The Weight of Absolute Authority
The Spirit Realm's war was still raging without a shred of sense. For those foolish enough to dare fight without the Chief God of the God Realm's permission, I summoned lightly compressed planets and floated them menacingly overhead. A low, resonant hum filled the air—woooong—as they hovered there.
Just one reckless action and I’ll squash them flat. At their current level, none of them can escape the authority domain of me, the highest-ranking Main God of Dimensions.
The Spirit Lords who had already tasted this power before turned deathly pale, fidgeting in panic. Even the Spirit God Kings froze in place, their divine power completely suppressed by the overwhelming gravity that could crush even a god’s soul. The lesser Spirit God Kings beneath them were, naturally, plastered to the ground like flattened squid.
Everyone stopped moving in shock and simply stared at the Dimensional Lord. They seemed stunned by how effortlessly he manipulated spatial movement even within the authority of a Creator God-tier Guerrilla Volcano. No one dared resist. The flow of their divine power had completely halted.
It was clear they were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of his authority—moving dozens of planets through space at will, something that would be nearly impossible for even one. I never fight because I enjoy hardship. I fight because the opponent is too strong or the situation is too unfavorable. It’s never because I’m weak. If I truly set my mind to it and exclude Karma’s interference, subduing all of them wouldn’t take that much time or effort.
In any universe other than the 499th Master Universe—which had grown bizarrely powerful due to his involvement—or in the distant past, the Dimensional Lord could have proudly claimed to be one of the strongest War Gods alive.
Infusing that power and authority into his words, he declared as the highest Main God of the God Realm:
At the Dimensional Lord’s declaration, the fighting spirit that had been radiating from everyone began to fade. Yet some resentment clearly remained, because their glares stayed sharp. They hadn’t stopped staring daggers at one another.
It was a stark reminder that the road to a truly peaceful God Realm was still very long. Whether they would even walk it was another question entirely.
“Are you really sure you can control them? They are truly beyond redemption. You should impose some kind of restriction on them right now before sending them to the God Realm.”
Lokina, the Lord of the Flipside, could no longer endure the pathetic sight and offered her suggestion. Seeing her show such uncharacteristic weakness made me chuckle inwardly. Heh heh. It seems she’s completely forgotten that she once led a rebellion against the God Realm.
Well, she had originally been destined to become a Main God of the divine races. In fact, she had ruled for a short time and even brought about prosperity. She had tasted the glory and fulfillment of being a Chief God of the God Realm. Having made one wrong choice and ended up like this, her attachment to the God Realm ran unusually deep. She understands that individuals must sometimes sacrifice themselves for the greater whole.
She was a natural-born ruler, and considering her divinity, she was an incredibly tempting existence.
“If you become my concubine, I’ll consider it.”
“There you go again, saying things you don’t even mean! These beings are bound to cause conflict with the Main Gods of the God Realm. They’ll even fight them directly. We need countermeasures.”
“With the divine power of a High God, you’ll struggle to fulfill the role of a Main God using only magic, won’t you? The concubine proposal is merely temporary. It’s so you can properly perform your duties as a Main God. You should know by now that magic isn’t all-powerful. If you make a mistake this time, you really will die.”
At those words, spoken while staring at Lokina’s neck, she flinched visibly. Indeed, even she hadn’t expected to be driven so helplessly to the brink of death. The Dimensional Lord himself would have been in real danger without the defensive power of his bio-armor Machine God form.
The weakness of magic is that without proper preparation, it becomes pathetically frail. An assassin of equal rank is practically its natural predator.
Of course, once prepared, its power skyrocketed. Slightly stung in her pride by the Dimensional Lord’s pointed remark, Lokina replied in a sulky voice.
“If I have proper preparation, even an Intermediate Main God is no problem. And although it’s been heavily modified, if that ‘Fenrir’ regains its original functions, I could handle any number of Intermediate Main Gods at once. So I need to get it back.”
“No. The spirit gods of the Otherworld belong to them. Do not touch it.”
