Ginnungagap: The Void of Absolute Annihilation

The battle in the Spirit Realm was ending far more quickly than expected. The spirit gods—whose authority manifestation was restricted while their vitality was being drained within the Spirit Realm—could not possibly overcome the battle goddesses who had trained desperately against upper main gods and the primordial war gods. With the explosive activation of the battle goddesses' authorities, the spirit gods lost their endurance due to their frail bodies and were steadily overwhelmed.

"Didn't you say the current power gap between the Divine Realm's war gods and the spirit gods was four to one? It looks like the gods of the Divine Realm are actually stronger."

"That was my mistake. I judged the battle goddesses' full strength as merely equal to main gods of the same rank."

The immediate reply from the Divine Realm's ego carried a clear note of inadequacy. After all, this is a Divine Realm filled with secrets the Main Divine Realm designed from the ground up and then forbade anyone from touching. It seemed bound by restrictions that prevented it from rebelling against the Main Divine Realm or causing any negative effects.

"Fine. You must have your reasons. But answer one thing clearly. Can I handle the combined forces of the spirit gods and the Divine Realm's gods? Use all hidden power as the baseline."

"Calculating."

After a long silence, the answer came.

"The odds of victory are five to ten."

"Only fifty percent? For me? Against main gods, I only have a fifty percent chance?"

Whoosh—!

In a surge of fury, he unleashed all his power. There was no longer any point in holding back. Every detail of his full-force battle against the otherworld spirit gods in the Spirit Realm had already been reported to the Main Divine Realm.

The official position of preliminary creator god—not temporary—was granted to me right there on the Spirit Realm battlefield.

Yet the assessment of only fifty percent odds refused to change. A request for Hwi of Omniscience to join the battlefield had even arrived, but he ignored it.

The unfavorable surrounding conditions are bad enough, but the biggest issue is the critical weakness of a magic-type main god against opponents of equal or higher rank. Activating magic capable of dealing fatal damage to such foes requires an incantation, and they will never grant that time.

The proof stood in Lokina. Even with the Dimensional Lord's full support, her abilities as a fellow magic-type main god nearly surpassed those of an upper main god—yet she had still been defeated by two intermediate main gods. If Hwi of Omniscience, who stood above even the Dimensional Lord, charged into a battlefield where even the demon king candidate had been mobilized and the situation was already dire, his chance of death would exceed ninety percent.

Without the reward from the Substitute Gods' authentication battle, I cannot recover from death's damage, and I absolutely cannot die.

Yet a magic-type main god only grew more advantageous to her allies the more time she was given, making her the highest-priority target on any battlefield. The greater problem was that her very conception of war differed fundamentally from that of ordinary war gods.

It is the basic nature of those who master magic to seize victory by any means necessary if even the slightest chance exists.

That was why two battle goddesses of equal power were rushing to deal with Lokina in such a manner.

Rumble!

Whoosh!

Beyond the screen, Lokina was gritting her teeth in a desperate struggle, her body already battered by Torina and Granraha's lightning authorities.

The blazing rage in her eyes suggests she's no longer in her right mind. After all, she's suffering a crushing defeat in a battle where she held the clear advantage against a longtime rival.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sword of fire burned so fiercely it began to lose its shape, radiating blinding light. Massive runes floated in the air, manifesting her magic.

That mighty spell is contained within the divine instrument of the fire sword itself, allowing for a surprise strike that requires no incantation time—leaving no room for a response.

Rumble! Boom!

Granraha and Torina, who had been pressing the close-quarters assault while scattering lightning, were blasted backward, gasping for air. The attack had contained enough firepower in an instant to reduce even a main god to ash.

Hahahahaha—!

The fire sword disintegrated, giving birth to an absurdly colossal fire world tree. Its flaming branches swept across every battle goddess before it. In a single instant, the entire battlefield was consumed by flames and reduced to ash.

The battle goddesses, who had frantically redirected all their authorities into defense, recoiled in horror.

"Firepower surpassing the sun god? That is nearly creator god level authority."

"I nearly turned to ash."

Such was the reaction of ordinary gods, but the administrative battle goddesses responded differently. They burned with indignation upon realizing that the transcendental divine instrument—which had been emitting wide-area firepower threatening enough to endanger them—had been extinguished in a single strike.

They already knew these were the spirit gods newly recruited by the Dimensional Lord.

It may resemble a civil war born from past grudges, but in the end they are all resources and vitality belonging to the Divine Realm.

Yet the highest-grade divine instruments, whose production cost and quantity far exceed the norm, are vanishing senselessly just to restrain the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enemy.

If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the attack had achieved any meaningful effect, they might have let it slide, but the opponent remained completely unharmed. Their eyes were already spinning from the vitality being consumed to replenish the empty Divine Realm; watching such expensive divine instruments being squandered so recklessly made their teeth grind.

Yet because of the sins they had committed and the matter of face, they were in no position to beg the highest main god of the Divine Realm—the Dimensional Lord—for help. In the end, they had been saving every drop to develop the Divine Realm, only for the magic main god to demonstrate the height of wastefulness.

"She's treating an instrument of that caliber like a consumable? In terms of vitality, how much is that even worth?"

"Huh? How much?"

When Torina asked with genuine confusion, the administrative battle goddesses' faces hardened into something truly terrifying. The target of the magic battle goddess's growing grudge was Torina herself.

The other spirit main gods who attacked us out of personal resentment were weak anyway, so subduing them is nearly finished.

But the magic battle goddess who harbors such deep resentment toward Torina is growing more frenzied by the moment.

