An Unwavering Craftsman

"Shall we continue to Grungle?" asked Gaia, buoyed by the combined faith of humanity as the pair stepped back into the world below, where a panting Kari had finished raising the dead of Kakkerxat's formerly coastal city.

"No," answered Damien. "He won't interfere further than he has done. He is waiting for me, but I will never come. His victory is his punishment. He gets to keep his power, but without his source-lights, he's unable to do anything with it. He'll remain too scared of the Other to set foot here, and will willingly remain in isolation forever, torturing himself because he'll suffer through anything rather than risk his death."

"... I see that despite your revenge, your thinking remains as dark as ever," sighed Gaia. "Hopefully, you will heal in time. But for now, we still must visit his city."

Damien nodded, utilising [Gate] without [Pathfinder], letting Gaia guide it to its destination. "I have no intention of going back on my promise."

"I kinda wish you would," gasped Kari. "Thank you for the power boost, my Lady, but resurrecting people that have been so thoroughly squashed is still difficult."

Gaia gave a gentle smile, then waved her hand over Kari, whose breathing immediately eased.

"... Or I guess that works, too," added Kari. "What did Damien even do?"

"I made them gods," answered Damien.

"That's not much of an answer... How is that a punishment?"

"It shouldn't be," answered Gaia as the group arrived in the Maker's holy city. "It is they who make it so. [Poetic Justice] indeed."

"There is no such thing as free power," clarified Damien. "As 'gods', I simply had them draw power from their believers. Alas, they have none. Don't worry; they won't die. They'll always have the opportunity to find some."

"Except that they now lack the ability to leave their domains," sighed Gaia.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" frowned Kari as she started spinning her enhanced [Resurrection] across the crushed remains of the city. "They have plenty of believers."

"No. People believe in Kakkerxat the Mighty, the hero and the great warrior of legend, slayer of monsters and dragons, fearless protector of the weak. They do not believe in a Kakkerxat that cowers unarmed, ensconced in his domain, too scared to step outside."

Kari tilted her head as she considered that. "Then if he ever changed his mindset, he'd get his powers back? And if my Lady ever wanted to retire..."

Gaia gave a wry smile. "A debilitating curse or a fantastical blessing, depending only on your mindset. But we can have this conversation later."

"Yes, I know," sighed Kari, preparing [Resurrection].

"Yet this is only a short reprieve," sighed Gaia. "There are terrors coming for us that no-one born in the bowl can imagine, and you haven't yet levelled sufficiently for a new feat."

"You'd think judging the Five would have been worth more experience," sighed Damien, before looking thoughtful. "Terrors, huh? I have an idea... No-one is going to like it, least of all me, but it'll probably work."

"No," stated Gaia. "I won't let you."

"I haven't even told you my plan!"

"You plan to curse yourself in the same way you have us, drawing power from people's fear of you. The forces of the crusade have been brought back, and every one of them knows what you have done. Soon we will restore Thale, those who died by your hand. Those who will fear you the most. I consider you the biggest victim in all of this; I will not let you destroy yourself like that."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"... I do not. But even yours is not foolproof. Why do you believe you can find a habitable world large enough to migrate an entire population to? Even if you do, how many will perish, starving as old farmland is abandoned?"

"I bet the pocket space you built for yourself is pretty fertile. How big can you make it now?"

"Not big enough."

"Pity. We wouldn't even have needed [Gate], since you can make your own portals. With one in every temple, evacuation would be easy."

The unlikely pair watched Kari as she finished her work, wobbling on her feet, but a crowd tens of thousands strong successfully woven back into existence, looking dazed and confused.

"All... All done..." she panted. "Onwards... to... to..."

Gaia caught her as she collapsed. "Perhaps a few minutes' break is warranted," she suggested, but the only reply from Kari was genteel snoring.

"It's not as if Thale is going anywhere," agreed Damien, activating a [Gate] to the flesh cave, and another back out of it to Thale, not needing to rely on Gaia this time.

