The Hands of God

-My name is Conis. Yesterday, I entered the Temple and became an attendant to the High God.

She had once been an ordinary girl who dreamed of opening a pastry shop. Apart from pastries and the harp, she had no particular talents and simply lived a quiet life with her fisherman father. Until one day, the former god came to her home and spoke with her father at length.

Now...

Conis was making tea in the pantry. Yesterday's overwhelming experience had left her feeling a little dazed. She really did not understand much about such things; she had merely known instinctively that she should not make a sound.

Hearing those embarrassing noises... she had pulled the blanket covering her over her head and drifted into a hazy sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she was already lying in a bed, and it was dark outside. Lady Lilith was beside her, reading a book.

Only afterward did she learn that outsiders almost never entered the god's private quarters. Lady Lilith had brought her to her own room.

After spending the night in Lady Lilith's room, she finally officially took up her position as the god's personal attendant the following day.

Unsurprisingly, the other maids and nuns looked at her differently. These girls from different regions had formed their own little groups, one after another.

Conis had originally wanted to approach them warmly and ask to join their groups... but she really was not good at that sort of interaction.

She simply had no idea how to start the conversation or how to fit in with them.

That did not mean she was being ostracized or bullied, however. In fact, some of them merely kept a respectful distance, while others even spoke to her with a slightly fawning attitude...

His Divine Lordship, Lady Isabella, Lady Lilith... Conis silently wondered what her life would become from now on. The faces of those three appeared in her mind.

...I wonder what they're doing.

The god's bedroom-

The midday sunlight streamed into the room through an enameled window. Isabella lay languidly on the bed, slowly looking around.

Above her was a painted dome in predominantly white tones, and white lace curtains swayed gently. She was lying on a large, luxurious cloud bed.

Only that morning had she remembered that today was the weekly meeting at the Council Hall.

She had angrily pounded Sephiroth with her little fists while asking how she was supposed to attend a meeting like this.

His physical stamina should have been worse than hers before.

"How do you feel? Any dizziness? Does it hurt?"

A familiar voice came from the bedroom desk. It was Lilith, dressed in black Gothic clothing. She sat backward on the chair, her crossed arms resting on its back, her face turned sideways with a teasing hint of a smile...

"...Mm-mmm..."

Isabella curled up again, undulating curves and long, snow-white limbs flashing briefly into view. She wrapped the pure white blanket around herself until she resembled a sticky rice dumpling. Only her face, framed by fine golden strands, remained exposed as she faced Lilith.

"It... doesn't hurt that much..."

Isabella's expression mixed bashfulness with gritted teeth. Her delicate face flushed crimson, and the stray tuft of hair on her head bobbed up and down.

"When we were in the study, he and I... and I..."

Listening to her stammer, Lilith had actually already checked several sources-primarily an inspection of the scene and testimony from a certain innocent girl.

She had learned that, at least in the study, the two had only been in the preparatory stage of biological engineering. She had never expected His Divine Lordship to be so knowledgeable: he had spent over half an hour meticulously carrying out the preliminary warm-up.

Based on what Lilith knew, after all that, the main phase really would not hurt too much.

"You can skip what happened in the study... pfft-"

At the mention of that part, Lilith, as a professional maid, had not intended to laugh-unless she could not help herself...

Fortunately, His Divine Lordship cherished Bella. The main phase had taken place properly in the bedroom. Otherwise, that innocent girl would have suffered terribly.

Kindhearted Lilith had gone to the study to retrieve Conis, who had fainted again. That girl was even more clueless about these things than Bella.

"Mm... mmm... mmph... You were the one who asked me to tell you, Lily-"

At that reply, Lilith gave her a smile that His Divine Lordship had once described as looking very much like a "smug brat."

"Someone who took off after nothing more than the preparation stage..."

"Don't say it!"

-The white dumpling rolled back and forth.

She was so adorable that Lilith abandoned all fair play, took out an Image Dial, and casually recorded her.

"Mmmph-so you're saying you know all about it-"

Now Isabella could confidently say she knew more than Lilith. She would like to see how Lily behaved when her turn came.

In the almost completely isolated environment of Sky Island, young ladies who wanted to learn about such matters had little beyond their mothers' stammered, veiled explanations, romantic novels, and illustrated books.

And given the atmosphere within the church, works that explained those mysterious matters clearly had always been rare. It was only thanks to Lilith's resourcefulness that they had later acquired such precious reference material.

As a result, Isabella had previously possessed only a vague understanding of certain things. Compared to Lilith, who had once lived among the lower classes, she truly had seen little of the world.

But now-the top↘ and bottom↗ had switched places!

"Then we'll see when the time comes-but more importantly, I want to hear about the main phase!"

"Ah..."

As those memories returned, Isabella wriggled a few times, finally stretched into an arch, squirmed some more, and curled back into a dumpling.

"I'm not telling you. I won't say another word-"

Last night, he had actually made her keep her clothes on during main phase one. She had not even taken off her shoes.

When she lifted her legs, she realized for the first time that shoes had weight, too.

Only when they reached the attack declaration phase had the two finally bared everything to each other.

Main phase two was the real culprit behind her inability to attend the meeting.

"Just so you know, Bella..."

Lilith was genuinely delighted that these two childhood friends she had known for twelve years had finally reached this point. However...

