I am God LSLCCF

Chapter 435: The Reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation

Suinhor, City of Fire Protection

Outside the city, the expeditionary army had returned. It was a magnificent sight, an imposing formation that carried a chilling air of slaughter.

In truth, much of the army had already disbanded along the way. Some lords had returned to their territories with their soldiers and rewards, while many others remained garrisoned in the southwest.

After resting and regrouping, a portion of the soldiers prepared to enter the city for a grand triumphal ceremony.

As the sun rose, the reassembled army donned armor polished to a shine, mounted freshly groomed Land Dragons, and arranged themselves in neat ranks outside the city.

The residents of the City of Fire Protection craned their necks in anticipation along the roadsides and at the city gates. Head after head poked out from the windows of the small stone buildings, and mischievous youths climbed onto the eaves for a better view.

In the name of their god, the army had exterminated and sealed the evil ghouls, saving all three of the new provinces in southwestern Suinhor.

The victoryʼs influence extended even across the entire Ruhe Beast Island, casting the evil race of ghouls back into the darkness once more.

It was a glorious victory by any measure, worthy of the historical annals, a legend that would be sung by generations to come.

At that moment, however, a problem arose.
The army had returned in triumph, yet its true protagonist was nowhere to be seen.

King Osis could remain absent for the entire journey, but surely he would not fail to appear at his own triumph. Yet no matter how long they waited, the King did not return.

Left with no other choice, King Osisʼs trusted aides arranged a carriage and claimed the King was riding inside.

But the situation was plainly strange, and it was obviously not something that could be glossed over.

Sure enough, when the procession entered the city, the cheering crowds saw this odd arrangement and fell silent one by one.

”Where is the King?”

”Why doesnʼt the King come out?”

”The King is in there.”

”Why wonʼt the King come out to see his subjects?”

So murmured the people along the roads. Even the nobles who had come to welcome the army sensed that something was wrong and began voicing their questions.

Just as unrest began to spread through the crowd, a sudden gale swept in.

A figure appeared before the carriage, gripping the reins of the several Land Dragons that pulled it as though driving a war chariot, gazing upon everyone in high spirits.

It was Godʼs Form, yet the face was one that everyone present knew well.

The King of Suinhor, the Divine Blessed King Osis, had returned.

”Itʼs the King!”

”Look, quickly! Heʼs right there!”

Osis raised his hand high and laughed as he looked upon them all, ”My subjects, I have returned.”

The unrest of a moment ago settled in an instant, transforming into cheers.

”King Osis!”

”Why does the King look different?”

”That is the form of a divine species, the Kingʼs true form.”

”The bearing of a divine species. Look how magnificent he is!”

Everyone shouted his name, praising his greatness, gazing with adoration upon Osis as he displayed Godʼs Form.

Yet no one understood what it meant when one of the Most Ancient Race revealed Godʼs Form.

Osis led the great army into the city in neat, orderly ranks.

The Prime Minister had long been waiting for him before the royal palace.

He rushed down from the palace steps at once and bowed before Osisʼs carriage.

He began by loudly extolling Osisʼs achievements, then reported the preparations the city had made for this victory, the even grander ceremonies, rituals, and banquets still to come.

But Osis released the dragon-controlling leather reins, stepped down from the carriage, and strode up to the Prime Minister.

”Thereʼs no need. We can do without so many empty formalities.”

”Let us begin right now!”

King Osis turned and looked to the warriors who had fought at his side. Before the eyes of all, he called them forward and began to reward them according to their merits.

Even Anu of the Lizard People received a title.

”Anu, by my authority as King, I grant you the status of an Oath-Taker and confer upon you the title of Lord of the Volcano.”

”For your merits in this war, I decorate you as a Guard Knight of Suinhor. You may enter and leave the royal palace of Suinhor freely, as one of the kingdomʼs guardian forces.”

”I hope that you and your kin will one day become a part of this nation, living in peace alongside the Snake People.”

Osis knew what Anu wanted. He knew why Anu and the Lizard People had traveled thousands of miles to join this war.

Osis likewise hoped to bring the Lizard People into the fold of the Suinhor Kingdom, to make them a part of this nation.

This was exactly what Anu, and even the Feathered Serpent Kurmis, had been hoping for.

After all, Anu had once been a man of Suinhor himself, a snake person. Even now, so much of that former life remained branded in their minds.

After becoming Lizard People, what they longed for was not separation, but to be acknowledged by everyone, to return to what had once been.

