The Spirit Realm's War
The Spirit Realm trembled under an overwhelming presence. The Dimensional Lord had arrived at the head of a force so vast it could crush an entire universe.
“W-what the hell…? The Creator Candidate as Supreme Commander, nine Highest Main Gods, ninety Upper Main Gods, and over nine hundred High Main Gods? Anyone below Intermediate Main God was excluded for being too weak? Are they seriously planning to wipe out the Main Universe?”
Even a tenth of this army could have subdued the Main Universe. Yet more than ten times that number now poured through spatial gates opened by the Cyber Realm, revealing their terrifying majesty.
Uuuuuuuuung—!
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa—!
The divine power of these supremely exalted beings rippled across the Spirit Realm as they teleported in, shaking the entire dimension to its core. The waves of power radiating from a Creator Candidate whose innate divine power exceeded 100 billion, along with Highest Main Gods each possessing over 50 billion, pressed down on the realm as if ready to burst it apart.
The High Main God in charge of the Spirit Realm’s defense immediately descended from his elevated position. These newcomers were all his superiors. This was no time to act arrogant. He bowed deeply—far lower than mere courtesy required—until his waist formed a perfect right angle, then offered his report with utmost reverence.
I have no intention of repeating the arrogant mistakes of the past. If I fall any further from grace, I’ll be forcibly exiled to some distant universe like those “lucky” Absolute Beings who somehow earned his title, got promoted to Main God in their assigned Middle World, and then qualified as Creator Candidates. My own Divine Realm would be finished. I’d be kicked out by the Creator and forced to start over as a mercenary god with no affiliation.
Returning to that miserable life as a mercenary god was absolutely out of the question. Besides, none of these superiors were weaker than him, and every single one of them had a worse temper than a god of war.
After surviving those brutal certification battles, if you’re still weak or soft-hearted, you’re basically a freak.
One wrong look and you’d be marked for life. And right now, nearly every high-ranking Main God in this galaxy had gathered in one place.
If I make a mistake here, it’ll be like being blacklisted by the entire Main Divine Realm for eternity. For a god with perfect memory, there’s nothing more painful.
The Highest Main Gods who had somehow survived under the Creator for ten thousand years without incident were no gentler than their master. If the Dimensional Lord could exile someone for ten millennia just for failing to bow deeply enough, their own wrath would be no less severe.
The Creator Candidate may be a bit different since he was born strong, but in the end, it’s the same pot of rice.
Therefore, he delivered his report with the utmost politeness.
“The High Main God in charge of Spirit Realm Defense reports. The current situation is that the Defense Divine Realm of the Spirit Realm is under attack. The enemy’s Highest Creator God is concentrating divine power. Once the concentration is complete and the attack lands, it will exceed the defensive capacity of the Defense Divine Realm.”
“You’ve always worked hard. I am truly grateful for your constant efforts.”
The warm encouragement, typical of a Creator Candidate on the verge of reaching Absolute Good, nearly brought tears to the High Main God’s eyes.
From the sound of it, if I just say the right things, he might even send a replacement soon. What a gentle atmosphere.
Swelling with hope, he looked up—only to freeze in terror.
The higher-ranking gods surrounding the Creator Candidate wore expressions of pure murderous intent, completely at odds with the warm words. As expected. He immediately lowered his head again in resignation.
“We all feel reassured knowing a capable High Main God like you is holding this post. Keep up the good work until your replacement arrives.”
There was no way any self-respecting High Main God would willingly come to this exile zone to take over his position. He glanced up again, ready to beg for rescue—only to realize the Creator Candidate’s eyes were blazing with ferocious killing intent despite his gentle tone and expression.
His face and divine power feel warm, but those eyes are glittering like they’ll kill anyone who so much as looks at him the wrong way.
A quick glance around showed even the Highest Main Gods were deliberately looking elsewhere to avoid that gaze. With nowhere else to direct his fury, the Creator Candidate’s eyes had turned toward both the enemies and himself.
A chill ran down his spine.
Looking more closely, he noticed bloodstains all over the Creator Candidate’s armor and clothes. The armor itself was clearly a custom piece made by the Creator—something that couldn’t be destroyed by anyone below Upper Main God and could even self-repair. Yet it was cracked and broken in multiple places. The helmet especially looked like it had taken a direct hit from something round; a massive dent caved inward.
He knew that familiar dent shape all too well.
It’s the mark of the “Love Hammer”—the disciplinary tool the Creator throws at Main Gods who lose their certification battles against the Demon God race or the Substitute God race.
Take a clean hit from that and even a high-ranking Main God would be left on death’s door.
When one of his subordinate High Main Gods suffers a crushing defeat in a certification battle against the Substitute Gods and has to give a face-to-face report to the Creator, he gets smashed dozens of times with that Love Hammer until he’s half-dead. It’s a public spectacle in front of every Main God in his faction—because reviving them wastes vitality, and the Creator wants them to feel even a ten-thousandth of what he felt.
Seeing that the second-in-command Creator Candidate had come straight here without even properly healing or repairing his armor, the situation was obvious.
A sympathetic sigh escaped him.
Sigh… Another draw against the opposing Demon God King candidate, huh? That’s why he got beaten so badly by the Creator. Better keep my mouth shut and stay quiet. If I’m not careful, the sparks will fly my way.
The man was originally kind and capable, but the real problem was that he had failed to settle things with the opposing Demon God King candidate for over ten thousand years.
His ability is more than enough to become a full Creator God, but the opponent the Demon God race sent for his certification battle was just too bad a matchup.
Since it was almost certain he would become an Omnipotent God race member and rise above a regular Creator God, the Demon God race had chosen their representative with vicious intent. Absurdly, they had selected someone from the same Omnipotent God clan who had defected to become a Demon God—and whose authorities were identical to his.
