CHAPTER 1283: CHAPTER 311: THE NATURE OF GODS (TWO IN ONE)_3

"For this reason, if one continuously and extensively draws upon the power of the Light Realm, two things will inevitably happen—firstly, the ’personality’ of that god will gradually be diluted and eroded by the infinite power."

"The god itself does not shrink or wear away, but as more and more emotionless, personality-less power flows in, the ’scale of existence’ grows ever larger. It’s akin to adding water to wine; the wine gradually becomes weaker... until one day, it turns into plain water without a trace of wine’s flavor."

"This transformation is almost permanent and irreversible. Pouring the water back out cannot restore the original concentration of the wine. Only by killing the True God and their subordinate gods, allowing them to be reborn from the Fountain of the Light Realm, can their personality be restored."

"And the second thing... as the power of this ’Grand Barrier God’ continues to inflate, the might of the ’Divine Arts’ that can be borrowed also keeps increasing. Eventually, this will cause the scale of their church to expand exponentially as well."

"Under the influence of the Chrono-Law Ritual, the church’s influence in the mortal realm essentially becomes equivalent to that god’s influence over other gods... because as long as a god still has a church, a bishop, other gods are prohibited from attacking them. Moreover, the ’proxy wars’ between these churches cannot directly involve the gods themselves."

"Now, if the church of one True God vastly outnumbers the others, the balance of power among the Twelve True Gods will be completely upended."

"To maintain their lofty position, they will instinctively begin to attack other denominations, and the deified gods might not even stop such actions. This will eventually lead to the gradual reduction of other gods’ churches."

"Of course, for us True Gods, the impact might not be too severe. But what of those subordinate gods, the False Gods?"

"Each god is a living pillar of this world, equally precious. We did not ascend in order to dominate this world. We came together to sustain its order and preserve its existence."

"Through countless efforts, they finally achieved ascension, yet they cannot gather followers. Unable to stabilize the ’definition’ that sustains their existence, they may even face the extinction of their concepts... This tragedy could even be called ’the Charioteer’s second death.’"

"She once said, ’Every star that rises makes this world richer and more complete.’"

"That is why we adhere to tradition and, unless necessary, try our best not to use Divine Power to reshape the world... not because the source of Divine Power is ’impure’ or ’inauthentic,’ nor because it may ’disrupt the balance of the world’—these are nothing but pretentious words."

"It is simply to prevent other gods from also beginning to excessively draw upon Divine Power to enhance their scale of existence. If too many gods start doing this, we would have to as well... and if that happens, the existence of us ancient gods would inevitably overwhelm all the new gods."

"But that would not make this world a better place. Our personalities would gradually fade, leaving only inhuman, purely divine ’Conceptual Gods’ behind. Only through a single ’death’ could one be freed from such cold and detached thoughts. Yet what could possibly overcome the barriers of the Chrono-Law Ritual to defeat a fully actualized ancient god?"

"By then, countless new gods and the concepts they safeguard would slowly perish. The churches of us ancient gods would overshadow all ordinary churches, and the power of Divine Arts would swell to become mightier than any Ritual Spell—this world would come under the domination of mortal popes."

"In such a future, one day... even the Ascension Ritual itself might become a taboo. The popes who hold real power might even resort to extinguishing ’concepts’ to murder weaker gods, halting the progress of the world and possibly even causing regression."

"Compared to such a future, we would rather let this world remain fragmented as it is. Even relying on a less powerful Grand Barrier to resist the Mist, with people scattered and living apart... is better than a future dominated by one—or several—Conceptualized Ancient Gods."

The Grandmother declared, "This is the unspoken agreement held only by gods. Every ’thing that gods cannot do’ you hear about is merely an excuse fabricated to conceal it."

"...Then, what about the Rotting Husband?"

Annan was momentarily stunned before pressing further, "Why even he...?"

"Because he does not yet count as a god."

The Grandmother’s lips curved slightly upward, "He is not worthy yet. Midas, on the other hand, had such capability, but he willingly relinquished it."

"The [Great Demon Lord] you saw when defeating the Rotting Husband and the Bone Duke, that was the true essence of a god."