Anu of the Lizard People bowed and gave his thanks to King Osis.

”Thank you, King Osis.”

At last, every deserving soul had received their reward.

Osis turned finally to his Prime Minister and announced one last thing.

”Morabi, my Prime Minister. I bestow upon you my most cherished treasure, the thing I have spent this life protecting.”

Before the eyes of all, Osis removed the crown from his own head and placed it upon Morabiʼs.

He drew this junior he so valued, this friend, this Prime Minister who had served diligently for more than twenty years, to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

”I hereby declare! From this day forward, I am no longer the Divine Blessed King, and I relinquish the throne of Suinhor.”

”Morabi shall be the king of the next generation, the King of Suinhor.”

The Prime Minister was stunned, as if he had not heard what Osis said at all.

Even the crowd below stood at a loss, mouths agape, wondering if their ears had deceived them.

Then Prime Minister Morabiʼs head snapped around, his movements sharp and urgent, his eyes fixed upon King Osis.

He seemed to have realized something.

”King?”

”Surely youʼre not...”

Facing the disbelieving, bewildered gazes of the crowd, King Osis answered them all in a loud, clear voice.

”Thatʼs right.”

”I have completed my mission and fulfilled my duty.”

”Now, it is time for me to return to Godʼs side.”

Gazing out over the dead-silent square, King Osis remained utterly composed, even breaking into laughter as he spoke.

”Whatʼs the matter?”

”Have you all gone mute?”

”On such a glorious day, why is everyone so silent?”

A wave of sound spread outward with Osis at its center as everyone surged toward him.

”King, are you leaving us?” the people cried out.

”No, it is not yet the Kingʼs time.” Some wept bitterly. The many deeds Osis had accomplished in recent years had won him genuine devotion.

”Why would God recall you now, of all times?” No one was willing to part with such a divine species king, and they feared a future without the Divine Blessed King even more.

”It shouldnʼt be now. It shouldnʼt be like this...” Osis was only a hundred years old. By all reason, he should have had decades remaining. No one had imagined this day would come so soon.

King Osisʼs voice rose above them all, echoing across the entire square.

”This is the moment of greatest glory, and the most fitting moment of all.”

”I shall depart with honor, returning to the hall of the Divine Being carried by your cheers.”

He raised his hand high, a bold smile spreading across his face.

”My subjects, shout for me!”

”Cheer for me!”

At the very end, his voice grew soft, carrying a gentleness that did not belong to such a rugged, boisterous man.

”One last time.”

Everyone prostrated themselves upon the ground, crying out, ”King Osis.”

The voices were not in unison, but they all called the same name.

An army of tens of thousands and the common folk of the entire city, all prostrated themselves before Osis.

Taking in the scene from on high, King Osis saw images of the past surface before his eyes once more. He was young again, the Yinsai Scepter in his hand, becoming the King of Yinsai.

He had raised the scepter high and declared to all.

”I am Osis, descendant of Henir.”

”I will become a great King of Yinsai.”

King Osis lowered his head. His expression eased into one of release, and he slowly closed his eyes.

”Greatness is too far away.”

”But this time, I suppose I have just barely... become a worthy king at last!”

Blood-red flowers bloomed in full, spreading out before the royal palace.

Osis had achieved the thing he most wished to do and made up for his deepest regret, yet there remained many things whose endings he would never see.

Within the pale mist, King Osisʼs departing figure gradually faded from sight, leaving behind only his final instruction and warning to Morabi.

”The rest, I leave to you.”

”This is your kingdom now, a kingdom that belongs to mortals.”

Before the eyes of the multitude, Osis passed the throne to his Prime Minister and returned to the kingdom of the Scarlet Goddess. The era of the Divine Blessed King had come to an end.

The history of Suinhor turned to a new chapter.

Anu of the Lizard People stood at the base of the steps, watching King Osis depart in the identity and form of a divine species.

He watched the last generation of the Divine Blessed Kings reach its end, and a new mortal king be born.

He was a witness to history, a witness to the dawn of an entirely new era.

Yet even at the very end, Anu, like everyone else, could hardly believe it. He could not believe that the era of the Divine Blessed King had ended just like that, truly and completely ended.

In his heart was the same bewilderment as any ordinary snake person, the same uncertainty and worry for the future.

He raised his head, gazing at the sea of blood-red flowers and the boundless mist that led to the divine kingdom.

”What will the future look like?”

