Authority itself has no form—it exists only as a concept.
Because of this, Authority has no fixed shape.
That is why extracting it required so much preparation.
'It's out... but the connection still isn't severed.'
Bell might have pulled the Authority free, but Ikelos's imprint still lingered on it.
As long as Authority carried Ikelos's mark, killing him completely was impossible.
"Oh! So this is Ikelos's Authority?"
Loki looked both stirred and excited. It was, after all, her first time seeing another god's Authority manifested outside the body.
"Yes, this is the Authority of the god Ikelos."
"Then... can we kill Ikelos now?"
"Unfortunately, not yet."
"Tch!"
Even without turning around, Bell could feel Loki-sama's irritation at asking for the third time. But he paid it no mind and calmly reminded her:
"Loki-sama, please restrain your killing intent. Even if Ikelos is destined to die, at least respect the process. If killing a god were that simple, don't you think it would make gods look cheap?"
They really would seem cheap.
Loki glanced at Ikelos, who was barely hanging onto life. He looked like he was about to die, yet she knew this one's life was hard to snuff out.
Authority could not be destroyed. If Ikelos were killed now, his Authority would carry him back to Tenkai, where it would take time to reconstruct his body.
So unless the problem of Authority was solved, Ikelos could not die so easily.
Even if he were to die, it would have to wait until that issue was settled.
"So, have you thought of a way to deal with Authority?"
"Not at all."
Bell's direct denial made Loki blink in surprise, then she burst out laughing.
"You're telling me you acted without thinking of a solution first?"
Bell didn't deny it. He knew full well how troublesome Authority was to handle.
As the one who wielded it, Bell understood better than anyone just how impossible it was to deal with.
As a law of the world itself, unless one's power surpassed the world, trying to resolve Authority was a false proposition—just like trying to destroy the world.
"Impossible... no way... Authority can't be stripped away this easily..."
Ikelos was already more dead than alive, yet his mood had grown strangely calm.
Without a method to deal with Authority, nothing could stop it from carrying him back to Tenkai.
Realizing this left Ikelos with mixed feelings. He never thought that as a god, he would be pushed to such a point.
Bell agreed.
Authority wasn't something that could just be stripped away. Only power surpassing the world itself could achieve that.
Still, there were ways to take shortcuts.
Suddenly, a rune circle lit up on the ground. Bell straightened, pulling down his hood. His face turned solemn and focused—more than it had ever been before.
"Mother of the World, hear my prayer."
"As your child, I beg you—take back this Authority that was originally yours."
"Grant me permission to give this one the rest he deserves."
The meaning of those words was simple—so simple that all five gods present understood them immediately.
"Hahaha... praying to the Mother of the World???"
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ikelos burst into a hoarse, mocking laugh. To him, this was nothing but absurdity.
"Why would you think a mere human of Genkai could draw the World here?"
Even if Ikelos knew the World had a will of its own, that didn't mean it would manifest in this place.
Suddenly, an unseen hand reached out from the void and seized Ikelos's Authority.
His voice cut off at once, replaced by sheer disbelief.
"Why!?"
"Why would the request of a lowly human make you appear?"
"Why... why...?"
His incredulous questions gradually turned into sobs.
The Authority Bell had held vanished without a trace. No one could sense anything arriving, but the disappearance of Ikelos's Authority was proof enough.
Bell looked down at Ikelos lying on the table... No, to be precise, Ikelos was no longer a god.
The instant his Authority was reclaimed, Ikelos had fallen completely from his divine throne.
He was no longer a god, merely a false one with his very self sealed away.
"...So this is the end, God Ikelos... no, Ikelos."
"You are now nothing more than a sealed pseudo-god."
Bell's tone carried no mockery, only the plain truth. Yet that truth was enough to cut Ikelos deeply.
The pride he held in his divine identity, the arrogance he drew from it, had been stripped away completely.
And the one who had taken it from him was none other than the World itself—the very World that had birthed the gods.
"Impossible... why does the World have self-awareness..."
"I... cannot... be stripped of this..."
"I..."
Ikelos now resembled a broken recorder, repeating those words of denial over and over.
Bell shook his head. The first god to be stripped of everything now doubted his very existence—a far worse state than before.
'It seems losing Authority is the greatest blow a god can suffer.'
Still, Bell could understand.
It was like having one's most precious possession stolen away. If the same happened to him, he would no doubt struggle just as much.
But sympathy or not, Bell wouldn't forget what had to be done.
Ikelos knew far too many secrets. He had to die, and die completely—without even a fragment of soul remaining, or Bell's own risk of exposure would grow.
As Bell kept his gaze fixed on Ikelos's soul, he noticed it was beginning to show signs of decay.
"Then farewell, Ikelos."
His hand pierced through Ikelos's chest and tore out his heart.
In an instant, the soul was shredded to pieces.
The decayed spirit had no power to resist. It crumbled into dust with only the slightest strain.
Ikelos was dead.
...
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