The True Power of the Title

The gem that the Creator God had once named the Origin Spirit Realm in an attempt to claim it as his own personal domain, only to later rename it the Divine Spirit Purgatory out of pure spite, now burned hotter than a sun. It mercilessly wrung every last drop of authority and divinity from the captured divine spirits trapped within.

“Kuaaaaaaaaagh—!”

“Aaaaaaaaagh—!”

Even if their authorities were low and their minds foolish, these were still noble divine beings who had reached the rank of Creator God and ruled over their own sectors of the universe. Their shrieks rang out as they desperately fought against the forced domination of their powers.

Even after suffering irreversible humiliation, they stubbornly refused to lend their strength to the spear aimed at their own Master Universe. Yet the Dimensional Mage God’s computational magic power tore through their defenses, breaking them down and absorbing them into his own authority.

Their frantic resistance soon crumbled. As the integration of their powers completed, the growth of the Dimensional God’s wings of divine power accelerated dramatically. He had bulldozed straight through the countless resistances of the Origins, relying on the regenerative life force granted by the title of Origin.

“This is impossible!”

“He surpasses the authority of an Origin of the divine race in every field? A mere human-born god?”

“And he’s pushing back a god who has been divine for less than a century?”

“Just what the hell have we been doing all this time?”

“Is this the true power of a Title…?”

Along with the voices of the Origins, drowning in despair and futility, the wings of light—now bolstered by the stolen authorities—spread wide. They devoured the surrounding space of the universe.

The true nature of the “Dimension” chosen by the Dimensional Mage God was the creation of laws. Within his domain, he could now freely rewrite every rule of the current universe. Once the number of wings surpassed twelve and then twenty, the phenomenon accelerated even further. Eventually, he seized control over the majority of law alterations.

Both destruction and creation were now possible with nothing more than a single thought.

Watching this unfold, the Creator General of the 500th Master Universe was so shocked that his inner thoughts slipped out loud.

“Is this… the act of Genesis itself?”

The unfamiliar emotions surging through him brought to mind the highest ruling class—the Origins. Those arrogant beings who had blocked his every decision despite his supreme authority, living selfishly only for the benefit of their own clan.

“Those bastards who strutted around the Divine Realm acting like representatives of the highest divine race, refusing to help in a battle that would decide the fate of the entire Divine Realm. Not only did they get captured and turned into hostages, they’re now empowering the enemy to this ridiculous degree. And those pathetic Origins were the highest Creator Gods produced by the divine race I ruled over.”

The Origins of the divine race were literally the purification and origin of all authority. They were the strongest existences among the gods. The one who had so easily killed and imprisoned such Creator Gods was none other than Sangharama—the very god who had mocked him for accepting the humiliating role of a mercenary god and groveling for a Title.

He had even publicly denounced him as a disgrace to the Creator General for joining hands with the demon race, the scourge of the universe. Yet the actual result of their battle was this.

His face hardened. A chilling emotion he had never felt before washed over him.

It was self-loathing.

BOOOOOOOOM—!

With an earsplitting roar, the desk of the Creator General of the 499th Master Universe shattered into pieces. Documents flew everywhere. It was the result of the rage finally exploding from Sangharama, who had been waiting for nothing more than a brief defeat followed by the guaranteed prosperity that would come afterward.

In front of his eyes floated a document that had been urgently compiled, listing the official rankings of all Preliminary Creator Gods.

Providing divine power support required complete understanding of the recipient. If the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠data came from the Divine Realm’s ego, it should have been even more trustworthy. Naturally, he had believed it.

The Main Divine Realm and Creation Realm used such accurate data on the gathered gods to assign ranks and manage them. This system was the foundation of all development in the 499th Master Universe.

“Opportunities and support are distributed unequally according to rank. Speech rights and decision-making authority are also determined by rank. Therefore, an accurate ranking is the driving force that makes one aware of their position and strive to improve. Yet the Dimensional Mage God, who should at least be in the top ranks, is placed in the middle tier.”

Considering the power he had just displayed, it would be accurate to say he stood right below the direct bloodlines of all Creator Gods. That was why he was now roaring in fury and interrogating the Main Divine Realm and Creation Realm.

“Why is the official rank of that Preliminary Creator God 1,004th? Among the upper ranks of Preliminary Creator Gods, how many could possibly defeat the Dimensional Mage God? Answer me.”

Faced with the Creator General’s rage, the administrative gods of the Main Divine Realm could not even dare to reply. They simply knelt and prostrated themselves, hoping only for punishment. Sangharama ground his teeth.

“It’s obvious. The administrative gods intervened in the final evaluation and deliberately dropped his rank. Simply because he is a human-born god. They should know from countless past experiences just how much such behavior lowers the overall level of the Combat Gods, yet they still did this.”

