Chapter 147: God is Dead, He Wants to Rebuild the New Seventy-Two Demon Gods
Choosing Rias Gremory as a collaborator.
If he directly approached her and expressed his desire to cooperate while revealing his so-called identity, it would undoubtedly arouse her suspicion and make her question his motives.
There are no free lunches in this world. Even if he proposed certain conditions, she would still maintain strong vigilance.
Therefore, when making contact, he should act as if he didn't want to expose his identity.
His presence here seemed more like laying low to avoid trouble.
The impact of voluntarily revealing one's identity versus being passively discovered is vastly different.
The former would raise high alert and might even lead to his information being leaked.
The latter, however, would make the other party hesitant to act recklessly.
Moreover, following normal plot development, someone trying to conceal their identity would typically resort to silencing those who uncover it to avoid exposure.
In this case, he chose not to do so. Instead, this approach would earn him a measure of gratitude, even if he had caused them harm.
After all, he wasn't the one who initiated the attack; it was the other party who dug into his secrets and preemptively struck.
Thus, it was necessary to make them pay the price for such actions.
Through this, after his identity was revealed, he gave them a surprising punishment to ensure they kept his secret.
This way, their wariness toward him would lessen, and the likelihood of them cooperating would increase.
So, what did it mean to propose becoming his Demon God Pillar?
Renji intended to re-sign the contracts on the ten rings and change the contracting parties.
Not only that, he planned to try integrating his Seventy-Two Demon God cards.
After unlocking Solomon's card, he was granted this set of cards, similar to the Evil Pieces in this world, allowing him to choose who would become the Seventy-Two Demon Gods within the cards.
Of course, becoming his Demon God Pillar meant swearing allegiance to him as their master.
So, he left this for the other party to consider, without forcing the issue.
But there was one condition—
"I don't want my identity to be known by more people?"
A light remark, yet it made Rias, who heard it, feel an extraordinary weight, so heavy that the air seemed to freeze solid.
She felt as if sealed in concrete, unable to move or breathe.
"Among the three factions, or even more, there are traitors"
He added these words, leaving Rias stunned.
"Traitors?"
"Betrayers who have sold out this world"
These words made Rias's pupils contract slightly. Sold out this world?
Did he not mean the human world?
But the entire world in a broader sense?
"After all, God died in the war among the three factions. Without God's deterrence, some individuals are capable of anything"
Huh? God is dead? Which god? Died in the war among the three factions?
Suddenly, Rias felt as if struck by lightning, her entire body stiffening as she stared at him in disbelief.
Wh-what kind of joke is this? That God is dead?
But such words coming from his mouth were no laughing matter.
"G-God is dead?"
Asia, who had also heard this, stopped healing Akeno, her hands trembling.
Had she misheard? God is dead?
Perhaps she hadn't misheard, but misunderstood - this god might not be the one she believed in.
But, but these words came from Mr. Renji, no, from King Solomon himself, combined with his grave expression, it clearly meant—
"The Lord... the Lord is no more? The Lord... has d-died?"
Asia sat frozen in place, her eyes growing vacant.
This blow was heavier than before, so heavy it prevented her from thinking.
She had devoted most of her life to the Lord, and now this belief she had always held true was shattered. For her as a devout believer, this was an unprecedented shock.
"Th-this can't be true"
It wasn't Rias who responded, but Akeno who had mostly recovered, as this news was simply too shocking.
Then why hadn't there been any news about this?
But she immediately realized such information definitely couldn't be casually revealed, it would cause tremendous upheaval.
The three major factions that had maintained peace for hundreds of years would likely reignite war.
Not just the three factions, but other forces would also become restless because of this god's death.
The entire world would descend into chaos.
"So... Mr. Renji, you really shouldn't have told us such a troubling piece of news"
Rias couldn't help but smile wryly.
If possible, she never wanted to hear this news.
If this information were to leak, it would bring unimaginable consequences, and she would become a major sinner.
Although she believed she would never leak it, and trusted her servants wouldn't reveal it either.
But what if someone accidentally slipped up? Like talking in their sleep or similar accidents?
Or if they were accidentally captured by powerful enemies and tortured, no, she didn't think torture would work, but what about various spells that hypnotize consciousness to force answers?
Just like how she had made Asia speak through similar means.
So, after learning this news, everyone was troubled.
It was like someone possessing an enormous fortune, constantly worrying about being discovered.
Then why didn't he contact the church after resurrection? This showed he didn't trust the church either.
More precisely, didn't trust the angels behind the church?
Could there be traitors among the angels?
Was someone eyeing God's throne after His death? Wanting to replace Him?
And his coming here was just coincidence?
Thinking this ordinary town wouldn't have so many factions watching, wanting to settle down first before investigating the so-called traitors?
But unexpectedly, this town also had devils, and in the area under Rias's jurisdiction.
No, wait, it might not be coincidence.
He might have sensed through summoning that she, with Gremory bloodline, was here, so he came looking.
Did he want to rebuild the new Seventy-Two Demon Gods?
Thinking further, Rias realized she had been played with, and couldn't help but smile wryly again.
If he really didn't want her investigating his identity, he would have taken Sister Asia away long ago.
Everything, chasing Akeno to give her the chance to contact Asia, was all within his expectations.
He was playing hard to get, first giving a slap then a sweet, as if testing her.
So, should she accept becoming the new contracted Pillar of his?
Would she gain even greater power than she currently possessed?