Ch.1096Nonsense Goes on and On

Openly displayed hostility and contempt.

Paulus, whose face had been slightly flushed as if intoxicated by his own passionate speech, flinched and pulled his upper body back slightly.

He instinctively tried to distance himself from me but failed, blocked by the chair’s backrest.

“I’ve heard enough of your nonsense. I had some hope, but as expected, this was a worthless waste of time.”

I approached him while tapping my shoulder with Durandal. The smell of tension and faint fear. A few drops of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

“Nonsense…? A waste of time…?!”

Even in this situation, it was amusing to see him getting quietly upset at the criticism that his assertions were nothing but nonsense.

They say it’s frightening when ignorant people hold firm beliefs—perhaps that’s what they meant about people like him. All he does is spout nonsense while stubbornly clinging to his convictions.

“To summarize, you’re saying this, right? Whether it’s because humans are inherently evil or because evil is stronger than good, if left unchecked, the world will only endlessly deteriorate—”

Up to this point, I could overlook it as the lament of a pessimist who had become disillusioned with everything after witnessing too many terrible things.

I don’t agree, but I mean I can understand why someone might think that way.

Certainly, the corruption I experienced in the Holy State last time was quite serious even from my perspective.

The twelve churches that formed and broke alliances while fighting for power among themselves.

The Church of Grimnir, which openly kidnapped people for human sacrifices, and the Church of Volberg, which was rotten to the core.

The cities governed by each church were full of cultists who took advantage of the chaos to spread their influence, and in Arvil, unspeakable atrocities occurred.

And then there was the Church of Saulite, so corrupted by power and depravity that a cardinal attempted to assassinate a saint.

Even the Church of Astraea and Lacy, who were with me, weren’t without problems, but compared to the other churches, they were practically saints.

Things have changed quite a bit now that Lacy and Agnes have cut out the rot and implemented reforms… but if you’d witnessed that state for decades, you might well be disillusioned with the world.

…Of course, this wasn’t something that should be preached by an apostle of the Ancient Gods, who could be considered the unrivaled champion among such people in terms of damage inflicted upon the world.

“—So you need a god to suppress their evil nature and guide the world back in the right direction. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right! This world, this earth needs a god! A transcendent guide who will eradicate evil, protect good, and lead the world on the right path!”

Paulus exclaimed with gleaming eyes. As if to say, if you understand so well, why are you acting like this?

“You know it too! You, of all people—what you’ve accomplished is proof of that!”

“Me?”

“Yes!”

Paulus rose from his seat and spread his left arm wide, crying out loudly.

“You vanquished the witch who nested in the Empire, cut off the corruption in the Holy State, and exterminated the cultists who threw various nations into chaos! Even parts of the evil god they summoned!”

What a passionate tone.

Anyone watching would think he was my devotee.

“……”

“A god who destroys harm, purifies corruption, and establishes righteousness! Your deeds, your achievements—aren’t they proof that the world needs a god to set things right?”

Oh, is that so?

Well, I appreciate the compliment… but why did you conveniently leave out how I slaughtered your faction?

Did your conscience bother you too much to include that example?

Or perhaps that expression “cultists who threw nations into chaos” referred to the other apostles? Since the Ancient God cults, not just evil god worshippers, are considered heretical by the Holy State’s standards.

“What I’m trying to do is exactly that! To open a path for the gods to intervene in earthly matters and return the world to its proper, ideal state!”

“Well, from my perspective, it seems like things would get even more fucked up.”

It seems he was impressed by my cleaning up the world’s trash and became convinced that this world can only function properly when a transcendent being personally steps in to dance with a sword…

‘This guy is insane.’

I was simply dumbfounded.

What the hell did this bastard learn as an apostle of the Ancient Gods? Even if we set aside his time as a cardinal, he should have clearly seen what that Alfodhr he served was doing.

When such bastards start manipulating the world under the pretense of being gods, would the world get better or worse?

Obviously the latter.

“You think an ideal society will emerge if gods actively intervene on earth? Nonsense. Coincidentally, we have a good example right here.”

I tapped the ground lightly with the tip of my sword, sneering. Recalling the lush forest that had perished by my hand.

“This land was originally the domain of a tree goddess who devoured souls. That tree bitch was exactly the kind of god you want—one who very actively intervened in earthly affairs.”

The goddess Lasil, the World Tree, who could intervene in earthly matters to some extent despite Heaven’s Wall because she had roots spread across the earth from the beginning.

The country of Alvheim, created by her and her followers, was itself proof that Paulus’s argument was nonsense.

“So what do you think? Did the fairy country of Alvheim, created by that tree bitch and the pointy-ears, really look like that ‘proper and ideal’ society to you?”

“That’s…”

Paulus hesitated as if at a loss for words. Right, if there was any thought in that head of his, he wouldn’t dare say yes.

“Evil flourishes and good declines, so divine guidance is needed? Wrong. The very premise is petty. Outdated.”

I poured out all the mockery that rose within me.

