The Demon Emperor's Calculations
In the Spirit Realm War, the Demon Emperor Star—a star-system-scale fortress within the same divine realm and star cluster ruled by the Creator General—radiated an oppressively gloomy black light. At the innermost sanctum of the colossal palace that occupied a tenth of the star’s center, demonic power surged without end. Gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gung! Uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-ung!
Within the grand hall where all the Demon Kings had been summoned and now knelt prostrate, demonic power roiled so violently that even ordinary High Gods would perish instantly, despite the Demon Kings emitting no fighting spirit of their own. Twenty-six pairs of dark wings spread across the floor like black silk, while a black moon of demonic power hung in the sky above, illuminating them. Under the ever-increasing pressure, some of the weaker Demon Kings bit their lips and endured with pained groans.
After gathering everyone, we are forcing them into a serial demonic-power link to virtually instill the acquisition and mastery of the ultimate divine-demonic technique “Ayuta.”
Though it is only virtual and they will not die, the pain and backlash from failure would make annihilation preferable.
Any Demon King who showed the slightest weakness before the Demon Emperor would be immediately executed and have their vitality reclaimed. Thus they clenched their teeth and endured until they achieved complete mastery, their overflowing power shaking the entire Demon Emperor Star, already on the scale of a solar system. Yet the Demon Emperor seated upon the throne of glory simply suppressed the tremors with ease, reclining lazily with a cigarette between his lips.
Huuu-uu-uu-uu!
The Demon Emperor drew deeply on the cigarette and exhaled, his expression languid rather than filled with killing intent. “Filthy demon race, is it? Been a while since I heard that name. Open the path nicely and they’ll spare us? Bring out the responsible Creator Gods? Puhuhuhuhuhut—!”
The Demon Emperor found the message so absurd he could not even grow angry. Three-tenths of this Master Universe already belonged to the demon race. Five-tenths were held by the god race, the ruling species, while the remaining two-tenths had been seized and frozen by the Substitute Gods. Naturally, the Spirit Realm within their own territory was also managed by the demon race. Unlike the god race’s Spirit Realm, which leisurely extracted surplus vitality, their structure was optimized solely for maximum efficiency—stripping every last drop of innate vitality until even Spiritual Beings were reduced to the lowest form of spirits.
The authority structure is similar, but unlike the gods, the demon race’s overflowing aggression and vitality mean they do not collapse from extracting surplus energy.
The declaration and documents sent by the god race from the outer Master Universe confronting them at the Defense Demon Realm were filled with an almost adorable tone. It resembles a declaration of war, but even at its most generous interpretation, it is nothing more than the highest-ranking Creator Gods barking. They cannot breach a Creator-class Defense Divine Realm. And even if they did, we would simply convert every living being on the star into vitality, absorb it, and end the battle.
The demon race had no need to protect planets for the sake of followers the way the god race did. It was far more profitable to slaughter and absorb everything rather than hand it over to the enemy.
“Our Creator General seems to have no intention of hiring the demon race for this matter.”
The Demon Emperor pondered, his twenty-six pairs of black jewel-like horns—arranged in a crown around his head—and single pair of shining jewel horns gleaming. I know how weak the Creator Gods of the outer Master Universe are, but sheer numbers cannot be ignored.
A sixfold or greater difference in forces was fatal to Spiritual Beings who required vitality supplies, as their divine and demonic power diminished with each use. Defense is possible, but a full-scale offensive and occupation is not. No matter how laughably weak and provocative they are, if we suffer a concentrated attack at six-to-one odds, even a one-circle advantage in strength will not save us.
Moreover, since Spiritual Beings could revive even after death, they felt little fear, forcing endless wars. The enemy cannot breach the Defense Demon Realm, and we lack the vitality for total war. The answer is obvious.
“It seems we are looking at nothing more than a preliminary skirmish to gauge each other’s strength. Puhuhut—! The god race’s alliances are truly amusing. To check one another so intricately? At this rate, it would be cleaner to simply wage war and establish a clear hierarchy.”
The Demon Emperor paid no further attention to the insulting missive from the other Master Universe. Had it come from a sufficiently powerful Creator God of this universe, he would have torn them apart on the spot, but there was no value in responding to the nonsense of weaklings from outside. The fleeting curses and wails of the weak toward the strong were their only consolation. Still, as demon race members who bore the title of “god,” they possessed at least that much mercy.
