The Goddess's Bargain
The Mechanical Emperor had just finished signing the documents and was trembling uncontrollably when the Dimensional Lord continued speaking.
“Huh?”
The Dimensional Lord looked at the startled Mechanical Emperor and clicked his tongue in clear disdain.
‘The ignorance of humanity here truly knows no bounds. What meaning could material ownership possibly hold for a spiritual being like a god? Unless it’s something as precious as adamantium, it’s meaningless. Even if I took everything like some greedy human ruler, it would be useless and only increase my administrative burden.’
The screen expanded. First the stars appeared, then the solar system, and finally the entire star cluster came into view. A certain energy began to form across the whole cluster, drawing a pattern. It was a triangle within a circle. The symbol enveloped the entire star cluster, glowed brilliantly, and then vanished.
Addressing the bewildered machine-humans and ordinary humans who had no idea what it meant, he explained.
“T-then… are you saying you’ll only protect us and otherwise leave us alone?” the Mechanical Emperor cried out, his face brightening with hope.
‘If that’s literally true, then he’s acting as a guardian. A power incomparable to the military strength our Machine Empire has lost has just taken our side.’
If they could receive even a little cooperation, they might finally achieve the long-desired expansion into other star clusters that had been hindered by their steadily dwindling resources. But the sweet fantasy ended abruptly.
Thud!
The Dimensional Lord now wore an irritated expression as he kicked the Mechanical Emperor of the Machine Empire. Looking down at the emperor who clutched his kicked head and groaned, he spoke.
The Mechanical Emperor clutched his head, unable to speak. The pain that flooded him far surpassed the limits of what his mechanical body could simulate. Because it was truly a blow from a god, even a part of his soul was screaming.
“The stars are polluted with industrial waste and on the verge of being discarded. Humanity can’t even live out the hundred-year lifespan they were granted, surviving on drugs and machines to die at an average of less than fifty years. The vitality granted at birth doesn’t grow stronger—it weakens. Not only can spiritual beings like gods not sense it, even common spirits cannot. As a result, the stars themselves aren’t generating more vitality and are all on the brink of withering. On top of that, you arrogantly tamper with souls, forcibly extending your lifespan by fusing with mechanical bodies, yet you still dare to dream big. The moment you leave this star cluster will be the moment every human and machine-human belonging to it is disposed of. With proper justification, it would be far cheaper to simply wipe you all out and contract with the stars to create a new Divine Realm. You pests—!”
After delivering his merciless assessment of the machine-humans, he walked toward the newly created control seat that glowed with a golden light.
Thud. Thud.
Just before sitting down, he looked at the chair and spoke. His expression showed genuine displeasure. It was only natural—the seat contained a device that subtly drained divine power and vitality. There were also hidden restraint mechanisms intended for emergencies. While an ordinary Main God of the combat type might not notice, there was no deceiving the senses of the Dimensional Lord, who was both a dark mage and already possessed the perception of a Creator God.
“…I acknowledge it. As one Main God to another, I approve the contract for the exchange of knowledge and authority.”
The seat began to transform once more. The previous brilliant golden light intensified, and a holographic image appeared above it. The hologram soon materialized into physical form. It appeared to be a goddess with flowing hair and a voluptuous figure. The thirteen pairs of magnificent, shimmering wings on her back proved she was a Main God. However, her form was hazy, as if shrouded in mist, clearly revealing her severe lack of divine power. She couldn’t even properly manifest her physical body.
Therefore, to replenish her divine power, she sat in the chair, looked at the Dimensional Lord, and spoke.
Snap!
He lightly flicked his fingers, creating a chair on the opposite side along with a round table, and took a seat. On the table, a simple assortment of refreshments had also been prepared.
She looked at the faintly shimmering, luxuriously prepared refreshments and spoke bitterly.
As the goddess gracefully lifted the refreshments to her lips, her body began to gain clarity starting from her mouth. The vitality of the Cosmic Tree flowed into her body and automatically restored it. It was like pouring water onto dry sand—trees immediately sprouted and grew. Having received such a massive amount of vitality after so long, her lips flushed red and drew a soft, ecstatic curve.
‘Refreshments made from the Cosmic Tree? It was a luxury I never enjoyed even in the past, but I was never this miserable.’
While designing the machine-humans—a ruling species with revolutionary lifespan and strength to become a highest Creator God—she and her sisters had exhausted nearly all their divine power and authority in a total effort from the entire Divine Realm. The accident had occurred while she was in long-term recovery. The machine-humans she had recognized as the ruling species officially denied the existence of gods in the name of science.
‘In an instant, I lost my existence as a god, the ownership of the star cluster, and even all my divine power. Even now, thinking about it fills me with rage that eventually turns into utter emptiness.’
She had paid a harsh price for relying solely on followers without training her Innate Divine Power, simply leveraging her expertise as an administrator god.
‘More than twenty billion divine power gathered from followers vanished, leaving only my divinity. I was left waiting to become a mere empty spirit. But a path to survival appeared. The machine-humans began to worship the weapons they themselves had created.’
She had secretly infiltrated the artificial intelligences of the giant, fearsome mechanical weapons and planetary suppression devices that were becoming objects of worship due to their immense size and power. By acting in their stead, she was able to obtain a small amount of faith.
‘All the gods had to survive in such humiliation, forced to watch their own star clusters be ruined by the machine-humans. Then, whether by good fortune or bad, a powerful highest-tier Main God passing through the star cluster got into a quarrel with them.’
She had seen it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to overthrow the Machine Empire and had begun making various preparations. Things seemed to be going well.
‘He is a crude combat-type god, but as a mage who understands the value of knowledge and has received his sorcery, he seems to properly recognize our worth. Once the transaction is complete, I should be able to recover a fair amount of divine power.’
Most importantly, the moment the humans of this star cluster once again acknowledged the existence of gods, she had recovered some authority from her empty-spirit state.
‘The number of people who truly believe the stories passed down like myths is increasing, and faith is beginning to form.’
Now that she could ignore the restrictions placed on the artificial intelligence, her thoughts were free, which made her even happier. Since she could now move the Machine God’s body independently, she could immediately begin cleaning up the Machine Empire.
‘Repairing the damage I just suffered is an issue, but that’s only a matter of time.’
If she could obtain even a little help from that mighty highest-tier Dimensional Lord, she could begin right away. The knowledge and authority she would offer in return were more than sufficient, so a smile naturally formed on her lips. Her body had also recovered somewhat thanks to the vast vitality of the Cosmic Tree, and she felt even more delighted by the long-absent sensation of physical vitality.
The Dimensional Lord also lightly partook of the refreshments while waiting for his counterpart to recover somewhat. Watching this unexpectedly harmonious negotiation over tea, the Mechanical Emperor stood with his mouth agape.
‘No one knew that such a being called a god had been hiding inside the star-cluster suppression weapon.’
He wondered if the Machine Empire’s characteristic denial of gods had caused them to unconsciously ignore her existence.
‘I am the emperor of the Machine Empire that has completely conquered this star cluster, yet I am being utterly disregarded.’
He was keenly feeling the sorrow of the weak. But he soon realized that even that sorrow was a luxury.
“Huuuuh—! O God—!”
What the Dimensional Lord placed on the round table was an image of Machine Pandemonium, the central storage facility containing the original bodies of all machine-humans.