The Goddess Department's Reckoning
The Goddess Department’s female Main Gods had been unable to participate directly in the war against the Substitute Gods due to their restrictions. They had been resting after expending vast amounts of divine power to resurrect fallen beings. Then came the urgent reports brought by their own highest-ranking goddesses, and everything turned upside down.
They hastily convened a meeting. The more they verified the information, the more absurd the situation appeared.
“Where are all the Upper Gods among the Demigods and Transcendents? The management of Lower Gods is a complete mess.”
“They had their own targets! Why provoke the Dimensional and War God?”
“There are plenty of other opponents in the Middle World! Of all people, they had to pick the Dimensional and War God who led the victory against the Substitute Gods!”
The Dimensional and War God had grown so rapidly powerful that even the combined might of the entire Goddess Department might not suffice to subdue him. Their fury only intensified.
“We’ve gathered everyone here! Can’t you report properly? Did you authorize this?”
“We only received reports after the fact! Please forgive us! Kyaaak—!”
Every highest-ranking goddess who commanded Demigods was dragged upside down to the ceiling of the conference hall. Their decorative ornaments fell away, skirts flipped over, exposing their undergarments, yet no one dared to cover themselves. They could only muffle their screams with their hands.
Terrifying fighting spirit and killing intent radiated from the Goddess Lords toward them. The bodies of the highest-ranking goddesses froze beneath the murderous aura of the Goddess Lords, who had slain countless Main Gods in the early days of the current universe and even acquired the Lord Slayer authority.
‘No matter how high-ranking we are, we cannot stand against Main Gods who have raised their power through self-discipline and combat.’
‘Above all, the fault lies with us.’
‘If we make a mistake now, we could die.’
These Goddess Lords were also war deities. During the war, many High Gods had been executed for disobeying orders. Their temper had softened somewhat because their divine power was limited to the level of the highest goddesses and there were so many equals. But now they were reverting to their old, frenzied nature.
“Demigods daring to report only after the fact to Upper Gods? Have they finally gone mad? We were too busy keeping the Main Gods and Primordial War Gods in check to notice them climbing this high.”
“They died once, their divinity fell, and after recovering they’ve completely relaxed? Why didn’t we let them die when their usefulness ended and instead kept them alive, causing this mess?”
“We warned you long ago that once their lifespan as Demigods ended, they should die naturally and be remade. Was it because you found it a waste of divine power to recreate them that you kept them alive so long they grew beyond control?”
“Answer! Even you Upper Gods cannot control the Demigods and Transcendents?”
“We are asking whether you can issue forced commands.”
Under the Goddess Lords’ icy rebukes, the highest-ranking goddesses could not bring themselves to reply. If they admitted that Demigods who had reached the tenth circle were impossible to control because of the Middle World’s power restriction, they felt certain they would be killed.
‘They had fallen to Demigod rank after dying in battle against the Demon Gods, then clawed their way back to highest-ranking goddess by mobilizing even Demigods. In their joy, they granted eternal life to those Demigods as a reward.’
At first, they believed they could maintain control. Before they knew it, the Demigods had amassed enough power to reach their chins, rendering their wills untouchable and their thoughts unreadable. Now they could no longer enforce control and instead found themselves receiving requests to increase divine power and granting them.
‘The requests kept growing until this massive incident finally occurred.’
Seeing the pale faces of the highest goddesses, killing intent began to gleam in the Goddess Lords’ eyes. A final, chilling voice rang out.
“Is it impossible to make the Demigods fully subordinate gods as a last resort? Have they already slipped beyond your domain?”
The highest-ranking goddesses were terrified, yet they had no choice but to answer. The atmosphere among the Goddess Lords had truly returned to the era when they were the rulers of the Divine Realm and waged war. They sensed that failing to answer honestly would mean death.
“Yes. In the Middle World, they have surpassed our power. We tried to regain control before it reached this point, but the influx of offered divine power made us delay, and it came to this. We are truly sorry.”
“……”
The honest answer and apology momentarily dampened the Goddess Lords’ momentum. It was not acceptance, but sheer disbelief and exasperation. A storm of raging divine power and divine words battered the women.
“You can’t even manage Lower God Demigods, yet you call yourselves highest-ranking goddesses? You disgrace to goddesskind!”
“Do you even realize what you’ve done? Are you planning to hand over all the believers in the Middle World to the Demigods? Are you trying to destroy the Divine Realm?!”
“Kyaaaaak—! We were wrong!”
“Please forgive us—! Aak!”
Rip—! Tear—!
The clothing of the upside-down highest-ranking goddesses was completely torn away. Though their own divine power was considerable, they could not resist the Goddess Lords in the slightest. No authority worked against the supreme authority of a Main God, and neither the quality nor quantity of their power could compare. Even their undergarments were stripped until they were completely naked. All they could do was cover their exposed breasts and private parts with their hands while begging for forgiveness.
In that moment, they felt anew that the true masters and greatest military force of the Divine Realm were the Main Gods. Toward their trembling naked bodies, the roar of Sky Lightning began to thunder.