The Divine Kingdom of Creation, Dream Continent

Near the coast, a huge, squarish stone compartment would rise from time to time atop a round white tower, then descend and be replaced by another.

The shadow of a certain nymph flickered about, one moment inside the tower, the next at its peak, the next at its base.

Saint Raphael rummaged endlessly through the white towerʼs interior, then dashed to the Rainbow Tree, counting through the dimensional spaces within the flowers on its branches and checking every single item in her collection.

”What is going on?”

”How could it just disappear?”

She was the very picture of frazzled desperation.

Recently she had received a ”barter item” sent over by the Lake Nymph. But when that same Lake Nymph came to ask after it, the item was nowhere to be found.

Was this not a stain upon the good name of the dignified Storage Nymph?

Long ago, rumors had already begun among the little spirits that Saint Raphael was stealing from her own stores. Would this not prove them right?

Now the little spirits were in an uproar, demanding to withdraw the treasures they kept with Saint Raphael.

The Sun Cup Flower Sea was one step away from organizing a consumer rights alliance.

”Take back our treasures!”

”Letʼs go see if our treasures are still there!”

”Raphael lost something!”

”Raphael was robbed!”

”Raphael stole from her own vault!”

”Raphael is hoarding our treasures for herself!”

The rumors grew wilder with every retelling.

If she truly had stolen it herself, that would at least be an explanation. The problem was that the item had simply vanished.

The blame heaped upon Saint Raphaelʼs shoulders was enormous.

Now, she was working desperately to salvage her reputation.

As the owner of the lost item, the Lake Nymph Herna stood in the Storage Spirit Realm, growing anxious.

This was, after all, the target of her very first barter. If it were lost just like this, it would be too disheartening.

”Sister Saint Raphael?”

”Is it really gone?”

Saint Raphael had searched until she was ready to collapse, one step short of sprawling on the ground with her tongue hanging out.

She dearly wanted to tell Herna, ”I canʼt go on. I canʼt search anymore.”

”The thing is lost. If it wasnʼt too precious, couldnʼt we just let it go?”

But looking into Hernaʼs wronged little eyes, Saint Raphael, as the big sister, could not bring herself to be so shameless as to say it aloud.

Then, all of a sudden, Saint Raphael remembered something.

Once, a certain ”genius” had tried to slip into her spirit realm through a storage tool to steal her treasures. And that ”genius” had simply vanished.

They had disappeared from the present world, yet they were not in Saint Raphaelʼs spirit realm either.

They were just gone.

A lightbulb seemed to flicker on above Saint Raphaelʼs head, and she leapt to her feet.

”Iʼve got it!”

”I know where it is!”

Before Herna could hear the explanation, Saint Raphael grabbed her hand and shot off, weaving through the void in a series of flickering leaps.

A shadow streaked across the sky, reappearing as no more than a black dot. Only after many such flashes did Saint Raphael finally arrive before the gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation.

She led Herna out through a crack in the enormous Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, then shifted her form, came to the edge, and looked down.

There, beneath the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, lay a heavy, fathomless reflection.

Herna looked around, ”What did we come here for?”

Saint Raphael told her, ”This is the reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation. Anyone who dares trespass into the Divine Kingdom of Creation without permission falls into the reflection of this gate.”

Saint Raphael pointed at the gate and launched into a simple introduction.

”This gate is the true master of space. It can control the flow of time inside and outside, and it can even solidify illusory domains into reality.”

”Behind the gate lies the Divine Kingdom of Creation, the greatest of all kingdoms.”

”And within the gateʼs reflection, space is twisted as well, forming a Reflection Realm of its own.”

”Impressive, isnʼt it?”

Herna covered her mouth, then peered down below. ”What happens if you fall in?”

Saint Raphael shook her head. ”No idea. Iʼve never seen anyone come out.”

Herna asked, ”Is it part of the tool sequence too?”

Saint Raphael blinked. ”Hmm?”

”Itʼs no tool. Havenʼt you looked at the Divine Cup Sequence?”

”The entire Divine Kingdom of Creation is Lady Hilaʼs domain and kingdom. This gate is part of Lady Hilaʼs kingdom and domain, and it is also a manifestation of her authority.”

”Lady Hila was originally the messenger of God Yinsai. She was the second spirit God Yinsai personally created with His own hands.”

”Lady Hila governed this gate long ago. She is the guardian of the Divine Kingdom of Creation.”

