The Unbound Vessel of the Lord God
The 'Antares' that filled the entire visible universe during the Goddess Department War was the size of a Main God Star. Ten thousand times larger than an ordinary divine star, it used a compressed supergiant sun at its core as a power source. A portion of adamantium had even been mixed into its nucleus, granting it the ability to supply lunar vitality that accelerated the evolution and advancement of living beings. It was, in every sense, a Machine God that stood at the Creator God level.
Positioned in star systems without a sun, it took the sun's place. By regulating the central core's sun, it bathed every planet in light to nurture life, while the included lunar vitality guided their evolution. On top of that, it could infinitely generate the raw materials and consumer goods required for its own development using the sun's divine power.
This Antares was the very culmination of all Machine Gods, a masterpiece of the Cyber Realm.
It had been the ultimate expression of a grand design: artificially multiplying star systems that could support life and sustain divine realms, thereby triggering explosive growth. Such was the majesty of Antares, the only mechanical being ever permitted the title of Creator God-level Machine God.
This was supposed to be the core of the universe's evolution and development—! That's how it should have been. Those rotten bastards—!
The Dimensional Lord ground his teeth as the memory surfaced unbidden. Countless lower-tier mechanical weapons produced from within had swarmed the cosmos, binding the feet of Lord Gods. Compressed solar divine power erupted from the core sun, slicing through space and incinerating deities. Even the desperate all-out assaults of Lord Gods could only scar its outer hull, and those wounds healed instantly.
The solar cannon that burned Lord Gods, the endless waves of mechanical soldiers, the restoration ability that recovered from Lord God-level damage, and even stellar-scale spatial teleportation. They had been formidable foes. I referenced their combat patterns heavily when designing my long-range Dimensional Divine Annihilation Cannon, my mid-range Main God-Slaying Spear, and the infinite divine power recovery structure that utilizes solar properties.
To stop a rampaging Antares, one needed the power of a Highest Main God possessing twenty billion units of divine power. Yet after the highest-ranking Lord God who had stepped forward for the subordination test failed and drew the ire of the Creator Gods, the other Highest Main Gods refused to get involved. They feared that any mistake would result in utter humiliation before the Creator Gods.
Of course they were terrified. The highest-ranking Lord God who failed to gain control was immediately dispatched to the Creator Gods' battlefield. Thanks to that, the Cyber Realm had to shoulder all responsibility. They hired a massive number of mercenary gods to suppress it. From that experience, I determined that the rank of a Machine God should be judged as two steps below an equivalent Lord God. In other words, if these Creator God-level entities went berserk, they would be equivalent to Upper Main Gods.
The Highest Main God, despite his superior rank, had lacked the computational power necessary for complete subordination.
Complete subordination basically requires at least three ranks of superiority, or computational ability on par with that level. Easy to say, but that would essentially make one a Creator God.
Zzzzzzzzzzt—!
As expected, a rejection response surged forth.
Old habits die hard, don't they?
The will of a Creator God-level Machine God resonated throughout the star system.
WHOOOOOOOSH—!
In a surge of irritation, the Dimensional Lord fired without hesitation. A divine power wave exceeding fifty billion units erupted from his mouth, piercing through the dimensional shift and straight through the red giant's body.
Upper Main Gods might struggle, but anything beyond that is child's play. No matter how Creator God-level a Machine God may be, it cannot defeat a Highest Main God. The difference between a created being and one that has evolved on its own is vast. And if we're talking about battle gods who have been tempered countless times through certification trials, words fail entirely.
KWAAAAAAAAANG—!
CRAAAAAASH—!
The roar of the divine power cannon, the sound of half the Antares' red metallic surface shattering, and the Machine God's scream erupted simultaneously. The colossal Antares, nearly the size of a Main God Star, had been halved by a single shot. It howled.
RUMBLE—!
The nineteen remaining half-destroyed Antares vibrated. From the way they activated their shields, they clearly intended to resist.
There's no time for this, and bickering with Machine Gods I need to subordinate is ridiculous. I'll suppress them instantly and end it.
Roughly twenty Upper Main God equivalents were nothing when compared to the highest-ranking Substitute Gods. As always, against beings afflicted with excessive self-awareness—the so-called "princess syndrome" or "prince syndrome"—beating them into submission worked far better than negotiation. Beat them half to death, crush their ego as much as possible, then subordinate them.
