45 Ch. 45 Preparing for a world

My return home after my little trip outside our world was simple enough.

I told Scáthach and my peerage about what happened just so that upon her own return, Ciri would get glomped by everyone. Some weren't totally on board with my Exterminatus strategy for the Aen Elle, but they ultimately decided to let it lie thanks to my decision to at least let the good souls be taken care of in Remnant.

Ereshkigal showed up when she felt the sudden influx for an explanation. She brought up a rather valid point that if so many souls would be flooding into Remnant, she would need some form of servants to control things properly due to not wanting to be forced to always stay there all the time. The current golems wouldn't cut it. So to answer her plea, I took some inspiration from my past life and from Hades' Grim Reapers, to begin designing what was going to be a soul race using the great number of souls I had recently acquired.

Basically, I was going to make a modified form of Hollows to Espadas from Bleach.

The idea was to use the base hollows for both test runs and as guard dogs for Remnant, maybe also using them to create some form of 'physical' punishment area where evil enough souls would be hunted and consumed by the Hollows. We could then develop more powerful versions like Gillan, Adjuchas, Vasto Lorde and finally Espada. The self evolution would have to be studied, but I already had many ideas from observing devils grow stronger, the data we have on Sacred Gears and various bits from other races. It did make things easier that this new race would not be a physical one, hence I would not need to meticulously plan for how biological bodies would work for them, allowing for greater flexibility.

Of course I won't be stupid enough to try and make them 'pure' souls, meaning only made up of a modified or mutated soul, that would be far too unstable and potentially dangerous since not many outside death gods and necromancers dabble in things like soul magic. I certainly wouldn't want to trigger anyone by having a group of untouchable, unnoticeable, soul damaging beings running around who could only be harmed by soul magic and the likes. No, the were going to be closer to Elsa in a sense, a type of spirit, a sort of middle ground between a soul and spirit. This would make magic something they could use get hit by, lowering their threat level in a sense, but the increased versatility and ability to properly interact with the world will make up for it, while also giving me more ways to keep them in line.

They would be perfect to manage the souls and Remnant once everything shifts to Mars, or whatever it will be renamed, as well. Give them their own method of teleportation, some special senses to track souls in case they escape or linger among the living, develop tools or techniques depending on how exactly they will evolve, and add a certain level of authority beneath Eresh's, and you have a force to properly monitor souls and protect the living from them. Of course they would serve more as guardians and enforcers, while those seeing to the 'blessed' and the like would be very different.

Maybe gynoids and the like. Thoughts for later.

To make this work I put in some orders to capture some Grim Reapers and asked Eresh to go visit some other Death Gods alongside Da Vinci to obtain more knowledge on souls and Grim Reapers themselves. They are rather important beings and I wanted to make better.

Plus the work will be an immense boon in my understanding of the soul and how to cultivate, manipulate, damage/destroy, heal and strengthen it. It also served as a test run for 'Creating' a new race for when I would do so with the currently unnamed world spirit.

Said world spirit told me her name would be 'revealed by the world' once the time was right and was actually feeding me some of what she knew regarding creating life to help.

She said it helped foster good relations between husband and wife to support each other's endeavors, something I could not disagree on. Her help was certainly giving me a more positive attitude regarding her.

On more comedic news, Euryale and Stheno had now officially rejoined the world.

They immediately went to relentlessly tease/harass Medusa, but the biggest sister simply enveloped them in a near bone crushing hug while crying, forcing the twin loli goddesses to reschedule their 'fun' to properly have a heartfelt reunion as they sighed and began comforting their crybaby sister.

It was a nice scene even if I knew those two were likely the most sadistic people I had met so far.

Well to keep them busy, out of my hair, away from Medusa who had been making great strides in healing her various psychological issues, and so they could do something to keep themselves busy and mildly productive, I made them judges for various guild contests and competitions.

The two were cruel, direct and sadistic.

Perfect to light a proper fire under all those incredibly zealous and motivated people.

The two were to judge things like food, visual/auditory/performance art, magic, alchemy and the likes. They wouldn't be in things like medicine and blacksmithing, because I knew what they would be useful for. I also scheduled them to be commentators for events.

It was a bit freaky to see a rapidly growing number of borderline masochists nearly worshipping them so quickly. But then I remembered that this was DxD and the majority of my people were still devils, so having that many perverts/enthusiasts started making sense.

