The Goddess Department's Defeat
The goddesses of the Divine Realm felt their heads pounding with despair as they watched the Main God-level goddesses being utterly overwhelmed and unable to move. The fighting spirit and killing intent radiating from those three Main God-level powerhouses were the kind only those who had survived countless battlefields could possess. The goddesses of this Divine Realm—excluding the Main Goddesses—had almost no combat experience. Their authorities might surpass those of ordinary Main Gods, but that meant little here.
These are true combat-type Main God-level deities. Without battle experience, there's no way to win against them.
To think someone managed to completely subjugate three such precious war god-type Main God-level beings as mercenaries...
What kind of insane Divine Realm is this?
Do we really have to completely subjugate all of those children?
If we do, the goddesses will never be able to act independently again. Those children are Main God-level beings born naturally within this Divine Realm.
More importantly, what do we do from now on?
Well? We're outmatched in power and we have no justification left.
The Main Divine Realm still hasn't recognized us, so there's no answer.
On top of that, every god in all the Divine Realms witnessed our humiliating defeat. There's no way we'll be able to maintain complete control like before.
Even if they faced punishment, they weren't afraid. It was only natural for the defeated. What truly stung was being completely overpowered without even getting a chance to fight.
This is even worse than that Sly Raccoon Main God.
We're completely overwhelmed in justification as well as strength. We can't even resist.
The surrounding goddesses hurriedly returned to their seats among the Highest Gods and sat quietly. Although the new-generation war gods numbered fifty and the Goddess Department had three hundred, leaving only six hundred and fifty total, the remaining Highest Gods were the mighty primordial war gods and goddesses. They were the ones who had refused to form packs with the weak.
Among the new-generation goddesses, those above mid-tier strength who didn't join the Goddess Department have survived.
In fact, the purity of the Highest Gods has only increased, boosting their output.
It was refreshing to realize that the problem had been the weak goddesses of the Goddess Department banding together, causing trouble and lowering the purity of their divine power. Speaking openly, that had been the core issue.
The Divine Realm has expanded to the highest tier, increasing the seats for Highest Gods to two thousand.
That should be enough to clear the backlog of upper gods who have earned promotion qualifications. They too are direct descendants of the primordial goddesses.
The problem was that the one deciding promotions was the Highest Main God who had revealed himself—the Dimensional and War God. Most of the goddesses were now sitting perfectly straight, behaving impeccably.
The single Highest Gods, the primordial war gods, and the highest-tier upper goddesses all shared the same thought.
The seats at the Round Table for the highest deities have increased to twenty, and there are now four positions for Divine Realm Administrators.
The promotions in the Divine Realm had been frozen because we were paying alliance tribute for the battles against the Substitute Race and the Demon Realm.
After eons of accumulated divinity, the chance to raise our ranks is finally before us.
The Main Goddesses clicked their tongues at the sight of them. Rather than any will to resist the Dimensional and War God, they were overflowing with the desire to ascend somehow. The Main Goddesses realized that collective action would no longer be possible.
The Highest Gods, who used to stop at nothing to maintain their positions because they couldn't rise any further, are now completely focused only on what lies ahead.
Having ascended to the highest-tier Divine Realm, the possibilities were now endless and more than sufficient. Even the Main Goddesses themselves were now coveting the Divine Realm Administrator positions and wondering who would take seats at the Round Table. The effect of shortening the divine power growth period was simply too great.
There's no way that Dimensional and War God would recognize something like the old Divine Authority Election popularity vote.
A Highest Main God's position as Divine Realm Administrator provided twice the support for divine power growth compared to an ordinary Main God. Normally, raising divine power by 100 through training in a regular Divine Realm took one year. For mid-tier it took six months, upper-tier three months, and Highest-tier about one and a half months.
They call it double, but for gods who live through eternity, it's a privilege worth staking one's very existence on.
It means becoming stronger more than twice as fast as others.
In the Divine Realm, where falling behind after dying or being extinguished once made it impossible to ever catch up, high positions were the only shortcut. Since all gods in a position shared the training benefits, they staked their lives on promotion and worked to increase their followers rather than train directly.
The Divine Realm Lord, owner of the Divine Realm, receives an additional fourfold reduction, while Divine Realm Administrators receive double the effect.
An ordinary Main God gets four times the reduction, but a Highest-tier Divine Realm Administrator receives eight times.