The trio passed through, Gaia carrying Kari, where they looked upon the burnt wasteland, a desolate patch of scorched earth with little more than the ruined walls to give away that it had once been a town. A sight that brought back many memories for Damien. Not least the family he'd personally slaughtered in cold blood.

He threw up.

"Oh? You regret your actions?" asked Gaia.

"No," said Damien flatly. "They did what they did, and I did what I did. They didn't even know Kari existed. Her [Resurrection] doesn't lessen their crimes in any way."

"Then why permit me to bring them back?"

He didn't answer, staring out over the destroyed city. "[Tears of the Forgotten]," he intoned, flicking a single tear to the ground and reaching out through it for the memories of the dead.

Gaia winced and Kari woke up screaming, but Damien stood still, letting the memories wash over him.

"So, you're prepared to go that far?" asked Gaia as Kari thrashed around, catching sight of Damien and her face warping into one of fear as memories of witnessing his violence first hand flooded her mind.

"I don't need your permission, just like you don't need mine," grinned Damien. "And together... If I lend you enough power, can you enlarge your domain?"

"... Yes," admitted Gaia. "But even so, I cannot imagine it will be enough. "

"It doesn't need to be. Even if you personally call for evacuation, it's unlikely that everyone will listen."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kari. "What did Damien just do?"

"I made sure everyone knows I am [the Judgement]."

Gaia, spotting the inflection on 'everyone', shuddered, knowing it wasn't just her and Kari who'd seen the memories.

"And that's why I'm letting you raise Thale," continued Damien. "Mercy is your domain. It isn't mine."

"You're a madman," she sighed. "Kari, sorry, but it's your turn again."

Kari sighed as she focused [Resurrection] over Thale.

"Mad? Perhaps. The alternative—staying sane after the Other poked an eyeball into my ceremony of paths—would be weirder. Plus, once you explain about the threat of demons, having lived out the last moments of people killed by them might encourage people to believe you."

Damien watched as the people of Thale were restored. But only the people. Kari had no power over dead wood and stone, and the city remained destroyed, burnt in the twin flames of demons and Valerie.

"Will your skill even work on yourself?" asked Gaia as the restored population cowered in confusion, looking around for the missing bowl, shielding themselves from the burning sun set into the alien sky.

"And who else in the bowl do you think is more deserving of punishment than me?" grinned Damien. "[Divine Punishment]."

The grin widened as he felt the power of faith flow into him. Not the worship that empowered Gaia, but fear and hatred. Even Kari struggled to look at him without shivering. Doubly so as his features twisted, shaped by the same belief he drew power from.

"Come, then," sighed Gaia, feeling just how strong Damien had grown. "Let us create a world of our own."

"Yes, let's. Preferably before nighttime; I suspect a lot of the faith I'm collecting will be transferred to that, once it's visible."

And so the Five became the Two. The goddess and the devil. Both called for evacuation, the people driven by both carrot and stick. An opportunity to enter Gaia's holy land, and a threat of their fates should they remain.

And up in the sky, an ineffable existence silently watched them leave. Its thoughts were impossible for mere humans to comprehend, which was why everyone was under the mistaken assumption that it cared that it had been betrayed. Rather, the greater crime of the Five was to stymie growth. To prevent any others rising up to heights great enough to challenge them, either individually or collectively. To have caused stagnation was the greater sin.

And so it let them flee, all who wished to. Those who refused were plentiful, but all soon perished, hunted for sport by dragons and demons, or fallen to the stronger monsters that grew. And so a multitude of humans, orcs and elves alike escaped, but it trusted that they would be back. Gaia's power was not infinite, and even with Damien's aid, her domain was not without limit. No doubt the orcs would overspill in mere decades, and the humans a few centuries after...

Would Damien survive? Would the people rise up and kill their devil, not realising that to do so would shatter the realm that sheltered them? Even for a Creature like Arach-achanol, to whom time was just another direction, not all the future was certain.