The Preliminary Creator's Frontline Fury

In the Spirit Realm War, Hwi praised the situation with his mouth, but inwardly he was so furious that his teeth ground together of their own accord. Now that I see it, the frontline Defense Divine Realm was designed from the very beginning to thoroughly induce a decisive battle between the Main God and a small elite force.

The Defense Divine Realm minimized damage to its own defenders while concentrating the enemy's full strength on the Main God guarding the vulnerable outer main gate. It emphasized nothing but efficiency in annihilating the foe. True, it strengthened the barrier's defensive power and allowed the strongest Main God to defeat the concentrated enemies, so the efficiency was excellent. But this arrangement meant the Main God had to shoulder the majority of the burden alone. Of course, only a portion of the front opened at a time, so at most three enemies could come through at once. Yet it still required enduring continuous, overwhelming battles. For the Main God forced to bear that weight, it naturally meant preparing for possible annihilation, so refusal was only logical.

However, he had learned that the self-awareness of the Defense Divine Realm operated on an entirely different level of compulsion and autonomy compared to the operational gods inside it. The Divine Realm's self observed the enemy's forces and moved this time to oppress me in return. It says it will file a disciplinary recommendation with the Creation Realm for violating the duty of sincerity and insufficient capability.

Even the emergency compulsory obedience order issued by a Creator Candidate to a Creator-level Divine Realm had been ignored. That was how he had ended up completely unable to resist. He had been forcibly dispatched, yet he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠delivered a magnificent speech to raise morale. Now that it had come to this, he truly felt like he could kill someone.

A Main God being coerced into a decisive battle by the Divine Realm's own self—how absurd. So you're saying that because you're a Creator-level Divine Realm, you rank higher than me, a mere Creator Candidate? Just wait. I will definitely become a Creator God and repay this humiliation in full.

By now a terrifying killing intent surged from Hwi's face. There were only enemies ahead and allies safely behind the barrier, so there was no longer any need for pretense.

Since it's come to this, I have no choice but to slaughter as many enemies as possible, replenish our vitality to the maximum, and reinforce the main gate.

The surrounding High Lords wore faces full of resolve, but their inner thoughts were much the same. The Main Gods of the independent divine realms in particular shared the same gloomy sentiment.

As expected, this was the worst possible battlefield. What kind of nonsense is this? Even during my days as a Main God-level mercenary god, it was never this bad.

My authority warned me so strongly not to come, yet I was dragged here by force and now I'm stuck as a frontline stronghold defender. Am I truly a High Lord?

The rewards in this Master Universe are incomparably better than outside, but it's always like this! It's always this kind of battlefield. I wish I could experience an easy war like the ones outside just once.

The problem is my senses tell me this isn't the end. What about you all?

You feel it too? The crisis forecast numbers have been skyrocketing for a while now. It's breaking all previous records.

Will we even survive this? Dying would be such a loss. The divine realm is already running in the red because those direct-lineage bastards are making a mess of the certification battles. If I die too, we might go bankrupt. At least this compensation let me catch my breath and my wife and concubines were happy, but now with this situation, I really feel like dying.

Let's survive somehow. We've already received the proper participation fee, so we have to deliver results.

If it weren't for that, I'd really want to run away. Grind! There are so many opponents who aren't even worth fighting, it's truly annoying.

Originally they had planned to comfortably operate only the barrier from inside the Defense Divine Realm, but the realm itself had analyzed the enemy's forces and reached a conclusion. Even weak attacks striking the vulnerable main gate directly and continuously over a long period would cause damage. The proper tactic would have been to surround and intercept enemies entering from within, but the prediction was that once the main gate was destroyed, the cracks in the absolute defensive wall would expand rapidly. Therefore, they had been forced into interception and defense outside the gate.

Upon hearing those words, even veterans like themselves and the other High Lords turned deathly pale.

The number of enemies gathered here already exceeds a hundred times our own forces.

Their quality is increasing exponentially, and even the Creator General has arrived.

Yet they were being forced to stand in front of the main gate instead of behind the protective barrier, essentially ordered to defend to the death. Suggestions to slightly weaken defenses elsewhere to compensate were flatly rejected.

It is the basic directive that the Main God shall not be forgiven for defending from within the safe castle walls.

Thus, they had all been driven out as if expelled to guard the main gate from the outside. The will of the Main God of the Divine Realm was nearly absolute, but when it came to the realm's own survival or fundamental objectives, the realm's autonomy took precedence.

As a Creator Candidate, Hwi cannot completely control the autonomous will of a Creator-level Divine Realm with his divinity alone.

The Divine Realm prioritizes its purpose above all else. Unless one demonstrates power surpassing the realm's own rank, refusal in these basic policies is possible.

That was how a small number of troops had ended up fighting this main gate defense battle.

Of course, the Divine Realm focused all its support here, so it was manageable, but the taste was utterly vile. To increase the safety of the Defense Divine Realm, it was mercilessly exploiting the Main God and elite gods. That was why the faces of Hwi—the Preliminary Creator God suddenly chased from the safe Main God temple to the frontlines—and the High Lords were so miserably twisted.

Now the only path available to the enemy was a transparent cylindrical passage roughly ten meters wide visible ahead.

In other regions, the authority of the Yugyeok Volcano causes vitality to be absorbed indiscriminately into the Divine Realm.

By sending the Main God to the foremost main gate and erecting double barriers from both outside and inside, the strengthening effect achieved was absolute.

