The Revelation of the Mechanical Substitute Gods
In the Spirit Realm War, once they regained their senses, they realized that in that brief clash alone forty-eight Divine Realm Guardian Gods had already died and were in the midst of reviving, with hundreds more suffering critical injuries. On top of that, the vitality lost from their bodies had already surpassed the quadrillion mark.
The situation itself was understandable, yet the battle had been so pathetic that their current states were every bit as shockingly hideous as the total annihilation of the Origins who had charged in.
They had never dared dream of defeating him, but they had sworn countless times that they would at least seize the honor of being the strongest divine race in the Main Universe from the 499th Master Universe.
They had endured bone-grinding training across endless years with only this goal in mind. To master complex transcendent authorities that even a Highest Creator God’s divinity could not withstand, they had lowered their own divinity and taken on the mortal flesh of ordinary living beings rather than divine bodies. Wearing the Creator Divinity Robe that condensed their remaining authorities, they had spent a billion years transforming their mortal bodies into immortal ones while endlessly reinforcing their innate divine power and physical forms.
Beings willing to cast themselves aside for the greater whole were rare even among the gods of light. That was why, no matter how talented a successor might be, any who refused to conform were ruthlessly abandoned and disposed of.
The result was something they had never imagined: the young gods they had marked for disposal had fled to the 499th Master Universe, grown into mercenary gods, and now blocked their path.
They honestly acknowledged the strength of the titled Creator Gods. Had they been in normal condition, they would never have dared underestimate them. Yet even in their wretched states, those foes clung on with nothing more than the divinity of Upper Main Gods.
A cold, icy divine voice had been ringing in their ears since earlier.
“Retreat. Right now—! Are you insane? Wasting the vitality we desperately gathered for the battle against him like this? That power doesn’t belong to you alone. Besides, a full-scale war is the last thing the Creator God King and the Successor want. We must not move until the war with him begins. Yet you’re thinking of revealing every authority you possess?”
“We do not take orders from you. We are the Divine Realm Guardian Gods. Though we have lost the Creator God’s divinity, only the Creator God King and the Successor may command us. We will clean this up shortly.”
They had barely gathered their pride and responded coldly, but what came back was only icy laughter and cruel advice.
“Hah? In that sorry state? Attacking to defeat the enemy is our domain. The Divine Realm Guardian Gods exist only to defend the divine realm. This humiliation is what happens when you attempt something beyond your station. Your attacks are also far too crude. Why insist on the exact style of war the opponent desires? If it were us, we would never fight this way—! With overwhelming force we would erase not only the enemy but the entire defensive divine realm along with it. A provisional Creator God tainted by such tricks would fall in under ten seconds. Stand down immediately. We will intervene ourselves. The Successor has vanished along with the battlefield data. It is inferred they are moving toward that location.”
“That cannot be allowed—! If you reveal yourselves as well, everything will be exposed. We cannot let them so easily grasp the authorities we cultivated at the cost of weakening every divine race. We still do not fully understand their powers. If the 499th Creator Gods begin to analyze and learn our authorities, we can never win. That is why we must commit to an all-out war with the 499th whose outcome remains uncertain.”
“Do you say that knowing your primary authority, ‘Samsara of Retirement,’ has already been grasped and is being used against you? That bastard possesses computational and analytical ability beyond a Creator God and has successfully learned it. We must end this before he grasps anything more and prevent further leakage. Are you aware that if even the Divinity Robe is analyzed and recreated by the 499th’s Creator Gods, the situation will become unmanageable?”
“……”
The single pair of wings belonging to the Divine Realm Guardian Gods blazed with intense light. They already understood why the Dimensional Magic God remained alive despite firing quadrillion-unit divine power cannons that should have been impossible even for them.
They placed their recovery zone within the divine realm and received the Creator’s direct support for instant restoration, yet that magic god astonishingly used vitality to restore even a provisional Creator God’s divinity on his own. They had witnessed the entire sequence multiple times; pretending ignorance was impossible.