Most of the extremely powerful mercenary-born gods of the 499th Master Universe had been unable to endure such discrimination and had left. Their strength was so great that even the highest Creator Gods could not afford to be careless around them. It was also the biggest reason why the 500th Master Universe was struggling so badly against mere Preliminary Creator Gods.

“The most fatal mistake was driving out or disposing of those who could have become the strongest Combat Gods during their growth period through discrimination and suppression, or forcing them to leave on their own, completely eliminating any exceptional powerhouses. Relying on the foolishness of other Master Universes, we have endured against the Substitute God Clan for over a billion years. And yet, because of this absurd prejudice against a human-born dark mage, we have reached this ridiculous situation.”

It had been a very long time since he had felt such violent emotional turbulence that his reason nearly flew away. Moreover, the explanatory data that came up only fueled his anger further.

“Compatibility with other divine races is reflected in the score? What compatibility? What effect does a divine power parallel connection have in battle against the Substitute God Clan? Only Combat Gods possessing authority above the Transcendent level can deliver fatal blows. That is exactly why I ordered all evaluations to be based purely on individual ability. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Origin and past do not matter. At this point, facing the decisive battle against the Substitute God Clan, such things are meaningless anyway. If we are defeated, we lose our territory and everything disappears into the Substitute God Clan. In this critical period, we need only powerful Combat Gods with overwhelming strength and authority. That was the measure I implemented. So what is this useless subjective evaluation? Who dared to alter my will as Creator General in the middle of the process? Was it you Origins? Or have the highest Creator Gods rebelled against me?”

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUMBLE—!

Killing intent surged like a storm toward the highest Creator Gods who had gathered after receiving deployment orders to sweep away the hidden forces of the 500th Master Universe. The pressure of 10 trillion divine power was on an entirely different level. It could annihilate an ordinary Creator God with nothing more than a ripple of energy.

Moreover, this 10 trillion was purely Innate Divine Power, not faith-based power, making it even more terrifying. In the Absolute Realm he ruled, his ability was already high enough that, given time, he could annihilate every Creator God. Above all, the authority of a Creator General who had kept the Substitute God Clan’s invasion—which no other Master Universe could withstand for even 100 million years—at bay for over a billion years carried even greater weight.

Therefore, the highest Creator Gods could not even think of resisting, let alone offer excuses. They remained completely silent.

Seeing their reaction, Sangharama’s fury peaked for a moment before he regained his reason and issued new orders.

“In the end, they are my subordinates. Their mistakes are my mistakes. They have faithfully followed me. This outcome is the result of corruption as orders passed down through lower organizations.”

The greatest responsibility lay in his own lax supervision. Or more accurately, it was the result of becoming complacent with past achievements.

“Above all, we don’t even properly know the enemy’s hidden forces, yet our own forces are also inaccurately assessed. To start a war with another Master Universe in this state is utter madness.”

He had to immediately reverify the strength of his own side.

The Creator General’s voice, now completely devoid of emotion, rang out. The highest Creator Gods, who knew that this calm state after his rage was the most terrifying, held their breath. Major catastrophes that shook the entire Master Universe always occurred at times like this. Ten billion years ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ago, the majority of Creator Gods and ruling clans had been purged in a similar incident.

After a brief silence, the reports from the Divine Realm ego began pouring in like a flood. The rankings started changing at a frightening pace.

The Creator Gods could only sigh and stare in disbelief at the scene.

“Aside from beings like the Almighty Hwi who has mastered his unique insight that no other Preliminary Creator God can touch, almost everyone’s position has been completely flipped.”

“The direct bloodlines have plummeted to the bottom, while the mercenary gods have risen to the top.”

The very top ranks, such as the Almighty Hwi, remained unchanged, but the scale of the upheaval was enormous. It only made sense. It would be strange if the direct bloodlines, who comfortably raised their divine power with support from their parent gods while managing the Divine Realm, were stronger than the mercenary gods who repeatedly fought brutal mercenary battles, barely sustaining the Divine Realm through the compensation they earned.

“I expected it to be bad, but this is too much.”

Although many powerful new Preliminary Creator Gods had appeared, everyone’s attention was focused on only one being—the Preliminary Creator God currently fighting on that battlefield.

His rank was 17th.

Nothing else registered in their eyes. Something was very wrong. There were plenty of gods who looked powerful and possessed this much authority. Yet the only thing visible in the final judgment was the single line declaring him Creator God tier.

“This is incomprehensible.”

“A mere ordinary Creator God tier could never produce such results.”

“To annihilate the Origins of the 500th Master Universe like that, he would need to be at least high-ranking Creator God tier or above.”

“No matter how weak, they are still Origins of the divine race.”

