright so I made some of the clouds above cover the us a bit. "I'll have lunch here." She nodded and opened some Gates, a table adorned with precious metals floated down, complete with utensils, food and drink as well as two fancy-looking chairs.

I walked to the edge, where she followed me a small distance away. "Good luck, Hachiman-sama~!"

"Hopefully I'll get it right this time…" I say to myself before jumping once more.

My descent was more controlled and I didn't flail around like an idiot like last time, but I still couldn't fly, much less slow my descent or float. The wind was screaming, almost as if it was warning me to hurry up and spread my non-existent wings. Uwaaah… Only several seconds left…

As the ground got closer I thought that this would be the perfect moment to test how durable this body is. I mean, even though several tons of debris fell on me the other day when I crashed into a building, I am still curious how plain kinetic energy would have its effect on me. I also made one of the golems throw a spear at me, but it just clanged off of me and didn't even leave a scratch. Even the enchanted weapons that I had failed to make me feel anything. I deactivated the enhancement spells around myself and went head-first towards the ground, making my body as aerodynamic as possible and grinning like madman.

Fuahahahahahahahahaha! Bring it on!

Let's see how HARD I am!

When I was about to hit the ground, a Gate opened out of nowhere and I was sucked into it, still maintaining my current speed. "Huh? But I didn't-?"

And then I went face-first into Mai's chest.

I crashed into her and she instinctively put her arms around me as we crashed together, breaking chairs, the tables and spilling the food at the center of the room. Armour racks, paintings, statues, and weapons of the like fell victim when we hit the walls. Our rolling came to a stop after bouncing several times, and we found ourselves on my bed.

I was still dizzy of course, and so was Mai since she groaned and shook the stars from her eyes. We were unhurt, it is impossible to harm ourselves while inside here. The veil and cloth over her head was somewhere on the floor and her brown hair was spread around on the bed. There were some bits of food and drink on our clothes and I raised myself and confirmed that we crashed into my room. However, the thing that was on my mind right now was not how she interrupted my little test, nor the mess that we made upon entry, not even that my leg was between her thighs…

It was the fact that my hands were on her large mounds of soft flesh and revealed much of her beautiful skin since her tie must have gone slightly loose.

Against better judgement, I kneaded and squeezed them. She let out a small and cute sound as I continued.

"A-Ah~..."

This softness is insane-! Not to mention that they feel heavy-! I can really feel the slight bump with my finger and tell where it is! The cloth is t-thin too… H-How daring… W-Wow, she isn't wearing anything under these green robes, i-isn't she…? Does this mean that I've been hanging around a w-woman who had no undergarments on?!

What a perver-!

Wait, maybe this is the norm here…?

Once she finally regained her senses, she looked up at me with a small frown. "Hachiman-sama! What were you thinking?! Why didn't you open your own Gate?!" Instead of telling me to get off of her, or let go of her chest for that matter, she immediately started berating and nagging at me. "What if you were hurt?! Please take care of yourself more!"

*Squeeze*

*Squeeze*

*Grope*

*Grope*

"A-Ahhnn~…"

"I…uhhh…" I gave her chest one last squeeze, earning a blush from her cheeks and quickly got off of her. "I was late I guess. Ahahahahaha!" I turned away and laughed to distract her. Hopefully she'll let this slide this time. Oh but she did say that I can do whatever I want to her... Eh, I'll just come off as some horny God if I make a move on her or something. I have to act like a dignified God, the temptations of the flesh are nothing to a God like myself, especially to the Prime Deity of the Heavens! Or the de facto one of Nature (For the moment, at least)! Damn my mortal side…! Maybe I can seal away my libido and arousal to keep things under control!

I floated away from her and fixed the broken things that were in my room, as well as removing the stains where the food and drink fell. Everything slowly went back to its former place as if I was reversing time, I am doing it in a sense. Uwaaah, if only flight came as easy as this in the physical world… From the corner of my eye, Mai narrowed her eyes at me and continued pouting before huffing out and then fixing her robe.

"You know, Hachiman-sama…" She said just as I had fully restored the room to its original state. "You can just say so, you know~…? You must be feeling very pent up~… Should I make myself look older, or maybe you prefer a girl your age or younger~? Perhaps this body too visually stimulating for you~?" Her voice had a sultry and seductive undertone to it, and she deliberately dimmed the chandelier powered by light stones above.

On the other hand, she is right on some parts though. I admit that I sometimes feel nervous around her, given that she looks older than me and is aged at around twenty-one years old. The three year gap shouldn't matter much, but I think the culture that I grew up in from my other world strictly demanded respect for your elders. That must be the reason why sometimes I feel reluctant to give her orders and whatnot.

