The Frailty Behind the Title
The war in the Spirit Realm was no different. Once again, it was the Creator General who moved to strike first.
I am clearly stronger than them. In terms of divine rank, authorities, and raw power, the gap was so vast it defied comparison. To be pushed back by mere Main Gods who possessed nothing but physical superiority was utterly intolerable.
Above all, I cannot forgive them for daring to ignore me like this. For the Creator General of the 500th Master Universe to suffer such humiliation was an affront to the honor of the entire divine race.
“I shall grant you erasure, not mere annihilation.”
As a 13-Circle being, the Creator General could erase even 11-Circle entities. Not only will I destroy their bodies, I will erase them completely—leaving behind neither divine spirit nor the slightest chance of rebirth.
He bared his teeth and charged, only to find his path blocked by the titled Creator Gods.
Believing even they had come to obstruct him, he opened his mouth to roar in fury—only for the next words to seal his lips.
“The Demon Race’s ‘Divine Slayer’ authority has been secretly activated. Unless you nullify it with your ‘Sanctuary,’ you will suffer consecutive strikes amplified by four times or more.”
“Furthermore…”
A portion of their wings of light detached and flew toward the center. A blinding flash erupted alongside a deafening explosion.
Swish—! Hiss—! Cracklecracklecrackle!
The very space itself withered away before restoring itself. The sight sent chills racing across his skin. The intensity of a titled Creator God’s wings of light was nearly equal to the Creator General’s own body. Yet those wings were vanishing like dust amid the violent reaction.
A calm voice flowed out, as if the outcome had been anticipated.
“As expected, it is the hidden wide-area authority of ‘Chaos.’ Though her divine rank is low, you should regard her as a Demon Emperor-class entity from the Demon Race. If a critical blow lands on a vital point, even a high-ranked divine body will perish. This is an authority specialized in the complete erasure of high-ranking divine beings.”
“Khhhk—! Damn it!”
An involuntary groan escaped him. Had he charged in as planned, he would have fallen for the trap again. While he wouldn’t have died, the damage would have been catastrophic, forcing a retreat.
Then a mechanical voice emerged—one that seemed to have suppressed all emotions except the will to fight. Only a handful of supremely seasoned battle gods could train their consciousness to focus every emotion and bodily function solely on combat efficiency. This was the first time he had witnessed it.
No matter how much of an origin being one was, such a state wasn’t an authority but closer to self-hypnosis, something that could not be obtained through normal means. Only those battle gods who had survived endless conflict could achieve it—by discarding all thoughts except those necessary for raising combat power and honing their instincts.
With the hypnosis complete, every trace of emotion vanished from their eyes, replaced by pure fighting spirit. And the warnings continued without pause.
“Do not judge the enemy solely by their revealed divine rank. Trust your own senses. For the highest-ranked battle gods, instinct is far more accurate. No authority can ever disregard accumulated combat experience. These are true battle gods who have faced superior beings and supreme battlefields countless times.”
“Your abilities as Creator General are overwhelmingly superior to theirs, but your physical prowess and close-quarters combat skills are weak due to lack of training and experience. Never engage in melee. Attack the entire space using wide-area abilities backed by your superior divine rank. Do not allow them to approach. Force them into defensive wide-area deployment and continuously drain their innate divine power and demonic energy.”
“His secret technique stands above transcendent secret arts, but he himself is not invincible. Their bodies appear to be in the first stage of the ‘Incomprehensible Eightfold Temporal Regulation’—‘Heavenly Timing, Infinite Void.’ However, since they still take damage from higher-ranked divine attacks, it seems their training is incomplete and they have not yet reached true immortality. When their divine power, used to block attacks from those of higher rank, runs low, even ordinary strikes will land. Prolong the battle and induce total exhaustion of their innate divine power.”
“We cannot defeat those two who have inherited his secret arts. Should you fall, we will retreat immediately. We who bear titles can never surpass those who possess his secret arts. You must not make any mistakes.”
“In exchange, we will definitely handle those battle gods. For the victory of the divine race, we ask that you follow our guidance.”
“…Understood. We shall do so.”
Pure fighting spirit surged from both the Creator General and the titled Creator Gods, forming a wall that swept toward their enemies.
The Sage of Omniscience clicked her tongue and withdrew the hidden wide-area authority that mixed chaos and divine slaying. Since the 13-Circle Creator General had noticed and prepared his defenses, continuing would only waste computational power and demonic energy.
I was going to provoke him into charging in defenseless again and finish him off, but those titled Creator Gods completely ruined it.
Now the only option is to focus and aim for a fatal strike.
Moreover, after being beaten several times by Hwi of Omnipotence, the fact that the highest-ranked Creator General had swallowed his pride, accepted his subordinates’ advice, and was preparing wide-area abilities suggested this battle would be difficult. All of it was the fault of that employer who had revealed every last card in his hand yet still failed to end the fight.
So she snapped at Hwi of Omnipotence.
