The Giants' Vengeance
The Great Forest war had already turned the entire surrounding environment into a lethal threat, all of it shielded by divine power. 'My first priority is the summoned Demon King. I must prevent any further negative karma from accumulating.' Right now, his eyes were fixed solely on the Demon King, who was diligently slaughtering humans and driving down his karma.
'As expected, a Demon King at the level of a 9th-circle master. The planetary surface has significantly reduced his power.' At this rate, the creature was nothing but laughable.
“You dare challenge me without even reaching the 10th circle? I’ll make you regret it for all eternity.”
In all his life, the Black Magician had never been this furious—not since the High Elf Queens had carved him up like a piece of meat. His roar shook the entire Great Forest.
'If the world turns against me, then I’ll return the favor in full!'
The Orc Emperor, who had built a massive fortress along the outskirts of the Great Forest to defend it, felt a sudden, sharp throb in the bones and teeth he had lost to the Black Magician in the past.
'I charged at a human who smelled unbelievably delicious, only to be beaten like a hide being tanned.'
Every bone in the demigod Orc Emperor’s body had been shattered, and every last tooth ripped out. The agony had been beyond description.
'If it weren’t for the fact that I’m the son of the Orc God, it wouldn’t have ended there. How dare he drool over someone and call them tasty?'
The Black Magician’s irritated and furious shouts echoed through the city of the great orcs. The tens of thousands of Orc Lords who had rushed to help had all been beaten so badly that they had been bedridden for nearly a month.
'The sense of crisis feels exactly like back then. My body keeps breaking out in chills.'
He wanted to open the path immediately. But the Orc God had given a strict order not to let that wicked Black Magician escape outside, so he had no choice but to block him. This was the boundary of the Great Forest. Once the Black Magician left this place, he would be able to use his magic freely.
'He must be stopped here, no matter what.'
In the sky, millions of nagas could be seen forming a defensive barrier. 'At this scale, even the Black Magician—being human and made of flesh—will have no choice but to stop running.'
The moment his charge was halted, every clan in the Great Forest would pour out their full strength.
“This is the end. You will never leave the Great Forest.”
The instant the Orc Emperor’s cry rang out—burning with the grudge of a demigod who had been publicly beaten in front of all the orcs, damaging his imperial dignity—something enormous rose from the forest.
Rumble… Rumble…
It was a translucent giant in the vague shape of a human, though neither human nor High Elf. The smallest stood over five hundred meters tall, while the largest exceeded two kilometers. Fully armed with swords, spears, and other weapons, they thundered across the ground and charged toward the fortress walls surrounding the Great Forest.
“Ooooooh—!”
“Chweeeeee!?”
The shocked Orc Lords reflexively rushed forward, swinging weapons wrapped in reinforced aura. But they only managed to leave shallow scratches on the giants’ skin.
Boom! Craaaah! Crash! Aaaargh! Agh!
The translucent giants slaughtered the High Orcs as if stepping on flies or insects, completely unharmed.
The Black Magician’s incantation rang out.
"9th Circle."
"Attack of the Gigantes Clan!"
Magic Type: Necromancy / Resurrection of the Dead / Limited Law Magic, All-Purpose Wide-Area Attack
Effect: A 9th-circle necromantic spell and the pinnacle of black magic. It summons the vengeful spirits of the Gigantes race—giant gods who fought the gods in ancient times, lost, and were sealed in purgatory. Because the summoned Gigantes belong to the divine race, they are unaffected by holy power and instead possess the god-slaying attribute. As spiritual entities, they are nearly immune to physical force, though aura can inflict minor damage. Their enormous size prevents fatal wounds, making them extremely difficult to eliminate. They are almost invincible against physical attacks and are primarily used against barbaric tribes ignorant of divinity or magic.
Restriction: To cast this spell, the user must summon the Gigantes through necromancy and defeat them. It was designed for decisive battles against the divine race and cannot be stopped except by a very small number of the highest-ranking species specialized in magic.
