The Bitter Reality of Becoming a Demon God
The Spirit Realm War. That was his true intention. Having been betrayed by his companion and lost his divine realm, he had spent a hundred thousand years grinding his teeth in resentment. Now, fueled by that long-suppressed grudge and the sense of betrayal from the lower gods who had once comforted him with lies, he finally spoke his true mind. “Only now does he finally emit the fighting spirit and killing intent worthy of a true warrior god.”
Yet the ordinary Main Gods who had been restrained cried out in horror at the sight of an Intermediate Main God turning into a Demon God. “Please stop him at once, O Highest Main God!” “We cannot allow a powerful Main God to become a Demon God. Kill him now!” “You must deal with him quickly. If he loses his reason and rampages, it will be truly dangerous.”
The direct-line Main God glared at them with eyes full of fury at their words, then stepped in front of the Dimensional Lord as if to shield his father. “What in the world are these fools saying? They came to the Spirit Realm at the dawn of his universe, yet they know nothing of how the world has changed.”
They still believed this was the ancient era when gods and demon gods instinctively slaughtered one another. While that remained partially true, in the current age—when the mighty Substitute Gods were eyeing the throne of the Master Universe’s ruling race and fawning over the Creator as if ready to offer their livers—the idea was sheer madness. “If the God Race or Demon Race were driven from their position as the ruling race by the Substitute Gods, there would never be another chance.”
Should they lose, all beings above the level of Creator God would be replaced by Substitute Gods and redeployed to other Master Universes, while lower gods would be converted into vitality to become the foundation of the universe. That was why everyone suppressed their instincts and fought desperately through contracts. “In such a desperate situation, what does it matter if one Main God becomes a Demon God? Especially when both the God Race and Demon Race cannot face the Substitute Gods alone and must form a united front.”
Unable to tolerate the absurdity any longer, the Dimensional Lord answered. “If he abandons his position as Chief God of the God Realm and becomes a mercenary Demon God, he will no longer need cumbersome alliances. He can simply pay vitality later and hire them as needed. Why stop him? Demon Gods are essential for the Substitute Gods’ certification battles, but whenever the Demon God Kings lose in combat, most are killed and their vitality reclaimed. There is always a shortage of mercenary Demon Gods. Replacing them with Chief Gods of the God Realm or Demon Realm Demon Gods is far too expensive and results in losses. Short-term hires are much cheaper than maintaining alliances! And danger? Ha! Even if an Intermediate Demon God goes berserk, he would only be an Upper Demon God at best. As a mercenary Demon God, he would receive no support from the Demon God Realm. If he attacks, I will kill him within a minute.”
“W-what are you saying?” “How has the outside universe changed that a god becoming a Demon God means nothing?” “An Upper Demon God cannot even last a minute? Are you serious?”
As expected, they had been imprisoned for far too long and could not understand. The Dimensional Lord’s words were undeniable truth, and they clearly reached the Intermediate Main God who had been on the verge of transforming into a Demon God out of uncontrollable rage. “Hnnngh—!”
At the Dimensional Lord’s words that awakened him to reality, the Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Waiting Station, who had been howling like a beast while trying to become a Demon God, let out a groan and attempted to halt his transformation. His wings of light repeatedly darkened before recovering, only to darken again. “He has fully realized how pathetic his situation is because of my words and is desperately trying to reverse it.”
If those around him had tried to stop him, he might have transformed out of spite, but when told it did not matter and that he could be cheaply hired as a mercenary Demon God, his reason returned. “He seems to have plenty of experience as a mercenary god, so he must know that misery well.” Even as a mercenary god, one was nothing more than cannon fodder on the battlefield. “No matter how difficult the position of Chief God of the God Realm might be, it is still a hundred times better than even the most successful mercenary god.” The difference between having the support of the God Realm and not having it was simply too vast.