Well, that and the fact that their divinities as 'Idol Goddesses' was recovering very well.

But overall they seemed to be enjoying themselves enough. Even toning down their harassment of Medusa since others would be handling them when at home and the sisters could spend time talking about other people they crushed the spirits off instead of her.

They did have an odd habit of wanting to ride my shoulders when going out at times, but I indulged them in exchange for not going overboard on my people. The twins understood that there were limits to their actions of course, surprisingly respecting said limits as well, so we didn't have any problems. The loli twins are to be protected, while I gain two more goddesses on my side.

I will see what they can bring to the table later. They are after all, beings with incredible potential, only needing some guidance to grow stronger. It all depends on what other divinities they will gain from their actions and desires since they were born from the Earth, holding a great advantage over other gods.

Medusa herself was already showing signs of her proper divinities awakening under my house's care. We predict it would likely have something to do with retribution or punishments due to it reacting to certain stimuli in that category. Amusingly, she might also be getting a divinity relating to servitude, or more specifically Maids.

Grayfia will be so jealous once she hears about this. Or maybe competitive. She might even find her path to become a Super Devil too.

Who would have thought that maids, or their regional equivalents, are so widespread and already part of culture that a divinity for them could exist? But if the girl was happy then power to her. She was learning everything she could about being a maid under Fia's wing, and I even freed her talent just to see the effect a freed talent would have with a burgeoning divinity. Turns out, even Fia was shedding tears of pride over her apprentice's monstrous progress on the path of Maids. A bit more seriously though, it showed that I could accelerate the formation of said divinity and its development as I helped the person learn and understand more about it.

So it has been both funny and enlightening.

The more she progressed as a 'maid', of all kinds, the stronger her forming divinity was becoming. It also applied to her other one as Scáthach and I brought her out for some experience, targeting people worth 'punishing'. It was fascinating to see the process. We could even cross reference this with Eresh and her own growing divinities relating to 'earth' to help her increase her rate of improvement.

Overall, I had four goddesses under me as they grew in 'power' if not 'strength', all while myself and Da Vinci learnt how divinities worked in this world.

I did get assurances regarding said goddesses as well from the world spirit. Once things are up and running, she could essentially give them access to develop their divinities from Mars, and maybe keep their Earth divinity if the planet lets them. That last bit is 50/50, but they would still grow much better with the Martian divinity over the Earth one simply due to not having to share.

I mean, some of the reasons why gods like the Trimurti have so much power is because not many, if any, gods share the same exact divinity. Sure gods have very destructive powers and some are said to be able to destroy the world or cause apocalypses, but almost no divine beings not linked to Shiva, share his divinity for destruction, hence part of why he is so powerful. The two other members of the trio also have uncommon, if unique domains, being Creation and Maintenance, things I could only picture God of the Bible actually sharing, because other gods might have 'created' or 'birthed' some things, but no other truly hold divinities in creation.

Then about a two months after I came back from performing genocide, my cute little student finally popped in.

And I mean I felt her trying to appear in my office and I gave her permission, only for her to stick her head through a portal.

'Looks like she has improved.' I briefly thought at the sight.

"H-hey Lith. Do you mind helping me bring some people over to visit? Also, do you mind if I bring some people to visit?" She asked slightly nervously as she looked between myself and Scáthach before avoiding the latter's eyes.

"Oh? Are we finally going to meet Geralt and Yennefer then?" I responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah." She stuttered a bit with a light blush, which was surprising considering her usual boldness, but I just chalked it up to her being nervous about her monster slaying father figure and strong mother figure meeting other people she was close to.

You know, standard young person worried regarding getting embarrassed and the likes.

Maybe also worrying that her father figure would start trying to ply his trade when he learns we are devils.

"No problem. Is it just those two or are there more?" I asked for clarification.

My office is decently sized, and I can manipulate its space as I wished, but I would prefer to have larger gatherings elsewhere. This office was for a comfortable work space I could focus in peace, not exactly prepared for larger meetings. That's why we have many different rooms such as the 'throne room' for posturing and the like, the 'council room' where I meet with all my administration heads, guild masters and commanders, and the 'meeting hall' for proper discussions with groups of people.

