The Weight of Infinite Talent
The Dimensional Lord nodded as he received the analysis results of the authority his own magic had automatically executed. ‘The distinction between high-level authorities is divided by only one thing. Is it infinite? Or finite?’
The distinction between infinite and finite was a perfect criterion that ignored all types and destructive power. The Dimensional Lord recalled the nightmare of Granzoa’s Infinite Restoration, which had shattered the arrogance that had soared as if it would pierce the heavens after he finally obtained the divinity of dimensions that transcended the distinction between darkness and light in the past.
‘Granzoa’s Infinite Restoration had clashed with the divine power that infinitely maintained Dimension Heavenly Net, which constructs the world and lowers the opponent’s divinity, and the more I used it, the more my divine power fell, and I truly tasted despair. How cornered must I have been to resolve to be erased and attempt to completely isolate myself from this world by fully releasing my still-immature dimensional divine power?’
It was fortunate that Granzoa had withdrawn at the last moment; otherwise, that would have been the end of his fate. ‘It was an absurd duel where my power was superior, but I was overwhelmed in endurance.’
After that, the Dimensional Lord had fallen into emotional despair and signed the Karma contract without properly checking it, leading to his current suffering. ‘The key to authority is permanence! Is it truly infinite? Or is it limited and finite? That is the criterion by which it is distinguished, and it becomes the true authority of a Main God. Like Granzoa’s Infinite Restoration, the might of that authority overwhelms all others. It is confirmed as a transcendent authority that even looks toward the Creator God. But is it an ability of infinite striking power rather than recovery? No, it is possible only as long as the body supports it. However, it might be possible. If there is a suitable source of divine power, that trained body could withstand continuous impact and consumption. But with such a misaligned body, that level should be impossible—yet somehow she reached it.’
The authority of magic, fully activated by a body that had reached the Creator God after breaking its limits, confirmed everything about the female Main God. It naturally also confirmed the cause of her strangely misaligned face, which should not exist for a Spiritual Being who was a god. Although she seemed to have tried to hide it as much as possible, her legs were also misaligned cripples. Walking was not a problem, but running was impossible. It seemed that her abnormally trained upper body was a reaction to her inconvenient lower body, but if that had allowed her to obtain an authority worthy of being called ‘infinite,’ then that much was acceptable. Only the anger boiling inside could not be helped.
‘Is this innate talent? It is truly absurdly great. It is not at the level of a normal divine race. She must be a half-blooded direct descendant born only with the divine power of her mate because Hera deceived Zeus out of resentment toward him, yet absurdly, that became a blessing and increased the purity of her body and divine power. She has trained herself from birth to survive on her own. It is absurd that she reached the origin of the Heavenly Palace divine race with talent alone.’
Zeus, who had felt fear toward a direct descendant who possessed absurd divine power and a body for a newborn baby, had not been able to kill her in front of his mate and instead damaged the essence of her body and divine power with all his might. Without giving Hera any chance to intervene, he had immediately abandoned her in the Middle World, which lacked the protection of the Divine Realm. He must have felt relieved because a god could only use one-tenth of their power in the Middle World and their authorities were also restricted. Yet she had trained herself to the point of creating a divine artifact with an authority capable of suppressing even a Main God. And all of that with effort that was not even risking her life, but merely working hard. The time required was only about fifty years.
‘While others take over a hundred years of training, crossing countless life-and-death crises, to become a Main God, she reached the Main God level in half the time with only one-tenth of the talent.’
Unknowingly, jealousy and killing intent rose in the Dimensional Lord’s heart. It was jealousy toward superior talent that he did not possess. And it was the alarm that if she grew smoothly under him as a subordinate Main God, she could surpass him.
‘Effort can never bridge the gap in talent. Hoping that a talented person will be lazy is an extremely foolish thought, and such cases are almost nonexistent.’
In the end, when effort is similar, the talented one stands at the top. And those without or with little talent end up working under them, receiving orders. Even if one starts at the top, they cannot catch up to superior talent and fall behind, only lamenting. This is the conclusion of most lives.
‘Should I kill her now? If we consider her drawing her divine artifact and threatening during the interview as a slight disturbance, it would be possible.’
The desire to eliminate a competitor who could surpass him in the Divine Realm surged within the Dimensional Lord. ‘I can fully understand why Zeus did such a thing. Even I, a highest-ranking Main God, feel this level of crisis just by seeing the divinity of an Upper God—how terrified must Zeus, merely an Intermediate Main God, have been when such an outstanding direct descendant was born?’
Moreover, since he himself had rebelled, killed his father, and become the Chief God of the God Realm, it would have been even more so. If he had not been worried about opposition from Hera, who was stronger than himself, he would have erased her immediately. ‘So he twisted her essence with all the authorities he could use.’