Having made up his mind, the Dimensional Lord amplified his divine power by adding solar properties to his thirteen pairs of light wings.
Funny enough, since they use supergiant suns as power sources, they can be called sun gods. However, I too am a sun god through the Origin's sun and moon. They cannot harm me. The infinitely produced lower mechanical weapons are no match for me, who wields wide-area magic.
He could have tried persuasion and offered conditions, but that was only when there was no replacement available.
Since they have restoration functions anyway, I'll just smash every last one that refuses to listen until they do.
These Creator God-level Machine Gods with strong egos reacted quickly. The surface of the red giant split open, and the solar cannon's divine power began to surge.
Come at me, then. I'll show you what kind of power a titled Highest Main God possesses.
Though he had received it in a rather ridiculous manner, the power of the title was real. The symbol the other party had granted him as the Origin was a triangle within a circle. The meaning of the Origin's title was "accepts all beings." Even partial activation allowed him to know all information about the opponent.
Of course, full activation would make them flee immediately. The partially opened title's symbol mixed with his divine power and rose into the air, expanding and heightening his senses.
Then, suddenly, a strange sensation washed over the Dimensional Lord.
This body is mostly that of a Lord God. It is the body of the universe's ruling species—strong beyond compare, possessing a powerful mind that knows no oblivion. A flawless vessel.
Yet the moment he partially opened the title to smash the twenty Creator God-level Machine Gods equivalent to Upper Main Gods, the "title" began to overwrite his mind.
Is there a problem with the title? Some form of mental control? Don't spout nonsense. Why would he do such a thing?
An abyssal despair surged through him as he felt his Lord God body resisting the title, trying to escape its control. Something was directly interfering with his mind, changing it regardless of the Highest Main God's divine power that filled his body. Within his head, something was endlessly assembled and scattered again.
He's trying to manipulate us? So that's what the title was? No way! It can't be! He is our ideal….
Zzzzzzt—!
A noise like something burning in his brain echoed. It was the Dimensional Lord's staff, the Guide of the Origin. Infused with two billion divine power, it was fighting against the "title" to protect his mind. The souls of the Root School's patriarchs contained within it desperately tried to safeguard his psyche.
But the title's wave paused for a moment, then displayed what looked like a laughing expression.
Huhuhuhu! Huhuhuhuhu!
In a single instant, every soul was swept away and erased. The immortal, eternal souls were all nullified and vanished before a fragment of his authority—the title.
And then the will that reached the center of his Lord God's brain spoke.
It was his declaration.
The Dimensional Lord's body began endlessly recombining and reforming to match it. Pop. Pop. Pop. Sounds of something snapping echoed throughout his body. His mind grew impossibly clear, and everything that had been burdening his flesh scattered. A sense of liberation washed over him, as if all the strings that had bound him had been completely severed.
FWAAAAAAAH—!
His wings of divine power spread to their maximum, encompassing even the Antares within his domain. At this point, he could subordinate them without needing to weaken them by destroying them first. In a single moment, he had brought twenty Creator God-grade Machine Gods to heel.
"Heh. So the control wasn't in the title, but hidden within the Lord God's body. Those damned divine realm bastards! Backstabbing no matter where you go. Well, even I would find it creepy. If the body had this much potential from the start, that is."
In the process of releasing the Lord God's body from its control, the Dimensional Lord's Guide of the Origin had vanished. As a result, two billion of his magical power disappeared, his fourteen overlapping circles dropped to twelve, and his maximum output fell from fifty-six billion to forty-eight billion.
However, the now-unshackled Lord God body remembered the innate divine power it had expanded through magic and maintained that power. It was not a temporary boost like the Devotion Pledge. It preserved the maximum output that had been certified as innate divine power.
The Dimensional Lord found himself laughing without meaning to.
"Isn't this invincible? An infinite body with no limits that only increases in power without any decrease. Given enough time, becoming a Creator God or even a Creator Lord would be possible. Magnificent."
This was the complete function of the Lord God's body—an infinite increase in divine power supported by a powerful spiritual entity. Yet the moment one became a Lord God, control would automatically activate. Only a Lord God who could release that control could become a Creator God.
