Sylvia's process of creating life went smoothly. All she had to do was picture the traits and materials she wanted, and the power of Permanence would make them real, with no regard for the laws of nature.
Combined with the absurd nature of the Path of Propagation, where even printing a sheet of paper could somehow give birth to insects, the process was almost laughably simple.
Sylvia spread her power across a mountain range that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, including the whole of Claretwheel Temple. Using the reach of her power as the boundary, she helped the mountain range cross the hardest hurdle of all.
It gained a consciousness of its own.
Rock-based lifeforms weren't unheard of in the universe, after all.
Next, Sylvia put on her mask. The power of Abundance poured life force into the newborn creature, stirring its mind and body into action. Even the barren mountains began to sprout lush vegetation overnight, filling the land with signs of life.
Its young consciousness grew more active, and faint tremors ran through the mountain range as it began to wake. The newborn creature basked in the warmth rising from the planet's depths and the light and heat pouring down from the star overhead.
Only one step remained.
Sylvia needed to draw on the power of Remembrance, extract the Memoria of the land, and carve the memories of Claretwheel Temple into the creature's mind.
This was where things got tricky.
Up to this point, she'd been operating on the principle of 'I reckon this'll work.' Now, though, she needed a much finer touch.
This wasn't Penacony, where Memoria was everywhere, and Sylvia wasn't a proper Memokeeper. Extracting the memory bubbles of Claretwheel Temple through normal means would've taken a fair bit of effort.
Luckily, Sylvia was the sort of player who came with built-in cheats.
If she couldn't manage the fine work through normal methods, she'd just cheat her way through it.
So Sylvia flew into the sky and took aerial photographs of Claretwheel Temple and the whole mountain range. After that, there wasn't much else to say.
Time to use her skill.
She turned the extracted memories into memory bubbles and merged them with the creature's body. Since these memories belonged to its own past, it accepted them without the slightest resistance.
And because Sylvia was its creator, the creature didn't resist when she used her riding skill to turn it into her familiar, either.
Surging power sank into its body like an engraved mark, and the vast energy made its consciousness even more active.
--+--
By the next day, Claretwheel Temple had been brightly lit for a full day, and everyone had finished packing their belongings.
The monks had brought most of the temple's scriptures and books. Some of the stronger monks had even hauled along furniture and tools that bore clear signs of being handmade.
The leader of Claretwheel Temple looked a little embarrassed by how much they'd brought, but Sylvia just urged them to hurry aboard.
Once the temple's more than ten thousand monks and thirteen thousand children had boarded the ship, it began its slow ascent.
Sylvia stood before the still-open hatch, accompanied by the temple's leader, Sugata, Samatha, and several others.
"Claretwheel Temple won't be destroyed. Maybe in a few years, a new group of monks will gather here."
As she spoke, Sylvia gestured for everyone to look down.
They hadn't even had time to marvel at the vast stretches of vegetation that had appeared overnight when the mountains below began to shake.
RUMBLE!
With a groan from the earth, the enormous creature stretching across tens of thousands of kilometers began to raise its head. Thousands of pairs of thick stone limbs pulled free from the ground, supporting its vast body.
Endless clouds of dust rose as it stood, sweeping across the continent like a raging storm.
Brilliant golden light erupted from the center of Claretwheel Temple, piercing the clouds and spilling into the starry sky.
An immense and terrifying surge of energy burst forth, displaying its full might without restraint. The whole planet fell under the weight of its presence, which even seemed to stretch beyond the planet itself.
"SCREEEEEECH!"
It was bidding farewell to its creator, as well as to Claretwheel Temple, which had stood upon its back for countless years.
"W-What... What is that?!"
The leader of Claretwheel Temple was so frightened that her legs nearly gave out.
To think Sylvia had created such an enormous lifeform overnight! Worse still, its presence was far more powerful than that of the strongest artifact beast she'd ever seen.
She didn't doubt for a second that the colossal creature, whose head alone had risen almost level with their ship high in the sky, could crush the planet beneath its feet with ease.
"Of course, it's a landmark I've left behind to mark my territory. It's also my new familiar."
As the ship continued to climb, the creature finished its farewell and settled back into its nest, becoming an unmoving mountain range once more.
"Then... may I ask their name?"
The leader's tone was full of respect. With such a powerful guardian watching over this place, Claretwheel Temple would never fall.
