Constellation, Blue Wood Holding Starlight (4)
That ever-confident Beatrix opened her mouth with a face full of utter bewilderment. What spilled out in her slightly trembling voice was awe toward me. A faint trace of fear.
"I forgot for a moment, but you are a Galaxy Spirit Body, my lord... Your true form must be of immense size as well..."
Every time this happened, I felt the distance between us widen just a little more. An inevitable difference in perspective. Dust and humans could never think alike.
Not even if that dust had once been human.
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, says the message was misunderstood.
"Ahaha... Does that mean you wish to invite me to your dimension, O Constellation?!"
Yeah. That might be better. Whether that's exactly what I meant just now is secondary.
It felt right to phrase it that way.
"I'll convey your will for now, my lord. But crossing dimensions... I'm not sure if that's possible."
Dimension barriers are nothing I can't tear apart.
Blue Wood Holding Starlight permitted a private audience with Beatrix. Since she was acting on my behalf, the elves didn't seem to pay it much mind.
"Ugh... So the deity you serve invited me to another dimension?"
"Yes. Our lord is a Galaxy Spirit Body from another dimension..."
"But I don't wanna. Heehee!"
A plain rejection.
Wait. Think about it for a second.
Would anyone just follow a stranger they met today to another dimension at their invitation? Of course not.
But my thinking up until now had been a bit different.
As if I could take her whenever I wanted, like a bug caught in a human hand. As if that was only natural.
I had considered asking her opinion, sure.
But deep down, the urge to just snatch her away wasn't entirely absent.
Was it arrogance from being able to twist time and space at will?
When was the last time I'd taken a humanoid temporary body?
Snap out of it. A race is defined by the body.
But the self is defined by the mind.
I don't buy into trite mentalism like that.
But I can't just let it slide either. I absolutely won't become like the Outer Gods of that other dimension.
Just as I was thinking I should descend in a temporary body more often, a response came from the young world tree.
"Here, take this instead!"
Something glowing faintly burst through the tree's bark. About half human size. A green, round seed.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"That? Ask the deity you serve, and you'll know."
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, says that is a Planet World Tree seed.
"A seed-ling?!"
"Ehehehe! You're fun! What's a seed-ling~? Seed-ling!"
The kind of seed a normal tree produces by the hundreds.
Bury it on a sunlit planet and raise it... and a Planet World Tree is born?
"Is it really okay to give away something so precious?"
"That's not precious at all?"
"...?"
"I can make hundreds a day! Raise it well! Hehe!"
She handed over her seed so casually. Like essence forming in a human body, maybe.
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, conveys that he wishes to repay Blue Wood Holding Starlight.
"Our lord seems satisfied! He says he wants to repay you!"
"Hmmm... Really?!"
Whoosh—a green mist flowed from the massive tree, soon condensing into the form of a small, cute girl.
Green hair. Clothes made of leaves. Sparkling green eyes.
The descent of a Planet World Tree.
She beamed and approached Beatrix.
"Then! Teach me how to reach the next stage!!"
It seemed directed at Beatrix, but it was a proposal thrown at me, the constellation she was contracted to.
Next stage. Surely referring to growth as a deity.
"Of course. This is a personal deal! 'Repayment' would be even better."
She was a Single Planet Restricted Spirit Body. And a weak one, controlling only part of a continent.
Before the federation's scouts arrived, she'd been fighting alien constellations for planetary dominance...
Maybe she could have a good match with the goddess from the planet Beatrix was dispatched to before.
"See those down there? My children?"
"You mean the planet's inhabitants here?"
"You guys said it yourselves, right? The ones gnawing at my roots are vile monsters—alien constellations ascended to godhood. And you promised to catch them."
The survey team I'd seen earlier droned on about federation ethics codes. Constellation-related laws. All that stuff they had to uphold.
"There really is something up in that sky, huh? Your clothes, your weapons... No way a mortal nation could make those!"
"Gratitude...?"
"But even you lot, who claim you can kill alien gods with just a detachment of troops, seem to be struggling quite a bit?"
This young deity giggling in front of Beatrix... was showing a fairly godlike demeanor.
Wary of subjugation and dependence on the mortal federation, perhaps?
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, says he will descend.
"Eek?!"
There was a need to descend in a temporary body now and then. Constellation messages weren't conveying my intent fully.
Better to meet face-to-face.
An oppressively stifling sensation. Like my limbs were bound tight, fingers barely twitching in bean-curd-thick surroundings.
A constraint I could never get used to.
But for some reason, my mind was at ease.
The temporary body crafted by Constellation, Blue Wood Holding Starlight.
The green child stared at my body in wonder, then exclaimed excitedly.