Being a ruler is a pain in the ass and I'm glad I know how to delegate most things while the trading partners I actually like and the other houses I am close to know I couldn't give a shit about stuff like that. Let's just say the Balam family is still my favorite since they know how to drink and throw down, while the Phenex like to enjoy a calm way to discuss things while enjoying some of life's pleasure like hot springs, massages and wines, and the houses which birthed the current Satans just send them since we are all friends and one of them are my in-laws.

Anyway, I just took the reigns on Ciri's portal, expanded and stabilized it properly to let her guests through.

First came my lovely ashen haired student who seemed quite shy today as she looked a bit downward and fidgeted, much to the amused eyes of my queen.

Next came quite a beautiful woman with flowing raven locks of hair, violet eyes near sparkling as her gaze swept the room and us in judgement, wearing a mainly black outfit with white detailing which was quite… form fitting for what was a medieval world. Although not in the highest ranks of beauties I have seen, and certainly not matching my loved ones, the woman, I could only assume was Yennefer, was certainly attractive. She did have an aura which screamed 'I'm better than you and you're likely an idiot so don't talk to me' however, which was a bit funny to me considering she was mid-class by our standards at best.

And third was the White Wolf himself, Geralt of Rivia. Shoulder length white hair tied back to not get in his face, trimmed white beard, cat-like eyes with a crescent scar very similar to Ciri's, armored body packed with muscles trained and mutated to the extreme even for regular Witchers, and sporting two swords on his back.

'I forgot how much he dislikes portals. Imagine how he feels having to go through one crossing worlds. But he is experienced enough to still carefully analyze his surroundings and stay completely on guard in unfamiliar territory even then.' I thought as I also analyzed the man. 'With the right knowledge and equipment, he could potentially take on a high-class Devil. He'd honestly make a great exorcist in my opinion.'

I could tell my queen was also judging our two guests using her experienced gaze, deciding that Geralt was the more interesting of the two as she preferred his type. A real warrior with some magic to balance things.

"Well, I assume Ciri has spoken about us as she has told us much of you already, but let me introduce myself to whom I presume are Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg." I began with a friendly smile as I stood from behind my desk. "I am Lith Azaroth, Lord and Founder of House Azaroth, as well as Ciri's teacher.

Behind me is Scáthach, my lover and queen, as well as another of Ciri's teachers during her time with us."

"A pleasure to meet those who have reared such a promising little warrior." Scáthach politely said as she stepped a bit forward.

And oh you should see Geralt's eyes widen when he looked at the two of us and noticed how much of threat we can be by just observing the way we were holding ourselves. The man looked ready for a fight to the death.

"I think we had enough fun at his expense. Don't you?" I said to her as she smiled a bit mischievously.

"He has potential." She merely replied as the two of us stopped purposefully displaying a level Geralt could perceive as a threat.

Scáthach was over 1000 years old and still improving while I was only a bit older than Geralt but a monstrous prodigy, the two of us could easily conceal how monstrous we were as warriors, but we wanted to play with a man Ciri always said was too serious and impossible to scare. A bit of fun.

"What?" A confused Yennefer asked as she looked between us and Geralt who's body relaxed and had a cold sweat on his brow.

"Did you have to?" Ciri asked us with some exasperation.

"No." Scáthach answered with a little amused smile.

I just chuckled at that.

"Yen, these two are dangerous. Don't… be too… you." The Witcher whispered quickly to his current lover.

"How dangerous?" She quickly whispered back.

"Very." I answered for him with an amused smile as the two remembered they weren't being exactly subtle. Plus we had enhanced senses as devils.

"*Ahem* Right." Yennefer awkwardly said as she did her best to get back in her groove. "You are correct in assuming I am Yennefer and this is Geralt. We came to thank you for taking care of Ciri all these years and for your help with the Wild Hunt."

"Think nothing of it. At first it was mostly out of curiosity, but Ciri really grew on everyone and now she is sort of a little sister for most of my peerage. A naughty and slightly reckless one, but a loved little sister nonetheless." I replied with a teasing smile towards Ciri as I saw a bit of embarrassment.

"Peerage?" The gruff man asked as he caught onto the term.

"My family, close ones, aids, most trusted powerhouses, however you wish to define it. They are bonded to me and I them." I vaguely answered since properly explaining things is difficult, especially with it technically being a form of slavery.

