"Ever since your battle with the Nightblade God, the barrier between the two worlds has been steadily weakening. The increasing density of spiritual energy in the air is proof enough of that.
"And while the well-known gods still lack the power to descend… some of the lesser, obscure ones have already begun appearing in the human world."
After all, this was a land said to be home to eight million gods.
Here, gods weren't anything particularly rare.
In fact, most of them were weaker than yokai.
In ancient times, almost anything could become a god. Elemental spirits were one thing—but even a small tree, or a simple mound of earth, could ascend to godhood so long as people offered it worship.
The difference between yokai and gods was simple:
Yokai fed on human fear.
Gods, on the other hand, drew power from human faith and offerings.
Of course, this only applied to those minor, spirit-like deities.
The true high gods were different—they were born as divine beings from the very beginning.
According to Yamato Miku, a considerable number of weak gods had already descended into the present world.
Naturally, their strength couldn't compare to that of the Nightblade God.
Even if he wasn't particularly famous, he was still a mid-tier deity—a god of nocturnal hunting, and one who specialized in combat.
If the gods intended to send a vanguard to tear open the boundary between worlds, there was no way they'd dispatch someone weak.
But the ones descending now?
They were things like the "God of Wooden Bridges," or the "God of Clay Pots"—strange, almost laughable entities.
Many of them hadn't even possessed names before becoming gods. Only after receiving worship were they given long, overly descriptive titles.
And in terms of strength?
They were… mediocre at best.
Most barely reached S-rank.
In the past, S-rank might have made them dominant forces in the world.
But now, with spiritual energy surging across the globe, S-rank exorcists and yokai were no longer rare.
Handling such gods wasn't particularly difficult.
The real problem was—
These S-rank deities were merely the lowest tier among those who had descended.
There were also SS-rank and even SSS-rank gods among them.
And more importantly—
Gods were far from foolish.
In fact, they were extremely cunning.
After descending, they didn't rampage like the Nightblade God had.
Realizing their current strength wasn't enough to wipe out exorcists and yokai, they chose a different approach.
They hid.
Then began subtly displaying miracles in front of ordinary humans—using those acts to gather faith.
A god's rank and power were directly tied to the amount of belief they received.
These weak gods might seem insignificant now…
But if they gathered enough followers—
Enough faith—
Their strength would grow at an astonishing rate.
And the current environment was perfect for that.
The stronger gods still couldn't descend.
The human population was massive.
And after the recent surge in yokai-related incidents, ordinary people were desperate for something—anything—to cling to.
A source of comfort.
A source of hope.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons the gods had allowed yokai to reawaken early.
After all—
Only when humanity was driven into fear and helplessness would they turn to the gods for salvation.
By the time the exorcists realized what was happening and tried to coordinate with the authorities—controlling media and public opinion, warning people not to believe in these so-called "wild gods"—
It was already too late.
Worse still—
Even within the government, many had already become followers of these gods.
At first, the exorcists had focused entirely on gathering combat strength, preparing for a decisive battle against the divine.
But they had overlooked something crucial:
Ordinary people in positions of power.
These individuals had no combat ability.
But they influenced the masses.
To the exorcist alliance, they were insignificant.
To the gods?
They were perfect evangelists.
What could have been contained early on…
Had now spiraled completely out of control.
Because of the alliance's misjudgment, those lesser gods—who could have been swiftly suppressed—had now accumulated massive amounts of faith.
Their power was skyrocketing.
Some had even grown strong enough to rival the exorcist alliance itself.
And this was all happening while the barrier between worlds hadn't even fully collapsed yet.
The gods currently present were merely nameless, low-tier deities.
And yet—
The exorcist alliance was already struggling to deal with them.
Once mid-tier and high-tier gods began descending…
The outcome was obvious.
As for why Ren hadn't noticed any chaos on the streets earlier—
That was simple.
The gods weren't causing trouble.
They were quietly growing.
Developing in the shadows.
As for those pedestrians he passed?
Who knew how many of them had already become believers.
"…So the gods that were once labeled as calamities aren't causing destruction—instead, they're granting wishes and helping people," Ren murmured. "In that case… the exorcists aren't exactly in a good position right now, are they?"
Just from Miku's explanation, he could already see the bigger picture.
The crisis facing the exorcists wasn't just the rapidly strengthening gods.
Public opinion had already begun to turn against them.
It wasn't hard to imagine.
Yokai were the obvious villains—creatures that brought chaos and destruction.
They were naturally hated.
Exorcists came next.
Yes, they had eliminated countless yokai and saved many lives.
But their problem…
Was their attitude.
They had always carried themselves as superior beings in front of ordinary humans.
And now?
The "calamity gods" they had warned about…
Weren't acting like threats at all.
To the average person, it felt like they had been deceived.
Those hypocritical exorcists just wanted to maintain their superiority.
That's why they discouraged us from worshipping at shrines—because they had ulterior motives!
Now that the gods themselves have descended, they're helping people, eliminating yokai, and granting wishes without that arrogant attitude.
The gods are clearly the righteous side.
How could gods be evil?
It's the exorcists who are the real schemers!
Voices like these spread rapidly among the public, gaining traction by the day.
The once-revered exorcists saw their reputation plummet.
Meanwhile, the number of believers continued to grow.
And with that faith—
The gods grew stronger.
Even worse—
Those believers were hidden among the population.
Even if the exorcists identified them, there was little they could do.
In the eyes of the masses now—
Yokai represented destruction—pure evil.
Exorcists had become something closer to a chaotic, self-serving middle ground.
And the gods who had descended?
They were seen as light.
As hope.
As the embodiment of justice.