The Hidden Authority of the Spirit Gods
The war in the Spirit Realm had been contained for now. I tried to examine the structure of the secret authorities held by the spirit gods from the Otherworld, but I couldn't make sense of them at all. It looked like they were actively evading my search as the Dimensional Lord.
'The problem is that even though they're right in front of me, their presence is so faint I keep doubting whether they even exist.'
At my question, the Wolf God quickly sent his will.
“It is a specialized search-evasion authority designed to avoid any possible pursuit from you, Master.”
This sly wolf really had no equal when it came to being quick-witted. On top of that, he usually pretended to be a dumb animal god while meticulously observing everything around him. In short, this was a specialized authority created specifically to avoid my detection.
“So it’s specialized to target me specifically? That’s why I can’t detect them at all?”
“Correct. As expected, you are truly perceptive.”
Now this guy, who was supposed to be a simple animal god famous for his bravery rather than intelligence, was even flattering me. His tail—easily over five kilometers long—whipped back and forth so fast it was barely visible, kicking up clouds of dust.
Even so, I was far too busy to waste time getting angry with him. Upon closer inspection, wielding this level of specialized authority at full power would be impossible with ordinary divine power sources.
“The operating mechanism relies on the divine power source in the lower abdomen, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. It is a permanent activation-type secret authority created by Medeia, referencing the magic authorities you granted to the goddess lords. She named it Betrayal Selection.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have handed out magic authorities so freely to the goddess lords.”
I had thought there would be no problem since it was performed inside the separated Divine Hall of Dimensions, but it seemed those connected to me through contracts had confirmed it. The conceptual leap of making it usable not just during childbirth but in everyday situations meant that any goddess lord capable of wielding both magic power and authority simultaneously could adapt it. But there was a problem—how had they solved the power shortage?
“Haa… How did they even use it? They should lack the divine power needed to regulate the magic power source in the lower abdomen.”
The Dimensional Lord could manage simultaneous operation of the magic and dimensional authorities I provided, but activating a goddess’s lower abdominal divine power source or granting her a magic authority required at least Second Circle-level authority and divine power. For a Main God, that was simply impossible.
“That is why they were troubled by the lack of magic power. They created magical tools one by one, distributed them, and had them directly inserted into the lower abdominal divine power sources. It would be more accurate to view it as the power of the magical tools absorbing vitality from the divine power source rather than the authority itself activating.”
Ding!
The explanation hit me like a blow to the head, but I found myself nodding involuntarily.
'Since they can’t directly interfere with the lower abdominal magic power source, they’re only utilizing vitality and triggering it through magical tools.'
Of course, it was naturally inferior to direct activation, but for a supporting role, there was no issue.
“Male gods, whose divine power sources are concentrated solely in their heads and require no preparation for childbirth, cannot use it. But goddess lords who possess another divine power source in their lower abdomen can be granted limited additional authorities. It allows them to strengthen their own secret authorities.”
Moreover, since the creator was Medeia, who possessed the magic of fascination, specializing it for a specific target would naturally disrupt even the Dimensional Lord’s search.
“They directly inserted divine instruments into the lower abdominal divine power source to control it? That explains why it didn’t show up in my search at all. At the very least, concentrating on a specific domain should allow for about a 0.5 Circle reinforcement.”
Now that I knew the cause, the solution was simple.
The surrounding Spirit God Kings and the Main Gods of the Giant God Race were waiting for my orders. Furthermore, the Spirit God King from the Almighty God Tribe who had copied Enlil’s secret authority had apparently raised his proficiency in that short time and was now displaying nearly the highest level of capability.
Deeply moved by the astonishing performance of the new body granted by the Dimensional Lord, he reported with an excited expression.
“The rest are extremely faint as well, but tracking is immediately possible.”
With the Almighty God Tribe’s authority-copying ability and their partial detection of dimensional authorities, it seemed they could indeed track the targets. By specializing to evade my search, they had exposed weaknesses to those possessing identical authorities.
They probably never imagined that the Dimensional Lord would lead a massive group of Spirit God Kings in pursuit rather than coming alone.
'If the Cyber God hadn’t clumsily interfered and given me this information, I might have given up.'
They should have already caused a huge commotion in the Cyber Realm, demanding someone take responsibility.
“Chase them immediately. Do not kill them under any circumstances—capture them alive. They must have been detected while breaking through the barrier from the outside and fled right away. Long-range spatial movement or ultra-high-speed travel is impossible within the Spirit Realm Waiting Area, so they should still be in transit. With bodies barely recovered and lacking vitality, they cannot break through the authority of the Guerrilla Volcano. In the end, they have no choice but to head for the main gate. If you capture them, I will pass on the foundational knowledge to create bodies comparable to theirs—though not quite surpassing them. I will also permit you to use those bodies in emergencies.”