“That’s ridiculous—! I was the original creator, so it’s mine. Without me, it can’t even display its true performance. Besides, those fools didn’t maintain it properly, which is why it’s become so weakened.”
“Reinforce that wolf god again and create a new one for yourself. I’ll provide as much support as you need.”
“How much support exactly? You do realize this isn’t something ordinary, right?”
She had already removed her robe that blocked prying eyes, revealing her true form as a beautiful goddess with sleek black hair and a delicate face. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Since magic fundamentally consumed rare materials and enormous amounts of vitality, the word “support” had clearly lit a fire in her.
Tap—!
Gugugugung—!
A chunk of adamantium the size of a small rocky mountain fell from the empty air. Lokina’s jaw dropped wide open. Even a tiny fragment of adamantium—the divine metal that increased divine power—was worth as much as an entire temple in the God Realm. She instantly understood the value of this much.
It was literally enough to buy several planet-sized God Realms. The Dimensional Lord could create more by splitting a few stars, so it didn’t matter to him, but to other Main Gods this was an astronomical fortune.
With this quantity, I can procure any magical or rare material I want.
Only a Creator God could mass-produce it by accepting the waste of divine power, but no Creator God would choose to make adamantium when spending the same amount of power could instead create a Main God Star. That was why it was so rare. Of course, scattering too much would crash its value and invite investigation into its source, so caution was necessary.
Tap—!
Woooong—!
What he summoned next from the void was a massive tank the size of an Olympic swimming pool. It was filled with sap produced by the Cosmic Tree inside his Survival Magic Tower. This alone could fully replenish the vitality required for any experiment.
Naturally, gods could absorb it directly to supplement their divine power, but without special processing it would take an absurdly long time to recover. That was why faith from sentient beings or rigorous training was essential for becoming stronger.
If vitality and divine power are the water that fills an empty vessel, then faith, physical training, and honing one’s authority are what make the vessel itself larger. Of course, I and most War Gods prefer training over faith.
That was because no matter how many followers War Gods gathered, one mistake in battle could easily wipe out an entire planet, reducing them to a Lower God.
Lokina, who had recognized the small rocky mountain of adamantium and the swimming-pool-sized tub full of Cosmic Tree sap at a glance, remained speechless for a long time before finally squeezing out a few words.
“You… you’re filthy rich.”
“To a War God, this has little value beyond increasing strength. Tell me if you need more.”
She was stroking the adamantium mountain and the pool of Cosmic Tree sap with an ecstatic expression, already lost in her own world.
“Then I’ll do that. Haaaaah… In the old days, if I’d had even this much budget, I would never have been defeated so easily. But I was so poor that even when I had methods, there was nothing I could do. With this much… I can finally complete it. The Divine Realm Annihilation Fortress—‘Jormungandr.’ ”
A chill ran down the Dimensional Lord’s spine. Just now, that giant wolf god called Fenrir toyed with dozens of Main Gods, and she says that wasn’t even its original performance? From the way she’s talking, it sounds like some kind of final weapon.
It probably was exactly that. It wasn’t for nothing that the Dimensional Lord acknowledged her importance as a Main God.
What is she planning to annihilate? The God Realm? I’m the Chief God of the God Realm, you know? This woman really—!
The Dimensional Lord’s gaze turned murderous, but Lokina simply gave him a seductive, unreserved smile.
“Hehe—! But since you’re the investor, once it’s complete I’ll transfer ownership to you. I’ll also consider your temporary concubine proposal. Since you don’t seem interested in appointing a proper spouse, becoming the representative official concubine doesn’t seem like a bad deal.”
“A spouse is a luxury for a War God who never knows when he might die.”
“Yes, yes. From ancient times, you all lived exactly as you pleased, then died on the battlefield or vanished without a trace. I used to think you were fools, but now that I’m your subordinate, it’s rather fascinating.”
“Enough pointless chatter. Gather all the spirit gods. We’re moving to the God Realm immediately.”
