The Goddesses' Desperate Bargain
The goddesses of the Goddess Department who had waged the recent war gathered first at Granraha's temple. It was the largest among their shrines and stood directly beside the Dimensional and War God's personal temple. None of them could hide their troubled expressions; they could only sigh.
With the demigods of the highest upper goddesses in an excited frenzy, demanding the establishment of an independent lower divine realm—an act tantamount to insulting and rebelling against the Main God—the situation was hopeless.
Because the Goddess Department, acting as the representatives of all goddesses, had insulted not only the Dimensional and War God but the God of Combat and the other war gods as well, we are truly backed into a corner.
If the three hundred highest upper goddesses affiliated with the Goddess Department and the three Main God-level goddesses die and have their divine power reclaimed, we will have to live under eternal exploitation by the Sly Raccoon Main God.
The war goddesses had tried to spark a rebellion, yet without even fighting a single battle they had been crushed by the Dimensional and War God's overwhelming strength and masterful handling. They returned with empty hearts, having completely surrendered both initiative and power.
The Sly Raccoon Main God tried to scheme by abandoning the divine realm and its subordinate gods, manipulating the Main Divine Realm to keep only the rights for himself, but the Dimensional and War God completely thwarted him.
Yet we, the representatives of the goddesses, committed the fatal mistake of being unable to respond at all.
The Dimensional and War God was the highest Main God of the powerful combat-god faction. By fully repaying even the ancient debts of the primordial war gods, he had earned greater loyalty than the previous Main God of the Divine Realm ever received.
His direct forces already numbered more than ten gods, demon gods, and absolute beings estimated to be at the Main God level, with over a thousand upper gods. The gap was absolute.
By thoroughly reorganizing the new-generation war gods and the goddesses of the Goddess Department—who had been disproportionately weak compared to their divine status—the overall power output of the divine realm itself had skyrocketed.
The Demon Realm, which had been siphoning two hundred billion vitality from the Main Divine Realm as the price of their alliance, was now voluntarily returning it and even offering equivalent magical power.
By gathering every spare ounce of divine power, they had miraculously advanced two full stages at once, ascending to a highest-level divine realm.
When the Dimensional and War God took the fifty billion divine power he received as compensation and poured all of it back into the realm’s upgrade and maintenance instead of absorbing it himself, even the thought of opposing him vanished.
He is completely different from the Sly Raccoon Main God, who only ever demanded the divine realm’s vitality and divine power without yielding a single right.
Since every god in the divine realm witnessed this entire process clearly, almost no one will sympathize with any future collective action against the Dimensional and War God.
With the realm expanded to the highest level and promotion slots overflowing, everyone was frantic to earn merits. They threw themselves into preparing for war and developing new authorities to advance the divine realm.
All of them were ecstatic that the number of available promotion positions had increased eightfold.
There were now sixteen seats for Divine Realm Management Main Gods in the highest-level realm—positions that guaranteed twice the divine power enhancement effect of a normal divine realm’s Main God.
Even those goddesses who, no matter how much we begged for help, would only train and never intervene, are now trying to move.
The hidden war goddesses—who had always criticized the combat-god faction for acting in packs like weak herbivores instead of training alone—were finally stirring.
Moreover, after personally confirming that the Main Divine Realm still refused to recognize them as legitimate Main Gods despite their near-full recovery of divine power, their hearts sank into darkness.
Well, we did kill and annihilate quite a few Main Gods.
Since most of them were direct descendants above the upper Main God level, we expected this reaction.
But I never imagined they would interfere so blatantly.
At this rate, even if we become Main Gods with our own stars, expecting support from the Main Divine Realm will be nearly impossible.
Then conducting a proper certification war against the Demon God Realm will be difficult, and we’ll have to bear catastrophic losses.
When the war goddesses discreetly asked their contacts among the Main Divine Realm’s goddesses, they learned that the Substitute Race had been strengthened to an astonishing degree. Even with the Main Divine Realm’s desperate support, only half had passed the certification war this cycle. The gloom deepened.
The Dimensional and War God had forgiven their rebellious actions as if nothing had happened.
Yet their pride as Main Gods refused to let the matter pass so easily.
We must pay a price for his leniency, but is there anything the Dimensional and War God lacks compared to us?
The forces, divine power, and offerings the Dimensional and War God possesses are already beyond imagination.