”Unless Lady Hila herself strips it away and grants it a brand-new mission, it will remain a part of her power.”

Saint Raphael offered an example, trying to make things clear to the somewhat naive little nymph before her.

”Itʼs just like the spiritʼs robe, the Wisdom Demigodsʼ doors, or the Scarlet Goddessʼs scepter.”

”The Wisdom Demigodsʼ doors were transformed from their mythological organs and Godʼs Grace Stones. The Scarlet Goddessʼs scepter was transformed from her Ruhe Seal and mythological organ. That is why none of them are counted among the tools.”

”Unless it is polluted and stripped away, like the door of the God of Original Sin.”

Herna nodded along, though in truth all this talk of power left her completely lost.

Saint Raphael was, after all, a veteran Fourth-Rank, while Herna was a nymph born not so long ago.

Saint Raphael felt deeply satisfied and patted Herna on the shoulder.

Her whole air said that young folk had much to learn from Sister Saint Raphael.

Herna humbly sought guidance, ”Then how do we get the item out?”

Saint Raphael answered, ”We canʼt.”

Herna stared at her. ”Huh?”

Saint Raphael sat herself down before the gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, her whole posture saying, relax, we need only wait.

”Someone will come along to help us soon.”

Herna asked, ”Who?”

Saint Raphael smiled. ”The Divine Boat.”

”The Divine Boat can travel to any place. Nothing can bar its way.”

”We can ask the Divine Boat for help. It should be returning soon.”

And so the two sat before the Gate of Mythology, so colossal that its top could not be seen, staring blankly into the distance.

Not until they had begun to doze did a golden light appear ahead. A gigantic ship of steel arrived before them, humming with the drone of straining metal.

”Itʼs here, itʼs here.”

”Itʼs back.”

Saint Raphael snapped awake at once and waved toward the Divine Boat together with Herna, terrified the great vessel might not see them.

Radiating golden light, the Divine Boat came to rest before the gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation. The metal giantʼs head that formed its ram opened its closed eyes, gazing down at the two tiny specks below.

It stared for a long while before finally making out who they were.

”Oh, itʼs little Raphael!”

”Is something the matter?”

Saint Raphael immediately corrected her, ”Itʼs Saint Raphael!”

Saint Raphael told the Divine Boat her request, along with her tale of woe.

She pressed her palms together, the very picture of earnest pleading.

”The little spirits are all saying I took their things. They say my Storage Spirit Realm isnʼt safe, and they wonʼt store their treasures with me anymore.”

”O great Divine Boat, poor Saint Raphael begs for your righteous aid, to wash away this injustice.”

The Divine Boat might not seem so imposing before the nymphs, conversing with them almost as an equal.

But in the mortal world, the Divine Boat was a mythology, a Divine Being.

Its place was Sequence Number 2 of the Divine Cup.

After hearing Saint Raphaelʼs request, the Divine Boat considered for a moment.

”How could someone as adorable as Saint Raphael ever do something bad?”

”Very well, I shall help you!”

Saint Raphael brightened at once, nodding again and again, while Herna, somewhat afraid of the Divine Boat, hid behind her and echoed her thanks.

The Divine Boat gave Saint Raphael and Herna a word of caution, telling them the reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation was terribly dangerous.

”Itʼs fortunate that you waited for my return. The reflection beneath the gate is very dangerous for the likes of you.”

”The space in there is unlike any space you know. It is utterly chaotic, like a spatial labyrinth, twisted and refracted to who knows where.”

”You were right not to go down.”

The Divine Boat plunged into the reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation and emerged again in short order, setting an object down before them.

As Saint Raphael and Herna waved their farewells, the Divine Boat sailed off toward the Dream Starry Sea behind the gate.

Only then did Herna dare to speak, ”That was a mythology. Sister Saint Raphael, werenʼt you nervous?”

Saint Raphaelʼs face filled with pride. ”I am a nymph who has met the Creator. I didnʼt panic even then.”

In truth, she had panicked so badly back then that she had nearly not dared to step through the door at all.

If not for the loose tongue of a little spirit planted in a flowerpot, she would likely have circled the doorway a few times and fled.

But Saint Raphael said none of this.

Together with Herna, she turned to examine the item that had fallen into the Reflection Realm of the gate of creation.

It was a sealed coffin forged from a peculiar metal, covered in layer upon layer of chains.

Saint Raphael studied it curiously for a long while, then rapped on it with her knuckles.

Thump thump.

