Souta didn't bother explaining anything further to Athena. He began channeling his divine power into energy for his material creation ability.
As he scanned the gathered souls, he quickly spotted Sabito and Makomo among them.
The two who had once guided Tanjiro during his training.
"You'll do," he murmured.
With a simple gesture, Makomo's spirit drifted gently toward him, drawn like a feather on the wind.
"Don't be nervous," he said softly, carefully observing her spiritual form. "As I said earlier, my goal is to bring you all back."
Souta could feel Makomo's thoughts—her spirit trying to ask who he was, uncertain and wary.
She was likely using the same kind of mental interference she had used when communicating with Tanjiro—like inducing a hallucination.
But Souta didn't respond to the thoughts. Once he had etched a clear image of her into his mind, he activated his material creation.
Of course, just an impression wasn't enough to recreate a complex human body.
The visual memory only served as a base for creation.
All the details—bone structure, genetic sequences, cellular states—those would be pulled directly from the world's records using energy.
Just like how Shinobu could create a game console without understanding how it worked, Souta could do the same.
But the human body was vastly more intricate.
So much so that the data load bordered on overwhelming.
It took a significant amount of energy for Souta to finally recreate Makomo's body.
Luckily, energy wasn't the same as divine power. One bit of divine power could generate a great deal of AP, energy, etc.
So, overall, the cost was well within acceptable limits.
Inside the wooden cabin, Athena curiously examined the body Souta had created. She drifted closer and reached out to touch it.
Sakonji, on the other hand, turned his gaze away.
Even though Makomo had been his disciple, she was still a young girl.
Souta, being a god, and Athena, being a goddess, could admire beauty without concern for morality.
But him? He still had a sense of propriety.
After all, Makomo's soul was likely present. He had to maintain the dignity of a teacher.
"You can even do this...?" Athena was astonished by the texture and detail of the girl's body.
She, too, was a god—but her power was limited to her own divine domain.
Souta, by contrast... seemed capable of anything.
"Same title, different natures," Souta replied, glancing at the youthful form. With a flicker of golden light from his eyes, the girl's body was instantly clothed in a kimono.
Then he looked to Makomo's spirit.
"Try merging into this body," he instructed.
Makomo's spiritual energy was visibly unstable—Souta could feel the heavy waves of embarrassment rolling off her.
"Oh? You're shy about this?" he said casually. "Relax. I've blocked all other spirits' senses. No one but you can see this body."
Makomo stared at him with a pointed look—But you can see it, can't you?
Souta responded with a perfectly expressionless face, cold and distant.
Truth was, he'd forgotten to create the clothes along with the body.
If he showed even a trace of awkwardness now, it would only confirm her suspicions that he was some kind of pervert.
Better to maintain the icy demeanor of a higher being—one who couldn't care less about the body of a girl who hadn't even fully matured.
As if to say: I'm a god. Do you think I care about your tiny, underdeveloped body?
Sure enough, as if sensing the indifference in his gaze and tone, Makomo's shame began to fade.
She even felt a little foolish for being so worked up.
In the end, she steadied herself and allowed her soul to flow into the waiting body.
There was no resistance.
Moments later, the girl slowly opened her eyes, blinking as she adjusted to the brightness of the room.
She raised her hand and squeezed her fist, marveling at the sensation.
She was... alive again?
Makomo looked at Souta, shocked beyond words.
She'd thought he was just some strange man who could see spirits.
Talk of resurrection? She'd assumed he was joking.
But now the "joke" had become reality.
As she stood there stunned, Sakonji rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Master..." she whispered, her voice raspy, not yet used to speaking with a real body again.
Souta exhaled quietly, watching them embrace like father and daughter.
The experiment had been a success. No need to waste extra divine power to merge soul and body.
"Must be because I pulled Makomo's original genetic information from the records while creating her body," he reasoned. "That's why her soul fused so smoothly."
"Come to think of it, back in Fuyuki from the Type-Moon world, reviving the King of Conquerors required way more divine power. Maybe that's because he was materializing directly from spirit to matter?"
Speculation continued to stir in Souta's mind.
Around him, the other souls began to stir, eyes wide with awe.
They were now gazing at him the way mortals looked at gods.
And Souta could feel it—the connection of new belief forming.
If he wanted to, he could even bring them into his divine realm now, turning them into his "prayers," granting them eternal peace.
Athena floated closer, speaking with interest:
"Looks like you recreated the girl's body exactly as it was in life. Otherwise, her soul wouldn't have merged so smoothly."
She praised his work, then tilted her head in puzzlement.
"But if you can do this, why send others to dig up remains?"
"This was a team mission," Souta said with a grin. "If I did everything myself, what would they be here for?"
He didn't think Altair and the others had dug up those graves for nothing. In fact, it helped increase their contribution points.
He could enjoy the main course, but he'd still leave some soup for the others.
It wouldn't be right to invite them all here and then hog the whole meal.
To Souta, friendship mattered more than a few extra points.
"Anyway, enough about that. Let me resurrect the rest."
Souta turned his gaze to the souls now looking at him in reverence.
They were, for all intents and purposes, his followers now.
Excluding Nezuko's parents and siblings, he began creating bodies for the others.
Half an hour later, the cabin was filled with a dozen boys and girls.
Sakonji stared at them, overwhelmed. Years of emotion welled up at once—he couldn't hold it in.
Tears slid down beneath his mask.
Souta stood silently, watching.
He had raised these children, sent them to final selection, and waited in hope and dread for their return—only to be met with silence.
For years, he had suppressed his grief with his resolve to slay demons, repeating the cycle endlessly. What kind of despair must that build up over time?
Seeing Sakonji now, Souta finally began to understand.
This world carried too much sorrow... because of demons.
That's why coming here had value. At least, that's what Souta believed.
At that moment, the air in the wooden cabin trembled again.
Something new entered the space, displacing the air.
This time it was much stronger. Souta turned toward the source—and saw Altair returning with Rin Tohsaka, Nezuko, and Tanjiro in tow.
Souta stepped forward to greet them.
"Of course," Rin said, as if it was obvious. "Everything's ready. We were just going through the motions. If we failed at that, I'd be too embarrassed to see you again."
Souta gave her a slightly pointed look.
Didn't you say the same thing back during the Fifth Holy Grail War? Everything ready, just a formality—and then what happened?
"And the bodies?" he asked.
"They're in my subspace," Altair answered, then sliced her saber through the air.
A spatial rift opened, and six bodies floated out.
As if sensing the pull of their long-lost vessels, Nezuko's family spirits drifted toward them, slowly merging into their new forms.
PS: My schedule's been a little chaotic lately, so updates have slowed down. I'll get back on track and definitely post more Chapters someday!