The Title That Defies Creation
The Creator General’s twenty-seven pairs of wings of light blazed back into existence across the Spirit Realm War, slamming once more into Almighty Hwi and the Sage of Omniscience. Yet the tide had shifted from only moments ago, when the Sanctuary and those radiant wings had granted him absolute dominance.
Crack—! The bodies that met the wings of light were driven back, but unlike before they did not shear apart; only shallow cuts marred their skin. The reason was simple. Wings fueled by two trillion divine power could no longer harm a physique reinforced by a Title. Origin’s fully activated Title was nullifying the Sanctuary itself and beginning to erode it in return.
The Creator General’s divine-power nullification against the God Race had vanished. Origin’s Title poured forth endless life force and potential, healing every wound the instant it appeared and making the body stronger by that same measure. The damage dealt by the wings of light simply faded away, and the impact of each subsequent strike grew weaker. The body was adapting, evolving, growing stronger with every blow.
Neither Almighty Hwi nor the Sage of Omniscience could hide their astonishment.
To exclude even the effect of the Creator General’s Sanctuary is already monstrous. And yet with nothing more than ability support, both his defense and offense have reached near parity with a true Creator General.
What stunned them even more was that this wide-area support authority extended not only to themselves but to every High Lord God on the field—an unprecedented feat. Above all, the fact that it had caught up to and now surpassed the Creator General’s own development speed, something they had once believed impossible, left them speechless.
Are Titles truly this powerful? I always thought they were nothing but flashy ornaments. This changes everything.
It was a completely open Title, wasn’t it? I heard that those who possess one only invoke it as a final desperate measure when forced into hopeless combat against an opponent at least two circles above them. The absolute beings who bear Titles do so while accepting his eternal judgment—and every single one of them received a verdict worse than death.
Even so… to reach this level? The growth ceiling and development speed we believed were the absolute limits of the God Race are accelerating. We’re matching a Creator General. No—we’re exceeding him. Dealing with him is becoming easier by the second.
The Almighty Race’s fate is now at stake. We must reevaluate everything. I originally planned to simply report the child’s abilities and extend an invitation, but this is no longer a matter that ends with a polite suggestion. We must secure him by any means necessary.
Huh?
Almighty Hwi tilted his head at the Sage of Omniscience’s words. The Almighty Race was the combined force of the Almighty God Tribe and the Almighty Demon Tribe under their joint leadership. In a universe overflowing with lethal verification wars, simply surviving and prospering required more than the power of the God Race alone. That was why one of them had become a Demon God, obtained the power of the Demon Tribe, and built their own faction. Together they had supported each other as allies in the verification wars until they stood among the dominant races of this local universe.
The division of authority was equal. The male gods fell under his command while the goddesses were managed by the Sage of Omniscience; that had been the condition of their alliance. Since male gods tended to be stronger in raw divinity and female demons stronger in demonic power, it had been a rational arrangement. So why was she suddenly speaking of something else?
This is a racial development authority on par with or even exceeding that of Lord Sangharama, the Creator General of the 499th Master Universe. It must be secured at all costs.
What—? That’s impossible. How can it be compared to Lord Creator General’s authority? He’s only a Preliminary Creator God weaker than us.
Individual strength is irrelevant. Compared to Sangharama’s Title that only supports the God Race, the effect is slightly lower, but it doesn’t discriminate by race. As long as fighting spirit remains, it guarantees infinite life force and endlessly raises potential until the user surpasses their opponent. That is the true nature of Origin’s Title as I understand it. It offers almost no direct combat support, yet it is specialized for growth and survival. Moreover, because it is a wide-area authority rather than a personal one, its power is enough to shake the entire hierarchy of every faction in every Master Universe. And the most terrifying part is…
Clang—! Crackle—!
The Creator General’s wings of light smashed into Origin’s body only to bounce off harmlessly. The physique had been reinforced to the point where dodging was no longer necessary. The Creator General’s face twisted in shock. He hastily widened the distance, his voice escaping in a groan.
“Is this some kind of divine-power immunity on the same level as the Sanctuary? Such an authority cannot exist. You two are undoubtedly absurdly powerful Origins, but you are not Creator Gods! How is this possible? Answer me—what kind of authority is that?”