"And is Ciri… bonded like them?" Geralt asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, but I would definitely say the offer is on the table. She gets along well with my other members, has great potential as after only a few years of training she has reached quite the descent power level, our abilities mesh well together and I am rather fond of her." I answered the man as he clearly seemed suspicious of me.

Ciri on the other hand was fidgeting quite a lot.

"Abilities? You can obviously travel between worlds, so does this mean you also possess the Elder Blood?" This time Yennefer asked.

I knew that she was one of the most interested in the Elder Blood itself, it not exactly being a coincidence that she got close to Ciri and knew how to try and find her after having left their world, well before actually starting to care for her as a daughter anyway.

"No. This is my own bloodline, one I have built up from a spark I was born with. And I am much more powerful than wielders of the Elder Blood. At least much more knowledgable regarding its uses and potential." I answered her with some pride in how far I have come with my [Space].

I had developed [Time] with it and I was also learning things like [Gravity] and Ophis' [Nothing] as I delved further into my [Space]. I was learning how to manipulate fundamental aspects of reality. It was exhilarating and mildly intoxicating at times when I realized just how much power I had. Then I also remembered the loli dragon god who can pimp slap me and I get back to training properly.

"If you do not use the Elder Blood, then how could you teach her?" She asked as the adoptive parents' eyes became both curious and suspicious.

"Mostly because we both use our bloodlines as a sort of shortcut or key to the higher elements of existence. We don't need to exactly 'learn' anything, just understand and develop the power to actually use what we understood. So trying to teach us how to use our abilities would be like a human trying to teach a fish how to swim, useless and would hamper the fish if it tried mimicking a human." I simplified as the in-depth education on bloodline magic and abilities would take hours for just mine and weeks for everything Da Vinci and I have at the moment.

Of course both knew I was simplifying things, so they decided to accept this and move on. They were both intelligent in their own ways for a couple who are essentially medieval.

"Fine. I will accept this answer for now." Yennefer said as she let it go.

"Not like you have much of a choice little sorceress." I replied almost in amusement over how neither of these two know how far out of their depths they are right now.

Any of my servant staff could take them down, with only Moka being weaker.

"Little!?" She repeated with an offended tone.

"Yes. Did Ciri not explain how weak your entire world is compared to this one? At best you could match some experienced magicians and your paramour could subdue some average low to mid-class beings, neither of which is anything impressive considering you are both around a century old and everyone in this castle beside one could easily handle you. The one in question being a 5 year old little girl." I said to her with a smug smile. "You two are in a different world my dear and I owe you nothing, you are nothing remotely impressive here, nor are you even important.

The only reason two beings of your level, not part of my territory or my people are even meeting me is because Ciri cares for you. So do try to not act so entitled. I have only answered your questions out of my feelings for Ciri, step out of line and you shall be returned from whence you came."

Oh boy did Geralt not like those words. The way he was now looking was as if he was ready to draw his blade. Kind of reminds me of Batman for some reason. Yennefer's pride just took a hit, so she too was getting ready.

Both myself and Scáthach found it adorable how they thought they had any kind of chance at hurting us. My Queen was even curious towards the Wolf School swordsmanship after hearing about it from Ciri, so she wasn't going to de-escalate the situation either.

"Geralt, Yen, don't!" Ciri strongly said as she interrupted. "I know you don't like it, but Lith is right. This isn't our world and he doesn't owe us anything. If anything, we owe him a lot."

The two did not like it, but she is right. Just me handling the Wild Hunt for them had helped them and their allies/friends quite a lot. This isn't counting the fact that i trained Ciri, saved her from the Wild Hunt, and technically helped her stop the White Frost.

So with unhappy looks on their faces, they calmed themselves.

"How disappointing. I desired to see the skills another world could develop." Scáthach said with only minimal facial expressions as is always the case when not only around myself or the family.

"If it matters so much to you, I could find some suitable places where you or the girls could have fun." I suggested since I had the location of quite a few world where the higher beings wouldn't mind a peaceful visitor or non-murdery fighter.

"You know how to tempt me beloved." My Queen replied with a small smile and look mixed with excitement, love and a little something which revved my engine.

"Temptation is something we should know, we are devils after all my dear." I hotly said as we both knew we were going to have some hard fun later thanks to my offer.

"Devils!?" Yennefer exclaimed as those two were completely battle ready now.

"Waaaiit!!" Ciri quickly tried to intervene again.

