Chapter 378
**The normally lively Sky Garden was strangely quiet on this particular day.**
Usually, with everyone spending time as they pleased, a certain amount of noise was to be expected.
Adding otherworldly books like manga to the mix should have made it even livelier, yet for some reason, on this day alone, it was eerily quiet.
**"What does this mean?"**
The cause was a single letter.
No, a notification.
Akamu was looking at it as the representative, with the other four pillars peering over the shoulders of his small frame.
Surprisingly, even Cephali, the Goddess of Wisdom, was present.
**"There's no 'what' or 'how' about it. One can only say it's as you see."**
They were all looking at it not so much with interest, but as a document they *had* to see.
In that atmosphere, Gorldos deftly took the document from Akamu's hand, looked at it again, and furrowed his brow.
**"But, but... Why did it suddenly come to this?"**
**"A reason is written... but the details aren't specified."**
The sight of all five pillars looking troubled as they stared at a single sheet of paper was no ordinary matter.
**"'The following two pillars, for the crime of disrupting the world's order, shall have their divine power sealed and be sentenced to exile to the lower world.'"**
The document's content was that sinner gods—no, divine criminals—had been punished.
And the ones punished were...
**"Should we say it's good news for you, Cephali?"**
**"Well, yeah. This means we don't have to worry about receiving those spiteful letters anymore."**
...the Goddess of Light, Rina, and the Goddess of Earth, Juri.
**"Did they act out too much?"**
**"Honestly, that's... something we can't deny."**
**"They were quite unruly, so it's not impossible to say."**
For the gods currently in this garden, the two goddesses who had been a recent headache were being subjected to a punishment rare even in divine history—so outrageous that Cephali inadvertently let slip a word. Given they were pathological brocons, everyone present shared the common thought that they'd eventually cause trouble.
**"Did sending that doll make them snap?"**
Among them, Cephari—who had sent a life-size doll, made by the god Grufora himself, the object of their brother complex, as if to say it was a sacrifice to appease divine wrath—muttered a likely cause for this major incident while pondering.
**"Can't say it didn't, right?"**
**"Hmm, given their state, it's not an impossible story that it became the final straw, causing them to rampage and inflict damage on the gods of the divine realm."**
Neither Akamu nor Gorldos denied the possibility Cephali presented.
Those goddesses were capable of it.
Impressions built over time are hard to shake, and theirs was quite terrible.
For the divine realm, this was a major incident, so normally more accurate information should have arrived. Yet, all they had was the content of a single sheet of paper, too scant for the gravity of the situation.
**"Just what in the world..."**
While in this garden, except for exceptions, they couldn't contact other gods.
It was to ensure fairness, they understood, but it was inconvenient at times like this.
Just as they thought that, the sound of flapping wings echoed, and a visitor appeared in the garden.
**'Ah, so it reached you all too.'**
**"Grufora."**
The other party involved.
The God of Chaos, Grufora, in the form of a two-headed eagle—the younger brother god of the sisters who caused the commotion.
**"You seem quite cheerful."**
**'Does it look that way?'**
Upon his appearance, the five pillars, who had assumed he'd be shaken or disheartened, were betrayed. Grufora, despite having an eagle's face, displayed the feat of wearing a cheerful smile.
It was no wonder Akamu looked dumbfounded.
**"Yeah, you look happy even though your sisters have committed a crime."**
Gods are self-centered.
Possessing immense power, they could be said to be the farthest beings from the word 'humble.'
Still, you'd think they might feel at least a twinge of guilt if their own family caused trouble, but none of that could be sensed from Grufora.
**'Well, that's because I know the circumstances this time.'**
**"What?"**
When Akamu pointed that out, Grufora spoke the reason for his feelings without hiding anything.
Grufora knew the circumstances of the two pillars' exile drama, about which these five had only been informed by a single sheet of paper.
**"There is an explanation, then?"**
His god, like the five here, should have minimal contact with other gods.
If so, his sources were limited.
Under Meitel's sharp gaze, Grufora did not flinch and nodded with his eagle's face.
**'Ah, of course.'**
Then, the gesture of bringing a wing to his head also seemed like he was organizing his thoughts on where to begin.
**'First, the crime my sisters committed was violating the rules of this Chief God Selection. Interference with the lower world.'**
**""""Ah.""""**
**"Hmph, figures."**
After pondering where to start, what Grufora taught them was the nature of the crime.
The five pillars had thought he might reveal his source, but they listened quietly as they didn't know that information either. However, upon hearing it, they immediately understood the crime.
Cephali even sighed in resignation, as if it was expected.
**'It seems they schemed to support me by borrowing the power of the God of Observation, Haze, utilizing the power of outer universe gods, and slipping through the surveillance networks of various gods...'**
Those goddesses' guiding principle was aiding this God of Chaos. That's why the type of crime didn't surprise them.
**'But that God of Observation, Haze... was actually a trap.'**
**"""""Huh?"""""**
However, at the content revealed next, even the gods widened their eyes in surprise.
The God of Observation, Haze, that came to their minds was a radical god of a one-person faction.
A pariah who deemed it right to bring chaos to the world by obtaining power from outside this world's principles—the outer universe.
A dreamer with about ten screws loose.
That's how outrageous an existence he should have been.
