Chapter 966: Chapter 966: The Rules of the New World
"Arrange for all humans who wish to leave to depart together."
"How humans choose to act among themselves is their own affair. Whether they want to form communities similar to the gods’ familias, or establish their own kingdoms, that’s for them to decide. Going forward, there will still be many possible connections between humans and gods. I believe even those gods who love to play around will have their bottom line."
"The way they intend to regain their Authority is by acquiring faith."
"So then, can modern humans really place their faith in some god that easily?"
Bell paused slightly at that point.
"Ah, right. I almost forgot—there’s also God and the Divine Child, aren’t there? Those two are troublemakers wherever they go. In that case, I refuse to acknowledge their faith."
In an instant, violent tremors rippled through both worlds.
Gods once worshipped by countless believers and saints vanished completely at that moment. Not only the gods themselves, but the faith bound to them was erased as well.
"Bad boy, what did you just use?"
"Was that... ’Chaos’?"
Both Meteria and Shiki Ryougi sensed the disturbance. A single, casual sentence had triggered a change on a world-wide scale.
Bell shook his head lightly.
"Using ’Chaos’ on the world would have too great an impact. What I used was ’Order’."
"When I decide that certain gods and beliefs don’t need to exist in this world, I simply return that portion to its point of origin. By treating everything as ’Chaos,’ then distorting and smoothing it out, the impact on the world is minimized."
"Bad boy, you’re using ’Order’ as if it were ’Chaos’."
Even Meteria couldn’t help but complain.
"Mother, that’s exactly how ’Order’ is meant to be used. Besides, ’Order’ isn’t defined by the world itself, but by my own perspective.
"All supernatural phenomena are abnormal. To me, that abnormality is the very embodiment of ’Chaos’. Faith, in my eyes, is Chaos itself. Since it exists as Chaos, I simply give it the Order it deserves."
"Returning it to zero and ensuring it will never be born again—that is the Order I impose."
Bell spoke as if it were nothing, casually sealing off a certain faith and lightly erasing the existence of that god, practically denying its very birth.
And this was supposed to be ’Order’?
It looked even more like ’Chaos’ than Chaos itself.
Of course, Bell added some clarification.
"Of course, the reason I did this is because that Only God has gone mad trying to advance into the single digits. The commotion He caused in the ’Miniature World’ was like a seventeen-digit trying to snatch scraps from the two-digits. Do we really need to keep Him around?"
"The Bible God..." Shiki Ryougi nodded slightly. "His way of doing things is troublesome, and the spread of his faith among humans is extremely... aggressive."
She had seen firsthand how fast Biblical faith could spread.
In the past, she simply hadn’t cared. The world’s limits meant the Bible God couldn’t grow too powerful. But if the world were to expand, that speed of propagation would definitely cause unnecessary trouble.
Even so, after mentioning the Bible God, Shiki Ryougi’s gaze remained fixed on Bell.
"Still, the way you handled this was too extreme."
Bell raised both hands helplessly in surrender.
"I did go too far this time. But the Bible deities are a bunch of fanatics and lunatics. I don’t want those lunatics contaminating the world we just created."
"More importantly, after they finish stirring up trouble in the ’Miniature World,’ there’s a good chance they’d come here looking for trouble next."
Shiki Ryougi frowned slightly.
She didn’t doubt Bell’s judgment at all. She knew very well that the Bible deities lived up to their reputation—truly ’insane’.
She also had no desire to see such a pantheon wreak havoc in their newly created world.
After thinking it over, Shiki Ryougi slowly spoke.
"Just this once."
With that single sentence, she put an end to the matter that had just caused such a massive upheaval.
"As for the human side, my stance is simple. Humans have their own way of growing. Learning to adapt through suffering and hardship is a trait shared by all humanity. Giving them enough room to grow is sufficient."
"At this stage, the gods still need human faith, so their minds will be normal—very normal."
"If they ever stop being normal, humans will naturally give rise to those who oppose tyranny. When that happens, they may be called ’heroes’ who slay gods. Of course, there will likely be other gods investing behind the scenes."
"These matters will become very complicated, and they’re not something we need to deal with."
"Cause and effect isn’t something that’s completely absent from the world. From our perspective, that causality is even clearer, even more direct."
"These are the game rules of the new world we’ve created."
"Much like the ’Miniature World’—unreasonable, yet reasonable at the same time."
"There’s one thing I need to make clear to both humans and gods of these two worlds."
"Game rules can be broken. What matters is whether you can grasp those rules. Master them, exploit the loopholes—that is the path forward for humanity."
"Any ’hero’ among humans who wants to rise should think carefully about what abilities they have to take part in a game on this scale."
"As for gods, they are immortal and have far more leeway. But one thing will never change—gods who follow the rules will go further."
"Got it, Giant?"
Here, Bell clearly laid out the rules of the new world. They were similar to the ’Miniature World,’ though the construction of the world’s core had yet to begin. Once that core was complete, the new world would become even more like the ’Miniature World.’
So, before everything truly began, Bell gave all humans and gods across both worlds—those waiting for the world order to change—a clear reminder of the rules of the game.
The announcement alone was enough to make the gods of Danmachi restless.
To be blunt, these new rules would let the gods have even more fun.
A game is only interesting when played within rules. A completely one-sided game would lose its appeal from the very start.
And so, at this moment, the gods of Danmachi were filled with anticipation.
