The Reckoning of Rebellion

A heavy silence fell over the demigods and transcendents, born from the conclusion that they would be punished for rebelling against the Goddess Department. Immediately, fierce opposition erupted.

“That’s absurd! After everything we’ve done to serve the Divine Realm, they’re going to suppress us over a demand like this?”

The moderates’ counterarguments were equally forceful. “From the Divine Realm’s perspective, demigods forming their own lower divine realm in the Middle World is an act of rebellion. We must acknowledge that much. We should have built up more power first. This was far too hasty.”

They were the ones who had opposed confronting the new administrator of the Middle World from the very beginning. Yet the cool-headed opinions of those who were always rational and reasonable remained in the minority.

“Who else would manage the divine power in the Middle World if not us?”

“The surplus highest gods can handle it. Honestly, it’s not even a difficult task, is it? We’re talking about managing powerless creatures in the Middle World. Show them a few miracles and it’s done.”

“Ugh! If the Divine Realm had simply accepted us after we legitimately earned our godhood, we wouldn’t have to resort to this.”

The hardliners’ loud voices and stubborn insistence, which emphasized their refreshing sense of justice, overwhelmed the room. Having bitterly regretted passing the establishment request in the first place, they now refused to yield an inch.

“The Divine Realm said they would accept us once our karma reached ‘extreme good.’ But most of us are ‘neutral.’ If we had fought the demon kings who descended like the Dimensional and War God, risking our lives, we would have become ‘extreme good.’ Or if we had developed our species without any selfish motives.”

The Divine Realm was no longer in chaos from the old conflicts between main gods and goddesses. They had safely concluded the authentication war with the Substitute Race and now possessed some leeway in their forces. Moreover, for reasons unknown, the Dimensional and War God enjoyed the support of the entire Divine Realm.

Yet a coercive demand that bordered on rebellion—the establishment of a lower divine realm—had been delivered to him. They needed to withdraw the request submitted to the Divine Realm and offer an apology immediately.

But these emotional hardliners refused to listen. Fierce warnings had already arrived: if things went wrong, they would all face suppression.

“But if we die to the demon kings, our divinity will drop and we won’t be able to manage divine power, will we?”

“How can we possibly rule over those masses using only good means? Maintaining a group requires the sacrifice of the few for the many. Not everyone comes from small minority tribes in the countryside like you!”

At the blasphemy that finally burst forth, the eyes of the moderate transcendents slowly began to burn with anger.

If public opinion took shape through such unreasonable and insulting arguments, the minority moderates would undoubtedly lose to the majority hardliners. Yet they could no longer endure it.

‘We’re the ones who have to clean up the mess they created.’

‘Once again, it looks like we have no choice but to bow our heads and beg.’

‘And now these people are scheming to force us to go apologize.’

The moderates belonged to the ‘good’ alignment, which allowed them occasional access to the Divine Realm. The hardliners, being ‘neutral,’ caused partial contamination that barred them from entry. It had always been this way.

That did not mean the moderates received recognition for their contributions in maintaining smooth relations with the Divine Realm. They were perpetually treated like garbage collectors.

‘They create the problems, we clean them up, but this time the scale is far too large.’

The thought of how the Dimensional and War God—now burdened with demands from his inferiors—would view them was utterly terrifying.

Before anyone realized it, the conversation had devolved into an emotional brawl with no hope of restraint.

“That’s exactly why you remain ‘neutral.’ Does it make any sense to ask the ‘good’-aligned Divine Realm to accept the likes of you?”

“What could you possibly understand, you who pretend to be noble while clinging to ‘good’? That’s why your faction is so pathetically small.”

“Aren’t you ashamed to preach ideals while using dirty methods?”

“You fools who ignore reality and public opinion! What’s wrong with adjusting your methods to fit the situation?”

“If you want to apologize, do it yourselves. We will never do it. We have committed no sin.”

And so it circled back to the same place.

Even among the transcendents, there were differences in faction size. Fierce competition between races caused numbers to fluctuate and created gaps in divine power. The moderates could not help but be pushed back by the hardliners, who spared no means or methods.

The real problem was that the hardliners never took responsibility to the end. They simply acted on emotion.