Even their hidden technique—the Devotion Pledge that raised Innate Divine Power—had already been offered in exchange for receiving a star capable of establishing a divine realm. There was nothing left to give.
In the end, because of this incident they could say nothing. No matter how unfair the treatment, they would be dragged along indefinitely.
A single phrase more despairing than when their own divine realms had been destroyed kept repeating in their minds.
“What are we going to do now? If the Main Divine Realm takes this stance, we have a serious problem.”
“Even if we become independent, we can’t undergo the certification war without their support.”
They kept circling the same unsolvable problem, maintaining a heavy silence for a long time, until the black-haired war goddess finally exploded.
“Those dirty bastards—! It’s been ages since we killed a few of those rotten male gods, and they’re still holding a grudge? And look at this! Isn’t this too much? Freezing our salary vitality for a hundred years just because we broke the round table conference room door? How the hell am I supposed to live? Fix this first—!”
Offense: Willful destruction of the Round Table Conference Room’s highest-grade adamantine door.
Penalty: One hundred (100) years of salary vitality frozen. Punitive multiplier of 200% applied to repair cost.
Payment due immediately. Non-compliance will result in further reclamation of Innate Divine Power.
The black-haired goddess stared at the invoice that had flown in from the divine realm’s consciousness with a tearful face. She had smashed the door in a fit of rage and stormed inside; this was the repair bill. The price of the most luxurious and expensive door in the highest divine realm, doubled as punishment, was an amount no highest god’s salary could possibly cover.
If I have to pay this fine, I’ll be forced to survive on my own vitality without divine realm support for a hundred years—an absolutely desperate situation.
In the worst case, she would even have to burn her Innate Divine Power just to maintain her body. Immediate survival mattered far more than distant future support from the Main Divine Realm.
“Haa? That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Just beg the Dimensional and War God to reduce it.”
“If that’s too much, cling to him, act cute, and ask for forgiveness.”
“He’s ridiculously rich. Something like that shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
Only answers bristling with thorns returned to the black-haired goddess, who still failed to read the room. Yet their reactions were strange. Their faces flushed red and their bodies twitched uneasily.
“S-should I? Yeah—! That’ll work. If it comes down to it, I can borrow from the Dimensional and War God. It’s just debt; I can repay it with my body. There’s a war on, and inside the solar system the restrictions are lifted, so it’s perfect. I’ll be right back!”
“……”
“……”
Watching the black-haired goddess stand and try to rush off toward the Dimensional and War God, the other war goddesses hung their heads and shook them slowly.
I have no idea how that one ever functioned as a Main God of a divine realm.
No matter how ignorant and barbaric her original world was, for such words to flow so naturally from the mouth of a goddess who once ruled an entire divine realm… saying she’ll repay the debt with her body.
Whether she meant it in the sense of a mercenary god who fought with physical power or literally paying with her flesh was unclear, but it was thoroughly shameful.
“Sit down—!”
“Ugh!”
At Granraha’s icy voice and the axe-sharp glares from the surrounding war goddesses, the black-haired goddess’s spirit was crushed. She sat back down. Yet she kept fiddling with the penalty notice, clearly not ready to give up.
In the end, Granraha stepped forward to settle the matter.
“We will divide and handle that bill, so do not go to him recklessly over something like this. How far do you intend to drag down the dignity of us war goddesses? What exactly were you planning to do over a mere conference room door?”
“I-I understand.”
Seeing her reluctantly submit in the murderous atmosphere, the war goddesses sighed.
Why is a door that expensive?
Even splitting it eight ways is an enormous burden, but with that look on her face like she’s about to run there any second, we can’t refuse to pay.
When each of them inserted their vitality into the notice, it glowed and vanished. The black-haired goddess’s face immediately brightened with joy. Since the problem was solved, it was good enough for her simple mind.
Besides, her original style was to act first and think later. This kind of reckless solution suited her perfectly. She had always been surrounded by good friends who would clean up after her.
“First of all, he is on a completely different level from the Sly Raccoon Main God. It is clear he does not only pursue his own interests and cares about nothing except the rise of his Innate Divine Power.”
“He really shows almost no interest in goddesses. In this divine realm, he has only officially spoken with the Goddess of Love and Beauty besides us.”
“Even though he has no interest in goddesses, why did he accept a thousand highest upper goddesses as complete subordinates in exchange for mercenary work with the highest Substitute Race Main God?”
“More than that, there are demon gods, middle-world absolute beings, and many at the Main God level. What divine realm would do something so insane?”