I turned, she was still sitting on the bed with her legs underneath her, looking at me expectantly through her half-lidded eyes and parted lips. She paused when I did so and was still in the middle of fixing her clothes. I floated towards her, until our faces were only centimetres apart. She was blushing madly as a crooked smile graced her chaste lips. She obviously didn't think that I'd suddenly get this bold.

She was breathing erratically now, and her breathe was hot. "Ha-Ha-Hachiman-sama?! Hehehehehehe~! Are you finally going to-?!" She exclaimed while stuttering with an excited voice and gripped her robe around her chest, ready to present herself bare before me. But before that could happen, I lightly hit her on the head with my hand.

*Bonk*

"No. That was just an accident." I deadpanned in a serious voice as she started pouting and rubbing the area where I hit her.

"Eeeeehhhh… You're no fun, Hachiman-sama~…!" I put some space between us. A pillow was thrown at my face as she started giggling while covering her hand while giving me a sly-look. My eye twitched in annoyance when she still continued being cheeky. I should really do something about this, she's acting way too carefree and cocky!

"Eheheheheh~! Are you suuuuure that it was an accident?" She giggled when a blush appeared on my pale cheeks as she sensually touched her breasts and taunted them at me, as well as licking her lips with her wet tongue. I gulped and unconsciously felt my fingers when I remembered how they felt. "You did feel them up pretty nicely you know~? Your hands felt really nice and you even squeezed and kneaded them with wide eyes before-"

I opened a Gate below the both of us, and after a second, I was sitting down on the chair with food and drink on the table in front of me. To my left were the ruins of The Capital and to my right was greenery and rolling hills.

As for Mai…

I turned her upside down over the edge of the wall, suspended by the same red cloth that I used to accidentally tie her up when we first met. The Gates that they came from hummed before I forced them to stay silent. I tightly covered her entire body with the cloth except for her head and since she faced away from me, I moved the Gates and turned her around so I can see what kind of expression she's making.

The Red Mummy, Mai, screamed her heart out for my forgiveness as fake tears fell from her eyes. "H-Haaaaaaaachiman-samaaaaa! Ha-Hachiman-samaaaaaaa! I-I'm sorry for overstepping my bounds! I will never do it again!"

I rolled my eyes as I took a sip from the fruit juice that she provided, the cold liquid running through my gullet as I savoured its delicious taste. I really need to have her teach me how to chill and heat the food and drink that goes through my Gates…

"No." I shook my head and turn to her. "The both of us know that you won't stop teasing me after this. Think of this as your punishment. Accept it with dignity and stop making a fool of yourself. You are a top-tier Divine Familiar so act like one." I say calmly as started my lunch with some butter on my bread. Mai started pleading some more in the background, but something doesn't feel right.

Bread, butter and juice? It sounds and tastes gross. I wonder if I have milk in my pocket dimension…

I turned to the woman who was upside down suspended over the edge of the wall a small distance away. "Mai, do you have some milk…? I'm itching for some milk right now. Can you be a dear and send some my way please?"

She stopped her wailing, and was about to answer when a cheeky grin formed on her lips.

Oh no, I know that look on her face. She's going to say something stupid again. Oh my God- Wait, I am a God. Should I say oh my Me…?

Ugh. That sounds really cringy not gonna lie.

"Well, Hachiman-sama," She started, barely able to continue because of her giggles. "I am your Divine and Immortal Familiar, as well as your eternally loyal Servant. You based me from a Human female, and when I materialize like this, I become flesh and blood. Given that you can manipulate the life force of living beings, maybe you can 'modify' me as well. I do not know if I am able to have children, but if we copulate and Hachiman-sama successfully impregnates me, which I am 100% sure that he can, I may be able to produce milk! Ahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!" She shook as she laughed. I had a mind to just release and drop her, but I know that she'll just open her own Gate and either go back within or reappear beside me.

Did she hit her head or something? This Servant of mine sounds crazy… She must have been working too hard on that machine thing. Maybe I'll have her spend some more time outside. Being cooped up in my mind might be affecting her or something…

It's decided, I'll have her physically accompany me tomorrow. Ah, but she can only manifest outside for around three hours at most anyway… I'll need to find some way for her to stay outside longer…

Aside from that, I lost the want to drink some milk and took away her ability to transport and take items to and from my Treasury for the moment.

I sighed in exasperation. Why did I even bother asking… "Nevermind… Well, in a twisted and perverted kind of way, you did answer my question at least…"

"Right?! So why don't we-!" She said with a loud and hopeful voice as she twisted and jerked against the cloth that bound her.

"No."

I continued eating my lunch at the top of these walls, occasionally communicating telepathically with the forty golems who served as leaders, as well as seeing their aura through the buildings. After they informed me that they still had found nothing noteworthy, I bade them to continue on with their tasks in their respective areas assigned to them. It was like I was the central and commanding unit of a hive mind of machines.

