How to Kill a God (1): What Even is a God?
How to kill a god? Let's skip the boring stuff like "omnipotent beings" or "creators of the world." There aren't any beings superior to me in the first place, so omnipotence? Please.
What I'm talking about are the gods born from human faith. Gods born from humanity's desire to resolve their doubts. Frail existences without a physical body of their own, forced to craft one from the devotion of others, dependent on believers to prove their very being. And yet, they strut around boasting superiority over other lifeforms by leeching off that faith. I see them as little more than intangible illusions, parasites clinging to the faith of their followers.
Of course, gods like me and my children, who have independent true bodies, are exceptions. You might argue that a body forged from faith is their true form—but even then, without a steady influx of faith, they can't maintain it. Cut off the faith, and that hard-earned body crumbles to nothing.
In short, these are mental parasites sustained by human worship. So, how do you kill ones like that?
Take Baal's case: shatter their divine body with overwhelming force until it vanishes. But... well, that's usually impossible without dragon-level power. I don't know the exact impact of Baal's body disintegrating, but if it was enough to raise a continent from the sea, that's no small feat. Back during the war, dragons could probably manage that level of destruction—which is just another way of saying only dragons can even damage a god's body.
And even if you destroy the body, if faith in that god persists... it's only temporary. They'll soon reform a new one. Ah, but Baal's a special case—plenty of faith remains, yet he's refusing to rebuild his body. Let's set him aside.
Hmm. Direct damage to a god's soul or spirit? Hard to say; I'll hold off judging that. I only learned gods even have souls from Baal's example.
For now, shelve the physical destruction approach.
Next method: don't strike the god directly—sever their faith supply.
Even that famous shonen manga said it: the moment you're forgotten by all is when you die. For faith-dependent gods, that hits home hard. They gain faith from believers, use it to grow their flock, harvest more faith, and evolve. To eradicate one, cut off every last shred of devotion. Like severing supply lines.
The simplest way? Slaughter all their followers... but that's just massacre, worthless.
Convert them to worship another god? Conversion's too vague—faith varies wildly person to person, impossible to gauge.
If someone's faith outweighs their life... ugh, don't wanna think about it.
Another tack: tarnish the god's authority until followers abandon them. A decent compromise. If their precious deity embarrasses itself beyond tolerance, devotion wanes.
And how to discredit them...? Hmm. Got a good idea.
Twilight of the gods. Ragnarok. The finale of Norse myth. Gigantomachia. The Greek myth's curtain call.
Not every myth lacks an apocalypse, but these are the big ones. Mimic them, and you could cull a bunch of useless gods at once. Not just Olympus and Aesir—trim other factions too. Demote them from godhood, reincarnate their souls as humans... pare them down to a manageable number.
Conveniently, one of my names is Gaia... perfect for sparking a Gigantomachia. But remaking the Gigantes sounds tedious. Hmm. Mobilize some dragons instead—they won't fold against gods. Numbers a bit short? Use golems. Like Talos guarding the underworld—a rock giant... though rock's not mandatory. Lava-spewing or ice-bound giants could work too.
Giant. Giant... Ain-kind giants are tough, but weak next to gods. Useless here.
Anyway, brief the dragons, craft golems... stir discord among the gods? Internal brawls causing chaos would discredit them faster. Yeah. Do that. They'll pay for toppling my chosen king of gods, Baal.
"So, what's the point of telling me all this?"
"Eh, just... mentally prepare yourself?"
"Mentally prepare...?"
I chuckled softly at Ifrit's stunned expression.
"Other gods can be pretty arrogant wildcards, sure. But wiping them all out at once... wouldn't that be a problem?"
"A problem...?"
"Yeah. They cause trouble, but they do maintain a big chunk of this world's balance. If they all vanished suddenly, things would get chaotic, right?"
Hmm. Balance. Ifrit thinks the gods' mere existence keeps things steady. But there's no balance to maintain in the first place—worlds don't need gods. It exists on its own.
A perspective gap: me, with memories of a godless world; him, self-aware from the start, watching me manage it.
"You're underestimating this world, kid. It doesn't crumble that easily."
"Really...? It looks pretty precarious to me."
Ifrit stared straight at me. Hmm... is the world really that shaky? Some danger I missed?
Dunno.
"Anyway, do you hate the other gods, Mom?"
"Huh? Why ask that out of nowhere?"
"Cuz... you just give off that vibe? You don't say it outright, but your tone when talking about them screams it."
Hmm... do I? Do I hate gods?
Well... if I had to pick... yeah, closer to hate.
But consider: as caretaker of this model garden, where I sowed life's seeds and nurtured evolution to prosperity... why indulge parasites leeching faith from my creations, then lording it over them?
Weaker than me. Less capable. More arrogant. Scornful of life on a whim. Why favor gods like that?
No reason, no matter how I spin it.
Once life advances, explores knowledge, grasps the world's laws—why pity the obsolete?
Baal was okay—responsible, tried hard... but still. No real reason to like gods.
"Watching them is kinda fun, though. Bunch of half-baked brats squabbling—entertaining."
"If other lives weren't suffering in the crossfire, I'd agree."
Even splitting off my Life Goddess divinity into a spirit didn't erase my responsibility for birthing life.
"But you don't hate all gods, right? Us kids, Baal... um, Sirius. Oh, and Nyx."
"True... hmm. Nyx. Nyx, huh. Wonder how that kid's doing."
"She's hustling to fill Baal's void—managing his temples and stuff. Too many gods coveting it all."
"Mm..."
Come to think of it, I haven't checked on Baal's assets. Each one's a prize to others—I've been too oblivious.
Guess I should swing by the Pantheon sometime.