[Do you want more proof?] the first asked with a smile on his face.
Despite being in a dire situation and standing in front of a traitor who not only fooled him but also tried to kill him, the first was awfully calm.
His patience had no limit, and that showed how mature and understanding he was.
[He is lying!] the fifth yelled. [Everyone knows he can manipulate all the living and non-living beings, even the magic itself. He is doing all this to frame me!]
[This is enough,] the third uttered.
[You can't fool us for any longer,] the seventh looked at the other gods and said, [What are we waiting for?]
[Well, we can't do anything even if the fifth is the culprit,] the sixth replied with a shrug.
[Exactly! We don't possess any power to kill our fellow gods. Nor do we possess the authority to punish or judge them. Otherwise, I am sure we would have been at war for hundreds of years,] the tenth stated.
[But we never planned to do that in the first place. We just wanted to know who was being an imposter all this time and fooling us for thousands of years,] the eleventh commented.
The fifth glanced at everyone with a baffled look on his face and said, [Do you all truly think I would do something like this?!]
[Fifth…] The first finally broke his silence and glared at the fifth. [Don't make me angry.]
[…]
[Just tell us why you did all that. You know we can't do anything to you, so what are you afraid of?] the twelfth wondered.
[…] After a brief silence, the fifth sighed and nodded as he said, [Okay.]
The fifth raised his hand and uttered, [I surrender. I confess that it was me. But there was a reason why I did all that.]
[What reason? What could possibly make you betray the heavens?] the first asked with a curious look on his face.
[I did it for an important reason. I had no other choice but to do it. And it was…] the fifth suddenly smirked and snapped his fingers.
STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!
The first, third, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth gods and goddesses were stabbed by the second, fourth, and eighth gods and goddesses.
[…!]
However, the gods' wounds didn't heal this time, and they even bled.
[What is… is?] the first asked with a baffled look on his face.
[Haha!] the fifth laughed out loud and said, [I always wanted to see you lose your patience.]
He glared into the first's eyes and asked with a smirk on his face: [How does it feel to feel pain?]
[Imposible… no weapon should be able to harm us…] the third muttered.
[Don't worry. Even these weapons can't kill you. But you will be weakened, and these weapons are sucking your powers,] the second stated.
[Within a few minutes, you will lose all your powers, and you will become weaker than the humans,] the fourth added.
[Preposterous! No such weapon exists. I am the oldest, and I have never heard of such a weapon…] the first retorted.
[Yeah, they don't. Not in this heaven, but they do in the higher heavens,] the fifth snorted and said, [The higher gods had created weapons to get rid of us at any time they wanted. I sent my faithful angel to steal them. He was scared of the higher gods, but I told him I would make him the next god, and he took the risk.]
[And here we are… you all are slowly getting weaker and weaker. But since we are not the higher gods, we can't use these weapons to their full potential, so we can't kill you. However, it will leave you weak and helpless.]
The gods tried to move their bodies, but all of their bodies had stopped responding.
The existence of gods was solely based on divine powers; without their powers, they were just empty shells.
[So you four were in this together, huh?] the first asked.
[That's right! We have been planning for this day for over 80 thousand years, even before we exiled Aria and Erza!] the eighth sneered and twisted the weapons in the gods' bodies.
[Why would you do this? What could you possibly gain from this treason?] the third asked.
[Even if you gain our powers, you can't get our authority. You still wouldn't be able to make decisions or vote on our behalf,] the eleventh stated.
[Oh, we don't care about any of that. We have no interest in this heaven,] the fifth asserted. [We plan to—]
[Attention! Attention! The cosmic monster— Soul Eater was slain nearly a day ago—!]
An angel dashed into the hall of heaven to inform about the Soul eater, but he was left baffled after seeing the gods fighting each other. However, that angel was soon obliterated by the fifth.
[Annoying pest,] he then said.
[What was that about? How can someone defeat the Soul eater? It was one of our best creations…] the fourth muttered.
[It doesn't matter. We will create a stronger monster once we are done dealing with our fellow gods,] the fifth said with a smirk on his face.
[Wait… what do you mean that soul eater was slain?] asked first. [It was locked in the cosmic prison, the only weakness of the soul eater. How can…]
The first stopped when he realized what the fifth had done.
[You… released the soul eater in the Gods' Impact…?] he asked while stuttering.
[You know, as much as I hate you. I admire your perception skills. You can solve any mystery within seconds. So I had to be extra careful with my plan. But in the end… you still caught me.]
After a brief pause, the fifth said, [Yes! I released the soul eater in the Gods' Impact. And I did it in a surprising way. I set it as a boss on floor 75 of the dungeon in the first realm.]
[Are you out of your mind?! The soul eater can eat all the realms of the Gods' Impact within a minute!] the first yelled with a furious look on his face.
The fifth smirked and said, [Do you think I care about that?]
[That was our plan, after all,] the second and the fourth said in unison.
===
Author's Note- F for the Soul Eater.