What has that idiot Hardy brought on us!?" clearly angry and displeased, Zufmuut, the God of Light and Order, frowned.
"What should we do now?
"So, any proposal for a possible solution? Hmm?" Flare glanced around, waiting for any idea that his fellow deities could come up with.
"Negotiation? I mean, this Ainz fellow seems to be reasonable. He surely recognizes he can't control the whole continent — not to mention the planet — by himself. Controlling the flow of souls is not a small task; even he will need help to do so."
"Yes, even with the help of those other gods under his command, it will be a hard task if not impossible. We know these lands like no other, not to mention the astral flow. Without us, they can't possibly take control without damaging the world itself." Zufmuut and the rest of the gods hummed, agreeing.
"Even if he does agree and let us stay in power? What will happen then? Seeing his power and ever-growing influence in our world, it is not likely he will treat us as equal partners, we will become simple lackeys working under his hand. Tools to his will he can discard if he finds a better solution."
"We need something that would tip the scales in our direction. Something! Anything!"
"Hah! It is not like we have anything they need… The most powerful to us" Emroy scoffed, grumpy, maybe a little bit impatient.
"So you say… we should give up?" Palapon slowly turned to his fellow god; his expression could not be angrier. "Even you can't be this imbecilic! If we just give up our rights as gods, we will lose what we are! Our influence! Our power! Everything we achieved until now! What will happen to us then?! We will lose everything we worked so hard for! For literal hundreds! No! Thousands of years!"
"Oi! I was just stating the obvious! Don't need to be so offended! My Rory reported what was needed! "
"Yes… let's not forget the stronger beings, individuals, and even gods under his command. Granham made her report as well. It is already strange he wants to deal with us personally, and not just wade through us like a child through an ant nest, getting rid of us immediately."
"From the records and sightings…"
"… that's indeed possible." Ral and Elangle spoke one after, confirming the sightings. Indeed, what they experienced and investigated; this Ainz fellow indeed can do so. They may look indifferent, but the situation concerned them as well.
"Not to mention their magic. "
"Indeed…"
"… Strange."
"Not working according to the principles…"
"… Of our world. Coming from a different…"
"… System. Completely foreign…"
"… for us. We wish…"
"…To investigate it."
"Our followers brought…"
"…interesting results."
"Anyway to exploit this magic system of theirs? Any weakness?" Deldort, the god of covenants, asked, his hands folded before his face.
The twins looked at each other, raising their brows thinking before turning back to their fellow god.
"The sages sent there…"
"… still confused about this magic of…"
"…theirs. Unable to get really…"
"…Any grasp on it."
"Only one…"
"… of our worshippers."
"Have some…"
"… idea."
"But she as well…"
"…Is far from understanding it…"
"… truly."
"We would be interested…"
"… In visiting that place, and…"
"…learning about this new thing." For the first time in a long while, both Elangle and Ral smiled, their previous blank eyes filled with light once again.
"Even if it means leaving your post, and giving up your godly authority? If you bend your knee to this thing. That would mean…!" Zufmuut bit his lip, and the blood started to pour from his host's mouth.
"If necessary…"
"Yes…"
"It has been a long time since…"
"… we witnessed something…"
"… interesting that piqued our…"
"…Interest, and proved…"
"…to be an unknown challenge."
"We want to know…"
"… their secret."
"Wish to explore…"
"…their world."
"Want to learn…"
"… Something new…"
"…once more." The decision of the twin gods was obvious; they already decided their next step.
"Tch! Typical!" Zufmuut needed no further explanation from the twin gods of magic and knowledge. It was evident and apparent why they had come to this decision, and concluded things as such.
Just like in life, they were weirdos in the eyes of mortals; even their fellow gods watched them worried after ascending. They only cared about hoarding knowledge and learning new things—nothing more, nothing less.
"Tch! How annoying!" Deldort scoffed, annoyed. "Isn't there anything we could do? What if we produce more apostles? Converting our closest…"
"That's a good idea!"
"But ...Not to mention arming all of them with appropriate artifacts and weapons is close to impossible. My apostle and I can't possibly work that fast and hope for a high quality of work…" Duncan said.
"Are you serious? Do you think only about this now?!
"What? If it comes to apostles, you can't expect me to watch them run around without proper weapons! That would be a disgrace for the heralds! What will people think of my work if I let the apostles roam without any qualitative work of mine?" like always, Duncan cared more about proper equipment and blacksmithing than their grave situation.
"Tch! That's also not a solution! You all know what's needed to create an apostle!"
"It needs our essence, to sacrifice a small part… plant it in the ground that is a mortal soul and shell, to grow and nurture it into a proper god." Wareharun hummed. Although she has no proper apostle — being she serves as the incarnation and the will of the flora of the world — she still knows well how other gods do it.
Indeed, if they divide their power into that many parts, they will cease to be gods — even if not, their power will diminish to a point where they possibly fall, and become mortals again, or weakened enough to be preyed on by these newcomers — which eventually would happen anyway.
"Wareharun is right! I don't know if you are too disillusioned with our chances, or hopelessly desperate to find a solution. Still, even if we start to produce apostles now, right away, making every follower like that, it will take time even to have enough of them to compete with these newcomers. Not to mention, they need to learn and grow to be proper apostles. Even if we manage to push this Ainz fellow and his servants back now, they will still have the advantage…"
"Okay, have you all made your decision?"
"Yes, we will prepare an army of apostles."
"Hmm .. so we need time to prepare?"
"Yes"
"Okay, then we'll make a deal with Lord Ainz so we have much time. He said he wanted to make a deal."
"Hmmm OK"
"Hmmm...We just have to wait for the right time now! hahaha!"
"Tell them to come in."
"Of course!"