“A mercenary Intermediate Demon God seeking revenge against an Intermediate female Main God of the God Realm?” Even if he raged in anger, at best he would only be an Intermediate mercenary Demon God—easily finished off by the countless Main God candidates overflowing in the God Realm. “There are plenty of Chief Gods of the God Realm who would gladly kill a mere mercenary Intermediate Demon God for a bit of vitality and justification.” Even without the God Realm’s intervention, a wandering mercenary Demon God like mere cannon fodder stood no chance against a Chief God of the God Realm backed by the full support of the God Realm.
“And revenge against lower gods here?” Even a Demon God of the Demon Realm would be immediately dealt with for indiscriminately killing gods. A Demon God King who killed a Main God without reason, driven only by instinct and shaking the alliance against the Substitute Gods, had been reduced to a Lower God by his judgment. “Yet a mercenary Demon God, no matter how much of a criminal, killing a god belonging to the God Realm? That would be an incident warranting joint erasure by both the God Realm and Demon God Realm.”
In the end, if he wished to achieve his desired revenge, he had no choice but to grow stronger than he was now and rise to a higher position. Becoming a mercenary Demon God would make that impossible forever. “Without the support of the Demon God Realm or Demon Realm, he could never match the growth speed of gods supported by the God Realm and God Race.” This universe had developed too far for any individual’s desperate efforts to overcome those backed by collective support. “In this supremely advanced universe, no amount of personal talent or effort can defeat the God Realm, where countless gods are concentrated. Unless one receives support like I do, or backing from an organization higher than the God Realm.”
A high-ranking Chief God of the God Realm could not possibly be unaware of this fact. That was why, upon hearing the mention of becoming a mercenary Demon God, he had desperately regained his reason and tried to reverse course. “Reality is cruel by nature. The beautiful fairy tale of an individual overcoming a group ended long ago.”
The Dimensional Lord, as a Main God from the Middle World with almost no comrades, had also tasted this bitterness. “Even now, I can handle a single independent divine realm, but I cannot defeat the entire God Realm, nor can I do anything about the gods within it. The reason I could rush to destroy the God Realm that once persecuted me was because it was an independent divine realm.”
The swindler Main God had been able to do so only because he had accumulated countless achievements and received a Main God Star as a reward from the Creator God. If it had been under the direct jurisdiction of the God Realm, the mage tower would have been relocated to another universe entirely. “That is why I go out of my way to compromise and avoid making enemies whenever possible. Because reality is like this.” All while hoping that becoming a Creator God might improve things somewhat.
“Kuh…!”
Hwoooooooong!
The Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Realm displayed a will like steel, completely different from moments before, and restored himself as a Main God. The divine power of light he had pushed to its limit revealed the authority and origin of an Intermediate Main God. “A Main God who entered from outside as a mercenary Main God in the Master Universe. That is why he truly understood the reality of being a mercenary god, and if he became a Demon God, he knew all too well what fate awaited him afterward.”
Thus, he forcibly suppressed his rage and returned to his senses. As soon as the Chief God of the God Realm recovered to some extent, he shouted at his direct-line Main God, who still could not grasp the situation. “You go and select the spirit gods. I will plead guilty for poor task performance, so I appoint you as acting Chief God of the God Realm.” “F-father.” “Who is your father?! Address me as former Chief God of the God Realm. Now go, quickly.”
To the Dimensional Lord, it looked like a truly moving performance. “His denial is so great that even as Chief God of the God Realm he cannot handle it, so he plans to pass the position to his direct descendant and take all the blame himself. Well, it is the best judgment.” As a Chief God of the God Realm, no matter what crime he was charged with, he would retain his first-stage divine power recovery and his status as a Main God. Even if the direct descendant took over the ruined Spirit Realm Waiting Station, as Chief God of the God Realm he would have a foundation for recovery. Maintaining the authority of Yugyeok Volcano would be impossible for the direct descendant alone, but with help here it would be manageable.
“Since the God Realm cannot send another highest-ranking Main God here either, accepting the deprivation of his Chief God of the God Realm status and a one-stage drop in divine power is the best solution. But what benefit is that to me?” He had no intention of working for free, and what the Dimensional Lord wanted was an alliance with a future highest-ranking Chief God of the God Realm—not some upper-level divine management god.
