Ch.356Chapter 356 – The Purpose of God (3)

Emiris began to devour the other gods.

I had heard from Chris before that the gods had engaged in internecine conflict.

Though at the time, he said the reason was unknown.

Now it seemed I knew the reason.

“To understand why Emiris devoured the other gods, we need to briefly revisit what we’ve discussed so far,” Chris said quietly.

“As I mentioned at the beginning, beings who came to this world from other realms eventually ascended to godhood. They were so confident that no one except the First Dragon could defeat them.”

It wasn’t entirely baseless confidence.

After all, the gods had successfully eliminated all the indigenous deities except for the First Dragon, who was the strongest among them.

And even with the First Dragon, they had been satisfied with reaching a stalemate.

Thus, they ascended to godhood, gathered followers, and reigned as rulers of this world.

However.

“The Demon War must have severely cracked that pride.”

“Exactly.”

Chris smiled as he answered my comment.

“As you say, Kei. Though there were individual differences, the gods’ pride was deeply wounded. Having stood as rulers of this world for ages, they were driven to the brink of defeat in a war against beings they had abandoned.”

Chris spoke quietly.

“Additionally, there was something that truly terrified them.”

“Something terrifying?”

“Kei, what happened right before the Demon War broke out?”

I realized immediately what Chris was referring to.

“A god died.”

At the hands of the demons, no less.

And not just killed—they were first stripped of their power, then murdered.

“For ages, they had almost forgotten the fact that they could die. And with the presence of demon gods summoned by the demons, the gods were literally driven to the brink of death.”

Gods don’t die.

That baseless premise was shattered by the demons.

“The war not only wounded their pride but also reminded them of the fear of death.”

Those who had never known defeat came to know it.

Those who had never known death came to know it.

It was easy to imagine how profound the shock must have been.

And how that shock became the catalyst that drove them to madness.

“The gods, gripped by fear, fell into chaos, fighting over the cause of what happened… and meanwhile, they reached a certain conclusion.”

“What conclusion?”

Chris swallowed before continuing.

“That their position must never again be threatened like this. And to avoid death, they needed to become higher, more powerful beings than they currently were.”

Chris looked at me.

“All the gods reached the same conclusion in their hearts that day. To ensure the throne of godhood would never again be threatened, they believed they needed to become stronger, to become higher beings.”

Chris took a slight breath, then quietly spoke.

“They thought that if they became omnipotent and omniscient, transcending a single divine authority, they could escape that fear.”

Chris spoke softly.

After a moment of silence, Sia quietly asked.

“Omnipotent and omniscient… that’s hard to grasp.”

“But didn’t you say that even gods have limitations?” Beatrice asked.

Chris nodded at Beatrice’s words.

“As I mentioned, the gods were never perfect to begin with. They had clear limitations.”

“But how could they reach omnipotence…”

Beatrice stopped mid-sentence and looked at Chris with a sudden realization.

And she wasn’t alone.

Everyone present thought of the same possibility.

“…The demons killed a god and usurped their power,” Eve said quietly.

Then Sera spoke with certainty.

“Did Emiris get the idea from that and start devouring other gods?”

“Yes.”

Chris answered quietly.

“Emiris began to ambush and devour other gods.”

Chris sighed softly before continuing.

“Emiris too had suffered great wounds and fallen into fear during the war. He was more terrified by this fact than anyone else. So he resolved to use any means necessary to reach omnipotence.”

Chris looked around once before continuing.

“The method he chose was to steal the power of other gods. Though weakened, the gods still possessed tremendous power, including what could be called divine authorities. Emiris believed that if he took all their power, he could reach omnipotence and omniscience.”

“So he thought he couldn’t reach omnipotence alone, but could by stealing others’ power.”

Chris nodded at my words.

“And the first target Emiris aimed for was… Evgenia.”

“Why target Evgenia first…”

According to Chris earlier, Evgenia was the strongest god during the Demon War.

Then I suddenly realized something I had overlooked.

“…That priest said Evgenia’s faction didn’t participate in the power struggle until late.”

The priest guarding the first seal had said so.

Evgenia didn’t get involved in that struggle until late.

As a result, she faced much opposition and attacks.

By the time Evgenia, once the leader of the most powerful faction, finally entered the power struggle, she was already in tatters.

In other words, Evgenia didn’t act even as her faction was being attacked.

“…It would be difficult for followers to maintain faith in a god who doesn’t act even as their faction weakens.”

Such behavior would make it seem like Evgenia was indifferent to her followers.

Chris nodded and continued.

“And she was already weakened from the Demon War.”

During the Demon War, she might have been fine.

But immediately after, Evgenia was likely significantly weakened.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean Evgenia’s faction was much weaker than others. But Emiris saw her as an inevitable opponent, and believed that without her, he could come closer to omnipotence.”

Chris spoke quietly.

“Above all, Emiris coveted the divine authority that Evgenia possessed.”

“…What authority was that?”

Chris answered my question quietly.

“The Authority of Guidance.”

“Could you explain exactly what kind of authority that is?”

Chris nodded at Eve’s question.

“To put it simply, it’s the ability to intuitively sense which direction a person or group should take… guiding them in the right direction.”

“Come to think of it, she was first described as ‘Evgenia, the Guide.'”

The authority possessed by the Guide.

That’s why it’s called the Authority of Guidance.

Though from Chris’s explanation, I’m not sure exactly what this ability entails.

“Um, to put it more casually, you could think of it as having incredibly good intuition… Unconsciously knowing ‘this is wrong’ or ‘we should go this way,’ perceiving what’s right and wrong, and guiding toward the correct path or direction…”

Even Chris seemed to have difficulty explaining it properly.

