Ch.9494. Evil God Conference (3)

While the agreement on the division of the Holy City among the Seven Great Evil Gods had been neatly concluded, the Evil Gods’ council was far from over.

“Who do you think you are?! I’ve controlled that city for over a hundred years—!!”

“So what? That city is in my hands now.”

With all sorts of miscellaneous evil gods gathered together, those who were normally enemies seemed determined to settle their scores here and now, hurling insults at each other.

It wasn’t just the volume of their voices but the hostile language they used that made it seem like a fight could break out at any moment.

They resembled street thugs more than gods, and while I sighed deeply inside, I stepped in to restore order.

“Silence, you undignified creatures. Displaying such shameful behavior openly—do you have any sense of responsibility as gods?”

Though my voice wasn’t particularly loud compared to their shouting, most of the evil gods shrank back and fell silent immediately upon hearing my words.

Yes, “most” of the evil gods.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?! Shut your mouth!!”

One god, presumably the deity of the Minotaurs, who had been engaged in a heated argument with another evil god just moments ago, completely disregarded my words and instead shouted at me.

Naturally, such behavior was a direct challenge to my authority and power.

And this from a mere low-ranking tribal deity who had only recently ascended to godhood.

From behind me, I felt gazes.

Panima, the Evil God of Despair, watching with undisguised anticipation.

[ ], the Evil God of Misfortune, whose image of sighing deeply flashed momentarily.

Marus Area, the Evil God of Plague, showing no interest as he scratched the rats that composed his body.

Horus, the Evil God of Fear, looking at me with indifference yet slight expectation, while simultaneously sending me quite favorable glances.

And Magica, the Evil God of Conspiracy, who was merely observing me.

The emotions contained in these evil gods’ gazes varied according to their personalities, but there was one thing they all had in common.

‘They’re going to determine their future stance based on how I handle this, aren’t they?’

These five evil gods would decide how to treat me—the one who would wield the greatest influence in this council—based on how I dealt with that beef-headed fool who had lost his mind.

Well, not that it would change my approach.

“W-what are you going to do?! Hey! Hey! Who do you think you a—”

“Quiet.”

The beef-head seemed to finally notice the atmosphere and sense something was wrong, trying to retort, but I cut off his words midway with a flash of my eyes.

“Yes, there’s always one idiot like this. Someone who doesn’t know their place, getting carried away just because they’ve become a god, unable to distinguish right from wrong like a mere insect. Am I wrong?”

As I stared at the beef-head while openly emanating killing intent, he frantically looked around, but…

All he saw were other gods desperately trying to avoid eye contact with me. Even for a fool, it was enough to realize something had gone terribly wrong.

And finally, the beef-head seemed to understand the situation he was in.

He had openly disrespected the position of the strongest and most capable being in his group, in a place with no rules or laws to protect him.

Neither the gods of similar rank who didn’t want to get on my bad side, nor the Seven Great Evil Gods of higher rank would take the side of someone who had disrespected me, who held the same position as them.

“Did your worshippers’ praise make you conceited? Don’t be mistaken. Your value here is less than the irritation your words have caused me.”

“…Urgh!”

“Now then—it’s time for revenge for souring my mood.”

The moment I said that, the beef-head began to swell from within before he could even react.

“Uurgh! Uuuurgh! Uuuuuuuuuu—”

His body inflated so rapidly that it twisted his entire form, instantly turning him into nothing more than a meat balloon that was once a god.

For those who had enjoyed their divine positions while being worshipped, this treatment would seem unbelievably harsh for someone of their level, so they were all whispering and looking at me and the beef-head with terrified glances…

But to think this level of punishment was considered harsh—these truly were pathetic creatures.

“Well then, my dear Seven Great Evil Gods. How should we deal with this one who has disrespected our authority?”

Thus, I sent a clear warning to the remaining lesser evil gods by asking the other Seven Great Evil Gods about how to handle this creature.

No matter how much they might be worshipped as transcendent beings in their own domains, such status meant nothing in this Evil Gods’ Council. Here, one’s position derived solely from their power.

Anyway, while the other evil gods trembled, the Seven Great Evil Gods shared their opinions while looking down on those pitiful creatures.

“Why not just kill him? I hate troublesome things.”

“(I agree with Marus Area.)”

The Plague God Marus Area suggested simply killing him cleanly, with the Misfortune God [ ] agreeing.

“Just killing him is boring. Blood-soaked God, if you leave it to me, I’ll show him the ultimate despair.”

“What about me? A god’s fear would make excellent material, wouldn’t it?”

The two Evil Gods of Despair and Fear snickered, suggesting not to simply kill the trembling beef-head.

“Red King, then… how about sharing him?”

And finally, the Evil God of Conspiracy, Magica, subtly positioning himself as a “fair mediator.”

The excitement in their gazes, as if they were watching an entertaining spectacle, quickly cooled my rising anger, and I quietly spoke.

“Fine. Let’s share. Of course, the soul and divine nature are mine. Any objections?”

“Of course not.”

At [ ]’s words, the other four brightly smiled in agreement, and I returned their smiles while tearing out the insignificant divine nature and soul from the creature.

“I’ll take its fresh, red blood.”

After claiming my share, the remaining five stepped forward in turn to dismantle and savor the creature.

“Then I’ll take the internal organs. The organs of a rotten god… they’ll make a fine plague.”

The Plague God Marus Area took the meat lump’s internal organs.

“Then I’ll take… those eyes that reveal fear.”

The Fear God Horus took the eyes that had been mirrors of terror.

“I’ll take the brain. Not that it’s of good quality, but still.”

The Conspiracy God Magica took the brain that had been incapable of conspiracy or even thought.

“(Then the only thing suitable for me would be the tongue.)”

The Misfortune God [ ] took the tongue, the source of this beef-head’s misfortune.

“Oho… a god’s despair has its own exquisite flavor.”

Finally, the Despair God Panima took all the memories, including those of despair that it had experienced.

Adding to this, we removed its genitals and set them aside for the vacant seat, leaving nothing but the tattered remains of its corpse.

Though it was the corpse of a god, albeit a low-ranking one, and had some value, such a mangled corpse was still… best used as a carrot.

“Ah. My apologies, fellow Evil Gods. I made you just watch, but you must have been affected by this creature’s behavior as well.”

With the implicit consent of the other evil gods, I tore apart the beef-head’s corpse and scattered it in all directions.

Or more precisely, I didn’t just scatter it randomly, but divided the corpse in exact proportions and distributed it to all the evil gods present.

This act was part of the very classical organizational management method known as carrot and stick—or in other words, taking credit for something that had no value to me.

Well, anyway, that’s what I did.

Those who had been gripped with fear while watching the dismemberment show right before their eyes began to cheer wildly the moment they realized something was falling into their hands.

Of course, part of the cheering was for obtaining the beef-head’s corpse, but that wasn’t all.

About one-third was cheering for the unexpected gain, another third was relief that I wouldn’t massacre them all, and the remaining third was pretending to cheer out of fear for their lives.

Anyway, as the cheering continued.

I silently shot glances in all directions that clearly conveyed my wish for them to leave, and the evil gods, reading the atmosphere, began to exit the council chamber one by one.

And so, in the council chamber where everyone had left, including the Seven Great Evil Gods.

“Now, shall we begin our negotiations?”

“Let’s do that. These things need to be handled properly.”

In the council chamber where only Magica and I remained, negotiations were about to begin.