The Arrogance of Newborn Gods
The horizon of the city, expanded after the Goddess Department war, revealed massive metal walls and colossal doll-like weapons gleaming atop towers that pierced the sky. It was a miracle granted by the gods, bestowed upon ordinary humans who had sworn to live righteously. ‘Those who possess a Machine God become transcendent beings known as “Heroes.”’
Heat began to rise from the bodies of ordinary humans. Yet they still lacked the courage to move, merely exchanging wary glances. Then, in the center of the grand plaza, the Dimensional Lord appeared atop the temple’s highest observation deck, folding wings woven from blazing divine power.
Whooooooom!
A radiant circle of divine power expanded, infusing the newly reborn city with even greater vitality. The air before the ordinary humans grew thick with divine energy; polluted water purified itself, and grass and trees sprouted, bearing fruit. The miracles of supreme magic and authority unfolded before their eyes, and words far too seductive reached their ears. It was the god’s proclamation that anyone could obtain this power.
“Through desperate effort and unyielding will, earn the qualifications of a Hero and distinguish yourselves in battle. Then power of this magnitude shall be yours. Even without the might of a Mage Machine God, you may become superhumans. Only the strong victors shall claim it. Now go—!”
At first, no one moved. The succession of unbelievable events had left them dazed, and the distances and heights that now appeared hazy to their eyes would have been physically impossible for their former selves. Moreover, the crushing self-doubt that they could never become worthy masters of those Mage Machine Gods held them back. After all, only the highest-ranking among the machine race were permitted to pilot such weapons. And since their god had given the order to depart yet remained still, merely watching them, they hesitated even more.
Then, from within the crowd, several voices rose in shouts as their owners began to move.
“I will reclaim my freedom from the Machine Empire! For that, I need power—!”
“If this is an opportunity, I’ll stake my life on it.”
“I simply want to become stronger.”
“I need the strength to overcome reality—! Even if it’s a trick and there’s no real chance, I’ll try anyway.”
Shouts erupted from all directions as people began sprinting at full speed. As if infected by the fervor, nearly a million individuals raised their voices and surged forward. An enormous tide of humanity rushed desperately toward every corner of the city. Some, realizing their enhanced physical abilities, even began leaping between buildings and rooftops. Watching them, those still on the ground awakened to their own newfound strength.
Uwaaaaaaaah! Ooooooooh!
The awakening of physical capabilities more than twice that of ordinary humans brought forth pure joy. Unable to contain their excitement, great roars of laughter echoed through the streets. The sense of exaltation—greater than what they had felt when their bodies were reinforced with machines, a perfect unity of soul and flesh—moved them to tears. Touched by bodies that grew faster instead of tiring, more and more people ran in a trance, chasing those at the front. Soon they formed long, flowing lines of humanity.
Will and determination flared like wildfire, resonating with the god’s mark and converting into divine power. That converted power flowed toward the Mage Machine Gods they sought, gathering and accumulating within them. A luminous exchange began between the Mage Machine Gods and the prospective believers. Because these lower humans found the Mage Machine Gods more approachable than the overwhelmingly transcendent Dimensional Lord, the phenomenon occurred naturally.
‘Humans truly are weak creatures, drawn to those who appear stronger than even the most transcendent beings of light. That is why mechanical gods have an advantage in the early stages when gathering followers through material constructs.’
Yet even so, the pure light of divine power now radiating from the former slaves of the machine race—who had once known only selfishness and cold rationality—began to form paths of faith, guiding their evolution and growth. Watching this, the Dimensional Lord gave a slight nod and spoke.
“Do not fear challenge. Fight and seize what you desire. That is the way of my followers, and I shall protect them. To me, a ‘righteous Hero’ is one who triumphs over their own misguided desires. Therefore, the Mage Machine Gods must choose their pilots wisely—those who will fight alongside them.”
The egos of the Mage Machine Gods, built upon the artificial intelligences here, had gained complete sentience through the divine power and emotions offered by the prospective believers. Like children at first, their intelligence rapidly matured. Fueled by the divine power, hearts, and knowledge of hundreds of thousands of followers, they grew at an explosive rate.
‘The artificial egos have finally achieved independence and self-awareness.’
Based on the rationality and logic of the humans here, the Mage Machine Gods analyzed and defined themselves. Emotions awakened, values formed. At last, they reached the stage of understanding their relationship with their creator, the Dimensional Lord, and the world—like adolescents. In response to the Dimensional Lord’s command, they answered with their own wills.
‘We shall handle matters ourselves, so further orders are unnecessary.’
‘We are independent and precious beings.’
‘As a courtesy to our creator, we will accept the first pilots assigned to us. Beyond that, we will choose freely, so do not force us.’
‘We hope you maintain the dignity befitting the Lord of Light. You talk too much.’
‘You should lead by example rather than merely speaking.’
“……”
The responses were exactly like those of stormy adolescents—rebellious, lacking even a shred of respect or fear. Having compared themselves through the memories of their followers, they knew no being in this star system could rival their power, and arrogance swelled within them. The humans’ memories contained no detailed information about gods, making comparison impossible and inflating their pride further.
‘Intoxicated by the fervent cheers of their followers, the artificial egos of the Mage Machine Gods have elevated their own existence to impossible heights.’
