The Howling of Fenrir
The vast expanse of the Divine Realm unfolded before the Dimensional Lord as he returned in a single leap using ultra-long-range spatial translocation from the Spirit Realm warfront. Having transcended two ranks at once to become a Highest Main God, the Divine Realm had expanded eightfold in scale.
‘From its previous state of overcrowding, it’s now so empty it almost feels like a ghost town.’
With no resources to construct new facilities, they had simply expanded the existing ones. As a result, every sector outside the original Divine Realm stood completely vacant. The sudden appearance of countless gods along its outer perimeter had naturally triggered a state of emergency.
Although full-scale wars between divine realms were strictly forbidden, irregular skirmishes were common. Moreover, with the Main God of the Divine Realm currently absent, a battle of this magnitude was nothing short of a crisis.
Wiiiiiiiiiing—!
Biiiiiiiiiiing—!
The hastily summoned Main God Proxy and the administrative Main Gods activated the Main God Temple, throwing the entire Divine Realm into high alert. But they were already too late to stop the intruders who had breached the outer boundary.
“Confirmed spatial translocation of thirty Main God-class entities—! Multiple Main God ranks detected. The number of high-ranking gods continues to rise.”
As the Divine Realm mechanically continued its status reports, panicked voices erupted from every direction.
“Thirty Main Gods?”
“That’s impossible—! How could an army that size cross over without triggering any detection? We received no alerts from the Main Divine Realm or the Cyber Realm!”
“Main Divine Realm and Cyber Realm authorities excluded. Confirmed as ultra-long-range spatial translocation exceeding regional universe scale. Movement still in progress!”
“Is that even possible? Not a single one of them is a Main God, yet every single one can perform spatial jumps beyond regional universe limits?”
“Impossible for Main Gods—! Only possible for Creator Gods and above—!”
The Divine Realm’s curt, almost insolent replies caused the administrative Main Gods’ eyes to twitch. Its arrogant, defiant tone had been grating on them throughout the Main God’s absence, but now it had crossed the line.
Eventually, Granraha turned to Gaiana, who sat with a troubled expression upon the Seat of Glory in the Main God Temple.
“Gaiana. What is wrong with the Divine Realm? Has it suffered some kind of malfunction?”
“It’s because I am only an Upper Main God.”
“Pardon?”
“The Divine Realm does not readily obey commands from Main Gods of equal or lower rank. Its ego has grown stronger for the sake of protecting the realm, granting it greater autonomy. The fact that this Highest-tier Divine Realm is even listening to us at all is only thanks to the Dimensional Lord’s direct orders and his divine favor.”
“In other words, this so-called Divine Realm ego is currently looking down on us?”
When the black-haired Torina shouted from her seat among the administrative Main Gods, the situation grew even more awkward.
‘No matter how many times we correct that foul mouth of hers, it only lasts a moment.’
She made a mental note to conduct more thorough re-education later and answered.
“It seems especially pronounced because this is an emergency situation where a battle on the scale of an entire divine realm may break out.”
At those words, the administrative Main Gods finished their complex calculations, shook their heads, and spoke.
“Correct, Gaiana. Although your divinity has nearly recovered to Highest Main God level, the realm’s ego has determined that you are insufficient to control a Highest-tier Divine Realm. It has rejected absolute command authority and is transitioning into autonomous defense mode. This is a basic specification of the Main Divine Realm system and cannot be altered.”
“This is truly troublesome.”
The Seat of Glory in the Main God Temple began transforming of its own accord. The chair fully reclined and settled onto the floor, turning into a bed. The will of the Divine Realm’s ego, now forcibly freed from Gaiana’s control, broadcast across the entire realm like an official announcement.
Final enemy force assessment complete. A defensive battle centered around Highest Main Gods or below is predicted to pose a threat to the Divine Realm. Transitioning to automatic defense. All gods of the Divine Realm are to comply with central control. Deploying Divine Realm Barrier.
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing—!
A barrier of divine power formed around the outer perimeter of the Divine Realm. It was a formidable shield capable of blocking attacks of up to one hundred billion divine power—regardless of whether they were material or immaterial—matching the Highest-tier Divine Realm’s grade.
The problem was the deliberate weakness built into it to guarantee perfect defensive power.
The Main God Proxy and all administrative Main Gods are to engage the enemy in an interception battle at the main gate. This is a mandatory order.
“What?”
“Interception battle?”
“What the hell is that?”
“Enforcing mandatory execution.”
“Hey—! Explain yourself, damn it!”
Having transitioned to the Highest-tier Divine Realm’s automatic defense system, I am under no obligation to provide detailed explanations to Main Gods of lower rank. Activating command authority. All administrative Main Gods except the Main God Proxy—who, as a member of the Omnipotent Clan, will support the realm’s authorities and oversee its defense—are to defend the main gate.
“What the—! Lower-ranking Main Gods?”
