Thus, the six gods began writing the names of deities onto a massive Magic Scroll.
“First of all, let’s exclude gods we gotta save and gods we gotta kill. Ambiguous ones… what should we do about them?”
“Hmm. Annihilate ‘em.”
“That’s not right, Sagarmatha.”
“But it was simple.”
Expressionless Sagarmatha merely gave a silent thumbs-up.
“Well, I agree it’s easy, but if we do that, there’ll be Trouble. Hmm… this isn’t easy.”
“Then how about this: the basic rule is to either kill or demote gods, but among us, if someone wants to defend a certain god, they can speak up.”
“Defend?”
“Yes, defend. The defender explains their main reasons, then we share opinions and decide accordingly. Surely everyone has a few gods they’d like to save, right?”
At Shamash’s words, most nodded in agreement.
After all, gods usually built relationships with other gods unless they completely isolated themselves from interactions.
“I don’t really care if they all vanish.”
Only Thetis was an exception.
“Well, Thetis, you had no choice. A new Continent rose, disrupting the ocean currents, so you were busy normalizing them.”
“Yeah. Disaster.”
“But don’t you have at least one close god? Maybe another Sea God?”
Thetis frowned deeply at the question.
“Most aren’t strong enough to reach where I am, and the only one who did visit turned out to be that cursed Brother of his? Poseidon?”
“Ahh… yeah. Well, there’s nothing much we can do about that.”
The chaotic personalities of the Olympian gods were well-known, especially Zeus, their leader, and Poseidon, his brother.
Naturally, they were on the list of gods who needed to be eliminated.
And naturally, those gathered here were fully aware of their infamous reputations.
“What kind of strategic Marriage controls all the seas? Truly Foolish and stupid. Most ocean currents are already under my management anyway.”
“Hmm. You’ve worked hard.”
“Shamash, didn’t you have young gods following you in Olympus?”
“Hmm. The Sun God and Moon God kids? They weren’t bad children, but honestly, there are countless self-proclaimed Sun and Moon Gods. Every faction seems to have their own.”
“Hmm. That’s true. There’s too much overlap.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Why do Those Humans believe in different gods? Even for something as singular as the Sun, there are multiple gods governing it… It’s quite Troublesome.”
Sylphid’s muttering made Yggdrasil nod slightly.
“It’s because they’re human. Humans who can’t freely travel the entire world. It’s natural they wouldn’t know about gods from other places.”
“But cases like our Mother or us are common knowledge among humans?”
“Half of us are racial gods.”
The God of Elves. The God of Dwarves. And the God of All Seas and Mermaids.
Gods responsible for specific races were well-known even among humans.
“As for me and Ifrit, we’ve always been widely known among humans.”
The God of Light, Justice, and Law. Shamash.
The God of Flames who burns corpses to reduce sins. Ifrit.
Both were widely recognized by humans.
“And as for Mother, there’s no need to say more. Sylphid might be the least known, though.”
“But sailors still trust her, right?”
“Split evenly with Thetis.”
At Yggdrasil’s comment, Sylphid puffed her cheeks slightly.
“Yeah. Enough chatter, time to work.”
At the quiet words of Sagarmatha, everyone nodded and began focusing on categorizing the gods.
Once they had sorted out the gods causing harm to humans and decided which gods to save…
“Still, I wonder what Mother is thinking?”
Shamash spoke softly.
“Mother’s thoughts?”
“Yeah. Honestly speaking, Baal may have lost his Divine Body and gone to the Underworld, but wasn’t it ultimately what he wished for? He could’ve resurrected anytime but chose to give it up himself.”
At Shamash’s words, Ifrit nodded slightly.
“That’s true, but perhaps Mother sees it differently.”
“So I thought… maybe Mother is trying to reduce the number of gods and manage things directly?”
“Mother herself?”
At Yggdrasil’s question, Shamash nodded slightly and added:
“With Baal gone and the factions of various gods expelled, the number of problematic gods will decrease. Moreover, Mother has already assigned many tasks to Fragments. Perhaps she aims to become the King of the Gods herself?”
Everyone reacted differently to Shamash’s words.
Some found it plausible, while others thought she would’ve done it earlier if that was her plan.
Despite their varied reactions, none believed it impossible.
