Chapter 392: The Consequences of Mythological Gods Manifesting in the Mortal Realm...
The mythology of this world is quite interesting indeed.
It seems that gods can only become deities through their relationship with human faith.
Of course, this faith isn't necessarily religious in nature—more accurately, it's about recognition and fame.
The wider the circulation of a god's deeds, after sufficient time has passed, the god successfully comes into existence.
To be precise, gods originally exist, but because humans weave myths and give them names, these originally formless beings become personified.
So what were these originally formless beings?
Renji believes they were conceptual, law-like existences.
For example, fire—before it was assigned to any specific fire god, its power couldn't be controlled freely and would inadvertently cause fire-related calamities.
Thus, such calamities were revered and feared by humanity, gradually leading to the naming of this fire as a god—this deity controls flame, and this god's duty is such and such.
Therefore, after gaining consciousness and acquiring mythology, gods would act according to their duties in the myths rather than acting recklessly.
So, with so many myths in the world, are there many gods controlling fire? What's the situation here?
It's simple: weaving more myths about fire across different Pantheons means the conceptual power of fire is divided into more portions rather than being held by a single entity, making it less terrifying.
Hence, it can be said that the birth of gods and their related myths is essentially a ritual created by humble humans to prevent the divine might of gods from becoming too powerful.
In this way, gods are constrained within the mythological world and do not run amok in the mortal realm.
As for the so-called Heretic Gods, they are deities who have broken away from their myths and wander the earthly world. The longer they remain in the mortal realm, the more they gradually forget their mythological stories, equivalent to shedding their shackles.
In their dazed state, they become irritable and prone to using their power, causing destruction in this world.
When a Heretic God is slain, they do not truly die but return to their myths.
To prevent Heretic Gods from destroying the human world, the goddess Pandora established a secret ritual: if a human successfully slays a god, they can usurp the god's Authority and wield the power of gods.
This makes it easier to curb the rampages of Heretic Gods.
But honestly, it's absolutely certain that humans cannot possibly defeat Heretic Gods.
The rare, miraculous instances where humans have defeated Heretic Gods are either due to the gods holding back or some external force.
"Erica, search for information on the Apocalypse Knight's deeds~"
Sensing something, Renji suddenly said to the young lady who had just regained some strength.
"Huh?"
Erica was a bit puzzled but still searched online for information about the Apocalypse Knight's deeds.
A quick search brought up the relevant entries.
"Huh?"
She noticed something: in the introduction of the Apocalypse Knight, the entry for the Plague Knight—the Pale Knight—had less information, and the deeds had become somewhat vague.
Perhaps someone had edited this Wikipedia entry.
But as she opened other web pages one by one, she noticed that it seemed as if someone was trying to gradually erase the Pale Knight's deeds?
"What is this?"
Erica grew somewhat tense.
"Don't worry, it's not targeting me. It's like when Heretic Gods descend to the mortal world, they gradually forget their stories, bit by bit breaking free from the shackles of their myths, which is why they act recklessly, right?"
"Mhm."
"My situation is the complete opposite."
"Complete opposite?"
"This situation means I have truly left the mythological world—my true self no longer exists there."
These words made Erica widen her eyes.
Being clever and quick-witted, she immediately realized something.
"So, if a god from the myths truly descends to the mortal world, the myths that bind them will truly disappear!"
Therefore, the woven mythological stories given by humanity would vanish from this world, and humans would forget them?
So, Erica was also somewhat nervous about whether the person before her might go mad due to the disappearance of the Woven Mythology.
But so far, he had not caused any harm to this world and had been very well-behaved.
He was completely like a human, perfectly integrated into human society.
Could it be that even if a god's true form descends to the mortal world and loses the constraints of mythology, they would not go mad?
"Hmm, it's possible."
The reason it wasn't a definitive answer was because Renji himself had descended by borrowing an identity from this world, so he couldn't be certain whether the true form of a god arriving in the mortal world would exhibit such a condition.
Come to think of it, hadn't Erica ever questioned his origin and identity?
Since he wasn't a true god from mythology, the possibility he mentioned was questionable.
After all, that day, during his conversation with Verethragna, a clever girl like her couldn't possibly have failed to understand.
The reason Erica was thinking in this direction was that she hadn't actually heard the conversation between Renji and Verethragna after they discerned his origins.
Lucretia, however, had heard it. This Witch's curiosity made her bold enough to eavesdrop.
As for Erica, why was she so well-behaved? Was she afraid to eavesdrop?
Wrong. It wasn't that she didn't dare—this young lady was plenty bold herself.
The reason she couldn't hear was purely because her abilities were insufficient. She simply couldn't perceive that their consciousness had entered another space to converse.
Now, back to the question: What consequences would the disappearance of the Woven Mythology related to his identity bring him?
That is the power of his identity, gradually breaking free from its shackles. Originally the embodiment of plague, this power is now transcending that limitation and transforming toward the concept of death.
For example, it previously eroded targets through viruses, destroying their physical bodies and seizing their lives—this could be considered a physical attack. But if it fully evolves into the conceptual ability of death, it would operate directly on the soul, making it a magical attack.
However, the current changes are still subtle, and it's unclear how long it will take to completely break the shackles.
But one thing is certain: absorbing more divine Authorities will accelerate this process.
Simultaneously, unlocking the ultimate EX equipment will also speed up the unlocking—or rather, accelerate its formation.