"Ciri! These two are much too dangerous and we must leave." Yennefer strictly responded as she gathered some magic and Geralt drew his blade for monsters.

"It's not like that! Devils are different here! He isn't even a full Devil and Scáthach used to be human!" The poor Elder Blood holder tried to explain a bit desperately.

"*Scoff* You call me dangerous but call on the Man of Mirror for help." I mocked as my Queen was curious about the statement due to seeing my distaste.

"How do you know about that?" The sorceress hissed.

"I can see through alternate realities and timelines. I've seen versions where he ignores you, others where he tricks you into becoming everything you despise, some where you even unknowingly gift him Ciri, a few where you either Damn yourself or Geralt, a good number where Geralt takes either the burden of your choices, fulfills his demands or momentarily banishes him, and a minor few where he just lets you be after his bargain. You called on the literal embodiment of people's selfish desires and some form of evil deity and we scare you?

And you saying we are dangerous for our race is also mighty hypocritical for you two being feared and reviled by most in your own world." I countered dismissively as Geralt now looked at Yennefer with wide, questioning eyes.

'Looks like he didn't get involved with him in this timeline. Or maybe my presence just delayed things.' I thought with a shrug.

"Yen, what's he talking about? Is that true?" The Witcher asked a bit pointedly.

"Not now Geralt." Yennefer harshly responded.

"Plus we aren't exactly that different from humans beside the lifespan, magic and superior bodies. The biggest differences would be the sense of superiority most devils have regarding others and our inclination towards a major sin." I added making both have issues with my ridiculous statement.

"He's right. I've spent loads of time in the city and everyone's really nice." Supported Ciri, but I am not sure as to how convincing she really is at the moment.

"Your entire race is at least sinful in one way?" Geralt asked out of what seemed to be professional curiosity.

"Not sinful in a way you would think. Take myself and my peerage for example: I am rather Greedy, but for talented individuals not money. Scáthach here became more Lustful, but for battles and not sex. One of my oldest members, Jeanne, is Prideful and does not accept things trying to bind or control her. Another is Greedy for knowledge, and my own wife is Lustful but only if it involves myself in some way." I explained in a simple way. "Although there are some who indulge and others who are simply bastards, this applies for humans as well. We simply have a natural inclination towards a sin in some form."

The Witcher nodded in understanding, even if I could still feel some scepticisme due to it being me who said it and I am technically a Devil.

"Why did you bring them here without properly explaining things Ciri?" Scáthach suddenly asked, startling the girl.

"Well, they wanted to meet you so they could thank you and in the heat of the moment I kind of… forgot." Ciri embarrassingly answered.

"You have spent far too much time with Da Vinci." My Queen replied in a deadpanned manner.

"Well they do tend to be rather spontaneous." I added with a mirthful smile.

"Stop encouraging them. Last time they unleashed that bomb you didn't want her to use and it resulted in a giant radioactive magical Lizard." Scáthach scolded.

"Hey! You enjoyed fighting it and Jeanne loves her new familiar." I retorted defensively as I distinctly remember those two going off with Musashi to fight the thing as I muttered Godzilla.

Da Vinci was ecstatic over the discovery of magic and radiation causing such a phenomenon and damn near dropped a few more magical atom bombs to try and replicate the result. That was until a severe reprimand and me cancelling both her lab and explosion privileges for a few months.

So now we have Godzilla as Jeanne's familiar. She hit it off with him due to his mutation/evolution changing him from an lower earth dragon to the world's first nuclear dragon, and Jeanne just has a way with wyverns and dragons. Had to give him a shrinking collar so she could keep him in the house.

That made the other girls learn about familiars and the likes, asking me about getting some, which I replied that we can all get some once little Moka grows up to make it a family activity.

"Be that as it may, I would recommend some form of explanation regarding our world and having Ciri give them a tour." She replied as she changed the topic, signaling my victory.

"Honestly, just show the Witcher Hel's guild and the Sorceress our magic academies and we probably won't see them again for a long time." I dismissively said as the words 'magic academies' certainly worked their wonders on Yennefer.

"You have multiple academies on magic?!" The stunned sorceress asked.

"Pretty much everyone who isn't pure human has some form of innate magical ability, so yes, we have places to teach how to use and harness them as best as possible and to study further if one desires. We also offer courses for humans as well, their magic system can be quite useful in some situations." I answered as I looked at Ciri meaningfully.

