The Power That Shakes the Universe

The spectators watching this battle in the Spirit Realm were not limited to the Creator Gods. Even Sangharama, the Creator General, Jinmyeol, and the Demon God EmperorJinma were present. After quietly analyzing the authority before them, they found themselves unable to close their gaping mouths.

“The first dimensional Creator God to appear in the Master Universe.”

“Naturally, we have zero data on his authority. Nothing but question marks.”

Yet each of them used their own analytical abilities to gradually fill in the blanks regarding this unknown power of dimensional creation. The highest-ranking Creator Gods around them watched the scene with bated breath.

“We can’t even begin to calculate how much computational power this is consuming.”

They didn’t understand it perfectly, but they realized just how overwhelmingly powerful the authority was after seeing it neutralize the aftermath of a high-ranking Creator God’s attack and the counterstrike from the Divine Realm guardian deities. It meant that most of their own attacks would be equally useless.

Jinma was the first to groan and fill in the first slot.

“The first Reality Denial is an unconditional one-circle drop. It can’t be defended against unless it’s a transcendence authority that combines space and time beyond the dimensional level. This is insane—! Who the hell raised an authority this difficult to learn or improve to this level? If even I, the Demon God Emperor, get caught by it, I’d immediately drop to Demon God King—! The Substitute Race’s god-slaying can be somewhat defended against if we mobilize demon gods or dark mages with wide-area barrier authorities, but this thing doesn’t care about numbers. It ignores divinity entirely and indiscriminately applies inside the newly created space? Even if we mobilize a massive army, everyone gets affected? And there are still two more Reality Denials left? How the hell are we supposed to deal with that?”

No matter how necessary this alliance was for survival, the demon race and divine race were ultimately enemies. The appearance of an existence with such a monstrous authority in the enemy camp was a huge problem.

“Frankly, if that Dimensional Mage God shows up during the race-deciding war between the divine and demon races and pulls this stunt, it’s game over. No matter how I spin it, the only way to win is to rip that bastard’s throat out first.”

However, that sly dark mage wouldn’t have charged in alone if he knew everything. If he led the divine race’s grand army with Jinmyeol and Garam as escorts while activating dimensional creation, every demon god king inside that domain would drop to demon god status and be massacred by the Creator Gods.

“Even the gods of this realm, who possess tenacity and combat power that make the demon race click their tongues, would find a drop in divinity fatal. They wouldn’t last even a moment. In an all-out war, I predict it would end in a single day.”

It was impossible not to break into a cold sweat.

“This is interesting. Shall I fill in some of the blanks?”

Jinmyeol began filling in the explanation for the second slot, which was packed with question marks.

“The second Reality Denial is the creation of a world just for himself, right? The basic principle is that all laws of that world obey the Creator God who made it. Simple—! It’s a Reality Denial that maximizes combat efficiency. The chance of receiving any damage is minimized, while the chance of attacking the enemy is maximized. In the end, it’s the ultimate optimization of attack and evasion efficiency? If there’s even the slightest chance to dodge, he dodges everything. If there’s even the slightest chance of hitting or killing, he lands every blow and kills them all. Everything else is adjusted to be favorable to the Creation God. It’s a fairly standard combat-type Reality Denial, but when combined with dark magic, it becomes completely broken. If someone’s divinity or divine power is even slightly lower than the Dimensional Mage God’s, even a minor wound becomes fatal. And since he possesses wide-area destructive dark magic on a regional universe scale, this is terrifying. It would be quite entertaining to clash with my ‘Jinmyeol’.”

A faint flicker of divine power shimmered in his languid eyes. He no longer spoke of the protagonist as a mere young junior and now formally addressed him as the Dimensional Mage God. Considering he occasionally called the Demon God King—who was weaker than him but competent enough to dump Divine Realm management onto—‘Darling, keep up the good work,’ this showed just how much he acknowledged the man’s worth.

“In other words, any attack that isn’t a perfect hit is completely dodged, and any attack he makes that isn’t perfectly dodged will absolutely land. And if there’s even the slightest chance that the opponent could die from the attack, it becomes an ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instant kill.”