“You were taking it so easy and this is the result? You basically handed them your weaknesses on a silver platter! The first time the opponent made a clumsy mistake, you should have chased them all the way to their main camp even if it meant taking damage and ended it then and there. Instead you played it safe, let the enemy build up their forces, and now look at this mess. What are you, some third-rate Demon King? If you want to eliminate future threats, you cut them off at the root—swiftly and cleanly! Why drag it out and create this disaster? And you call yourself the strongest battle god and hope of the Almighty God Tribe? You’ve gotten too comfortable sitting as Chief God of the God Realm. All talk and no action?”
“Six times. I’m sorry.”
Faced with the Sage of Omniscience’s scathing criticism, Hwi of Omnipotence had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths. When he had first fought that Creator General and lost an arm, fleeing back to the main camp—if he had pursued despite the injury and exhaustion of his divine power, he could have ended everything.
Killing only the Creator General would have made cleaning up the rest a matter of time. This tiresome, absurd battle would have been over.
Yet the genuine sense of crisis that his body could actually die had made him hesitate. Now they had reached a true life-or-death struggle.
I underestimated those titled Absolute Beings. Their combat experience is nothing to scoff at.
To think that among the lazy and incompetent Creator Gods of the 500th Master Universe, there were five genuine battle gods who could display ‘Unique Struggle,’ and all of them had been deployed here—it was simply astounding.
At minimum, they are forces that could reach the Creator Candidate level.
Given that those bearing titles can only partially open their power, they naturally cannot match us who possess the secret arts. But to lower-ranked Main Gods, they would be incredibly dangerous foes.
Even the Main Gods of the Independent Divine Realm could no longer feel at ease.
They say every Master Universe possesses the same potential? That it simply remains undeveloped or fails to become the leading force. It seems that was true after all.
Is this why Lord Sangharama forced all the Creator Gods to learn the joint ultimate technique Ayuta—which can erase even higher-circle beings—and concentrated all their forces? To prevent any chance for this hidden potential to emerge or gather, and end everything in a single decisive blow?
Hah… I still have a long way to go.
Indeed, he should have taken the risk and attacked from the beginning. But now, to make up for that mistake, Hwi of Omnipotence squeezed out every ounce of fighting spirit he possessed.
Goooooo—! Uuuuuuuuung—!
I have not yet shown my full power. And with the Sage of Omniscience here as well, defeat is impossible.
This time, he resolved to kill that Creator General without fail and sweep away even their main camp. No one would follow a Chief God of the God Realm who feared injury and accepted defeat, so he steeled himself to fight even at the cost of his life.
Right now, every god in the 499th Master Universe—not to mention the entire Demon Race—was watching this battlefield. If he showed disgrace here, he would never be able to raise his head again. The entire Almighty Clan would share that fate.
Thus, Hwi of Omnipotence activated ‘Unique Struggle,’ restricting all his emotions and thoughts to focus solely on battle.
Ignore the pain. Forget the future.
Only the singular thought of killing the enemy and achieving victory filled his mind.
The Main Gods of the Independent Divine Realm had done the same. To survive against Substitute Gods of equal rank, the minimum requirement was to draw out every ability they possessed and transcend their limits. But since that was impossible for everyone, the next choice was to temporarily discard anything unnecessary for combat.
For those of us who are fugitives and exiles without any faction to support us, it was the only choice if we wished to stand alone.
By repeatedly discarding what was unnecessary for battle, they had naturally mastered the method of controlling emotions and thoughts. That was the true nature of this authority.
They shut down all the various thoughts and authorities that normally operated, raising their computational power and reaction speed to the limit. In their current state, having even restricted creation, they should be called not gods of light but gods of destruction.
They seem to have come to their senses. Does that mean our chances have improved slightly? Should I try to kill the Creator General before he recovers his original strength? If I land another critical hit and let him escape again, he will become a truly troublesome enemy.
Uuuuuuuuung—!
The Sage of Omniscience smiled as she absorbed the wall of fighting spirit approaching her. She responded to Hwi of Omnipotence’s sincere apology, the sixfold compensation she had demanded, and the ‘Unique Struggle’ fighting spirit displayed by the titled Creator Gods.
She mixed the pure fighting spirit and divine power waves radiating from both sides with demonic energy, preparing ‘Divine Slayer.’ After all, what made the divine race superior to the Demon Race was their ability to create Main God Stars. In terms of combat ability that handled fighting spirit and killing intent, there was no comparison.
Because I possess a body that has learned his secret arts, my defense is flawless and only my offensive power has increased.
That was why the Sage of Omniscience had become a Demon in order to win, obtaining superior attack power compared to Hwi of Omnipotence.
But a problem had arisen afterward. During the process of becoming a preliminary Demon King, she had been unable to shake off her old habits as a god of light. While simultaneously serving as Chief God of the God Realm from the Demon Star, she had gained the true faith of the majority of sentient beings in the Middle World and ended up acquiring ‘Chaos.’
The true Chaos, the Holy Demon God known as the Sage of Omniscience—that is my official divine name.
