Forcing the Dissolution of the Contract

The instant the seal released inside the Wolf God during the Spirit Realm War, it would be unable to withstand a contractor who had ascended to Highest Creator rank. Regardless of the perceptual rejection granted by his Karma's protection of the weak, if he simply erased everything like before, there would be no space left to escape. Nor did they have the luxury to subdue him calmly from outside—and even that seemed unlikely to succeed.

'From the sound of his voice, it seems he's ready to rampage without caring about contracts anymore. If the only suppression method we have, Dark Capture, becomes invalid, we're out of options.'

'Right now they've finally broken through the Rain of Pregnancy, and the Spirit Lord Gods are pursuing us like mad.'

The compressed planets that had been blocking the passage shattered and vanished, the sight resembling eyes melting under sunlight. 'If the contractor disappears into the Otherworld like this, every contract is canceled.' For those who had barely escaped the Spirit Realm and seized their chance to reach the outside, this was the absolute worst-case scenario.

There was no suppression method superior to Dark Capture, and at this moment they had no realistic chance of subduing a Highest Creator again. 'Suppression is impossible, and pursuit is right on our heels.'

Their judgment was as swift as their competence. Amaterasu seized the sphere of darkness and hurled it straight outside the Wolf God.

The moment the dark sphere vanished from the subspace within the Wolf God, Medeia froze for a split second before exploding.

“What the hell are you doing? The contractor’s body is mine! So why are you throwing it away however you please?”

Amaterasu calmly unfurled her fan once more, hiding her face behind it. Cold sweat beaded on her skin at the pure fury the contractor had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠displayed—the same man who never crossed the final line of emotion or action no matter the situation.

Dumping the dark sphere without the slightest hesitation hadn’t been purely rational judgment; fear, it seemed, had played a rather significant role.

“Under the Karma Contract, the supply of vitality and divine power to the spirit gods continues by force unless both parties mutually agree to termination. Thanks to the contractor’s Dimensional Authority, that supply functions perfectly even in the Otherworld. Therefore, the physical body is not strictly necessary.”

“So what?! You dared to act on your own just because you trust that precious solar power of yours? You think the sun will have any effect on me?”

Papapapapapa—!

Medeia’s black hair unraveled completely, flooding the space. It drank in the solar divine power without resistance. The Dark Sun God’s authority, which could absorb any form of divine power, displayed such grotesque specificity that it could even imprison a Main God.

Yet even that mighty authority faltered at the next words.

“I swear it. The body is yours. Once I grow strong enough to subdue both him and the entire Divine Realm, I will help you recapture him.”

“Enough, all of you. None of you can handle him alone anymore. Or do you truly intend to recapture him by yourselves?”

“We possess no authority capable of stopping a Highest Creator who rampages without limits. If Dark Capture no longer works, we must abandon the attempt cleanly. Now that the body has returned, becoming stronger than before is merely a matter of training.”

“Agreed. We should give up now and move on. We can always return later to capture him.”

“Fine.”

What was already done could not be undone. They knew this was the only correct answer, and throwing any further tantrum would only make future cooperation awkward.

‘Where else could we possibly find allies of this caliber?’

They had broken through dozens of Spirit Lord Gods and hundreds of Spirit God Kings to finally seize their target. Above all, the Karma Contract made absolute mutual betrayal impossible.

The greater reason this had happened was their own mistake.

‘Dark Capture is powerful, but it is still only Main God-level sorcery. Against beings above that level or of equal standing, it can be analyzed and dispelled.’

The moment of capture had suppressed consciousness as well, yet somehow a will had remained inside. She could roughly guess why.

The goddess who had been pinned right beside him had been the problem. ‘I judged her to be merely Main God rank since she couldn’t endure the aftermath of Enlil’s authority, so I suppressed her together without worry. But her divinity alone was Creator God level.’

They had prepared to subdue a Highest Creator, but adding a powerhouse possessing nearly Creator God divinity meant perfect suppression had been impossible.

‘I never imagined that goddess who looked even more insignificant than the contractor would possess such divinity. I should have captured him the moment the two were separated!’

It was a painful error born of haste, having judged the operation nearly complete. Everything had been perfect until the final moment; impatience had ruined it all. Fresh irritation surged through her.

“A Creator God-level goddess who looked so sloppy that she deceived me—I won’t let it slide next time I see her.”

Seeing Medeia accept the situation, Nuwa nodded and spoke gently.

