The Generous God's Trial

The forces pouring in were several times larger than the machine legion the Dimensional Lord had dismantled earlier. A deep hum reverberated through space—woo-woong, woo-woo-woong—as long-range teleportation gates opened one after another, spilling reinforcements directly into the solar system. More than three mobile fortress-class vessels, each matching the scale of the one he had just crushed, had already arrived. The count of other capital ships had surged past one hundred thousand and was still climbing exponentially.

As expected from the Machine Empire, which enslaved over a hundred billion humans, their numbers were truly staggering.

“Pfft!” A short laugh escaped the Dimensional Lord. “The pinnacle of resource and vitality waste. Only something on this scale could make a strategy of overwhelming numbers remotely viable.”

To him, this entire armada was nothing but a joke.

Physical attacks have almost no effect on spiritual entities like gods and demon gods. Not unless the heat rivals that of a sun.

The claim that gods were immortal was no exaggeration—it was simple fact. Once one surpassed the highest tiers of divinity, even an ordinary star’s explosion could not end them. A Main God could survive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the detonation of a sun. Having transcended the limits of mortal life, they could drift freely through the vacuum of space and teleport across entire star clusters at will. Against an empire that had pursued only material development, a single Main God was more than sufficient. It would simply take time.

The reason these machines had maintained their voracious civilization for so long was because humanity’s vitality was too weak to interest gods or demon gods. They had been ignored, discarded.

If they had provoked a passing mercenary god the way they did me, they would have been wiped out or tormented for eternity. Within the bounds that wouldn’t lower their Karma, of course.

The Dimensional Lord sighed at the thought of how many stars had been dismantled merely to sustain such a hollow military. He could feel the hostility directed toward him as clearly as if it were a physical force.

Even a minor attack against me would be punished as the crime of striking an ‘extremely good’ Main God. These things have already been designated enemies of the Main Divine Realm for the sin of trying to capture me for research. Ah, correction. They are not ‘enemies.’ They have been classified as ‘obstacles’—beings that cunningly prolong their expired bodies with machinery and squander the universe’s vitality.

The frail humans of this region produced only one-tenth the vitality of their counterparts elsewhere in the Middle World. Both the Divine Realm and Demon Realm had long since abandoned the place as unprofitable.

The basic requirement to establish a Divine Realm is ten billion units of vitality. Even if all one hundred billion of these slave humans were combined, they would still fall short.

The life-bearing stars here were all smaller than standard planets, scattered across ninety separate systems. Without a single world capable of serving as the heart of a Divine Realm, this was, in every sense, the remotest of backwaters. It was far more efficient to plant a Main God Star in a richer star cluster than to waste divine power granting blessings to prospective believers one by one. No one had bothered to claim the territory. They had simply been told to handle the situation as they saw fit.

Even the Demon Realm, when consulted, had replied that he could dispose of the place however he wished. No matter how desperately they needed vitality, these trash worlds and their pathetic humans held no value.

To think the time and attention required to clean up the Machine Empire would be considered a waste. The Dimensional Lord shook his head. With the level of vitality these humans produced, the demon races would barely recover the demonic energy they spent killing them.

Yet these worthless creatures had dared to provoke a supreme Main God without fear.

“I will gratefully accept these rare resources.”

Woo-woong—! Woong—!

The Dimensional Lord’s circle of divine power blazed as he pulled every last vessel into his authority domain. With the restraints on his Main God body released, the scope of his power had expanded dramatically.

My authority is dimension itself. There was never any real limit to the distance at which I could activate it. The only restriction had been the area in which I could manifest reality manipulation through Dimensional Net—roughly one thousand kilometers, the standard authority domain of a Main God.

Only after transforming into a giant god form through magical amplification had that range extended to one million kilometers, enabling proper rear support. It matched the authority manifestation range of a Creator God, yet once his magic was exhausted he could do little more than hurl a Main God-Slaying Spear or fire a divine power blast.

That limitation had now been lifted. In his normal Main God state, he possessed a one-million-kilometer authority domain, and within it he could manifest Dimensional Net across a one-thousand-kilometer radius. As an added bonus, he had spare capacity for ten 9th-circle spells and one 10th-circle spell.

At last, I’ve become a Main God who actually feels like a mage.

There was no longer any need to charge forward with a spear. He could simply rain magic down from afar.

I shall show you why high-ranking mages are nightmares upon the battlefield.

There was no need to overcomplicate things. A single 9th-circle Gigantic Meteor from this distance would annihilate them all.

Ah, but that won’t do. I cannot personally chase them around creating enemies for them to grow stronger. I should make use of these things instead.

