The Divine Realm's Betrayal

The Chief God of the God ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Realm, who was more insidious than any demon god when it came to the Great Forest War, was acting so subservient that it was baffling to the extreme. “How dare you attempt to distort a Karma Contract. The younger gods truly have no fear. The instigators have been banned from descending for a thousand years, so such incidents will not happen again. However…”

“……”

The transmission suddenly cut off. It was truly unsettling.

“The other highest-ranking gods have demanded sanctions, claiming that your contract with the Demon King cannot be tolerated, no matter how positive it may be under Karma. Unfortunately, it passed nearly unanimously in the Divine Council. Due to restrictions, the gods themselves will not descend directly. However, an integrated divine mandate for your subjugation has been dispatched to the Holy Empires and temples in the Middle World.”

‘That much has always been part of my life, so I got tense for nothing.’

The Magic God of Dimensions had fought against a billion-strong High Elf empire since childhood and survived as a mercenary god. A force of several billion Middle World sentients was laughable to him.

‘If things get dangerous, I can just move to the Survival Magic Tower. The dimensional barrier of my Survival Magic Tower is invincible to anyone below Main God level. Anticipating something like the last unified divine power display, I’ve already layered the barrier several times over.’

Even the powerful Chief God of the God Realm could only send his voice through it. The same method would never break it.

‘I can just close the tower’s door, tend the farm while training, and hide for about ten thousand years.’

This was nothing, yet the Chief God’s subservient attitude remained incomprehensible.

“This situation is nearly a contract violation, so I truly regret it. For the record, I opposed it. Lastly…”

‘There’s still more?’

A sudden wave of greater anxiety washed over him.

“The Demon Realm has proposed negotiations. No matter how powerful a black mage bearing the title ‘Great,’ they cannot tolerate a Demon King being treated as a servant. They offered to halt demon processing in the Middle World for a thousand years in exchange for allowing the Demon Kings to manifest in the Middle World to fight you.”

“!?”

Even the Magic God of Dimensions could not help but be shocked. ‘What the hell is he saying right now? The Chief God is negotiating to let Demon Kings manifest in their true bodies in the Middle World? Is that what the divine race, which is supposed to protect the Middle World from demons and external threats, does?’

“Of course I opposed it since it was unacceptable, but it passed by majority vote in the Divine Council, so there was nothing I could do.”

They had allowed this through a “majority decision.” He was speechless with disbelief.

“Of course, we have no intention of opening the gate for the Demon Kings ourselves. The black mages have already prepared the descent for two Demon Kings. They said if you are dealt with, the Demon Kings will return immediately, so just turn a blind eye. That left us with even less justification. This is truly unfortunate. As expected, black mages are always the problem.”

“……”

Black mages again. They had helped the Demon Kings come to kill him, the lord of black mages. Of course, black mages were capable of that. The lord of black mages, whom they had never even seen, meant nothing to them.

‘But to summon Demon Kings in their true bodies requires at least a hundred million sacrifices. The divine race allowed that? Do they really want to go all the way against me, a Magic God?’

“Truly regrettable. Granzoa revealed the method of unifying divine power to the divine race, so your dimensional barrier will be in danger. The divine power mobilized this time will exceed ten billion, so even if you reinforce the barrier, it likely won’t hold. This information is my apology for this incident.”

“……”

Granzoa again. He could not understand why that goddess was so persistently trying to devour him while he stayed quiet.

‘If ten billion divine power is properly unified, the dimensional barrier becomes meaningless. That is the power of a Creator God.’

“I’m sending this repeatedly because I don’t know when you’ll wake up. Survive, no matter what. I’m truly sorry.”

With that, the call was unilaterally cut off.

‘If Demon Kings come to the Middle World in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their true bodies, they will surpass the 9th Circle and fall just short of the 10th. And there are two of them.’

Two Demon Kings on par with him, plus the Pope and Saints assisting with ten billion divine power. On top of that, every empire outside the Great Forest was rushing in to kill him.

‘If the ancient races of the Great Forest join in, there’s obviously no chance of victory.’

Suddenly, all strength drained from his body and he collapsed to the ground.

‘Well, even if Karma’s side effects don’t apply inside here, they remain outside. I was complacent.’

Although the contract with the Demon King, who had shown self-sacrifice, had shifted things slightly positive, the black mages had apparently committed some insane act on a massive scale.

‘What kind of chaos did these bastards cause to create an unprecedented alliance between Demon Kings and the Middle World?’

As the lord of those troublemaking black mages, he was afraid to check his Karma outside the tower.

“Ugh—! I’ve only just started living comfortably. Do you think I’ll give up? I’ll survive with everything I have.”

The enraged cry of the 10th Circle black mage of the Root School echoed through the tower. He immediately began assessing the situation.

‘The demonic energy inside the Great Forest has stabilized, so magic cannot be used. I can’t learn the detailed situation outside. First, since it’s an enormous Jusinseong, there’s no way to gather the regular forces of the Holy Empires. Even elves would tire to death crossing those treacherous mountains, so ordinary armies can never move through them.’

