Next to Barbeloth sat her disciple, Mona, who was also an Upper God with exceptional qualifications. In her heart, Mona couldn't help but mutter—Master's gotten flustered again.
Every time her master discussed the future development of their community with the other witches, she would always get flustered.
After all, witches were inherently solitary beings. Gathering them together inevitably led to clashes of uniquely individualistic ideologies—none of them ever willing to yield to another.
Though the witches were all obsessive in their own right, they still respected those stronger than themselves. And this one was even one of the founding members of the Witches' Council.
"Madam President, since you already have a plan, how exactly can we gain access to the Space-Time Gate permissions?"
All the witches turned their eyes toward Barbeloth.
The permissions to the Space-Time Gate represented the authority to travel from the main universe to various time-spaces and planes within Human History. These authorities were held by the leaders of each pantheon, who would then grant access to the gods under them for handling affairs in those realms.
For example, when a particular time-space or plane experienced abnormalities, rule chaos, a world-scale war, or a civilization-devastating plague, the gods would need to act to extinguish the disaster and offer salvation.
Furthermore, spreading one's influence in these time-spaces directly fed back into the pantheon and the individual gods, strengthening their True Names, flourishing their community, and bringing numerous unknown effects.
Spreading influence within time-space planes was something every god yearned for.
Barbeloth gave a mysterious smile. "Surely you all know the history of our Witches' Council, especially the time two thousand years ago when we issued a challenge to Mondstadt's Supreme God—the God of Thousand Winds and Hope."
At these words, the witches instantly became alert, their expressions turning solemn.
Of course they knew about that—after all, it was a major event in the Witches' Council's history.
That Supreme God of the Mondstadt Pantheon was, after all, a Supreme God.
And yet, several elder witches had dared to challenge that being—something almost unimaginable.
What was even more unbelievable was that the Supreme God had actually shown up. Although there had been no battle, they had hosted a tea party with the Supreme God. How absurd was that?
Currently, 99.999% of gods had ascended within the past thousand years, after the expansion of the Great Universe began.
To them, the universe had always existed in its current form.
Only a few gods remembered the pre-expansion universe, and they seldom spoke of it. As a result, most gods remained unaware.
And even if they did become aware, they refused to believe it, convinced that the universe had always been eternal and unchanging.
This was collective human cognition at work. When the majority across the universe believed something, that powerful will shaped the collective consciousness.
In ancient times, this was equivalent to the collective will of the Loom of Fate.
Only the few gods who had lived through it all could remain unaffected.
It was like this: if everyone believed someone was dead, then even if that person were alive, they would be treated as dead.
People would just assume it was someone who resembled them.
Even if you tried to prove otherwise, you'd only be mocked as a clown imitating the deceased.
Barbeloth looked at the now-silent witches, who were sitting up straight, and continued proudly.
"We elder members have had some contact with that Supreme God, so..."
"Gasp..."
"So, we can use that connection to directly obtain Space-Time Gate permissions?" Emilia covered her mouth.
She wasn't particularly interested in spreading influence. Honestly, she hadn't been a god for long and had planned to visit the Sumeru Nation to meet the wise God-King Nahida who had once helped her.
Rhinedottir shook her head. "If only our relationship were that close. We're merely casual acquaintances with Barbatos. Gaining access to the Space-Time Gate is out of the question."
"What we must do is complete the challenge left unfinished two thousand years ago—and once more issue a challenge to Barbatos."
"Of course, this won't be a contest of strength, but of wisdom and skill."
"And with this, we issue a Gift Game."
"Other gods would never accept our Gift Game challenge, but Barbatos is different. He'll accept for the sake of the unfinished matter from two thousand years ago."
These witches, who had originated from Teyvat, knew Barbatos well.
Back then, they were not yet gods, and Barbatos—for reasons of his own—could not accept their challenge to duel. Thus, he hosted a tea party with the witches to speak heart-to-heart.
Now things were different. They had all become gods, and Barbatos no longer had any reason to refuse a match.