Yet what the two of them found even more astonishing was the change in their own bodies.
The physique that was once helplessly shredded by the Creator General’s wings of light due to the overwhelming gap in divinity and divine power now doesn’t sustain a single wound.
Even though we have learned his secrets, there is still nearly a two-circle difference.
With the support of the Defense God Realm and the temporary sharing of vitality from the direct descendants of the disposed Creator Gods, their divine power had reached roughly five hundred billion. Their opponent, however, possessed over two trillion—approaching three trillion. A sixfold gap. Under normal circumstances such near-nullification should have been impossible.
The All-Powerful Splendor can only handle up to a threefold difference.
Therefore, while fatal wounds are avoided, serious injuries cannot be completely prevented.
Yet now even that had changed. A faint glow of the Title shimmered across the body parts that had just repelled the wings.
It is strengthening each individual’s unique authorities.
It is not a uniform buff like Sangharama’s.
Now they were certain. This was an authority of immeasurable value to any God of War.
It maximizes each person’s unique traits and reinforces them without limit.
There is no more terrifying characteristic than this.
The fact that it could strengthen and develop not only the God Race but any being possessing strange and mighty authorities meant its variety and potential were beyond comparison. The resulting leap in combat power was enormous. The proof stood before them: the two strongest abilities they possessed—their bodies that had mastered his secrets—had now reached a level of near-immortality.
They had once given up on the next stage of Incomprehensible Eight Founders, believing it impossible. Now, with this level of life-force and potential correction, success no longer seemed out of reach.
“No. This is evolution of the body itself. A physique that refused to stop struggling despite countless wounds has simply grown stronger.”
“Ah—! Enemy, kindly refrain from giving helpful explanations. This is a battlefield, not a tea party. Conversation is unnecessary. Since the light wings, our primary divine-power ability, no longer have any effect, only direct combat remains. Shall we test the close-quarters prowess of the Creator General of the 500th Master Universe? I hope you’ll forgive us for coming at you two-on-one. After all, you are a full Creator General while we are merely at the Preliminary Creator God level, yes? Shall we call this full power deployment?”
“Fair enough. Then let us finish this.”
At the Sage of Omniscience’s words, Almighty Hwi nodded and raised his hands to his chest, clenching both fists. With the absurdly combat-specialized protection of his Title and fighting alongside the Sage of Omniscience—someone he had survived countless verification wars with—losing here would shatter his pride in having mastered those secrets.
That his secrets stand above even a Creator General’s divinity needs no explanation.
If we are defeated here, the dream of restoring our race to its former glory as the supreme clan will remain nothing but a dream.
Then they would be remembered not as rulers of their race but as traitors and tyrants. Rather than live with such a verdict, they would rather die. Their resolve hardened.
Creak—!
Merely clenching his fists and moving his arms warped the surrounding space, releasing a hair-raising roar. Bones and muscles strained to their utmost limits, the resulting aura shaking reality itself.
If I land a clean hit, I can pulverize a Creator God of the 499th Master Universe into dust, regardless of who it is.
The thirteen pairs of wings of light—proof of his status as a Preliminary Creator God—were converted into pure bodily reinforcement as he prepared for battle. The strengthening of his physique continued to distort reality, generating constant thunderous booms and vibrations.
The anomalous phenomena caused by the Sage of Omniscience’s bodily reinforcement were even more intense. A screech like metal tearing filled the air as demonic power so deep it could no longer be called darkness gathered at her fingertips. Razor-sharp obsidian claws materialized. Every ounce of her demonic power had been concentrated there; her hair had reverted to brilliant golden strands, and even the black obsidian horns upon her head now gleamed with golden light.
This was the most basic yet ultimate technique of the Demon Race—pushing every last drop of demonic power and physical ability to their absolute limit. Very few Demon Race members possessed both the demonic-power control and the physique necessary to concentrate and maintain such power in a single body part to the degree that they could temporarily revert to a God Race state.
Of course, without having learned his secrets, the Sage of Omniscience could never have reached this level either.
It is so ordinary it doesn’t even have a name, yet because its power increases exponentially with mastery of demonic power and physical strength, most demons use it. To me, however, having mastered his secrets, it is an ultimate technique.