The authority that defined the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ defense had been handed to the enemy without any price or benefit. No loss in this war stung more bitterly.
They had sacrificed everything else to concentrate solely on the Divine Realm Guardian Gods and their foe. If that sacrifice became meaningless, they could not endure.
“We are aware. We will recover it shortly. Before the Successor arrives, we will sweep them all away, so do not interfere.”
With that reply, they exchanged glances filled with grim resolve. They reached out and gently stroked the armor that proved their qualification as Divine Realm Guardian Gods.
Drip. Drip.
The armor that had encased their entire bodies loosened piece by piece, revealing light training garments beneath. From their backs, twenty-six pairs of brilliant wings of light unfolded in all their glory.
At the same time, the dimensional divine power cannons that had been descending upon the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ formation, annihilating everything they touched, suddenly bent their trajectories and began to be blocked entirely.
This occurred because every Divine Realm Guardian God’s innate divine power now exceeded two hundred billion and they had regained the Creator God’s divinity. With such high divinity and comparable divine power, even amplifying the dimensional divine power cannon to four quadrillion units caused its effective power to drop due to its nature, stripping it of its original might.
In that single instant, the Divine Realm Guardian Gods who had reclaimed the Creator God’s divinity shouted in perfect chorus.
The transmitted voice carried a faint note of genuine admiration. They had never imagined he would force them to discard even the Divinity Robe that sealed their divinity in order to maintain the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ authority.
Yet this was the only way to compensate for their insufficient offensive power themselves. From now on, annihilation would no longer convert into death, and revival would become difficult.
Since the divine realm’s ego supporting the Dimensional Magic God might leak their defensive authority throughout the entire 499th Master Universe, they had to erase them all—both the enemy and the defensive divine realm itself.
They did not know whether the aftershock of an all-out war would follow, but it was still better than allowing their authorities to leak. The desperate situation made their response far colder than any admiration for the enemy.
Wooooooooooong—!
The unified parallel divine power link of more than ten thousand gathered Divine Realm Guardian Gods blazed like a sun. The divine race’s parallel divine power connection offered no increase in raw power, but it allowed the divine power of the highest-ranking gods to be maintained indefinitely so long as vitality remained.
The highest-tier divine power of a Divine Realm Guardian God was five hundred billion. It was purely the innate divine power they had cultivated through training, and that maximum output now descended upon the defensive divine realm.
Kuuuuuuuung—!
Thoooooooooooom—!
Its power was enough to eventually annihilate the entire defensive divine realm that supplied the Chief God of the God Realm with one hundred billion in divine power support and added over two hundred billion in defensive capability. In the end, the Divine Realm Guardian Gods abandoned any attempt to break through the open gates and chose total erasure instead. Killing intent began to rise on the faces of the Creator Gods.
The Creator Gods suddenly recalled the contempt and humiliation they had suffered from these beings in the past. The images of those who had mocked them while they struggled in isolation under the Creator’s unreasonable demands resurfaced. Everyone had endured it, but because they had been neighbors, the resentment ran even deeper. Although a billion years had passed, gods do not forget; the emotions surged violently within them.
The Origins and Creator Gods had seemed far too weak while the Divine Realm Guardian Gods appeared overwhelmingly strong, nearly leading them to misjudge the situation. But it was true that the gods of the 500th Master Universe were weak.
Above all, although the Divine Realm Guardian Gods who had removed their full-body armor displayed clear military might, they were still inferior to the Creator Gods. If those unique authorities concentrated in their armor were not used solely for defense, the Creator Gods could win at any time. However, should the guardians return to the divine realm, receive support, and gain the aid of the Creator God King, the difficulty would rise sharply.
