God-Slaying Ledger (1)
“So, a list of gods we can safely eliminate, and ones we might want to spare if possible... Hmm. Mom's been asleep for 300 years, so you probably don't know much about it.”
“I do have the full roster of all gods, though.”
Let's gloss over just how ridiculously long that list has gotten.
“R-Really? Hmm... In that case, how about this? Me and the others will make the list for you! We'll handle compiling it in your place... and even the takedowns! Okay?”
Sylphid rolled her eyes back and forth, trying to convince me. I could see right through whatever she was scheming. She was probably planning to pull strings for gods she had ties to or got along with.
Eh, I didn't really care about that part.
“You can make the list, but I can't leave the actual purging to you kids.”
“Huh? Then you're doing it yourself, Mom?! The world would end!”
Sylphid looked utterly dumbfounded. Nyx, standing beside her, just tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the fuss.
“End the world? What are you talking about?”
“But...”
“I'm not going to smash everything willy-nilly. I'll minimize situations where I have to step in personally... Hmm. I was thinking of deploying dragons and golems too.”
Having others do the wrecking instead of me smashing things directly would mean less collateral damage.
“I-In that case... that should be fine. Yeah. Anyway, we'll whip up the list you need super quick. But you can't start wiping out gods until then, got it?”
“Sure. It's not like we're doing it right this second anyway.”
I'd take some time to check on how the world's been spinning, maybe pick up a few useful strays here and there. Only after that would we get to the purging.
“Even if you make the list, it'll just be for reference. I'll take your opinions into account to a degree, but I'll verify the details myself before acting—so no complaining if things don't go exactly as you wrote.”
“Ah, o-okay! As long as it helps you even a little, that's plenty!”
“And I'll set a few conditions for the list. That way, it'll be easier for you to compile it.”
“Conditions?”
“Yeah. If you just say 'this god needs to be spared' without a solid reason, I can't accept it. So we'll define criteria for who gets excluded.”
Without conditions, they'd probably just scratch off anyone they liked, no questions asked.
So.
“First off, any god who's directly harmed not just humans, but any surface life, is purge material.”
“Harmed them how?”
“Yeah. I explicitly told them not to descend to the surface back in the day... but with Baal gone, some probably saw it as their chance and ignored me, rampaging around down there.”
Sylphid nodded slightly at my words.
“True, a few gods did go wild on the surface without permission. Me and Shamash had to chase them down...”
“For those, I'll confiscate their divinity, vaporize their bodies, and reincarnate their souls as humans. No reason to let pests who harm other lives run free.”
“Got it. Any other conditions?”
Other conditions, huh. Well, to trim down the numbers, we'd have to cull the weakest gods who don't even qualify as proper deities.
Weakness isn't a crime, but to reduce their ranks, we'd have no choice.
“Gods who are too weak won't be erased outright, but they'll have to step down from godhood.”
“Too weak?”
“Yeah. Like gods of tiny streams or hills—ones that barely qualify as deities.”
“So you're kicking out the weak ones?”
“Right. Hmm. Actually, maybe set faith as the benchmark. That might be clearer.”
A god's strength comes from the amount of faith they receive, after all. Even one born from something trivial could be plenty strong if enough people worship them.
“Gods with low faith... That alone would wipe out a ton of them. You okay with that?”
“Of course. It's not like the world ever had a ton of gods anyway. No issue.”
Back in the old days, there weren't any gods at all! Just me! Sure, there wasn't much life back then either.
“So... those gods get reincarnated as humans too?”
“Hmm. Vaporizing and reincarnating feels a bit harsh. Ah, right—maybe turn them into spirits instead.”
“Spirits?”
I nodded at Sylphid's question.
The souls of once-dragons, existing as mana without bodies. If these gods shaped themselves with mana instead of faith...
Couldn't they exist as spirits too? No, even better—they'd be free from relying on other creatures' faith, reborn as pure existences. No more warping from mortal beliefs.