Luckily she understood what I wished to convey.

"Come on! I'll show you two around! The place is great! Nothing anywhere close to it in our world!" Ciri excitedly said as she took an arm of both her guardians and Damn near dragged them out.

"Well… that could have gone better." Scáthach amusedly said after the trio had left.

"*Sigh* I knew of their personalities before hand so nothing said or done was taken personally, but that woman would fit in marvelously amongst noble devils and the Witcher would probably end up in a few death matches against them." I replied with a shake of my head.

"*Giggle* True. The man would fit fantastically back during my rule." She amusedly said at my future annoyances if those two stay.

I could easily see some lustful devils trying to take Yennefer or something and someone piss Geralt off enough or try to double cross him or something.

"Anyway, they'll be Ciri's responsibility while they're here anyway. Let's get back to work." I finally said as I put away my thoughts regarding those two.

"As you wish beloved." My Queen replied as we moved on to finish the work I had to do.

Not forgetting my 'gift' from earlier either, my lover decided to give me an early thank you by also helping me relive some stress with her rapidly growing mouth skills. They don't call her a monstrous prodigy in spear handling for nothing I tell you.

Then somehow Sera's wife senses tingled and she teleported to my office and made it a full on threesome, which did slow down my work and later got her scolded by Evangeline. Unfortunately for my wife's Queen, none of her sermon was getting through if her silly smile was any indicator.

I love my women very much.

Regardless, a few days later Ciri came back to tell me they were going back to their own world for a while. They still had some things to settle there apparently, even though they were rather enamored with my lands. Geralt was enjoying the relative peace and lack of hatred towards himself more than anything. The man might basically be a monster slayer, but that doesn't mean he enjoys risking his life and getting spat on for it, so finding that monster hunting was a respected job that pays very well in the Underworld did tempt him once he heard I did still welcome the both of them into my lands due to Ciri.

The girl herself did repeatedly say she was sorry for their behavior and that she would be regularly coming back now that she was used to using her own powers to travel between our two worlds. Ciri did say she would seriously think about my offer of joining my peerage as well, which was pleasant news.

So overall, not the greatest first impressions all around, but salvageable.

Putting them out of mind for now, i was gave everyone who was interested a list of worlds I could send them to either learn, improve or fight in with a set of guidelines for doing so.

Most rules revolved around not leaving any sort of negative impact or revealing our world's technology/knowledge too obviously. Being careful in worlds undergoing their 'plots' as I've described them. And not killing, crippling or permanently injuring 'important' individuals.

All the relevant information about the worlds and the important things they contained was included in the information packages, with no one being allowed to enter the chosen world without properly memorizing the information. This rule being mostly so Musashi doesn't just rush in and screw things up so bad I have to somehow reverse time or have another do so for me and risking Musashi's life by having her anger some people.

Scáthach and Musashi obviously chose some combattive worlds, while Da Vinci directly went for Sci-fi. Jeanne decided to go for an art centered world to relax and improve her hobby, while Mana did the same but for music. Diana on the other hand couldn't really leave for that long right now, since we were in the middle of some negotiations between Themyscira and Azaroth regarding some immigrations and the possibility of building a sort of Amazonian colony.

On my end however, I was working on the Hollow project and the terraforming of Mars.

The first I was able to fast track thanks to my [time]. Keeping the girls busy by offering them other worlds to play in helped give me time focus properly.

In the end it took about two months in normal time and 7 years in accelerated time to finish the first proper stages of the hollow project.

Now I just needed to let the various beings essentially evolve on their own in an heavily accelerated time. Eresh was the sync to it so she could monitor things properly and choose which would receive her blessings and grow to the peak of their new race.

Such a thing would likely take at least another year as I used at least half of the Aen Elle souls available for this large scale project, inside the accelerated time it would be measured in a few centuries however.

So far I would say things have been developing well. With the Hollows performing according to my designs and the leeway and flexibility they have in their own development permits many different abilities, fighting styles, personalities and evolutionary pathways, very similar to how scared gears themselves actually grow. The difference is that the Hollow's desires influence and affinities impact what kind of natural ability and weapons they develop, with their evolutions needing to be triggered after reaching a certain threshold of spiritual, magical and 'physical' strength. But only Ereshkigal can decide who would become Espadas and her direct subordinates.