Most importantly, they were still Creator Gods of the same divine race. The gap had widened for now, but once they learned each other’s authorities, the difference would narrow again. The urge to charge in immediately, kill them, and reduce their divinity was almost overwhelming. Had that battlefield not been sealed against interference from higher beings by his absolute-level karma contract, they would never have left the situation alone.
Yet the 500th Master Universe, unbound by karma restrictions, could deploy higher beings at will. That was the greatest reason the battlefield was called one of despair.
Above all, the fury of the Upper Creator Gods only grew.
Therefore they had to make the enemy pay a suitable price in this war. Otherwise their anger would never subside.
The nature of the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ authority was limited immortality that ended once vitality was exhausted—unless one reached the rank of Eternal Being. If they revived infinitely, the Creator Gods would simply keep killing them.
Having exchanged such murderous intent through their gazes, the Upper Creator Gods swiftly issued commands.
“Relay to every originally affiliated Creator God except those of mercenary origin. Halt the successor war for rank readjustment and resume war preparations. Drag every successor who refuses here. We will clean house with this opportunity and throw them onto that battlefield.”
“During the war, no disputes between Creator Gods and Main Gods will be tolerated. Those who cause discord will be placed on the front lines without distinguishing between victim and perpetrator. Only achievements can offset the crime of creating chaos during wartime.”
“We warn the mercenary gods. We will no longer tolerate any complaints regarding rank. Only strength matters!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
The Upper Creator Gods struck down with their hands, shattering the Guerrilla Volcano that had surrounded the defensive divine realm. After all, it was merely the defensive divine realm of general Creator Gods. There was no need to continue endless destruction while wasting vitality and divine power through such outdated parallel divine power connections that were relics of the past. Amplify attack capability to the extreme in a single moment, destroy, and pass through—that was enough.
The Demon God King equipped with two transcendent abilities was certainly troublesome, but no Creator God in the 499th was incapable of handling that level. It was almost laughable that the highest war gods of the divine race possessed only that degree of offensive power. Attacks of that sort could never inflict critical damage on their bodies.
“Prove your rank and your worth. That is what it means to be a war god.”
Dudududududududududung—!
The 499 Creator Gods began their advance. Naturally, the Upper Creator Gods stood at the forefront. The parallel divine power connection of more than ten thousand Divine Realm Guardian Gods did not even register in their eyes. A wide-area authority with a maximum output of five hundred billion was nothing but a joke compared to the God Destruction Cannon of the Substitute God Clan. And they had endured direct hits from that very cannon and ultimately emerged victorious.
Above all, those beings displeased them. The moment they revealed themselves, everything became clear: through what process those authorities had been created, and why the Creator Gods and Origins who should have been strong in the 500th Master Universe had been rendered so powerless. Adding the newly opened information on the 500th Master Universe, the answer came instantly.
It displayed the pinnacle of collectivism that sacrificed the individual for the sake of the whole and the greater purpose.
Obtaining power through sacrifice was the same, yet the target of that sacrifice was completely different. They had never sacrificed themselves or those around them. They had trained and grown strong alone, and they had won.
The certification battles against the Substitute Gods presupposed annihilation; therefore no expedients or clumsy alliances worked. While they maintained the front line, they never attempted direct confrontation with the Substitute Gods’ Main Gods. Victory was decided solely by whether there existed Main Gods capable of enduring and shattering the attacks of the Substitute Gods’ Main Gods and Creator Gods. Only such beings obtained the position of Main God in the Creator God Realm and Demon God King Realm, granting absolute authority over their planet.
Yet these Divine Realm Guardian Gods—who had abandoned the most important divinity for the sake of the Creator—had received glorious honor praised by all, along with immense power and self-satisfaction.
Satisfied with their strengthened forms and bestowed honors, they wished for everyone to stand in the same position and enjoy the same emotions. Those who refused sacrifice were labeled failures, weeded out, and the overall level declined. The result was the current weak gods of the 500th Master Universe.
