The Great Aurelian Thor, Creator of the Stars

"It seems even the Dungeon fears me, struggling desperately to bar my entry."

In the Labyrinth City of Orario, inside a tavern named Hostess of Fertility.

A young man with hair like stardust draped his arms over the back of a sofa, a wooden straw between his lips, speaking in a languid, indifferent tone.

Across from him sat a white-haired, red-eyed boy.

The boy looked utterly disheveled, his clothes riddled with the scars of battle.

In the tavern at midnight, with only a handful of customers present, his appearance remained starkly out of place.

Their dinner was simple: a single bowl of stew and a piece of coarse bread to stave off hunger.

Despite this, the white-haired boy ate with gusto, as if he hadn't tasted food in ages.

Hearing Aurelian Thor III speak, he chewed quickly, swallowed, and asked, "Lord God, I've heard that gods are forbidden from entering the Dungeon. Won't you be punished for venturing so deep?"

Aurelian Thor III let out a cold laugh and pushed his own barely touched stew toward the boy.

"My dear child Bell," he said, "in my eyes, the gods are merely a slightly more civilized species. They exhaust themselves just gazing upon my form; what right do they have to issue orders to me?"

Bell's red eyes were filled with adoration.

Aurelian Thor III relished the child's worship. He adjusted his posture, crossed his legs, and continued.

"Listen well, Bell. I am the will that created the stars, an ancient existence that roamed the void before the stars were even born. This firmament you see is nothing more than the embers I scattered carelessly during my eternal journey."

"The gods? They are but mayflies huddled in a corner of the star-charts I wove, fancying themselves to have glimpsed the truths of the universe."

His fingertips tapped the table unconsciously, and the drink in his glass rippled with fine starlight, as if it held a miniature galaxy.

"When I galloped along the path of star-creation, the myths you know had not even hatched. My breath wove nebulae, and my thoughts could ignite dying suns... Heh, and as for this so-called 'Dungeon' beneath our feet?"

Aurelian Thor III let out a chuckle bordering on pity.

"It might trap those prisoners who style themselves as gods, but to me, it is at most a slightly stubborn pebble—perhaps it pinches, but it cannot even slow my stride."

He leaned forward, the depths of his pupils swirling with the light of supernovas bursting and fading.

"So, do not worry about the rules and commandments of those mediocre deities. If they dare attempt to restrain the sun with the glow of fireflies... then I don't mind letting them experience once more what it feels like when the heavens collapse."

He was the Aurelian Thor III who had created the stars, yet he was not.

To be precise, he was Aurelian Thor III.

In his first life, he was the supreme existence who created the stars; in his second, he inherited neither the power nor the memories of the first, living out the life of an ordinary mortal in the modern world.

And this third life...

At first, he had not recalled everything, until one day he touched the stars and remembered all that had transpired in the previous two lives.

He regained all the knowledge regarding suns and star-creation from his first life, though his power was as different from his original self as heaven is from earth.

Bell listened as Aurelian Thor III painted a magnificent tapestry of creation and star-forging, looking down upon the gods. It was as if he were witnessing the miracle of stars being born and expanding in the void, his chest filled with indescribable excitement and worship, his ruby-like eyes shining brightly.

"Precisely because of this,"

Aurelian Thor III's voice pulled him from his reverie, the tone carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"You, Bell Cranel, are my only follower here, the first reflection of the starlight in this realm. Remember this honor; your spine shall be straighter than the mountains, and your will shall be more brilliant than diamonds. Your pride is my pride, and it is the cornerstone for the myriad star-kin we shall have in the future!"

"Yes! Lord God!" Bell replied excitedly, his voice trembling with fervor, nearly jumping from his chair to salute.

Just then, a shadow loomed over their table.

The tall, robust proprietress Mia Grand walked over, her thick fingers tapping the table unceremoniously with a dull thud, shattering the epic atmosphere.

"Hey, you two 'big shots,'" she said, her tone flat but carrying an undeniable pressure. "Done chatting? If you're done, pay the bill and get out. We're closing."

Hearing this, Aurelian Thor III tilted his head slightly to glance at the wall clock, looking somewhat surprised. "Hm? Has it already reached this hour?"

The passage of time seemed to lose all meaning when he was immersed in his grand narrative.

Seeing this, Bell scrambled to shovel the last few crumbs of bread into his mouth, terrified of wasting even a morsel.

Aurelian Thor III turned to Mia with elegant grace: "Then, beautiful lady, what is the total?"

"Two stews, two portions of coarse bread, plus that glass of your special 'Starlight Mint Water'—that will be 600 Valis."

Mia stated the figure, her tone devoid of emotion.

In Orario, 50 Valis was enough to buy a full meal at a street stall, yet Aurelian Thor III had ordered a single drink worth 200 Valis.

Aurelian Thor III chuckled, as if this mere 600 Valis were nothing more than dust.

He stylishly retrieved his weathered-looking coin purse, flipped his wrist, and dumped the coins onto the table with a loud clatter.

Then, the air froze.

On the table, a scattering of Valis copper coins and a few small silver coins lay in a pathetic pile, as if mocking them in silence.

Both Bell and Aurelian Thor III were stunned, instinctively counting them together.

"Four... four hundred and twenty-one Valis..." Bell's voice trembled.

The look of disdain on Aurelian Thor III's face stiffened.

He couldn't help but sit up straight, resting his clasped hands elegantly beneath his chin in an attempt to regain a shred of his dignity, and asked Mia, "Hmm... in my name, could you perhaps put this on my tab? I shall repay you double another day."

Mia said nothing, merely raising her thick arm in silence and jerking her thumb decisively toward the back kitchen.

There, a mountain of dirty dishes threatened to spill over the edge of the sink.

Mia's meaning was clear.

Any attempt to run a tab was futile; no money? Then pay with labor!

Thor looked at that mountain of bowls, let out an even colder, more disdainful sneer, and stood up abruptly, brushing off non-existent dust with a flourish.

He beckoned to Bell, his voice booming and filled with a sense of mission, as if he weren't about to wash dishes, but to conquer a floor boss in the Dungeon.

"Let's go, Bell! It seems tonight's 'great undertaking' is not in the labyrinth, but right here! Let us complete this... trivial trial!"

His impassioned air, as if he were stepping onto the ultimate battlefield, would make it impossible for any unsuspecting bystander to guess that the "work" and "trial" he spoke of was actually heading to the kitchen to tackle that mountain of greasy dishes.