While Sangharama was lost in the same doubts, the one who had been quietly watching—Jinmyeol—finally opened his mouth. He was the only one among them who had survived the execution of an Absolute-grade Karma Contract, so his evaluation based on actual experience was the most accurate.

“The problem with the Divine Realm ego is that it denies and excludes anything it has not personally experienced or anything whose divinity surpasses its own understanding. For example, the Divine Realm ego of the vacation spot still considers me a defective ordinary Creator God.”

When he operated as Jinmyeol, his divine power waves were so different that it made sense, but incidents like this still occurred from time to time. Still, this was quite the fateful encounter. Or rather, the protection of Karma was truly incredible. The young junior he had met by chance during his vacation and given a bit of help to was now doing that over there, and he himself was personally correcting the flawed evaluation caused by lack of experience.

“Taking into account the contents of the Absolute-grade Karma Contract, raise it by 0.5 circles. If he bet everything on the contract, his ability should have risen by that much. Additionally, the full opening of a Title that is only partially permitted is equivalent to adding one full circle. In other words, he is currently almost at 11.5 circles, so he should be roughly around 12.5 circles. It needs to be corrected like this.”

Swish—!

He revised the raised report using his own authority and experience. The document was mercilessly shredded, and the revealed data was shocking. Even Jinmyeol himself, who had done the revising, let out a low whistle.

“Whiiiiistle—! Damn, this is impressive. He’s a Mage God completely specialized in wide-area authority and acting as the Main God of the battlefield. If he properly raises his Innate Divine Power, he’ll be no pushover at all. He’ll be extremely difficult for even a high-ranking Creator God to deal with.”

The only thing that had changed was that, with the full activation of the Title Origin, divine power and magical power had fused and were being maintained. As a result, the authorities and magic used within his circles temporarily reached the 12th circle, increasing the number of activations by tenfold while supporting the growth and survival of his subordinate forces.

The fact that the outcome of this was destruction on a scale surpassing a sector universe, creative power approaching Genesis, and the ability to wage decisive battle against the main forces of a Master Universe’s divine race was simply astonishing. It was enough to create a shared consensus that a long-overdue re-evaluation of Title holders and Mage Gods who wielded magical power was urgently needed.

Regardless of the situation, Jinmyeol casually tossed the data he had revised back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the Divine Realm.

“Then, in his current state, his rank as a Preliminary Creator God is…”

Wiiiiiiiiiing—!

The Divine Realm ego let out a roar as if suffering from temporary overload. The rank that appeared was, as expected, just below the Almighty Hwi. No—there were even two beings above him.

“Still fourth place? There were three other Preliminary Creator Gods who possess power at the mid-tier Creator God level or above? Hah—! This is ridiculous. The Almighty Hwi, who mastered his unique insight and revived the Almighty God Tribe, is famous enough that it makes sense. But who the hell are these other two? They’re completely new faces. Did you know about them?”

When Jinmyeol glanced over, Sangharama’s face had frozen so solid that cold air seemed to flow from it. Moreover, not only had he spread twenty-six pairs of wings of light, but even one pair of dark wings. It was clear he had known nothing.

“Beings who possess strength exceeding one circle at the same rank are naturally designated as special-grade targets for management and support. They even officially tolerated the Sage of Omniscience becoming a demon god to strengthen the authority of the Almighty God Tribe. Yet the Creator General knew nothing about them. How pitiful.”

Seeing that even the rankings of the Creator Gods were changing wildly, it was easy to imagine how he must be feeling. The Origins of his clan and the highest Creator Gods could not hide their shock and fury either. Countless powerhouses they had known nothing about were appearing in the current situation. And this was happening within the Creation Realm that they directly managed.

“Huu—! Looking at your faces, I can roughly guess. Tsk tsk—! You should take care of your own house before going out to fight. At this rate, you’ll destroy yourselves first.”

Jinmyeol spoke playfully, then stepped back behind Sangharama. As if declaring that his place was here, he stopped talking and simply stared at the battlefield.

Only then did Sangharama’s true rage finally erupt. The highest Creator Gods, startled by the terrifying aura radiating from the Creator General—who was furious beyond measure that the most important ranking standard had become a complete mess, to the point that they could not even grasp the true power of the gods within it—frantically used spatial movement to return to their own Divine Realms. It was utter chaos.

However, Jinmyeol remained relaxed.

“My role is simply to exclude all existences that hinder the development of the Divine Realm. I leave the final decisions to the Creator General Sangharama and exist solely as a sword for the divine race. For someone like me who lives simply for my own happiness and ideals, it is the perfect position.”

Originally, in the Divine Realm, possessing this much power would have made him a dangerous element subject to special-grade disposal. However, Sangharama had accepted Jinmyeol as a member of the divine race. That had been their promise from the distant past.