The destructive and offensive power was so great that one could say the Sage of Omniscience had chosen the Demon Race solely for this ability. In terms of raw attack power alone, it rivaled that of a Demon Emperor. Unfortunately, because her defensive capabilities were only at the level of a Preliminary Creator God while Almighty Hwi’s were at Creator General level, she had spent ten thousand years as a pathetic Demon King candidate who kept getting paired against him in verification wars.
Of course, after she had methodically sliced apart every arrogant Demon King who had once looked down on her, such gazes had disappeared.
She gazed at the extreme demonic-power claws now hovering before her with rapturous eyes and spoke.
“Even the Substitute Gods, who are nearly invincible against divine and demonic power of equal or lower rank, will be split cleanly in two and killed instantly if struck directly. Against gods affected by the God-Slaying authority it naturally results in annihilation, and weaker beings are simply erased. I’m quite curious—what will happen to a Creator General?”
“Damn it—! Don’t point that thing at me. I’m an ally right now, not a verification war opponent.”
Almighty Hwi grumbled and hastily dodged away from the front of the claws. After suffering from them so many times, the reaction was pure reflex.
Other demons use similar techniques, but none reach this level. The problem is that when the Sage of Omniscience—who has mastered his secrets—uses it, it evolves into one of the Demon Race’s ultimate techniques. Even a graze is enough to inflict fatal wounds on gods.
And now that it was further reinforced by Origin’s Title, which amplified personal traits, the sight alone was enough to make one’s breath catch.
Anyone without the same secrets would be unable to endure it. A direct hit would mean certain death. Even in verification wars I could never find an opening to attack because I was too busy desperately dodging that.
It was precisely why Almighty Hwi, considered the strongest Preliminary Creator God among the God Race, always ended up as a bloody rag. Even so, the Sage of Omniscience could not completely surpass him.
If the Demon Race specializes in attack power, the God Race specializes in defensive power and physical might. I have reached the end of that path. No matter how supreme the attack, it cannot overcome the ultimate defense.
If he could endure her strike for even a brief moment and land a counter, the Sage of Omniscience would be finished. A killing blow always created an opening, and the Demon Race’s weak defense could never withstand a counterattack made with one’s life on the line.
Just like the eternal fate of conflict between the God Race and Demon Race, we have fought ten thousand years of verification wars filled with endless checks and unfavorable matchups, resulting in a draw. The development we gained through that process has been enormous. At the very least, I am confident that my combat power now surpasses that of an ordinary Creator God.
Had Almighty Hwi not received such overwhelming grace from his current direct Creator God during the early days of the race’s restoration, he would never have tolerated being beaten so often. In fact, he had secretly crushed a few arrogant Creator Gods, and there had been no ordinary Creator God who could surpass him in pure combat power.
Even against a Creator General I have nothing to fear—especially one who has grown soft from peace and comfort.
He lightly swept the fist he had raised to his chest through the empty air, preparing his attack. Crack—! Crunch—! His left fist, clenched lightly, pointed toward the Creator General while his right remained at his waist. An extremely simple method—block with the left, strike with the right—yet within it there was no possibility of defeat.
The God Race’s ultimate technique is nothing complicated. It is transcendence of limits through the reinforcement of reality itself. That is why I chose bodily reinforcement, and the result has been perfect success.
Having learned his secrets and transcended the limits of the God Race through reality reinforcement, his body could now withstand even the attacks of the Substitute Gods. The moment an opponent created an opening while attacking, he would counter with full power and shatter them into pieces.
That is how I have been able to destroy any being above the level of a Creator God no matter what authorities they possessed, and even deal with the Substitute Gods. Of course, there were times I nearly died doing so.
But that was the true strength of the God Race—pushing the fundamentals to their absolute limit. He could endure any attack from a Creator General and deliver the finishing blow.
Having completed their combat preparations, Almighty Hwi and the Sage of Omniscience spoke as if reciting an incantation together.
“There are no shortcuts to strength. Only endless training. The reinforcement of fundamentals is strength itself, and the repetition of fundamentals is the true secret.”
The moment the divine words left their mouths, fighting spirit far beyond anything they had shown before surged around them. It was the most basic secret and guiding principle of his, known to every powerful being currently engaged in verification wars within the 499th Master Universe.