Something inside seemed to move, giving Saint Raphael a fright.

Ah~

She instantly latched onto Herna beside her, pointing at the sealed coffin and shouting.

”It moved, it moved. Thereʼs something alive in there.”

Herna knew what it was. ”Osis said it was a Ghoul called Akmanmon, I think.”

That was no mere ghoul. That was the King of Ghouls.

For all her carefree appearance, Saint Raphael was not actually very brave. She was the type whose mouth was stubborn but whose courage fled the moment the words left her lips.

She had once dared to run her mouth about the God of Original Sin, then spent the very next moment dreading that she might run into Him.

Saint Raphael stared at Herna, dumbfounded, and asked her.

”A ghoul?”

”Living things canʼt be sent over. They canʼt be delivered into the Divine Kingdom of Creation at all. Herna, didnʼt you know that?”

”No wonder it fell down there.”

But a ghoul, in the end, was it a dead thing or a living one?

Herna had no idea either. The standards of barter were a fog to her as well. She understood only the haziest outline of anything.

Saint Raphael released Herna, beginning to suspect that the nymph before her had been swindled.

Someone had asked to barter a living thing, and she had simply agreed. It was clearly not the mark of a bright mind.

So Saint Raphael immediately asked how the barter had come about, and Herna recounted the whole process.

”Using his own thing to exchange for his own thing?”

”Is that even a barter?”

”Heʼs storing things with us for free. Isnʼt that dining and dashing?”

”What does he take my realm for?”

Saint Raphael was angry now. She was a poor nymph, already as poor as poor could be, and still someone dared to fleece her.

And Herna was already such a silly thing, yet someone had deceived her like this.

Herna shrank back sheepishly, ”He said itʼs only for one thousand years.”

Saint Raphael nodded. ”Oh, thatʼs fine then. Only one thousand years.”

A beat later, it hit her. ”One thousand years is still a massive loss! Heʼs dining and dashing. He wants to pay no price at all while a poor, pitiful Storage Nymph and a silly little Barter Emissary work for him for nothing.”

”Who does he think he is?”

”The Life Sovereign?”

Among the nymphs, the only one who would dare do such a thing, and who had actually done it, was the Life Sovereign.

Saint Raphael looked at the young nymph. ”Herna, you are too young.”

”Youʼve fallen for the tricks of those cunning mortals. Youʼve been deceived by those swindlers!”

Herna didnʼt think that was right. ”But he isnʼt an ordinary person. He has a very impressive background. Surely he wouldnʼt do something like that.”

Saint Raphael grew even more certain that the naive little nymph before her had been swindled.

She leaned in close, nearly cheek to cheek, raised a finger, and wagged it.

”No no no no.”

”The ones who claim to have very impressive backgrounds are always swindlers.”

”The ones with truly impressive backgrounds never go around telling people.”

Saint Raphael offered a most typical example, namely, herself.

”My background is enormous. Have I ever told anyone?” The Lake Nymph Herna thought, you already put the word Saint in front of your name. What more is there to say?

”Iʼve met the Creator. Have I ever told anyone?” Just today, Herna had already heard her say it twice.

”Lady Hila once gave me a gift with her own hands. Have I ever mentioned it?” Saint Raphael extended a finger bearing a ring, and Herna suddenly understood why she was always waving that particular ringed finger around.

”Iʼve been a guest in the Life Sovereignʼs residence. Have I ever said so?” That one hardly seemed worth boasting about. At the time, the Life Sovereign had wanted to learn how Wood Nymphs like them slipped through tree hollows to traverse space, and had very nearly frightened Saint Raphael to tears.

Herna said, ”His name is Osis. He was once a Trilobite Man, and he was the King of Yinsai.”

Saint Raphael froze. ”The King of Yinsai?”

She mulled it over, and it suddenly struck her that this name carried a genuinely impressive background.

The King of Yinsai.

Strictly speaking, the second-generation King of Wisdom, Yesael, had also been a King of Yinsai.

Even the King of Wisdom, Redlichia, could be called a King of Yinsai.

Saint Raphael abruptly lost all interest in comparing backgrounds and pedigrees. In an instant, her thoughts veered in another direction entirely.

”So that means he must be extremely rich?”

”There must be heaps of treasures from the First Era. If he can find them, he definitely has plenty of treasure.”

Saint Raphaelʼs eyes gleamed. ”When he comes to withdraw it, tell him this.”

”He stored a living thing illegally, so he will have to pay compensation.”

