The Heavenly One wasn’t convinced, but she also couldn’t immediately prove it was false. If the other gods didn’t dislike her so much, she would have gone to verify the claim herself.
After thinking for a while, she finally let out a quiet sigh. Since there wasn’t much she could do at the moment, she prepared to end the conversation. Just before waving the screens away, however, an idea suddenly came to her.
A slow smile spread across her face. It wasn’t particularly wide, but it was enough to make anyone familiar with her feel uneasy.
[...What are you planning?]
"Me?" the Heavenly One asked with an innocent smile. "Nothing at all."
She clasped her hands behind her back and looked toward the distant Sector where Isaac was.
"I was simply thinking of giving that young man a small gift. He created an entirely new Monster Species, and as the Heavenly One, it’s only natural that I reward such an achievement," she said.
[...]
[Will you promise not to do anything crazy if I say please?]
"No."
The screens remained motionless for several seconds. Finally, a single short notification appeared.
[Go die.]
...
Isaac POV
Isaac frowned as one screen after another appeared before him. Before he could properly read the first notification, another appeared beneath it, making him stop where he stood.
[Heavenly One is impressed by your achievement.]
[You have received ’Messiah of Monsters’ Title.]
The crushing pressure that had weighed on his body vanished without warning. Isaac let out a slow breath as the strange feeling disappeared, then read the notifications again to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood them. The Title sounded impressive, but the System didn’t explain what it actually did, like always.
That wasn’t what confused him the most, though. He had expected the Heavenly One to hate him after everything he destroyed the Crawling Serpent Tribe. They had even branded him with one stack of Mark of Enmity, so receiving a reward instead of another punishment made no sense.
’What’s happening with this Heavenly One? Are they bipolar or something?’ Isaac wondered. The whole situation felt contradictory, and he couldn’t find any explanation that made sense. For now, all he could do was accept that he had somehow benefited from it.
"Master?" Celeste asked after noticing he had stopped moving. She looked at him with a hint of concern while the other dragon maids waited nearby. None of them seemed to have noticed anything unusual.
Isaac quickly realized only he had experienced the Heavenly One’s presence.
"Nothing," he replied before looking down at the rabbit in his arms.
He carefully handed the little rabbit to Celeste. She accepted it with both hands, making sure to support its small body, while the other dragon maids gathered around with obvious curiosity. Their attention was completely fixed on the tiny creature.
"What will be his name, Master?" Celeste asked. The other maids looked at Isaac with the same expectation, clearly waiting for his answer. For some reason, Isaac suddenly felt like naming the rabbit was a much bigger responsibility than creating it.
He thought for a few seconds before giving the first name that came to mind.
"Punpun," he said with a small nod, deciding that it suited the rabbit well enough.
"Punpun?" Celeste repeated as she looked down at the rabbit again. Neither she nor the other maids looked disappointed, which Isaac counted as a success, but they didn’t seem particularly impressed either. They simply accepted the name without questioning it further.
"And as for the species, let’s call them Happy Bunnies," he said.
The confused expressions immediately returned to the dragon maids’ faces, making him realize they didn’t understand why he was naming an entire species.
"They’re a new species. They wouldn’t have a name yet, so I gave them one," Isaac explained before anyone could ask.
"...Are you sure it’s actually a new species?" Celeste asked, sounding careful rather than doubtful.
She seemed to understand how significant such a claim would be.
"Yes. The System confirmed it." Isaac nodded without hesitation.
Shock spread across every dragon maid’s face. Even Celeste, who normally remained calm, couldn’t completely hide her surprise. To them, creating an entirely new species was something almost unimaginable.
Isaac didn’t think of it that way. As far as he was concerned, he had simply used the skills he had.
A new notification suddenly appeared in front of him before anyone could continue the conversation.
[Tier 2 Monster Species, XAS1133AA, will be renamed to Happy Bunny.]
[Quest Triggered.]
[Increase the population of Happy Bunnies to 100.]
[Reward: Removal of one stack of Mark of Enmity, Treat for Happy Bunnies, Apex-rank Bloodline Evolution Potion.]
Isaac read through the rewards twice to make sure he hadn’t overlooked anything. The first reward immediately caught his attention because reducing his Mark of Enmity could become extremely valuable in the future. It wasn’t causing problems now, but he had no intention of letting those marks pile up if he could avoid it.
The Heavenly One was clearly far beyond his current strength. If those marks reached three stack and allowed the Heavenly One to directly interfere with his City, then losing even one stack would be worth the effort. Isaac had no interest in taking unnecessary risks simply because the consequences hadn’t appeared yet.
The second reward made him pause for a different reason. A treat for Happy Bunnies sounded oddly out of place compared to everything else. He had no idea why the System considered rabbit treats important enough to list as a quest reward, but he wasn’t about to complain about receiving free items.
The final reward was easily the most valuable of the three. Bloodline Evolution Potions were always useful, and Apex-rank ones were even more difficult to obtain. Although Isaac could purchase them from his Shop, getting one without spending anything was still an excellent deal.
There was another advantage as well. Since this potion came from a different source instead of his own System, he could freely give it to someone outside the City if he ever found a worthwhile exchange. He wasn’t planning to do that anytime soon, but it was useful to have the option.