Eresh herself thought the process was a bit barbaric, but it was just the essence of our 'might Makes right' kind of world. She and Scáthach would be in charge of properly guiding them once things stabilize and their reach a proper degree of intelligence at the Vasto Lorde and Espada levels.

As for my second major project, the terraforming, well Da Vinci and I had finished all the necessary calculations and planing, while the World Spirit and I were working on how 'life' would pretty much work there.

The terraforming aspect was relatively simple thanks to both my knowledge from my past life and magic. (A/N: This next bit could be so wrong, but go with it)

In essence I would be bringing frozen chunks of ice from the asteroid belt beyond Mars, alongside some metallic resource rich asteroids, and crashing them into the planet at strategic locations to form heated mineral deposits and then rapidly cooling them using the ice, theoretically forming, or reforming if the theories on Mars having oceans millions of years ago hold up, proper bodies of water on the planet

Next is introducing flora already selected and modified to survive and thrive as they stabilize the planet's atmosphere. After that we add in microbial lifeforms and well, the dinosaurs the World Spirit had gotten enamored with.

Da Vinci and I got a bit excited when we got our hands on useable Dino DNA, and it's not like Dinosaurs are particularly threatening to devils, so we brought them back and I created a Jurassic Park that actually works. It was during my 'save the animals' idea when I remembered all the already and soon to be extinct species in the world. We also have Ice Age World where one can see Wholly Mammoths and SaberTooth tigers, and even Aquatic Pre-history Sea for the old beasts of the sea like Megalodons and what I am pretty sure is the species for the Loch Ness monster.

Of course everything would be jumped up a bit as they were all going to be magical in some way.

Mars was going to be a world of magic and technology once I was done with it and Earth could suck it as I showed everyone how to run a planet.

And finally we would have our sentient races.

This was the part which took the most work as we had to design beings with enough potential to develop, thrive and even surpass themselves, while balancing things enough that we aren't creating something too ridiculous.

On my end I took great inspiration from two races from my past life: the Asari from Mass Effect and the Qunari from Dragon Age. They were of course both modified to properly fit this world.

The Asari would still be a race of mono gendered bisexuals capable of reproducing by copying the required genetic information of their partners directly. They would be a race with advanced mind arts and naturally capable in Space magic in lieu of biotics. Of course it won't be to ridiculous degrees, but on average a fully matured Asari will have the strength of a mid-class Devil magically. The ability to basically 'pick the best parts' of their partners in order to birth better and better offsprings was a thing, even if it won't be dramatic, as they would improve as a race over time.

The really new things for them would be the possible evolutions they could undergo in a similar fashion to Super devils. These evolutions would depend on the natural affinities of the Asari, but they become something akin to living stars or celestial bodies thanks to my gifts to them in [Space].

The thing I did change however was the 1000 year lifespan, cutting it down to around 500 years on average, but it can be improved depending on individual strength.

As for the Qunari, well they won't have the Qun, but they will still be what is basically a cross between a Minotaur, dragon and a human.

They will be a more warrior centric people, focused on self discipline compared to the Asari, but that will be because they have different gifts. If the Asari received my mind and space, the Qunari will have my body and spirit.

As a people they will naturally hold great physical strength and affinity towards Touki, but in combination with my spirit, they should also develop a new branch of magic by combining the two to create a more physically focused magical discipline.

And when I mentioned them having a dragon-like vibe, I wasn't just saying it. The Qunari would have at least some dragon in them that can awaken and develop depending on their affinities as well, even having the possibility of growing wings, tails, claws or fangs. And thanks to both their natural abilities and their dragon bits, they have a strong vitality and good magic defense. Ultimately being capable of becoming true dragons at the level of the heavenly dragons to match the Asari evolution.

Now, both races should theoretically be able to break through their 'limits' and also develop divinities, but this will be closely monitored.

On the World Spirit's side, she decided to create the Faunus and Guides.

The Faunus would be the 'main' race of this world, being the most numerous, with shortest lifespan and highest reproductive rate on average.

They would be a human-like race with various animal characteristics, but also holding the most freedom in term of development. They were basically given more 'potential' than other races if you will, but also the lowest starting point.