Since the Divine Realm had never once entered automatic defense mode before, they had no countermeasures prepared and were completely at the mercy of its ego. What was even more absurd was how the realm’s ego had immediately revealed its true colors the moment an emergency arose, running completely rampant. Forcing the goddesses to the main gate via spatial translocation was the final straw. And not even inside the barrier—completely unprotected on the outermost perimeter.
Looking left and right, the Divine Realm Barrier stood imposing and solid everywhere except right here, where it was conspicuously weak.
Fwaaaaaaaa—!
As if marking the spot with a glowing sign that read ‘Please attack only from here,’ a path of light opened. In every other area, overlapping barriers for vitality absorption and defense began to form. Of course, the divine protection granted to the goddesses had increased several times over, but the situation was utterly ridiculous.
“Is there such a thing as this? The Divine Realm’s ego is forcing Main Gods into a decisive battle? How can this even happen?”
“Was the basic design of Divine Realm defense always this vicious? The Main Divine Realm really kept the core parts hidden from us. How nasty.”
All eight battle-type goddesses and four administrative-type goddesses had been forcibly ejected outside the main gate and ordered to hold the line. If it were up to their tempers, they would have turned around and smashed the temple to pieces. But the divine protection of the realm—on a scale incomparable to anything before—strengthened their bodies, amplified their authorities, and boosted their divine power. The increase was enough to bring them close to Upper Main God level.
Even with divine protection, raising one’s rank was normally impossible. It seemed Gaiana’s support as a member of the Omnipotent Clan was what made it possible.
‘I’m annoyed, but my spirits have never been higher.’
Inside the stellar system, the Dimensional Lord had already lifted their ability restrictions. The tension of standing on a battlefield for the first time in ages set their entire bodies ablaze. It was a level of excitement completely different from when they trained their fully subordinate gods.
Shhhhhhhk—!
The divine weapons and full-body armor summoned from subspace emitted a fierce glow.
‘I don’t know who they are, but unauthorized intruders are not allies.’
Since they had shown no intention of communicating, they could only be treated as enemies. On the Divine Realm’s walls, hastily summoned battle gods had already formed ranks, and every single one of the primordial battle gods had gathered at the main gate.
It felt strange to be preparing for battle at the very front while those they had once stood against in a fight to the death now guarded their rear. But it wasn’t a bad feeling. There were few forces more reliable than them.
“Tch—! So they want us to fight until we drop? Fine, let’s do this.”
“Ugh—! I’m an administrative god, not a combat god! Why am I on the front line?”
At the complaints of the administrative-type goddesses, the battle-type goddesses could only smile bitterly.
‘If the administrative goddesses were truly weak in battle, we never would have accepted them as friends.’
‘They insist they aren’t, but after getting completely crushed by the Dimensional Lord in computational ability, they’ve already learned offensive authorities to a decent degree with the Divine Realm’s support.’
‘Depending on the situation, they could display even greater combat power than us.’
Papapa—! Papapapa—!
As expected, countless lights of authority sparkled and spread across the battlefield. Torina, as always, stepped forward while lightly swinging her trusty Mjolnir, enlarged to its maximum size, in her right hand.
“My physical condition is perfect! No matter what kind of Main God the enemy is, I can show them a bitter taste. It’s nice to be able to test my limits—don’t hold back! Here they come—! Huh?”
Awooooooooooong—!
Kukukukukung—!
A familiar wolf’s howl echoed from somewhere. And the sight of a colossal silver wolf, fully armored in radiant silver plate that covered its entire body, charging toward them by leaping between sky and earth was far too familiar.
‘It feels like we’ve gone back to the distant past.’
Most of the time the giant wolf god had charged out from its own camp toward the enemy, but the final time it had rushed straight at her had been a true nightmare. Even the Main God of the Divine Realm had met his end against that thing.
‘But after that, I definitely tore it to pieces and scattered even the fragments into the Otherworld just in case it could be restored. It shouldn’t be here. Without Lokina, repairing or recreating it should be completely impossible.’
Considering how the cost of its construction had made even the Divine Realm stagger at the height of its prosperity, it was questionable whether anyone could have built a new one. Moreover, both its size and the oppressive aura it radiated were on a completely different level from the past.
“Wait, what the—? Is this a dream?”
She was so flustered that nonsense slipped from her mouth. She even rubbed her eyes with her left hand—the one not holding the hammer—to check if she was seeing things. But the sight before her did not change.
Gugugugugu!
Dudududududuk!
The impact of the giant wolf god’s footsteps, which shook both space and earth, traveled through her body and confirmed this was reality. Then a massive light burst from the wolf’s entire body as its size began to shrink. Its speed increased to the point where space itself seemed to warp.
“It’s real?”
She knew this move all too well. It was one of the charge techniques used to cleave straight through the center of the enemy formation of the hostile divine race known as ‘Ragnarok’s Meteor.’