I didn't really mind Mai begging and pleading in the background.

In fact, I couldn't help a smile grace my lips.

Uwaah, I hope I won't become a sadist…

"Hachiman-samaaaaaaaaaaa!"

I am soaring through the air.

The Capital is down below, surrounded by the tall walls that defended it from the outside. A cloud went by and it momentarily obstructed the view before reappearing several seconds later. It was surprisingly colder here, I felt the rays of the morning Sun on my skin, as if it was trying to warm me up. Mai was not with me today, she is back in my Temple repairing it.

It was a few days ago when she suddenly remembered how she was able to manifest longer without me nearby during the war. She summoned a special amulet to me, and told me to just touch it, when I did, it glowed and floated, emitting the same aura that I have. It was some sort of battery specifically made for Mai developed by Rhozgelian scientists. It allowed her to manifest for long periods of time, regardless of the distance between us and had an operational time of 48 hours. I allowed her to have ten at a time since right now, I wanted to do some exploring beyond the walls on my own. The downside was that she cannot communicate telepathically with me, nor open her own Gates when we are too far apart.

It took a long while, but I managed to convince her that I will be fine on my own. If anything happens, I can just open a Gate and teleport here in an instant. W-Well, I may have just bluffed the last part...

I stopped our search for survivors some time now because…

Around three weeks ago with the golems that I created, I gave all five hundred of them a conduit gem scavenged from the city as well as some from my Treasury. It was a rare item that enhances the area effectiveness of non-lethal spells to about thirty meters. It primarily supported streetlights to maximize efficiency. I thought that since Life Sense was not a lethal spell and was low-frequency magic, I might as well try using it to my advantage.

And it worked.

I decided to do it during night time.

With me at the center and powering everything from the top of my Temple, I cast a Life Sense spell filtered for sentient life all over the city and enhanced it several times its normal effectiveness which also spread its range. When there were some areas not covered or overlapped several times with other conduit gems, the leader golems immediately directed their brethren to the correct place to be. A gigantic magic circle appeared over the entire city. For several tense moments, nothing happened. And the city turned red from the light that was being emitted above. The air hummed as the spell did its job, a straight red line that phased through objects appeared and slowly started making its way downwards. It scanned the buildings that still stood, my Temple, the royal castle and I sent it underground just in case.

After almost an hour of intense concentration as the ground shook and rocks floated around me, I released the spell and sent word to my golems to come back. The data that the spell collected automatically came to me, and I instantly knew the results after deactivating it.

The entire city was abandoned.

No one was there. Not a single soul.

I was all alone.

The Capital was no more.

All the hope that I held as I desperately searched everyday for two months vanished.

To say that it made me feel depressed was an understatement. That time, I was so angry. The clouds overhead rumbled as thunder boomed and numerous arcs of lightning struck the ground in random places in The Capital. One of them hit the trees and started a fire that engulfed much of the vegetation that covered the streets and buildings in the northwestern quadrant of the city. When I finally regained my senses, I made it rain to stop the fire and retreated back inside my pocket dimension where Mai was waiting for me, but not before deliberately slowing down the passage of time within to maximum.

Mai did all she could to make me feel better and made it her mission to uplift my down spirits. Since she is a part of me, she can sense my emotions and the state of my mind if I allow her. From happy memories recorded in my books, to showing statues, paintings, busts of myself and singing poems, ballads and songs, from dancing, to presenting me tricks and magical gimmicks that she learned, she literally tried everything in her power to raise me from my depressed state.

She even tried to get in my bed to make me forget, and I almost gave in. But when I realized what we were about to do, I gently pushed her away and shut her off in her room within me, effectively imprisoned in her own part of my pocket dimension until I released her. She was still there but I couldn't hear her voice anymore.

I stayed in my room for who knows how long doing everything to keep my mind preoccupied. I spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out how the single-pilot fighter and escort ships of the Rhozgelian Flotilla worked. Since they were powered by magical fuel cores, theoretically, I could channel my own infinite supply to use it. It was around seven meters in length, with each wing resembling a bird's measuring at about five meters. Its shape was very aerodynamic and looked similar to the early fighter jets of my other world, notwithstanding the fact that they were literally based from boats. The Battleship that I had was massive, it was impossible to pilot it since it would need at least a hundred crew members. I also visited the armoury to take a look at the weapons that I had in my disposal. The place had no end and I did not bother looking through the whole it. If I feel lazy and meet some trouble down the road, I can just throw those around I guess. Aside from that, I went to the library and absorbed book after book until I felt like I was going to explode from all the knowledge.

