A Mountain of Divine Baggage
The Dimensional Lord smoothed out the crumpled application form and sighed. That’s how the world works. Nothing ever goes the way you want, and the worst possible outcome always seems to happen. Especially when you leave things to others—getting even one success out of ten is a miracle.
If he had sent one of his female subordinates instead of coming himself, the situation would have already exploded. The grudges between these goddesses were piled so high they could form a mountain range.
Lokina is essential for dark magic, and Hephais is indispensable for improving the Machine God. Both are vital to my realm in terms of authority and ability. But integrating them means dealing with the friction they’ll cause with the existing staff, and there’s no clear solution.
A simple “let’s get along” would make the world so peaceful. But words don’t work—that’s why everything is such a mess.
Still, the allure of their authorities had been too strong. Gritting his teeth, he had added them to the interview list. The next candidate, however, was simply absurd.
“Flying Serpent of the Azure Heavens, Kurkana. Former rank: Main God. Current rank: Upper God. Reason for demotion: Long-term excessive drinking due to a rival’s scheme led to failure in managing her followers and the abandonment of her divine nation. She transformed into a goddess to avoid the Spirit Realm’s harsh control and rose to Upper God. Primary authorities: Civilization development, wind, and soul control. Special note: As a serpent goddess, she possesses immortality and partial creation authority. Final evaluation: Main God. P.S. I will not touch multi-god alcohol again. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Now she was just a drunkard goddess. She had neglected her divine nation so completely while drinking that she fled when her faith began to corrupt. She knew exactly what fate awaited a divine nation abandoned by its god.
At best, she’d become a half-baked goddess serving some passing demigod. At worst, everything would be destroyed. That was the destiny of any divine nation built on faith once its god abandoned it. No wonder she couldn’t even claim the title of Main God and wandered around with only the Upper God label.
Under normal circumstances, he would have crumpled and thrown this away too. But the phrase “partial creation authority” caught his eye.
Creation authority is extremely rare. In the extreme, it marks the boundary between Creator God and Main God. Yet a mere Main God claimed to possess even a fragment of it. Curiosity stirred.
If she wrote that just because she can create some trivial matter, I’ll dunk her in a wine barrel like the serpent she is.
The more he read the resumes of these Spirit Realm gods, the more his teeth ground together. He turned to the next page. The reasons these divine nations had collapsed were so ridiculous that this one actually seemed promising by comparison.
This one’s not bad. Her nation fell partly because of her own fault, but mostly because of her rival’s incompetence. Wait—looking closer, that’s not quite right either. These two would get along just fine.
Absurdly, the next goddess had been Kurkana’s rival—their enmity was absolute. Both had been sent to the Spirit Realm around the same time, yet they had somehow avoided meeting. That was why they had submitted their applications together.
“Scheming Black Thunder, Deskana. Former rank: Main God. Current rank: Upper God. Reason for demotion: She successfully framed and exiled her rival through conspiracy, but when her rival’s followers abandoned their faith en masse due to poor management, her own divine nation’s faith plummeted, causing her demotion. She transformed into a goddess to avoid the Spirit Realm’s harsh control and rose to Upper God. Primary authorities: Black magic, lightning, and transformation. Special note: After becoming a goddess, she gained the ability to promote and develop the growth of all things. Final evaluation: Main God. P.S. From now on, I will consider the consequences of my schemes.”
The Guerrilla Volcano’s authority in the Spirit Realm Waiting Area was so brutal toward Main Gods that most had lowered their own ranks to become goddesses or administrative deities. Dying dropped them one rank, transforming into a goddess dropped them further, and having their vitality drained left most as Upper Gods.
The final candidate, he had been ready to reject outright. A sun goddess who refused ordinary faith and sought to rapidly increase her divine power through human sacrifice? This was more demon god than Main God.
“Human Sacrifice, Kuezana. Former rank: Intermediate Main God. Current rank: Upper God. Reason for demotion: Rapid power growth through countless human sacrifices caused a backlash when follower numbers declined. She was further demoted after being branded a barbaric demon god by developing human civilizations. She transformed into a goddess in the Spirit Realm and finally became an Upper God. Primary authority: Solar divine power. Special note: With a suitable offering, she can reduce even a Main God to ash. Final evaluation: Intermediate Main God. P.S. From now on, I will never accept human sacrifices again and will slowly spread faith while cultivating my power through training.”
Human sacrifice? What era does she think this is? This wasn’t the primitive age. He couldn’t understand how such a barbaric and ignorant Main God had appeared in this universe. Human sacrifice was a relic of the chaotic era before the distinction between demon gods and Main Gods had been established. Even demon gods these days preferred clean kills when absorbing vitality—there were simply too many eyes watching.
My headache is becoming chronic.
Even after advertising as the highest-ranking Main God, the gods he had unearthed were all like this. They had rebelled against the Divine Realm out of personal grudges and ignored its crisis. That alone made none of them worth choosing. Yet the other three were even worse.
A drunkard who abandoned her divine nation after being tricked into drinking, the schemer who caused that downfall and got dragged down with her, and a sun goddess specialized in human sacrifice. What a horrifying combination.
Their similar names suggested they had once belonged to the same divine realm. Their tastes were probably equally vile. The bigger problem was that they would never change.
Highest-ranking gods can be forcibly adjusted because their authorities aren’t fully settled yet. But Main Gods already possess fixed, complete divinity and authorities—forced adjustment is impossible.
They promised they wouldn’t do it again, but that was impossible. Once a god reached adulthood, old habits never died. He had been about to tear up the last resume when one sentence stopped him.
