Chapter 967: Chapter 967: A New World — The Battle for Territory
"Now all gods and the children of the Genkai have become players on different tiers."
"This really is a grand feast."
"Yeah."
That alone was enough to make all the gods of Danmachi burst into laughter.
What more was there to say? Something interesting had arrived all at once.
As for Authority, abandoning it was no great loss. After all, once they descended to the Genkai, they could barely use it anyway. If a god used too much Authority, exceeding a certain threshold, they would be sent straight back to Tenkai.
So aside from being unable to use Authority, what real difference was there compared to before?
Well, there was one.
In the past, even their divine power had been sealed. But in this new world, only Authority was gone. Divine power itself could be used freely.
Wasn’t that a profit no matter how you looked at it?
"Even with new game rules added, doesn’t that just make things more fun?"
"But under those rules, factions will probably form. Entire factions will start striving to find their future path. And didn’t that child say it himself? Four digits aren’t our limit."
"Hah... I’m already starting to get impatient."
After the gathering of the three came to an end, all the gods of Danmachi assembled together.
The creation of a new world might mean that the distribution of power across everything would have to be reshuffled from scratch, but for the gods, this was undeniably a golden opportunity.
Everyone had already reached the same understanding.
The new world was the gods’ playground, and at the same time, it was their hope of taking that crucial step forward.
Hera and Zeus naturally sat together, drinking as they talked.
"The new world really is a playground for gods, but it’s also the best proving ground for the children of the Genkai to cross that line."
"Exactly. Even gods being slain can be accepted here. With the immortality of gods added into the mix, I’d say that brat would be happy if a few more gods jumped out to stir trouble. That way, a batch of Godslayers could rise from among humanity."
The two of them had more or less grasped what this new world was about.
Naturally, Hera and Zeus weren’t uninterested in it. In fact, just like the other gods, they were full of anticipation.
"The gods of both worlds will have their Authority taken away. That means everyone starts at the same starting line. Even so, that actually works more in our favor."
Hera spoke with an unusual degree of confidence.
"Zeus, the gods of the other world seem different from ours."
Zeus nodded slightly. He could hear it too, hidden within those conversations.
"That brat did say the gods of the other world are mostly lunatics."
"I imagine they’re about on the same level as those madmen. And if their numbers are large, then what kind of attitude do the humans of that world have toward their gods?"
A faint smile appeared on Hera’s face.
"That’s why the beginning of the new world is our best opportunity."
"Right. Seizing territory is what we’re best at. And taking away the faith of those children from the other world’s gods might be bad for those gods, but for us and for the children themselves, it’s hardly a bad thing."
Zeus couldn’t help but smile as well.
A new world meant everything was a blank slate. They now had an entire extra world of Genkai children as potential followers. If that wasn’t an opportunity, then what was?
Zeus swept his gaze across the gods present. Excitement and delight were written all over their faces. Clearly, everyone had thought of the same thing.
"We’re all thinking the same way."
"The new world is a massive opportunity for us. For the sake of our Authority, our divine status, and the future we want to build, we need to fight hard for it."
Zeus then turned to Hera.
"Looks like we’ll be going back to how things were before."
"Tch. Don’t tell me your kids are going to get tangled up with mine again."
Hera was referring to Meteria and Abel.
You’ve got to be kidding.
Zeus answered with a completely speechless expression.
His children were very good at reading the situation. Even that black rabbit was no exception. If Abel hadn’t made that agreement with the "World" back then, neither the Zeus Familia nor the Hera Familia would have returned as they had now.
"Old man, this time is different. The two of us might not be enough."
"Yeah, I think so too."
What Hera said was something Zeus had already considered.
The scale of the new world would definitely be far greater than this one. And without restrictions on their divine power, it wouldn’t be something that could just be crushed casually.
So they would probably need to bring a few old friends into this.
They couldn’t afford to fall behind from the very start of this struggle over the new world.
"That brat really has some nerve."
"Ah, you mean that one-digit existence the other ’World’ mentioned?"
"Mm."
Seeing the old man looking worried, Hera let out a small sigh. She didn’t really know how to explain it either.
"There’s nothing we can do. That child is already grown, and he’s destined to climb step by step. Instead of worrying so much, we should hurry up and cross that line ourselves. Maybe then we can even help him a little."
"I’d like to, but getting back to four digits won’t be easy."
Reforging Authority and divine status was no simple matter.
Their myths needed to be sung and passed down again, to undergo the baptism of ’human history’ and reclaim Authority. And the very first step required an enormous amount of faith.
Hera knew very well how difficult this would be. But precisely because it was difficult, it was something that had to be done.
"So we need to use this opportunity to find suitable people."
"Yeah. Hermes should be the first one we look for."
If Zeus and Hera could think of these things, then other gods naturally weren’t any different.
Everyone was the same. They all wanted allies better suited for seizing territory. Gods who liked tripping others up were naturally not their first choice.
Of course, many warlike gods had already begun gathering together as well.
After all, even if Authority couldn’t be used, divine power itself wasn’t restricted. That meant that even war gods without Authority could still unleash extraordinary combat strength.
Gods of similar types began talking among themselves, all waiting for the moment when the new world would finally be completed.
