Chains of the Spirit Realm War
The sound of countless chains echoes across the Spirit Realm War. Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! The noise comes from the Creator God-level sealing chains wrapped so tightly around their arms and legs that they shake with every movement. Nearly ten overlapping seals make the restraints look brutally heavy at first glance. Five beings—a mix of men and women in ragged clothes—make no effort to hide their irritated expressions. They glare at the surrounding Creator Gods with pure contempt, their fighting spirit boiling over with killing intent. Though their divine power is thoroughly sealed, their arrogant faces show they regard mere Creator Gods as beneath notice. After all, they are the true powerhouses, Absolute Beings who possess titles.
The Creator God King’s normally expressionless face twitches as he watches them.
They are infinitely lowly and filthy creatures. Trusting in the titles and power they received from him, they ignored the order of the God Realm, built their own selfish worlds, and slaughtered countless gods and lives. We only managed to subdue them after paying a staggering price in the Creation Realm.
Yet their divinity was too high to simply kill or erase. The amount of vitality and divine power required would have been absurd, so they had been imprisoned in the Infinite Hell where their vitality and divine power could be forcibly harvested. Even while being drained without any replenishment, these powerful beings remained vividly alive. And still they showed no remorse, only arrogance.
Now, however, the situation had reached a point where these shameless villains had to be used.
The Origins of the major races had already been brutally defeated. Even the Creator God King had lost nearly twenty percent of his divine power when one of his arms was torn off.
No matter how many gods they threw at the enemy, they could not destroy the Defense Divine Realm. Its core was a preliminary Creator God who casually tore apart divine bodies. The only possible breach was the main gate—the sole weakness. Analysis showed that if they could seize that gate and the Creator God King could launch continuous strikes, the Defense Divine Realm would inevitably collapse.
To achieve that, they first had to get past the monstrous preliminary Creator God blocking the gate and the mercenary Lord Gods who had rendered even their clan’s Origins combat-incapable with a single blow. Yet the narrow passage restricted absorption abilities, allowing at most fewer than ten to fight at once.
The preliminary Creator God, accustomed to vicious combat, was no longer a match for the Creator God King. But if those mercenary Lord Gods interfered again, there was truly nothing to be done.
They had to prevent Cheongong from using his wide-area authority at all costs and kill or erase those mercenary gods. Unfortunately, almost no elite forces remained that could suppress the enemies about to be deployed.
The Highest Creator Gods would not survive a single strike. The Origins were unconscious, their minds violated by enemy authority. Their clans still wandered in disbelief, refusing to accept that their Origins had been defeated by traitors who had fled the clan.
Gathering forces capable of subduing those who had harmed an Origin had caused an uproar, but it was taking far too long. The Creator God King doubted a true Fighting God capable of handling them would appear in time.
In the end, he had no choice but to deploy the criminal gods under his direct control.
“You heinous criminals who ignored order, disturbed the God Realm, and committed massacres while claiming his title and power! I offer you a chance. Contribute to the God Realm with your strength and earn release from eternal imprisonment, divine power extraction, and vitality harvesting. If you participate in the war and prove useful, I will cease vitality and divine power absorption in the Infinite Hell and relocate you to a God Realm prison. Kill the enemies I designate and your criminal status will change to probation. Kill two or more and I will pardon your crimes and restore your original positions. Kill three or more and I will permit you your own God Realm. I swear this on my honor and position as Creator God King.”
Objections erupted immediately.
“Creator God King! You cannot possibly offer them such absurd treatment! Do you not remember the crimes they have committed?”
“Simply giving criminals the chance to serve the God Realm should be enough to make them grateful.”
“……”
The surrounding Highest Creator Gods began to protest furiously. Yet at this moment they had to mobilize every possible asset to win. Any damaged relationships with those whose power fell short could be mended later with additional concessions.
The Absolute Beings who bore titles also looked slightly surprised before returning to indifferent expressions and falling silent.
The highest authority of the honorable God Race is personally negotiating with criminals. They have been deceived by countless lies to reach this point. They will not trust any promise from the God Race. Yet I know how to earn that trust. This should never happen… but I will bear it.
Even if this costs me my position, I must buy time for the God Race. The threat of the Substitute Race cannot be overcome by our current level. We learned that harsh truth fighting the gods of the 499th Master Universe.
“I will also write his Karma Contract.”
“Creator God King—!”
“Cough—! You cannot be serious! The Creator will never forgive this! For you to borrow his authority—!”
“This must not be! Please regain your senses—!”
“!!!”
Whiiiiing—!
Ignoring the useless Creator Gods who could only scream in opposition, the Creator God King connected to the Cyber Realm to obtain the forbidden authority. The Cyber Realm had already been opened to every Master Universe; any being above Lord God rank could access it. Using the enemy’s authority was normally forbidden, but in the face of racial extinction such taboos meant nothing.
The Creator God King hereby swears on his honor and position: All terms spoken shall be upheld without exception.
Violation shall summon the Creator’s judgment upon the God Race.
Penalty for breach: Possible divinity degradation or total racial annihilation.
A golden parchment materialized in the air. He inscribed the contents he had just declared and signed it.
‘If I break this, his judgment will fall on me as well. At minimum my divinity will fall. In the worst case, the entire God Race could be wiped out.’
The higher one’s position, the harsher the punishment. Even the Creator would immediately discipline any who desecrated this contract.
‘It is hard to believe, yet countless cases of judgment have been recorded. Still, as long as one complies there is no problem. No contract offers greater trust than this.’
He tossed the Karma Contract—bound by absolute restrictions—through the air and let them verify the completed document. As they read the contents and signature, a fierce light gradually kindled in their eyes.
The Creator God King looked at the titled Absolute Beings and spoke.
Ding—!