Of course, the most important reason was that they were witches.
Witches and heroes were deeply intertwined.
Today, Mondstadt was one of the nations where the most heroes had ascended to godhood. If the legends of witches were added to this legacy, it would raise the ceiling for heroic tales.
That alone guaranteed Barbatos would agree.
Besides, just like two thousand years ago, their challenge would be nothing more than a formality—grand in appearance, light in impact.
Echidna rested her cheek on her hand, a smile curving her lips. "I see. Challenging a Supreme God—regardless of success or failure—boosts one's influence. And for certain reasons, the Supreme God might not even refuse."
No loss either way.
Barbeloth nodded proudly. "Exactly. So, sisters, there's no need to worry. Everything is within the plan of your astrologer Barbeloth."
The witches' tea party continued, until midway through, Barbeloth, Nicole Reeyn, and Rhinedottir received a summons from Focalors.
The three strongest witches quickly bid farewell to their sisters and headed to the highest level.
Echidna gazed at the three now-empty seats, her eyes full of a ravenous desire for knowledge.
"A meeting of the universe's greatest gods, held at the highest level—the Pantheon—what kind of place could that be...?"
"What kind of beings are those great gods...?"
"Ah... I want to know. I want to glimpse it. I want to obtain the knowledge of the entire universe! I want it! Ah..."
Each witch harbored her own thoughts, each with an extremely distinct and intense personality.
...
The three True-God-level witches quickly arrived at the highest level.
This place was accessible only to gods of True God tier and above.
Here, the Laws of the Great Universe were immensely dense. Without an incarnation of the Great Universe's rules, any being would be assimilated by the overwhelming Laws.
At the center of the highest level floated a pure white structure, several light-years in size.
A seemingly endless flight of steps extended downward, reaching to the lower levels. No one could count the number of steps.
At this moment, great gods from all corners of the universe descended upon the steps, heading toward the grand doors of the white building.
The doors themselves were enormous—just one Roman column alone stood as tall as an astronomical unit.
To True Gods capable of destroying stellar systems with a single hand, the Pantheon wasn't unimaginably vast—but its materials were composed of divine matter. Not even a single brick could be broken.
As the gods continued to arrive, it became easy to distinguish the pantheons and factions they belonged to. The relative strength of each pantheon was on full display.
Leading the arrivals, walking at the forefront, was one of the most powerful pantheons: the Inazuma Pantheon, which had started with the enviable advantage of a Pseudo Star Map Creation.
Two Supreme Gods led the great gods of their pantheon, drawing the awe and envy of the weaker pantheons arriving afterward.
Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei, two gods who had effectively reached the level of Supreme Gods, led a host of great gods up the pure white steps.
Raiden Ei wore her usual valiant expression. Even without her divine weapon in hand, her faint aura alone made any god hesitate—would speaking to her provoke a swift strike?
In stark contrast, Raiden Makoto, identical in appearance to Ei, bore a gentle smile that exuded warmth, instantly marking her as a benevolent goddess.
Close behind them followed the Upper God Yae Miko. With her chin slightly raised, she cast a light glance at the incoming gods from afar, pride flickering deep in her eyes.
She had every reason to be proud. Even when facing God-Kings, she regarded them as equals. As a confidante of Inazuma's Supreme Gods, she represented their authority.
Following Yae Miko were gods of even higher standing: the former Primary Gods of Takamagahara. Three God-Kings—the Sun Goddess Amaterasu in twelve-layered robes with a solar crest atop her head, the Moon God Tsukuyomi, and the Storm God Susanoo.
Behind them came the many Primary Gods, most also hailing from Takamagahara.
Shinobu Kocho noticed Yae Miko glancing back, so she turned as well—and was stunned by the uncountable number of gods streaming in. "So many great gods."
Kamisato Ayaka gently opened her blue-and-white folding fan, hiding her smile. "Shinobu, you're a great god now too. Maybe we can't compare to the higher-tier gods, but we truly are among them."
