Chapter: 197
And so, the six gods began inscribing the names of the deities onto a large piece of papyrus.
“First, we exclude the gods that need to be spared, then the ones that need to be eliminated. What about the indecisive ones… what should we do?”
“Simple. Eradicate them.”
“Sagarmatha, that’s not how it works.”
“But it’s straightforward!”
With an impassive expression, Sagarmatha silently gave a thumbs up.
“Well, I agree that it’s easy, but if we do that, we’ll be in trouble. Hmm… this isn’t going to be simple.”
“Let’s do it this way then. We’ll consider them for elimination or demotion, but if anyone here wishes to defend a particular god, they can speak up.”
“Defend them?”
“Exactly. The person defending will present their main reason, and then we’ll discuss our opinions to refine the list. Surely, there are a few gods you’d like to save?”
Most nodded at Shamash’s suggestion. After all, gods typically formed relationships among themselves unless they isolated themselves completely.
“I won’t mind if they all disappear.”
Except for Thetis, of course.
“Well, Thetis, that can’t be helped. With the new continent rising, the currents have gone haywire and you’ve been preoccupied trying to stabilize that chaos.”
“Right. A disaster.”
“But you must have at least one close god, right? Maybe from the sea?”
Thetis frowned at that notion.
“Most of them aren’t strong enough to even reach where I am, and the one that did come is that wretched Poseidon, my brother.”
“Ah… okay then.”
It was widely known that the gods of Olympus had notoriously terrible personalities, especially their chief god Zeus and his brother Poseidon.
Naturally, these were names that belonged on the list of gods that needed to go.
Everyone present was well aware of their infamous reputations.
“What’s with claiming to control all the seas through a political marriage? That guy is just foolish. Most currents are already under my control.”
“Hmm. Sounds tough.”
“Shamash, didn’t you have younger gods following you in Olympus?”
“Hmm. The sun god and the moon goddess? They aren’t bad kids, but there are countless gods claiming to be the sun and moon deities. It feels like each faction has at least one.”
“Hm. That’s true. There’s way too much overlap.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, finding common ground in that sentiment.
“Why do humans believe in different gods anyway? Even the singular sun is overseen by multiple deities… It’s so annoying!”
In response to Sylphid’s grumbling, Yggdrasil nodded slightly.
“Because they’re human. It’s natural that they can’t wander freely around the world, so they wouldn’t know about the other deities.”
“But in the case of Mom and us, we’re widely known among almost all humans, aren’t we?”
“Half of us are race-based gods, after all.”
Gods of the elves, gods of the dwarves, and the deity of all seas and mermaids—gods that were responsible for specific races were known to humans quite well.
“As for me and Ifrit, we’re originally well-known gods among humans too.”
The god of light, justice, and law—Shamash.
The god of flames who alleviates the sins of the deceased by burning their bodies—Ifrit.
These two were indeed widely recognized by humanity.
“Mom is too, no doubt. Though Sylphid seems a bit less known.”
“Still, sailors believe in her quite well.”
“Half of that belief is thanks to me!”
At Yggdrasil’s remark, Sylphid merely puffed up her cheeks slightly.
“Okay. Enough chit-chat. It’s time to work.”
With that, Sagarmatha, who had been quiet until then, nodded, and they all began to focus on the task of categorizing the gods.
With that, they sorted out the gods that had harmed humans and constructed a list of those that needed to be spared.
“By the way, what do you think Mom is thinking?”
Shamash spoke in a low voice.
“Mom’s thoughts?”
“Yeah. Honestly speaking, while Baal ended up losing his physical form and going to the afterlife, in reality, it’s what he wanted, right? He could have revived anytime but chose to give up.”
Ifrit nodded slightly at Shamash’s words.
“That may be true, but it seems Mom saw it differently.”
“So I thought for a moment… Perhaps Mom is intending to diminish the number of gods and manage them herself?”
“Mom herself?”
Yggdrasil, upon hearing this, nodded slightly before Shamash added more.
“With Baal gone and abilities of each god minimized, the number of problematic gods would be reduced as well. Besides, a significant part of Mom’s work has been delegated to subordinates… Maybe she aims to become the king of gods herself.”
Each of them showed varying reactions to Shamash’s words. Some thought it plausible, whereas others believed she would have acted sooner if that were the case.
