After the God of Nobility retreated with a pale face, the Lord of Glory sighed and looked around at the gods.
"I assume everyone knows about the negative effects of the power of faith. I know many of you have considered whether to eliminate some believers in order to lessen those effects. For instance, just as He did earlier—letting a great many general believers and shallow believers die. Their souls would go to the Underworld after death anyway, so this would directly sever the connection between you and reduce your burden..."
"I will say what follows only once." The king of the human gods spoke calmly, yet killing intent slowly spilled from his eyes. "From this day forward, if anyone does this again for personal gain, die!"
The gods were horrified, but none dared object.
After a while, the God of Heroes asked quietly, "What if... there truly is a need to purify one's faith?"
"Raise it publicly first, and everyone can discuss the specific course of action together," said the Lord of Glory. "We are gods of humanity. To us, whether they believe in us or not, as long as they stand on humanity's side, they are those whom we must protect."
"When we act, of course we must place the greater good first, so sometimes sacrificing some people is unavoidable. But you must understand one thing: what is the greater good? Humanity's standpoint is the greater good—the most important greater good!"
"Whether good or evil, order or chaos. No matter what we do, it must serve the greater good of 'humanity.' For that greater good, mortals may be sacrificed—and gods may be sacrificed as well!"
When he finished, the entire hall fell into Silence, and the gods remained wordless.
Only after a long while did the God of