The Weight of Absolute Power

In the Spirit Realm, amid the chaos of war, the heart of the Absolute Realm—his personal sanctum, the center of all things—wafted with the rich, fragrant aroma of fine liquor. Glug glug glug—! A stream of alcohol poured from thin air into a cup, which a boy with an unremarkable face promptly drained in one smooth motion. He made no effort to hide the smile spreading across his lips.

His gaze remained fixed on the colossal image floating before him, laughter bubbling up without pause. The child he had once deemed worthy of receiving 8-Circle dimensional magic, tailored precisely to his standards, had grown into this. 'He promised to repay me for my help. Impressed by his courage, I even granted him the title of Origin.'

Only a little over a century had passed since then. Yet according to the reports from the special-class Brain God he had contracted with upon reaching the Creator Candidate stage, the boy had grown into a force capable of activating an Absolute-grade Karma Contract in a battle that should have been an assured defeat, staking everything on the outcome.

'Beings like him are incredibly precious. Only those who struggle desperately to turn the impossible into reality can surpass limits and advance the universe.'

That was why he had willingly paused his training to watch the fight in person, even preparing drinks for the occasion. The way he held his cup, however, was anything but ordinary. Without releasing the wooden training sword gripped in his right hand, he balanced the cup atop the back of that same hand, filling and drinking from it with practiced ease.

The wide, plate-like vessel perched precariously on his hand never wavered, faithfully performing its duty without the slightest tremble. It was filled, brought to his lips, emptied, and the cycle repeated—all while remaining utterly motionless, as if painted into the scene. This was his long-standing habit: staying in a state where he could swing his sword at any moment, even while enjoying his drink.

'Though there is no longer anyone strong enough to wound me, letting my guard down would be foolish.'

He simply continued growing stronger through relentless training, as he had for eons. Once the cup on the back of his hand was completely empty, he sent it back into the void, rested the wooden sword casually against his right shoulder, and settled into a comfortable stance to watch the screen. He felt a rare surge of genuine interest, eagerly anticipating a battle intense enough to trigger an Absolute-grade Karma Contract.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Hwi of Omnipotence could not comprehend what was happening right now.

'The situation is at its worst. My body is nearly shattered, just like the enemy's, but I can't keep up with the Creator General's recovery rate at all.'

The Creator General had been almost obliterated by their joint ultimate technique, Ayuta, yet he had already recovered enough to continue fighting. Meanwhile, Hwi of Omnipotence and the Sage of Omniscience were left in such a ruined state from the mere ten percent recoil of failing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to finish him off that they could barely move. It was maddening.

'On top of that, full command authority was suddenly transferred to the Mercenary God by the Creator God, and something has happened in the Divine Realm. Ten of the High Lord Gods I left in charge of defending our main base have vanished.'

The incoming reports left him utterly stunned.

'To casually execute the direct bloodlines of the Creator Gods and freely exploit their vitality and divine spirits... He has no fear. No—he's completely insane.'

Most unbelievable of all was that the Creator God, despite the near-certain defeat, had ignored him—the strongest among the Creator Candidates and the one who had served faithfully for over ten thousand years—to hand command over to a mere Mercenary God who was also a Candidate. It was absurd.

'Just what the hell is going on here?'

He had heard and seen that many of the Mercenary Gods were lunatics, but this was on another level. Executing all the direct descendants of the Creator Gods? And doing so while they were being directly observed? Then imprisoning even their divine spirits? Was he truly trying to burn every bridge?

'Aaaah—! I don't know anymore—! Let the gods deal with their own mess—! Damn it—! The Creator General's recovery is almost complete.'

The Sage of Omniscience sucked in a sharp, urgent breath. The enemy had nearly finished preparing for battle; his twenty-seven pairs of wings of light had fully regenerated. The two of them, however, had only managed to restore their physical forms.

'Hwi of Omnipotence, whose divine race has weaker regenerative power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than the Demon Race, has only recovered about half. He can't fight like this.'

Without both of them, they could never hope to defeat the Creator General, yet he was already shifting into full combat stance and preparing to move. Fortunately, the 500th Master Universe's Creator General seemed unaware that their bodies had been shattered by the recoil of the joint technique. From the outside, they had appeared perfectly fine.

'We're not fully recovered, yet he's about to resume the fight.'

