CH943

“Ben,” Pixth nodded when he arrived, four more gods at his side, with all of them looking like they were trying to hide the same state Ben had found both Myriad and Helori in when he’d first shown up that night. “You’ve been busy.”

“I always am. Gonna be honest, when I was told I was going to have to talk to others, I was expecting a bigger crowd.”

“For the sake of keeping things smooth, this conversation between us is being projected to the rest of them. They can have whatever fights and squabbles they want to without interrupting.”

“So, this is just a conversation, huh?”

“I’d prefer it to be, yes.”

“Alright,” he agreed with an exaggerated shrug. “Then let’s hear it.”

“Thank you. Then let’s start with the big ones, shall we? The third level of your evil god of sacrilege, as well as holding the third tier skills, evil and destruction authority, you’re now the holder of four third tier skills total.”

“That’s correct.”

“How is that possible?”

“Not to be the sort of jerk who answers a question with a question, but let me genuinely ask you first, have you all really not figured out how I’ve managed it yet?”

“It’s clearly related to one of the crystals in Anailia having been swapped out, but beyond that, no.”

“Alright then, I’m somewhat relieved you’ve at least found that much, but yes, it’s related. I’ve been using the souls of the forbidden gods to train my sacrilege, it just so happens that the sort of way I’m using them happens to be an excellent vehicle for experience when it comes to the sort of things someone might label as evil or destructive.”

“You’re torturing them,” Phixth said, narrowing his eyes as he did while Ben gave his answer in naked indifference.

“I am.”

“No sense of guilt for such a thing, I take it?”

“No. My turn questioning now, in this little conversation we have going on. What percentage of the gods have ever condemned a soul to hell?”

“I couldn’t tell you.”

“More than fifty percent though, right?”

“…”

“Yeah, not shocking. Now, of those more than fifty percent, how many of them feel a sense of guilt for it? If I should be feeling guilty, then surely they should too. No matter what harm any mortal could have conceivably done on this world or any other, none of it can be on the scale of giving the demons system access yet they were all condemned to a realm of eternal torture, rather than just a few weeks of use to help me train.”

“Many would argue that’s not the same.”

“Why not? Because there’s a small degree of separation there, letting the gods who do such things believe they’ve kept their hands clean? As if sending anyone to a torture realm is meaningfully different just because they aren’t actively doing any of the torturing themselves? Or is it different because I’m actively getting something out of it, beyond the perverse knowledge that someone below me is suffering forever? Or maybe I read you wrong and you meant that far more positively. That no matter what, the bit of suffering I’m inflicting isn’t eternal, and thus shows again that I really am more moral than so many of the great and mighty gods of this universe.”

“Ben-”

“Mmh, not that last one I see then. So does it come down to it being worse because you perceive a god’s soul to have more value than a mortal’s? I could argue this point all day if you’d like.”

“Ben,” Phixth stopped him again. “You’ve made your point, but that doesn’t make what you’re doing acceptable either.”

“And, coming from you, I even believe that but let’s be real here, Phixth, when I got my god to make the reveal of my two new awakenings to the rest of you, deciding to let you all be informed rather than hiding it away in an attempt to show some good will, how many among you once more suggested trying to throw my soul into hell? Damning me to an eternity of torment? No, I will not lie, I even believe you’re right that what I’m doing is morally objectionable, but I do not believe the gods to be in a high enough moral standing to judge me for it.”

“So you’re going to keep doing it then?”

“Yes.”