“They say it was from the highest demon-god star of another universe. It seems he received them through a direct contract with that side’s Creator God. We don’t know the exact details, but even the Main Divine Realm is extremely shocked.”
“About what?”
“They all died during that star’s demon-god realm certification war. Their divine status dropped to upper goddess level, and due to their realm’s defeat they were left waiting in the Spirit Realm. Yet they heard every single one has returned as a highest upper goddess and is now in this divine realm. They couldn’t believe it.”
“How much vitality and divine power did he provide to restore them so quickly? Ah—!”
When the image of the Dimensional and War God’s extremely luxurious personal temple—constructed of adamantium that emitted infinite vitality and covered wall-to-wall with divine power amplification gems—rose in their minds, everything made sense.
There was even a World Tree that could reasonably be called a Cosmic Tree.
In that place, with unlimited vitality and divine power growth, returning in such a short time would be entirely possible.
Moreover, if the Dimensional and War God—who boasted mysteriously rapid divine power recovery—had assisted their restoration, filling the divine power of already-created highest upper goddesses was well within reach even after their status had fallen through death.
“With that absurd personal temple and the Dimensional and War God himself, it makes sense.”
“He really is a monster. Replenishing the divine power of a thousand highest upper goddesses is nothing to him?”
“The Main God levels are the bigger problem. We’ve confirmed around ten already, and they say there are over two hundred beings who could reach Main God level with just a little time and divine power. At that rate, we cannot win.”
“Hah—! With just a few more upper Main Gods, we would already surpass the highest divine realm.”
“If we count only total combat power including ourselves and them, the numbers already allow it. Above all, as long as the Dimensional and War God—who can fight the Substitute Race’s Main Gods one-on-one—remains the Main God of this divine realm, both the Demon God Realm and Main Divine Realm will have no choice but to treat us specially.”
“The current situation is ideal for developing both the divine realm and ourselves.”
The return of star-bearing Main Gods following the complete formation of the highest divine realm they had longed for was now visible on the horizon. They only needed a little more divine power.
Yet they could not rejoice. The Main Divine Realm’s ice-cold gaze and the certification wars that had become nearly impossible without support weighed on them heavily.
The more the war goddesses investigated, the more they realized they were no longer at the level where they could simply bring their own subordinate goddesses like in the past.
While we were fighting political battles with the Sly Raccoon Main God for dominance, the outside universe was growing strangely, terrifyingly strong.
With this level of power, we can no longer create and maintain a divine realm alone as before.
Even if all the war goddesses unite, it will be difficult without the Main Divine Realm’s support.
In the end, the only answer is that we must become stronger.
Becoming almost subordinate to the Dimensional and War God was something their memories of betrayal by the male gods and the pride of having once been the owners of divine realms would not allow.
No matter the circumstances, they were the queens of the gods.
“Our own weakness is the problem, so we have no choice but to train harder.”
“We should form an alliance with the Dimensional and War God here, actively support him, and receive proper compensation. There are no more existential threats to this divine realm, and since it is now a highest-level realm, the environment for training is perfect.”
“The Dimensional and War God is rational. Unlike the greedy mercenary Sly Raccoon Main God, he probably won’t demand complete submission.”
“It seems that as long as we perform our duties well and demonstrate high ability, it will be fine.”
“Let’s obtain the Divine Realm Management Main God positions as much as possible and focus solely on training from now on.”
“To do that, smooth preliminary communication is crucial…”
All eyes turned to Granraha. Her eyebrows shot upward.
She roughly understood what their gazes meant. Pushed completely into a corner and deciding they had all gone insane, her tone grew harsh.
“You bitches want me to go flirt, act cute, beg him to look favorably on us, and say we’ll work hard from now on? Have you all lost your minds? Do you think I have no pride? Besides, this is right after he forgave us for trying to rebel! Every god in the divine realm is watching us right now—I can’t even move freely! If I act recklessly and the negotiation goes wrong, we will truly be impeached by every god in the realm—! And what face do I have to go with empty hands? What exactly are we going to offer as the price of alliance?”
The war goddesses answered without hesitation.
“That’s why it has to be you. You’re still the mother of Granzoa, his subordinate god, so you have a personal connection. You’ve had a favorable relationship from the beginning, so it’s easier for you to speak.”
“You possess an assassin’s stealth technique that even the Main God cannot detect. If only you move, the other gods won’t notice. It’s the best option.”