At the sudden declaration that they would move right now, Lokina panicked and spoke up.
“Wait a moment. They don’t know how to act according to their revised resumes. We need time to teach them.”
“What are you talking about? There’s no need to act in the God Realm. When I told you to be careful with your reputation and behavior, I only meant outside the God Realm and within the Main Divine Realm. Until they fully adapt to their completely rewritten histories, forbid all external contact and train them thoroughly.”
Seeing Lokina’s dazed expression as she tried to grasp his meaning, the Dimensional Lord added one more thing.
“Doesn’t the ‘Torina’ you know being the God of God Realm Management give you any hints? All the Main Gods of my God Realm are originally from the Spirit Realm, and the vast majority of the High Gods are former spirit gods. You can’t fool them with simple resume manipulation. Adjusting their old grudges is your job.”
At those words, Lokina froze for a moment before frantically flipping through her contract. The way her face turned deathly pale made it obvious what she was thinking. She’s trying to cancel the contract. Even now, just looking at them makes me want to quit everything, so hearing there are more of them in the God Realm must be driving her insane.
What she was looking for was, of course, the compensation clause for contract termination. But it wasn’t that easy. It was the single lethal poison pill hidden among all the generous conditions.
I had written that if someone tried to quit for personal reasons without a justifiable cause that the God Realm could accept, they would have to pay compensation one hundred times the normal amount.
This clause had become practically obsolete because gods of the God Realm almost never left on their own. But my God Realm was a special case. Probably half of them will feel their skin crawl once they learn the truth.
They’re all horribly entangled mortal enemies. But since High Gods are so desperately scarce, I can’t possibly let them go. That’s why I inserted a compensation penalty of one hundred times—something that can never be paid.
The other conditions had been so overwhelmingly favorable that the contract had been approved anyway. It was the classic “You can enter freely, but you can never leave. Bury your bones in the God Realm.”
Eventually, after finding and confirming the relevant clause, Lokina looked at the Dimensional Lord with a hollow voice.
“So that’s why you set the compensation for voluntary contract termination at more than one hundred times the normal amount. The conditions were so good that I thought no one would ever quit unless they were kicked out, so I let it slide. I never imagined the God Realm would be like this. This is fraud.”
“Do you lack confidence? Confidence to defeat Torina? Or to suppress the entire God Realm? In the end, no matter who the opponent is or what the God Realm is like, as long as you win there’s no problem. As a Main God bearing the name of the Lord of the Flipside, lead them and win.”
“Th-that’s not the issue—! How can a God Realm like this not collapse? Never mind. So that’s why you’re treating me this well. In a way, you’re even acknowledging my divinity, which was once the greatest threat to the Chief God of the God Realm. Do you believe I’ll understand because I once briefly served as Chief God of the God Realm?”
“Correct. Do your best. I will provide unlimited support. Since you once served as a Chief God of the God Realm, you should be able to understand my intentions. There is already a representative for the Chief God of the God Realm to lead them down the path of righteous light. You, in accordance with your original divinity, will lead everything else, check their self-righteousness, compete with them, and drive development. Before that, safely settle the newly arrived spirit gods into the God Realm. I am counting on the divinity of the Lord of the Flipside—‘For the victory and prosperity of the God Realm, I will surpass even the Chief God of the God Realm.’ ”
“There has never been a time when my own divinity felt more resentful than now. But I accept it. My new Chief God of the God Realm. I will live up to your expectations. I may even use you as a tool to achieve it, but I will definitely bring prosperity and victory to the God Realm.”
“Heh—! If it’s for the development of the God Realm, feel free to use me as a tool. That is exactly what I desire, and I will gladly accept it. Do your utmost for the victory and development of the God Realm.”
At the Dimensional Lord’s honest declaration, she let out a small snort of laughter, nodded, and prepared to open the dimensional gate to return to the God Realm.
Thankfully, it ended well. Now I just need to clean things up properly.
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy. Still, he asked himself, wasn’t it better than the past when he had nothing at all?