As long as they reinforced the defense barrier at the main gate like this, it would be absolutely impossible for the enemy to charge from any other location.

The enemies also have this wide-open passage here, so they will undoubtedly rush this way with their full force.

Their mission was to repel them and prevent continuous strikes against the Divine Realm's main gate. In addition, they had to kill the enemies and return their vitality to the Divine Realm. Only then would the main gate be reinforced, forming a complete defensive barrier for a set period so they could breathe easy.

It was a structure that forced an unavoidable decisive battle.

The more I think about it, the more it makes my blood boil.

In the outer universes, even ordinary Main Gods—to say nothing of High Lords—could idle about without shedding a single drop of blood. Yet here in the Master Universe, they were constantly turned into suicide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠squads on the frontlines. At least the enemies did not fully understand the characteristics of the defense barrier, so they could buy some time. They could not even imagine that a Defense Divine Realm would drive its own Main Gods and High Lords into danger merely to strengthen its defensive power. Even natives of this Master Universe had only just learned that the Defense Divine Realm possessed such a function.

Those who pay no attention to strengthening their divine power and focus solely on seizing authority could never imagine it.

However, the self of this Creator-level Defense Divine Realm—higher than the current Main God—exercised rude autonomy beyond a Creator Candidate's control, pouring fuel on the flames.

“......”

Grit—! Crack—! Whoooosh—! Whiiiir—!

His teeth ground together involuntarily, his body convulsed, and the circles of divine power and wings of light opened to full capacity. The realm was practically summoning the enemy here. Hwi swore that if he ever met the designer of this Defense Divine Realm, he would never let them off easy, and simply glared at the enemy camp.

Finally, the enemy began to move.

After receiving such an absurd provocation, if they held back it would deal a massive blow to morale, so they have no choice either.

But the vanguard is the Creator General.

Moreover, dozens of high-ranking Creator Gods with a far more menacing aura than the shabby ones he had seen before were joining the assault. Behind them stretched the divine forms of countless Creator Gods. These beings, clearly supreme rulers, tore through space and charged with the momentum of those ready to fight to the death.

Hwi, the Creator Candidate, let out a sigh as he watched the spectacle. Why are the highest authorities of the outer Master Universe charging forward like mere foot soldiers? Are you angry about this Master Universe's ridiculous situation too? Still, it's better than last time. War should be like this. No need for words. Only the strong survive.

There was only one way for a God of Battle to fight.

To an enemy with fighting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spirit, return an even greater killing intent.

Hwi had felt fear many times at the miserable lives the Gods of Battle had to endure in this Master Universe, but only by overcoming them all could one rise to the position of Main God. Now, for the revival of the Almighty God Tribe that had been defeated and miserably ruined, Hwi—who had staked everything—evaluated their fighting spirit with chilling disdain and roared.

The grumbling about how the Defense Divine Realm had driven them into a death trap vanished without a trace. Hwi and the High Lords, now expressionless, accepted every last bit of the supplied divine power and vitality. They greeted the enemy with perfect composure. To them, this was simply another day of battle.

For Hwi, who sought the revival of his fallen clan from the pinnacle of status, every mission had to produce the best possible results. This was a battle he willingly led from the front.

Even though I was pushed forward against my will, everything in this battlefield is my responsibility and my achievement.

Even karma would assign every action on this battlefield to him. And it applied only one standard.

How much did you reduce allied casualties while achieving victory?

As long as the battlefield—the planet and the entire regional universe—was not destroyed, any means were permitted. All rewards for victory would be granted fully to him. That was why he had come despite grumbling about being driven out by the Divine Realm's self.

Above all, if the defensive barrier is breached, it's truly over no matter how you look at it.

The enemy's numbers were overwhelmingly greater, and even their weakest members possessed high divinity. At minimum, only those above Intermediate Main God level—who can truly be called Gods of Battle—can handle their Creator Gods.

Moreover, even if the enemy Creator General only had a mere trillion in divine power, the only one who could face him was Hwi himself. And unless the opponent had a Creator General, nothing could stop him. In the end, they had few troops to defend with and many enemies to stop.

The main gate cannot endure continuous attacks, so it will allow intrusion, and defense from inside will certainly show weaknesses. An interception battle is essential.

If Hwi blocked only the Creator General, they could minimize casualties and defeat the enemy. That was what I intended from the start anyway. No matter how powerful, the High Lords of independent divine realms would struggle against a Creator General. If they were annihilated as a group, vitality would run short and the battle would tilt in an instant. Seeing it in person, even I wonder if I can handle it. But I will not lose.

Crack-crack-crack—!

Hwi opened all eleven circles of divine power at full strength. The circles that began at his head wrapped around his fists and the tips of his feet, shining brilliantly. Then a translucent twelfth circle of divine power spread across his entire body.

It forcibly elevates the body from Main God to beyond Creator God level.

Ooooooo—!

A thirteenth circle appeared above his head. From 11-Circle to 13-Circle, he had temporarily elevated his body with limitations. Only after desperately following his training and barely completing this could he say it. The glory of the Almighty God Tribe would begin once more.

Victory on the battlefield would also become the foundation for his clan's revival, so he could stand on the frontlines as much as necessary.

"Almighty God Tribe's transcendent authority—Almighty Omphale! This authority raises me by two circles within the limits my body permits! Now our divinities are equal. Creator General or whatever, I will not let any enemy threatening my Divine Realm live. You lot, handle the small fry."

“Orders received.”

“We will handle it.”