How to Kill a God. (2) The Pantheon Where Gods Reside.
The Pantheon. The grand hall where the gods reside. Passing through the entrance guarded by the Beast God Sirius, in the form of a massive wolf, we arrived at the world atop the clouds.
"These days, it's hard to gather faith unless you're part of a big faction."
"Well, yeah, but not all gods are tied to factions, right? Even the great Mother of Life lives alone, without belonging to any."
"She's the exception! But excluding her, the other ancient gods all have ties to some faction."
"That's true, but..."
"That's why I'm telling you, for real—it's best to get a solid backing faction to sponsor you."
Two gods passed by, chatting away in humanoid forms, speaking just like humans.
"Lately, gathering faith has been such a drag. What's going on?"
"You too? I'm running at a deficit these days. No idea what's happening."
Other gods exchanging opinions. Their conversations sounded just like those of humans struggling day-to-day. Well, since they were born from human faith, it made sense they'd resemble humans.
"Ooh, this...! Pure mithril! I wonder what kind of divine artifact I could make with it. How much faith does it cost?"
"It's not for sale."
"What? Why? Shouldn't something this good be sold at a fair price?"
"I got it for a specific purpose, so no sale. Mind your own business—or better yet, buzz off."
"Ugh... What a nasty temper. No wonder you're shunned even in Olympus. Tsk."
Gods treating faith like currency, haggling just like humans. Watching this, it didn't seem so bad at first... but then I remembered the fragmented spirits who'd rebelled against Baal, and a spark of anger flared up.
For now, let's head to Baal's temple. The one without an owner now.
Baal's temple stood at the heart of the Pantheon. The massive structure hadn't lost its luster even without its master, shining as if nothing was wrong.
"Why not?!"
Except for that one god screaming at the entrance!!!
A handsome blond male god was arguing with someone at the temple's entrance.
"No means no."
"Why?! It's ownerless right now!"
"That's exactly why—no one's allowed in."
The one clashing with the blond god was a black-haired goddess. Nyx.
"You're not Baal. You're just one of his fragments."
"But even a fragment is part of the same being, right? Like how a severed body part still belongs to the same person—I'm part of Baal!"
"You dare say that?"
Nyx glared fiercely at the blond god, who flinched slightly at her gaze.
"D-Don't look at me like that! It's not scary! You're losing most of your faith anyway. You should've joined Olympus ages ago!"
"I'm not joining that pack of idiots. Now get lost—before I force you out."
Hmm. Indeed. Very much so.
For starters... let's kill him.
No, maybe killing's too sudden. Hmm. Hmm. Still, it pissed me off a bit.
"Hey."
"Huh? Who're you? Do you know who I—"
I approached the blond god from behind and spoke to him.
"That face of yours... doesn't sit right with me."
With a casual swing of my hand, I severed his head.
His head flew off, and the headless body crumpled backward powerlessly. The other gods watching the argument between Nyx and the blond god just stared in stunned silence.
And then.
"Kyaa, kyaAaAaah!!"
"Wh-What?! Olympus's leader?!"
"No, who's that little goddess?! What the hell?!"
Hmm. Noisy.
"Quiet."
I murmured lowly, dominating the surrounding space and crushing all the other gods into silence. Much better.
"Nyx."
"Ah, ahh..."
"Nyx."
"Y-You're back..."
"Yeah. I am."
Nyx looked at me, her black eyes welling up with tears. Must've been tough on her since Baal went to the underworld. The moment she saw me, her face crumpled like she was about to cry.
"We'll talk later."
I gestured lightly at the severed head rolling on the ground. It floated up on mana and flew back to settle neatly in my hand.
Even separated from its body, the expression was still alive... So gods don't die that easily, huh?
Does completely obliterating the body kill them? I'll figure it out next time.
I tossed the head lightly, and it snapped back onto the neck with a clean click, like someone had reattached it.
"That idiot claiming to be Baal's fragment... Doesn't look like him at all."
"Yeah. Not even close."
Baal was a refreshing young boy to look at. Not some greasy, sleazy guy like that.
"Kuhuk, cough!"
Apparently the decapitation was quite the shock; the blond god coughed repeatedly, clutching his neck.
Hmm. First time for that, probably. Who could even behead a god?
"Know your place, fool."
"K-Kuh...! You...!"
Oh? Figured out who I am? Well, as Baal's fragment, he'd inherit memories from Baal... so yeah, he'd know me.
That makes this quick.
"Get lost."
One low word. The blond god backed away slowly without another peep.
"Hmph. Pathetic."
"Anyone would act like that in front of someone who casually beheads a chief god overflowing with faith."
True... that.
Anyway, time to head inside. The other gods' stares are getting annoying.
Just then.
"The incident happened here... Ah!"
"Hm? Oh, Sylphid."
Sylphid appeared on a gust of wind, glancing alternately between me and Nyx in surprise. Perfect timing. I needed to check on the other kids anyway. Sending word through her would be easiest.
Excluding Shamash, who was light itself, Sylphid was the fastest among them.
"Let's go inside first."
"Y-Yeahhh."
"Wait! Let me disperse the other gods first! I rushed here thinking a god-killing incident happened, but it was you, Mom!"
"I didn't kill him. Just separated head from body."
"Same difference! For most gods, that's a big deal. Good thing you're a chief god brimming with faith."
Hm? Hmm... Indeed. So it doesn't nullify physical damage completely.
With that, I watched Sylphid scatter the surrounding gods, then we entered Baal's temple together.
"You're going to... reduce the number of gods...?"
"Yeah. Sure, it'll happen naturally over time, but I have a feeling a lot will go down while we're waiting."
Without Baal to mediate relations between gods, ones desperate for faith might start wars. And humans caught in the crossfire would suffer massively, like shrimp crushed in a whale fight.
"Reducing the gods' numbers... That's pretty extreme."
"Maybe, but with Baal—who I entrusted with managing them—out of commission, I can't just leave it."
"True. Especially with guys claiming they want his spot... Can't ignore that."
"Like that one earlier?"
"Yes. Zeus. That idiot."
Zeus, huh? The leader of Olympus. Figures it'd be him. Olympus's level makes sense now.
"B-But... if you're reducing gods... does that include... us...?"
"Hm. Think I'd harm you kids?"
Sylphid's face brightened instantly at my words.
"Right? Of course! But... not all gods cause problems. Hmm. Hmmm..."
Sylphid pondered deeply, shaking her head side to side. Well, my kids were gods too, so they had connections with others. Some close friends, probably. That's why she was conflicted hearing me.
"I'm not wiping out all gods. Just trimming down to a manageable number."
"Still... Hmm. Mom, have you made a list of gods to deal with?"
"No, not yet."
I had the full list of gods, though. GodTalk's endless scroll that never ended no matter how far you scrolled.
"Then... how about carefully selecting which ones to spare and which to cull?"
"Selecting?"
"Yeah. Not all gods are bad—some are helpful. Honestly, from my view, leaving them be might be fine, but if you've decided, you must have a reason."
A reason. Yeah... Just pissed that they rebelled against the god-king I chose, coveted his throne, undermined my authority in appointing Baal, and turned everything related to him into a mess.
Just that.
Nothing else.
