The Round Table's Verdict
The Goddess Department War had already secured four votes in favor, and by majority decision of the five highest gods left on the Round Table who still held the right to choose, a formal resolution was declared. The goddesses drained from the chamber like an ebbing tide, flowing into the grand assembly hall next door. The male gods remaining in the Round Table chamber stared at the glowing formal proposal on the table, unable to speak a single word.
Three Main God-level goddesses and three hundred supreme-grade goddesses. Half the Divine Realm’s entire fighting force had been put up for impeachment in one sweeping motion.
If we don’t handle this Goddess Department outrage properly, our divine power will be stripped away and that mighty, cruel War God will execute us all for treason.
The goddesses who had families trembled. As the male gods’ initial fury cooled, worry began to set in. What had enraged them were not their own family members but the other goddesses of the Department. They had never intended to judge their own blood. Yet now only one more vote stood between them and a majority approval on the Round Table.
Whether the male gods leave the Divine Realm or stay, their hearts have already departed. It will be difficult to sacrifice for them as we did in the past.
This is an intensely emotional matter, not one of true free will.
Even if they leave, they cannot take goddesses whose divine power has been completely confiscated.
The outer realms we glimpsed during dispatches and training were no place for powerless goddesses to survive.
It was a brutal battlefield where even supreme gods barely received decent treatment.
They would likely suffer worse than demigods.
Once it became known that the confiscation of their divine power stemmed from blasphemy against upper gods, combat gods, and war gods, the chance they would be denied recognition as true deities was high. Without divine power, physical training was nearly impossible and gathering followers out of the question. They would cease to be gods. Thus, the seizure of divine power was a punishment harsher than death or annihilation.
More than anything, what weighed on their hearts was their own collective defiance and the threat of mass defection. In wartime such behavior would warrant immediate summary execution, and the one presiding over this very meeting was the ruthless War God.
The voice of the War God—who had proposed the impeachment of more than three hundred supreme goddesses—spoke to the God of Knowledge.
“Can you truly not reach the Main God of the Divine Realm, who stands above all others?”
“This should be impossible. He can receive our intent and teleport here instantly, yet there is no response at all.”
The God of Knowledge’s bewildered voice echoed. In any emergency within the Divine Realm, even closed-door training was to be disregarded. They had sent word, but received nothing. Worse, the link between the Main God of the Divine Realm and his subordinate deities had grown faint. Even emotions and intentions were barely transmitting.
“Did you recommend the closed-door training in the Main Divine Realm, God of Knowledge? Or did the Main God of the Divine Realm suggest it himself?”
“Of course it was the Main God himself who brought it up first. He claimed proper training was simply impossible inside this Divine Realm. With no pressing matters here and some personal affairs to organize, I agreed and wished him a safe journey.”
“With his entire family?”
“He said the young master required training as well and the madam needed attendance, so they naturally went together.”
The Dimensional and War God’s divine power began to sharpen. Light gathered around his body until it blazed so brightly that no one could look directly at him. From within that radiance, his voice rang out again.
“You must have already reported every incident occurring in the Divine Realm to the Main God of the Divine Realm.”
“I told him everything, including how furious you are. He will apologize soon. He is not a man of ill intent by nature, but that cursed drinking habit of his is the problem. It was surely a mistake.”
“……”
At the God of Knowledge’s words, the Dimensional and War God let out a sigh and continued.
“Haa. It seems being a subordinate god has clouded your judgment. I may need to start using honorifics with you from now on.”
“What? What are you saying? Have you already received a star somewhere and become the official Main God of the Divine Realm? Where? We haven’t even decided on the successor for the War and Elf God position here yet. More importantly, how can you stir up such chaos and then leave? Shouldn’t you clean this mess up and complete a proper handover?”
Ignoring the God of Knowledge’s flustered outburst, the Dimensional and War God turned his gaze toward the supreme combat gods still pinned down by the primordial combat gods and spoke.
“Collective defiance and conspiracy to defect. It’s not even worth killing you for it. In light of your past contributions, I’ll overlook it this once. Those who wish to leave may go. But do not show such a pathetic sight like beaten dogs.”
A chill ran down their spines. An overwhelming pressure, like that of a main god from the colossal Substitute Gods race, crashed over them. They had believed him to possess two billion divine power as a Main God, yet this presence rivaled the greatest Main God of the Divine Realm himself.
The primordial combat gods shook their heads and exhaled heavily at the sight of the frozen gods.
The sense of crisis I felt from the Dimensional and War God earlier was no illusion.
Had we clashed and released our fighting spirit, we would have died instantly.
They had not realized the gap was this vast, but seeing it with their own eyes left no doubt.
His Innate Divine Power is at the intermediate Main God level, but when amplified by magic power his realm rises sharply.