“It shouldn’t have been a god, but you. If corruption and depravity disgusted you so much, you should have become stronger and done good yourself.”

“Anyone can talk! I too—”

“You tried and failed? So what? If your power alone wasn’t enough, you should have gathered supporters. If there were no supporters, you should have cultivated them. You had at least decades, didn’t you?”

Look at what I accomplished in just 2 years.

“Even the achievements of mine that you listed were accomplished that way. Not by relying on this divinity.”

The only things I did as a god were the destruction of Alvheim, deciding the fate of the fairies, and the battle with Garmerlic.

Everything before that was done as a human, not a god. Things that could somehow be accomplished without divinity.

You might argue it was thanks to the help of gods and my talent? That without divine help and Hersella’s body, could I have achieved such feats?

Yes, that’s true. I admit it.

Without those two factors, I couldn’t have accomplished all those things in 2 years. Perhaps I would have died long ago or suffered an even worse fate.

But this old man had much more time than I could compare to.

If his ability was only a tenth of mine, it might take roughly twenty years to achieve the same results, but when you think about it, that’s “only” twenty years.

Paulus, who clearly looks over sixty, had nearly twice that amount of time.

And instead of using that time to make the world a better place, he crawled into a position beside Feyrus and actually contributed to the world’s deterioration.

All because of his stubborn belief that human power alone cannot make the world right, and that he would accept any sacrifice to bring back the gods.

“Divinity came later, only used to clean up this great chaos that you people created.”

If he had at least sacrificed himself, I could have somewhat dressed it up as misguided martyrdom, but what he sacrificed wasn’t himself but innocent others.

And not just one or two.

Tens, hundreds of thousands of sacrifices made without the consent of those involved. That wasn’t martyrdom or sacrifice—it was simply massacre.

The kind of act only a fanatical cultist would commit. Right?

Like those apostles of the Ancient Gods.

“Corruption? Depravity? Evil? Things would have been different if a god was present? No, they wouldn’t. Absolutely not. Because there isn’t just one god in this world.”

Paulus’s argument was fundamentally flawed from the beginning.

The strongest god in this world could be considered the evil of all evils, the source of all chaos.

From the way this old man speaks, he seems to believe in the human gods like Menes even more firmly than I do, but in reality, all of them combined couldn’t defeat Alfodhr.

How do I know this?

Of course I would know. If they could win, would Elpinel and the human gods have remained idle? They would have used all their power to kill Alfodhr first, regardless of the consequences.

In other words, if Heaven’s Wall disappeared and gods intervened on earth as Paulus wished, the result would certainly be world destruction, not the realization of an ideal society.

So how could I not treat this old man like an idiot? An old man who doesn’t even find it strange that his words and actions are completely contradictory.

Even if a miracle happened and Alfodhr disappeared, bringing about the era of human gods? Even then, I didn’t think the aftermath would be truly hopeful.

“To begin with, I’m not even sure if a world where everyone lives in absolute obedience to the gods’ will can truly be called an ideal society.”

It’s a society with nearly ten Big Brothers monitoring even people’s thoughts. How is that an ideal society? It’s slavery where resistance is impossible.

Even if the human gods were truly fair, flawless, virtuous, and perfect beings, it would still be an unsettling future vision, and the gods I’ve experienced weren’t even such beings.

Elpinel?

She tried to brainwash me when I was weak, claiming it was for my own good.

Menes?

I would definitely beat that bastard if I could. I’d demand to know why he made me have such dreams.

He probably laughed watching me do stupid things in my dreams. Nasty bastard.

Imela? Ceres? Saulite?

They seem like good gods, but they need to actually do something. Except for stopping Invidius’s descent, they had virtually no presence.

Why did the goddess Saulite only give Lena healing miracles? If there was no reason for that, wasn’t that truly a shitty thing to do?

Astraea?

Having received various direct help from her, I feel a bit awkward criticizing her openly… but that goddess forced me to become a saint against my will.

That means she prioritized her will over my free will, showing a coercive side.

Volberg and Grimnir were originally Alfodhr pretending to be human gods, so there’s nothing more to say… who were the remaining gods?

Ah, right. Vimos and Kranus?

Honestly, I wonder if they’re really human gods.

They don’t seem like it at all. Their holy light was conspicuously absent when Heaven’s Wall was blocking Invidius. Neither side can be trusted.

Do you understand?

Even the human gods, who supposedly prioritize humanity above all else, are like this when you look closely. Would an ideal society really emerge if we handed over all decision-making to them and obeyed absolutely?

I don’t think so.

Rather, when all barriers were firmly in place, humans correcting their own corruption and depravity would have been closer to an ideal society.

…Well, thanks to these apostle bastards, that’s now impossible.

“You wanted to create a world where gods directly command you? Fine. Then as a god, I command you. Die quietly and stop talking nonsense.”

I pointed Durandal at Paulus. And said:

“Go meet Menes and whine to him about whether your words are right. I’m not sure if you can go there, though.”

Die. With even clearer killing intent than when we first met.