"What..."

Following Lilith's pointing finger, Isabella saw that her wriggling had transformed the white dumpling that had protected her into something resembling a strawberry-filled rice ball that had burst while cooking...

"Mm-mmm-"

Before Lilith's eyes, an embarrassed and furious Isabella flung the blanket at her like a fishing net. Immediately afterward, she pounced, no longer caring that she had not a single man-made item equipped on her body.

"Bella-I still need to go find Lord Sephi! Stop fooling around-"

At that, the two of them, tangled together, burst out laughing.

-Thirty days later.

For the past month, all of Babylon had been busy preparing for the wedding.

After all, His Divine Lordship was marrying two wives. The whole of Sky Island had been swept up in an atmosphere of joy tinged with frantic bustle.

The people of Birka were especially fervent, working tirelessly and doing everything they could to secure a place in the wedding decorations and other preparations.

After weighing various considerations, Sephiroth chose the square outside the Temple as the main wedding venue. Naturally, the banquet itself would take place in the Temple's grand hall.

He had made this choice because the Golden Bell had been installed at the center of the square in front of the Temple.

Control over the Golden Bell had indeed been returned to the Shandia, but its placement still required some thought. Beyond helping foster unity among people from the three regions, there was also a physical consideration.

The Golden Bell stood in a basin of concentric depressions adorned with numerous decorations. In terms of its basic structure, it resembled the enormous Tianyan spherical radio telescope in the Celestial Empire on Blue Star.

Unless it was struck with an absurd amount of force, its sound would only echo above Sky Island and would not reach the ground below.

This was mainly to prevent the Blue Sea people from discovering this place just yet. Until he was ready, Sephiroth had no intention of making contact with them.

The symbolism of holding the wedding here completely reassured the Shandia, who had been slightly uneasy over Conis's presence.

-Although they still bundled up the female warrior Laki and sent her over.

On the wedding day.

Guests streamed into the square one after another, gazing reverently at His Divine Lordship and his two wives beneath the Golden Bell.

To celebrate the god's marriage, meat and wine would later be distributed throughout Babylon. Many residents gathered in the streets to celebrate as though it were a festival.

Plenty of people were already drunk.

To Babylon's subjects, His Divine Lordship's wedding was just like a grand festival.

A spectacular fireworks display would also take place just before the wedding began.

"Your High Divinity, you're looking rather stiff."

The current Pontiff-Isabella's grandfather-was slightly tipsy, which gave him the courage to tease Sephiroth.

Objectively speaking, the "gods" of most Sky Islands were not gods in the religious sense. The title effectively meant "king." It was perfectly normal for someone close to a king to make a harmless joke with him.

Only Birka, as a religious nation, had a different understanding of the concept of "god" from the other Sky Islands.

"...How should I put this? Grandfather-in-law, you're getting quite good with words yourself."

He had come over to chat just as Sephiroth was feeling a little nervous about the ceremony's imminent start.

"My deepest apologies, Your High Divinity."

"No, I wasn't criticizing you..."

Having come to this world and gained such power and status, Sephiroth was hardly inclined to make hypocritical claims that everyone was equal.

Honestly, how many people in his previous life who spoke of equality really thought deep down, Everyone above me is equal; everyone below me must know their place.

His ideal relationship with his subordinates was one where they showed him normal respect, rather than excessive... religious fanaticism?

Somehow, it always brought a certain stubborn, hulking golden fellow to mind.

The location of this wedding honored Shandia culture, but its format naturally followed Birka's religious wedding traditions.

It was divided into two parts: a ceremony within the church attended only by relatives and other carefully selected guests, and a wedding banquet held outside.

In a sense, it was largely similar to a Western-style wedding on Blue Star. The officiant was Angel Island's representative, Gan Fall.

The brides' attendants were Conis from Angel Island and Laki from the Shandia.

Sephiroth's groom's attire today was his own special design: black tactical clothing rich in religious elements, an asymmetrical robe with mechanical detailing, a white Christian-style knight's cape, and a dark crimson military sash-the complete look of Executor the Ex Foedere.

He walked alone to the Golden Bell and exchanged nods with Gan Fall, who stood on the other side. Next came the entrance of the two brides.

First was Isabella, the god's right hand and the regent of Heaven.

She wore white wedding-dress-style cloth armor even more splendid than her usual attire. Her veil was covered in exceptionally labor-intensive embroidery and adorned with a laurel wreath. It was so long that two little girls had to help carry its trailing end.

-This look was primarily based on Nero Bride's third Ascension.

Escorted by her father, Isabella walked to Sephiroth's side. After taking Isabella's hand from her father, Sephiroth led her forward.

Next came Lilith, the god's left hand and the adjudicator of divine might.

Her bridal attire today used purple and black as its main colors, with a design both mysterious and elegant. It included a bodysuit, black stockings, a short skirt, and tall boots, with a subtly shimmering purple gown as the outermost layer.

-This look was primarily based on Black Swan from Honkai: Star Rail.

Escorted by Birka's former Pontiff, Lilith walked to Sephiroth's side. After Sephiroth took Lilith's hand from the retired, muscular old geezer, the old man bared his teeth with a complicated expression.

With all three gathered, the space before the altar became lively.

As the Golden Bell rang, Babylon entered a new era.