"That girl who just left was super unique! Never seen a kid talk like that before!"
"That's why I made her my apostle."
"Oppa came from another dimension but seems super interested in this side! Oh, can I call you Oppa? Hehe!"
I chuckled at the world tree trying so hard to win my favor.
A bit of tension. Caution. Longing.
Her emotional waves were spilling out plainly. Still clumsy at hiding them.
A deity's everyday intent-thoughts were all on display.
She was clashing with alien constellations over planetary rights, after all. A bit more age, and she'd get better.
"To the point. For the next stage, there's someone who knows better than I do."
"But I wanna learn from Oppa? Can't I?"
"...I know an elder of your kind, far older than you. Goes by Sky-Supporting Great Tree."
Maybe I could introduce her to that pervert tree. Just an intro.
His divine stature seemed higher, so it'd help her. And she wasn't that naive a deity, so no need to baby her.
"I'll have one of my apostles introduce you later. She'll probably like it over there too."
"Hmmm..."
"I got the seed. I'll raise it well in my dimension."
Business done. Later, I'd bridge to the Great Tree and ask him to guide her cultivation.
Just as I prepared to dissolve the temporary body and return to my true form...
She spoke up.
"But Oppa."
"...?"
"Your true body is huge, right?! Nothing compared to mine!"
I read the intent-thoughts emanating from her.
Fear. Trembling. Perception.
Had she glimpsed something?
A few other constellations had reacted similarly. Seeing my temporary body and deeming me untouchable. Gauging my true form.
"Why?"
"Well, the body you're using now is made so super intricately! I couldn't even imitate it!"
Back in space, I pondered her words.
Crafting temporary bodies was familiar now, so I hadn't noticed anything odd.
Just an annoying, stifling fake body. A phantom I'd discard after short use. No point fussing.
Whoosh.
Floating it in space, I looked again—and felt the dissonance.
A perfectly sculpted human body. Precisely fitted to human specs. A false form.
Mortals might not notice, but a deity peering closely could sense something.
For now, time to fetch that seed from Blue Wood Holding Starlight.
I focused my senses carefully. The dimension barrier tugged at my fingertips.
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, says to plant the seed on an uninhabited planet.
"An uninhabited planet? Are you planning to take a whole planet from that dimension?! But how..."
Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, says to ask Blue Wood Holding Starlight for help.
Most deities couldn't cross to the world's far side.
But for me, it was just a thin, nagging membrane.
Pop.
If it were before, maybe not. But now, this level of control was possible.
Grabbing and pulling something desired wasn't easy, but doable.
Descending to human size. Rewinding time. Creating galaxies. Crafting info-authorities like status windows.
All that had honed my power control.
This was outside federation space, so easier to meddle.
One or two planets. Their vanishing wouldn't matter much.
"Ugh. So... send the seed into space? Then you'll take it over there?!"
"That's what our lord said for now..."
Screee— the tiny seed pierced the planet's atmosphere into space.
Microscopic size, but launched by a deity who could perceive beyond the planet, it flew precisely to the neighboring world and embedded.
Impressive racial potential. Not even a Planet Spirit Body, yet she pulled it off.
A protective barrier on the flying seed. Like a dandelion dispersing its fluff...
I already knew that galaxy's location. Three apostles directly linked to me. Connections felt even across dimensions.
A faint sensation at my index fingertip.
Crack.
A slight push, and the dimension wall crumbled bit by bit. With a tactile snap only I felt, a tiny rift formed.
Enough for one planet. Now, as carefully as possible...
Urk?!
■■! What the—watching the whole time?
If you'd been observing from the start, say something.
Still, her nudge from over there made it easy to pull.
Probably meant it was okay to take this much. Or she got uneasy at what I was doing and did it herself.
...Guess I need more practice controlling it.
"O Constellation. Are your other apostles faring well? Outer space comms are spotty; can't reach them."
I glanced at my third apostle, Vivian, with the TV on at the Central Avatar Research Institute.
Then examined the world tree seed now in my grasp.
How best to raise this?
Super Galactic Empire Federation Outer Dimension Intelligence Control Room.
Beep beep beep—
Outer space stellar system [Draxis-β], Planet 3 provisional name "Ortella IV" — Detection failed.
No scan errors. Gravity coordinates, spatial measurement response, mass detection—all converging to zero.
Clack clack.
Tap tap.
"What the hell? Even if it's outer space beyond federation borders, a planet that existed until just now vanished?!"
"No way it just disappeared after being observed near the 5th Fleet..."
"You're joking, right? Now... not even microscopic debris! No disintegration, no explosion, no superpowers detected... It was just erased!"
Mortals suffered from incomprehensible phenomena today as well.