In a World Where Death Is Cheap, I’ll Get Back at the Goddess Who Dumped Me—with My “Self-Destruct” Skill [Dropped]

Chapter 04: The Holy War of the Gods

Taiga looked at Leia with open envy.

She had become the Hero of a kind and gentle goddess like Sheila.

Sheila might call herself a “minor deity,” but even if she were famous and powerful, Taiga felt she would still be far better than that woman—Urza.

Apparently, Leia felt the same way.

She looked oddly pleased as she soaked in Taiga’s admiring gaze.

Sheila cleared her throat.

[Ahem. Taiga may not yet understand this world, but Leia, please don’t encourage him.]

“Sorry.”

“This world…?”

[Yes. You were reincarnated without receiving any proper explanation, correct? In that case, I should begin by telling you about the ‘Holy War of the Gods’—also known as Sanctus—which is currently taking place.]

With that, Sheila began explaining the conflict unfolding in this world.

There were many gods in existence.

Above them all stood a single Supreme God.

But one day, without warning, that Supreme God declared they would step down and pass the throne to the next generation.

Naturally, that announcement sparked a fierce struggle among the gods, each seeking to claim the highest seat.

However—

If gods were to fight directly, the world itself could collapse.

So rules were established.

Instead of fighting in person, each god would choose a representative.

A champion.

A Hero.

And those Heroes would compete on their behalf.

[Each god sends their Hero to fight. They defeat other Heroes and steal their points. That is the “Holy War of the Gods.”]

“Points… That woman mentioned something like that too.”

[Yes. Points aren’t only something you collect—you can also spend them. We use points to draw Heroes through a selection process, or to strengthen the ones we’ve chosen.]

Points could be earned in many ways.

Defeating another god’s Hero was one way.

But increasing the prosperity of one’s followers also generated points.

That meant a major goddess like Urza—chief deity of humans and demi-humans—would naturally have a massive supply of points.

She could invest those points into talented Heroes, make them stronger, and then steal even more points from other gods.

Basically, the entire war revolved around gathering points and empowering Heroes.

It was a cycle.

“Um… Lady Sheila?”

[Yes?]

“If a Hero gets killed… can they be revived or something?”

[Yes. By spending points, resurrection is possible. However… once a Hero dies, all their stats—except their Unique Skill—are lost. In your case, Taiga, that means everything except ‘Self-Destruct.’]

“Wait, what?!”

[Also… some Unique Skills consume the patron deity’s points simply by being used. ‘Self-Destruct’ happens to be one of those types.]

“…What?!”

To sum up Sheila’s explanation—

If Taiga were to function as a proper Hero, she would first need to spend points to strengthen him.

But the moment he used Self-Destruct, not only would he blow himself up—

All the points invested in strengthening him would be lost as well.

On top of that, just activating Self-Destruct would consume points.

And if he died from it, even more points would be required to revive him.

“…So ‘Self-Destruct’ really is completely hopeless…”

“That’s rough.”

“Miss Leia…”

Now that he understood the rules of this war, Taiga finally grasped why his skill had been called trash.

The weight of reality hit him.

He slowly sank to his knees.

Still—

He hadn’t exactly had high expectations for Self-Destruct in the first place.

So after a brief moment of despair, he recovered surprisingly quickly.

“…Alright. I think I understand this world now.”

“You recover fast.”

“No point crying about it. Let’s move on. Lady Sheila, you said Miss Leia is your only Hero, right? With rules like this, wouldn’t it be better to spend some points and recruit more Heroes?”

[Yes. A Hero’s Unique Skill is extremely powerful. In general, the more Heroes a god has, the better.]

“…Then why don’t you?”

If a god focused all their resources on strengthening just one Hero, the loss would be devastating if that Hero died.

Drawing even a single Hero required a decent amount of points.

But every selected Hero was guaranteed to come with one Unique Skill.

There was also a way to grant a Unique Skill using points—one that wouldn’t disappear upon death—

However, that method cost far more points than simply drawing a new Hero.

Because of that, the basic strategy in this Holy War of the Gods was simple:

Gather as many Heroes as possible.

Even Taiga, who had only just learned about the point system, could understand that much.

There was no way Sheila and Leia hadn’t already considered it.

When Taiga asked why Sheila had only one Hero, she hesitated.

Instead, Leia answered.

“In the past, Lady Sheila had several Heroes. All of them were elites.”

“…What happened to them?”

“…They were deceived by Goddess Urza. Forced to change their faith. And then killed.”

“Change their faith?”

“A god can spend points to transfer a Hero to serve under them instead. Normally, it requires the Hero’s consent. But Lady Sheila’s Heroes were tricked into agreeing.”

“And then they were killed… But Heroes can be revived, right? So couldn’t—”

“…The decision to revive a Hero belongs to their current patron god. Do you really think that lowest, most despicable goddess would spend points to revive someone who was certain to betray her?”

The moment Urza realized Taiga had the skill Self-Destruct, she had thrown him away like trash, declaring he wasn’t worth the points or effort.

If she could do that to him—

Of course she wouldn’t waste points reviving Heroes who had switched sides.

And now, Taiga finally understood why Leia had attacked him the instant she learned he was Urza’s Hero.

Given what had happened—

It made perfect sense.