The True Liberation

As if answering the call of the Spirit Realm war, the machine creator gods of the Substitute Gods emitted the same resonance and accelerated. Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr—! The sheer velocity, like a white line slashed across the black void of space, made the Tyrant God flinch in shock.

This is truly my first time facing the Substitute Gods directly.

Of course I've seen countless videos and records, but clear data is nonexistent thanks to the aftershocks of battle and their unique spatial destruction.

Still, that speed is something a body exceeding planetary scale should never be able to produce.

Gooooooo—! Even in the vacuum of space there should be resistance, yet they ignored it completely. No—they used it, swimming through it like fish through water, accelerating as they charged. Urgent data screamed that a direct hit from that speed and mass would crush even a Creator God's body like soft tofu.

"Don't let them close the distance. We'll end this from range."

"That's one hell of a big target."

Bwahahahahahahaha—!

Long-range attacks launched at full divine power status slammed into the approaching machine creator gods of the Substitute Gods. Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang! Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Thousands of light beams, each carrying power nearing the trillions, struck every last one of the advancing creator gods without mercy. The resulting explosion shook the entire dimensional domain with a deafening roar.

These were full-power long-range strikes meant to erase not only their own authorities but the dimensional authority rushing to seize control of them all at once. The Tyrant Gods had no doubt of the effect.

Concentrated fire from this many Tyrant Gods' long-range attacks is something even a Creator General could never withstand.

Yet an anomaly occurred. The dimensional authority that should have been annihilated by the barrage remained intact—in fact, it grew even stronger.

"Hmm? It's not breaking?"

"It's actually getting reinforced?"

The dimensional authority intensified and began to encroach upon their own powers. Once even reality reinforcement became impossible outside their immediate full-power zones, true dread finally set in.

If nothing else, this wide-area authority is the real thing.

Getting caught directly would inflict a divine rank reduction powerful enough to strip away at least two circles.

It was a transcendent authority ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no single being could block. Without the absolute defensive support from the Divine Realm guardian gods, they would never have avoided the rank drop.

Oooooooooong! Oooooooooooong!

When the explosion's shock and light finally faded, the creator gods of the Substitute Gods appeared—bodies that should have been shattered into pieces. Absurdly, not a single scratch marred their outer shells. Instead, they had grown larger, their resonance even stronger.

"What?"

"Don't tell me... are they absorbing the divine power from the attacks?"

"The defensive capability granted by the Substitute Gods' 'God Destruction' is definitely up to double. Their divine power is that of Creator Gods, but only a hundred billion. The attack just now was at full release, exceeding five hundred billion and reaching the trillions. How could they possibly withstand that many strikes?"

They had clearly seen the parallel divine power connection of the Divine Realm guardian gods reflected earlier. Even though the long-range attacks had been sent with scrambled coordinates to weaken their power, they shouldn't have been able to endure so cleanly.

No matter how you look at it, they're just machine creator gods with a hundred billion divine power.

Even if their existence has changed, the gap in divine power can't be ignored. They shouldn't be able to remain unscathed.

Of course the creator god transformed from the Magic God of Dimensions receives Divine Realm support and possesses three hundred billion, but for machine Substitute Gods with only a hundred billion to endure attacks in the trillions is impossible.

As if to answer that very question, the wings of dimensional light spread wide. The magic circles engraved across the entire planetary surface blazed with golden radiance. Those golden lights rose as though reflected off every machine Substitute God's silver exterior, dramatically amplifying their divine power.

The strength the eighteen machine Substitute Gods displayed, even briefly, surpassed two trillion.

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Oooooooooooooooooong!

Complex magic circles floated up in dizzying patterns across the planetary surface. A massive resonance like an incantation claimed the surrounding space.

The Tyrant Gods ground their teeth as they felt their individual defensive authorities nullified by the overwhelming divine power.

Those machine Substitute Gods who possessed only a hundred billion divine power moments ago have surged to nearly two trillion in an instant.

The pressure radiating from eighteen creator gods of the Substitute Gods, each with two trillion divine power, is enough to suffocate us.

Even when the demon race used their unique serial divine power connection to achieve such explosive amplification, it was only momentary. These beings maintained it as naturally as breathing. The question of how they could sustain such power kept multiplying.

If the demon race had reinforced their magic power to that degree, they would have turned to dust instantly, yet these are holding it steady.

