The Pillar of the House 3
Who was the most shocked in this situation?
Was it Biin, who had suddenly lost a legendary creation?
Was it Terasion, who had suddenly been struck by a meteor?
Was it Yogur-tosoth, who had suddenly been flung into another dimension?
Or perhaps the poor residents who had suddenly been pummeled by Yogur-tosoth?
No. In truth, the ones most shocked were the hosts, starting with the Angel.
“Hey! Where did Yogur-tosoth go?! What the hell is happening?!”
“E-excuse me? That’s a mythic-grade trait, right?! It’s supposed to be unique to me—how can another player just enter my space? Are pirates even allowed to do that?!”
While Biin and Terasion were both panicking and bombarding her with questions, there was only one thing the angels could do.
“I’m so sorry! I’ll contact the higher-ups immediately!”
“We’ll look into it right away. Please wait just a moment!”
The two angels vanished in a hurry.
Announcement to all players. Due to an operational defect in this game, the scheduled disaster phase will be extended. World manipulation will remain available during this time.
As an unscheduled announcement, all players will be awarded 79,451 Faith points.
This was the second in-game announcement. Considering both announcements were tied to Biin, it was practically a miracle.
“…What the hell am I supposed to do with almost eighty thousand Faith points in a situation like this?”
“Excuse me?! My land is currently being demolished by some unknown monster—can’t you at least pause time?! Angel?!”
Meanwhile, Biin felt something strange. He sensed that part of his body existed somewhere else, not here.
“Hmm?”
When he focused, he could see through Yogur-tosoth’s eyes—watching the giant creature freely destroying a narrow world with storm magic.
Biin shifted his consciousness there. He could send a clone over instantly.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
【Hah! Creator?! You can see me?!】
“I can see you just fine. Must be thanks to the god’s ability to share a creation’s vision, or maybe it’s because of Deity-World Oneness. Either way, I can see exactly what you’re up to.”
【Ah… I see.】
“You didn’t seriously think you were free from me and started building your own kingdom here, did you?”
【T-that’s—!】
“Never mind. I guess it’s only natural to have those kinds of thoughts. It’s still better than giving up or killing yourself… So where are we?”
【I do not know. It appears to be another god’s territory.】
“This cramped place?”
【Yes. Please look above.】
When he did, it wasn’t a ‘sky’ but outer space that stretched out. A bizarre realm with no sky, only countless stars, massive celestial bodies, and clearly visible cosmic flows visible to the naked eye.
This was the final unclaimed territory of the game—the Great Universe that only expanded during the final round. Seeing with his own eyes the map he had only known from his computer game days gave Biin a strangely fresh feeling.
“So what happened? How did you get here? I definitely never expanded into the Great Universe. That place only opens up in the last round.”
【It responded to the space-time magic power I released. That is all. Perhaps that is what allowed me to come here?】
“No way. The minimum requirement to even approach the Great Universe is Technology level 26. And the game rules say you can’t go to unexpanded regions, right? What the hell is going on?”
Incidentally, Biin and Yogur-tosoth continued destroying the city the entire time.
Terasion genuinely wanted to ask what on earth was happening. He couldn’t fathom what sin he had committed to deserve such an unfair disaster.
A short while later, the Angel descended to both Biin and Terasion.
“Oh. You’re back.”
“Finally! What is this? A bug? Rollback? Error compensation?”
Both angels began explaining with extremely awkward expressions.
“Lord Biin. First, please accept my deepest apologies for this sudden incident.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Before explaining the situation, I must inform you that stopping time is impossible.”
Biin tilted his head. Terasion, hearing the same thing, couldn’t hide his shock either.
“Why? If an error this big occurred, shouldn’t you either stop time or use your transcendent authority to roll it back?”
“That is… because this is not an error.”
“???”
“It is an extremely unusual case. We initially believed it was a bug as well. It is so rare that it could easily be mistaken for a genuine error.”
“……?”
The explanation went like this.
Of the seven unclaimed territories, the seventh one—the Great Universe—was not, strictly speaking, an unclaimed territory.
Then what was it? It was a space containing unclaimed territories, divine realms, and leftover fragments of gods. The act of expanding into the Great Universe during the final round was simply referred to as expanding into an unclaimed territory for convenience.
“Yeah, okay. I get it. So?”
“Lord Biin. Where do you believe your Dessert Desert is located right now?”
“Somewhere in the Great Universe?”
“No.”
Until round 14, every world existed outside the Great Universe. That was why exchange was possible without any restrictions, divine power costs, or point fees. Because they weren’t located at any specific point.
And Terasion’s mythic-grade trait, Center of the Universe, was an incredibly unique ability. As all mythic traits tended to be.
Center of the Universe: Immediately connects to the Great Universe. Gains satellites composed of god fragments equal to Faith level. The size of these satellites is proportional to the number of world collisions experienced. This trait is strengthened during the ‘expansion phase’ after the 29th collision.
There were many abilities, but some details had been omitted in the description, just like with Deity-World Oneness.
Even if connected to the Great Universe through Center of the Universe, there was no way to travel there at low levels. So what was the point of the expansion?
The answer was simple. The satellites acquired through Center of the Universe each contained god fragments, and among them were satellites that emitted powerful space-time magic.