In Jinmyeol’s view, the greatest strength was that if this Dimensional Mage God—who was relatively weak but possessed regional universe-scale destructive power—went berserk and activated dimensional creation, the only beings who could survive inside the domain would be those stronger than high-ranking Creator Gods, capable of completely ignoring planetary and stellar system destruction. Everyone else would suffer damage that instantly turned into a fatal wound and die according to the maximized combat efficiency conditions of dimensional creation.

“In the end, it also means that no army is of any use inside the domain of a Dimensional Mage God who has activated dimensional creation.”

It could only be overpowered by a small elite force composed solely of high-ranking Creator Gods or above. The word ‘broken’ came naturally. Of course, this assumed the user didn’t run away and fought to the death. If he escaped using one of the ultimate space-type abilities—dimensional spatial movement—there was almost no way to stop him.

Sangharama looked at the final Reality Denial entry and spoke aloud.

“The final Reality Denial has a restriction that it only goes up to one’s own stage, but it is an unconditional one-circle rise. The Dimensional Mage God, who currently possesses the divinity of a Creator God, could promote Main Gods into Creator Gods inside his domain. And the number of Main Gods he can promote to Creator Gods inside the ‘Dimensional Creation’ domain is…”

Even the Creator General found it hard to believe, but his unique authority—which compiled and evolved the powers of all divine races in the Master Universe—provided the answer. Because it could reveal possibilities of an authority even the user himself didn’t know, it could point to the correct path.

Looking at the highest-ranking Creator Gods who were all staring at him, the Demon God Emperor who had lost his reason for the first time in a long while, and Jinmyeol who was showing rare interest and fighting spirit, he spoke quietly.

“Unlimited. As long as the Dimensional Mage God has Main Gods, he can promote them to Creator Gods and deploy ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as many as he wants onto the battlefield.”

Kuuuung—!

A massive shock struck the minds of every Creator God who heard those words. They had become Creator Gods after paying enormous prices, training, and fighting, yet the Dimensional Mage God could create as many as he wanted if he so desired. It meant he could create an entire legion of Creator Gods as long as he had ordinary Main Gods.

Of course, Creator Gods promoted so absurdly would hardly be normal. Still, an army composed solely of Creator Gods with no limit on numbers was something no high-ranking Creator God could withstand. No—if there were beings whose promotion cost was zero or who had sufficient vitality and experience to match Creator God level but remained as Main Gods, the thought of competing with them made their skin crawl.

Suddenly, an image flashed in their minds: standing alone on the battlefield, their own divinity suddenly dropping to Main God level while their combat efficiency plummeted to the lowest possible. Then they saw thousands, tens of thousands of Main Gods transforming into Creator Gods and charging at them.

“We don’t even need to see the future to know we’d be finished.”

“No high-ranking Creator God could endure it. Only those at Creator General level or above might barely survive.”

Even the 500th Master Universe would likely only have a chance of victory if its isolated Creator General and titled Creator Gods fought.

“What the—!”

“This is cheating—!”

“A wide-area authority that creates a legion of Creator Gods? If you add maximized combat efficiency on top of that, no army in the Master Universe could stand against it—!”

Since no Creator God’s authority could surpass the Dimensional one in pure level, there was no way to block it.

“We must immediately file a formal protest with the Absolute Realm and demand it be retracted…”

The highest-ranking Creator Gods were shouting, unable to control their emotions, when they saw the smile blooming on Sangharama’s face and fell silent.

“In one sense, this is the appearance of a powerful challenger threatening the Creator General, yet there is no sign of wariness anywhere.”

It was the first time they had seen Sangharama smile with such satisfaction, so they were surprised. But they soon understood.

“I forgot for a moment. This is the 499th Master Universe—the frontline where the race-deciding war against the Substitute Race is taking place.”

“It is a heaven for battle gods ruled by the harshest survival-of-the-fittest laws of any Master Universe, all to stop the overwhelmingly powerful Substitute Race.”

If it weren’t for this environment, they themselves would never have reached their current positions. They would have fallen on some miserable battlefield due to their excessive talent that threatened even Origin.

