The Fall of the War God
The Great Forest War. On the screen projected from the sky, as the planet drew near and the Main God Temple seemed almost within reach, the god performed a miracle.
“Holy—!”
The Main God Temple blazed with radiant light, beams shooting toward the falling star. Kuuuung—!
The Saintess, clad in heavy armor and praying with clasped hands, rose into the sky. Every priest and holy knight sweated blood as they prayed. The entire population of eight hundred million under the War God—every last follower—was calling upon their deity with desperate, unprecedented fervor for the sake of survival. That collective will manifested through the Saintess as the divine art Holy, a sacred spell that suppressed all magic and sought to halt the falling star in the name of divine victory.
Yet to the Black Mage, the act was nothing but irrational folly.
“A mere Saintess of a high-ranking god with only seven hundred million fanatics thinks she can stop my ninth-circle magic? How amusing.”
Kwadeudeudeuk—!
The Holy miracle crumbled beneath the star’s overwhelming power. It could have deflected dozens of ordinary meteors, but against the colossal mass and speed of this planet, the absolute divine protection shattered.
“Ugh—!”
The War God’s Saintess collapsed, unable to withstand the backlash. As the star finally shattered the Holy barrier, the Saintess—the embodiment of the miracle—vomited blood and was hurled away.
“Aaaaaaaaah—!”
The priests praying beside her clutched their heads and collapsed, vomiting blood as well. The star hurtled toward the Main God Temple of the War God’s divine nation, a metropolis famed for its two hundred million inhabitants.
Gugugugugugugugung—!
Those who had shut their eyes and covered their ears, bracing for carnage and thunder, cautiously opened their eyes at the sudden silence. What they beheld was the majestic form of their god. The War God had descended.
Uuung—! Uung—!
With both hands, the War God caught the star that threatened to crush the Main God Temple. His sacred voice resounded across the Middle World.
“O great Black Mage! I cannot permit any further slaughter.”
Ooooooh—! Uwaaaaaah—!
The sudden descent and salvation moved the believers to tears. Their joy and faith surged, bolstering the War God’s divine power and slowly pushing the star back. More and more followers wept and prayed at the sight of this miracle.
When the fully manifested War God appeared as a handsome, refined man clad in armor of light, the fervor reached its peak.
‘The god is great!’
‘Drive out the wicked Black Mage!’
The Saintess, most deeply connected to the War God and thus most affected by his power, instantly recovered and began chanting Holy once more.
Go-o-o-o-o—!
“Great Shield of the Divine—! Holy—!”
This time, empowered by the War God’s direct descent, the Holy spell rapidly forced the star away.
Witnessing his ninth-circle magic nullified—something even a Main God should struggle to achieve—the Black Mage let out a long sigh.
‘Huuu… That is the terror of a Saintess. She becomes the focal point of pure faith and brings forth miracles. Truly dangerous.’
A Saintess was chosen by the god to serve as the center of divine power, gathering it and performing miracles. She was the medium that allowed a god’s power to manifest several times stronger in the Middle World.
Though the Middle World was awestruck by the War God’s direct descent and the Saintess’s miraculous feat, the Black Mage remained unmoved. He harbored deep resentment toward the divine race—especially the War God, rumored to be the successor.
“So you came after all. You really don’t listen to your father’s warning about not descending directly into the Middle World, do you? You ungrateful parasite of a brother!”
“What did you say?!”
The Black Mage vanished in an instant and reappeared behind the War God. As if he had anticipated the descent all along, he swung his right hand sharply.
Huuuuwung! Puh-eok—!
A massive spear suddenly materialized from subspace, piercing the War God’s back as he held the star at bay and driving straight through his chest.
Yet, true to his status as a high-ranking god, the War God endured. He pushed the star all the way to the capital and set it down upon the earth.
Kuuung—! Tuuuuung!