Conversely, leaving the choice to the individual yet subjecting those who sought the glory of the Chief God of the God Realm to the brutal test known as the certification battle had produced the successors and the mighty Main Gods and Creator Gods of the 499th Master Universe.
Since the outer barrier of the defensive divine realm was already being destroyed, the outcome of the war was decided. The mercenary gods had endured well, but their limit had come. Now it was the Creator Gods’ turn.
As the true identity of the Divine Realm Guardian Gods was revealed, the already enraged Creator Gods joined the battle. Had they been born in the 500th Master Universe, they would have been killed as dangerous elements long before ever becoming Chief Gods of the God Realm.
On top of that, the powerful mercenary gods originating from the 499th Master Universe also moved. Once they learned why they had been forced to flee, they could no longer contain themselves.
Thus the number of Creator Gods, which had been only in the thousands, gradually swelled until it approached ten thousand. No control or management was necessary. The strong stood at the front, the weak at the rear. The difference in power made everything simple and swift. When a handful of foolish administrative gods had shaken that principle, the advantage vanished and the entire divine realm had nearly collapsed. But now that the Creator Gods themselves had stepped forward, every problem would be resolved.
At the very forefront, the most powerful Upper Creator God, Employment, let out a thunderous war cry.
His feelings were the foulest of all. Although the defensive divine realm of a Creator God directly under his command had been invaded, it was ultimately his territory.
The Divine Realm Guardian Gods had done nothing beyond their initial sacrifice of abandoning their divinity. They had grown strong on the foundation of everyone else’s sacrifice. From his standpoint—possessing his entire Creator God Realm and countless Creator Gods who staked their lives in loyalty—it was utterly incomprehensible.
If they tolerated that system, they might fall into the very power struggles of the administrative gods they so despised. That was why he gladly took the lead.
As the Creator Gods advanced, smashing the Guerrilla Volcano’s authority to pieces, killing intent overflowed in their eyes—until a single scene appeared before them.
Hoooooooong—!
Paaaaaaa—!
Eighteen red giant stars shone brilliantly as they charged straight into the wide-area attack of the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ parallel divine power connection. The sight of them rushing toward the integrated assault of more than ten thousand Divine Realm Guardian Gods looked utterly reckless.
“The first Creator God-level Machine God, the red giant Antares? Why deploy that now?”
“No—! That is…! How can this be? How is this possible?”
“A God Destruction Cannon?”
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuung—!
The enormous divine power cannons fired at the red giants tore through space and collided head-on with the Divine Realm Guardian Gods’ attack. It should have been as futile as shooting a water gun into the ocean—an utterly reckless act—yet an unbelievable scene unfolded.
The wide-area attack was torn to shreds by the divine power cannons and scattered. Even the aftermath of that scattered energy was completely blocked and absorbed by the giants’ massive bodies, protecting the defensive divine realm. In exchange, the surfaces of the red planets cracked and disintegrated.
What emerged from within was a surface gleaming with a mixture of brilliant silver and gold.
Uuuuuuuung—! Uuuuuuung—!
The Antares, now fully revealing their silver-and-gold surfaces, resonated with one another, raising and maintaining their divine power. On those silver surfaces, absurdly enormous golden magic circles blazed brilliantly, manifesting great magic.
The wide-area attack of the Divine Realm Guardian Gods that had reached the silver planet blocking the defensive divine realm vanished completely. A massive explosion then erupted from the Divine Realm Guardian Gods themselves—an atrocity on an entirely different scale from the previous dimensional divine power cannons.
These were Divine Realm Guardian Gods who had removed even the Divinity Robe that sealed their divinity in order to protect their weakened bodies. The silver surfaces trembled as if in excitement, and the giant magic circles quivered as though boasting of their achievement.
Yet nowhere was there any emotion belonging to a living being or spiritual entity. Only the roar of metal filled the void.
MECHANICAL SUBSTITUTE GODS!?