While the reactions differed, none thought it impossible.
“I don’t think that’s right.”
In the midst of it all, Sagarmatha spoke up.
“Mom probably has no intention of becoming the king of gods.”
“Then why reduce the number of gods?”
Sagarmatha closed her eyes for a moment, carefully choosing her words before stating her opinion.
“I think she’s angry with the gods that didn’t follow her chosen king, Baal. It’s possible she feels her authority has crumbled, leading her to believe that the gods will become obstacles to life in this world.”
Sagarmatha rarely spoke at length. Following her, Ifrit chimed in.
“Oh! Now that I think about it, Mom said she dislikes the gods.”
“Dislikes the gods?”
“Yeah. She said they torment other forms of life.”
At that, silence enveloped them.
After all, they themselves were gods.
“But wait, isn’t Mom a god too?”
“But she’s in the position of caring for life. Wouldn’t she feel pity for the lives tormented by the gods?”
“Right, that makes sense.”
“But… does that mean she dislikes us too? I only punish humans for legal issues.”
Everyone fell silent at Shamash’s words.
“Yeah. I haven’t had any major issues.”
“Me too! I’m just busy caring for elves!”
“Hmm… Should I rescue any drowning victims more often from now on…?”
“I, I’m, well… I burn the corpses of the dead to reduce their sins… So doesn’t that actually help life?”
Only Sylphid struggled to find her words.
As a god not tasked with overseeing a specific race or helping other lives significantly, she barely found her place.
In fact, she was known to stir up storms and devastate the world out of boredom.
“It’s, it’ll be fine! Mom is kind! She won’t hate Sylphid!”
“Yeah. Trust Mom.”
Thetis and Sagarmatha desperately tried to encourage Sylphid, but the expression of doubt persisted.
“F-Fine. Let’s just finish what we have to do. We can’t begin to fathom what Mom is thinking anyway. Besides, Mom is very kind to us. Let’s think she won’t hate us.”
“Right.”
Sylphid only nodded with a dejected face.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“So, what will you do from here on out?”
At Nyx’s question, I fell deep in thought.
“Well… what to do…”
First, I need to reduce the number of gods. Hmm…
Honestly, I haven’t given much thought beyond that.
I did get pretty angry at the thought of my chosen king being denied and my authority challenged, but… Hmm. After beheading that irritating one and taking some time to ponder, I realized that my authority doesn’t really hold that much significance to me.
If I valued authority, I would have become the king of gods from the start.
So, it’s just that… to put it simply…
I was just annoyed that things weren’t going according to my plan.
I wanted to pass on tasks to the subordinates, have Baal manage the gods, and just leisurely explore the world, but that plan got shattered.
And that was why I was angry.
So…
“I need to reduce the number of gods first.”
Gods that aren’t managed are like ticking time bombs.
Dealing with them before they explode would be for the good of this world.
“The number of gods, huh… It’s true that there are way too many gods in this world. At the very least, I’d prefer a clearer reduction in the gods of Olympus.”
“Olympus? That’s where the one you just had a spat with is the chief, right?”
“Yep. Zeus was originally a subordinate of Baal, and he absorbed Baal’s powers and authority after his disappearance, so aside from the ancient gods and the mother of all life, there are almost no gods stronger.”
Hmm. Was he that strong of a god? I thought he was moderately strong, like a suitable dragon.
It seems dragons might actually have the edge over gods, having been born in a much earlier era.
“Well then, while we’re at it, how about you stay here until the list of gods to eliminate is complete? Having the mother of life here would ease my mind.”
“Unfortunately, I’m planning to explore the world until that list is done. The list of gods is extraordinarily long, so it won’t be wrapped up in a day or two.”
Ah! Right! There was a papyrus scroll among the items I made for Baal that contained the list of all the gods.
If I had that, it could be quite helpful for the kids in compiling their list.
“Speaking of which, didn’t Baal have a scroll containing the list of deities?”
“The Divine List, you mean? Yes, I have it.”
“Perfect. In that case, make sure to pass that item on to the kids later. It should provide ample assistance in crafting their list.”
Nyx nodded slightly at my words.
And a month later, when Sylphid returned with a draft of the deities’ list, she discovered the endless length of the Divine List handed down by Nyx and was utterly flabbergasted…
Unfortunately, that fact didn’t hold much importance.
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