He released every piece of information about all his secrets to accelerate development. Every being clung to it madly, but soon all gave up.
Because endlessly training the fundamentals was too painful, too boring, and progress was too slow. It was far more effective to accumulate divine power through faith, absorb vitality, and strengthen the body and authorities instead. So everyone eventually returned to those methods.
But the two of them had been different. As a fallen Almighty God Tribe that had experimentally—and half-forcibly—learned his secrets and used that power to stand at the pinnacle of their race, they had nothing else to believe in.
A dying race with no vitality left to absorb and no believers left to offer faith. If things continued as they were, more than half the race would wither away and perish.
They had even regretted not rebelling and simply running away to live freely. But they were the ones who had eliminated all the highest-ranking gods, and once the verification with the Divine Realm was complete, escape was no longer possible.
The fate of a Main God who abandoned his race was to be met with endless distrust—harsher than that of a mercenary god. Therefore they had gritted their teeth, thrown themselves into mercenary battles, and trained while believing only in those words. That was how they had reached this point.
By training until almost no being could surpass them in basic ability alone, they had reached a level where equals were laughable and even Creator Gods could be surpassed.
Had they relied clumsily on authorities, they would not have lasted even a moment against this Creator General.
A Creator General could wield every authority of every god under his command to their utmost limit. The Creator General’s face began to harden with tension as he finally started to understand.
This is ridiculous—! I, a Creator General and the Origin of all God Race, cannot learn their authorities? Does their basic ability already surpass mine? No matter how great his secrets are, this should be impossible. Yet the results speak for themselves.
Only now did he realize that their strength was not based on any simple authority.
The fundamentals of their bodies and authorities are abnormally strong. That alone clearly surpasses me.
To think one could grow this strong through nothing but physical training made him feel foolish for having focused solely on strengthening authorities after believing he had reached his limit long ago.
If I take a direct hit from their bodies as they claim, I will never be able to endure it.
The combat senses he had gained from two previous battles now screamed with a chilling premonition of defeat.
But I cannot lose. If I fall here, the entire God Race of the 500th Master Universe will be pushed aside by the Substitute Gods and disappear. No—if I disappoint the Creator Lords any further, we may all be disposed of.
Crunch—! Rip—!
Blood flowed from the Creator General’s tightly bitten lip.
It would have been less humiliating to have fought and died against Sangharama of the 499th Master Universe.
If he were to lose to another Creator General whose innate divine power surpassed ten trillion and who could stand proudly before the Creator Lords, there would be no shame in it. That had been his original plan.
The invasion of territory is an unforgivable crime for the God Race, the administrators of the universe. Any being that intrudes illegally must be disposed of without exception. The power gap between myself and Sangharama is so vast that I would surely die.
Even while prepared for death, he had harbored one single desire. A Creator General could manifest every authority possessed by every god under his command. There were some restrictions, but most God Race authorities were available to him. The same rule naturally applied between Creator Generals, though restrictions still existed.
Normal transmission is possible, but they will never teach without demanding a price. God Race authorities determine the hierarchy of Master Universes, and one never knows when the Creator Lords’ conflicts might turn them into enemies.
But there was an exception.
Creator Generals can acquire each other’s authorities through combat. Acquiring abilities through battle with Sangharama of the 499th had been the true purpose of this war.
Normal methods had already led to the conclusion that his own Master Universe—soon to become the 500th—could not prepare countermeasures against the Substitute Gods in time. Therefore he had resolved to sacrifice himself in battle against the 499th Master Universe’s Creator General, who had been engaged in equal combat for eons, in order to acquire the powerful authorities of the gods here.
In the worst case I would die, but I had confidence I could survive. Even if I were extinguished, I had prepared to send the authorities acquired through combat to my successor.
It had been a war waged with truly desperate resolve. Yet here he was, a Creator General feeling his life threatened by mere Preliminary Creator Gods without even having glimpsed his true objective. There could be no greater humiliation.
I will use it. It doesn’t matter that the opponent is not the Emperor of the Demons. As long as I kill these two and break through the Defense God Realm, Sangharama will not step forward. No—he may already know my intentions. That is why he is not intervening directly and is instead orchestrating this all-out war.