Though limited, using that power made it possible to send residents of one’s own world through spatial transfer to establish colonies on other satellites as early as the 10th collision.
Furthermore, it was possible to draw in various magic powers or material resources scattered across the Great Universe using space-time magic to harvest resources.
This was where things went wrong.
Space-time mystics of level 10 or higher could use the power of these powerful celestial bodies to travel to the satellites connected through Center of the Universe. Since Terasion was constantly pulling them in, the process became even easier.
In short, it was cosmic kidnapping. Terasion had unintentionally abducted several astronomers who had been observing the universe. Some he politely welcomed and made citizens of his world. Others he returned to their original owners in exchange for a modest number of points.
The fact that he returned them showed he had some conscience. Because once dragged into Terasion’s world, the original god’s control disappeared.
In other words, the moment they were kidnapped they became Terasion’s citizens… or he could simply kill them since they belonged to another world, but instead he returned them for points.
“Then wait—does that mean Yogur-tosoth is no longer my creation?”
“No. That is not the case.”
Here the situation twisted once again. It just so happened that Biin possessed Deity-World Oneness.
Thanks to Biin’s trait of complete unity with his creations and world, Yogur-tosoth had arrived in this world without losing Biin’s control.
“Yogur-tosoth. Can you return to the original world using your own power?”
【No. It seems impossible. I can sense where the Dessert Desert is, but it feels impossibly far away.】
Yogur-tosoth spoke as if he wasn’t particularly upset. One might feel furious at their own weakness for failing to climb a hill, but no one got angry about being unable to leap to the moon.
Biin pondered a solution for a moment.
“I see. Then, Yogur-tosoth. Kill yourself.”
【?!】
“No, there’s no other way. If you die, I’ll just spend the resources to revive you. Can’t be helped with a legendary creation.”
Biin thought it was a perfectly reasonable solution, but the Angel stopped him.
“I would advise against that.”
“Why?”
“If it dies, the influence of the trait disappears. The corpse would remain in this world, making Yogur-tosoth the property of Lord Terasion.”
“…Huh? Oh, right. Then I guess I’ll just negotiate with Terasion to send it back.”
“That won’t work.”
“What?”
The Angel spoke with a truly serious expression.
“As I said, Yogur-tosoth is currently Lord Biin’s creation. By what right could Lord Terasion sell Yogur-tosoth and return it to your world?”
“…Fine. Then how about this? I sell Yogur-tosoth to another player. Then that player immediately contracts to return it to me. We’ll just have to pay a little commission…”
The Angel had no choice but to answer this as well.
“That won’t work. Players can only sell creations that exist in their own world. As long as Yogur-tosoth is in Lord Terasion’s world, it cannot be part of any transaction.”
Only then did Biin realize how thoroughly tangled the situation had become.
He had thought it was fortunate they could still communicate, but this was actually worse.
If communication had been cut off, he could have at least paid an astronomical sum to get it back. But now, whether through communication, trade, or anything else, he had no way to bring Yogur-tosoth back to its original world.
It was trapped.
Cold sweat ran down Biin’s back. If he had to put the feeling into words, it was something like, ‘Wait, seriously? I’m actually going to lose Yogur-tosoth like this?’
Yogur-tosoth pondered deeply while continuing to destroy villages with storms and devour the people. They tasted far worse than nectar.
【Creator.】
“Yeah?”
【Then has a world collision occurred?】
“No. That’s not it. Wait… now that I say it out loud, that’s weird. Angel. We’re still in the protected phase, right? So how am I here beating up someone else’s world?”
“Ah, that? It’s simple. Center of the Universe grants control over the satellites, but the satellites themselves are not subject to the protection phase.”
“???”
“Of course not. These satellites exist in the Great Universe, not in one’s own world. Still, there is usually no problem. At this point in the game, Lord Terasion is the only one who can even reach the Great Universe. The very act of approaching is an extreme exception.”
After Biin explained, Yogur-tosoth immediately asked again.
【Then, Creator, I ask you this. If I were to conquer this world, what would happen?】
Biin looked back at the Angel.
“Ah. Well, naturally, if the conditions for conquest are met, conquest is possible. The conditions for conquering a satellite are the same as conquering a world. In that case, it would become your world, so you could sell Yogur-tosoth to retrieve it, right?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Pardon?”
“No. According to what you said, if I conquer it and it becomes my world, couldn’t I just use World Shaping to fling it straight into my own world?”
A deep silence fell. Biin’s Angel looked up at the sky, tilted her head for a moment, disappeared to consult her superiors, then returned.
“It is possible.”
Biin glanced around. The world Yogur-tosoth had already ground to bits with magic—leaving only civilians and weak mystics—had been thoroughly pulverized.
“Yogur-tosoth. Can you use that space-time magic to visit a few more places?”
【Is there any doubt? They shall all become mine.】
And so, because of his ‘complacency’ in failing to anticipate that an 11th-level monster creation possessing both Deity-World Oneness and World Shaping could fly over, commit widespread destruction, plunder entire worlds, and simply take them away, Terasion lost fifteen satellites right before his eyes while harvesting resources with space-time magic in outer space.