At maximum output he is nearly a highest Main God.
Even while still a Main God, the Dimensional and War God had landed a critical magical strike on an upper Main God of the Substitute Gods. Now that he had advanced to intermediate Main God, he had to be treated as highest-god tier at minimum. Precise measurement was impossible against a being two or more stages above them, but they sighed in relief that they had at least acknowledged the earlier warning of danger.
The new-generation supreme combat gods might possess the instinct for battle, yet their thoughts were clouding their judgment.
The God of Knowledge spoke with a heavy sigh.
“Do not judge your opponent solely by visible divine power and records. Trust the senses you have sharpened through struggle. When supreme combat gods face superiors, intuition is often far more accurate. The War God currently holds five billion divine power as an intermediate Main God, yet through the power of magic he already surpasses upper Main Gods. This Round Table was personally forged by the greatest Main God using ‘Immortality.’ The fact that it can be destroyed means his offensive power has already exceeded that of the Main God of the Divine Realm.”
Remembering how the table had been obliterated by a casual strike of divine power moments ago, they shuddered. Even in full divine power release, the Dimensional and War God had reduced a body defended by the Main God of the Divine Realm at full strength to dust in a single blow.
As expected, he possesses the attack power of a highest Main God.
The God of Knowledge marveled at the truly astonishing speed of his growth—even accounting for the rewards and mercenary fees involved.
He will probably reach Creator God before long.
The Dimensional and War God, now the object of such admiration due to his explosive rise in maximum output, continued speaking.
“What exactly feels unfair? Once the war ends, war gods and combat gods are the first to be culled. In most other realms they are branded traitors against the Main God of the Divine Realm and disposed of. At least the goddesses are offering to use every one of you as ‘guard gods.’ Shouldn’t you be grateful? Why are you crying and throwing tantrums like little girls? Is that why you’ve ended up like this?”
“……”
He was pouring fuel onto the flames of the new-generation supreme combat gods and war gods. The God of Knowledge and the primordial combat gods clutched their heads in dismay.
Shouldn’t we be soothing him right now?
To a highest-Main-God-tier powerhouse like him, supreme combat gods are nothing more than trifles.
From the perspective of his long, experienced life, the Dimensional and War God’s true intention was clear.
The War God is originally the supreme commander of all combat gods and war gods in the Divine Realm and the arbiter of war itself.
A being from the Middle World who threatened the Divine Realm, killed the previous War God, and rose to become the highest god—he would never acknowledge such a person.
He had watched other combat gods and war gods fail to show proper respect to the new War God as supreme commander. It seemed the grudge had been festering.
He never showed it outwardly, but the moment an opportunity appeared he pounced.
He’s provoking them so he can kill them.
Indeed, without that kind of lingering tenacity one could never become a powerhouse of his caliber.
Each cold word from the Dimensional and War God made the male gods’ faces flush crimson with rage. Yet having felt the despairing gap in power, none dared to charge forward.
At least they’re better than those new-generation supreme goddesses who didn’t know their place.
If they, as war gods and combat gods, chose to ignorantly attack a superior and die like dogs, the primordial combat gods were prepared to abandon the male gods entirely and refrained from further intervention.
Then, concisely, one of them spoke.
“Insurrection is grounds for immediate execution for war gods and combat gods. Cease this at once and show proper respect to the War God.”
“……”
When the primordial combat gods’ words—laden with sincerity and fighting spirit—reached the new-generation supreme combat gods, they lowered their heads. The primordial combat gods’ judgment had always proven correct on any battlefield or in any situation. It was precisely by trusting that judgment that they themselves had endured and risen to supreme godhood.
Once the new-generation male gods withdrew their fighting spirit and divine energy and bowed their heads, the Dimensional and War God clicked his tongue.
“Tsk! How truly cunning. You old fossils who couldn’t even die properly. It would be cleaner to kill every last incompetent, hopeless one before they leave the Divine Realm and reclaim their divine power.”
“To you now, supreme gods may appear useless, but they are still the future strength of the Divine Realm. Please calm your anger. They have clearly realized both the power gap and your cold resolve. They will obey absolutely from now on.”
“Incompetent beings test their superiors. Hopeless ones attach conditions even to obedience. I have never seen anyone who behaves with such collective emotion prove useful. That is why, despite receiving vast amounts of vitality and divine power and accumulating experience in countless battles, they possess not a single worthwhile authority. If free thought grants authority to goddesses, then for combat gods and war gods it is pure struggle and the thirst for power that grants authority. With so many distracting thoughts, they are beyond saving. Above all, for combat gods and war gods to threaten collective defiance and defection—in wartime that would be grounds for immediate execution.”
“That is the general rule, yet this Divine Realm has always operated in its own way. Sigh—”