He could sense countless Creator Gods gathering on the far side of the Defense God Realm.
Each one is a powerhouse comparable to me, and there are many even stronger.
The gap had widened so much without him noticing that the realization left him dizzy. Yet Creator Gods could never surpass a Creator General.
If they manifest their authorities to attack me, I simply learn and nullify them. As the pinnacle of the God Race, I cannot be killed or extinguished by any wound inflicted by gods.
No matter how many times he was defeated, if he endured and endured, he would grow endlessly stronger, and that strength would flow back into his entire God Race.
That is what I desire, and that is the true power of a Creator General—the Origin of the entire God Race. Yet the ones standing in my way are far too strange.
The fatal problem was that he could not learn the authorities of those who had trained only their innate divine power and bodies.
With my insufficient physical ability I cannot manifest their authorities. But that ends now.
He licked the blood from his lips. For the first time in a long while, excitement surged through him until his mind went white. Once the decision was made, even the sense of crisis vanished cleanly. Therefore he declared to them:
“I shall show you the true power of a Creator General. I wished to pay proper respect to your strength and fight you fairly to the end, but there is something I must do.”
The Creator General’s suddenly relaxed demeanor caused the Sage of Omniscience’s expression to freeze in shock even as she prepared to reply lightly. She had seen what was happening in the enemy’s main camp behind him.
“Haah? Where did this sudden composure come from? More importantly… what the hell is that? Is that even possible?”
“Hm? What is—huuuurk—! I must be losing my mind. What exactly am I looking at right now?”
Their eyes widened so greatly they momentarily forgot the Creator General before them. Reflected in their pupils was a vortex of stars that had swallowed the entire enemy main camp, which had been spread across nearly the whole local universe. And along with it came the voice of the Magic God of Dimensions, overflowing with madness.
“Kuhahahahahat—! Finally, jackpot! Life really is all about one big score. No matter how hard you crawl on the floor and struggle to survive, it’s still barely enough to stay alive. I wanted to give up so many times, but I stubbornly held on and kept getting stronger. Looks like it was the right choice. The day I finally see the light has come. So all of you who lived comfortably until now—go ahead and die.”
When the opponent before him froze in shock, the Creator General hurriedly turned his head toward the massive wave of divine power and enormous impact coming from behind. His face stiffened with horror as he grasped the situation at the main camp. He was utterly stunned by what the Preliminary Creator God who had attacked him and fled earlier was now doing. And he realized that this war had already grown far beyond what he alone could handle.
The main camp was about to be annihilated in one strike.
That power and authority must never be allowed to exist.
What had begun as a small war to obtain the powerful authorities of the gods of the 499th Master Universe and prove the value of the God Race’s existence to the Creator Lords had already escaped his control. This had become an all-out war between Master Universes. A great war upon which the fate of all God Race hung, one from which there could be no retreat.
I was prepared for an all-out war, but only to a certain line where both sides could still yield. This war was started to obtain enough strength to fight the Substitute Gods while accepting some sacrifice and territorial loss. It was never meant to be a war of mutual annihilation between God Races.
Since the territory would be taken by the Substitute Gods anyway, he had planned to hand it over to the 499th Master Universe, avoid the front lines, and build up strength. The Master Universe was vast, with countless uncharted regions. No matter how strong they were, completely subjugating it would require at least several hundred million years of war. Through negotiation they could adjust terms and reach an acceptable agreement.
Even if negotiation failed, the potential of each Master Universe was nearly identical. If he passed on the authorities he acquired through combat to his gods, they could grow equally strong. The result would be the same.
But if the main camp was annihilated, they would truly have to fight to the bitter end here.
“Stop it—! You wicked, vicious bastard—! What the hell is a God Race doing—! Even the Demon Race wouldn’t go this far!”
“Kahahahahaha—! Thank you for the compliment. But I’d be even more grateful if you added ‘the greatest’ in front of it. On the battlefield, there is no more accurate evaluation than the hatred one receives from the enemy. Kuhahahahahahaha—!”
“You… you madman! And a God Race possessing such an authority? All the gods here are insane. Stop it this instant!”
Communication was truly impossible.