The star struck the ground, triggering a minor earthquake that damaged the Main God Temple. Had it struck directly, no one would have survived.
The War God glanced briefly at the spear embedded in his chest, then turned to the Black Mage and shouted.
“I saw how the Demon King fared. Right now, I have descended in my divine spirit form. A spear like this is useless against me.”
“……”
Receiving no reply, the War God’s voice rang out, brimming with fighting spirit, convinced of his victory.
“The wicked Black Mage shall receive the judgment of the War God.”
Only then did a mocking voice answer.
“Hah—! Enough with the posturing. Try pulling that spear out.”
“What could possibly be wrong with a mere material-world spear?”
The moment the War God grasped the spear in his chest, his refined features twisted in agony.
“This is—?!”
Pasasasasasasak—!
Unable to extract the spear, his manifested form began to disintegrate.
“Kukuk—! Khahahaha—!”
The Black Mage’s triumphant laughter echoed across the Middle World. He pronounced judgment upon the shrinking, collapsing War God.
“There was once a Main God with over two billion one hundred million followers. I specially crafted this replica of the Lord Slayer spear that slew his successor over three days, adding a spiritual sealing function.”
“Uuuuugh—!”
Puhahahaha—!
The War God’s body dissolved like mist and was sucked into the spear.
“Anyone struck by this becomes like that—except for Main Gods. You must be mad to descend into the Middle World, a realm governed by physical laws, in spirit form. Do you not even understand the importance of battlefield conditions, War God?”
Shuhahahaha—!
The Lord Slayer spear shrank and returned to the Black Mage’s hand. The face of the War God appeared on the decorative section connecting the spearhead to the shaft—twisted in a scream of agony.
“!!!”
“!!!”
The Middle World watched in horror as the War God was sealed. The Black Mage studied the distorted face before him and spoke, as if savoring the moment.
“You were the War God, yet instead of the scent of blood and steel, you reeked of women’s perfume.”
He tightened his grip on the spear’s shaft. His fingers dug into the War God’s face, now part of the ornament.
Ujik—! Ujijijik!
“Instead of honorable scars and sweat from war, you wore makeup—and when that wasn’t enough, you sprayed perfume.”
“Uuuuugh!”
The Black Mage’s teeth ground together as he muttered to himself.
Eudeudeudeuk—!
“I offered countless sacrifices in countless unjust battles, begging for your blessing. Yet you turned away in fear of Granzoa.”
“N-no…”
Ujijijik—!
The ornament warped further in the Black Mage’s hand. Blood seeped from the War God’s face as his divine spirit fully materialized and bound itself to the weapon.
“Aaaah! It hurts! It hurts!”
The War God’s face contorted in pain, but the Black Mage only continued pouring out his long-held resentment.
“You decreed that the burdensome duty of war belonged only to male gods. From that moment, I decided you would be the first to die. You are a disgrace to the God of War, having defiled your own value—the very thing that should have been the fairest of all!”
He thrust the Lord Slayer spear toward the Demon King’s heads.
Puh-eo-eo-eok—!
“Keeeeeek—!”
“Kraaaaaak—!”
The spear, now infused with the War God’s divine spirit, skewered two of the Demon King’s heads at once. Gazing calmly at the screaming heads impaled upon it, the Black Mage spoke with a faint smile.
“A friend has arrived.”
He stroked the ornament—the War God’s screaming face—now soaked in the Demon King’s blood.
“Get along well. It seems more will be joining you soon.”
Hwiiiik! Tuuuung—!
The Lord Slayer spear embedded itself in the earth, the Demon King’s heads and the War God’s face pointing skyward. Then the Black Mage’s incantation rang out.
“I Exist as Myself, So Shall You.”
⟨ I Exist as Myself, So Shall You ⟩
Pasasasasak—!
The War God’s body within the Main God Temple of the Divine Realm crumbled into dust, his divine spirit now sealed away. With the spirit that controlled the body fully bound to the Lord Slayer, it returned to its original vital energy.