In the end, the only forces that could fight were the superhumans capable of spatial movement outside the magic-nullifying zone of the Great Forest’s massive mountain range and then moving at high speed to the Great Forest.

‘Ten thousand 7th Circle and about a million below 6th Circle superhumans? Around a hundred million elite soldiers supporting them will probably come.’

After roughly calculating, it was nothing.

“Huh? It’s nothing special, is it?”

Even if the Holy Empires combined their strength, it was less than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ten percent of the Great Forest’s forces, so his worries vanished.

‘The problem is that the Pope and Saints will flock here to unleash ten billion divine power.’

A joint hymn from high-ranking clergy could neutralize the magic-nullifying zone of the Great Forest and break the dimensional barrier.

‘A divine power barrier in the ten-billion range will drop my output to 6th Circle or below. There’s no countermeasure for that. If the Demon Kings come on top of that, I’m helpless.’

In the end, the Demon Kings were the issue, so his anger naturally turned toward the black mages.

‘Summoning a Demon King is truly difficult for low-circle black mages. Providing their own mana is endlessly insufficient, and even offering sacrifices has no end. To summon a Demon King who can only use one-tenth of his authority on the planetary surface requires a million souls and deaths.’

To gather the souls needed for a Demon King summoning, war alone is insufficient. They would have to sacrifice an imperial capital or a major city.

‘Those crazy bastards! Even after doing that, all they get is my death. They’re preparing to sacrifice cities for Demon Kings coming to kill me, the lord of black mages? If this happens, what will become of the Karma I worked so hard to raise while dying?’

He could already see the negative effects of Karma, branded by his position as lord of black magic, crashing back toward him like a tidal wave.

‘Even if I defeat the Demon Kings, most of the negative Karma from the mass sacrifices will come to me. This is probably what the gods and demon race want.’

This was clearly classified as “extremely evil.” There were no restrictions on subjugating an existence of “extremely evil” Karma.

‘The divine race and demon race will descend upon the Middle World without any restrictions and come at me.’

Even if he survived this war, an endless war with gods and demons awaited him.

‘These crazy bastards have really lost it. They dare to wage war against me, the Magic God of Dimensions praised as the undefeated mercenary god?’

A blue murderous intent began to swirl in the Magic God of Dimensions’ eyes.

‘No matter how I think about it, black mages and the gods of the Divine Realm are the greatest obstacles in my life and have no use in the Middle World.’

Although they were called black mages, the majority leaned toward crude destruction and slaughter, became drunk on mana, failed to control their emotions, committed murder and rape, and were eventually subjugated as evil and died miserably.

‘Although I am the lord of black mages, I have no lingering attachment or affection.’

Because they were steadily accumulating negative Karma as black mages and dragging him into the gutter with them. Cornered, memories of his past as a mercenary god, where he had suffered terribly, came flooding back vividly.

“Karma Contract.”

The golden-glowing letters floated before his eyes as he poured mana into his voice. Only a mercenary god with power above Main God level could directly petition the Karma Contract like this.

“If I cannot handle the current situation, I cannot fulfill the contract. I request an exception to negative Karma for my future actions.”

The Karma Contract began to shine and tremble. The absolute contract mixed with the terminal will of the Creator was judging its legitimacy. Then the decision came.

“Exception acknowledged.”

“!!!”

It was the expected result, but an immense thrill ran through the Magic God of Dimensions’ body.

‘As expected, the Karma Contract is cruel. It only looks at the fulfillment of the contract.’

He reaffirmed the will of the law of Karma that the result of the contract mattered, not the process.

‘Now I can rampage to my heart’s content without worrying about accumulating negative Karma. Turning me into an enemy was a mistake.’

Whooooooosh!

As the negative effects of Karma that had been restricting his realm disappeared, his original power began to return. He was a Magic God so powerful that even Main Gods looked up to him.

‘Gods and races outside the Great Forest. I am not an ordinary black mage. I am a black mage of the Root School and the Magic God of Dimensions who possesses the authority of dimensions. I am the great Magic God who reached the 10th Circle by fusing the knowledge of other worlds obtained through dimensional divinity.’

The dimensional divinity treated mana like a tool and extended beyond the tower.

‘Black mages. I will repay you exactly for daring to bare your fangs at me, the lord of the Root School. I will show you a horrific war you will never experience again.’

With the negative restrictions of Karma lifted, he surveyed the area around the Survival Magic Tower and saw the races of the Great Forest forming dozens of layers of encirclement from afar to avoid the demonic energy of the Great Cavity. The main force consisted of High Elves, while outside the Great Forest, orcs, naga, and dwarves formed the encirclement. The dragon race flew from afar since magic was impossible, and the High Elf Queens were recovering from injuries sustained using the “World Tree’s Strike,” felt through the empire’s World Tree.

“Without the High Elf Queens, this is an easy victory. I’m going out right now.”

The Magic God of Dimensions, who had built tremendous infamy and fame as a mercenary god, began to move in earnest.