It must be truly hard to explain something connected to intuition.

Then Sera spoke up.

“Now that I think about it, Chris was always strangely good at finding things or secret passages even before becoming a god. Maybe that was connected to Evgenia’s authority.”

“Huh? Do you think… so?”

Chris responded ambiguously to Sera’s comment.

She must not know for sure herself.

‘…But it does make sense.’

Hearing that Chris’s knack for finding the right path or hidden things might be connected to Evgenia’s authority, it seemed vaguely plausible.

For example, when we were looking for Sera’s grandmother’s secret workshop.

The hypothesis is that Chris kept finding the way and guiding us because going to the secret workshop was the right direction for us.

Back then, we often found what we were looking for because of Chris, or Chris would find it—could that be related to the Authority of Guidance?

“A-Anyway, let me continue. The exact effect of the authority is less important than the fact that Emiris targeted it.”

Chris cleared his throat and continued.

“Emiris aimed for omnipotence and omniscience. But he believed that Evgenia, with her Authority of Guidance, would foresee and prevent his actions. At the same time, he coveted that authority. He seemed to think that authority was close to the ‘omniscience’ part of ‘omnipotence and omniscience.'”

“Omniscience, huh.”

Literally the ability to know everything.

Since the Authority of Guidance allows one to intuitively sense and guide toward the right direction, I suppose there’s a similarity.

If it’s about knowing the right direction, it could be considered similar to Eve’s ability to know the future.

‘…Though it seems somewhat different.’

We can examine the exact differences later.

If it’s an ability to sense what will happen, like Eve’s power, it would certainly be troublesome for someone plotting schemes.

“Coveting the Authority of Guidance, Emiris immediately targeted Evgenia. Claiming he needed to calm the situation of gods fighting each other, Emiris requested Evgenia’s help. She accepted and met with Emiris… only to be stabbed in the back.”

As Chris spoke, she momentarily frowned and placed a hand on her chest.

…Judging by Chris’s expressions so far, I was worried that she might be experiencing Evgenia’s emotions or sensations through these recollections.

“Chris.”

“I’m fine. I’m just reading Evgenia’s memories, so I felt her pain for a moment.”

Chris said this and gave a small smile.

“…Anyway, Emiris successfully subdued Evgenia with ease, usurped her power, and devoured her.”

“Was there no effect, unlike with the demons?”

“Emiris was the God of Conquest. He possessed the Authority of Conquest. It seems to be an authority that allows him to make others’ powers his own without any side effects.”

I was curious about Emiris’s authority, but I hadn’t expected it to be one optimized for stealing from others.

While the demons became vulnerable to other gods’ divine power as the price for usurping a god’s power, Emiris could take power without any side effects thanks to his authority.

In fact, since Emiris was also a god, he probably would have suffered fewer side effects than the demons anyway.

“Having made Evgenia’s power his own, Emiris soon began devouring the gods one by one.”

Chris’s expression darkened.

“Finally, Emiris came to possess all the authorities and divine power of eight gods.”

“All authorities… don’t tell me.”

“Yes.”

Chris spoke quietly.

“Emiris gained the power of all the gods.”

Silence fell again at Chris’s words.

‘Now I understand why he was so arrogant.’

On our journey here, Emiris had confronted us directly a few times.

Of course, it wasn’t him in person, but rather portions of his power that he sent out.

Each time, I thought his attitude was arrogant, but now I understood why.

Of the nine, then eight gods that once existed, only he remained.

And he had absorbed the power of all gods.

In other words, he had nothing to fear.

‘So that’s why he calls himself the God King.’

A god who usurped all the gods’ powers, becoming worthy of the title omnipotent and omniscient.

The only god remaining in this world.

A king left alone.

It would be difficult not to become arrogant.

‘…He truly deserves to be called omnipotent and omniscient.’

As I thought this, another statement came to mind.

[And remember this.]

Rubrum’s message.

[Gods are close to omnipotence and omniscience, but they are not omnipotent and omniscient.]

‘He’s certainly close to omnipotence and omniscience.’

Having obtained the power of all gods, that description isn’t unwarranted.

But.

‘Did he really gather all the gods’ power?’

Looking at Sia deep in thought, I realized something.

“…Saying ‘all gods’ isn’t quite accurate.”

“What?”

Sera asked as if confused.

Then I spoke quietly.

“There’s clearly a god’s power that exists but may not have been transferred to Emiris.”

“Which god?”

“Promete.”

A god whose name we finally heard here.

A god whose power had already been usurped by the demons.

But thinking about it differently.

The demons inherited that god’s power.

So if Emiris couldn’t take that power from the demons…

The premise that Emiris gathered all the gods’ power doesn’t hold.

‘Moreover…’

There was another question.

Can one become truly omnipotent and omniscient by gathering the powers of gods who originally had limitations?

‘Come to think of it, there’s something else strange.’

I thought while looking at Kara.

It was about when Emiris interfered with us.

If he was already omnipotent and omniscient, anything should have been possible.

But when Emiris fought us, he sent his power to someone else for a temporary manifestation.

First Kara, then Hakan.

The first time could be excused as not anticipating us.

But if he was hindered when using Kara, and then wanted to eliminate me for certain the next time…

Why not come down in person instead of transferring power to Hakan?

“He didn’t do something that could have been resolved by coming down in person, twice.”

If so.

Perhaps it’s not that he could but chose not to, but that he couldn’t?

And if he couldn’t, why?

The answer is simple.

“He came close to omnipotence and omniscience, but he isn’t truly omnipotent and omniscient.”

I said quietly, looking at Chris.