“With a suitable offering, she can reduce even a Main God to ash.”
Only a Creator God of One Circle or higher could reduce a Main God to ash. This meant she could do the same.
Throwing this away would be a waste. In the end, it means her solar power could reach the Creator God stage. I might even be able to use my Origin Sun and Moon up to that level.
Ultimately, he added even this barbaric goddess to the interview list, clutching his head with both hands and letting out a long sigh. On the surface, recruiting ten Main Gods was a great success. But looking deeper, they were all massive bombs.
Recounting them: three revolutionary Main Gods who had started uprisings for the Spirit Gods, two vixen Main Gods who had seduced and stolen power from highest-ranking gods.
If even one of them repeats their old habits in my realm, I’ll have to kill them. Then the Main God Realm will lodge a serious protest.
Main Gods and above received special treatment; any punishment involved extremely complicated procedures. Of course, being a Main God himself was advantageous, but having such subordinates would be nothing but a headache.
Even if they cause problems, unless it’s outright rebellion, I can’t handle it directly—I have to wait for the Main God Realm’s approval, and most cases end in acquittal. The Main God Realm’s perspective is usually that the problem occurred because the ruling Main God was incompetent and couldn’t control their subordinates.
This was also why the swindler Main God had been unable to report the female Main Gods who had allied against him to the Main God Realm and had been forced to endure an eternal stalemate.
The five above were already problematic enough, but there were also two rowdy Main Gods who had caused rebellions and chaos that nearly destroyed the Divine Realm, one drunkard Main God who had ruined her divine nation while drinking, one Main God who had gotten dragged down with her, and one Main God who had become addicted to the massive vitality gains from human sacrifice and met her downfall.
Any one of them alone has a track record flashy enough to destroy a divine realm. On top of that, some of them have bad blood with the female Main Gods already in my realm. They definitely won’t get along peacefully.
The biggest problem was that they possessed powerful authorities capable of solving most of the issues the Dimensional Lord currently faced. Emotionally, he couldn’t bring himself to give up on them.
Giving up means losing their authorities. Accepting them means watching my realm potentially fly away the moment I let my guard down.
If the Dimensional Lord had been born into the god race, he wouldn’t need to accept these Spirit Gods. But as a rare case of a Main God who had risen from the Middle World, he had no foundation or faction. That was why he was in this situation.
His reputation in the Divine Realm was on the verge of collapse, but ultimately the problem was himself.
“Who would have thought even a god’s origin would matter this much? It’s truly bitter and difficult.”
All that came from his mouth were sighs. All he could see were the applications and resumes of these Spirit Realm gods, each one a massive liability. He didn’t even need to look at the re-submitted applications from the highest-ranking gods who had adjusted their ranks—he already knew their pasts wouldn’t be pretty.
Just thinking about interviewing and contracting with each of them makes my teeth ache. But relationships with lower gods are ultimately about power. Solving problems requires understanding their causes, but in the end, the one who solves them must have the strength to do so.
If the superior possessed power that subordinates couldn’t even dream of challenging, there would be no problems. Furthermore, if he could combine their authorities and open the path to Creator God, he could accept this level of risk as the necessary price.
If things go wrong, I’ll just beat them first and talk later. If words could have fixed them, things wouldn’t have reached this point. It was the obvious course of action.
Now he finally had to conduct the interviews and form contracts. His body burned as if heading to a battlefield. No—something far worse than war was coming, so this level of excitement was only natural.
“Grind—! Let’s see who wins. If none of you listen to words, I won’t go easy on you.”
Though his mouth spoke of peaceful resolution, the Dimensional Lord was already resolved to demonstrate his power at any moment. He was irritated by the offsetting pain caused by resisting the Guerrilla Volcano’s vitality absorption authority.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, the Creator God’s jewel emitted a red and black light. Inside were the two vixen goddesses he had placed there. They were probably trying to escape by activating their divine power. Of course, it was futile. The name “Creator God” wasn’t given lightly.
“Looks like the messy vitality absorption is finally over. These two are suspected of being criminals, so I need to verify and take action immediately.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two goddesses were extracted from the Creator God’s jewel just as they were. Though momentarily disoriented, they immediately raised their divine power and assumed defensive postures. Flames rose like a blaze from the red-haired goddess, while black lightning crackled around the other.
At least they have powerful solar and lightning attributes. They’ll be useful as Main Gods.
They had been tense at first, but realizing there was only the Dimensional Lord present and no other presences nearby, they seemed slightly relieved.
Their divine power is roughly at the intermediate level. They must have converted the power they stole from the highest-ranking gods into their own innate divine power—that’s why they look so relaxed.
Yet wrinkles formed on his forehead. Their external appearances had barely changed. Goddesses with that level of power only looked like young girls. By human standards, they had slender waists and ample breasts and hips, but compared to Hera and the other goddesses in his realm, they were far too lacking.
How can they be called goddesses responsible for the birth and development of life when they look like this? Even the highest-ranking goddesses weren’t this underdeveloped.
“What’s wrong? Why are you goddesses so small? Or is this normal?”
“What are you talking about? Who’s small?”
“Who are you?”
The fact that they spoke so casually showed they couldn’t properly read the Dimensional Lord’s divine power. A highest-ranking Main God’s full power output should be detectable even by intermediate Main Gods. Their hasty promotions through stolen power had clearly left them with many flaws.
The Dimensional Lord thought that nothing about this was easy and lightly waved his hand, beginning the subjugation.