“We will definitely capture them!”
The Spirit God Kings, their faces flushed with excitement at the overwhelming power of bodies tuned from my own with all restrictions lifted through partial activation of my title, immediately set out. The expressions of the Almighty God Tribe’s Spirit God Kings in particular were utterly resolute. They looked ready to do anything to obtain such bodies as they poured every ounce of strength into the pursuit.
As the Main Gods of the Giant God Race followed after them, only the Wolf God remained, tongue lolling out as he wagged his tail.
'It’s no wonder they’re desperate. That body mostly resolves the problem of the Almighty God Tribe’s authorities causing explosions when bodily capacity is exceeded. Capturing the targets won’t be an issue. That body can copy even unique authorities and raise proficiency in an instant. A Main God body without restrictions is truly terrifying. In terms of basic physical talent alone, it is top-tier.'
The problem with the Almighty God Tribe was actually quite simple. Even the Dimensional Lord, whose realm had risen, now understood that they were better described as omnipotent rather than all-powerful.
'No authority copy is ever perfect, and if physical training is insufficient, the effect drops rapidly. Most of the Almighty God Tribe who tried to copy his authorities ended up with their divine power sources shattered, leading to annihilation and downfall.'
Endless training was one answer, but since there were almost none with endless talent like the All-Powerful Splendor, it was impossible for ordinary beings with limited bodies.
'There is only one solution. Possess an unrestricted body and train endlessly.'
If they already had limited bodies, they simply needed to undergo readjustment like the bodies I had given them. Once gods with unrestricted bodies became parents, their offspring would also be born with unrestricted bodies. In time, this would become the unique trait of the entire clan until mixed blood occurred, creating a true Almighty God Tribe.
'Let’s start by treating Gaiana and performing the readjustment. Fortunately, I’ve secured nearly all the data on both the All-Powerful Splendor and the Sage of Omniscience, so it should go smoothly.'
Among the gods of the Divine Realm, Gaiana held the highest prestige. In fact, she was practically the only one.
'Not only does she possess the divine power of an Upper Main God, she also maintains the highest recorded value in ‘Extreme Good’ karma. Moreover, she is a member of the Almighty God Tribe led by the All-Powerful Splendor, who can fight on equal footing with the Creator General of the 500th Master Universe. She cannot possibly be neglected.'
Of course, she could not hold more influence than me, a Preliminary Creator God and the Dimensional Lord, but a gentle mistress was necessary for the Divine Realm. The gods of the Divine Realm were already struggling to keep up with its rapid expansion and development. If they began giving up and falling behind, it would be troublesome. Therefore, a superior figure who looked after them was needed.
'I am fully aware that I lack social skills and have many flaws. She is the perfect existence to compensate for that.'
What if she gathered the gods of the Divine Realm and tried to usurp the position of Chief God of the God Realm?
'If I become strong enough that even all the gods of the Divine Realm combined cannot handle me, the problem solves itself. It will serve as good motivation for development. If that fails, they can simply give up and run away. Living with half-hearted compromises will never allow me to pay the price I promised him. But if all these beings are fully incorporated into the Divine Realm, will there even be an existence capable of uniting them?'
Combining the Machine Gods I recruited upon arriving in the Spirit Realm, the waiting gods from the Spirit Waiting Station, the Spirit God Kings, and the spirit gods from the Otherworld already surpassed the current Divine Realm’s forces. Adding those still approaching while weighing whether to join would push it to an unmanageable level.
'The current confrontation between goddess lords and male gods in the Divine Realm cannot be resolved by force alone, no matter how strong I become. Their deep-rooted distrust and wariness are merely paused by the desire for promotion that comes with a Second Stage Divine Realm upgrade. Only the appearance of a common enemy or equivalent threat will stop their emotional conflicts and force them to unite.'
What if things went wrong? The probability was high that the goddess lords and male gods would fight among themselves, turning the newly incorporated gods into a chaotic three-way brawl. But the Chief God of the God Realm—the Dimensional Lord—existed.
'Any god who loses in a conflict not permitted by the Chief God of the God Realm will have their bodily vitality confiscated and be expelled to the Spirit Realm. Since the development of the Divine Realm requires many strong gods, the Chief God of the God Realm will side with the strong. If you find that unfair, then strive to become stronger than the opponents you despise.'
It was simple if one followed the rules. Since the Dimensional Lord, who lacked social experience, could only perform his duties as Chief God of the God Realm through dictatorship and providing incomparable benefits to quell dissatisfaction, this was the only viable path. No genius could rule the Divine Realm without any failures or experience.
