After that, I, along with Asterios and Hwan, set off on a journey.
Traveling along the coastline, we picked up a wounded rabbit beastman, and for some reason, encountered a Sea Serpent revered as the God of the Sea who had obtained wisdom. Various things happened… but explaining them all would take too long, so let’s skip over it briefly.
Gathering helpful entities while observing the situations around the world, I let out a small sigh.
There were far too many gods in this world. Worse, there were those undeserving of godhood who declared themselves gods and gathered followers.
Of course, not all of them were malevolent, but humans relying on such gods wasn’t a good thing.
Depending on existing gods might be convenient, but excessive reliance preventing humans from standing on their own is troublesome.
Therefore… gods must be culled. Afterward, direct interactions between humans and gods must be minimized.
“Thanks to your efforts, we’ve compiled a list of gods we’ll need to eliminate over several months.”
“Hmph. You’ve worked hard, it seems.”
“Yes! Tremendously! What’s going on?! This ever-growing list of gods was unexpected!”
Sylphid said this while showing the endless Papyrus scroll she held. The scroll unfurled endlessly, rolling across the ground.
“Look at this! The list never ends!”
“Do you now understand why I say there are too many gods?”
“Yes, I somewhat get why you’re saying this, Mother.”
With gods being born for every trivial matter, problems were bound to arise.
As human wisdom grows over time, faith in gods may decrease appropriately. However, since gods already have a strong influence on the land, that faith won’t easily diminish.
“But won’t the world fall into chaos after many gods disappear? Is it really okay?”
“There will be no issues. I’m not directly killing them.”
In some famous game, an irate uncle caused chaos by killing gods due to poor anger management, but this world isn’t like that game.
The world and humanity existed before the gods; their disappearance won’t destroy everything, right?
“But… won’t humans fall into confusion without gods?”
“I’ve considered that, so don’t worry.”
By ending the Age of Gods and reducing faith in them, such confusion can be lessened.
The best option would be creating a massive religion, pushing aside old gods and concentrating all faith into one. But if we do that now, it’s likely a great religion worshipping the Goddess of Life will emerge.
“Hmm… I don’t know what method you’re considering, but if you handle it somehow, I trust you, Mother. I won’t concern myself with it.”
Sylphid said this while winding up the endless scroll and handing it to me.
“Though we’ve made the list, the conclusion is that only a few gods truly need to be killed. Most opinions lean toward merely confiscating divinity from the majority.”
“Hmm… Confiscating divinity, you say.”
I slightly unfurled the scroll Sylphid handed me and glanced at the top names:
Zeus.
Odin.
Amun.
And Indra.
Leaders of various divine factions, called Major Deities. And those possessing fragments of Baal.
Other gods aside, these must be punished.
Beyond them… gods demanding human sacrifices, causing harm to humans, or abusing divine wrath… hmm. Olympus holds quite a bit of weight here. Next to each name on the list were detailed notes about appropriate punishments should their divinity be confiscated.
“Hmm. It must have been a long list. You’ve worked hard indeed. Your opinions will be well-considered.”
“Yes, please consider them. We put much thought into compiling this.”
I placed the scroll inside my embrace. It’ll surely come in handy later.
“Who are those children traveling with you, Mother?”
“You mean those children?”
Sylphid gestured toward the other kids beside me: Asterios, Hwan, Nava the rabbit beastman found injured, Si-Serpent who gained wisdom through divinity and followed in human form, and Dragon Child.
A diverse group with different homelands, origins, and races.
“Potential candidates for new gods, perhaps?”
“Eh? Didn’t you say there were too many gods and we should reduce them? Doesn’t that seem contradictory?”
“They each have roles. Initially, I planned for them to serve as sub-deities for each beastman race under Sirius’ command…”
“And?”
“…But I thought adding more roles could work.”
“Roles? You’re saying even though there are already too many gods, you’ll create more with additional responsibilities?”
I chuckled lightly.
“Let’s say they’ll guard the Divine Hall.”
“Guard? Isn’t Sirius alone enough?”
“If it’s just guarding the entrance, yes.”
At my words, Sylphid tilted her head.
“Besides the entrance, is there something else to guard?”
“Exactly. Guarding against internal threats escaping outward.”
“Escaping outward…?”
To put it simply, like prison guards.
“Rather than protecting gods from external dangers, ensure gods within the Divine Hall cannot escape without great sacrifice or meeting special conditions.”
“Why go through such trouble? Are gods really that problematic?”
Problematic. Indeed.
Entities with uncontrollable power beyond human comprehension must not be left unchecked. Like weeds growing wildly, parasitizing flowers and trees, causing issues.
“Isn’t it obvious we’re putting effort into solving problems?”
Despite my explanation, Sylphid still seemed dissatisfied.
Not that I expected her understanding. I aim for an era where life prospers without countless gods running rampant.
Until then… we must strive.
“Honestly, wouldn’t gods decline naturally eventually? Still, Mother must have her reasons.”
Watching Sylphd sigh, I smiled faintly.
—
Later, I continued traveling the world.
Stopping by the Village of the Lizardmen, I prevented a Lizardman from setting himself on fire to appease the Creator Dragon God’s wrath, instead educating him and taking him along.
Meeting Epona, the tiny horse deity born from legends of the original Epona—technically not the real past Epona but rather a homonym formed from accumulated faith in her achievements—I took this new Epona along when she clung to me.
Also joining me was Baromets, a sheep beastman shepherd who sought the mythical cotton plant to prevent his sheep from dying.
On our journey east searching for cotton, we subdued a monkey-tailed beastman causing trouble, named him Sun Wukong, educated him, and brought him along.
Further east, near Kunlun, witnessing the land scorched by ten sun gods, we shot down nine of them with arrows, rescuing a rooster beastman suffering for doing so.
Note: afterward, Kunlun was half-destroyed. Those incapable of managing their own sun gods deserved it.
We also tamed a giant wolf god imprisoned by the Aesir and took him along.
And a pig beastman causing mischief for profit received a stern lesson before joining us.
After meeting various people and experiencing numerous events across the world…
I began laying the groundwork for something.
—
One day, a rumor spread among the gods in the Divine Hall.
The rumor stated that with the disappearance of Baal, once king of gods, the Age of Gods would soon end.
Only a handful of gods would survive, most losing their divinity and falling to the mortal realm.
Those responsible for Baal’s death would lose existence itself.
Many gods searched for the source of this rumor, tracking it using their believers.
They found a being living alone deep in a forest untouched by sunlight.
A remarkable seer who accurately predicted future events.
The Sage of the Deep Forest.
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