Having abandoned their own Master Universes to enjoy the benefits of the strong and risen to high-ranking Creator Gods, trying to eliminate a battle god with such incredible authority simply because it lacked proper backing would make them no different from the ugly old administrator gods who once tried to kill them.

The shame of having spoken out of momentary jealousy made them want to take their words back. Then a gentle voice soothed their hearts.

“In the end, our Master Universe has produced a battle god that would shock even the Absolute Realm. Though he had help, the Master Universe that gave birth to him is our 499th Master Universe, and he is our battle god. How can this not bring joy? Even if we are destroyed by the Substitute Race, this achievement alone ensures we can rise again any number of times. Therefore, if the Dimensional Mage God survives this, prepare to raise him to that level or higher within the next generation. I hereby appoint the Dimensional Mage God not as a temporary or candidate Creator God, but as a ‘Special Duty Creator God’ directly under the Creator General. All high-ranking Creator Gods, exert every effort so that more battle gods like him may emerge. Also, remember that one mistake is enough. A second error will be taken as proof of incompetence.”

“We shall keep it in mind!”

The highest-ranking Creator Gods’ heads cooled from jealousy and regained clarity. The birth of such a powerful being greatly increased their chances of victory in the desperate fight against the Substitute Race. Their thoughts turned positive, and they began considering ways to foster further growth.

Sangharama watched their reaction with satisfaction, then read through the now-complete detailed description of the Dimensional Creation authority once more.

✦ DIMENSIONAL CREATION ✦

Dimensional Creation (次元創世). The authority and fully opened title of the Dimensional Mage God. His divine power fuses with dark magic and is transcendentally strengthened, displaying power at the Creator General level depending on the situation. He creates and constructs his own world and simultaneously wields three transcendence-grade Reality Denials. The first condition is an unconditional one-circle drop for all enemies, regardless of their divinity. The second condition is the maximization of combat efficiency, drastically altering all combat laws in his favor. The third condition is an unconditional one-circle rise for allies, limited to within his own circle. All effects apply as wide-area within the domain. It cannot be defended against unless by a space-time composite authority beyond the dimensional level, and it completely ignores the opponent’s divinity. Even the current Substitute Race cannot defend against it. It is truly an authority worthy of the title ‘strongest’ on battlefields where massive armies clash.

Individually he ranked fourth among candidate Creator Gods, but as the Main God of the Divine Realm leading an army of gods, his authority was nearly at the Creator General level. The smile of satisfaction on Sangharama’s face grew even deeper.

“Where else have we seen a dark mage who possesses three transcendent Reality Denials simultaneously? And on top of that, it’s the rare wide-area type.”

Even after fighting countless battles as a mercenary god in the Absolute Realm, he had seen many strong individuals who possessed one or two and operated them at once. But three at the same time was truly a first, and their power needed no further explanation.

“Depending on the battlefield situation, his command ability, and the level of the Main Gods he promotes to Creator Gods, the power he can display will be truly horrifying. Fortunately, the 499th Master Universe is overflowing with powerful Main Gods who can be promoted to Creator Gods. On a battlefield with Jinmyeol, Jinma, and the Dimensional Mage God, they would be able to fight on equal footing against the Substitute Race’s entire army. Moreover, if we combine this with the fully opened title of Origin and dark magic, and fight together with our current forces, we may truly defeat the Substitute Race and become the first Master Universe to gain independent operational rights from him.”

If he reported this achievement now, the one above would be greatly pleased. He would likely extend the race-deciding war against the Substitute Race once ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more and provide any support necessary to nurture even more powerful beings.

“The strong deserve respect. And the environment that produces such strong individuals deserves even greater reverence.”

To achieve ‘eternal happiness,’ an ideal environment was necessary. To create that environment, they had given a grace period of over 400 billion years to the conquest of Master Universes that would have ended in an instant, and had fostered growth through competition with the Substitute Race.

“That is simply who he is.”

With boundless joy, he personally gave a name to the situations that would be triggered by this Dimensional Creation authority in the future.