Yet she was an existence that had reached this far even after that. It was truly a terrifying talent and authority; according to his judgment, her growth limit was at least the Creator God or higher. She was not a normal direct descendant, but an absurdly powerful divine race born as a mutant to survive the mutual hatred of parents with the highest level of talent.
‘If she had grown normally, she would have possessed a divinity so high that even I, a former Main God, could not have looked up to her.’
Yet now she stood before him as an Upper God. ‘I can deal with her easily now. I can avoid having to bow my head to my own subordinate god in the near future.’
He could not allow himself to suffer such a fate again after finally rising to this position. Above all, it would be an unbearable situation to directly confront his own incompetence. ‘I must kill her.’
His heart was filled with killing intent. ‘The less humiliation, the better. There is no need to invite it.’
Unaware of the Dimensional Lord’s thoughts, the female Main God displayed an authority that even he, who had reached the 11th Circle, found wondrous.
“Infinite Alchemy—! Smelting—!”
Kwaaaaaang—!
Her left hand, not holding the hammer, grasped at empty air. The metals that had just turned to dust and shattered were sucked in without leaving a trace and gathered into her palm. Then the muscles in her hand pulsed and compressed them with the strength of her grip.
Kwajijijik—!
The sound of metal crumpling echoed. She was compressing Demon Adamantium, which exceeded the physical strength of an Intermediate Main God or higher, using only the strength of her grip.
‘How is that possible with only physical strength, without any help from authority?’
An ordinary Main God might barely manage it by amplifying their body with an aura, yet she was doing it with only the divine power of an Upper God. ‘If she becomes an Intermediate Main God, even the body of a highest-ranking Main God would not be able to withstand her.’
The thought of finding more faults to kill her hardened. However, her expression twisted as if it was not going well. ‘It is not a metal that can be handled freely with physical force alone.’
Even the Dimensional Lord had only obtained it through the collision of planets, so it was naturally impossible. A slight sense of relief arose and his killing intent began to subside when he saw the hand holding the hammer loosen.
Thud—!
The Main God Palace shook for an instant from the weight of the giant hammer that fell to the office floor. ‘Just how heavy is that hammer for such an absurd thing to happen? Well, if one can perform the feat of crushing metal mixed with the Spiritual Body of a highest-ranking Demon King with physical force alone, then it must be that heavy.’
Just as he was feeling a certain admiration for her swinging such a hammer, his eyes widened at the next sight.
Kwak—! Kwak—!
Her two hands met in front of her chest, clasping and applying pressure. Neither her mountain-like breasts, which seemed more than twice the size of an ordinary woman’s, nor her upper body were a problem. The muscles in her arms compressed to the point of resembling metal as she returned the Demon Adamantium to its original lump form.
Ujijijijik! Ujijijijik!
A bizarre sound echoed as the metal particles meshed together, sending a chill down his spine. The question arose whether, if he were caught in that arm right now and subjected to that, he would be able to escape or endure. ‘The conclusion is that it is possible now, but impossible once she becomes an Intermediate Main God or higher.’
The moment she grabbed him, no authority or magic he possessed could withstand it. The decision was completely made. ‘I will kill her now. As long as I am from the Middle World, I cannot fully trust the divine race. I do not know what will happen in the future, so I cannot leave such a dangerous existence alive. I have no need for a god superior to me in my Divine Realm.’
He could make up an excuse for killing her. The Main God Realm would not complain if a highest-ranking Main God killed an Upper Spirit God for rudeness and sent her to the Spirit Realm. ‘Once she becomes a complete Spirit God, that wondrous body will be finished. Only her divine spirit will remain, waiting for a summoning that no one will seek. Then this sense of crisis and ugly jealousy will disappear as well.’
An Upper God could not block even a single strike from a highest-ranking Main God. ‘The analysis of the authority is mostly complete, so it will be enough to teach it to suitable subordinate gods. It will be difficult, but someday she will reach it.’
Just as he decided on this course of action, the process of Infinite Alchemy also came to an end.
Pashushushuk—!
Smoke rose from within her grip, and a brilliant red light between her fingers brightly illuminated the office. ‘The fist-sized Demon Adamantium has been reconstituted into the size of a walnut.’
His eyes were drawn to the material emitting a gem-like light. Surprisingly, he felt pure power that was neither magic power nor divine power. Moreover, its hardness had increased beyond that of an Upper Main God’s body. She had truly upgraded Demon Adamantium using only physical force.
‘That is why I must kill her—! This is not a level of talent that can be tolerated. She accomplished something even I, who received his help, could not do. I will not tolerate her very existence.’
Udududuk—! Ting—! Ting—!
As he tightly clenched his fist, his joints tensed and the metallic sound of the magic Machine God rang out. ‘The strength of my body, mixed with the biological Machine God, far surpasses the divine race. A single strike would be enough to tear even that body to shreds since she is only an Upper God.’
