The Goddess Department's War
The Goddess Department war began as countless Main God-Slaying Spears prepared to leap through space, locking onto the Virgin Goddess. A deep hum filled the air. Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Faced with that overwhelming threat, the Virgin Goddess poured every authority she possessed into erecting a defensive barrier. The sudden shift to the brink of battle drained the color from every goddess’s face.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!Rumble-rumble-rumble! The sheer pressure radiating from the spears shook the entire Round Table conference chamber, driving relentlessly against the Virgin Goddess’s divine barrier. She could only be pushed backward, given no opening for counterattack or evasion. The Dimensional Lord’s cold voice rang out.
“The Main God of the Divine Realm must set aside all personal feelings and administer rewards and punishments with perfect impartiality. Whether the offender is his own direct subordinate, a subordinate god, or even if the gain in divine power is something he cannot possibly relinquish, there are no exceptions. Once exceptions are permitted, the Divine Realm’s progress halts, factional strife erupts, and everything ends. Even if it means forgoing an immediate surge in power, I will safeguard the development of the Divine Realm and the prosperity of the Middle World. Only the conclusion of prosperity and advancement leads to the ‘extreme good’ of karma and can elevate me to Creator God. Anyone who interferes with that path will be slain, regardless of rank.”
Rumble-rumble-rumble! The Main God-Slaying Spears had originally been forged to slay Main Gods and settle the Divine Realm’s fate. No matter how strong an authority is, it will still inflict damage and drain divine power. Even a goddess wielding the authority of Main God-Slaying cannot escape. It did not matter that the Virgin Goddess’s offensive power currently surpassed his own. There was simply no opening to attack amid the downpour of spears. The moment she tried to switch to offense, she would be riddled with holes.
Knowing this, the Virgin Goddess raised her barrier to its absolute limit. A spear that once killed a demigod with 2.1 billion divine power cannot deliver a fatal blow to an opponent of this caliber. Yet I cannot release the Dimensional Net while the Middle World crisis remains unresolved. This was the first step toward a new Divine Realm. Even the smallest problem could prove fatal, so I must commit everything.
To completely resolve the Middle World situation, he needed the full authority of every god while maintaining the dimensional barrier. The Virgin Goddess’s divine power, though that of a neutral Main God, was still within his capacity to handle, and he possessed a finishing move, however immature. Vwoooom! The Origin Sun and Moon were summoned, radiating immense divine power. Countless magic circles blanketed the space around him and the entire chamber.
Every inch of space and time within the Round Table chamber is now my domain and the foundation of my authority. He gathered the full fifty billion divine power of an Intermediate Main God. If the Virgin Goddess continued to resist, he intended to end it in a single stroke.
“I will never tolerate any element that threatens the advancement of the Divine Realm. I will eliminate it at any cost. Main God-Slaying Dimensional Divine Annihilation Cannon, activate!”
Fwoooosh! Pure light divine power too intense even for divine eyes gathered in his mouth and was drawn into the dimensional magic circles. At the same time, every dimensional magic circle within the Main God Temple blazed, spewing beams of light. Rumble-rumble-rumble! The entire Round Table chamber was engulfed in radiance.
Fifty billion divine power multiplied by three from the Main God-Slaying effect would be one hundred fifty billion, but my Main God-Slaying has been degraded to twice the damage—roughly one hundred billion—because of the Devotion Pledge I received from Hera. I must twist space and time with the dimensional magic circles and detonate the beams simultaneously from every direction. The Dimensional Lord seized every point in space and time, detonating every zone marked by the Divine Annihilation Cannon. The enormous divine power consumed will be replenished by the Origin Sun and Moon, allowing continuous fire. I can slaughter dozens of Intermediate Main Gods below one hundred billion divine power, provided they do not share power through parallel divine connections.