The authority of Sky Lightning, said to surpass even the divine power of the sun, was about to strike them. A single hit would mean annihilation, even for highest-ranking goddesses. From the eyes of the slender, veiled Granraha, fighting spirit fiercer than lightning surged.
“Granraha-nim—! Please spare us!”
“I will not kill you. If we lose power comparable to the Main Gods and Primordial Gods, it will be troublesome. This is merely internal discipline for incompetence. If this were made public, there would be no greater humiliation, so consider yourselves fortunate that I am only punishing you to this degree.”
Krrrrrr—! Crackle—!
The maximally weakened Sky Lightning coursed through the highest-ranking goddesses’ divine spirits and bodies without damaging them. Hair stood on end in all directions, lightning arced across their skin, awakening every nerve to pain. Agonized screams burst forth.
“Kyaaaaaaaak—!”
“Shut your ugly screams! Before I annihilate you completely and reclaim all your divine power and vitality!”
“How much more disgrace do you intend to show? If you were not our direct highest-ranking goddesses, you would already be dead.”
“If this matter reaches the Round Table Conference, you are finished. You could even be demoted to Lower God as punishment.”
At Granraha’s sincere warning, the highest-ranking goddesses desperately clamped their mouths shut even as lightning struck them.
‘If the Dimensional and War God formally raises the issue of this rebellion by Demigods and Transcendents, the repercussions will be immeasurable.’
‘Naturally, we Upper Gods will be punished and could fall to Lower God.’
‘To prevent punishment, we need the help of our direct superiors, the Goddess Lords of the Round Table, no matter what.’
That was why they had all rushed here despite foreseeing this situation.
‘The pain now is not the problem.’
‘As long as we can avoid another demotion of our divinity, we can endure anything.’
Only after the thunder of lightning and the groans suppressing screams had continued for a long while did silence return. Eight of the ten seats at the Round Table’s highest rank were occupied by Goddess Lords. Before them knelt the highest-ranking goddesses, barely holding their bodies upright after nearly fainting from the lightning’s torment. They had put their clothes back on and now awaited the Goddess Lords’ merciful judgment. The punishment was already over; it was time to discuss countermeasures.
“Killing them would leave us short on power to restrain the Main God of the Divine Realm and the Primordial War Gods, yet leaving them be is too humiliating to face the Dimensional and War God.”
“Day after day, those below cause incidents.”
“We mocked other Divine Realms that lost all their believers and ruined their stars because they couldn’t control Middle World Demigods. To think we were on the verge of the same fate.”
“First, we must prevent the Dimensional and War God from making this an official agenda at the Round Table Conference.”
“If it becomes official, the Main God of the Divine Realm and the Primordial War Gods will swarm in.”
“The initiative will likely shift to them.”
“We should have wiped out the Demigods long ago!”
“There are one hundred and one tenth-circle Demigods and Transcendents. If the Middle World becomes the battlefield, we would need over a thousand Upper Gods at minimum, and even victory would come at great cost.”
“We cannot pull the male gods from the localized war against the Demon Gods at the Boundary, and of course the Primordial War Gods are impossible. This is troublesome. Besides, our highest-ranking goddesses have almost no combat experience.”
“The problem is that we specialized goddesses solely in divine power production. Yet for efficiency’s sake, we cannot abandon the specialization of male and female gods.”
“Hmm. In the end, the answer is the Dimensional and War God?”
“As the administrator of the Middle World who is free from power restrictions, the Demigods would be no problem for him. We can lift his Karma restriction by framing it as a challenge to the ‘Extreme Good’ Light Main God and have him wipe them out.”
“Given his nature, he will definitely go to war, and if the Demigods die, the Upper Gods will also suffer a drop in divinity. They will probably fall at least one rank and barely remain Upper Gods. That would create a huge hole in the goddesses’ forces.”
“Ugh—! It’s completely tangled.”
“We need to negotiate in advance, but the entrance to the Dimensional and War God’s personal temple is completely sealed? We can’t even contact him?”
All the Goddess Lords’ eyes turned to Granraha. Her eyes behind the veil gleamed coldly. Though faint lightning still flickered, suggesting her mood was poor, a calm answer soon followed.
“I don’t know. The consensus was not to approach him personally, wasn’t it? I haven’t spoken with him since his recovery. I don’t want to bring this kind of problem to him.”
“Even so…”
Expressions of difficulty appeared on the Goddess Lords’ faces. It was troublesome that even Granraha, who had some connection to the Dimensional and War God, was refusing. Yet they remembered the black-haired Goddess Lord, whom they suspected of feigning innocence, complaining that she alone had been forcibly dragged out while she had been completely satisfied and smiling brightly at the time.
‘Even now, the black-haired Goddess Lord is sitting there with a thoroughly satisfied grin.’
‘I couldn’t hear the details, but it seemed quite intense.’
The situation she had heard from the black-haired Goddess Lord surfaced in their minds.