The first thing that overwhelmed the senses after the spell manifested was its sheer scale. The fortress walls that had seemed absurdly tall to ordinary lifeforms were pathetically low to the translucent Gigantes. An impossibly massive shadow covered both the orcs and the walls.
Ooooooooh! Uuuuuuuuung!
A female giant god who looked as if she could rival the World Tree itself bent at the waist, gazing down at the orcs through the eye slits of a helmet that completely covered her head. Her bent waist reached the clouds, and the golden spear she held was larger than the World Tree. Her round golden shield bore the carved head of a monster with a serpent’s face. The rounded curves of the full-body metal armor on her chest revealed her gender, and golden hair flowed from beneath her helmet, cascading down to her slender waist.
Completely armed in golden female plate armor and standing over ten kilometers tall, the female giant god’s gaze caused the orcs who had been attacking her to freeze in a completely unfamiliar emotion—fear.
Whooooooosh! Whoooooooosh!
The Black Magician floated near the female giant god’s forehead, endlessly supplying her and the other giants with mana.
“Orc God Uruk. If you wish to save your precious children, you had better give it everything you have.”
The colossal female giant god, standing ten kilometers tall, kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.
Kwaaaaang—! Rumbleeeee!
The shockwave sent nearby Orc Lords flying and caused the entire fortress wall to collapse as if struck by an earthquake. The relatively smaller giant gods hurriedly retreated from the wall.
Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…
A brief silence, like the calm before a storm, enveloped the wall. Then, from high above, the enormous golden spear came plunging down toward the earth.
'No—!'
The Orc God’s desperate voice rang out, unable to abandon his children. Vast divine power wrapped around the entire fortress wall.
Uuuuuuuung! Uuuuuuuung!
The wall transformed and reinforced itself with divine power, expanding to envelop the surroundings. The fortress rose from the earth as a colossal mountain and collided with the falling spear.
It was the Orc God Uruk’s Authority of Earth Reinforcement, pushed to its absolute limit by the faith of hundreds of millions of orcs.
Krrrrrk—!
The sound of the giant god’s spear falling from the sky colliding with the mountain rising from the earth was unexpectedly small. It seemed like nothing more than a slight scraping noise—but that was an illusion.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
An intense shockwave, as if a volcano had erupted, blasted everything away and swept over the High Orcs and nagas.
“Craaaaaaaaaaagh—!”
The scream of a highest-rank god with five hundred million orc zealots filled the air. The god-slaying power born from the Gigantes’ ancient grudge against the gods had dealt a devastating blow to Orc God Uruk, who had been fighting with all his strength in the Divine Realm.
'If he had taken that strike with his true body in the Middle World, it would have been powerful enough to annihilate him.'
It was only natural. The magician had summoned one of the most powerful main gods among the giant god race.
'Although this female giant god’s physical body remains bound in purgatory and she was summoned only as a spirit, reducing her divinity to main god level, she was originally a being who could threaten even the Chief God of the Divine Realm. Even a highest-rank god could not escape unharmed.'
With the final scream of Orc God Uruk—who had suffered a fatal wound that drastically lowered his divinity and would require hundreds of years to recover—the translucent giant gods vanished.
The Black Magician descended from the air and landed atop the ruined fortress wall. He levitated a collapsed boulder and pulled out a massive High Orc from beneath it.
“Kuhk! K-kuk!”
The Orc Emperor’s entire body was shattered, his limbs dangling limply as blood poured from him, yet he remained conscious. He no longer looked like a demigod as he stared at the Black Magician with trembling, terrified eyes.
Gazing at the Orc Emperor—who was battered beyond recognition but still alive—the Black Magician asked in an emotionless voice.
“Do I still look delicious to you?”
Only a cold, blue killing intent rose like steam from the Black Magician’s eyes.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm, the Orc God’s scream rang out once more.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaagh—!”
Holy blood gushed like a fountain from the gaping hole in Orc God Uruk’s chest, spraying everywhere. The highest-rank gods nearby were too startled to dodge and were drenched from head to toe.
The gods around them hurriedly tried to heal him, but all they could do was prevent the wound from worsening due to the god-slaying authority.