Something that defied both divine common sense and long years of combat experience was unfolding.

"The perpetual version of the demon race's serial divine power connection? Those who practice magic could theoretically do it, but it should only affect a single target for an instant. Reality denial is, after all, limited to the individual and their immediate surroundings."

Yet not only are they sustaining it through the divine race's parallel connection, they're activating it across a wide area? And beings who originally had only a hundred billion divine power each have now surpassed two trillion?

Is this what the Substitute Gods truly are? Can that body endure more than twenty times the amplified divine power? What kind of monsters are these?

If they were absorbing the amplified divine power with bodies so solid that not even a scratch appeared from near-trillion-power long-range attacks, then the assessment was accurate.

The lower hemisphere of the planet belonging to the creator god transformed from the Magic God of Dimensions warped slightly, forming a shape reminiscent of a smile.

Vwoong! Vwoooooong!

It was a satisfied grin at a body that had grown strong enough to completely ignore attacks from the Tyrant Gods.

As though conducting a test run of every magic circle drawn on the planetary surface, countless new circles appeared, then vanished—only to be etched onto the surfaces of the machine Substitute Gods as well. Each time, their divine power and authorities increased and expanded.

They're preparing to layer every possible magical authority onto that mighty Substitute God body, push its power to the absolute limit, and sweep us away in one strike.

It was the quintessential mage's approach—completing all preparations before battle and securing victory in advance.

Even though reason has vanished, the battle-related instincts, the magic, the combat methods, and the will remain unchanged.

The instincts and will of the Magic God of Dimensions had been one and the same ever since he obtained dimensional authority, became the God of Light, suffered contractual fraud that plunged his karma into the abyss, and survived as a mercenary god enduring the worst battles and treatment.

Now, following the command forcibly imprinted before he lost reason, he had tried to limit his targets to the Tyrant Gods and Divine Realm guardian gods of the 500th Master Universe. That was merely the priority order. The deep-seated battle lust he had craved for so long flowed out alongside the Substitute Gods' resonance.

"Vrrrrrrrrr—! Vwoooong—!"

I'll kill you all—! You wretched divine race who turned an innocent me—who only wished to become the God of Light for the sake of creation—into this miserable fate. I will repay the despair and pain I suffered a thousand times, ten thousand times over.

Gogogogogogogogogo—!

Magic multiplied divine power dozens of times over. The physical durability limit that had barely kept the divine race in balance was ignored. Every form of magic was now fully implemented upon the Substitute God's body, which existed on an entirely different level from the divine race.

Amplification magic, attack magic, defensive magic—all of it was engraved into the planetary surface's magic circles and activated simultaneously. Though interference between circles was normally a problem, dimensional authority sorted them and extracted only the desired effects.

With a planetary body and the wondrous physique of a Substitute God, any magic circle could be inscribed and overlapped. As long as the body endured, near-infinite physical and authority reinforcement could be realized.

The Substitute God's body is responding far too easily to this reckless authority amplification that would be utterly impossible for the original divine race or humans.

The more magic circles overlapped across the surface of the creator god transformed from the Magic God of Dimensions, the more the exponentially rising pressure overwhelmed the Tyrant Gods and Divine Realm guardian gods.

They needed to intervene, but dimensional authority blocked spatial movement, forcing them to approach directly. That meant close-quarters combat against a giant the size of a planet. Even in full divine power deployment as semi-eternal beings granting tremendous destructive power at incredible speeds, the enemy's sheer scale rendered it nearly useless.

And there were nineteen of them.

If we get caught in the concentrated fire of the God Destruction Cannon that erases both divine power and the body itself—the one we saw earlier—even semi-eternal status won't save us.

Once divine power and divinity were erased, all authority activation would cease and they would perish.

The Tyrant Gods had sacrificed defensive authorities comparable to divinity in exchange for absolute offensive power. Yet their opponent blocked spatial movement and fired planet-sized divine power cannons capable of annihilating the divine race.

They had pretended to dodge with ease earlier, but cold sweat still poured down their backs.

A single mistake in reading or predicting the God Destruction Cannon's trajectory means annihilation.

Meanwhile, the enemy could take hundreds of long-range attacks without suffering any damage. Their own attacks had no effect on that monstrous body, while the opponent's strikes were fatal and irreversible.