✦ TROOP OF CREATION GOD ✦

The name given to the legion created through Dimensional Creation.

Due to insufficient territory, even the Main God Star could not handle the limit of vitality. The 499th Master Universe possessed only a few hundred thousand Creator Gods while already holding tens of millions of powerful Main Gods.

“If we secure additional territory from the 500th Master Universe, we can multiply the Main God Stars to create Creator Gods in the millions and Main Gods in the trillions to maintain the front lines. Our basic strategy was to eliminate the Substitute Race’s candidate Creator Gods alongside Jinmyeol and Jinma, but now we have another option. This has far higher potential, and we won’t even need to go to war with the 500th Master Universe.”

In the Creator General’s eyes, he could already see the image of tens of millions of Creator Gods charging against hundreds of thousands of invading Substitute Race Creator Gods in the distant future.

“Even the mighty Substitute Race and the Absolute Realm would be horrified by such a force. It is a military power that would be difficult to produce even if every Master Universe combined their strength. Even if we are defeated, it would be a truly proud battle. In the end, I have led the Master Universe this far. This should be a sight that does not shame the one who forgave my rudeness in daring to change my title again and even guided me.”

Unable to hide his surging emotions, he closed his eyes for a moment to reminisce about the past—only to hear a dumbfounded voice.

“That guy’s going to die. Is there a problem with the authority?”

“Why is he acting like that? Why isn’t he summoning Main Gods, promoting them, and fighting? And why is a dark mage engaging in close combat against opponents he can’t even handle?”

“Wait, he’s even sacrificing his body? Dimensional Creation must require an enormous amount of vitality and divine power to maintain, yet he’s damaging himself? Against just one candidate guardian deity who’s only at the candidate Creator God level? He could win by promoting just one suitable Main God to Creator God. What the hell is he doing?”

Whiiiish—!

Sangharama, the Creator General, felt his mind snap back to reality. He hurriedly looked at the screen. There stood the Dimensional Mage God—who had become a key part of their strategy against the Substitute Race—with both arms lost and blood pouring from his body. Facing him was a single guardian deity candidate, also heavily wounded, breathing raggedly while locked in a standoff despite suffering fatal injuries. It was a shocking sight.

Jinma first offered his analysis of the situation.

“If the Dimensional Mage God dies like this, it would benefit the demon race. Still, an alliance with the divine race is a hundred times better than the Substitute Race, who don’t even communicate and only seek to encroach. If such a fatal weapon dies so meaninglessly, and we end up losing everything on the upcoming battlefield against the Substitute Race, it would become a regret that lasts for a thousand years.”

Even the Demon God Emperor Jinma, having lived too luxuriously while wrapped in the immense vitality provided by the Demon Realm formed on the overly abundant Demon God Star, lacked the confidence to start over in another poor Master Universe. The difference wasn’t between countryside and city, but between wasteland and metropolis. Thus, although it was laughable from the demon race’s perspective, having no replacement for this Master Universe had fostered a certain affection for it.

“Don’t tell me… he doesn’t know? That he can promote Main Gods to Creator Gods as long as they’re inside the Dimensional Creation domain? Is he simply unaware due to lacking divine power and authority? He clearly didn’t ascend through normal Creator God promotion but by stealing authority from Origin’s divine spirits, so it’s probably not normal. That would mean the second stage of Reality Denial is only half as effective, which is why he’s allowing attacks like this? What the hell is going on? Is this the limit of an illegal promotion? Still, he should be able to promote them to some extent. Why is he fighting so recklessly? Is he even a dark mage?”

At the bizarre sight, Jinmyeol scratched his head and spoke.

“I can roughly guess what’s happening.”

This was a chronic problem of the 499th Master Universe. While Creator Gods and the Main God of the Divine Realm were strong, everything below them was average at best. And though it was awkward for him to say it, loyalty was completely nonexistent.

“Even toward me, a Creator God, the Main Gods dare to say they don’t need incompetent superiors who only laze around and attack. If the Dimensional Mage God’s Main Gods are from the 499th Master Universe, it’s only natural they’d do the same.”

