Thus, I delivered Yama, who had received a new name, to the northern part of the world.
Though promoted to the God of Death, his foundation was as the spirit of the earth and Mountain God. So traveling long distances must have been unfamiliar to him, right?
So by transforming into my true form, I had Yama ride in the hands of god and flew off towards the north, completing delivery of the Death God.
While flying through the sky toward the north, I did hear Yama scream in panic, but it wasn’t that important an issue so I completely ignored it.
It was probably just complaints about getting airsick from going too fast or something, right?
Anyway, when we arrived in the north and I set Yama down in front of the Underworld Gate, he dropped to his knees with great emotion and began bowing deeply.
「I understand the greatness of the earth now. I see its preciousness now. I realize all beings live upon you now.」
“Such theatrics.”
Upon hearing my words, Yama silently looked at me.
Without saying anything, he continued staring at me for roughly thirty minutes.
And thus, Yama and I passed through the Underworld gate and descended lower, and lower still.
We encountered darkness spirits cleaning up fragments dug out by Talos, introduced Yama to Thanatos who commanded them, and eventually reached Talos who had dug out all seven layers and stopped.
「This is… incredible.」
“Talos is quite impressive despite being created on a whim.”
Though born from a fleeting thought, there’s no denying the golem’s performance.
I praised the commendable Talos while speaking.
“With this, the location is prepared, so it’s time to complete the Underworld.”
Ah, before that. We should confirm if Yama has properly ascended as the God of Death.
The method is very simple since I can access the list of all gods.
GodTalk. List of gods. Confirming Yama’s name appeared on the list, I smiled faintly.
“To think one can become a god through unrealistic events, some rumors, and public manipulation. This might be the easiest era to become a god.”
God of Death. Yama. His name was fully registered on the list.
Hm. Maybe I could create gods to suit my taste like this? Tethys, Ifrit, and Sylphid becoming gods wouldn’t be bad either.
Well, Tethis and Sylphid will naturally be revered as gods once navigation becomes more active. Just planting the seed should suffice.
Ifrit… maybe I should put in a bit of effort. Though the advantage of an eternal flame in this era is huge, Ifrit’s location is such a disadvantage.
If I distribute parts of Ifrit around or use sacred flames to cremate corpses… or introduce Ifrit as the god of fire and furnaces to the dwarves, that shouldn’t be bad either. Yeah.
While pondering these half-hearted thoughts and checking the GodTalk list, I saw a name I’ve never seen before.
「Cloud Whale」
What’s this now?
Cloud Whale? A whale made of clouds?
But appearing on this list means it’s gaining faith as a god. Cloud Whale? What even is this?
Humans shouldn’t even know what whales are yet. With their primitive navigation skills, they couldn’t possibly encounter whales.
Ah, no. Perhaps dead whales washed ashore allowed them to learn. That could happen.
Though not entirely certain, I guess. After all, the only one who knows the word “whale” is me… except Shamash told the children various stories.
Maybe those stories somehow reached others? Elves or dwarves?
With the language already unified, could elves or dwarves have overheard the children’s talk?
I don’t think they directly heard it. They probably just understood the general meaning, right?
Then where did the word “whale” come from? Hmm… I really don’t know.
No, maybe it’s just an incredible coincidence that the same word was used.
Still, what kind of existence is this Cloud Whale? It seems to be a god since it’s properly listed on GodTalk…
Hmm. I’m curious. Very curious.
Though I was still in the middle of creating the Underworld, I couldn’t shake off this curiosity.
Could it be that humans saw clouds shaped like a giant whale and assumed it was a god?
Curiosity takes precedence over finishing the Underworld. Let’s put current tasks aside for now.
Even though I was focused on creating Hell, my attention was stolen by this newly born god. Can’t help it.
After all, I need to check what kind of existence this newly born god is.
—
Thus, when I investigated, the Cloud Whale turned out to be a massive cloud-like entity gliding quietly across the sky.
It really does look like a whale. More like a sperm whale.
But its essence isn’t a soft, fluffy cloud-like being.
From afar, it seemed like a hazy cloud-shaped whale, but upon approaching, I clearly understood its true nature.
The Cloud Whale was a god born from countless souls floating in the sky gathering together.
The mass of souls I observed earlier when researching souls and spirits – those souls that rose to the heavens.
That mass had taken the shape of a whale and floated in the sky, forming the true identity of the Cloud Whale.
Because too many souls gathered, they became vaguely visible to human eyes, and their shape resembled a giant fish, leading people to call it the Cloud Whale.
Truly, how did it come to this?
I cannot completely control every human thought, so I can’t prevent gods from being born like this.
Anyway, I approached the Cloud Whale.
The Cloud Whale, a congregation of numerous souls, didn’t seem to possess clear intelligence.
It merely wandered the skies, scattering the souls composing its body here and there.
In areas below where the Cloud Whale passed, the number of newborns strangely increased. This wasn’t likely a coincidence.
Perhaps originally situations where conception or pregnancy couldn’t occur changed due to souls seeping in, leading to births… but I can’t say for sure since it’s uncertain.
As I watched the Cloud Whale aimlessly drifting without any intelligence, I wondered if I could utilize this Cloud Whale somehow.
After all, in the Underworld, I’ll process souls into pure spirits to reincarnate them anew, but I hadn’t figured out exactly how to reincarnate them.
I considered simply sending souls up to the sky, but releasing them from the bottom of the Underworld wouldn’t be easy either, given each layer’s size requires a normal human to walk for seven days non-stop to traverse.
Wouldn’t connecting the Underworld and this whale make processing souls easier?
Of course, if I could communicate with this Cloud Whale, that would be ideal.
So, while continuing to construct the Underworld, I kept attempting conversations with the Cloud Whale.
The Cloud Whale only emitted sounds akin to animal calls, possessing intelligence similar to a newborn baby due to being composed of pure souls.
Naturally, that makes sense. The souls composing the Cloud Whale are pure, untainted spirits that haven’t even been born yet.
It’s natural that the Cloud Whale can’t speak with such intelligence.
If it could talk, things would be much more convenient, but its intelligence is on par with animals, so there’s nothing to be done.
So while constructing the Underworld, I kept talking to the Cloud Whale using GodTalk.
No, no.
Why do I keep talking to this Cloud Whale?
There are plenty of other methods.
The Cloud Whale is a god formed by the congregation of massive souls gaining faith.
Since this faith comes from humans…
Couldn’t I guide this faith somewhat to transform it into the kind of existence I desire?
For example… a god existing in the sky, spreading new life throughout the world…
Hmm… Zeus?
No, I went too far. Comparing a Cloud Whale that merely spreads souls around to the worst philanderer in mythological history is excessive.
If the Cloud Whale had intelligence and could read my mind…
It would be understandable if it grabbed my collar immediately!
Aside from existing in the sky and spreading new life, the Cloud Whale has nothing in common with Zeus!
Anyway, I could adjust the faith directed towards the Cloud Whale to my liking using humans.
Like a god granting new children to couples, for instance.
That seems like an entity that would communicate better than a soulless whale wandering the skies!