‘It amplifies the rider’s divinity and uses the wolf god’s enormous mass and speed to kill anything regardless of rank or numbers. Even Odin, when he was the Main God of the Divine Realm, died after taking a direct hit from that thing.’
Once fully activated, it could not be stopped. They had to intercept it before it completely transformed into ‘Ragnarok’s Meteor.’ There was no time to explain to her allies. Reflexively drawing up all her divine power, she enlarged Mjolnir to its limit, raised it above her head with both hands, and charged.
“It really is Fenrir—! It’s you—! Lokina—!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
Mjolnir, filled with the full divine power of the Goddess of Thunder and Strength, collided head-on with the armor protecting the giant wolf god’s head. A deafening roar and explosion erupted. But true to its nature as a colossal mobile fortress built for the Divine Realm, its defense was monstrous. It seemed completely unharmed as it thrust its enormous head forward.
Krrrrrrrrk—!
Drrrrrrrrk!
Overwhelmed by its weight, her body was pushed back helplessly regardless of strength. Deep furrows were carved into the ground behind her as her legs, planted firmly in the earth, were dragged along. Still, she had barely managed to stop it right before full activation.
She felt the other goddesses rushing in from behind. The enemy Main Gods were moving as well.
Gugugugugugugung!
Uuuuuuuuuuuuung!
The fierce fighting spirit and aura that served as proof of the strong clashed in the middle and rippled violently. This was a good battlefield that reminded her of the past. The only thing she disliked was the unsightly sight of herself being pushed back like this.
“You want to fight? Fine by me.”
The berserker’s savage grin rose to her face. The meeting with an opponent she had once fought desperately against fully revived her fighting spirit, and with it, the power of the past returned. No—now that the Divine Realm’s protection had pushed her beyond Intermediate Main God and toward Upper Main God, comparing it to back then was impossible.
Her increased power brought forth even harsher language.
“You damn mutt, how dare you—! Should I smash you to pieces again? Activate Double Strength Authority, Megin Gjord.”
Kwa-woooooooooong—!
Puh-uh-uhk—!
Her body’s muscles were reinforced beyond their limits. Her two legs, planted in the ground to stop her movement, sank in all the way to her thighs. Her body had already been trained beyond the limits of divine weapons. On top of that, she had activated her unique authority that doubled both strength and physical power. She had never once been pushed back in a contest of pure power.
She grabbed the wolf god’s nose armor with both hands and pressed down with raw strength.
Kwa-dudududuk—!
The sound of armor crumpling echoed across the battlefield. The Main Gods who had been charging toward each other froze at the unbelievable sight.
“Grrrrrrrrrrgh!”
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
A single goddess had grabbed the entire body of the giant wolf god by its nose with both hands and was forcibly lifting it into the air. No matter how powerful a Main God’s physical abilities were, this was impossible. Her voice rang out across the sky as she held the multi-kilometer-long giant wolf god above her head.
“Ugh—! I don’t know how you regenerated, but this time I’ll grind you into powder—! Come out right now—! Lokina—! I know it’s you. There is no other Lord God of Sorcery besides you who could repair this damn mutt like this. Get out here right now, you rotten-brained bitch—!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!
As she hurled curses and swung both arms, the giant wolf god’s body flew toward the enemy camp like a cannonball. Even her own allies were left speechless by the superhuman display of strength as they watched the giant wolf god’s body slam into the enemy lines.
Fwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
The enemy camp seemed to fall into chaos for a moment. Then a single goddess flew up toward the incoming giant wolf god.
Tap—!
There was no sound. As naturally as catching a flying ball, she caught the wolf god’s back in midair and landed on the ground.
Kukukukung—!
The moment her legs touched the earth, a tremendous roar and shockwave shook the ground, proving the creature’s enormous weight. It was clear proof that she had caught it using nothing but pure physical strength, without any tricks.
Torina’s eyes shot wide open. The goddess who had caught the giant wolf god in midair was now supporting its colossal body with only her left hand. And that wasn’t the end of it.
Ting—! Ting—!
She was bouncing the wolf god into the air with one hand as if it were a light ball. As if to show that this superhuman strength was nothing special, she enlarged the hammer in her right hand and lightly swung it from side to side, as if to say this was child’s play.
It was a complete provocation that crushed the pride of the Goddess of Strength. As Torina’s fighting spirit surged like a storm once more, a voice she both missed and utterly despised reached her ears.
“Haaaaaaaaaaah! Just how broken have you become? Can you really still call yourself a Divine Realm-class ground fortress after this? Even if it was only temporary repairs, to be this powerless?”
“Kiiiiiing—! Kiiiiiing—! Kiiiiiiiiiiing—!”
‘It’s not that I’m weak. That woman is the monster. Please scold her like last time.’
“Enough with the excuses. Stay like that as punishment for a while.”
The tremendous majesty it had shown when it first appeared was gone. The giant wolf god had been reduced to the goddess’s plaything, flying through the air with a pitiful expression.