Ariana remained motionless for several seconds, contemplating the goddess before her.

  She could feel it clearly: that entity was a part of her—and yet, at the same time, it was not. A fragment of herself had been transferred, separated, transformed. The Goddess of Death existed because Ariana existed, but she had already begun to walk her own path.

  Without a name, however, she was nothing more than a function.

  Ariana inhaled slowly and made her decision.

  “Goddess of Death,” she said, her voice calm and firm.

  The entity did not avert her gaze. She continued to look at Ariana with absolute focus. Her beauty was simple, serene, almost understated, but behind those dark eyes rested a profound, silent power—one difficult to measure.

  “I will grant you a name,” Ariana continued, feeling the weight of the act even before finishing. “From this day forward, you shall be Astrael, Goddess of Death.”

  When the name was spoken, the World of the Dead responded almost imperceptibly. Currents of energy aligned gently, as if acknowledging something that had not existed before—yet had always been necessary.

  The System responded.

  [Registration confirmed.]

  [Administrative Deity identified.]

  [Name assigned: Astrael.]

  [Domain: World of the Dead.]

  [Primary Function: Administration of the Reincarnation Cycle.]

  [Authority granted within defined parameters.]

  Ariana felt the bond solidify.

  It was unlike anything she had experienced before. It was not total control, nor submission. Responsibility was now shared. The weight still existed—but it no longer rested on her alone.

  Astrael knelt before Ariana, silently accepting the responsibility entrusted to her. She did not rise immediately. She remained that way until Ariana turned away and left the World of the Dead, passing through

  Only then did Astrael stand.

  She walked forward a few steps, and in response to her presence, one of the great floating islands began to move. The dark mass slid through the void, and ethereal steps formed, connecting nothingness to the suspended structure above all else. Astrael ascended without haste.

  At the top of the island stood a simple throne. Dark. Unadorned.

  And yet, absolute.

  Astrael brushed her black hair aside with a graceful motion and sat down. When she closed her eyes, the World of the Dead seemed to quiet, as if it had finally found a fixed point a

  Meanwhile, Ariana had already returned to Arcadia.

  “The weight of responsibility has lessened…” she murmured to herself. “Knowing that someone is caring for the World of the Dead helps. Besides… I never liked that place. It always gave me chills.”

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  She felt satisfied. Things were flowing naturally. For the first time in a long while, she had hardly needed to intervene directly. Still, she did not allow herself to relax. This was only the beginning. Arcadia was still forming, and changes could occur at any moment.

  She would remain attentive. Always.

  “I think it’s almost time to take an important step for Arcadia,” she thought.

  Days passed.

  Ariana observed new conflicts involving the goblins and other forest creatures, especially the wolves. The defeat at the hands of the great tree had left the Goblin King frustrated. Unable to accept that loss, he turned his ambition toward another target.

  The wolves’ territory.

  The attempt, however, was a failure. The wolves were far more coordinated than the goblins. They moved as a cohesive group

  After that, the colony began to crumble from within.

  Internal disputes became frequent. Small groups broke away, abandoning the Goblin King’s domain. With no clear leadership, they scattered throughout the forest, trying to survive on their own, each following their own instincts.

  During those days, Ariana carried out a few minor creations.

  She turned her attention to the seas of Arcadia and, through precise interventions, gave rise to new forms of aquatic life. Species of fish spread through the waters, along with rays, octopuses, and other creatures adapted to the depths. Gradually, the ocean ceased to be merely vast and silent.

  It became alive.

  Currents of mana and life intertwined, forming a stable and abundant ecosystem.

  In other regions, Ariana made choices that were more… personal.

  In the colder areas of the world, she decided to create penguins. Not out of ecological necessity, nor strategic calculation, but simply because she found them cute. In her past life, she had always liked them. And with the ocean now full of fish, they would have more than enough food to thrive without difficulty.

  Arcadia absorbed these changes without resistance.

  As for Ariana, she had fully recovered from Astrael’s creation. Among all the things she had done since the world’s terraformation, that had undoubtedly been the most exhausting. Creating an administrative deity had demanded more than mana—it had required will, sacrifice, and acceptance of limits.

  Now, however, she felt stable once more.

  And only one thought echoed in her mind.

  “I can create humans now.”

  Humans were not just another creation.

  They were different. Ariana knew that better than anyone. In her past life, humans had been capable of building incredible things… and destroying everything just as quickly. They learned fast, adapted far too quickly.

  They never remained still.

  She took a deep breath.

  “System.”

  The response came immediately.

  [Request detected.]

  [Selected species: Humans.]

  [Classification: High-Impact Species.]

  [Warning: Creation irreversible.]

  [Unpredictable consequences.]

  Ariana clenched her fingers for a moment.

  For several seconds, nothing happened.

  Then the air changed.

  Mana began to move in a strange way—different from all her previous creations. There was no explosion, no intense light. It was as if the world itself had paused to observe. Certain regions of Arcadia reacted—plains near rivers, fertile lands, places where life could already sustain itself.

  Ariana extended her hand.

  She did not force bodies into shape.

  She merely gave the first push.

  The earth shifted gently, and small forms began to appear. Fragile bodies—without claws, without fangs, without any obvious advantage. Ragged breaths. Hearts beating far too fast.

  Humans.

  Some opened their eyes almost immediately. Others began to cry. There was confusion, silence, strange sounds. Hands moving, fingers curling—the raw instinct to keep living.

  Then Ariana felt something different.

  It was not mana being drained.

  Nor pain.

  It was attention.

  Some of those humans, even without understanding anything, looked upward. It did not seem like worship. Nor fear.

  It was curiosity.

  As if, somewhere within them, they sensed that something was watching.

  The System spoke once more.

  [Creation complete.]

  [Human species registered.]

  [Adaptation capacity: High.]

  [Growth potential: Variable.]

  [Possibility of faith generation detected.]

  The last notification made Ariana hold her breath for a moment.

  She looked at those small lives scattered before her. They were fragile. Dependent on everything. Different from every other creature that existed in Arcadia.

  For the first time, Ariana did not merely feel that she had created something.

  She felt that she had begun something she would never be able to fully control.

  “So this is it…” she murmured.