“Wasting vitality serves no purpose for future hegemony. You lot go guard the Defense Demon Realm and neither allow passage nor approach. This fight belongs to the god race; there is no need to intervene. We will only join if paid.”
He issued orders to the highest-ranking Demon Kings who had finished their training first, dispatching them to the Defense Divine Realm, then leisurely continued suppressing the remaining high- and lower-ranking Demon Kings with demonic power to accelerate their training. Uu-uu-uu-uu! Keu-eu-eu-euk!
Unless the opponents were Eternal Beings or Creators, the Spiritual Beings of other Master Universes could never match them. We cannot occupy the outer Master Universe due to insufficient forces, but we can certainly reduce it to ashes.
The ruling species of the 499th Master Universe was, distasteful as it was to admit, the god race. If we wage large-scale war with another Master Universe without the god race’s approval and cause an uproar, that Creator General will not stay silent. Given his nature—unforgiving of any challenge to the ruling species’ authority—we must be prepared for a race war.
They would not be utterly crushed, but victory was impossible. The Demon Emperor’s expression turned bitter as he drew deeply on his cigarette once more. Huhuhut! We share the same title, and our authorities and power are nearly equal, yet their Creator Gods’ divine power is subtly superior. When we clash at the same rank, I lose more often than not, leaving us perpetually disadvantaged in influence. Their laziness is the main cause, so I cannot even complain, and pushing them harder only backfires. This is truly troublesome.
The title granted to the Creator General here for his battlefield achievements was “Garam.” Most titles and authorities focus on individual power, yet that ruthless Sangharama begged to delay his title conferment, then earned the exact title he desired through merit.
Volunteering for that battlefield was enough to make other title-holders raise eyebrows, but once the additional effects arising from the fusion of his granted title and the Creator General position he had seized through battlefield achievements became known, everyone was shocked. Damn it—his title grants maximum training efficiency to both himself and his affiliated god race at all times? And it remains active without needing to be triggered? A Creator General with that is cheating. How are we supposed to catch up normally when over a hundred thousand Creator Gods and billions of Main Gods are constantly developing at maximum speed?
Still, he refused to lose. He had driven his subordinates harder and harder, only to be accused by Demon Emperors of other Master Universes of being reckless and cruel to his own people. Let them come try it themselves. The weaklings who would be swept away by the god race here in an instant sure talk a lot—especially when they barely have any vitality left.
Even the Demon Emperor of the same Master Universe had gone to that battlefield, accumulated merit, and received a new title, though it was limited to personal martial prowess. I never imagined I would receive a race-related title after all that hardship, and I even mocked the idea, but as time passes, the demon race is gradually being pushed back.
He had considered taking responsibility as Demon Emperor and returning to that battlefield for another race-related title, but a chill had run down his spine. I will never go back there again, not even if I die. Forcing these ones to train is far preferable.
After all, training gently or being worked to death produced the same best result. If one does not die, one can occasionally obtain effects beyond even the best. And in the worst case, my personal title still holds a slight edge over a race-titled Creator General, so I can still finish him off.
Even the highest Demon Kings who had overcome countless deaths held only a razor-thin advantage, making mutual destruction possible. The outer Master Universe’s laughable threat will never breach the Creator-class Defense Demon Realm guarded by the highest Demon Kings, so that matter is settled. The rest is the ruling species—the god race’s problem.
Though they were nominally allies, direct combat was forbidden, so no clashes had occurred. However, fearing a battle between Creator Gods—the highest ranks—they had mobilized only Creator Candidates, making the situation somewhat precarious. Right now, there is only one place where direct combat is actually happening.
There existed a Defense Divine Realm where, absurdly, five highest-ranking Creator Gods had already fallen to a provoked Creator Candidate. Anyway, some kind of quarrel was bound to happen, so it is not a major issue, but seeing this ridiculous situation, both the Creator Realm and the Demon King Realm are seriously wondering whether they should continue recognizing those people as allies at all.
They were beginning to think the alliance would only get in the way during the inevitable future war with him. Otherwise, why would they even consider expanding into enemy territory just to maintain the alliance?
Having repelled the threat for now, they were carefully assessing the situation when an even more absurd development occurred: the deployment of Absolute Beings who held titles among the Main Gods, and the full commitment of outer Creator Gods. Numbers alone could not breach the Defense Divine Realm, yet, unbelievably, even the Creator General of the outer Master Universe had entered the battlefield. They judged that the Defense Divine Realm guarded by a Creator Candidate could never be breached, but no matter how weak, a Creator General changed the equation.