According to the data, the Machine Empire’s ultimate weapon—the planet suppression devices—possessed physical power equal to or greater than the Magic Machine Idols he had created.

Against divine power from even a Lower God, they would be helpless. But at the lowest stage of the Magic Machine Idols, which rely solely on physical force, the humans should be able to put up a decent fight. If they activate the ‘Proper Communication of Will’ realized at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠third-stage Market Idol, they would gain the advantage. Of course, that would require arduous authority development first.

In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the end, those planet suppression devices were still inferior to the Magic Machine Idols he had designed. Roughly fifty were currently gathered, with about one hundred in total. Hidden units and units still under construction brought the estimated total to one hundred and fifty.

“Just right. They will serve as suitable opponents to conclude this round of discipline and trials.”

Crackle—!

He expanded his dimensional authority without limit, engulfing the entire Machine Empire in his detection field.

There is something I must locate beforehand. It is hidden so deeply that even Mina, the Machine Empire’s integrated planetary management AI, does not know of it. All records of its construction, location, and existence have been completely erased. For security reasons, even the Emperor remains ignorant of its position as it continuously teleports.

It was the holy land and the very heart of machine humanity. Once every century it appeared above the home planet, collected newly born machine beings, deposited regenerated ones, and vanished once more.

It trusts neither artificial intelligence nor machine humans. This is the true core of the Machine Empire—one that recovers and operates entirely on its own.

Still, because it focused solely on material detection, it was easily caught by spiritual means.

I simply need to trace the path of its soul.

The location was locked on almost immediately. Yet the coordinates were utterly unexpected.

“These insane fools—! No wonder even artificial intelligence couldn’t detect it. Just how many resources did they pour into making this possible through science? Well, it makes things easier for me.”

Grind—!

Teleporting an entire planet was child’s play for the Dimensional Lord. He who could ignore even the planetary control authority of the highest Substitute Gods found a machine star without any divine protection as insignificant as a pebble.

Woo-woong! Rumble—!

The machine star resisted the forced teleportation, but he seized control of the space surrounding it, crushed its defiance, and hurled it into Antares.

After confirming that the gray, planet-sized machine star had materialized inside the half-destroyed Antares, he issued his command.

“It is not enough, but use the vitality contained within to accelerate repairs. There is a purpose for it, so do not disassemble any part of it.”

“Order acknowledged. Executing.”

Antares’ ego was currently pouring every resource into restoration and had no capacity left to rebel. There was a reason military organizations kept their units relentlessly busy. When something was occupied with its own survival, idle thoughts vanished. It simply worked. And so, for the first time, it was behaving like a proper Machine God.

Mina, the integrated planetary management intelligence, had detected its presence and was reeling in shock.

It seems becoming a Magic Machine Idol has granted it spiritual detection capabilities as well. Yes, that is exactly what you are sensing.

The fact that it did not question his intentions like some green recruit suggested it would become a highly competent Machine God.

Then I should provide generous support.

Though half-destroyed, the originally star-system-support-oriented Creator God-level Machine God Antares would now back the Magic Machine Idols and his one million prospective believers. Authority support would be more than sufficient. At the very least, they would not be defeated in the coming trials due to lack of resources.

If they die because their own ability and effort were insufficient, if all their vitality is reclaimed and they are reincarnated as insects, that is their responsibility.

Even though it was half-wrecked and the quantity seemed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠excessive with safety concerns, he had bestowed a Creator God-level Machine God upon prospective believers for the purpose of overcoming mid-tier trials. It was an unprecedented act.

At first I had planned to exterminate the insect race that dared attack without fear and to judge the humans who casually made promises to a Main God while recruiting believers. Yet the situation has suddenly become far more interesting.

It was not mere revenge, forcing them to experience the pain he himself had once suffered.

This too is valuable experience and refinement for becoming an excellent Main God.

With emotions elevated to their peak, the Dimensional Lord conveyed his will.

“I am truly a generous god! Where else would you find a deity who does this much for the growth of his prospective believers and subordinate Machine Gods? Therefore, accept the trials I bestow upon you to become stronger with joy.”

The trials that would determine whether they could become the ruling race had been prepared. The support necessary to overcome them would be provided by Antares in overflowing abundance.

It is a battle of one million against one hundred and nine billion.

The current power ratio was roughly one to one hundred billion. Thanks to the Magic Machine Idols possessed by the cities here, the initial disparity of one to one trillion had been greatly reduced.

A short decisive battle would end everything, so I will create an environment that forces a prolonged war. Those who deserve to die will die. Those who deserve to live will live. In this universe, only the strong are needed.

He temporarily expanded his dimensional authority across the ninety planets belonging to the Machine Empire’s star system and chanted the incantation.