"It calls itself Claretwheel."
Sylvia gazed down at the mountains, feeling a little moved herself.
Yesterday, after she'd poured two sets of memories into the creature's mind, the memories of billions of years spent alone as a mountain range had filled it with loneliness. Yet the memories of Claretwheel Temple's brief but bustling history had brought it comfort.
So it had chosen the name Claretwheel for itself, hoping to preserve the name of the temple that would soon stand empty.
"Claretwheel..."
The temple's leader lowered her head and stared at the now-silent mountains without another word. She was clearly struggling to contain her emotions.
Sylvia, meanwhile, was marveling at the strength of her new familiar.
Bella had been held back by her poor foundation. After all, she'd originally been nothing more than a mass-produced elite unit of the Antimatter Legion.
Compared to a lifeform Sylvia had created using the powers of several Paths, Bella's base attributes were practically a generation behind.
As a result, even though Bella had been with Sylvia much longer, this newcomer would actually be stronger than her in a fight.
Still, Claretwheel's personality was just as Sylvia had expected. It was quiet, reserved, and fond of peace. If nothing disturbed it, it could lie motionless in that pit for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
"All right, that's enough of an introduction to our new friend. You'll be coming back here often anyway, won't you?"
After all, thirteen thousand children were a tiny number compared to the whole Borisin race.
The leader had only agreed to relocate because she was worried about the children's safety. Once Claretwheel Temple had settled into its new home, she'd likely start planning to bring some people back and carry on the work the temple had always done.
"Yes."
The leader took two steps back and bowed deeply to Sylvia.
--+--
The ship had taken its time getting there, and the return trip was no different. It would take another ten days or so to reach Separius.
During the journey, Sylvia found a moment to use the green gacha draw she'd gotten from Feixiao.
It was only a green-tier draw, so she wasn't expecting much.
As a green light flashed, another bullet dropped into Sylvia's hand.
--+--
[Destined Expiration]
['Embedded in the dead's brow, passing through the gaps between objects, this bullet is always where its bullet hole ought to be.']
['Well, it was originally a blue-tier material, but since there's no blue tier in the gacha system, you'll just have to make do.']
--+--
"..."
Sylvia stared at the description and fell silent once again.
How lazy could this thing get? It couldn't even be bothered to patch the item or upgrade it. It had just crammed everything together and called it a day...
Whatever.
Sylvia shook her head and slipped the bullet into her pocket.
In the game, combining three copies of this item would've been enough to upgrade it. But in reality, the power of The Hunt wrapped around Destined Expiration was nowhere near that of the Countertemporal Shot.
It was hard to say whether it even had a tenth of the power.
This thing would be deadly against ordinary Pathstriders, but against an Emanator, it'd be little more than a toy.
"Sigh..."
Sylvia let out a sigh, though she'd more or less expected this.
She was already an Emanator. Green-tier items could hardly improve her strength anymore, so the best she could hope for was something with a useful special effect.
The bullet she'd just drawn wasn't exactly useless. It simply wasn't much of a threat to an Emanator.
Its greatest value to Sylvia would probably be its ability to lock onto a target from afar and track an enemy's position.
She'd keep it for now. Maybe it'd come in handy someday.
Sylvia tucked the bullet away and decided to pretend the whole thing had never happened.
--+--
About ten days later, Planet Separius.
The construction modules she'd prepared for Claretwheel Temple had already been deployed at their designated location.
After entering the atmosphere and dropping off everyone from the temple, Sylvia left them to settle in on their own. Bella also flew over from her nest to familiarize herself with the newcomers, so she wouldn't stop them from entering or leaving the area in the future.
With no need to disturb them further, Sylvia took Crimson Moon and headed for Ruan Mei's laboratory.
But when Sylvia teleported to the estate, she noticed an elegant spacecraft parked beside the laboratory.
"Visitors? Why didn't the puppets tell me?"
The planet's surveillance network was managed by Herta's puppets. Someone had landed a ship right beside Ruan Mei's laboratory, yet nobody had thought to tell her.
How strange...
'Did Silver Wolf hack my surveillance network just to mess with me?'
Sylvia couldn't make sense of it.
Anyone capable of getting past Bella's blockade had to be someone Sylvia knew. Otherwise, Bella would've made a fuss.
Still puzzled, Sylvia walked into Ruan Mei's laboratory, only to hear a voice that sounded both oddly familiar and strangely new.