“The Creators seem quite heated as well. At this rate we might end up in a full-scale war. Kukuk—! Then it has been a long time since we had some fun and could replenish our lacking vitality.”
The demon race’s greatest strength lay in their demonic power specialized for concentrated assaults and their ability to rapidly absorb massive amounts of vitality obtained by slaughtering living beings—elegantly called mobile warfare, though it was in truth plunder. In an outer Master Universe where karma did not apply, they could slaughter entire planets and absorb enormous quantities of vitality in an instant, the most efficient combat method for the demon race. Originally, the demon race had fought the god race this way, repeatedly committing planetary massacres. There is a reason the demon race is feared across all universes.
Of course, doing such things here would immediately turn them into insects in his eyes, so they did not even dream of it. It was far better to quietly steal the divine stars the god race had cultivated and utilize the tremendous vitality that resulted. Since the Substitute Gods commit even greater planetary erosion than the demon race’s planetary slaughter, their infamy has been greatly diluted.
Furthermore, countless believers emerged from the Demon Stars they managed, offering faith, so lower-ranking demon race members sometimes grew confused about whether they were gods or demons. Even I, the Demon Emperor at the pinnacle of the demon race, am calculating power balances and vitality acquisition like this—surely that says enough.
Demon Emperors of other Master Universes lived cleanly by plundering entire star clusters, yet he felt like the chairman of a human corporation. Even now, the Demon Kings prostrating and watching his mood were largely in debt to him—the biggest reason they offered absolute loyalty. These rotten bastards. If they just lived as they did in the old days of plunder, there would be no problem, but like the god race they insist on producing endless direct descendants and supporting them.
Of course, the cost of employing Main Gods of the Divine Realm or Demon Gods of the Demon Realm—essential for authentication—was astronomically expensive. The idea of replacing them by birthing direct descendants was sound in theory, but the vitality consumption required for them to grow was enormous. Unlike the distant past, a Demon King’s innate demonic power now had to exceed one hundred billion rather than one billion. I too was in a hurry for capable Demon Kings to check the god race, so I granted permission and lent vitality, but now every one of them owes over a trillion in debt, and even the Demon King Realm composed of countless Demon Stars is gradually struggling.
When deficits occurred, even the Creator Realm—which was said to be in relatively better shape—had to seek additional mercenary divine contracts and vitality. The other Master Universe’s Demon Emperors who only talk big are mostly impoverished wanderers at the level of space bandits and cannot even borrow, so they have no choice.
He felt like the president of a small company begging a large corporation for subcontracts—an utterly dreadful sensation—but there was no helping it. The old way of living as we pleased is no longer possible. Everyone has grown too strong and their standard of living too high. No matter how powerful I am, if the Demon King Realm falters, rebellion will follow.
Even a Demon Emperor with ten trillion innate demonic power could not withstand four or more highest Demon Kings each possessing over five trillion if they attacked simultaneously. If he tried to abolish the Demon King Realm and return to the impoverished, plundering freedom of the past, that was exactly what would happen. Thus, whenever deficits arose, the Demon Emperor had to swallow his pride and borrow operating vitality from the Creator General. Any instinctive hatred toward the god race had long since been discarded due to these survival concerns.
Ah—! Just let a war break out already. At this rate I am going to lose my temper and go mad. If we wage war, cull the useless demons, and plunder a fortune, things will improve. Once vitality increases and conditions on the Demon Stars improve, the number of demon believers will naturally rise as well.
Outwardly he smoked his cigarette leisurely under his subordinates’ gazes, but inside he seethed while calculating the vitality shortage. A lack of vitality would be solved if we became the ruling species and obtained creation rights over Main God Stars, but the god race here is truly not to be underestimated. We are caught between a rock and a hard place. Should we wage a universe war after all?
The Demon Emperor was already thinking that if a full-scale war with another Master Universe occurred, he could reduce the surplus demons and secure vitality through plunder. Of course the Demon Emperor of that universe would protest about territorial infringement, but even after becoming a demon who possessed believers, he had not grown merciful enough to listen to the claims of the weak. He had already decided that anything obstructing vitality acquisition—whether outer gods or demons—would be eliminated, and a cold smile played on his lips.
What the Demon Emperor himself did not realize was that, unlike a typical demon race member steeped in slaughter and hatred, he was genuinely delighted—almost like a god—at the prospect of increased believers and additional operating vitality.