Chapter 703: Faith 2
"Oh...? Why not just absorb them?" Jeanne asked.
"Although they are dark in nature, they are still gods... I don't know what kind of trouble I'll get from eating them."
'It's one thing for me to have my own divinity that is slowly growing; it's another thing for me to eat a divinity that isn't mine. War wasn't a problem because he was a newborn god, and he hardly had time to build a proper divinity, which is not the case with these gods."
"Understanding the nature of divinity is something completely opposite of the creatures of the night. I remember that Vlad also never tried to absorb a god before. He just killed them." Morgana spoke.
"One thing I don't understand is what they are doing here, aren't all the pantheons occupied right now or something?" Jeanne spoke.
"One of Diablo's long term goals was to create a pantheon with all the dark deities from different pantheons. Which is why he allied himself with all the kings of hell, so it wouldn't be strange to see dark gods cooperating with New Dawn. They had a close relationship, after all."
"..."" Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"... Creating a pantheon... That's ambitious." Scathach spoke.
"Indeed." Victor didn't deny it.
"...Speaking of memories, can't you identify them with Diablo's memories?" Jeanne asked.
"No, I can't. Looks like Diablo didn't interact with them."
"They might look different too. Remember, Aphrodite has done that in the past." Scathach spoke.
"Scathach, you cannot deceive a dragon's eyes."
"..."" Scathach felt a delicious shiver run through her body as she looked into Victor's eyes.
"Seeing what the world truly looks like means that no kind of transformation, fakery, or illusion works for me."
"When I look at someone, I see the true appearance of that person, the appearance that the soul gives to the body."
"You are a nightmare to the gods related to deceit, illusion, and lies." Jeanne laughed.
"I don't deny it." Victor laughed gently.
Victor looked back at the island and saw the gods disappearing from the area and letting humans take care of everything.
"Okay, that just got even more confusing."
"What is it?" Jeanne asked.
"This place clearly looks like a shelter, and the 'cargo' on the plane were all supplies being made available to humans."
"... This is not something I expected." Morgana narrowed her eyes.
"Me either."
"... Lord Victor, I have a theory," Oda said.
"Speak."
"Even indirectly, a war between demons and humans took place, countries were wiped off the map, and the world's economy collapsed, the world was turned upside down overnight, just as everyone understands, this is the perfect opportunity to take action and gain influence in the world."
With just those words, Victor managed to understand the point that Oda had pointed out: "The world is being rebuilt... We basically went back to the second world war, only much bloodier and more brutal...."
"Like us, they are taking this chance to acquire... whatever it is they want."
Victor turned his gaze to the human city and narrowed his eyes as his vision went to the citizens' houses, and he saw a shrine of a god.
He repeated his action and saw all the houses on the island, and as expected, they all had a shrine with the image of a god.
"Each house in this place has a shrine to a god."
"... They are accumulating Faith." Jeanne opened her eyes wide.
"Faith? But the gods don't need Faith." Scathach commented.
"Yes, that is correct, but for a pantheon, that is quite important."
"What do you mean?" Victor asked.
"While they don't need Faith to use their powers, Faith is very much intertwined with the birth of powerful new gods."
"Tell me, Scathach, you who have traveled to many countries of the world must know. How long has it been since you heard about a new 'god' being created naturally and strong? I'm not talking about ascended gods like Albedo or your teacher."
Scathach opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and narrowed her eyes: "I've never heard of that."
"That's because it's been a long time since this happened."
"Gods that are born from the myths, imagination, and the Faith of humans have more potential than gods born naturally from two gods."
"In modern times, the creation of new powerful gods was completely interrupted. This almost never happened again like it did in the past; the reason for this is, as I said, to be born a strong god, they need a 'myth' and a 'faith' behind it."
"For example, even if Zeus has sex with Hera 24 hours a day, starting today, the chance of them having a child is high, but that child will not be as strong as Ares."
"But, if a new myth about the son of Zeus and Hera who was born in modern times is widely believed, that son may come into existence with various legends and myths, making him as strong as a greater god."
"... Hmm, I understand, but I don't comprehend something." Victor looked at Jeanne:
"If a god is born of another god, and he doesn't have a myth, can't he acquire a 'myth' for himself?"
"Yes, but that is an impossible task in modern times."
"The god must alone make something worthy of a 'legend’, and it needs to be widely known by mortals."
"For example, in this war that took place between the humans and the demons, if a god with no myth behind them came down to help the humans and defeated all the demons along with Diablo alone."