When she became the Holy Demon God of Chaos, her horns and hair that had turned black reverted to the brilliant golden color of the Almighty God Tribe. The absurdity of it still amazed her. At least her wings were dark wings, allowing her to be recognized as part of the Demon Race and remain a preliminary Demon King.
The problem is that I possess it as well, but the body that learned his secret arts is even more monstrously powerful.
Even ‘Chaos’ had no effect on a body trained by his secret arts, and attacks lacking purity had their effectiveness halved. The increased attack power gained by turning into a Demon was ineffective against Hwi of Omnipotence due to purity issues, while their defensive power remained equal.
In the end, everything returned to the starting point just like before I turned into a Demon, resulting in a certification battle that has lasted ten thousand years.
Yet she could not abandon her faith. This ‘Chaos’ was incredibly powerful and dangerous. Against ordinary enemies, she was actually stronger than a pure Demon.
She was confident that once she passed the certification battle and became a Demon King, she would immediately reach Demon Emperor level. Even now as a Demon, she was equal to a regular Demon King. That was why her direct superior Demon King could say nothing.
More importantly, those titled Creator Gods had arrogantly blocked her carefully prepared surprise attack and even set a trap that allowed the Creator General to avoid a fatal blow just moments ago, completely ruining her plans. On top of that, they seemed to possess extensive combat experience against both the Demon Race and high-ranking battle gods, accurately pointing out the weaknesses.
However, if she let this slide, she would not be worthy of being called a preliminary Demon King.
After absorbing the vitality from the severed body parts, I took a closer look and—how hilarious. On the surface they look fine, but their actual combat power is less than half.
They had hidden it rather well, but using the portion of the body she had obtained earlier as a base, she had precisely analyzed their fighting spirit and physical condition with the dual senses of both Demon and divine races. The problems were severe.
Since she had already exposed their weaknesses with her glib tongue, it was only fair they suffered as well.
“Oh my? With bodies that stiff and depleted, can you even fight? It looks like you’re trying to forcibly activate your innate divine power using the opponent’s fighting spirit and the divine power striking your bodies to shake off the rigidity—but will that be so easy? If you take a direct critical hit in that state, it feels like your entire body would shatter into pieces, doesn’t it?”
“……”
Faint traces of panic appeared on the faces of the titled Creator Gods who had been advancing at the forefront. Their forward momentum slowed.
Seeing this, Hwi of Omnipotence placed her right hand over her lips with an infinitely seductive smile. The voice that flowed from those crimson, jewel-like lips was utterly cruel.
“Just how long were you sealed away without receiving any vitality that your bodies are in such a wretched state? You may look fine, but your bodies are all on the verge of becoming mummies from vitality deficiency, aren’t they? Thanks to his title you’re still alive, but every one of you is at death’s door. It would take an enormous amount of vitality and a long period of recuperation just to recover. No, complete recovery might be impossible? What a shame. You were quite decent battle gods. Instead of the fighting spirit and divine power you desperately desire to shake off your physical rigidity, you will be smashed to pieces by pure physical force. Isn’t that right, you glass-bodied near-corpses who only look plausible on the surface?”
At those words, the advance of the titled Creator Gods stopped completely. Their fighting spirit plummeted sharply as they layered on defensive authorities.
It was because of the command Hwi of Omnipotence had shouted.
“What are you all doing? Release the fighting spirit and divine power of ‘Unique Struggle’ and prepare only physical-type transcendent authorities. Make them pay the price for daring to enter the battlefield in such a bluffing state.”
A look of dismay rose on the Creator General’s face. If their bodies were truly on the verge of collapse from vitality depletion, then regardless of how strong their authorities or divine rank were, any physical force above a certain level would cause their bodies to shatter into fragments.
There was no need to ask whether it was true.
“Those insane bastards threw battle gods of that caliber into combat in such a condition? Do they have combat power to spare?”
“After shattering their bodies, restrain the Creator General together with the Sage of Omniscience. This time, I will plunder their main camp completely.”
The titled Creator Gods gritted their teeth, halted their approach, and focused entirely on divine power and defense.
I knew they had been sealed for quite a long period without vitality. Of course their combat strength couldn’t be normal, but I never imagined it was serious enough that their bodies were on the verge of collapse.
He had suspected as much, but since there was no need to conserve vitality or provide additional support to criminals, he had deliberately ignored it and deployed them. If these beings were absent now, there would be no way to stop the traitors who had defeated their own origin.
If I get pinned down by that preliminary Demon King and the Main Gods of the Independent Divine Realm while the main camp is ravaged by the preliminary Creator God, the damage will be catastrophic.
Aside from himself, there was no one who could face that monstrous preliminary Creator God. Despite having more than enough forces, the absence of any standout powerhouse had left them in an impossible predicament.
The Sage of Omniscience, who had crushed the enemy’s fighting spirit and momentum with just a few words, wore an extremely pleased expression as she raised her left hand toward Hwi of Omnipotence.
“Now, let’s end this immediately. I’ll deliver results worthy of the sixfold compensation I received.”