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
Goddesses shrieked in panic at the spraying blood, while upper-rank angels flew about in utter confusion. The place had instantly turned into pandemonium. This was the Chief God Temple, the very heart of the Divine Realm.
The highest-rank gods gathered here—each possessing over a hundred million believers—were losing their minds over the sudden emergency.
“What the hell is this?”
“Is that really just a simple Black Magician?”
“He rendered a highest-rank god combat-incapable in a single strike!”
“What kind of Black Magician is that? He’s at least main god level or higher.”
Even though a highest-rank god with five hundred million believers had blocked it with everything he had, the 9th-circle spell Attack of the Gigantes Clan had inflicted a wound so severe it bordered on annihilation.
The original plan to hunt the Black Magician would now need a complete overhaul.
“Granzoa! This is different from what we agreed on! That’s not easy prey—that’s a predator!”
The Beast God, who usually shared a deep friendship with Orc God Uruk and ruled over all beasts, shouted in agitation. One of the highest gods with nearly a billion divine power, his roar shook the entire Chief God Temple. But an emotionless, clear voice calmed the tremor.
“I didn’t expect him to act this boldly. How surprising.”
Attacking a highest-rank god with god-slaying magic was an act of turning the entire Divine Realm into an enemy. Yet the Black Magician had shown no hesitation whatsoever. He had used the Orc Emperor as bait to drag the situation down to the lower realm and finish it. The one most shocked by this sudden change in behavior—especially after only ever seeing him avoid killing as much as possible to prevent negative karma—was Granzoa.
'He buried nearly a hundred million lives in the Great Forest in an instant. And he came out swinging with an attack instead of defending.'
The Black Magician had always been defensive. She had assumed he would stay inside his magic tower and defend until the end. She had never imagined he would burst out and commit slaughter on this scale. This was tantamount to a declaration of all-out war.
“His abilities are no less than a main god’s. As a Black Magician of the Middle World who has ascended to divinity, he suffers no power restrictions here. If he enters battle against the Demon Kings like this, the Middle World will be destroyed. Could he have been inciting us with that very goal in mind? Does he plan to wipe out every part of the Middle World except the Great Forest and hand the devastated land over to the elves?”
“How noisy. We will exterminate the wicked Black Magician and fairly distribute the more than one billion positive karma gained from it. Wasn’t reaching main god status decided by majority vote?”
“…”
Of course, they had agreed without knowing he would be this outrageously powerful. For a moment, no one could speak. Especially when the other highest goddesses seated at the round table chimed in one after another.
“Since we all decided together, we must all share the responsibility. Keep that in mind.”
“What matters now is dealing with the Black Magician, not assigning blame.”
“Once the Black Magician is exterminated, the problem is solved.”
As the atmosphere began shifting back toward subjugation, the Beast God exploded in anger.
“That’s not what’s important! Why are you all trying to make an enemy of someone with main god-level power? He may be a Black Magician, but he is also a Magic God of Dimensions, is he not? We should drive the Demon Kings back to the Demon Realm right now and seek reconciliation.”
It was only natural to turn powerful beings into allies whenever possible. Yet common sense no longer applied here.
“We cannot elevate a wicked Black Magician to highest-rank god.”
“That’s not the point! Are you afraid of having more powerful male gods?!”
“What are you even saying? Why are male gods and female gods being brought up here? Are you challenging me to a divine power duel?”
The conference room, with the round table at its center and divided between goddesses and male gods, fell into icy silence.
Excluding the Chief God of the God Realm, the highest god of knowledge and the Beast God were the only male gods at the table. The remaining eight highest goddesses made up the rest of the round table. In terms of public opinion, the males were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
The reason the Beast God was this furious was because, although the number of believers determined divine power, as the Middle World developed, the proportion of high-ranking male gods continued to shrink.