Even if not full spirits, turning into fairies or something would work fine.
Anything but gods, basically.
“Spirits... Hmm. That might actually be better than I thought. They'd at least keep their sense of self.”
“Then spread the word to the others.”
Normally I'd visit each one myself, but handing it off to Sylphid made everything easier. She's the messenger, after all—stories spread on the wind through her.
“Got it! Leave it to me! I'll head out then!”
“I probably won't be here by the time you've told everyone. But go ahead.”
I watched Sylphid's back as she hurried out of Baal's temple, eager to relay the message as fast as possible.
“Now then... Shall we hear calmly about what happened over the past 300 years?”
Nyx looked a bit tense. To ease her, I conjured some simple refreshments and set them on the table, then turned to her.
I'd heard the broad strokes, but details were best from the source.
“Y-Yes...! A lot happened while you were gone. It was really tough.”
Nyx started spilling her grievances. With Baal absent, she'd clearly been through the wringer in all sorts of ways.
Alright, time to hear the full story.
In a dark cave.
The tallest mountain.
A space within Sagarmatha.
There, six beings gathered around a round table, huddling close to exchange thoughts.
“Hmm... Looks like Mom's pretty pissed, huh?”
“From what I heard, yeah.”
Shamash and Thetis spoke up first, followed by Sagarmatha.
“Yeah. She's definitely mad. Big trouble.”
“Still, she doesn't seem like she'll smash everything like old times.”
Sylphid, who'd brought the news and gathered everyone, replied to Yggdrasil.
“But she's mad for sure. She lopped off Zeus's head in an instant right in front of Baal's temple.”
“Zeus's head? The guy's an idiot, but he's a chief god with real power.”
Sylphid nodded at Ifrit's words.
“He'd absorbed a ton of sky power and authority. Not as strong as us, but still a heavyweight.”
“Lopping off a guy's head like that in a blink... Hmm. We could probably do it too, but not that fast.”
“Unless you're as quick as Shamash or Sylphid, no way.”
Shamash and Sylphid both shook their heads at Thetis's comment.
“Bad matchup for us—we couldn't take him down in one go. We'd have to drag it into a slugfest and pin him.”
“Yeah. Dude had speed and raw power.”
These six gods—known to others as the ancient ones, the primordial deities—let out a collective sigh.
“Anyway, we gotta make that list like Mom wants.”
“Zeus is... no saving him, no matter what.”
“Good riddance to trash like that.”
Thetis said curtly. She clearly despised Zeus, who'd once hit on her.
“Hmm. Not many worth saving from the Aesir bunch.”
“Really? Yggdrasil, weren't you tight with them?”
“They just bug me nonstop to borrow power. They even tried messing with the elves.”
Yggdrasil shook her head.
“Plus, they snuck off with useful souls.”
“Souls?! When did that happen? How?”
“Disguised their lesser goddesses as reapers to harvest them on the sly. Even the underworld gods don't know yet.”
“How'd you find out, Yggdrasil?”
At Sylphid's question, Yggdrasil furrowed her brow.
“Those morons sent a lesser goddess after elf souls too. I beat her down easy, plucked her wings, stuffed her limbs with tree roots, and taxidermied her. Spilled everything after that.”
“Why would they even... Getting caught messing with souls would bring Mom down on them hard.”
“Well, their leader's Aesir chief ain't right in the head. Went nuts after getting sky wisdom—ranting about doom coming... Ah!”
Yggdrasil's expression shifted as realization dawned.
“That one-eyed freak losing it... What if he actually foresaw the future?”
“The future?”
“Yeah. Stuff after Mom returns. Doom coming for the gods now that Baal's gone.”
The others' faces changed too.
“Makes sense. Sky wisdom is Baal's wisdom—he inherited a bunch of Baal's memories. So he'd know about Mom too.”
“Yeah. Doom as scheduled.”
The rest just nodded at Sagarmatha's words.