The difference in divine power ignored hardness. “Haaah. What a cute child. She is truly lovely. What possibilities will you show?”
The ugly-faced female Main God wore an expression of utmost joy as she looked at the supreme gem-like metal she had newly created through Infinite Alchemy. The Dimensional Lord attempted to move his body while embedding cold killing intent into it. ‘After all, there was no mercy to be shown to a Main God who had turned away from the end of the Divine Realm.’
Yet at that moment, a very small sigh and muttering reached his ears. It was a voice murmuring so softly that even his Creator God-level body could barely hear it.
“Whew. So in the end, that Main God is no different from the other hypocrites? As expected, he would never acknowledge the talent of a mere Spirit God, so he was only hoping for a tool. That is why I told him to give a simple answer, yet he foolishly tried to show his talent and die on his own.”
Ududuk—!
His body stiffened. The thought that this was absurd continued endlessly. ‘What am I doing? I am feeling jealous and afraid of someone with talent and trying to kill them. Calling a Spirit God a tool? I came personally to recruit outstanding gods for the Divine Realm and even went through this much trouble. If it were a tool, I could create as many as I wanted by stamping out Machine Gods at any time, but I need capable gods who surpass that. What am I doing right now? Am I no different from the lazy and depraved Main Gods I saw while working as a mercenary god? Am I saying I have become like them, who doubted their subordinate gods, always tested them, set them against each other, and threw the Divine Realm into chaos? Since when did I become like that?’
Separate from that self-reproach and reflection, a sweet temptation arose. ‘Now that I have become a highest-ranking Main God, is this not enough? I also need stability and have the right to enjoy peace and pleasure. As the Main God of an independent Divine Realm on a Main God Star, I can guarantee as much as I want and monopolize divine power and vitality. I can become stronger much faster than struggling like this. Moreover, an existence that could threaten my throne would be poison.’
It was the all-too-natural desire for peace and power that even gods could not escape. As the Chief God of the God Realm, monopolizing divine power was a shortcut to becoming stronger at an incomparable speed by absorbing the efforts of those around him rather than his own. But the next thought made him laugh. ‘With divine power that is not one’s own Innate Divine Power, one can never become a Creator Candidate or higher.’
He only acknowledged true divine power created through effort. Once he reached that thought, he truly lamented for a moment that he had gone mad. Feeling jealous of another’s talent and fearing them. ‘Worrying about the future and maintaining power as the Chief God of the God Realm? When I am busy enough just surviving in this brutal universe, what kind of luxury is this?’
The Dimensional Lord had forgotten who held his leash. He had forgotten the greatest disaster brought about by a careless remark. ‘If I die, I will immediately suffer the most miserable fate in the entire universe for eternity. And it will be by his hand. Compared to that, the threat of a divine race with that level of talent is utterly laughable.’
His original purpose returned clearly to his mind. ‘No matter how much I struggle to protect my power, I will be finished if I make one mistake. I must live longer than the power of being Chief God of the God Realm—! Since I became a god and avoided natural death, I only need to avoid being killed. The only solution is to become stronger. Only then can I at least run away if something goes wrong. So what makes me care about other things now? Come to think of it, since becoming Chief God of the God Realm, I have been working frantically without any time to train. Afraid that someone stronger than me will take away the power of the Divine Realm? If you want it, take all this burden. However, if it has a negative effect on Karma and causes an abnormality in my life or divine power, I will never let it go.’
Once his desire for the Divine Realm completely disappeared due to fear of him, his mind became clear and only thoughts of how to become stronger surfaced. ‘I need the metals created by the female Main God of Alchemy and the new metals expected in the future.’
She had just created a metal that would dramatically improve the strength of his biological armor Machine God. If he actively supported her, she would truly create metals that even a highest-ranking Main God could wear. ‘With that outstanding talent, it is more than possible. Then I can at least obtain defensive power that can laugh off surprise attacks or ordinary attacks.’
The risk of assassination would almost disappear. Once he clearly understood the manufacturing process and could replicate it with magic to begin selling, he would be able to firmly establish his position in the Main God Realm without needing to be Chief God of the God Realm. ‘Who would ignore a Main God who creates armor that can even block the attacks of a highest-ranking Main God?’
In the worst case, if things went well, he might even be able to guarantee complete safety while only doing research. Abandoning the greed for the Divine Realm that had arisen at some point and changing his thinking, he concluded that he absolutely had to obtain the female Main God. ‘She was a complete treasure mountain. I cannot hand her over to anyone.’
The past wrongs were not even worth considering when he thought of the benefits he had gained now and the benefits he would gain in the future. The Dimensional Lord began to ponder how to form a permanent contract with the female Main God, who was looking at the gem of metal with utmost joy, unaware of the crisis she had just overcome.