The Goddess Department's Reckoning

The faces of the Highest Gods seated at the Round Table were ice-cold as they pressed the selection button for the Goddess Department’s war resolution. This was a decision that would determine the fate of three Main Goddesses and three hundred Highest Goddesses for the first time in the history of the Divine Realm. They represented half of the Divine Realm’s entire faction, excluding the Main God of the Divine Realm himself. Their destinies as gods now rested in the hands of the Highest Gods at this table.

The crisis had grown severe enough to warrant a formal Round Table vote. Everyone present agreed on that much.

In the God of Knowledge’s mind, countless calculations of profit and loss spun endlessly.

They are precious goddesses who, alongside Granzoa, were meant to manage the next generation of the Divine Realm. That was why we tolerated a certain degree of their indulgent behavior. True authority blooms from free thought and open exchange.

Granzoa had once sat in that very seat as the supreme leader of the Goddess Department. But during her battle against the Beast God to earn her place at the Round Table, she had learned firsthand the true strength of the male gods.

Even without Main God-level authorities or sufficient divine power, male gods grow stronger through adversity and combat. Despite possessing the supreme Main God authority of Infinite Restoration, Granzoa had been forced into a desperate, bloody struggle. When the Beast God, humiliated and driven mad, began to rampage in earnest, he proved before every god why the primordial war gods had survived.

To a true war god, any wound or injury was nothing more than a refreshing stimulus that only increased their divine power.

Had the Beast God possessed a Main God authority or comparable divine power, Granzoa would never have become one of the Round Table gods. That was why she had reacted with such visceral hatred at the appearance of a male god who wielded the supreme authority of ‘Dimension.’

When the Dimensional and War God—then still an Upper God—had nearly dragged Granzoa, a Main Goddess, into mutual annihilation, her attitude had grown hysterically hostile from that moment onward.

It taught her, bone-deep, that the male gods’ ferocious fighting spirit allowed them to surpass goddesses in battle.

If not for the countless deaths and annihilations they had endured in their repeated brutal clashes against the Substitute Race, many of the war gods and battle gods would have already ascended to Main God status long ago.

They already possess more than enough combat experience to earn authorities. What they lack is the long period of rest and meditation required to solidify their sense of self, along with the massive divine power that must accompany it. There are countless Upper Gods among the male gods who have yet to receive such boons. If given sufficient time and divine power, countless war gods and battle gods would be granted the ‘authority’ of the God of Light. And once that happens, goddesses would never again seize the initiative.

The goddesses who ruled the Divine Realm had intensified their suppression of male gods in response, but the God of Knowledge could understand that much.

Whether they are demon gods or divine gods, both will stop at nothing to protect their authority and position. However, threatening the entire Divine Realm that gave them those positions is something neither the Round Table gods nor personal opinion can ever tolerate.

Even if they were precious Main Goddesses, they had already crossed the line. Even if they faced the scrutiny of a Creator God as punishment for Main God-level offenses, there would be no issue.

Now that the Substitute Race’s authentication war has concluded, we no longer need to expend such enormous amounts of vitality and divine power. It is time to cut out the rotten parts we have been forced to carry and restore the Divine Realm to normalcy.

The God of Knowledge’s eyes turned emotionlessly transparent as he reached his decision. One final time, he restricted all emotion and reviewed whether his judgment had been influenced by personal feelings. This was his authority—Self-Reflection.

To ensure he would never repeat a wrong choice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠driven by a momentary surge of emotion, he thoroughly suppressed his feelings and analyzed the projected future and all possible interests with cold precision. The choice was extremely cold and ruthless, yet every decision made in that state had never once been wrong.

Everything is done to derive the optimal outcome and benefit for both the Divine Realm and myself.

The God of Knowledge had made his decision.

In the worst case, three Main Goddesses and three hundred Highest Goddesses will disappear from the Divine Realm. But they cannot compare to even fifty of the Upper Battle Gods and War Gods who fight as naturally as they breathe in his universe.

Goddesses could be recruited again from the Spirit Waiting Station, but true warriors loyal to the Divine Realm could not. Especially not the elite battle gods who could ascend to Main God level with nothing more than sufficient divine power and long-term training.

Woooong—!

One vote in favor lit up on the Round Table. The face of the Highest Goddess from the Goddess Department who watched it go pale with despair.

The one who had proposed the agenda was the Dimensional and War God, so he had no voting rights. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left nine other Round Table gods with votes. If five of them voted in favor, they would lose all rights as gods of the Divine Realm and await judgment.

And now, one of those five votes had already been cast.

In the worst case, all our divine power could be stripped and we could be exiled to the Spirit Realm.

Granzoa had already been demoted to a lesser god after being judged for tampering with a karma contract. When the Dimensional and War God had taken her hostage and threatened to destroy the Divine Realm, the God of Knowledge had proposed activating the Round Table vote. The ruling goddesses, unable to ignore the crisis facing the Divine Realm, had fallen silent. The memory of a Main Goddess being handed over to the enemy as a hostage so pathetically filled their minds completely.

Anyone casting a vote in favor at the Round Table had to stake both their personal claim and their name on that decision. It would remain in the history of the Divine Realm forever—criticized and evaluated as an act of violating divine rights. Should the situation change and the outcome worsen, even their position could be placed in jeopardy.