Same origin, similar power, identical authorities. On top of that, they turned out to have a horribly twisted past grudge. So they fight with zero room for mercy.
There was no way a decisive victory could occur. At first the Creator had been understanding, but after five thousand years of endless draws, he began beating the Candidate senseless for being “incompetent.”
In reality, it’s just frustration. If your subordinates don’t get promoted, you can’t get promoted either. But the Candidate couldn’t say anything since he couldn’t win either. He simply clenched his teeth and trained harder. Unfortunately, the opposing Demon God King candidate also received full support from the Demon God King, so the matches remained dead even.
He is famous for ten thousand years of draws and holds the record for longest certification battle in Creator God history.
Every time a certification battle occurred, other Creator Candidates and even higher beings came to watch. But after both sides ended up half-dead from total exhaustion of divine power and demonic energy, the sorry sight usually earned them ridicule. That only made the Creator angrier. The cycle of getting beaten, recovering, training, and fighting again had repeated for over ten thousand years.
Honestly, it’s impressive he’s managed to keep such a good personality through all that.
Still, if you got on his nerves right after he took a beating like this, you could end up suffering terribly. So the High Main God bowed even lower. The Creator Candidate let out a deep sigh as if trying to suppress his rage, then issued his orders.
“Hoo… This is not a war. It is a show of force. The Highest Creator God of that Main Universe is a direct bloodline of the Creator. Since we are still allies, we must not kill him—only suppress and expel him. The Creator’s command is to limit this to an accidental border skirmish and refrain from further provocation. He says he is in the middle of training to prepare countermeasures against the strengthened Substitute Gods, and this is extremely noisy and annoying.”
“While they are indeed weak, they are still Creator Gods. Their authorities and divine ranks make this complicated. If the goal is suppression rather than simple combat, it will take a long time. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just annihilate—urk—!”
A brave Highest Main God had voiced a complaint, but the moment killing intent surged from the Creator Candidate’s eyes and his divine power exploded outward, the speaker instinctively groaned and bowed his head in panic. Normally such grumbling would be tolerated, but he had forgotten that in the Candidate’s current state, irritating him could cause him to rampage beyond even a full Creator God’s level.
For a second he had felt a chill as if that monstrous giant war hammer—the one the Creator used—would come smashing down on his skull. Fortunately, it seemed he was still within the acceptable range.
“I’m letting it slide because we’re about to enter battle.”
The divine weapon that had suddenly appeared in his hand crackled with violent divine power. There was no doubt about it. The only way to survive right now was to shut up and fight as ordered.
The Creator Candidate suddenly remembered how a certain Highest Main God who owned dozens of stars had waved him off with a casual “This kind of fight is annoying, so just go handle it yourself.” His blood pressure spiked.
I received my Main God Star directly from the Creator, so I have no right to refuse. But that bastard earned his as a mercenary god and lives however he wants.
The unfairness made him briefly consider abandoning his position to become a mercenary Main God and create his own personal star—until he remembered that no star could compare to one granted by a Creator. He shook his head.
If you want to live smoothly and gloriously, the smartest path is to stay within a large organization, follow the flow, strengthen yourself, and climb the ranks.
Even if that sometimes meant being forced to fight against his will and feeling irritated.
“The Creator has ordered that every single illegal intruder be sent back crawling on all fours after their divine power is completely exhausted—no spatial teleportation allowed. I will personally suppress that Highest Creator God, the direct descendant of the opposing universe’s Creator, and drain his power. The rest of you will handle the others. Exhaust their divine power and vitality to the absolute limit.”
The Creator Candidate paused for a moment before continuing. Looking at the Highest Main Gods who were clearly displeased at having to fight such pathetic opponents, he let out another sigh.
“Haaaa… Honestly, I don’t want to fight these weaklings either. There’s a risk it could dull my combat senses, which are calibrated for that damn traitor in our certification battles.”
To pass the certification, he had to settle things with the Demon God King candidate somehow. If he kept fighting opponents who were far beneath him, he might actually grow weaker.
Right now it’s already a razor-thin margin. One small mistake and I could be the one who loses. I absolutely refuse to watch that disgusting traitor from the Omnipotent God clan ascend first and strut around as a Demon God King.
The Demon God King candidate seemed to feel the same way and was charging in with every dirty trick available. Just thinking about the certification battle made killing intent surge through him. He wanted to quit everything and just train—but as the commander, he had to offer these subordinates some incentive.
“The Creator has clearly promised that all the divine power and vitality from the gods I personally suppress will belong to you. This is the perfect opportunity to replenish the vitality of your own Divine Realms, which have been depleted by the sudden strengthening of the Substitute Gods and the certification battles. Do not kill them. Only collect their divine power and vitality.”
“Understood!”
At those words, the High Main God in charge of the Defense Divine Realm felt his ears perk up.
So that’s why all these exalted beings suddenly showed up. They’re planning to suppress the invaders and steal their vitality and divine power.
It would take a long time to suppress them without killing, but the rewards made it worthwhile. Especially since his own Divine Realm was currently running a deficit and desperately needed vitality.
To the higher defense gods, the invaders were no longer enemies—they were walking sacks of vitality. The same was true for the Highest Main Gods who had followed the Creator Candidate.
The higher your position, the more gods you have to feed. Chronic vitality shortage is a common headache among superiors.
We already spent all the vitality we had saved while preparing for the strengthened Substitute Gods. Let’s earn a lot this time.
The Spirit Realm the Dimensional Lord was heading toward was no longer in a simple local skirmish. It was on the verge of a large-scale show of force and a massive vitality plunder operation involving a Creator Candidate.
And so, the Dimensional Lord found himself facing a truly bizarre situation.