All who had ascended through the Vision-to-Godhood system were now at least True Gods. Those like her and her brother, who had joined at the beginning, had even surpassed that, reaching de facto Primary God status.
Nowadays, every pantheon regarded such exceptions with high esteem. If she walked into another pantheon, they wouldn't treat her as anything less than a Primary God.
After all, she possessed the actual power of one. Though still far from matching true Primary Gods, it didn't change the fact that she wielded a portion of that strength.
Mitsuri Kanroji's cheeks were flushed, her heart racing with excitement.
Wow! So many incredibly powerful gods! And they were all looking this way.
Would any of them greet her?
If they did… how should she respond politely?
Sangonomiya Kokomi gazed toward the summit of the steps, the face of that one divine figure who lingered constantly in her thoughts surfacing in her mind. Would she meet him here?
She hadn't seen that god since their last encounter.
Even the Shogun had once held that figure in deep respect—and now, the Shogun was a Supreme God. Just what level had that god reached?
She recalled his words to her back on Watatsumi Island.
"Oh~ You wish to become my shrine maiden? Then at least become a god."
Just thinking about it made her ears burn red, her cheeks flush with bashful warmth. She quickly used her veil to hide her face.
Sara maintained her stoic expression, emanating the aura of a guardian god. That was her current role in Inazuma, and she had no intention of protecting anything beyond it.
Well, except for collecting protective charms and sacred icons made by mortals in honor of the Shogun.
Kamisato Ayato remained composed. Though this was his first time witnessing such a grand event, and the legendary Pantheon left him inwardly awed, he showed no sign of it.
He had never dared to dream of stepping into such a supreme place.
Unknowingly, from the moment he had accepted his first mission, over a thousand years had passed.
Teyvat had grown from a mere bubble world into today's great universe.
Such glory. Such hardship. Countless gods had given their all to reach this point.
One could say that every god who had arrived here bore countless merits and achievements.
Just as Kamisato Ayato tried to puff out his chest in pride, a voice from behind made him sigh helplessly.
"Hahaha! So this is the legendary Pantheon? It really is all pure white. These steps are crazy tall and endless!"
Arataki Itto strode about like a happy fool, gawking in every direction, entirely disregarding his image.
"Ohhh! What huge pillars! So many gods! Way more than when we were running missions before!"
Despite Arataki Itto's utter lack of divine decorum, not a single god looked down on him.
Behind the Inazuma Pantheon, the Olympian gods looked on with envy.
Nyx, the Goddes of Night and the God-King of Olympus, muttered sourly, "The Inazuma Pantheon… no… we should call it the Inazuma Divine Collective now."
"They didn't even need to participate in the Divine Collective Gift Game, yet the gods of Takamagahara were allowed to join unconditionally. And they have two Supreme Gods, three God-Kings."
Erebus, the God of Darkness, had eyes practically glowing lemon-yellow. "The first pantheon to possess a cosmology… truly enviable."
"I wonder when Olympus will get a cosmology of its own."
Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess, echoed with a bitter tone, "Do we Olympians even have a cosmology?"
Tartarus, the Abyssal God, hesitated. "We… probably do."
Wearing a knit cat-ear cap and a pale yellow sweater, the loli-form Athena spoke flatly, "Not 'probably.' We definitely do."
Nyx turned toward the Athena who had won in the True Name contest. "Oh? And why do you say that?"
This Athena was the loli Athena from the world of Campione!. Naturally, she originally appeared as a young maiden. Gods could freely alter their appearance, and Athena clearly remembered her brief encounter with that Supreme God.
That Supreme God had expressed a fondness for her loli form—so she typically maintained this appearance.
Athena gently touched her chest, then looked up toward the top of the stairs where the Inazuma Pantheon's two Supreme Gods led the way, and said with anticipation:
"I can faintly sense the aura of a cosmology. It feels like I am capable of actively bearing a cosmology—just like those two from Inazuma."
"What?!"
"Ah!"
"Hiss—"
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