'When the Divine Realm struggled after allying with the Demon Realm, the goddesses, led by Granzoa, began oppressing and excluding the male gods. Even for the same mistake, male gods—who are born with stronger divine power than goddesses—receive harsher punishment. Even for the same achievement, the physically weaker goddesses are praised for working harder and promoted first. Male gods are told they must fight bravely on the front lines of war, while goddesses are weak and must be protected in the rear. The number of male gods dying in war began to increase. The goddesses, who can choose the gender of newborn divine beings, started only giving birth to goddesses, whom the Divine Realm prioritizes protecting. Even resurrected male gods were reborn as goddesses. As a result, most of the young gods in the Divine Realm today are goddesses.'
The male gods who suffered this discrimination had now reached the worst possible situation: they refused the goddesses’ excessive surveillance and control, stopped marrying altogether, and isolated themselves.
'Couples raising children have disappeared. They only meet to share fleeting pleasure.'
The gender imbalance among the ruling class was also severe. Aside from himself—the god of knowledge and beasts who had helped create the Divine Realm—no newly born male god had ever risen to highest rank. Even the current highest-ranking male gods were all primordial war gods from the beginning of time.
'Even I, a member of the round table, am fighting Demon Kings on the battlefield against the demon race due to a lack of manpower.'
Although an alliance with the demon race had halted all-out war, localized conflicts continued endlessly. Yet suddenly, a wicked Black Magician had been summoned, formed a contract with a Demon King, and was threatening the Middle World. They had only heard a simple explanation—“let’s destroy him”—and agreed. Turning someone with that much power into an enemy was pure insanity.
In the end, the Beast God’s hot-blooded nature had finally exploded.
“Someone whose true power surpasses that of a Demon King has no need to contract with one. Granzoa! You have crossed the line. Whether it’s a divine power duel or a direct fight, let’s settle this. I will not forgive anyone who deceives me, even if they are the same divine race. I am not a dog guarding a house.”
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A ferocious divine power like a beast’s roar filled the Chief God Temple, radiating open hostility. The highest-rank gods quickly retreated to the outskirts with expressions that said, “It’s finally happening.”
In response to the Beast God’s provocation, Granzoa looked around with a cold smile.
She was certain of her superiority. 'All eight highest goddesses of the round table support me.' The Beast God was strong, but he stood alone. She trusted in the power of her majority faction.
“You intend to fight all of us by yourself?”
“I can no longer tolerate this. My subordinates are still dying on the Boundary fighting the demon race. I will not forgive you for tolerating those demons and making deals with them. Every time I watched you scheme with your little tricks, my stomach turned. Every time my subordinate gods were demoted to the Spirit Realm as prison labor, I ground my teeth. Let’s end this once and for all.”
The terrible resentment radiating from the Beast God filled the entire space.
The divinity of Orc God Uruk—who had once been nearly equal to him as a highest-rank god—had now fallen to nearly upper god level.
'The orcs who once lived peacefully in the Great Forest were reduced to less than half their number by Granzoa’s High Elves, causing his divinity to drop. And now he’s been dragged into this absurd mess and reduced even further.'
The valiant primordial war gods were gradually losing power as the Middle World developed. And in his eyes, they were being demoted through ridiculous accidents and punishments.
'Most gods whose divinity resets upon dying in battle are reborn as goddesses. If I don’t stand on the front lines, the balance will collapse. Yet the Demon Kings who came to inspect the front lines mocked me—covered in blood from fighting the demon race—as a dog guarding the goddesses’ house.'
He had ground his teeth, fought like a madman for the sake of the Divine Realm, and finally stabilized the Boundary. Upon returning to the Chief God Temple for a brief rest, he had witnessed yet another of the few remaining highest-ranking male gods lose his divinity. And it was a comrade who had fought alongside him in the past.
There was no way he could endure it any longer.
“That’s enough. Quarrels between the highest gods of the round table are forbidden.”
A voice that sounded tired yet carried unshakable dignity caused the Beast God—who had been ready to pounce on Granzoa and tear out her throat—to politely kneel and bow his head.
“My King. It has been a long time.”
“You need not show such excessive courtesy. We gods are not like the demon race with their hierarchical society. We are all equal. We simply have different roles according to the power we possess.”