'Managing the Divine Realm and its gods is far more difficult than strengthening magic or developing authorities. Moreover, since I was originally human, the probability that the divine races will respect me rather than mock me is low, making it even harder. Only after becoming at least a Creator God will that label disappear.'
While I was lost in these thoughts, the spirits of three Spirit God Kings and dozens of spirit gods descended around me and bowed deeply. They were the ones who had been glancing around and observing from nearby earlier. Given the harsh nature of the Spirit Realm toward male gods who were battle gods, they were all goddesses.
They exchanged glances and shared their wills before apparently reaching a decision.
“Please grant us bodies like those Spirit God Kings as well. If you do, we will do anything.”
This was simply how the world worked. Those with status, power, and mighty authorities would always attract many who sought their help. Grant their desires and receive their loyalty in return. Of course, relationships formed through such mutual understanding were inherently temporary and carried the constant risk of betrayal.
'But as a foreign god from the Middle World with zero experience ruling a divine realm, this is the only option available to me right now. I am fully aware that trying to respond with indirect experience from books or knowledge transfer would lead to immediate catastrophe.'
In fact, the con artist Main God had suffered something similar. He had foolishly tried to act as a benevolent Chief God of the God Realm and ended up completely entangled.
'If he had ruled the Divine Realm as a true god of war from the beginning, dominating through survival of the fittest, he would never have been driven to such a state.'
There was a proper path for a battle god to become Chief God of the God Realm, yet he had trusted only the books and materials written by managerial gods, tried to imitate politics, shot himself in the foot, and even suffered a decline in divine power.
When the goddess lords first revealed their divinity, pressured him, and offered negotiations, the con artist Main God still held superior forces. But after the negotiations shifted the initiative to the goddess lords, the power gap gradually reversed over a long period.
'If he had acted like a god of the battlefield and gone for an all-out decisive battle instead of unfamiliar political negotiations, the Divine Realm would never have become the goddess-exclusive mess it is now.'
All of it stemmed from inexperience in operating a divine realm. This problem was common to all Chief Gods of the God Realm who originated as mercenary gods, which was why the position of Divine Realm Management God was created to handle administration. Of course, even that Management God would face immediate rebellion if they failed to manage properly—as had happened to the Chief God of the God Realm from the Spirit Realm Waiting Area who allied with me and was overthrown by his own wife and subordinates.
'Anticipating this, I had planned to remain in the Survival Magic Tower until I became a Creator God capable of acting independently, occasionally handling quests from the Cyber Realm and focusing on magic training due to my lack of experience. But ever since my sudden appointment, everything keeps getting twisted. I have no choice.'
Wiiiiiiing—!
I retrieved the two Otherworld spirit gods I had sealed in layered dimensional space and suppressed.
'Now that I understand the cause and the problem, it’s time to solve it. And I must test those who have sworn absolute loyalty in exchange for new bodies.'
No matter how many loyalty oaths born from mutual interest one received, they could not be accepted indiscriminately. These individuals had already been acknowledged as powerful beings above Main God level in the past, but they still needed to be carefully selected. There were two types of strong individuals: those born strong, and those who rose from weakness.
'Those born strong, like the All-Powerful Splendor, are natural rulers and cannot be placed beneath me. They say a true leader must embrace talent greater than themselves, but that’s complete nonsense. Why would talented, respected individuals work diligently under a superior who is inferior to them? Rebellion and betrayal are inevitable, and even if capable subordinates try to avoid it, the factions that follow them will force the issue.'
When such a superior falls to rebellion or is driven out, the more capable subordinate sheds crocodile tears, claims it was unavoidable, seizes the moral high ground, and finishes them off. That was the way of capable subordinates.
'To prevent this, one needs blood relatives or a clan that absolutely supports them as their origin. But for me, who gained power through a title, complete transmission of authorities is impossible, so it remains nothing but a dream.'
Fortunately, such talented and respected gods were unlikely to come to someone like me from the Middle World, so I stopped worrying about it.
'Honestly, even the problematic ones are better than nothing. If I manage them well, it should work out.'
In the end, as the divine realm I managed rapidly developed into the highest-tier divine realm, what was needed were strong individuals of the type who had risen from weakness.
'There is only one thing a weak person needs to become even stronger: the resolve to endure any effort and sacrifice necessary. A strong person without resolve will eventually stagnate and drag others down.'
Looking at the Spirit God Kings anxiously awaiting my permission or refusal, I quietly extended both arms toward the Otherworld spirit gods.