“Stop making noise and come work with me.” “O Highest Main God of Dimensions. All of this is my fault, so I will take responsibility.” He kept rambling, truly trying to stage a melodrama. “These fools have watched too many plays and fairy tales, so they all act like this. Do they think that pathetically shielding each other in front of everyone will resolve the situation? It only makes things more tangled and raises my temper further.”
Already irritated by the pain of divine power nullification, his anger was steadily rising. “He barely returned as Chief God of the God Realm after nearly becoming a Demon God, yet he still fails to read the atmosphere and reality like this?” The Dimensional Lord let out a deep sigh and spoke. “Huu—! If you give up being Chief God of the God Realm, you will never become a highest-ranking Main God. At best, you will only reach Upper Main God. Then you will have no value as an ally.” “Eh?” “Without the more than double divine power growth compensation granted to Chief Gods of the God Realm and the various benefits of the God Realm, you cannot advance. You came to this Master Universe knowing that, did you not? An outside divine realm too weak to support you up to your growth limit, and without the God Realm you cannot even train. As a direct descendant without the Creator’s faction, those around you will not leave you alone, and the Demon Race—or demons, as they are called from outside—will always be fighting you while you wage meaningless wars with other Main Gods, consuming vast amounts of already insufficient vitality. Growth is out of the question; you will barely maintain the status quo. Other Master Universes are still engaged in meaningless wars of attrition. But the Dimensional Lord’s Master Universe, through direct Karma management, operation of the God Realm, support from the Cyber Realm and Machine Gods, implementation of certification battles, and the alliance against the Substitute Gods, has already developed to a level more than one stage ahead. Only by becoming a Chief God of the God Realm receiving full support can you truly grow to your limit.”
“In the end, there was no way to raise your divinity in your homeland, so you came here, struggled to death as a mercenary god, and finally became Chief God of the God Realm only to let your guard down and end up like this, is that not so?” “H-how do you know all that?” The Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Realm wore an expression of disbelief that his past was known so well. “As expected, these fools think they are the protagonists of some tragedy. There are no protagonists with special fates in his universe. Only those who struggle viciously, train desperately, and climb the cliff called reality.”
No matter how high and treacherous the cliff, the results and rewards were far too sweet and fair, so everyone rushed toward it. “I was one of them as well. As a Main God-level mercenary god, I wandered battlefields for seventy years just to obtain a mere pittance of Karma approval.” At that time, if the achievements stolen or intercepted by young masters had not been judged by Karma’s collective evaluation as merely “extremely evil” rather than something worse, he would have become Chief God of the God Realm in some remote independent divine realm and lived comfortably. “If I had been a Demon God, it would have been truly blissful. All because they signed the Karma Contract without understanding the situation.”
“It is a common occurrence. All mercenary Main Gods who came from outside did so for that reason.” “My circumstances are… common?” “It is an extremely frequent occurrence. You at least became Chief God of the God Realm, so you are truly lucky and remarkable.” “You say I am lucky? Ending up like this…”
BOOOOOOM—!
The space around the Intermediate Main God, who had been excitedly raising his fighting spirit, was torn apart, and the atmosphere turned into a storm that shook the entire barrier. The body of the Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Realm, the target of that force, froze like an ice statue. An incredibly powerful fist had grazed right past his head. Judging from the trajectory where part of the barrier had been blown away and space torn, if it had connected, his head would have been shattered at the very least. “I made a mistake. This was not meant to intimidate; I unconsciously reacted to a faint killing intent.”
The Dimensional Lord’s past reaction as a mercenary god—always attacking first anyone who emitted killing intent—had resurfaced. “As expected, the Wizard Machine God Blend is blocking the God Realm’s positive emotion control. To unconsciously try to kill someone over this level of killing intent…” Because his body had been reinforced to its maximum limit through fusion with the Wizard Machine God, if he had not twisted the attack trajectory at the last moment, the Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Realm’s head would have been crushed. Realizing he had just survived a life-threatening crisis without even properly recognizing it, the Chief God of the God Realm in the Spirit Realm began to break out in a cold sweat.