“My thoughts differ.”
Amidst this, Sagarmatha spoke.
“Mother has no intention of becoming the King of the Gods.”
“Then why is she reducing the number of gods?”
Sagarmatha closed his eyes briefly, choosing his words carefully before speaking.
“I think Mother is angry with the gods who didn’t follow Baal, the King of the Gods she appointed. She might feel her own Authority has been undermined. Because of this… perhaps she believes gods will become Obstacles to life and This World in the future.”
Rarely speaking at length, Sagarmatha continued, followed by Ifrit.
“Oh! Now that you mention it, Mother once said she disliked gods.”
“She dislikes gods?”
“Yeah. Because they cause suffering to other lives.”
At this, everyone fell silent.
After all, they were gods themselves.
“But Mother is also a god, right?”
“That’s true, but since Mother cares for life, perhaps she feels sorry for lives suffering because of gods?”
“Yeah. That makes sense.”
“But… does that mean Mother dislikes us too? I only punish humans related to trials.”
At Shamash’s words, everyone fell silent.
“Yeah, I haven’t caused major problems.”
“Me too! I’m just busy taking care of elves!”
“Hmm… maybe I’ll start rescuing drowning victims more often from now on…”
“I burn corpses of the deceased to reduce their sins, which actually helps life instead, right?”
“I, I… um… ugh…”
Only Sylphid couldn’t properly respond.
She wasn’t responsible for any specific race nor greatly beneficial to other lives.
In fact, she often created typhoons out of boredom, sweeping through and destroying the world.
“Don’t worry! Mother is kind! She won’t hate Sylphid!”
“Yeah. Trust Mother.”
Although Tethys and Sagarmatha tried to encourage Sylphid urgently, her expression remained gloomy.
“Well, let’s finish what we need to do first. We can’t guess what Mother is thinking. And Mother has always been very kind to us, so let’s assume she won’t dislike us.”
“Yeah.”
Sylphid only nodded with a deflated look.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“So, what will you do next?”
At Nyx’s words, I pondered deeply.
“Hmm. What to do….”
First, reduce the number of gods. Hmm…
Honestly, I don’t have any other particular plans.
I was quite annoyed when the gods denied the King of the Gods I appointed and disrespected my authority, but after some time passed and I reflected, I realized that authority held little meaning to me.
If I truly valued authority, I would’ve become the King of the Gods myself from the start.
So, simply put…
I was upset because things didn’t go according to my plan.
I handed over the management of gods to Baal and entrusted tasks to fragments, intending to leisurely wander around the world and spend my time, but that plan fell apart.
That’s why I got angry.
Therefore…
“First, we need to reduce the number of gods.”
Unmanaged gods are like ticking time bombs; it’s best to deal with them before they explode.
This will be for the benefit of This World.
“Reducing the number of gods… indeed, there were too many gods in the world. At the very least, the Olympian gods should definitely be reduced significantly.”
“The Olympians? Wasn’t that the place led by the guy who argued with you earlier?”
“Yes. Zeus was originally a Fragment of Baal, and after Baal’s annihilation, he absorbed Baal’s power and authority. Aside from the Ancient Gods and Mother of Life, there are hardly any gods stronger than him.”
Hmm. That strong, huh? I thought he was just moderately powerful, like a Dragon.
Seems Dragons are stronger than gods after all, given their much older origins.
“Well, until the final list of gods to eliminate is complete… hmm. How about staying here? It would ease my mind if Mother of Life were around.”
“Unfortunately, I intend to wander the world until the list is finished. The Divine List boasts an incredible length, so it won’t be resolved in a day or two.”
Ah! That’s right! Among the items I gave to Baal, there was a Magic Scroll containing the list of all gods.
Wouldn’t that help the Children create the list?
“By the way, wasn’t there a Scroll listing the gods among Baal’s belongings?”
“You mean the Divine List? Yes, I have it.”
“Perfect timing. Later, pass that item to the Children. Using that Scroll will greatly assist them.”
At my words, Nyx nodded slightly.
And about a month later.
It was somewhat unfortunate, but not particularly important, that Sylphid, upon receiving the seemingly endless Divine List from Nyx, was utterly overwhelmed while drafting the preliminary version of the elimination list.