- Magic Type: Law Magic, Defense Type

- Effect: Returns all attacks to the attacker exactly as they are. It does not matter the size or type of the attack’s power. It is magic created by the protagonist, who was always attacked by hundreds of millions of High Elf legions, in order to survive, and only after developing this magic was he able to leave the Great Forest. Its development purpose was for battles against Main Gods and decisive battles against large armies. Since the attacker dies from their own reflected attack when trying to kill the opponent, it does not negatively affect Karma, making it his most favored magic.

- After first manifestation, the protagonist’s single line: “Disgusting things. Now I can finally live.”

Following the Root School’s combat style, the 10th Circle reflection magic activated first.

‘Basically, cast reflection magic first, infiltrate the enemy, and unleash magic. If the enemy approaches or attacks, reflect while escaping at high speed. Repeating that to achieve victory is the basic combat form of the Root School. According to my Master, in the beginning, mages were heavily criticized for being like assassins or thieves who ambush and run away. But after all the mages who said such things died on the battlefield, this became our school’s combat style.’

They pour magic with overwhelming calculation speed and mana from long range, and when mana runs out, they escape the battlefield with all their might, replenish mana in a safe place, and repeat. If an unexpected situation allows the enemy to approach, they avoid as much as possible and strike again with magic from afar.

‘It’s a bit cowardly, but there’s no worse nightmare for the one receiving it.’

If they endure the concentrated magical bombardment and approach at the cost of sacrifices, only for the mage to widen the distance faster than them and use magic again, there’s nothing they can do.

‘The agility of my body, that of a 10th Circle Root School black mage, surpasses even the High Elf Queens. The fastest being in the Great Forest is me, and only by forming an encirclement can they barely see me. Unless it’s High Elf Queens charging from all directions at similar speeds, they cannot stop him.’

“The High Elf Queens cannot move right now. Then such an encirclement is laughable.”

Whooooooosh!

Fwoooooosh!

The Magic God immediately burst out of the tower. And the moment he instantly broke through the frontline defensive barrier created by the Great Forest races, his strength drained away.

‘Without the High Elf Queens, this is too easy. I don’t even feel motivated to escape.’

There were no High Elves who could match his running speed, and those blocking his path were too few and too weak. Already, hundreds of Elven Knights in charge of this area had fallen after being hit by arrows. They had reflexively attacked with bows, only to be struck down by their own arrows reflected by the magical barrier.

‘If they’re warriors or knight-class, shouldn’t they at least reflexively catch or dodge even if their own attack suddenly returns? It’s pathetic that they can’t even dodge arrows and only get grazed.’

He doubted whether these were the High Elves’ elite Elven Knights.

‘Why aren’t you leaving the Great Forest right now? I’m concentrating the encirclement spread across the entire Great Forest toward this location.’

They had laid hundreds of layers of encirclement and turned the entire Great Forest into a trap, which was good, but their consideration of elemental affinities and explosion radii was a mess.

‘If one trap goes off, the entire Great Forest will be devastated, so I have to clear them.’

Since the High Elf Queens would never do something this immature, it seemed they were in no state to even command.

While spending time removing traps, everyone had apparently gathered, as hundreds of thousands of elemental arrows filled the sky and fell.

Shwaaaaaaaaa-!

Millions of elementals burned the atmosphere, froze the air, and tried to bind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his feet as the ground rose up. Rumble rumble rumble!

Giant trees swung their massive branches at him according to the will of the tree elementals. Tens of thousands of Elven Knights moved at super-high speed across the trees before falling and swinging their swords.

It was an enormous concentrated attack on a single person, beyond belief.

‘Weak.’

Fwoooooosh-!

Crunch-!

Thud-!

Before the great reflection magic that even returned the strikes of Main Gods, all arrows flew back. Thousands of High Elves fell to the returned strikes. The Elven Knights who fell from the trees in his path and used the High Elves’ characteristic thrusting swordsmanship were merely bounced back.

Tatatatatatat!

Moving quickly toward the forest outskirts, he directly checked his Karma value and shouted in immense rage.

“I really won’t let this go! I’ll kill you all!”

It was because the Karma he had barely raised to “Good” was now on the verge of “Extremely Evil” again.

‘I made a contract with a Demon King who showed self-sacrifice for his own race by entering a subordinate contract with a black mage and coming under the Goddess of Light, barely becoming “Good.”’

So he had even accepted becoming a public enemy in the Middle World, yet his Karma had completely turned negative.

Stunned, he checked and found that nearly fifty million lives had already been sacrificed by black mages for the Demon King summoning. The summoned Demon King was multiplying the damage exponentially while trying to summon other Demon Kings.

‘The negative Karma from the black mages’ Demon King summoning and the negative Karma caused by the Demon King are both rushing toward me.’

It wouldn’t be strange if he were recognized as “Extremely Evil” right now and judgment from Main Gods and the divine race occurred.

‘The Chief God of the God Realm must have at least a mouse-tail’s worth of flea’s eyeball conscience, since he’s blocking the gods’ interference. No, he knows that if he touches me now, the divine race and everything else will be buried.’

The Magic God of Dimensions was in a state where he was ready to go berserk, to the point of planning to blow away entire stars with Gigantic Meteor if necessary and flee to the Survival Magic Tower.

He began running again.

“I don’t have time to deal with you right now.”