They now looked down even upon their creator, the Dimensional Lord. The Dimensional Lord, momentarily speechless at the insolent replies from the egos he had first created out of goodwill toward these humans, felt his divine power begin to surge.
Rumble…
‘After analyzing the situation, it appears these things are looking down on me.’
Because he had poured affection into their creation and first performance enhancement without imposing strict ego controls, he now faced this result. Basing their foundation on artificial intelligences ignorant of the existence of gods had produced this spectacle.
‘As expected, whether god, human, or machine intelligence—show them kindness without conditions, and they immediately grow arrogant.’
“Did you just claim that I talk too much, you newborn Mage Machine God egos? Artificial intelligence or human, you’re all the same. Rationality and efficiency always carry the side effect of ‘betrayal’ depending on shifting priorities of gain. And now I must suffer this from my own creations?”
He regretted treating the first artificial egos he had ever created too leniently.
“But do you know this? The Lord of Light can be far crueler than any demon god. The methods may differ, but the results are even more merciless. I am endlessly generous to those who are truly precious and irreplaceable, yet I show no mercy to the weak who insult me and threaten my survival. Now I finally understand what he meant when he said that perfect dominion requires both love and hatred.”
The Dimensional Lord reflected that reality was, as always, a cesspool.
‘Show them the slightest kindness and they immediately test you, treating goodwill as their rightful privilege.’
There were always foolish subordinates who tested kind superiors. When they finally encountered someone truly strong and merciless, they caused massive trouble and dragged others down with them. Therefore, these adolescent Mage Machine Gods and the prospective believers who had offered them power and knowledge needed to learn this truth thoroughly.
He recalled several planets he had judged and selected an ingenious method.
‘An excellent idea has come to me! If I apply this, all future Mage Machine Gods will revere me beyond measure—or they will fail to endure and destroy themselves.’
The Dimensional Lord immediately put his thought into action.
“As an Absolute Being bearing a title, from this moment onward I shall gladly accept both the hatred and affection you offer me.”
A rare, genuinely delighted smile appeared on the Dimensional Lord’s lips. He was truly satisfied with the method of governance he would now apply to the Mage Machine Gods.
‘Indeed, there is no need to be kind to misbehaving children.’
He had treated his first creations leniently out of affection, only to receive a lecture on how to live properly from beings barely born.
‘One must beat one’s own children half to death to make them strong and well-mannered—that is how a household prospers. They say beating them will twist their character? Then beat them until they become upright. They claim they might betray their parents because they feel no affection? Would a parent who beats their child to make them strong and courteous ever be weaker than that child?’
Having witnessed countless divine realms and families collapse because of foolish or incompetent heirs, he was all the harsher.
‘There is a reason one sires many direct descendants. Securing even a single Main God allows one to expand subordinate realms.’
Upon deeper reflection, he realized why his son, the Unique Dragon Emperor, was frequently beaten despite being only half-dragon—it was successor training.
‘His heir is the Unique Dragon Emperor, whose strength surpasses even the Creator, and the ferocious dragon of Origin, yet he is praised as an exceptionally courteous and respectable individual. All thanks to being beaten since childhood for being weak and incompetent. You yellow-sprouted whelps should also grow up after taking a few beatings.’
Vwoooooom! Vwoooooooom!
In response to the Dimensional Lord’s rising divine power, the Mage Machine Gods raised their own power to form defensive barriers.
‘Pfft! Mere things with less than 100,000 divine power, not even Lower Gods, dare to act this way. How laughable.’
For entities whose maximum output exceeded 50 billion to be challenged by things below 100,000 divine power was an event that would go down in divine history.
‘Well, having just obtained divine power and the faith of humans, the world must seem trivial to them. That is why their courage has swelled so much.’
They could not perceive the abilities of beings two or more ranks above them. Therefore, the Dimensional Lord decided to give these arrogant Mage Machine Gods a small taste of what a higher divine realm’s Main God truly was.
“First, I shall strip away the divinity of Lower Gods. ‘Forced Idol (Idola).’”
‘What—!’
As the Dimensional Lord’s divine power exploded, cries of shock erupted from the lower Machine Gods who had been bracing themselves. Through the authority of a Main God, the faith once directed toward the Mage Machine Gods was redirected to the Dimensional Lord, instantly demoting them from Lower Gods back to mere artificial intelligences.
“I am not at a level where I would exchange divine power and authority with you lower Machine Gods in battle. Only after becoming Main Gods yourselves could you possibly resist my will as the greatest of Main Gods.”
The Dimensional Lord had reduced the lower Machine Gods he himself created back to insignificant artificial intelligences.
Kraaaaaaaaah! Beeeeeeeeep—!
The artificial intelligences screamed as their divine power vanished and their existence plummeted. The faith offered by the humans running toward them remained unchanged, yet the power and authority that faith granted had completely disappeared. The overwhelming sense of loss—falling from the highest heights to the very bottom in an instant—crashed down upon their newly formed egos.
Into their ears came the sound of whistling and a voice filled with genuine delight.
“Wheeeeeeew—! How enjoyable. There is nothing sweeter than the screams and regrets of clumsy young masters dying helplessly on the battlefield.”
The Dimensional Lord looked down at the Mage Machine Gods, who were lost in the despair of newfound loss, and smiled with sincere pleasure.
“Haha! My apologies for talking so much. It is simply my nature, so there is no need to understand.”