Crash! The goddesses of the Divine Realm administration trembled violently before the Dimensional Lord’s overwhelming threat. They had expected lenient treatment in personal matters, but none had imagined he would suddenly threaten execution over a threat to the Divine Realm itself. Personal contract unfairness could be endured alone, and karma offered some support for the weak’s sacrifices.Collective contract unfairness or injustice, however, carried a price too great for any individual to bear.If the Divine Realm administration Main God repeatedly issued biased measures, the Divine Realm would shake once more.Judged by karma’s standard of prioritizing advancement, this was clearly unacceptable.
The enhanced Blessed Breastmilk and the goddesses’ Devotion Pledges were important to the Dimensional Lord, yet the advancement and prosperity of this Divine Realm—bound by the Creator God’s direct karma contract—mattered far more. Special methods were useful, but ultimately, advancing the Divine Realm remained the fastest path to increasing divine power. Above all, his divinity was that of Dimensions and War, and his magic was likewise rooted in the battlefield. Purity and strength of will became strength itself; the more one compromised or retreated, the narrower the path of advancement grew.
Even with only a sliver of chance, one must charge forward and seize victory to grow stronger and raise both divine power and authority. The stronger the opponent, the greater the effect—and these goddesses are more than worthy opponents. Despite possessing less than twenty billion divine power, they are enduring a threat capable of slaying a hundred-billion divine power Intermediate Main God. Truly, their authority and strength were enough to slaughter countless Main Gods of equal rank. Amid the spears and magic circles that seemed ready to erupt at any moment, the goddesses’ barriers finally manifested. Vwoom! Vwoom!
Eight-colored divine light radiated from the barrier surrounding the Virgin Goddess. The combat goddesses, wearing expressions of dismay, were likewise enveloped in the same light. They had hesitated whether to fight alongside her, yet in the end they chose battle. Through parallel divine connection, their combined will rapidly analyzed the Dimensional Lord’s power. The Main God-Slaying Spear authority will inflict severe damage to the body.Additional strikes cannot be fully blocked.Even with parallel divine connection, that level of attack cannot be completely nullified.
Removing the reversal function from his Tenth Circle magic left a threefold limit. The Dimensional Lord’s keen observational skills as a mage mapped every detail of the eight combat goddesses’ barriers. Hmm? Not a parallel divine connection, but a sanctuary? An application of the Devotion Pledge, I see. They have temporarily created a sanctuary that shares all their divine power and authorities. The effect is more than twice that of parallel connection, with no limit on individual divine power growth, yet it consumes enormous divine power and is meant only for short decisive battles.
The joint barrier the combat goddesses had erected against the Dimensional Lord could indeed withstand a Main God’s assault. The problem was the staggering divine power consumption. Maintaining this barrier will require Granzoa’s Infinite Restoration. That is why she was the highest-ranking goddess and representative of the Goddess Department. Still, with the Intermediate Goddesses joining, the consumption can be offset. But that is all. It will not work against a true Highest Main God three ranks above. Their innate divine power is simply too low to defeat me with this. Their offensive power is too weak to pierce my barrier. If I dodge the Main God-Slaying Spears instead of blocking them, it is over. Overwhelming them with raw divine power or dragging the fight into a prolonged battle will secure victory.
The Dimensional Lord felt a surge of exhilaration. He had not yet risen from the Seat of Glory to sever the Dimensional Net, yet a genuinely dangerous battle was approaching. A chill of tension raced down his spine. The administration goddesses bit their lips, lost in thought. The combat goddesses ultimately rose from their seats and positioned themselves beside their battered comrades, preparing only for defense. Vwoom! Vwoom! They could not restore the Virgin Goddess’s divine power, which had suffered the greatest strain, but they could mend her body enough to return her to fighting condition. In the end, they had chosen to abandon the Divine Realm administration Main God and save their friend.