They could not fathom how much grudge one would need to accumulate to drive the normally cool-headed and rational magic main god into such a rage. No matter how one looked at it, her abilities clearly outranked Torina's—yet she was winning and still alive, which was equally abnormal.

"The vitality contained in that fire sword's divine instrument equals more than one year's operating budget for the entire Divine Realm."

"Ten thousand years of your compensation as Divine Realm management main god just vanished."

"Stop her right now—!"

"We're barely turning a profit as it is—what the hell is this?"

"My ten thousand years of compensation? Haaak!"

Torina's mouth fell open. Speechless, she stared at the fire world tree hammering against her defensive barrier and shouted.

"That thing really—! With a rich patron backing her, she's spending money like it's nothing. She did this before, but it's gotten even worse. Wait—what the—? There's another one?"

Hahaha—!

What had once again appeared in Lokina's hand was a sword identical in shape to the fire sword she had just expended. The only difference was that its core element was ice rather than flame.

The faces of the battle goddesses, helplessly trapped by the wide-area attack of the fire world tree, turned deathly pale.

The defensive barrier they had created together was barely enduring the flame magic manifested by that fire divine instrument.

If an attack of the opposing attribute struck now, they would be unable to avoid fatal damage.

Yet releasing the barrier would mean instant incineration by the flame authority.

Lokina wore an expression colder than the chill radiating from her ice sword. She looked down arrogantly at the battle goddesses holding out within the domain of fire and spoke.

"I will clearly show you just how terrifying a magic main god with an infinite budget can be. Time was short and my subordinates incompetent, so I could only prepare one. But it is truly refreshing not to have to worry about insufficient funds like in the past. Now, I will thoroughly crush you first—the one who always acted so superior before me."

"Lo... Lokina, we're sworn sisters. We've fought together as comrades on countless battlefields. Now that we're in the same divine realm, let's get along again."

Faced with the approaching crisis and the glares of the surrounding battle goddesses, Torina had no choice but to attempt negotiation.

However, Lokina responded with a refreshing sneer.

"Hah? Sworn sisters? Comrades? Oh dear, was that how it was? Your words and actions treated me like a mortal enemy, but your heart felt differently, is that it? Yet at every war council you refused to listen to my plans, called them boring, smashed the table with your hammer, and charged straight at the enemy. Do you know how many headaches I suffered saving you every time you transformed into a berserker and rampaged through the enemy lines? And then at the victory celebration you got angry because I saved you late and used you as bait? You don't even remember that thanks to you, my position was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely ruined despite our victory? In the end, because you were the only one besides Odin I acknowledged and trusted, I ended up like this."

Shuuuung—!

The ice sword sliced through the flame authority and came crashing down.

"So now, just die."

"!!!"

Watching the ice sword descend slowly toward them, the battle goddesses' faces darkened further. A phenomenon of mutual annihilation was occurring where the ice sword met the fire authority. Being caught in it would result in a destructive force powerful enough to annihilate their very bodies.

Crack! Craaaaack!

From the ice sword that had collided with the battle goddesses' unified barrier, a transparent, colossal world tree sprouted. It merged with the fire world tree as thick fog spread to envelop the entire Divine Realm and all the battle goddesses.

Then the authorities of fire and ice burned everything within the space to ash, froze it solid, ground it into powder, and scattered it.

Hahahaha—! Shuhahaha—!

Satisfied smiles formed as the primordial war gods and spirit gods fled desperately in both directions to escape the magic authority that tore apart and decomposed everything—tangible or intangible—into fine dust.

Hoho! No main god can possibly survive inside that. It's completely finished.

With this she had proven her power to the Divine Realm and the spirit gods. By easily disposing of them, she could claim the now-vacant position of Divine Realm management main god as well.

Now I just need to appoint the somewhat useful ones among the spirit god kings or spirit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠main gods and operate the Divine Realm. It will be smooth sailing. Although their bodies and power are lacking, their main god divinity is actually higher than the others, so development should proceed even more smoothly.

In a normal battle, Lokina would not have stepped forward directly in such a risky manner. She would have mobilized the entire army and subdued them with ease. However, no matter how much command authority she had received from the main god of the Divine Realm, if the troops did not follow her with their hearts, their full power would not emerge.

If I do not display strength that surpasses all the battle goddesses, those scoundrels and dropouts—the spirit gods—will never obey me.

That was why she had chosen to step forward personally rather than push with the full army.

Although the intermediate main gods appeared powerful, I judged that with the support of the Dimensional Lord's authority as a preliminary creator god and my magic authority, even upper main gods would not be a match. Yet facing just two of them nearly put me in real danger.

They were intermediate main gods capable of threatening even upper main gods. The fact that they had survived with such notoriety was strange enough that the only explanation was pure survival through strength.

But this was the end.

I have cleanly settled the grudges of the past and seized the power of the Divine Realm.

With the Dimensional Lord's trust secured, the situation for taking over the Divine Realm was now perfect.

Lokina offered a silent prayer for her past rival and the battle goddesses now sinking into the thick fog.

But her expression soon twisted viciously. From within the fusion of fire and ice—an attribute mixture no main god should be able to endure—a roar erupted.

"Grind—! Who the hell said farewell—? You think we'd hand over the Divine Realm we built through blood and sweat to someone like you who just popped up? If that's the case, we'd rather destroy it with our own hands. If this is your ultimate magic, then victory belongs to us!"

Rumble! Boom!

Along with Torina's teeth-grinding shout from within the fog, a chilling roar and explosive sound began to echo.