Before I went out, I reopened Mai's pocket dimension within my own. When I entered her room, she was there sitting on the bed with her legs tucked under her. She was meditating the entire time surrounded by a white barrier. She sensed me and apologized for being too pushy before. Likewise, I apologized to her in turn for locking her there.

When we got out, we discovered to our surprise that only two days had passed since she said that I had locked her away in her own room for two and a half weeks. Since searching the city for survivors was useless at this point, I decided to have her help me out in training and honing my abilities.

During that time, I discovered some of my skills and abilities that I got from the local God in my other world, as well as my innate ones enhanced as a mortal. Some of the notable ones were my ability to completely erase my presence, extremely fast reaction speed and insane observation skills. When I was sparring with Mai in The Capital's arena, my surroundings suddenly changed. Mai's movements slowed for some reason, and I momentarily stopped what I was doing. I could count the specks of dust floating in the air, and saw Mai's iris with extreme detail even when she was more than forty meters away from me, blasting bolts of lightning and energy at my direction. I saw the muscles on her arm contract, where exactly she was looking at, the beating of her heart, how she drew the power from her Core and mold them into spells and I accurately predicted what she would do next.

It was like I slowed time. But in fact, it was just my perception of time slowing down, giving me more time to react.

Of course, that was not everything.

What I am most proud of all…

Is that I can fly now!

It was not easy, and I did so many unorthodox methods.

Like that one time where I summoned a ballista on the walls and strapped myself there. I fired myself upwards to get the highest amount of air time.

Or when I catapulted myself on a trebuchet from the wall towards the royal castle.

The most ridiculous one would definitely be when I ordered Mai to throw me as high as possible. Even though she acts silly at times and teases me with that lewd body of hers, she is ridiculously strong and I have yet to beat her when we spar.

Anyway, back to the flying. In the end, I was inspired by a bird that made its nest on my Temple, the same one that I blessed some time ago. I named her as Eiri and her mate as Lin.

If I cannot fly, why not manipulate the air around me while I glide? Also, since I can apparently transform into a dragon, is not the likelihood that I can grow wings possible as well?

It was surprisingly easy and was not as violent as I thought. A part in the middle of my back glowed after doing a bit of focusing, and then enlarged and grew until it took the shape of white large wings with several blood red and golden V-like patterns on it. The wingspan was about four and a half meters. The thing that I noticed was that it was not just some ordinary wings, it was like that of a predatory bird's: strong, agile and made for speed. It felt extremely strange since it was like I had another pair of long and feathery arms on my back.

Gross.

Gliding was easy, but suddenly getting used to having a pair of wings was the hard part. Maneuvering them, moving them in sync with how I made turns, stopping myself in mid-air with the air supporting me and doing high-speed landings as well. It took some time, but I was finally able to "fly" in a sense. Once that was out of the way, I trained myself by relying less on my wings and gliding, and more on the literal meaning of "flying". Progress was slow, but I persevered until my wings hurt so much that I had to retract them or just made them fade away altogether.

Before long, my efforts produced results, and with Mai's help, I was finally able to master it in less than a week and a half. Without the use of my wings, I zoomed above The Capital from the top of my Temple to the city's walls. Back when I was still sprinting, it took me nearly an hour because of the winding streets and collapsed buildings. Now, it was only twenty seconds.

I took one last look the The Capital below and enhanced my vision several times. Mai was at the large balcony on my temple, directing construction golems that I left in her command. I had an idea and drew the clouds around me, forming them into massive shapes in the sky while keeping the air still to prevent them from floating away. To get her attention, I threw down a harmless lightning bolt at the foot of my Temple. After several seconds, it hit the ground, startling the golems nearby. Mai looked unsurprised and looked up to the sky as she covered her eyes.

And then she smiled and waved her hand.

I had formed the clouds in the sky into a "Goodbye" in the language of my country from my other world. She was curious about it, so I taught her some things that I still managed to remember. And the character for "Goodbye" was one of the first things that I taught her.

After I gave her a wave of my own, my view became a blue and white blur as I darted across the sky, flying towards the north. I also cast a stealth skill on myself of the highest rank, to avoid any trouble that I may come across. I'll call this skill as Presence Concealment for now. Since I have not used them in a while, I also made my wings materialize and a hole appeared on my robe to allow it to connect with my body. I looked to its beautiful and elegant form and smiled.

It is time to visit the other cities and villages that dotted the nation of Rhozgelia.

Hello friends! It is I, Ivanov117 bringing you another chapter!

So things are going to get interesting at this point, I already have a plot for the next few chapters in my head. All it needs is for me to start writing them down!

If you can spot an say all the references I made, then good luck will come unto you for the next fifteen years! Some are pretty obvious, others, not so much.

Anyway, what do you think about this chapter?

As always follow, favourite, review or PM if you want! I'm always open to ideas and suggestions!

See you next time!