'His face is flushed with rage, on the verge of losing control, but his reason remains intact.'

The 500th Master Universe's Creator General was slowly preparing for an all-out battle using his full power. In many cases, experience from countless battles held more weight than high divinity or raw ability. Acknowledging this, he was finally revealing his true strength.

'Tsk tsk—! Now he's finally acting like a true God of War. As expected of a Creator General. His growth rate is terrifyingly fast.'

'When he first stepped onto the battlefield as a fledgling, I should have killed him no matter what. Instead, I feared injury and ended up like this. I cherished his body, which had learned my secret techniques, too much. By avoiding the truth that he grows stronger with every fight, injury, and recovery, this is the result.'

Hwi of Omnipotence clicked his tongue, desperately trying to force his body to recover enough to fight. But the 'Sanctuary' deployed by the 500th Master Universe's Creator General was the biggest problem. The 'Sanctuary' activated by a Creator General—the pinnacle of the divine race—nullified most attacks from gods and even weakened their recovery. That was why the Sage of Omniscience, who had returned to being a Demon King candidate, had finished recovering, while Hwi of Omnipotence had only managed half.

'At this rate, even the body that learned his secret techniques is useless.'

Whooooosh—!

Even with an incompletely healed body, the Creator General seemed to follow his combat instincts. He spread all twenty-seven pairs of wings of light wide once more, concentrating his divine power. A direct hit from that would be impossible for a mere Creator Candidate to withstand. It would be the end.

Oooooooong—!

The Sage of Omniscience drew her demonic power to its absolute limit and took a step forward.

'Hwi of Omnipotence can't fight right now, so I have no choice but to step up while I'm still mostly intact.'

She gathered her fingers, compressing her power to the maximum, vanishing at incredible speed while preparing to exploit the countless openings she could still see.

'He's coming straight at us. I'll block him first. You focus on accelerating your recovery.'

'I'm sorry. Just hold on a little longer.'

The Sage of Omniscience knew all too well that while she could handle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a reckless rookie who relied solely on high divine power, her current injuries made it impossible to do anything meaningful against a Creator General. She was paying a brutal price for underestimating just how powerful the Sanctuary would be at nullifying divine attacks. The frustration was mounting.

Worse, the 500th Master Universe's Creator General knew he couldn't match them in close combat. He kept his distance, wielding a divine sword of light from his wings that consumed an enormous amount of power but delivered devastating range and force, gradually pushing them back.

'A divine sword formed from wings of light? Any god of the same rank would have already exhausted their power and died, but with over two trillion in divine power—twenty times the norm—there's no sign of depletion at all.'

Most problematic were the Origins and Highest Creator Gods of the 500th Master Universe, providing parallel divine power connections and authority support to the Creator General from a safe rear position.

'Unless we eliminate them, even with support from the defensive divine system, we're still at a disadvantage.'

Moreover, judging by how things were unfolding, this battlefield had clearly been abandoned by the Creation Realm. The Sage of Omniscience found her rival Hwi of Omnipotence utterly detestable, yet he was still an ally during this certification battle. She had rushed to save him and the Almighty God Race, but if she died here too, the Almighty Demon Race might collapse as well. Her sense of crisis only grew sharper.

Then, suddenly, from the rear came an incantation accompanied by a surge of demonic power that even she could not ignore.

Whiiiiiiiiiir—! Craaaaaack—!

A deafening roar of twisting space echoed through the cosmic void. A Creator Candidate who had unleashed his full divine power burst past them, charging straight toward the Creator General.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr—!

Eighteen crimson jewels orbiting his body spun at blinding speed, slicing through space and grinding everything around them into dust. With that overwhelming momentum, he closed in on the Creator General, radiating ferocious fighting spirit and killing intent.

The problem was that no matter how generously one assessed him, he was still only a low-tier Creator Candidate with just over a hundred billion in innate divine power. Since he was no match at all, she shouted desperately.

'No matter how crazy a Mercenary God he is, he's still a powerful ally who buried ten High Lord Gods in an instant.'

She couldn't let him die so pointlessly. But even as the words left her mouth, the next sight left her jaw hanging open in shock.

Baaaaang!

Bababababababababang—!

Following the Creator ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Candidate who charged forward wrapped in eighteen spinning crimson jewels, countless compressed stars that filled the entire passage with blinding light trailed behind him.