“It’s not much, but this is where we live.” I told Scarlet with a small smile, leading her through the halls of the Admin Room to show her all the different rooms. “You can change anything in the Admin Room with strong enough focus and imagination, so you should be able to make your own room. However, the first thing you should do is create an avatar in the mortal world to retrieve the divinity you stored.”
“I did that as soon as I woke up.” Scarlet said happily, one of her hands holding my own while the other held onto Terra. “After what you said before, I knew it was possible, so I tried that right away. I’ve already regained my divinity and established the spatial lock again. That way, nobody can see dad’s body while it’s sitting there.” She gave a firm nod of her head as she said that, causing me to chuckle.
“Though… I noticed that I am no longer your subordinate deity…” That actually made her pout slightly, as if she had lost something important.
“That’s not a surprise.” Terra shook her head, chuckling. “The you that was a subordinate deity couldn’t be brought to the Admin Room like that. When you were remade, you didn’t have that same inherent trait in your divinity. However, even if that’s true, I think you’re closer to Dale now than you ever were before.”
Scarlet thought about that for a moment, before giving a firm nod in agreement. “Does that mean that I can’t borrow power from him anymore, though?” She had never really had the chance or need to do so, so she seemed rather curious about that point
“Unfortunately, it does.” Terra said, squeezing Scarlet’s hand as we came towards the living room. “However, you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety. Even if your mortal incarnation dies, the you that exists in the Admin Room will still be fine.”
I couldn’t help but nod at that, before blinking as a thought occurred to me. “Wait, Terra will have to teach you about the Heavenly Game system soon. The incarnation that you have now will work for a little while, but it won’t anymore once an invasion starts. At that point, anyone that is in the Admin Room will be locked out of the world, and only an incarnation born through the Heavenly Game system will be able to act. Though, it will still have its own mind.”
Scarlet’s eyes went wide at that, looking at Terra with an almost pleading gaze. Seeing that, Terra nodded her head softly. “With the Heavenly Game system, you merely need to select a parent to be born to. When the child is born, you will be able to possess their mind and body, growing alongside them.”
Scarlet quickly nodded her head, her eyes seeming to flash. Terra blinked, realizing what she seemed to be doing. “Well… I suppose that works, too.”
“…What did she do, Terra?” I asked with no small amount of concern.
“She set herself as the parent… and is teleporting to Tower to hunt one of his monster gods.” Terra explained with a wry grin. Scarlet simply giggled as I looked down at her.
“It was the most efficient method. If my divine avatar creates a progeny using the divine ki and spirit of a godly creature, I will have a much easier time ascending to let my incarnation inherit my position. Additionally, my divine avatar will be able to assist the incarnation in obtaining divinity, so I should be able to do so within a few months.”
It was almost scary how quickly Scarlet was adjusting. “Are you able to properly divide your focus between that many bodies?” Even for some companions, it took time to train themselves to handle more than one additional body at a time. However, Scarlet seemed entirely unconcerned.
“Martial Spirits divide themselves a dozen times over in order to handle our pacts. As the oldest of my kind, I’m no stranger to controlling clones. However, if you were to accelerate the world… I don’t know how well my mind will process it.” She had a somewhat awkward expression on her face as she admitted that, though it quickly turned into one of surprise when another voice called out.
“Scarlet! You made it!” Aurivy’s voice called from the living room, the halfling goddess jumping to her feet and running over to capture Scarlet in a hug. “That was a really brave, stupid, and sweet decision you made, all rolled into one! I couldn’t have done it better myself. Well, maybe a little bit. Anyways, I look forward to having you around!”
“L-Lady–” Scarlet’s words were cut off as Aurivy quickly flicked her nose, causing her to flinch back with her eyes crossed.
“None of that! I get enough of that from Tsubaki. When you’re up here, we’re all family and friends. No titles, no honorifics. I’m Aurivy, and you’re Scarlet, got it?”
Scarlet seemed somewhat hesitant at that, but Aurivy’s expression offered no room for argument. “Of course, Aurivy.” She said experimentally, which made Aurivy break out in a wide grin.
“Much better!” She nodded her head, though Scarlet began looking around the living room. Seeing only Irena and Accalia present, she seemed more curious.
“Uhm… where is my sister? I haven’t had the chance to see her in a while, so I wanted to say hello now that I’m here…”
Aurivy simply giggled, patting Scarlet on the shoulder. “Leowynn’s been working with Ryone to fix up the Boundless Caravan a bit. They’re probably in either her room or Ryone’s. Once she hears you’re here now, I bet she’ll come running. You know, she’s been secretly wanting to have you up here for a long time? As of now, all of Dale’s proper family are living in the Admin Room.”
Scarlet blinked, nodding her head slowly. Though, a smile slowly spread over her face when she realized that she was being acknowledged as part of the Keeper’s family. Even if it was a bit unconventional, she was born of his blood. Enough of his blood even that she managed to trigger the rare demigoddess trait.