It's incredible support.
Even the Main Goddesses couldn't help but have their eyes sparkle at this. Moreover, seeing the Demon Realm voluntarily offering the two hundred billion vitality they had been paying as alliance tribute, along with two hundred billion demonic power, left them feeling utterly dejected.
The tribute issue that couldn't be resolved no matter what has been handled the moment the Dimensional and War God became the new Divine Realm Lord.
Everything is being resolved on its own around us.
There was no need to say who the gods of the Divine Realm would choose as their ruler after witnessing this entire process. Even the Highest Goddesses here were now looking at the Dimensional Lord with eyes full of longing rather than at their former masters, the Main Goddesses.
There was no way to reverse this situation.
Our position is completely finished.
We're basically just waiting to be disposed of.
We should have crushed the Goddess Department ourselves from the beginning. We were too late.
Who could have known they were that strong? Going from Main God-level straight to Highest Main God? If someone told me that, I'd have called them crazy.
If even the Main Divine Realm and Demon God Realm acknowledge him, he really is incredible.
We should have formed an alliance much earlier. Because of that damned distrust of male gods, we kept testing and guarding against him, and this is what happened.
I know the problem isn't male gods but that individual, but does it resolve that easily? Still, this time we were truly wrong. We need to fix this.
The Dimensional and War God stood at the glorious seat of the Highest Main God, clicking his tongue as he looked at the contract that had been passed to him after redirecting the vitality and demonic power offered by the Demon Realm toward the Round Table.
He could feel the God of Knowledge excitedly pressing the Demon Lords of the Contract and drawing up the agreements. He could also see the Highest Gods sitting tensely, waiting for the Main God's words and commands.
They had resolved themselves for war with fierce determination, but there was no trace of it left anywhere. Their war resolution felt like a dream, and only the broken doors of the Round Table and the empty seats proved it had ever existed.
The contract from the Dimensional and War God's hand was scattered toward the Highest Gods who sought recognition for their achievements.
"I command all gods of every Divine Realm. Completely purge all demigods and the popes and priests of divine kingdoms in the Middle World who are not at least 'Good' alignment. The charge is treason against the entire divine system of the Middle World. Mobilize all forces of the Divine Realm and erase them."
BOOM—!
All the gods' eyes widened. If it had simply been an insult to a Main God by mere demigods or the formation of independent divine realms, punishment would have been natural, but this seemed like an excessive response.
Treason against the entire Middle World?
In the turbid Middle World, how many popes and priests even manage to maintain 'Good' alignment while governing divine kingdoms? To purge them all?
Only about one in a hundred will survive.
Purging the ruling class of the divine kingdoms would severely impact divine power and vitality supply. However, the new Divine Realm Lord did not stop there.
"From now on, demigods who are not at least 'Good' alignment and are not completely subordinate to higher gods are forbidden from residing in the Middle World. The popes and priests of divine kingdoms will also have their qualifications revoked. Negotiations with human kingdoms and management of the Divine Realm will be handled by establishing other positions. If any harm comes to a divine kingdom, I permit direct descent of the main body. I, a Main God born from the Middle World, hereby lift the one-tenth power restriction in the Middle World."
Permission had even been granted to fully descend into the Middle World in one's true divine form. In that case, there would be no problem managing the divine kingdoms by displaying miracles. Since it was the Dimensional and War God who had completely subdued the Demon Realm, there would be no backlash from them either.
However, no one understood what kind of situation warranted such drastic measures. But the moment they saw the contract from the Demon God Race, rage surged to the top of their heads.
Demigods frequently display divine miracles to gather followers and increase fanatics, which is extremely effective for raising divine power. However, if the demigods themselves seek to become gods, or if followers worship only the friendly demigod before their eyes instead of the invisible and vastly different higher god, the higher god loses divine power, influence over the Middle World, and their authority—becoming either a hollow god or an evil god that covets vitality. Meanwhile, the demigod gains authority, becomes a god, and attains immortality as a spiritual being. Therefore, they must not be left in the Middle World for long periods, nor granted immortality. Because they are demigods, they are extremely vulnerable to desire, and to grow stronger, they have a high probability of turning 'Neutral.' Furthermore, if they break the restrictions of the Divine Realm through contracts with the Demon Realm and take over management of the Middle World, that planet becomes a demonic star belonging to the Demon Realm, and they are recognized as complete demon gods despite being from a lower divine system. This is that contract. All 'Neutral' demigods have contracted to side with the Demon Realm in the event of the Divine Realm's collapse or a crisis in the Middle World. The popes and high priests have also entered preliminary contracts with the Demon God Realm to convert their divine power into demonic power.