”And for storage past the time limit, he must pay compensation as well.”

”Mmm... a retention fee.”

”How much was it per year again? Add up one thousand years for him. It will certainly be no small sum.”

Saint Raphael prattled on and on, passing her business wisdom down to Herna, warning her never to follow her own example, never to take the wrong path and choose a losing trade like being a Storage Nymph.

”Oh!”

”Illegal storage requires compensation.”

”Storage past the time limit requires a retention fee.”

Herna asked another question, ”And if he refuses to pay?”

Saint Raphael answered without hesitation, ”Then we confiscate his treasure outright.”

Herna pressed on, ”And if he says we failed to do our job of reminding them?”

Saint Raphael lifted her chin. ”Then you tell them that we hold the right of final interpretation.”

Herna wore a look of sudden enlightenment, as if now that she knew all this, she would never be swindled again.

Clearly, little Hernaʼs worldview had been thoroughly ”poisoned and corrupted” by Saint Raphael.

Herna looked back at Akmanmonʼs sealed coffin. ”What do we do with this thing?”

The item had been retrieved, and the cause had finally been found.

But a thing like this could never enter the Divine Kingdom of Creation.

So what were they to do?

Saint Raphael had no idea either. ”How about... we just throw it back in?”

Herna considered it. ”And take it out again in a thousand years?”

Joining forces, the two pushed Akmanmonʼs sealed coffin back, ready to sink it once more into the black reflection.

The thing inside seemed to stir again, shaking violently, as if it were about to burst free at any moment.

The two timid nymphs scrambled in a fright, and only by pressing down with their very heads did they finally shove it over the edge.

Splash.

The sealed coffin sank as if into a stretch of rippling black water, into a boundless dark swamp.

Then there was no sound at all. It would wait for the thousand-year term to arrive before surfacing once more.

Saint Raphael dusted off her hands. ”From now on, donʼt accept barters that might be living things, alright!”

Herna nodded, the very picture of obedience.

She produced a cloth scroll and wrote down everything Saint Raphael had taught her.

On illegal storage and compensation.

On storage past the time limit and retention fees.

And most crucial of all, the confiscation clause and the right of final interpretation.

Saint Raphael, meanwhile, sauntered off toward the interior of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, entirely at ease.

The item had finally been found, and the crisis of trust resolved. Surely now those little spirits would not still insist on taking back their treasures!

In the days that followed, at the tea party in the Rainbow Spirit Realm, Saint Raphael once again took the floor as the star of the gathering.

She recounted how she had discovered the problem through her own brilliance and ingenuity, how she had resolved it through wisdom and her vast network of connections, and how she had beaten back and persuaded the reactionary little spirit alliances of the Sun Cup Flower Sea one by one, until they all apologized and made amends.

Thatʼs right. Genuine amends, gifts and all.

Saint Raphaelʼs reputation was precious, after all. It was worth a great deal.

One needed only look at the Saint before her name to know it.

At the tea party, a crowd of young nymphs who knew neither the truth nor Saint Raphaelʼs past applauded and gasped in amazement.

”Wow!”

”Sister Saint Raphael is amazing!”

Some had stars in their eyes, holding Saint Raphael up as their idol.

At the same time, another question occurred to Saint Raphael.

”When a living thing is sent over through storage, it gets intercepted and sealed in the reflection of the gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation.”

”Do you think that someday, someone might discover this secret and deliberately use this method to seal all sorts of unsavory things inside?”

For now, at least, almost no one knew how the Storage Nymph actually stored things, nor did anyone know this secret.

The reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation was a blind spot hidden right beneath the lamp. If not for a Storage Nymph like Saint Raphael, no one else would have noticed the place for a long, long time.

But the future was another matter.

Who could say whether some audacious fellow might one day have a flash of inspiration, and even pack up some mythology, stuff it through, and leave it suppressed within the reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation.

Saint Raphael felt it was very, very possible.

”This is a flaw. It needs patching.” Saint Raphael decided she ought to mention it to Lady Hila someday.

”Couldnʼt we put the place to use instead?” Some nymphs at the tea party were hearing about the reflection of the Gate of the Divine Kingdom of Creation for the very first time. They rarely passed in or out of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, and even when they did, they never thought to examine the shadow beneath.

Then, from a corner, one nymph suddenly spoke.

”Twisted space, perfectly stable, unbreakable.”

”Isnʼt that the most suitable place for the Door Spirit Realm to take root?”