“It won’t take long, so please endure just a little longer. No matter how many weak soldiers you gather, it changes nothing.”

“With infinite vitality being supplied, vitality at the level of a Highest Creator in this main universe would place him above a Highest Creator God in our world. Now that the body has returned, he will grow strong again very quickly.”

“Still, if we had negotiated properly, he might have listened. Wasn’t this decision a little too hasty?”

When Nuwa spoke as though the entire matter left a bad taste in her mouth, Amaterasu gave a derisive snort.

“Ha! The contractor, who stakes his very life on Karma management, would never permit our revenge when it would naturally involve mass slaughter. The killings carried out by the spirit gods contracted to him would affect him as well, so he would block it with everything he has. And given his petty nature, now that his Karma has risen above ‘Extreme Good,’ it is only natural he would charge in claiming the previous contract was unfair and demand improvements. We cannot accept that. In the end, this outcome was inevitable, so seizing the initiative was the obvious move. As someone who has been a God King yourself, you know that the side which strikes first holds the higher chance of victory, do you not?”

“That may be true, but…”

“Once we reach the Otherworld, which lies outside his domain, the contractor will face restrictions as well. Though it is a shame to lose what we have built, we can rebuild it there. No—without restrictions, we can build it even faster. He will be angry at first, but if we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soothe him properly, his sloppy tendencies will surely lead him to help us. Is that not why we all agreed?”

“Indeed. Enough talk of the past. We are finally leaving this wretched Spirit Realm.”

Paaaaaaaaa—!

Through the Wolf God’s eyes, the boundary of the Spirit Realm’s territory finally came into view. Once they crossed it, they could return to the Otherworld immediately.

‘The Spirit Lord Gods chasing us cannot use spatial movement either.’

‘Even if the contractor releases his seal and pursues, the perceptual rejection from Karma’s protection of the weak combined with Enlil’s concealment authority makes tracking utterly impossible.’

It was a perfect escape.

Yet a chilling voice rang through the Wolf God’s subspace.

Booooooooooom—!

Kyaaaaaaaang—!

Before the Otherworld’s spirit lord gods could even register surprise, the Wolf God screamed as a colossal spear pierced straight through the internal boarding subspace.

Cracklecrackle—!

Rumblerumblerumble—!

The Dimensional Authority shook the entire internal subspace of the Wolf God, leaving them unable to hide their shock. If they remained like this, the rupturing space would kill them instantly.

“Tch—! We’ve been discovered? How did the contractor nullify Karma’s perceptual rejection that protects the weak?”

“My concealment authority was completely exposed by his Dimensional Authority as well. He has finished analyzing even that.”

They hurriedly threw themselves outside the Wolf God. The great beast whimpered and howled, its limbs impaled by massive Main God-Slaying Spears. Thousands upon thousands of the same spears filled every inch of space.

Gooooooooo—!

Within a distortion untouched by the aftereffects of spatial movement, the contractor stood blocking the outer gate of the Spirit Realm. He continued firing the spears busily, sealing the entrance.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The Main God-Slaying Spears that had embedded themselves in the four corners of the outer gate rewrote the laws, overlaying the contractor’s own world onto the gate’s domain. As the Dimensional Authority permeated the entrance completely, an oppressive weight far heavier than any iron fortress pressed down on them.

‘We can tell immediately that breaking through that with our power is completely impossible.’

They knew the true strength ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the Dimensional Authority the contractor possessed all too well. The genuine power he had displayed when erecting the magic tower absurdly named the Survival Magic Tower had been World Creation.

No matter how fiercely they desired revenge, as gods of light they could not overlook the mass slaughter and planetary destruction that would inevitably accompany the process. That was why they had tried to capture him—to receive his help when they scorched the Otherworld and recreated both the world and the Divine Realm.

‘If the contractor’s World Creation authority is fully applied to the outer gate, no spirit god below Creator Candidate rank will be able to pass.’

The outer gate was now completely sealed by Dimensional Authority. Only two paths remained: either the one who had manifested the authority withdrew it, or he died.

Moreover, although the contractor should not have been able to perceive them—protected as they were by Karma’s defense of the weak—the waves of divine power and the coordinates of his sorcery pointed directly at them. On top of that, while exercising his Dimensional Authority perfectly, he had stripped away even Enlil’s concealment without a trace.

They had no idea how he was detecting them.

The contractor looked straight at them and snapped his fingers.