“Thank you.” Scarlet bowed deeply towards Aurivy, who kept that same playful look on her face. “I just hope that I can live up to your expectations.”
“Oh, don’t worry. The only expectations we have of you are how much fun we can all have together.” Aurivy said with a faint chuckle. “Speaking of… hey Dale, can you make her the Patron Goddess for Martial Spirits? She’s the first one brought up here for a race that doesn’t have one yet.”
Scarlet’s eyes went wide as saucers, her head jerking up to stare at Aurivy when she made that suggestion. I thought it over for a moment, nodding my head. In fact, it wasn’t all that much trouble. All martial spirits already knew her as the Empress of Bloodhaven, so the only thing that would really change is them feeling a slightly deeper connection to her. One enough for them to be instinctively aware of any changes in her divine properties.
“Sure.” I opened up the system menu, assigning Scarlet before she had the chance to complain. As soon as I did so, I blinked. Because Scarlet had met the conditions imposed by the system, she already qualified for her third domain. “Okay, Scarlet, big question time.”
“U-Uh huh?” Scarlet gulped, eyes swimming as she struggled to process everything that we were doing. “What is it, dad?”
I smiled, guiding her over to sit on the couch. “Because I made you a patron deity, and your race has entered the global community, you qualify for a third domain. Is there anything you want it to be?”
“A third…? I just got my second.” She seemed somewhat overwhelmed, but I was confident that she could handle it. She had led the Bloodhaven Empire since before I revealed myself to the world. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she could push through this bit of surprise. “If… If I had to pick one…” She furrowed her brow, doing her best to push aside unnecessary thoughts.
“Is it… possible to take a color as a domain?” She asked, and I could only look to Terra for the answer to that.
The felyn goddess grinned mischievously. “Let me guess, the color red?” She asked, to which Scarlet nodded. “It’s entirely possible. Any word can potentially become a domain. However, I want you to think carefully. What powers are you hoping to achieve by choosing this color as your domain?”
Scarlet took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts. She looked at the television, seeming to draw inspiration from it as she closed her eyes. In the middle of the room, a scene was being projected. In this scene, a monster was being bathed in a rain of blood.
Every drop that struck the monster left a red patch on its skin, though the monster itself continued to fly and fight. However, something changed as soon as one of the monster’s arms had developed a full red circle. The arm simply fell off, melting into a puddle of blood that flew about in the rainstorm. Piece by piece fell off the monster, until even its head was dyed red and ultimately disappeared.
“The Crimson Goddess of Ki and Blood.” Scarlet whispered. “Let all things that carry my color be an extension of my domain. The sky over my kingdom has already been dyed red, as has the water that flows through it, and the grass which grows within. When they think of the Empress of Bloodhaven, they think of my crimson hair and piercing red eyes.”
Terra’s smile grew wider, and she gave a small nod of her head. “That is a perfectly suitable use of the color red. All martial spirits will become extensions of your domain, after a fashion, as all share the same color. Are you prepared for this?”
Scarlet nodded her head, letting out the breath she had been holding. “I’m not going to do like Elisae, and tie my color to my perception. I’d rather not need to be aware of the vascular system of every man, woman and child on the planet, thank you very much.”
I gave a small chuckle, assigning her the domain she had requested. This was the first time that I had seen anyone using a color as a domain, so I didn’t even know how it would work. However, Terra seemed rather confident, so I was willing to take her word for it. Additionally, with Scarlet’s reserve of power, and the demonstration she showed before, I had the feeling that Earth just became a lot safer.
“Oh, that’s weird.” Scarlet suddenly shuddered, a small grin on her face. “My divinity just became red… like properly red, instead of gold. I don’t have to infuse it with my ki or anything.”
“I bet that’s because your divinity represents a color now.” Accalia chimed in. “If you had picked blue, it would have probably turned your divinity blue. That’s probably just a basic cosmetic trait that came with picking a color.”
“There’s a bit more to it than that.” Terra shook her head, beginning to explain. “Her divinity is red, which means that if she spreads that divinity into a target, their divinity will begin turning red as well. It’s not a fast process… imagine dripping blood into a glass of water. If you want to turn the entire glass red, you’ll need a fair amount of blood. But if you are willing to invest the time and energy, you can create a true crimson landscape filled with your divinity. Once you do so, the land will be an extension of your body.”
Scarlet nodded her head in understanding, her eyes growing just a touch unfocused. By my guess, she had just killed the monster god after meeting Tower, and was creating her incarnation. “Thank you for that. However, I don’t necessarily need such a territory. The space I defend is far too large for me to dye, and nobody would appreciate it if I created a red bubble around the solar system… even if I had enough energy to do so.”
“Well, in that case…” I smirked, patting Scarlet’s head. “Shall I introduce you to our favorite pastime? Spying on random people throughout the various worlds.” As I said that, I reached for the remote on the couch, using it to turn the television back on…