A faint, involuntary smile touched his lips at their display of loyalty. If the Divine Realm administration Main God had tried to govern with personal bias, she would have to die. But setting aside self-interest and risking their lives for their comrades is beautiful. Yet he could not overlook the fact that their actions threatened the advancement of his Divine Realm. Beautiful from afar, perhaps, but if one became entangled and both allies and self perished, leading to defeat in war, there was nothing more insane. During his mercenary god days, he had found romantic idealists far more terrifying than naive young masters who begged mercy for the enemy. Those people equated the lives of allies fighting beside them with the lives of enemies trying to kill them.
In actual wars he had experienced, such idealists had shouted that all life was precious on the battlefield, only to cause catastrophic incidents. Claiming they were preventing the slaughter of civilian gods, they had revealed the allies’ secret movement route in advance. The enemy had located them, sprung a trap, and nearly annihilated the entire force. Naturally, the culprit had been torn apart by enraged allies who discovered the source of the leak.
The administration goddesses also made their decision and stood beside the combat goddesses. Vwoooom! All twelve goddesses formed a parallel divine connection, sharing and endlessly amplifying their divine power and authorities. Through the sanctuary they had created, all twelve had been promoted to Main Gods with a combined eight hundred billion divine power. Impressive. Although their authorities are slightly declining due to the chaos of unified power, they are truly a satisfying opponent.
The Main God-Slaying authority had also been reduced to roughly double damage, yet they now forced six hundred forty billion damage upon him. Even he could die from a single blow. Disadvantageous. Yet I feel no thought or fear of defeat. With this level of strength, they cannot face an Upper Main God of the Substitute God Clan, so they cannot face me either. If necessary, he could simply sever the Dimensional Net over the Middle World and confront them at full power. He had no intention of allowing or enduring an ordinary Main God’s Main God-Slaying attack.
I am a Root School mage who once dominated battlefields with supreme speed and incantation speed. I will evade with superior velocity, degrade all authorities with dimensional power, and block the supply of vitality and divine power recovery through the authority of the Main God of the Divine Realm, waiting for the sanctuary to collapse. Or I can strike and retreat, defeating them individually. I have countless countermeasures. Above all, the dual barrier of Dimensions and Magic, reinforced by his titles, could not be pierced by the goddesses’ attacks. A pity. I should have strengthened the Main God-Slaying authority rather than expanding divine power.
Vwoooom! The Dimensional Lord’s Main God-Slaying Spears and dimensional magic circles clashed with the goddesses’ barriers, sending tremors through the chamber. Still seated upon the Seat of Glory, he refrained from attacking and merely watched as they raised their divine power through the sanctuary. Combat-type goddesses who are physically frail are rare even among Main Gods. I salute the effort they poured into tempering themselves to this level through powerful authorities, yet they remain ordinary Main Gods. Unless they reach at least Intermediate Main God rank, they cannot breach the defenses of a Highest Main God three ranks above.
To face a higher existence, one had to stake everything even with the strongest authorities. Moreover, because they were pouring everything into defense, any attack they launched would be slow to activate. He would never be hit by it. In other words, the goddesses had no chance of victory. How is the barrier holding?If we block even one strike from the Divine Annihilation Cannon like this, we will expend all our divine power and suffer fatal wounds. Continuing the battle in this state is impossible.With the sanctuary we can maintain the barrier, but we cannot attack.
Faced with the now far stronger Dimensional Lord on the verge of battle, the administration goddesses were on the verge of exploding with frustration. I’m going insane. Everything seemed to be going so well, and in the end the problem is you lot! This opponent will never yield to emotional appeals the way he used to, so why create this situation?Still, we cannot abandon the highest-ranking Upper Goddesses, can we? I never imagined he would act so decisively. We could negotiate with the former Main God of the Divine Realm…You fool! You’re a former Main God too—don’t you know the temperament of war gods? The former Main God of the Divine Realm retired from the battlefield to rest after hanging up his mercenary god life. The man standing before us is a hot-blooded active war god who personally threw himself into a war against the Substitute God Clan, prepared for annihilation. Do you think he will bow his head when confronted head-on by someone like that? He would never bend to a weaker opponent. Moreover…