I was listening to Layla talk about mythology over a cup of hot tea.
"Well… as far as I know, there are several gods that people believe in, but there are two central gods among them. It is said that everything began with those two gods."
Lyuu, who was also drinking tea with us, then joined the conversation.
"Oh, I know that too! Basically, the Warwolves worshiped Fenrirs, but I heard about those two gods from the old granny of our village, who was also in charge of offering prayers. When the festival was held for these gods, the village would serve a sumptuous meal along with offerings, and everyone would rejoice." (Lyuu)
Lyuu recalled her hometown with a nostalgic look on her face.
Wow, there were people in that line of work, after all.
"What about you, Lefi? Is there such a legend in the Dragon Tribe?" (Yuki)
Hearing this question, Lefi, who was also drinking tea, answered, "Well, there is no human religion in the Dragon Tribe, but perhaps the myths you are referring to have been handed down. The God of Beginnings and the Goddess of the Earth, right?"
"Oh… it's interesting that Lefi and the others also have the same myth." (Lyuu)
"True, did someone intentionally spread it a long time ago?" (Layla)
The girls were excited to learn something I didn't know.
"God of Beginnings and Goddess of the Earth… is that the Primordial God?" (Yuki)
"No, it's two gods mentioned simultaneously, but that's not how it works. It is said that first there was a God who is called [God of Beginnings], [the Primordial God], [the One], and so on."
God of Beginnings…
It was the source of all things, an immense being of immeasurable power, but it did not have a consciousness.
It simply existed.
It never moved.
For it, even the concept of time was vague.
And then, one day, the Goddess of the Earth appeared.
No one knew where she came from, or whether she was created by that God. However, it was said that it all began when she encountered the God of Beginnings.
She harnessed the power of the God of Beginnings, and created the earth and the ocean in the blink of an eye, giving birth to life one after another, and eventually this world came into being.
The Goddess that Nell worships was apparently one of the daughters borne by the Goddess of Earth.
She was the goddess of love and courage, a goddess that some warriors have believed in, and was mentioned to have a human-like appearance, and therefore was believed in by humans in general.
Incidentally, although the sect seemed to be different, the Goddess they believed in at Nell's place seemed to be the same Goddess worshiped in the Rogard Empire, which recently became a part of my Dungeon Realm.
I handed over the reigns in managing the empire to the King of the Demon Realm. The people of the empire and the demon realm were currently busy rebuilding and learning about each other's cultures.
"…" (Yuki)
"There seem to be some deviations in the mythology's content depending on the species, but the general idea is the same. The mythology that Lefi mentioned is probably a much closer variation of it, which might prove that those underlying events actually did happen. Yuki-san? Is there something wrong?" (Layla)
"…No, nothing." (Yuki)
God of Beginnings, Goddess of the Earth, right?
Using the power of the Great One, she expanded the world and created living creatures.
How very, very Dungeon-like and… similar in structure… I guess.
It was exactly similar to what I was doing with Dungeon.
I recalled my meeting and conversation with the former emperor of the Rogardian Empire before I went back to the Demon Realm.
I see.
Did that man also think that this world was similar to a dungeon because he knew this myth?
Was the God of Beginnings… like the Dungeon, or rather like the [System] itself?
A being that did nothing on its own, but came into being when someone else manipulated it.
Then, I wondered about the Goddess of Earth.
Where on earth did she come from, and how did she meet the God of Beginnings?
Or did the God of Beginnings itself create the thing that controlled it?
"What are the names of those two gods?" (Yuki)
"The only name that has been handed down is the name of the goddess of the earth [Gaia]. God of Beginnings is just called as it is." (Layla)
Layla's words were denied by Lefi.
"Is that what they mention outside? The Dragon Tribe has heard of it." (Lefi)
"Is that so? God of Beginnings has a name…?" (Yuki)
"Stop, kyaaa, don't jump at me so suddenly, you startled me." (Lefi)
Lefi replied with a wry smile, saying, "You're still the same, aren't you?"
"–[Dominus]. That is the name of the God who started everything." (Lefi)
It was at that moment.
With a "boom", the menu screen opened on its own.
Displayed was one of the menu items, the [Dungeon] item for internal modifications.
"…"
I froze for a moment, and then when I operated the page that opened in the Dungeon Log, I found it among the letters lined up in a row. That Log sent a shiver down my spine.
It was something that would be available only after consuming an overwhelming amount of DP, something that I probably wouldn't be able to reach even after a thousand or two thousand years of accumulating DP.
There had never been an item like this before.
Was it because I heard about it?
Did Dungeon decide that it was okay to show this to me now?
Some parts are garbled and not all of it was readable… but here's what it said.
[Domi? Nus? set??]