Clatter clatter clatter—!
The hands of the highest upper goddesses who kept demigods as subordinate gods began trembling violently. Clearly, parts of those souls and blood belonged to their own demigods and popes.
We forgave them for inevitably becoming 'Neutral' in order to gather followers.
Yet that contract explicitly stated that if the Middle World fell under the Demon Realm's rule, the demigods would replace the higher gods' own divinity. One could easily imagine how much those demigods must have been mocking the foolish higher gods behind their backs.
Grind—!
The anger was so great that their teeth ground together, and they felt their old fighting spirit and killing intent reviving. However, with only one-tenth of their power available in the Middle World, they could not defeat them, nor did they have the face to ask the Divine Realm for help.
"All higher gods shall completely erase their own demigods alongside the primordial gods and fully recover their divine power. The divine kingdoms shall also purge all corresponding popes and high priests. Additional forces will be provided as needed."
Everyone understood their new Divine Realm Lord's words. The preparations for war had already been completed. They should have realized it the moment three Main God-level beings appeared.
But the next words left their minds completely blank.
"The additional forces consist of one thousand powerhouses above the Highest God rank. There are also one hundred and two Transcendents from the Middle World. Completely annihilate the traitorous demigods and the leaders of the divine kingdoms, and show the Divine Realm's wrath and dignity."
RUMBLE—!
Beings fully armed in magnificent armor appeared at the seats of the Highest Gods. There were demon gods among them, as well as goddesses. Moreover, there were even demigods who had nearly become complete spiritual beings. The fighting spirit and killing intent they emitted pressed down on the surroundings with tremendous pressure.
Although they were the same rank of Highest Gods, the fact that these were war god-types made it a power demonstration that made the others feel to their bones that they could not oppose them alone.
The eyes of the Main Goddesses now held only hollow resignation and surrender. The difference in forces was so overwhelming that if they had gone to war, they would have been finished before they could even put up a real fight.
Now even the number of Highest Gods is completely outmatched.
Just which Divine Realm handed over so many beings above Highest God rank as mercenaries?
It doesn't make sense. That's a price that couldn't be paid even by offering a planet at the Creator God level.
They were now numerous enough to form an almost complete Highest-tier Divine Realm. Even excluding the demon gods, the goddesses alone were more than sufficient. Their divine power seemed insufficient for highest upper rank, but the three pairs of translucent wings on their backs revealed the true size of their vessels. Moreover, there were several powerhouses who were nearly at Main God level.
It's almost more than twice the forces of this upper Divine Realm.
Whether because their hopes of promotion had flown away with the sudden increase in beings above Highest God, the expressions of the Highest Gods grew increasingly grim. From the looks of it, they were all direct subordinates of the Dimensional Lord, so naturally they would have priority.
However, the next decision forced gasps of admiration from them.
├─ Divine Power Payment:200 billion
├─ Expansion Request:Highest-tier Divine Realm
└─ Result:IMPLEMENTED ★
WHIRRRRR—!
The Divine Realm began expanding once again. The realm that had doubled upon becoming highest-tier doubled again, then doubled once more with support from the Main Divine Realm, becoming four times larger. The seats for Highest Gods increased from two thousand to eight thousand, the Round Table for highest deities from twenty to eighty seats, and the Divine Realm Administrator positions from four to sixteen.
It was a miraculous development. Feeling the completely transformed divine power support of the Divine Realm, so different from the past, all the gods fell into ecstasy.
Above them, the voice of the Dimensional and War God, now their complete ruler, rang out.
"Those who contribute to purging the traitorous demigods and divine kingdoms of the Middle World shall be promoted. Those who develop the expanded Divine Realm shall also be promoted. Prove yourselves through your own authority and results. You have earned the qualification to ascend as higher gods of the new Divine Realm. As long as I manage this Divine Realm, there will be as many opportunities and seats as you need."
WAAAAAAAH—!
As the thunderous cheers of the gods that seemed to shake the entire Divine Realm rang out, the Main Goddesses tightly closed their eyes. Their power had now completely come to an end.