"Well, isn't this rare? You've managed to fail twice in such a short time."
"...Did you come all this way just to tell me that?"
Ruan Mei's voice came from inside.
"What's wrong? It's not every day a genius fails, much less twice in quick succession."
"Strictly speaking, the experiment with the Swarm King was a success."
"Ah, yes, yes. I suppose my wording wasn't precise enough."
There was something peculiar about their conversation.
Sylvia raised an eyebrow, rounded the corner, and looked inside.
Ruan Mei was still the same as ever. When she heard Sylvia approaching, she turned her head and greeted her with a smile and a nod.
The other woman, though...
She was tall, wearing a pointed witch's hat and a dress that looked almost like a mage's robe. Her outfit made her look less like a scholar and more like a magician.
The woman turned as well, a proud smile on her lovely, refined face.
She looked at Sylvia and gave a slight nod.
"Well, look who's back."
"..."
Sylvia frowned and studied the woman's face.
It looked a lot like Herta's puppet, and there weren't many people who could talk to Ruan Mei that way.
"Herta? A new puppet model?"
"It's the real me, you idiot. Can't you recognize this one-of-a-kind beauty?"
Herta rolled her eyes without a hint of restraint.
She'd thought Sylvia would recognize her at a glance. What a waste of effort, showing off her beauty to someone so blind!
As if a puppet could ever reproduce a face as gorgeous as hers!
"..."
Sylvia choked on Herta's insult, then found herself at a loss for words in the face of such shameless vanity.
'Hold on...'
She'd always known Herta was extremely confident in her looks. But what kind of person went around calling their own face 'one-of-a-kind beauty'?
'Was Herta always this full of herself?'
"What? Is this your first time seeing the real me? Have you fallen for my looks already?"
Herta chuckled and straightened up before walking over to Sylvia.
Unlike her short puppets, the real Herta was tall, wore high heels, and had an enormous hat perched on her head. Standing there, she seemed to tower over Sylvia.
"Ahem... What's that supposed to mean?"
Sylvia cleared her throat and took a step back, escaping Herta's shadow.
Only then did she ask, curious, "This really is my first time meeting you in person, Herta. What brought you all the way here?"
"Hmph. Don't get the wrong idea. I only came to congratulate Ruan Mei on her failed experiment. See?"
Herta stepped aside and showed Sylvia something sitting on a laboratory table.
A... cake?
"...What's that?"
"It's a cake, obviously! What else would it be?"
Herta folded her arms with an air of complete confidence, as though there was nothing unusual about the object before them.
The cake didn't look like something made from flour at all.
It was rather pretty, though. It just didn't look much like a cake.
"..."
Sylvia tilted her head and gave Ruan Mei a strange look.
Ruan Mei simply smiled and shook her head, as if to say that this was what Herta was always like.
"So, Herta, you really came all this way just to deliver a cake and congratulate Ruan Mei on failing her experiment?"
"Am I not allowed to?"
"Sure, sure. You can do whatever you want. Is that your ship outside, too? I thought you'd just teleport here."
"It's mine. Since it's my first visit to your home, I figured I might as well register it with the surveillance system."
Then, without warning, Herta changed the subject.
"Oh, right. I heard from that woman Acheron that you came across an interesting Intellitron?"
Behind her, Ruan Mei smiled in understanding.
She'd thought as much.
Herta might be vain, arrogant, a walking disaster in the kitchen, and prone to doing pointless things from time to time, but even she wouldn't go so far as to congratulate someone on their failed experiments twice in a row.
Of course she'd had another reason for coming.
Sylvia nodded.
"That Intellitron came into contact with the teachings of Claretwheel Temple and managed to tame the Anti-Organic Equation. Once the temple's people have settled in, I'll bring him over for you to have a look."
Then she added, "Just don't take him apart, okay? I promised Claretwheel Temple I'd return him in one piece."
"Tch. What a joke. When I study something, I never need to resort to destructive disassembly. Are you trying to insult me?"
Herta clicked her tongue and reached out, grabbing Sylvia's cheek between her fingers.
She'd just remembered all the things Sylvia had done to the Herta puppet she'd given her.
She hadn't paid much attention to it before, but that was then, and this was now.
Now that she had the advantage in height, how could she possibly call herself Herta if she didn't get a little revenge?
--+--