‘The problems caused by the majority hardliners must be resolved by the minority moderates due to public pressure.’

‘We cannot solve problems without compensation. That’s why only we, who offered divine power and vitality as the price, grow increasingly exhausted.’

It was the vicious cycle in which the thirstiest one digs the well only to collapse from exhaustion. But this time the stakes were simply too high. It seemed they would not get through this unless each offered at least one hundred million in divine power. At that point, even transcendents would be unable to maintain their divinity.

“This time we absolutely cannot let it pass. You will also provide the divine power for compensation.”

“What? What nonsense is that? We did nothing wrong. We are merely demanding the legitimate price for our service. If compensation is needed, you provide it!”

“Apologizing to a main god requires far more than one or two billion in divine power. At minimum, one hundred million must be offered.”

“That has nothing to do with us. If the Divine Realm comes to suppress us, we will fight. We will not bow our heads meekly like you.”

“Argh! Unlike the past, there is currently no threat from the Substitute Race or the demon gods. Furthermore, the conflict between ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Goddess Department and the Main God of the Divine Realm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has stabilized thanks to the Dimensional and War God. If he—who suffers no power restrictions in the Middle World—leads the Divine Realm’s forces and suppresses us for rebellion, it will truly be the end.”

“That lacks realism. The Main God of the Divine Realm and the primordial God of Combat cannot move because of the Goddess Department, and the Dimensional and War God still lacks sufficient forces or influence.”

“He only recently became a main god and has almost no supporting faction! They might offer support in a war, but how many from that bizarre Divine Realm would actually participate in combat? At best, the Dimensional and War God and a few dozen high gods would descend. We can win against that much.”

“In the Middle World, we are stronger.”

There was no reason to submit to the Divine Realm or the Dimensional and War God. If they reduced the supply of divine power from the Middle World and waited, the administrator of the Middle World would eventually yield and accept their demands. This was the golden opportunity to create their independent divine realm.

With roughly one hundred demigods and transcendents, they could hold their ground in the Middle World—provided they did not face monster-class beings like the Main God of the Divine Realm or the primordial Gods of Combat.

‘The Main God of the Divine Realm cannot descend because of the Demon God of the Demon Realm, and the primordial Gods of Combat cannot leave to control the Demon Realm’s infiltration and the Goddess Department.’

‘There are many highest gods, but most are goddesses unrelated to combat or war.’

‘Most male gods are either fighting local wars against the Demon Realm at the Boundary or guarding against external enemies.’

‘If those who have survived countless fierce battles in the Middle World fight the goddesses, victory is only natural.’

There was no sign anywhere in the Divine Realm of forces being gathered against them.

‘The prophecies of the lowest absolute beings may simply refer to difficulties in the upcoming negotiations.’

Things were proceeding as predicted, yet the Dimensional and War God’s radical tendencies continued to weigh on their minds. From experience, they had confirmed he was an extremely dangerous existence who would rather flip the entire board than accept coercive negotiations.

‘When demon kings targeted him and descended in their true bodies, he killed them brutally as if advertising it across the Middle World and massacred millions of black magicians responsible for the incident.’

‘He completely eradicated five hundred million people—half of the apostate High Elf Empire—in half a day.’

‘There is no way such a being would obediently listen simply because the majority applies pressure.’

They had judged him weak based solely on his status as a lowest main god with one billion divine power, yet he had nearly single-handedly defeated a highest main god during the battle against the Substitute Race. Most demigods and transcendents refused to believe it and had still taken this action.

‘Accurate information has not yet emerged from the Round Table Meeting.’

‘It means a level of power and military record that defies common sense.’

To the moderate transcendents, the future appeared to be spiraling horribly out of control. Since words could not reach the hardliners, the frustrated moderates had no choice but to step forward.

‘It would be best to visit him separately and apologize.’

‘Going empty-handed would be meaningless. Yet we have no divine power to spare for negotiations.’

‘This is terrible. There might really be war. If he truly moves to suppress us for rebellion, even the upper gods will have no justification to stop him.’

‘Why don’t they believe in his power? The upper goddess-nims couldn’t observe the battlefield directly due to the powerful divine power waves, but they heard the accounts from the male gods, didn’t they?’