Teolseok—!
The body of the high-ranking god cracked from the knees upward and shattered. A goddess’s piercing scream echoed from the Main God Temple.
Kyaaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaaah!
Because the War God had made war the exclusive domain of male gods, the goddesses were witnessing such a horrific sight for the first time.
“What do we do?!”
“Someone do something!”
The panicked goddesses urged the male gods, but restoring a high-ranking god’s collapsing body without its divine spirit was no easy task. At the very least, the power of a Main God was required.
“No—!”
The Goddess of Agriculture, consort of the Main God and representative of the highest-ranking goddesses, screamed and tried to stabilize the War God’s body, but preventing the death of a high-ranking god was impossible. The most she could do was delay its dissolution into vital energy for retrieval by the Divine Realm.
Seuseuseuseu—!
When a god’s body was destroyed like this, the divine spirit would have to forge a new one. This was the death of a god. What made a god’s death so dire was that, without massive amounts of vital energy and support from the Divine Realm, resurrection came at the cost of dropping an entire rank. And with the divine spirit bound to that spear, resurrection was impossible.
The Goddess of Agriculture wept as she tried desperately to revive the body, but lacking the necessary power, it only continued to scatter like dust. In the end, she pleaded with the Main God of the Divine Realm.
“Please, save this child. You are a high-ranking Main God—you can resurrect him without loss, can’t you? He is your successor.”
At his consort’s desperate cry, the Main God poured his divine power into the War God’s body, which had already lost nearly half its form.
Paaaaak—!
Though only a fraction of his power, the immense might of a high-ranking Main God—capable of even adjusting fate—halted the War God’s death. Yet without the divine spirit, it was only a delay.
Dream—!
The enormous expenditure of divine power required for a high-ranking god’s resurrection, combined with an unexpected backlash, twisted the Main God’s face in pain.
‘What tremendous power that spear possesses.’
The Lord Slayer’s might had momentarily destroyed part of his own body by riding the divine spirit into it.
Just as he was about to overwhelm and heal it with divine power, the God of Knowledge—the God of Foresight—spoke.
“The War God was not fated to die today. Yet death has been imposed. You understand what this means, do you not?”
“……”
The God of Knowledge rose from his seat, gazing at the War God’s body, which he had stabilized just before its extinction.
“O great Main God of the Divine Realm. The great Black Mage has begun to interfere with fate, however slightly, by transcending the tenth circle. And already two high-ranking gods have fallen.”
The God of Knowledge knelt on one knee before the Main God’s round table.
“This is already all-out war. A battle in the Middle World against the great Black Mage—a human-born god unbound by restrictions—is extremely disadvantageous. Furthermore, he will never negotiate with us, who have broken the contract through underhanded means.”
“Indeed.”
Kung! Kukukung!
The high-ranking male gods summoned their armor with divine power, rose from their round table, and knelt behind the God of Foresight, bowing their heads. There were ninety-nine of them—primordial warrior gods who had arrived with the Main God of the Divine Realm and helped create the Divine Realm upon this fertile Main God Star. They sought to settle the score with the Black Mage.
‘These are the Divine Realm’s most vital fighting force. I cannot send them into a Middle World battle where they can only exert ten percent of their power. Even this number would be hunted down by the Black Mage the moment they descend, just like the War God. To evade the Lord Slayer’s attacks, I would need to deploy a great army of high-ranking gods all at once.’
Additional forces were needed. But because war was not their duty, the goddesses watched warily, and the male gods born in the age of peace displayed cowardice that made the Main God grind his teeth.
‘Eudeudeudeuk! Nothing is going right.’
The War God, successor to the Main God, had recklessly descended when his divine nation was threatened and been defeated so easily, shattering everyone’s morale. Now only the primordial warrior gods still desired battle.
“Command us to wage war, Your Majesty.”
“…It shall not be.”