A set of elegant doors flew open upon our arrival. The interior of the eight-winged building was mainly white, and fairly spacious. The pillars, walls, and ceiling were curved in unique shapes and decorated with various ornaments. Along the pure white walls were many frames. But they were just frames—there were no paintings within them.
“I see. An art gallery, is it?” I asked.
Misha nodded in response to my question. With clear curiosity, Zaimon looked around the building we were in and slowly walked forwards.
“An art gallery... That’s a building to display non-sellable wares, is that right?” he asked.
Farris, walking beside him, was the one who answered. “That’s right. Art galleries are spaces dedicated to the collection of artworks and paintings, not only for display, but for the preservation of culture. This kind of place didn’t exist in Balandias.”
“The Great Castle of Causality brought the cause and effect of war to Balandias. That’s why I recreated it into an art gallery. Now, instead of war, it will bring art and culture to Balandias,” Misha explained simply. “The Gallery of Causality should be worthy of the new Balandias you are all trying to create.”
“The Goddess of Creation of a different world, recreating the chief god of Balandias... How could such a thing be possible?” Zaimon muttered in disbelief.
“Your chief god was about to perish,” Misha replied.
When Militia’s World was reborn, the authority of the Goddess of Creation gained the power of love and kindness. This reshaped authority resonated with her emotions, equipping her with the power to turn worlds into kinder places.
“But it doesn’t mean everything has been fixed,” I said. Misha nodded in agreement. “You’re only a little better off than a regular ephemeral world. In Militia’s World, we had to gather everyone’s feelings to recreate the entire world. Even with a chief god on the brink of ruin, with only Misha and the Demon King Academy on hand we can’t do much more than this.”
Firedew might still leak out of their world little by little. Order hadn’t completely stabilized either, and could fall apart at any time.
“It’s enough. It’s more than enough of a parting gift, Ruler Anos,” Zaimon said. “As the new Balandias, we will use these wings to soar and construct a noble castle without a chief god. Once that is complete, this blank gallery will then be filled with paintings.”
“When that happens, our world will gladly donate to your gallery,” I replied.
“Please do. The Gallery of Causality is a symbol of our friendship with Militia’s World. We would never refuse such an offer.” Zaimon turned to Farris. “It’s a little sad seeing just rows of empty frames. Would you consider drawing a piece before you go?”
“I wouldn’t mind. But it’s been a while since I’ve held a brush, so I don’t know if I can draw one right away...” Farris chuckled as he looked around the gallery. “What would be most beautiful to draw first? The only thing I have in my head currently is a vague image.”
Zaimon struggled to find his words. He didn’t know how to reply to such an abstract question.
“Does that mean... Hmm. Is it like how you can’t just slice down whoever stands before you blindly, you have to choose when to draw your sword?”
Farris chuckled.
“Was that not right?” Zaimon asked worriedly.
“No. Comparing art to a sword is quite beautiful.”
“I-I see.” Zaimon sighed in relief.
Just then, a small figure appeared before him.
“Leave it...to us!” Zeshia declared. She was holding a brush and palette, and beside her, Ennessone was carrying a canvas. “Zeshia’s great...at drawing...super artistic!”
Ennessone set the canvas down on the floor. Zeshia dipped her brush in paint and began drawing on the spot.
“What are you painting?” Ennessone asked, wings on her head flapping as she peered over the canvas.
“A castle... Zeshia likes gold castles more than silver ones... You draw too, Enne!”
Zeshia handed her brush to Ennessone. The two of them then happily painted two castles, naming them Castle Zeshia and Castle Enne respectively. Zaimon and the other castle demons watched on in fascination.
“Ah. Um... There’s no need to watch so keenly! They’re just childish scribbles!” Eleonore explained in a hurry.
“Even scribbles are valuable to the current Balandias. We would be most grateful if you were to donate this piece to us,” Zaimon said with a serious look, leaving Eleonore looking even more troubled.
“If it’s art they need, should I donate my special piece?” Ellen wondered out loud, taking a picture out of a magic circle drawn at her side.
“Don’t tell me... No! What if you mess up Balandias’s understanding of arts!” Jessica immediately scolded her.
“But it’s still art, in a way! It’s important that they learn about all kinds of culture!”
“What kind of culture? Show me too!” Nono chimed in.
“Kyah! It’s just a lewd print!” Maia squealed.
“Wow. It really is lewd...” Nono murmured after a moment of silence.
“What a masterpiece...” Maia said.
They both stared at Ellen’s drawing closely.
“Aaah! Stop looking, perverts!” Ellen protested.
“Who are you calling a pervert? You’re the one who drew this! Now show me too!”
The Fan Union girls started chasing each other around in a flurry.
“So there are actually worlds without any art in them at all. How curious,” I said to myself.
“When it comes to silverfoam,” Ottolulu said, “the will of the world is strongly reflected upon the world itself.”
I turned to see the Arbitration Goddess behind me.
“In the Silvercastle World Balandias, the will of the Royal Tiger Maytilen resulted in castles of power and war being honored. That is why most of the life born here were castle demons. They have a weaker understanding of art than those of other worlds,” she said.
“So the chief god stole the concept of art from the residents of Balandias?”
“The chief god is the will of the miniature world itself. It is the order of the Sacred Silverwater Sea for worlds to flow as their gods intend.”
Because of that order, Farris had had no choice but to lay down his brush.
“Almost every miniature world has a large bias like this. The residents gain abilities, traits, and culture according to that bias. However, in Militia’s World, it seems that this bias is extremely small.”
“Huh.”
Ottolulu walked beside me through the gallery as she elaborated.
“Was the Castlefall Sword used in the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish a demon sword born in Militia’s World?”
“Yeah.”
“Considering the authority of Chief God Equis, such a demon sword normally shouldn’t exist in your world. Even if it did, its magic power should have been merged with all the other magic when the world evolved, giving it the same element as the chief god.”
Zaimon had been surprised by the existence of the Castlefall Sword too. His reaction had been curious to me.
“The Castlefall Sword is a demon sword with a limited element,” Ottolulu said.
A limited element, hmm?
“I’ve never heard of that before. What does that mean?” I asked.
“It’s a term used when magic or magic items possess a single, stand-alone order or element,” she explained. “But even then, the element which could be called ‘specializing in bringing down castles’ is an extremely unique limited element.”
“Would Evansmana be considered as having a limited element?”
“Indeed so.”
It was a holy sword that specialized in defeating the Demon King of Tyranny, making it weaker against holy figures and gods. Although it seemed to have a different purpose in the silver seas, specializing against Atzenon’s Lions of Ruin instead of me. But we apparently had similar wavelengths of magic.
“Anything born in a miniature world is affected by the chief god’s order, no matter how little. In the Silvercastle World Balandias, there is no person or object that doesn’t bear the order of castle construction.”
And so even if a demon sword had ninety-nine percent fire element, as long as it was created in Balandias, the remaining one percent would be castle construction. That was why it was impossible for something like an object with the limited element of fire to be created in Balandias.
“In short, the only limited element that can be created on Balandias is that of castle construction,” I said. “Whereas in the Holy Sword World Hyphoria, the only limited element that can be created will be like the Sword of Three Races.”
“The Sword of Three Races is unique, but that understanding is correct. That’s why normally, only the limited element of Chief God Equis’s order—the limited element of cogs—should be born in Militia’s World.”