‘They must be jealous of the Dimensional and War God for accomplishing what they could not, and are therefore turning their backs on him.’

‘It is no coincidence their alignment is neutral. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They do not understand how grave a sin it is to remain “neutral” while serving as subordinate gods to the “extreme good” God of Light.’

‘I should never have gotten involved here. How foolish I was to be tempted by talk of becoming a complete god in the Middle World. I should have taken more time to develop my species or fought the descending demon kings even at the cost of my life—!’

‘The Divine Realm already views us the same as them. We must resolve this somehow.’

‘Resolve it with what? We have no divine power left to offer.’

‘We have to extract it from them somehow. When the Divine Realm’s vacation ends, the first Round Table Meeting will be our final chance. We must prevent this issue from becoming public debate there.’

‘They caused this situation without considering the circumstances, and now they want us to clean it up again?’

‘It is doubtful whether he will accept it. Given his personality, the chance he kills us on the spot is high.’

‘If his power and personality match the rumors, we will all die there. To the absolute monarchy of the Divine Realm, this is rebellion.’

‘We have no choice but to do it. If we die and our divinity falls, the upper gods’ divinity will also be endangered. That would immediately bring catastrophic effects that threaten the fate of our entire species.’

‘At the next Divine Realm Round Table Meeting, we must apologize for the lower realm establishment demand and withdraw the proposal for review at all costs.’

‘Betting everything, prepared even for annihilation.’

As the moderate transcendents’ expressions darkened sharply, the majority hardliners grew smug, convinced their argument had prevailed. Yet when the moderates’ faces sank into despair, the atmosphere plunged.

‘It’s the usual expression at the end of these meetings, but this is the first time it’s been this severe.’

They finally sensed from the moderates’ faces and demeanor that the situation was far from ordinary.

The transcendents, though consumed by the desire to become complete gods, were not incompetent. Recalling the moderates’ opinions, they began to judge the matter from a different perspective.

As they regained their composure and analyzed the situation objectively, goosebumps began to crawl across their skin.

They had ignored and insulted the main god who administered the Middle World, dismissing him as powerless.

‘This also constitutes insubordination against the Divine Realm.’

‘This situation is bad.’

‘If it continues like this, we’re finished.’

They were finally grasping the enormity of what they had done.

Of course, if the target had been the incompetent main god from the Middle World who was ostracized within the Divine Realm, there would have been no major problem and events would likely have unfolded as they wished. However, although it was only rumor, he had achieved great merit in the Substitute Race’s authentication war and was a war hero god who enjoyed the full support of everyone.

If the coercive demand for a lower divine realm made to such a main god became public in the Divine Realm, it would be catastrophic.

‘If this matter is officially raised at the Round Table Meeting, the entire Divine Realm could turn completely against us.’

‘Then if that main god steps forward to suppress us for insulting a god, no upper god will be able to stop him.’

For demigods or transcendents to insult the Divine Realm was a grave sin comparable to humans insulting the gods. That was why they had struggled so desperately to become complete gods.

‘We face no restrictions from the Middle World, but the Dimensional and War God operates under the same conditions.’

‘If he possesses even half the power from the rumors, half of us will have to die.’

‘We are not yet prepared for an all-out war with the Divine Realm.’

‘We must soothe the moderates who can enter the Divine Realm and buy time.’

The hardliners, having organized their opinions in an instant, flashed their eyes and were still coordinating their stance at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠length when the vacation in the Divine Realm finally drew to a close.

The time of their fate was approaching.

“The demigods made a demand to the Dimensional and War God for the establishment of a lower divine realm? Why are you only reporting this now? You should have blocked such an absurd request from ever reaching him—!”

“The demigods insulted the Dimensional and War God? A mere transcendent dares make demands of a main god of the Divine Realm—!”

“What insane main god would approve an independent lower divine realm? That is literal rebellion.”

“Are those lunatics in their right minds? How do they plan to handle the consequences?”

“Moreover, are all the upper gods of those demigods on our goddesses’ side?”

“This is driving me insane. The situation with him keeps getting more tangled.”