“As you said, if we all rush over now they will suspect another rebellion and we really will be impeached. So go secretly by yourself, improve the atmosphere, then ask what he wants as the price for the alliance.”
“Preferably at a level we can actually handle.”
“Haa—?”
The outright suggestion that she should offer her body to secure favorable alliance terms sent rage boiling to the top of her head, yet no clear rebuttal came to mind.
Among the war goddesses, I am the only one with a personal connection and the ability to approach him secretly.
From now on, the master of this divine realm—the Dimensional Lord—had the nature of a trainee and was rational. There would be no exploitation, no forced submission. Only rewards for contributions to the divine realm and punishment for mistakes.
He will employ and heavily use anyone strong, but pay no attention to the weak. It is obvious he will rank purely by the strength of their authorities and their contribution to the divine realm.
That was the nature of those who pursued only strength as gods.
The Divine Realm Management Main God positions the war goddesses covet will also be assigned according to the hierarchy of power.
Personal connections or emotions would have no place in it. She knew this well from having commanded similar-natured combat gods in the past.
He does not tolerate anyone less capable than himself occupying equal or higher positions. He will want his subordinates to follow the same rule. From now on, the criteria of this divine realm will be the strength of divine power and contribution to the realm.
Then there would be no more power struggles. To focus on training to become stronger, they needed to wash away the past and form a new alliance.
Yet because they had almost nothing to offer as the price of that alliance, the situation in which they were forcibly pushing her to offer even her body made Granraha’s anger surge to the limit.
It is only fortunate that I already raised his Innate Divine Power through the Devotion Pledge. Otherwise I would be too ashamed to show my face.
But the black-haired goddess happily cut in.
“I’m good at body language, so I’ll do it—! When I helped recover his divine power before, I released the authority of love’s nectar and learned exactly what he likes. He really enjoys sincere service! It’s been a while, so I can share divine power with the Dimensional and War God too. I’m really curious what a highest Main God’s divine power feels like.”
“You stay out—! How are you going to sneak over with that huge body? Do you have any way to hide your flashy thunder authority?”
“That would be difficult. But if Granraha doesn’t want to, we can’t force her. We absolutely need this alliance with the Dimensional and War God right now. The longer we delay, the more dangerous it becomes.”
Even so, as a Main God, the black-haired goddess occasionally spoke words that struck the core.
We must form this alliance now and prove to the entire divine realm and all its gods that we stand on his side.
Otherwise we will be branded as the opposition to the Dimensional and War God who has completely seized control of this realm and will gradually become isolated.
Even the new-generation gods who had died and had their divine power reclaimed were minimizing the loss to their bodies and power. This divine realm was currently overflowing with vitality and divine energy.
If they regain upper-god status and train diligently, they will soon surpass their past levels.
If the goddesses whose divine power was reclaimed become stronger in a short time, they will naturally follow the Dimensional and War God.
For gods who live eternally, an increase in divine power is the most important thing of all.
Benefits on a completely different scale from those of ordinary upper divine realms were being granted to the gods.
With the enormous advantages of a highest divine realm and the wide-open path to promotion, even the war goddesses themselves were shaken.
The longer they delayed, the less room for negotiation there would be, and the only one who could step forward to negotiate an alliance was Granraha.
“I will give you full authority over the negotiations. Please handle it well.”
“…Understood.”
In the end Granraha reluctantly agreed, yet her worries about how to conduct the negotiation only grew deeper. Truly, there was nothing left to offer but her own body.
My pride will not allow it, but there is no other way.
At Granraha’s permission the other war goddesses let out sighs of relief. If only they had recognized the Dimensional and War God’s rational nature earlier and formed an alliance or at least a connection, they would never have reached this point. They reflected on how their wariness and testing of him simply because he was a male god had twisted their relationship.
“We really must fix our distrust of male gods first, or we will truly be finished.”
“It’s true. The current divine realm and universe are no longer in a position to distinguish between male and female gods.”
“Thanks to him the universe is extremely stable, but everyone is in a state of extreme tension because of the strengthened Substitute Race’s certification war.”
“Everyone is desperate to expand their forces. If we keep drawing lines between male and female gods, it will cause disaster.”
“The problem is that such things are not easily fixed. We know it’s wrong, yet our subconscious still puts up walls.”
Thus Granraha agonized over how to approach him gently to negotiate the alliance, while the war goddesses began reflecting on their past hatred of males.