The seal placed by the Main Divine Realm is released through one's own power. That is why one hundred billion units of innate divine power becomes possible. With his title's help, I have completely released this control. As a result, I have simultaneously obtained computational power, control, and a vessel on par with a Creator God. Now all that remains is to fill it.
A Creator God was right before his eyes. There was no longer any being that could restrain his freedom or block his survival. He now possessed the strength to freely vent his past grudges and act according to his desires and emotions.
Laughter threatened to burst forth endlessly, but one thought crossed his mind and drew a sigh instead.
"Still, I'm no match for him. No, I'm less than a bug, less than dust! Hoo... Let's live properly. No, I must live that way."
There had once been an Absolute Being who, after becoming an Intermediate Main God and gaining the ability to use his title, became drunk on that power. He rampaged as he pleased and eventually challenged a Creator God. Unable to win with partial activation, he fully activated his title, achieved victory, and yet died a hideous death. The image of that titled Absolute Being still haunted him. His desperate scream remained vivid.
"O Truth! I have won. So why must I die? Shouldn't only the victor have the right to survive? I won fair and square!"
The judgment passed upon the titled Absolute Being—who, despite being merely an Intermediate Main God, had overwhelmingly defeated a Creator God—still sent shivers down the spine. The price for defeating an existence three ranks above him, sustaining only a single tiny wound, was "disposal." All the gathered titled Absolute Beings could do was bow their heads and tremble.
"You are weak. To sustain an injury while fully activating my title and fighting means you have no potential to grow stronger. Above all, failing to finish a mere Creator God in a single strike—what shame is this? You are less than dust, lower than a bug. The verdict is regression to your original form."
The being could not even scream. His body regressed from Lord God to god, then to superhuman, then to human, then to beast, regressing endlessly. It was regression. The silent scream he emitted covered all the titled Absolute Beings.
He became a beast, then a bird, then a fish, then a bug, then a cell, and finally returned to dust. The Creator God's eyes that watched the regression process showed no emotional fluctuation as he bestowed the recovered vitality upon the defeated, dying Creator God. The vitality nurtured by his title instantly restored the Creator God to his original state.
"Sorry about that. I made you witness such a shameful battle. If you wish, I can let you fight other titled Absolute Beings."
"N-no, my lord. I am already ashamed that you personally dealt with the one lowering the karma in my jurisdiction."
What the trembling Creator God saw in his eyes was the titled Absolute Being who had driven him toward death, now reduced to vanishing dust. That sight became the Dimensional Lord's second-greatest memory.
After that incident, the survival condition for all titled Absolute Beings after activating their titles became complete victory. Not even a single hit or wound was tolerated. Furthermore, if they did not annihilate the enemy in one strike, "disposal" awaited. So rather than activating their titles and fighting, they would simply run away. Who in their right mind would fight to the end?
One should never create a situation where running was impossible. That titled Absolute Being who became dust had also built a harem of hundreds, produced countless children, and boasted about creating his own empire or a world for humans alone. He had gathered many subordinates, committed genocide against other races, caused all sorts of chaos, and eventually clashed with a Creator God who had come to investigate the sudden decrease in the star's believers and life force. Unable to abandon his numerous wives, sons, subordinates, and empire, his feet were bound. He activated his title and fought.
The result of an inadequately strong being activating his title was that he became dust, every trace of him was erased from that star, and everything returned to its initial state. His inability to control his own greed and desires had insulted the dignity of titled Absolute Beings, but in the end, he paid the full price.
The current Dimensional Lord was at a similar level, so the pride that had swelled within him plummeted straight to the floor.
"If I make a mistake, I die. I could end up worse than dust. Hoo! Let's be careful."
With a long sigh, he looked at the Antares, now completely subordinated to him. Using them as punishment for the Magic Machine Idol that had dared challenge their Creator felt excessive.
At first I was thinking of making the Machine Gods continue fighting under my management, but a much better idea occurred to me.
The world was a stage for the strong, and it needed dramatic flair to truly shine.
"As expected, the stronger I become, the more limitless the ways I can torment others. I'll let them grow as strong as they want without letting their karma drop."
A smile rose on his face, different in meaning from the heated anger of before. He had once again realized that life bestows its light upon the strong.