After all, the distant past decision to form an alliance with the demon race is still used as grounds to attack the opposing side even now.

That was why votes of impeachment were handled with extreme caution. Even when Granzoa, who had distorted a karma contract and brought crisis to the Divine Realm, was handed over as a hostage, it had barely passed with a majority.

The faces of the ruling goddesses grew increasingly rigid as they faced the choice once more. These were the new-generation goddesses they had raised over eons using the vitality and divine power earned through their endless struggle against the Main God of the Divine Realm and the male gods.

Though they had been enraged by those goddesses’ extreme remarks, if they were purged like this, most of their own efforts would be rendered meaningless.

Even if we use the recovered divine power to create new Highest Goddesses, the problem only grows larger.

The male gods who distinguished themselves in the authentication war are overflowing in number.

At least half of the recovered divine power would have to be distributed to the male gods.

If thirty percent of Upper Gods become male, we will be completely overwhelmed by the Main Gods and the primordial war gods.

If the intermediate Main God known as the Dimensional and War God joins the Main God of the Divine Realm and the male gods, we could be utterly suppressed.

In the end, their choice could only lean toward saving those goddesses. However, if the combat strength of the enraged Upper Battle Gods and male gods all vanished because of this statement, they truly would be unable to stop a demon invasion.

They could only exert Main God-level divine power within the Divine Realm itself. They could only block external invasions.

Outside, on the Boundary or in the Middle World, we are nothing more than Highest Gods at the Main God level.

With that level of power, we could never stop the military strength of the Demon Realm.

Thanks to the intermediate Main God, the Dimensional and War God, there is no immediate crisis, but he is someone who will eventually leave to become the Main God of the Divine Realm of another star.

We need the Divine Realm’s own independent military strength.

Just as the God of Knowledge had said, there were no battle gods or war gods in the Spirit Waiting Station willing to sacrifice themselves for the Divine Realm. Only goddesses and male gods who were little more than administrators remained. The Mercenary God was out of the question.

The Mercenary God cannot be trusted until he is placed under complete subordination.

If only a few war gods and battle gods defect, it might be manageable. But if more than half disappear as they threaten now, the very existence of the Divine Realm will be in jeopardy.

The fighting spirit radiating from the war gods and battle gods as they stared at the ruling goddesses was palpable.

This is no longer a situation where words or negotiation will work.

If we do not show the will of the Divine Realm, it is over.

We should have raised the Goddess of War and female war gods somehow.

Our excessive specialization for the sake of development has finally come back to strangle us.

The ruling goddesses exchanged glances and made their choices. The moment this formal agenda had been raised, the outcome had already been decided. There was no turning back now. Even if those Main ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goddesses were their direct subordinates.

Even Granraha had gritted her teeth and swallowed her tears as she voted to hand Granzoa over as a hostage.

We should have beaten them into submission long ago, at least enough so they wouldn’t dare act recklessly toward the war gods and battle gods like Granzoa did.

If the goal was the Main God of the Divine Realm, then naturally the male gods had to be accepted as well. The undeniable truth was that male gods were, on the whole, far superior as war gods and battle gods than goddesses.

We must judge them by their contributions to the Divine Realm. If we reject male gods simply for being male, that Divine Realm is doomed to perish.

Without the Dimensional and War God, the Substitute Race’s authentication war would still be ongoing.

Vast amounts of vitality would have continued to be consumed with no reproduction.

Now that the authentication war is over, we have a surplus of both divine power and vitality.

It is enough to endure the absence of three hundred Highest Goddesses.

What had become unnecessary after the war ended was not only the battle gods and war gods they spoke of. It also included the uncontrolled portion of goddesses they had been forced to tolerate until now.

The Goddess Department must be reorganized on this occasion as well.

The Main Goddesses can be harshly re-educated, mentally reformed, and later granted divine power once more.

After all, only the divine power is recovered. The vessel of the god itself does not change.

The ruling goddesses truly had no choice. If not for the fact that all the new-generation Upper Male Gods were seething with rage, they would not have been forced into this. The atmosphere suggested they really would all leave.

There is no future for the Divine Realm with only the new-generation goddesses.

Without powerful male gods, we cannot create even stronger direct descendants.

We will grow weaker compared to other divine realms and eventually disappear.

But we must somehow change this situation.

We cannot afford to lose even three Main Goddesses, even temporarily.

After losing Granzoa’s Infinite Restoration, their advantage had narrowed to a slight edge, and now they were being pushed back like this. Meanwhile, some of the more hot-tempered battle-goddess-type ruling goddesses had already begun casting their votes.

Woooong—! Wooong—!

Four of the five votes that would decide the fate of the Goddess Department’s goddesses had now been cast. Only a single vote remained.

There were still five Highest Gods of the Round Table who retained their right to choose. If even one of them voted in favor, every goddess in the Goddess Department would have their divine power stripped until this matter was resolved. And depending on the outcome, in the worst case they would be judged as traitors by the Dimensional and War God and declared enemies of the Divine Realm.

No one could imagine how that cruel War God would treat goddesses who had lost their divine power after insulting him.

Among the goddesses of the Goddess Department, more and more were fainting at the horrific fate that loomed before them.

The desperate voices of the five remaining ruling goddesses echoed through the Round Table chamber.