Chapter: 194
What is a god?
Let’s skip the drama of all-powerful entities and world creators—there’s no one better than me, so what’s the point of omnipotence?
The gods I want to talk about are those born from human belief. They come to life from humanity’s desire to solve its mysteries.
They lack a physical form that can exist independently, relying on the faith of others to manifest a body, proving their existence through dependence on their followers. Such weak beings.
Nevertheless, they pride themselves on being superior to other life forms thanks to that very faith.
I see them as nothing more than insubstantial shadows that can only exist by feeding off the devotion of their believers.
Of course, there are exceptions like myself and my children, who possess distinct forms.
Though one might argue that if they create a body through faith, shouldn’t that be considered their real form? However, without a continuous supply of faith, they wouldn’t be able to maintain that body. If faith ceases, even the body they’ve painstakingly crafted will eventually vanish.
Anyway, these gods that can exist by parasitizing human belief are akin to some sort of mental parasites.
How can such beings face death?
If we consider Baal’s case, one method could be to absolutely obliterate a god’s body with a tremendous shock, causing it to perish. But such a thing is… well, typically impossible, unless you happen to be as strong as a dragon.
I’m not sure what kind of impact would be required to destroy Baal’s body, but I imagine it would need to be enough to raise a continent from the sea, which is no small feat.
Dragons at war might have that kind of destructive power. In other words, only dragons really have the ability to demolish a god’s body.
Besides, even if you manage to destroy that body, if the faith directed towards that god remains intact… then it would merely be a temporary destruction. Before long, they’d just re-manifest with a new body.
Ah, in Baal’s situation, while there’s still faith lingering, he refuses to create a body for himself again—let’s consider that an exception.
Hmm. If one could directly attack a god’s soul or spirit, that might be a different matter. But it’s too soon to judge that, as I only learned from Baal’s case that gods can indeed have souls.
So, let’s put a pause on physical shock as a method of destroying a god. Moving on…
Another way to kill a god without actually attacking them would be to sever the faith directed towards that god.
Isn’t this a popular theme in boy’s comics? The moment you’re forgotten by everyone is when you die.
For gods that depend on belief to exist, such a truth strikes even deeper.
They exist because there are believers, grow their following with that faith, and seize power using the devotion of their worshippers.
Therefore, to eradicate a god, cutting off all faith directed towards them would be the most effective approach.
In simpler terms, it’s like cutting off their supply lines.
The most straightforward method among those would be to exterminate the humans who believe in that god… but that’s just outright slaughter and hardly worth considering.
Another method would be to convert those humans to believe in another god, but conversion is terribly ambiguous, given the unique nature of each individual’s faith.
If there happened to be a human who valued their faith over their life… well, I’d prefer not to ponder that further.
Then, perhaps the alternative would be to undermine that god’s authority, causing humans to lose their faith in them.
If those who believe in a god witness behavior that is utterly disgraceful, wouldn’t that faith naturally decline?
As for diminishing the gods’ authority… Ah, an excellent idea just popped into my head.
The Twilight of the Gods. Ragnarok. The punctuation mark that concluded Norse mythology.
The Gigantomachy. A signal that heralds the end of Greek mythology.
While other myths also have their own endings, these two are the most prominent ones.
If I were to mimic such events… we could carelessly thin out a multitude of gods.
Not just Olympus and Aesir, but also reduce the numbers of other factions. Demote them from their divine positions and reincarnate their souls as humans… we could easily bring the count down to a manageable number.
And it just so happens that one of my names is Gaia… so it seems fitting to initiate a Gigantomachy.
Oh, but conjuring new gigas may be a hassle. Hmm, let’s mobilize some dragons instead. Compared to gods, dragons should hold their own.
As for slightly lacking numbers… maybe I could make some golems?
Golems, like Talos—the guardian of the underworld, made of stone… Though they don’t necessarily have to be rock.
I could also create giants out of boiling lava or frozen icebergs.
Giants, giants… the giants of the Aincrad are relatively strong, but compared to gods, they’re weak, so they wouldn’t be particularly useful in this scenario.
Anyhow, I need to speak to the dragons, make those golems, and… maybe inflame some discord among the gods? If the gods start fighting and creating a ruckus, it would make things much simpler.
Yeah, that sounds good. That’s the way to go.
Those who toppled the god I declared as king, Baal—certainly deserve to pay a fitting price for their actions.
“So, what’s the intention behind sharing all of this with me?”
“Well, just consider it as a heads-up to mentally prepare yourself?”
“Mentally prepare myself…?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the somewhat flabbergasted Ifrit.
“Other gods might be running rampant disrespectfully, but still, isn’t taking them all down at once a little too much to handle?”
“Too much, you say…”
“Yes. While they do cause a lot of issues, it’s a fact that they play a significant role in maintaining the balance of this world. If such gods were to suddenly vanish all at once, wouldn’t that create chaos?”
Hmm. Balance. Ifrit thinks that the existence of gods is what maintains that balance.
Regardless of balance or anything else, the world exists as it is, with or without gods.
This difference in perspective stems from me, who retains memories of a world without gods, and Ifrit, who has overseen this world since gaining self-awareness.
“Don’t underestimate this world. It won’t crumble so easily.”
“Is that true…? Because from my perspective, it looks awfully precarious.”
Ifrit spoke crisply, looking directly at me. Hmm… Is this world really in such a vulnerable state?
Is there some danger lurking that I’m oblivious to? I’m not sure.
“By the way, do you dislike other gods?”
“Hmm? Why do you suddenly ask that?”
“Well, um, you give off that vibe, don’t you? Even if you don’t say it directly, it comes through in your attitude towards other gods.”
Hmm… Do I truly dislike the gods?
Well…Hmm. I’m not sure. If I had to categorize it as like or dislike… I’d lean more toward dislike.
But you know, being the caretaker of this model garden, sowing the seeds of life and overseeing their evolution and prosperity, is there any reason to have a favorable view of creatures that can only exist by parasitizing life, wielding the faith harvested from other beings?
Why would I look kindly at those gods who are weaker, less capable, more arrogant, and contemptuous of other lives?
No matter how I think about it, I can’t seem to find a reason.
After all, if life continues to evolve and delves into vast knowledge, understanding the laws of the world, wouldn’t such beings be bound to perish?
Though I must say, Baal did show a certain sense of responsibility and effort—he seemed decent enough…
Still, really, there’s not much reason to favor the gods.
“Well, they are quite amusing to watch. It’s rather entertaining to see those who are way out of their depth squabbling amongst themselves.”
“If it doesn’t bring suffering to other life forms, I’d agree with you.”
Even if I have split the divine essence of the goddess of life to create subordinates, the sense of responsibility regarding the birth of life still lingers.
“Nevertheless, you don’t hate all gods, do you? Like us, or Baal, or um… Sirius. Oh, and there’s Nyx as well.”
“That’s true, but… hmm. Nyx. Now that you mention her, how is that child doing?”
“She’s been trying her best to fill the void left by Baal. She’s managing Baal’s temple and all that he owned. There were so many other gods who sought after them.”
“Hmm…”
Now that I think about it, I hadn’t been keeping track of what happened to the things Baal possessed.
Each of those items would have been coveted by other gods, and I might have been a bit too oblivious.
If that’s the case, then I should take some time to visit the pantheon.
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