Snap—!

What had appeared in the air was a golden parchment—the very spirit god contract that had been forcibly formed with the contractor in the beginning. Given the contractor’s extremely evil Karma, the humiliation of forced suppression, and their own weakness from lacking bodies at the time, it had been a contract that granted them generous bonuses for being the weak. They had been extremely satisfied with it.

‘First, escape from complete obedience. Receive additional compensation when carrying out missions with infinite vitality supply, and even receive regular support during normal operations.’

It had been an unbelievably generous contract that combined the freedom of a mercenary god with the stable growth support of the Divine Realm. They had fled precisely because they did not want to nullify it.

Receiving full support from a Highest Creator for almost no price would naturally elicit such a reaction. Yet here he was, bringing up contract termination first.

“If you agree to nullify this unfair contract right now, I will take the circumstances into consideration. If not, I will capture every last one of you here and force it. So hurry up and stamp it—!”

A seal already sat beside the contractor’s name, approving the nullification. The spot beside their own names glowed brilliantly. The desperate emphasis made that single area so bright it hurt to look at.

‘Hoho! What a worldly and easy-to-understand contractor this is.’

It was enough to draw a hollow laugh.

“If you destroy the Otherworld using the portion of my Dimensional Authority I granted you, my own Karma will decrease. So if you want to run wild in the Otherworld, return my Dimensional Authority immediately—! Then I will let you go as you are.”

She wondered how he could speak only words that matched their expectations so perfectly.

‘He was always this kind of man. Our contractor was a petty bastard who lived solely for his own survival and the improvement of his Karma.’

From the perspective of the Otherworld spirit gods, someone with such immense power could obtain any number of wonderful things, yet he showed no interest whatsoever. He grew stronger purely to survive and sought only the blessing of Karma to aid him on that path, willing to pay any price.

‘He cast aside morality, honor, and pride without hesitation if it meant survival and strength, living with fierce tenacity.’

Connected to the contractor as his contracted spirits, they knew this all too well—which was exactly why this situation had unfolded. Yet she still could not understand why he was offering such generous terms.

‘With the divinity of a Highest Creator, he has surrounded us with countless Main God-Slaying Spears and blocked the entrance. We have no retreat, so there is no reason for him to negotiate like this.’

Setting aside their puzzlement, a detailed analysis of the contractor soon revealed the truth.

The Dimensional Lord had used a truly absurd method to locate them. That was why Karma’s protection of the weak had not activated.

Hwarurururuk—! Pasasasasat—!

Under the solar authority’s firepower raised to maximum output, every Main God-Slaying Spear burned away completely and turned to ash. This was something that could never happen if they were protected by a Highest Creator’s divinity.

In other words, the Dimensional Lord was not a Highest Creator at this moment. He had voluntarily lowered his own realm to find them.

“Hohot—! So you’ve finally gone mad, contractor! To choose to become weaker than us just to avoid Karma’s protection of the weak? Did you want to go to the Otherworld that badly? Well, this main universe has been incredibly harsh on you, hasn’t it?”

“...So bluffing really doesn’t work? Still, the conditions and situation remain unchanged. Stamp the contract nullification document immediately—! Or I’ll give every one of you a taste of fire and drag the entire Divine Realm along with me.”

Seeing the contractor’s expression stiffen slightly now that the fact he had voluntarily lowered his realm beneath that of the Otherworld spirit gods had been exposed, and watching him shake the Karma contract, they smiled at the absurd situation.

‘Is he still bluffing?’

She concentrated the power of seven suns into her divine sword once more.

‘If he is no longer a Highest Creator but below equal rank, we have nothing to fear. Now we just need to cut off his limbs and seal him. It’s over.’

Medeia and the other spirit gods of the Otherworld, having grasped that the Dimensional Lord had weakened himself, wore incredulous expressions as they raised their divine power.

“To come seeking us after making yourself weaker than us? How incomprehensibly foolish.”

“There will be no contract cancellation. Worry about your own body instead.”

“There will be no mercy this time. You will regret this foolish choice.”

“As expected, talking with these thugs is a luxury. Let’s start by spanking every last one of their asses.”

Goooooooo!

Uuuuuuuuuuuuung!

In response to the Otherworld spirit gods raising their momentum, the contractor’s divine power and magic circles began to rotate with a deafening roar. And the number of circles that appeared was, as expected, not a Creator God’s eleven but a Main God’s ten.