Faunus are stronger than humans, starting at low-class in terms of power, but they also have an interesting little power system the World Spirit called Aura to help them alongside their magic. It works a bit like touki, which it can work in tangent with, but it can also develop into unique abilities depending on the soul of the individual. Each also as a degree of night vision and additional strengths and weaknesses based on their animal traits.

But overall I do think they are suitable as a main race due to both of mine being representations of myself in some way and being too 'specialized' in a sense.

And the last new race would be the Guides.

They are a mix of fictional elves and spirits, being ethereal in nature and beauty. They are not made to be warriors, but the World Spirit's hands to maintain the world and help its life thrive.

The Guides are a race which lives with nature and will help balance the other races as our intermediators, holding a spiritual position for all of Mars' inhabitants. And although they will be protected, they will also hold the strongest connection to the planet, allowing for great feats of nature magic and a powerful bond to the creatures living amongst them.

They will be the fewest in number and birthed by the World Spirt through Special trees she will create.

And to make all this not take thousands, if not millions, of years, I will be setting a powerful acceleration field, supported by the planet itself, allowing the races to learn and develop under our eyes, while also concealing everything from those on earth.

I am still not sure how those gods linked to Mars will react or if Ophis and Great Red will do anything, but preparations will be in place.

Ereshkigal is also almost ready for Remnant to become the realm of the dead for this new world as well, now that her servants and aides are developing. She is still incredibly nervous about it, but excited as well. If everything goes well she will become the most powerful Death God in existence, while already having both mine and the world spirit's approval for her to develop as a goddess of 'life' and afterlife.

Her servants might even grow into actual gods in the future to help manage her broad divinities.

So yeah, it's going to be a busy century.

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EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

Hello there and welcome to 'How to try and create a new world'.

Today we have my best effort into mixing creationism and evolution in some manner, while taking into account a proper balance between free will, nature, potential, desires and abilities.

Ok let's start with Death and the afterlife.

Remnant will be the afterlife for Mars and Ereshkigal it's chief overseer alongside her new Espada and Hollows. Scáthach will be a sort of shadow enforcer in case of emergency, but Eresh will actually gain quite a power boost from this, likely easily surpassing Hades once things are said and done.

As for the hollows, I had to think of a way to have everything be properly managed and controlled, so I thought about the soul beings which can evolve from what is basically an animal to highly intelligent and powerful beings. They won't be as bad as the originals, being more like guardians and wardens over beings who have a strong desire to consume souls. I am mostly using the evolutionary path and abilities for them.

After that we have all the lifeforms, and I thought having magical dinosaurs would be interesting. Just imagine some things from Monster Hunter and other smile vibes.

Next up are the new races, the Asari and Qunari are just because I quite like them and BioWare games, plus I can make them fit the four great aspects of Lith's own talents. I even gave them evolutions and abilities to match the powerhouses of DxD, alongside the potential to ignite their own divinities to join Lith's future Pantheon.

As for the Faunus and Guides, I thought it would be good as a dominant race and to maintain a proper balance between everyone, cause I don't want there to be people trying for world domination, favoring cooperation by having a more direct role through the Guides. And yes, the Faunus are from RWBY, which matches well with the afterlife being named Remnant.

There will be some controlled conflicts and the like, but since Lith and the world spirit are there things will develop well. Knowledge and technology will be gradually revealed to them all so they can also grow to the current level of Lith's lands, which is about the point where he will stop the acceleration and rule over everything properly. But pretty much all sentient beings will actually like Lith and his chosen Pantheon due to them not being dicks and creating as well as guiding them, so no deicidal individuals cropping up soon.

Anyway, that's the general plan for now.

The Yen and Geralt bit was because some people wanted Lith to meet them, but I couldn't exactly see that first meeting going 'well' due to Geralt being himself and Yen kind of being a prissy and entitled bitch at time, even though I like them both in game. It doesn't help that they are both very protective of Ciri and won't just trust anyone, especially after that person reveals himself to be a Devil. So yeah, we have a bit of a standoffish meeting where Lith answers some questions for Ciri's sake and basically treats the two a bit like Avallac'h for now, just without actual dislike since he knows them well enough already.

And yes, Jeanne has a Godzilla because I thought it would be funny and there will be a visit to the Familiar forest and Tiamat soon.

I've got some plans for that.

Gonna be about a decade time skip where Moka grows up. So that'll happen. Gonna be a few as stuff isn't exactly important for a while.

Enjoy.