**'I figured you'd react that way. This is a fact only I, as the God of Chaos, could know.'**
Yet, he said that god was a trap.
They wondered what kind of joke this was, but Grufora prefaced that what he would say from here was fact. Gods can see through lies.
And the gods other than Grufora sensed his words were not false.
**'He has power, a history of past misdeeds. Furthermore, he's disliked, and other gods keep their distance. A dangerous god with all these conditions aligned. Everyone thought he was left alone because he wasn't causing trouble. In fact, until I heard this story from the Ancient Gods, that was my impression too.'**
There was something behind it.
Not that the God of Observation, Haze, was plotting something, but that there was something *centered around* him—the nuance of his words suggested that.
**'Normally, no one approaches God Haze. If you do, you receive cold looks from others. Hence, he's isolated. But conversely, that leads to the idea that if you slip through the eyes of other gods, you can borrow his power. For bringing in shady requests, there's no more convenient existence than him.'**
**"...... I see."**
With Grufora's words, Cephali understood the raison d'être of a god who had maintained such a position for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.
**"So the Ancient Gods are also in on 'Gru'?"**
The God of Observation, Haze, was a decoy for gods attempting to violate the rules of this Chief God Selection.
Gods are the ones who make the rules. Therefore, decisive evidence is needed to judge.
By any means necessary, they absolutely seize evidence from the opponent.
To that end, they intentionally prepared the position of an isolated god.
**'Correct.'**
Grufora, smiling brightly, was undoubtedly a god.
A god precisely because he chose no means.
**"You deliberately let your sisters' actions slide, didn't you? Anticipating this outcome."**
Gods act on emotion.
But sometimes, they act with cold cruelty.
**'I am the God of Chaos. The existence that mixes all things, where all beings coexist. There is kindness, and there is severity. There is cruelty, and there is mercy.'**
This world has many gods.
No matter how powerful, few gods wish for the world's order to collapse due to their selfish actions.
Even if the other party is family, that cannot be an exception.
**'I warned them before becoming a heretic god. I said, don't do anything reckless. If this is the result of ignoring that warning and charging ahead, it's my sisters' own fault. I can only be grateful they weren't destroyed.'**
**"A god as suited to the name 'Heretic God' as you is rare."**
**'Is that so? Then I'm glad.'**
Unlike humans, gods cannot be bound by laws.
Therefore, what's needed is an example.
The two pillars, unaware of the circumstances, had their crimes exposed by unknown means and the sentence executed.
For Cephali, the Goddess of Wisdom, 'not knowing' is the most terrifying thing.
What sleeps within chaos? To know that, one must peer into chaos oneself.
But when you peer into chaos, chaos also peers back at you.
**"But hey. Is it okay to throw those willful goddesses into the lower world and not here? They'll definitely cause trouble, right? Wouldn't it be better to seal them here for a thousand or two thousand years?"**
Just as a slightly ominous atmosphere was about to flow, Akamu changed the topic with a look of exasperation.
Exile to the lower world is a heavy punishment among gods.
All divine authority is sealed, and they live as powerless humans.
The horror of this punishment is that the fallen god does not become immortal; they reincarnate repeatedly in that form.
Once a life ends, they don't return to normal but start a new human life in a different, powerless body.
It's a punishment to atone for the sin of trying to break this world's rules.
However, that's the gods' convenience.
Even if powerless, they are humans housing a god's soul.
Even if strictly sealed, memories sealed, and reborn as a blank human, there's a possibility their power might leak due to some trigger.
**'The divine bodies are used as pillars to run this world. And by separating the souls, they simultaneously impose labor punishment and mental punishment. That's the punishment given to us gods, continued since ancient times.'**
Even with such demerits, it remains the most effective punishment for gods.
**"Hmm... So, where were those goddesses cast down?"**
**'Who knows?'**
**"'Who knows?' You don't know?"**
**'The ones who executed the punishment are the Ancients. I don't know more than that. The only thing I know is that they've already been cast into the world.'**
**"""""!?"""""**
However, even such a punishment is a tremendous irregularity from the world's perspective.
Hearing Grufora's words, the five pillars looked startled and peered at the world's board.
**"In this world... those goddesses are?"**
**"Well, they might have been reborn as proper humans."**
**"Do you really think that's the case?"**
**"We're talking about *those* goddesses, you know?"**
**"...... I hope they weren't dropped in the south."**
They have already been released into the world.
What happens next, even the gods don't know.
Whether it leads to trouble, or nothing happens and they become buried in the world, not even that is known.
**'Now, now, Cephali. I'll return this. By the way, I'd like you to make something next, so can I request the next work?'**
Amidst such tense air, the manga the two-headed eagle skillfully returned was a bitterly ironic work.
The so-called "serves you right" type of story.
A work where the side that exiled someone, thinking it was resolved, gets betrayed by the exiled side.
Cephali and the others thought they didn't want to see this kind of thing at this timing.
**"Should we strengthen our surveillance?"**
**"Yeah."**
**"Yes, perhaps we should restrain ourselves from reading manga for a while."**
**"Indeed."**
**"I suppose so."**
**'Huh?'**
The atmosphere chilled at once, and tension filled the Sky Garden.
Even the gods disliked receiving a painful backlash, after all.