"That would be the feat worthy of a 'legend', and thanks to that legend, that god would acquire several high-level concepts thanks to that achievement."
"Of course, the requirement for humans to be watching everything is also necessary for the 'legend' to be registered by everyone."
"... That is ridiculous and impossible," Scathach said, shaking her head in disbelief. No one wins a war alone; that was common sense.
"Right? But that is how a myth or a legend is born. In ancient times this was much easier; after all, humans were creatures who lived in a sea of uncertainty in the past."
"A giant snake would appear in the sea, and lightning would fall on its head. Two fishermen would see it, return home, and tell the story to their village, the story of a god of thunder who subjugated a snake and helped two fishermen. In time, this myth would be spread, and everyone would know about it."
"Throughout the generations, this myth would be passed down until another event that seemed to be related to thunder took place, spawning even more rumors and myths."
"Time would pass again until one day when this myth is well known, someone will whisper a name... Thor,"
"And Voila, the requirement for a god with great potential was born."
"Most gods with great potential came into being this way. They were not born from someone's womb unless specifically pointed out in a myth as in most Greek stories."
"With modernization, this type of scenario will hardly happen."
"... You seem to know a lot about this, Jeanne," Morgana spoke in a shocked tone.
"I've lived a long time, Morgana. I've seen that happen a few times over the course of history."
"Oh... Yes... I had forgotten about that." Morgana laughed sweetly.
Jeanne rolled her eyes as she looked at Victor and asked:
"Victor, what is the god in the image of the shrine like?"
"It is something like this." Victor raised his hand and an ice sculpture formed in front of them.
The sculpture had the image of a man with spiky hair holding an axe up with a heroic expression.
"Humans call him Thorron."
"I've never heard of a god with that name before, I might not know the physical characteristics of a god because it might be quite different from the books, but the names and myths behind it would hardly be forgotten," Scathach spoke.
"I assume you researched this because you wanted to fight them in the future, and you wanted references," Victor spoke.
Scathach displayed a small smile: "... You know me well, Victor." She laughed in a melodious voice.
"You never heard the name of that god, Scathach. It's because that god doesn't exist, not yet."
Scathach stopped laughing and looked at Jeanne.
"It's possible that this isolated dimension is all one big experiment in creating new gods."
"Think of what I said and think of the present situation. The 'destruction' of the human race by monstrous creatures, the isolation of a community without access to the outside world, the patronage of a 'real god'... Putting all these factors together, we have a group of easily influenced humans, and if that community of humans was to believe in their hearts that the god they are praying to is indeed a real god..."
"As the years and generations pass, not just one, more new gods could actually be born here, all thanks to the 'myth' that will be artificially created here by the same beings who put them all here."
"They created a perfect setting to mimic what a day was in the past, a time when humans lived with uncertainty and insecurities about the day ahead, and could only count on Faith to keep them 'safe'."
"The human race was not destroyed, Jeanne." Morgana pointed.
"They don't know that, Morgana. Communications have been destroyed. They just know what happened to them, and for them, the entire human race has been destroyed right in front of their eyes by monsters... And I'm sure whatever god or organization planned this, it's in their interest to keep these humans as uninformed as possible."
"Fuck, the more I think about it, the more it implies that this is a controlled environment for the possible creation of new gods," Jeanne spoke while putting her hand on her brow as if she had a severe headache.
"Jeanne, does faith have to be just from mortals like humans?"
"Hmm? Of course not. As long as the group is not a god, it is possible to create Faith."
""Heeh, what about the demons? What do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the demons call me as if I were the antichrist, and I have done many great deeds in hell."
"Oh, but you weren't born a god, Victor. You are a mortal. What I said only applies to natural gods."
"Oh."
"The only option for you is to ascend to godhood like Albedo."
"..." A moment of silence fell over them, nobody said anything, and they just thought about Jeanne's words. Each one had their own thoughts going through their heads now.
This silence was broken by Oda, who spoke:
"In desperate times... Everyone clings to the smallest thread of hope possible in search of a new tomorrow. For mortals with a limited lifespan, their flames of hope are so great, and at the same time so ephemeral, and it is these flames that will give life to new gods... gods that could be enemies in the future."
"We need to do something, Lord Victor." Oda looked at Victor with a serious look.
"..." Victor nodded, and a decision was made:
"We need Aphrodite," Victor spoke.
"Preferably Rhea too. She is a mother goddess and also a former Queen, so she has a lot of experience in that matter." Jeanne added.
Victor nodded his head in agreement and said:
"I will contact Aléxios."
Edited By: Davo 2138, IsUnavailable
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