Unless they were direct subordinates or received compensation, they wouldn’t even step forward even if the Creator General ordered them to fight. This was the part that angered Creator Generals of other Master Universes the most—those who emphasized unconditional loyalty for the protection of the classical Divine Realm and Master Universe.

Furthermore, once they grew stronger, they would challenge the Main God of the Divine Realm for the position at any time. The secret power struggles between the Main God of the Divine Realm and promising battle gods surpassed imagination. Of course, challenging an officially appointed Main God of the Divine Realm was strictly forbidden, so they couldn’t do it openly. Still, countless Main Gods of the Divine Realm continued to be replaced through permitted duels even now.

Yet from the looks of it, in exchange for activating that powerful Dimensional Creation, the user himself had dropped to the level of a mere Main God-class dark mage. If he promoted a Main God to Creator God in that state, he could be killed in an instant by his own allies—who held more resentment toward him than the enemy. In the 499th Master Universe, it was actually encouraged for empowered subordinates to defeat weak superiors and seize their positions.

“Did he not have any trustworthy Main Gods he could promote to Creator God? Even if he tried to bind them with absolute loyalty through a karma contract, such an unfair contract is impossible, right? Then it’s obvious what the answer is.”

“…….”

A moment of silence fell. Every Creator God, Sangharama, and even the demon race’s Jinma understood the situation. Since they too had risen by overthrowing incompetent superiors, they could perfectly empathize with the Dimensional Mage God’s position.

“If the Main Gods he promotes to Creator Gods immediately rebel, there’s no way to stop them.”

“He could cancel the authority, but it looks like he himself ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has been downgraded to Main God level, so he wouldn’t be able to handle it instantly.”

Putting themselves in his shoes and imagining what would happen if they promoted their subordinate Main Gods to Creator Gods while dropping to Main God status themselves, they couldn’t even fathom it.

“We thought it was ridiculously overpowered, but from an individual standpoint, it was just a flashy dud.”

“If there’s no way to suppress a rebellion from the promoted Creator Gods from outside, then it’s an authority that cannot be used.”

Even a mercenary Main God had no obligation to obey anyone weaker than themselves, so it couldn’t be used. In a Main God state, he could only hire Main God-level mercenaries at best. Even if he promoted them to candidate Creator Gods, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the guardian deities of the Divine Realm. Even if they tried to support their subordinate Main Gods, they could not intervene in that battlefield where an absolute-grade karma contract had been established. There was simply no way to help.

And the heart of the Dimensional Mage God, who had barely managed to defeat a candidate guardian deity at the candidate Creator God level after a fierce exchange using a surprise physical magic attack, was burning with frustration.

“Ugh! As expected, the opponent is absolutely not to be underestimated. It feels like he’s showing what a battle god who has endlessly trained only the basics looks like. Almost all of my illegal dark magic has no effect. At this rate, two is the limit.”

He knew the effects of all the Reality Denials of the trusted Dimensional Creation. It wasn’t infinite, but he could manifest it to a certain degree. Yet he could not put it into practice. His reason and combat foresight as a dark mage were strongly warning him of the crisis that would come after the battle ended. The prediction was immediate rebellion or capture and being dragged off to the Otherworld or another divine realm.

“Who among my subordinate Main Gods could I promote to Creator God? The goddess faction who are rebellious and aiming for control of the Divine Realm? The Spirit God Emperor and spirit gods who are troublemakers and defeatists? The otherworld spirit gods who only care about themselves and act however they please? The beast gods sent as clumsy spies? Or Gaiana, who has returned to the Omnipotent Clan and is becoming the center of her race? If I promote the primordial battle gods—who only acknowledge the strong—to Creator Gods while I’m only at Main God level, what kind of disaster would I be inviting? What kind of useless authority is this? After suffering so much and bearing so much disgrace to barely become a Creator God, why do I only get powers that benefit others? Give me an authority that strengthens my personal ability—!”

Jinmyeol’s words had been correct. The Dimensional Mage God had no trustworthy Main Gods. Not a single one.

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The Power That Shakes the Universe

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