The Demon Realm's Calculated Submission

Amid the war in the Goddess Department, the moment he saw the expanding Demon God Temple in the Demon Realm, his eyes narrowed involuntarily. A banner large enough to cover a gate filled the entire screen.

It looked like it had been thrown together in desperate haste. Parts of the black lettering were smeared and crooked. In front of it, a demon god wearing an impeccably tailored black suit in the classic style of an administrative deity stood with his waist bent at a perfect ninety degrees.

None of this resembled the demon race, who placed struggle above all else. Moreover, the three demon emperors and demon kings around him had ditched the armor they always wore and were now dressed in administrative god uniforms. A few had even put on patient gowns. The war ended some time ago—yet here they were, pretending to be weak!

The sight reminded him of the Great Forest races who had thrown themselves flat on the ground the moment he became a Highest God.

And right at the forefront of the screen, exactly two hundred billion vitality shone, neatly packaged in magic power.

They must have predicted exactly what he would want and prepared it in advance. The speed of their response drew an involuntary sigh of admiration. It meant they had set everything up the instant he became the Main God of the Divine Realm.

They're fast. Are these sly bastards really from the demon race?

The Eternal Demon God's favorite pastime was testing the strength of his subordinates. Until they earned full recognition as demon emperors, demon kings had to fight desperately just to survive. In the early days they slaughtered one another until their divinity plummeted. Later they trained to stop right at the razor edge of death.

Ah, of course. These are also incarnations of survival who lived to the end under the Eternal Demon God. Strength alone would never have been enough.

Beyond that hobby, the moment the demon god judged someone even slightly weak or simply irritating, they became the target of a hundred-year Demon King War, were stripped of rank, and driven into the Middle World for disposal.

Brutality taken to the extreme, exactly as one would expect from the Demon Realm. That was why I avoided becoming a demon god. I became a god to live, yet becoming a demon god only brings you closer to death.

Under the Female Demon God, the demon emperors and high-ranking demon kings had mastered the art of reading the situation and preparing to survive. Any minor problem in the Demon Realm resulted in immediate execution.

The administrative demon god dispatched to manage the Demon Realm in the Female Demon God's place was an Upper Demon God possessing one hundred billion magic power. Still, even though this was a Main God Star, sending a Highest Demon God with over two hundred billion magic power to such a remote divine realm would have been excessive. Rumors that this divine realm was a complete mess had circulated for a long time, so even this level of response was generous.

Sending only a dedicated administrative management god to assist the Eternal Demon God, now elevated to Great Demon God, was the proper arrangement. Unlike Main Gods, the demon race held rights to the demon realms of the planets they possessed. The stronger the demon god, the more numerous and powerful their lower demon realms became.

“As a congratulatory gift, we have decided to restore vitality distribution to its original state. This is both the fruit of the long-standing close cooperation between the Divine Realm and Demon Realm and proof of our alliance with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Substitute Gods.”

Twitch. The divine power of the Highest Main God seated in his seat of glory shook at those words.

Restoring the vitality as evidence of alliance? So they want the past and the war treated as if none of it ever happened?

He could seize it by force whenever he wished. If he killed demon gods from the same planet, their divinity would fall far below his own. The resulting positive Karma, though small, would still rise. Why would he stop?

He had no intention of ending the war until he had completely plundered the Demon Realm.

“I have received the Demon Realm’s gift. However, I intend to turn all of you into positive Karma. In return for the gift, I will grant you painless deaths.”

He felt the upper administrative demon god’s body tremble at his killing intent.

The battle to possess a planet’s divine and demon realms was eternal and sacred. No other divine or demon realm could intervene. Only mercenary gods could participate, and even then they had to pay the enormous price of a living planet. In the end, the native forces of that divine and demon realm settled the matter themselves.

If a Great Demon God is dispatched it will become annoying. Better to turn their demon realm into scorched earth and force the Demon God Realm to give up before that happens.

The demon emperors and demon kings must have sensed his divine power and killing intent; their expressions froze solid. Even when he had been a mere ten-circle Main God, they would have been easy to clean up without the Eternal Demon God. During the previous Substitute Gods authentication battle, he had dealt with thirty percent of them in under five minutes.

“We anticipated you would say that, so we prepared this as well.”

Woooong—! Woong—!

Black light coalesced and floated above the vitality. Pure magic power—roughly two hundred billion. It appeared to be the Demon Realm’s entire surplus.

In the Demon Realm the demon god monopolized everything, so there were no promotions. Only the demon god’s ability proved the realm’s worth. No matter how much surplus magic power existed, if the demon god could not handle it, the excess accumulated for future absorption or was used to birth demon race followers. While ten percent of vitality and divine power ascended to the Main God Realm, in the Demon Realm it was entirely at the upper demon kings’ discretion. Failure to pay meant death. The amount they offered now represented nearly their entire surplus production.

“You are an eleven-circle dark mage who has already subjugated the former seventeen demon kings and their forces. You will need magic power. For your subordinate demon gods, magic power and the Demon Realm itself are vital sources of strength beyond the vitality needed to maintain their bodies. Receiving it regularly would be far better than destroying the Demon Realm through war. In addition, we will specially cede all the former seventeen demon kings’ territories in the outer regions of the Demon Realm to the Dimensional Lord and his subordinate demon gods. We will stake the entire Demon Realm and draft a Karma Contract stating that no one may enter without the Dimensional Lord’s permission. In addition to all the conditions above, we ask for only one promise. A prohibition on all-out war against Main Gods and gods of the highest rank or above, and an alliance with the Substitute Gods or against any enemy that threatens the existence of the Divine Realm and Demon Realm.”

