"Then, God Thanatos, let us proceed with the final disposition."
Bell didn't bring up the last and most important issue. Once this topic ended, he moved straight into the final one.
"Very well."
Thanatos looked completely indifferent. To him, this was nothing more than being sent back to Tenkai—the price a loser paid in the game.
Seeing that unconcerned expression, a cold glint flashed in Bell's eyes beneath his hood.
He drew a pair of gloves from four-dimensional space and slipped them onto his right hand.
Without another word, Bell invoked "Godslayer" through his hand. His body instantly turned into a streak of light, appearing right in front of Thanatos.
The attack struck before the god even realized anything had happened.
"Thud!"
Bell's gloved right hand pierced straight through Thanatos's heart.
"!?"
A pain unlike anything he had experienced before twisted Thanatos's once-indifferent expression.
"Gah!"
A mouthful of hot blood burst from his lips.
At that moment, the hand lodged in Thanatos's chest grasped something and swiftly pulled it free.
A blood-soaked octahedral crystal appeared in Bell's hand.
Bell glanced at the Divine Core, then smiled at Thanatos, who was clutching his chest and about to collapse.
"My sincere thanks. Without your cooperation, I couldn't have extracted the Divine Core hidden deep within your soul all at once."
"You… you're serious… you're actually playing for real…"
Bell met Thanatos's accusation with an innocent expression.
"Didn't I already tell you? I'd send you on your way. I never said I'd send you down the path of being banished back to 'Tenkai.' I meant the 'path of death' you've never taken."
Thanatos's body trembled, life draining from him bit by bit until he collapsed as a powerless corpse.
But a god doesn't die that easily.
Thanatos's soul quickly floated free of the body.
"Damn you!!!"
In his spiritual form, his hatred surged like never before.
"You brat, just you wait! When I—"
"Release your divine power? Unleash your Authority?"
Before Thanatos could finish, Bell calmly spoke the words for him.
The god froze, then immediately tried to force open his sealed power—only to discover he couldn't alter the seal, couldn't break the restraints, couldn't even loosen them. He was completely bound.
Panic consumed him.
"Why!? Why can't I break the seal!?"
Bell's lips curled slightly.
"Indeed, why is that?"
"Why is it that a god, who should be able to freely control their own seal, can't do so? Why do you think that is? Why? Why?"
"Pwahahaha!"
Bell finally burst into laughter. He didn't stop until he'd laughed enough, and only then did he slowly begin to explain.
"Because, you see, this seal was never meant to be something you could control. Its sole purpose was to place shackles on you."
"From the very beginning, this seal wasn't created simply so that 'gods could better experience life in the lower realms.' It was never just a divine power limiter. This seal restricts not only a god's strength and Authority, but also the upper limit of the power a god can use."
"Once this seal is placed on a god, the only thing they can still do is stimulate their Authority to trigger self-destruction."
"But once the Divine Core hidden deep within a god's soul is extracted, even self-destruction becomes impossible."
Self-detonation is only possible if the Divine Core remains inside the god's own soul.
Once the Core is no longer within the god, even if it remains connected to the soul, blowing oneself up becomes completely impossible.
"How… how could this be…"
Thanatos was starting to doubt everything, because everything was unfolding exactly as this unknown youth described.
But he quickly calmed himself.
"So what if that's the case?"
Yes. Even so, Thanatos firmly believed it changed nothing. It simply meant he had no right to control things himself—nothing more. It did not mean he would die.
"Even if you can pull out my Divine Core, can you actually kill me?"
"A god cannot be killed."
At that conclusion, Bell only smiled and nodded.
"Correct. Doing this much only strips a god of every means of resistance. It doesn't mean you can be completely destroyed."
Thanatos let out a mocking laugh.
"Hmph. Looks like your brain still works."
Bell didn't get angry at the taunt. Instead, he continued his explanation.
"Please don't misunderstand. The reason you don't die isn't something that comes from you. It's only because of the Authority bound to your soul."
"Authority is one of the world's fundamental laws. The world's laws cannot be affected by the death of a mere god. That is why gods are immortal and indestructible. Even if completely killed, they can resurrect in Tenkai."
At this moment, there was not the slightest hint of reverence toward gods in Bell's voice.
He was perhaps the only person who truly understood why gods existed. That was why he knew better than anyone that when gods were first created, they were no different from humans—just far more unusual in circumstance.
"I understand the gods better than anyone."
"As my understanding of the world grew clearer, I came to understand exactly under what conditions gods were created."
"And precisely because I understand them so well, I also know that some gods are nothing but pure garbage."
Those blunt words made Thanatos's soul tremble with fury.
"When trash exists among humans, humans clean it up."
"But cleaning up the trash among gods is a bit more complicated."
"Still, at this point, it's not impossible."
"Just like the God Ikelos I killed earlier."