In this state, challenging them was like rushing naked toward the demon emperor's giant fortress on the verge of death—utterly suicidal.

How did the divine race of the 499th Master Universe endure beings like this? We can't fight them in our current condition. We need the successor.

Only when that person arrives will we have proper fighting strength... Haaaack—! It's changing again.

Dddddddd! Vwoooooooooong!

Cracks formed across the surface of the endlessly reinforced Substitute God creator. Rectangular fissures originating from the center spread across the planetary surface and finally split a section open. The fragment of divine power and authority radiating from within was incomparably stronger than anything before.

The silver surface became covered in blood-red cracks and began to tremble as if alive. The sight perfectly matched the countless scenes of life being born that they had witnessed over the eons.

"Pregnancy?"

The entire Cyber Realm was thrown into complete upheaval at the sight of the Magic God of Dimensions and the machine creator gods attempting yet another transformation from within the Substitute Gods.

All eight of the highest-ranking cyber gods rushed to the scene. Every top-tier administrator had gathered. Creating the Substitute Gods had been entrusted to them by him, so of course they knew this stage.

It was 'liberation' from the planetary restraints.

The Substitute Gods were literally created as a ruling force to replace the gods of every Master Universe. Their pure strength and creative power were more than ten times greater, but in exchange their reason and emotions were restricted.

To prevent obsession with beauty and unnecessary waste, even their appearance had been designed to be managed like a planet. That was the general information on Substitute Gods. However, the original ones he had first designed were different.

If they were not overwhelmingly superior in every aspect, they could not be called a new race meant to replace the gods. As a ruling species, dignity and majesty were essential, so their appearance had been perfected as well.

They had been created with the goal of beings who would not fall far short even when compared to eternal beings above spiritual beings.

But the first Master Universe had been unfinished, without even a unified Divine Realm organization, and could not handle the original Substitute Gods. Supplying even the minimum vitality was difficult. Therefore, all authorities and powers that would harm the Master Universe itself—requiring trillions of vitality—were sealed in planetary form. Only the body and authorities needed to fight the divine race and creation effectively were strengthened. That was the current Substitute God.

And among those converted into Substitute Gods, only an extremely small number became true Substitute Gods. They lived as rulers of every Master Universe that had agreed with his ideal of 'eternal happiness.'

Yet now a being who had broken free of the Cyber Realm's control and transformed into a creator god ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the Substitute Gods had appeared—and was even attempting liberation.

Moreover, since it had been created through magic that denied reality rather than pure divine power, no one could predict the outcome.

No matter how they analyzed it, this was not a normal Substitute God. To radiate fighting spirit and killing intent so blatantly, filled with hatred for the divine race and resentment toward the world, was the path of a demon god or a god of destruction.

Even the Substitute Gods he had provided were barely manageable within the Cyber Realm—one of the core pillars of the Absolute Realm. If an entire group of true demon substitute gods appeared like this, the whole Master Universe could become a battlefield.

At this stage, even if they tried to stop it, the Cyber Realm was forbidden from any direct intervention while providing support to him for the Master Universe. Moreover, they were bound by an absolute-grade karma contract and could only observe.

Any attempt at interference would mean even a Creator would not escape unscathed.

They stamped their feet and urgently recruited mercenary gods, but after seeing the opponent's power, every last one refused to participate. Since no falsehood was permitted, the request had to be written with complete honesty.

It was a blood-red request form—the kind the Cyber Realm almost never used.

Yet despite the unprecedented rewards—restoration of spiritual beings, transcendence-grade authorities, and the recovered titles of previous failed Absolutes—no one accepted.

The combined strength of the highest-tier creator god of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Substitute Gods and his entire clan surpassed the forces of an average Master Universe.

Moreover, Substitute Gods fundamentally possessed such massive, powerful bodies and abilities exceeding ten times the norm that multiple attacks simply did not work.

At minimum, beings above Creator General level would need to step forward, but they refused to participate in the face of those endless magical transformations. Such entities had no need to risk the danger of erasure.

Above all, the fact that there were nineteen creator gods of the Substitute Gods left even the mercenary gods—who had come to the Absolute Realm solely desiring the power to conquer a Master Universe—in complete silence, watching from the sidelines.

They ignored even the 'titles' and 'transcendence authorities' they had wanted so desperately.