“......”

A very capable demon god. He had accurately calculated how many demon gods the protagonist had taken as subordinates inside the Great Forest and what he would need, striving to satisfy every requirement. Failure would mean the Demon Realm turned to ash and his own death.

If I scorch the Demon Realm, mobilizing my subordinate demon gods to harvest and activate that much magic power will take a long time.

More than anything, the biggest reason for attacking the Demon Realm was the livelihood of the demon gods bound to him. No matter how overflowing his own divine realm was with vitality and magic power, without periodic circulation of the Demon Realm’s demonic energy and magic, adverse effects would appear.

I need a foothold inside the Demon Realm.

Yet the thought that it might be better to simply eliminate them before the Demon Realm became troublesome refused to leave his mind.

Perhaps sensing his mood, they handed over a thick bundle of documents.

“Finally, we offer you this. The Eternal Great Demon God left it behind, stating that you would definitely need it.”

They were contracts with the demon race, written in blood and soul.

I killed nearly every dark mage. How are there still this many left?

Most were contracts with beings close to demon king level.

“You will be pleased. This is evidence that the Demon Realm wishes to build friendship with the new master of the Divine Realm.”

“......”

After skimming through the demon race contracts, he summed it up in a single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sentence.

“I am satisfied. Handle the details between the God of Knowledge and your working staff. Only one thing has changed. The Divine Realm is now the superior party.”

“If it is the divine realm managed by the Dimensional and War God, that is only natural. The strength you displayed in battle against the highest Main God of the Substitute Gods was deeply impressive. You may handle the relationship between this upper Demon Realm and the Divine Realm however you wish. However, the other Great Demon Gods desire mutual close friendship and wish to participate as mercenary Main Gods in the next authentication battle against the Substitute Gods. Of course, we will pay a fair price.”

“So you were also a messenger. Tell them that if the price is right, I will participate in the demon race’s authentication battle as well.”

“Thank you. If there is anything else you desire, please speak at any time.”

“There is no such thing as a free gift. This is more than enough for me to endure the war and maintain friendship with you. This should be the limit of what you can report to the Demon God King.”

“You are correct. The vitality we received from the Divine Realm upon forming our previous alliance has lost its justification now that the authentication battle with the Substitute Gods has concluded. Converting it to magic power is difficult, so we are returning it. We will provide an equivalent amount of magic power to the powerful Main God of dark mage origin who has newly taken charge of the Divine Realm, thereby forming a bond of friendship and securing assistance in the coming authentication battle against the Substitute Gods. In addition, the official document for this alliance states that we will create an exchange zone within the Demon Realm to foster smooth relations with the Divine Realm. Anything beyond this touches upon the pride of the demon gods and will not be approved. The Great Demon Gods suggest that if you desire more magic power or territory within the Demon Realm, you should consider changing your occupation to demon god. Above all, the Demon God King has publicly declared that, unlike the past, he will greatly employ any strong individual. The Demon God Realm is no longer the same one that once suppressed absolute beings of the Middle World who carried titles from the past.”

Now they were subtly tempting him to switch to becoming a demon god.

The one who struck me in the back of the head last time, forcing me into a decisive battle against the Substitute Gods’ Main God to gauge my final dark magic, was the Demon God King. Does he really think I’ll believe those words?

He had wondered why their preparations were so swift and their gestures so generous. It seemed the Demon God Realm had suffered catastrophic losses in the authentication battle against the strengthened Substitute Gods this time.

They even need mercenary gods from the Divine Realm that they never paid attention to before. When I consider the Substitute Gods reinforced by my own dark magic, even I get a headache.

If they did not organize themselves quickly and establish countermeasures, there would truly be no solution later.

The Substitute Gods he touched will not stop there. I must become even stronger.

With that, the discussion between the Demon God of the Demon Realm and the Main God of the Divine Realm came to an end.

The God of Knowledge, who had rarely held the upper hand in negotiations with the Demon Realm, wore an expression of pure joy. He glared at the screen displaying the demon kings and shouted with overflowing vigor.

“All of you, come out! This time I’ll scrape you down to the bone!”

The three demon kings of schemes stepped forward powerlessly, faces twisted as if they had bitten into bugs.

The God of Knowledge will handle it well. Right before his eyes, four seats that could become Main Gods—albeit with limited authority—were shimmering. Of course he’s motivated.

With the Main God-level authority of ‘Self-Reflection,’ once the God of Knowledge sat in that seat and experienced a Main God’s power, the probability of his own promotion would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rise dramatically. His eyes burned fiercely as he gazed at the position of Divine Realm Management Main God.

He must already anticipate that the seat of Divine Realm Management Main God will go to whoever possesses both divine power and proven results.

Among the male gods, he alone stood at Main God level, but with eight female Main Gods ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠present, he could not feel at ease. Therefore he would throw himself into the work even more desperately than before. Relaxed now, the protagonist reviewed the demon race contract documents he had received earlier, letting out a satisfied smile mixed with a sigh.

“Whew. This ridiculous divine realm really was on the brink of collapse. Still, I gained something excellent.”

If he had been satisfied with remaining the Highest War God and done nothing, he would have died alongside the Divine Realm. The more he read the contract with the Demon Realm, the more absurd it seemed.