TARGET: The Lord God Who Reigns Above the Heavens
A mercenary Lord God with blue hair. Primary threat. Uses wide-area authority that disrupts divine power and realms. Responsible for decisive role in recent defeat. Priority elimination target.
Reward: Immediate appointment as God Realm Lord God upon kill or annihilation.
“This hateful mercenary Lord God played the decisive role in our recent defeat. He infringes even on my authority and forces realm regression. Because he manifests it across a wide area, we must eliminate him first at all costs.”
The authority exercised by one who had transcended talent and growth limits was admirable, but right now he was the greatest enemy.
“Focus on the mercenary Lord God who wields Cheongong’s wide-area authority that most severely hinders divine power and authority! His name is ‘The Lord God Who Reigns Above the Heavens.’ He is an unforgivable criminal who dared attack the Origin of our bloodline. Kill or erase him, and I will immediately appoint you as a Lord God of the God Realm.”
Having finished signing, the titled Absolute Beings spoke in voices trembling with excitement. The moment of legitimate liberation and return to their former positions had finally arrived. More importantly, the God Realm that had only ever rejected them for receiving his titles had finally acknowledged their power.
“As the Creator God King commands.”
“We shall eliminate the enemy while upholding the contract in his name.”
The Dimensional Lord watched the entire scene through Eternal Memory, a machine god form whose stealth capabilities had been greatly enhanced, and frowned.
Magic Type: Space Magic, Surveillance System, Always Active
Effect: Deploys multiple surveillance orbs created by overlapping transparency and stealth magic around the user to assist with vision and boundary detection. Tool for reviewing battle footage after combat to analyze situations and train with maximum efficiency. Evolved form of the surveillance camera devices used in the Otherworld.
First words after initial manifestation: “Damn, there’s really no room for a counterattack. Those vicious bastards.”
Since the war had broken out right next door and he had barely avoided forced participation through Karma, he had secretly infiltrated both the main temple of the Defense Divine Realm’s Lord Gods and the enemy camp with the device.
‘It uses almost no divine power and operates purely on machinery, so even Creator Gods would find it nearly impossible to detect. Without divine power it is judged as mere material, not a divine artifact.’
Having scattered them across every battlefield, he had seen every single combat scene and meeting. He sat comfortably watching the war footage sent by the stealth detection artifacts in vivid high definition with perfect audio, yet the situation grew worse by the minute.
‘Five of the Absolute Beings who received his title have now signed the Creator God King’s Karma Contract.’
No one understood how terrifying they were better than the Magic God of Dimensions, who himself possessed a similar title.
‘I wonder if the mercenary Lord Gods can even handle them.’
Having signed the Karma Contract, they would attack with more ferocity than anyone. In one sense it was an assault on his own domain, yet they would show not the slightest hesitation.
‘Even if the contract demands hostility toward him, they will only uphold its contents, and that itself is praise for him.’
Some asked whether those who had received the greatest benefits from him were naturally his absolute supporters, but that was complete nonsense.
‘What he grants are individually specialized authorities. It is impossible to build a faction or race with them. Even I cannot teach dimensional authority or magic to others and produce anyone stronger than myself. The result doesn’t even reach ten percent of my power.’
Unless it was the person himself, even the master who had taught the Magic God of Dimensions had barely surpassed the eighth circle. The difficulty of learning unique authorities was that extreme.
Therefore only the individual himself could stand overwhelmingly strong; any faction had to be built separately.
‘When a lone powerhouse builds a faction, the surrounding dominant powers naturally become wary and apply pressure. Even if they bow their heads and join, they cannot endure the internal strife of the group. Most end up living like beasts, and the unlucky ones are annihilated. Of course if he helped there would be no problem, but he never helps.’
Still, they always carried gratitude in their hearts and were ready to lay down their lives for him at any time. The problem was what he always said.
That was why anyone who struggled alone, went berserk, and fully opened their title would face harsh judgment before every titled Absolute Being. The conditions for surviving even after using the title completely were ‘total victory’ and ‘one-hit kill.’ Easy words to say.
‘How cornered must one be to use it despite knowing the risk of his judgment? No matter how explosively their power increases, it is absolutely impossible.’
For reference, the Dimensional Lord himself had been forcibly summoned roughly three times over the past century and witnessed it. None had survived. All had met miserable ends. So who would support such a harsh ruler? They simply lived in constant fear of ever being driven into such a situation, endlessly honing themselves and treading with the utmost caution.
Therefore the inner hearts of most titled Absolute Beings were filled entirely with thoughts of him.
‘Gratitude for receiving such power, hatred for his neglect of the harsh world, and even greater hatred for the cruel judgment that comes with submission. Their feelings are truly complicated.’
As long as the title did not disappear, he remained the greatest control mechanism and object of fear for every Absolute Being. This was precisely why every God Realm and Demon Realm that knew the true circumstances employed titled Absolute Beings without hesitation.
‘The power of those who will now fight with everything they have is at minimum above Highest Lord God. If all five attack at once, no Lord God can endure. Moreover, having been marked by the Creator God King, a clean death is no longer possible.’
With divinity more than two circles higher, bad luck could result in complete erasure—divine spirit and all. The Creator God King, Origin of the God Race, could erase any god if he was willing to expend the massive vitality required.
The Dimensional Lord solemnly prayed for the repose of the Lord God Who Reigns Above the Heavens.
‘On the battlefield, the most noticeable one dies first. You should have known that. In a situation where your forces were weaker than the enemy’s, you still showed mercy and rampaged wildly. Serves you right. As a mere mercenary Lord God, you should have focused on your own power instead of meddling in other God Realms. Still, since we are on the same side, I pray you at least die cleanly and without suffering.’
The Magic God of Dimensions had not forgotten how that Lord God had once tried to interfere in his own realm.