The Heir's Arrogance and the Instinct to Survive
The Spirit Realm war—Ooooooooooong—!
The mechanical Substitute God let out a resonant roar while firmly gripped in the hands of the Magic God of Dimensions, who had ascended to become a Creator God of the Substitute Race. In its berserk state, indiscriminate waves of magical power poured out, and the moment the magic circle etched across the planet’s surface glowed, its form vanished, leaving only the captured shape behind.
The Magic God of Dimensions, who had activated such an imperceptible spell, ground his teeth in fury. ‘Tch! No matter how many times I look at them, I can’t stand these so-called brilliant heirs.’
Of course, this was his first time seeing the heir of the Creator God King from the 500th Master Universe, but their behavior was exactly the same as the divine heirs he had encountered on past battlefields.
‘They ignore every means and method to barely win a war, then swoop in at the very end, steal all the credit with a few fancy words, and dump every possible disgrace onto someone else. If it weren’t for the Mercenary God’s position, shackled by that truly heinous karma, I would have flipped the board hundreds of times by now.’
The Magic God of Dimensions had been using a reality-denying spell to transform into a Substitute God. The moment a computational overload caused a backlash, he had given up on everything, assuming it was the end, and set himself to self-destruct. Yet even that had been interrupted. With his magical power diminished and unable to handle the enemy, the automatic thought processes of the Substitute God’s Creator God body had forcibly awakened him.
‘It must have foreseen that a sloppy self-destruct against that heir would lead to meaningless annihilation.’
Even now, the aftereffects left him dizzy. Still, he didn’t know where that heir had come from, but the opponent was at their absolute weakest.
‘Originally, this would be an overwhelmingly powerful foe that I couldn’t even counter without the extraordinary divine power and authority embedded in that sword of light in their chest. But right now, with the heir in this weakened state and the liberated Creator God body of a rampaging Substitute God, I can just barely win.’
Along with that faint, revived chance of victory, the humiliation of having his achievements stolen by the heirs of past clients and the countless times he had been forced to swallow his rage as the weak resurfaced. It was the fighting spirit toward victory and reality that he had nearly abandoned in the face of an ever-growing enemy army.
No—it was hatred for everything that oppressed him and the stubborn refusal to ever give up on himself.
That flame reignited his fighting spirit once more.
“Ooooong—! Ooooong—!”
‘Tch—! Before I self-destruct, I’m taking you down no matter what. Who the hell do you think you are, showing up at the last second acting all high and mighty, interfering like this? This is my battlefield! My victory! You think I’ll let you steal it from me even at the final moment? So just die—!’
Rumble—! Puhahahaha—!
Using imperceptible magic and the dimensional space-shifting ability, he hurled the mechanical Substitute Gods as if literally tearing the fabric of space itself apart. The destructive power demonstrated by their enormous mass, speed, and the durability of a Substitute God’s Creator God body was enough to terrify even the War Gods who stood on equal footing with Creator Gods.
Boooom! Kraaaaa! Kwaaaaaang! Uwaaaaik!
The War Gods who tried to block because they couldn’t dodge the imperceptible magic all vomited blood and were blasted beyond the battlefield. It was impressive they even maintained their bodies, but with most of their vitality stolen alongside their injuries, returning to the fight was impossible. Moreover, with the dimensional authority having returned their sanity, the magic was strengthened and space movement was now completely sealed. Returning within the time limit was out of the question.
Rumble! Kwaaaaaang!
After all seventeen mechanical Substitute Gods were mercilessly thrown, the War Gods’ formation completely collapsed. However, the heir and the War Gods were somehow dodging the imperceptible magic from the now-hidden mechanical Substitute Gods and charging in to counterattack.
Yet nearly a thousand War Gods had been struck by the Substitute Gods’ body slams. Almost a hundred were forcibly removed from the front lines, their vitality leaking from their wounds, gathering once again to nearly ten trillion in total.
‘The remaining War Gods look sickened by the sudden surge of casualties as they close in, but I’ve also lost almost all effective means of attack. I could retrieve the mechanical Substitute Gods with space movement and reuse them, but they’re outside the domain, and with their interference in between, it would consume a massive amount of computational power.’
If he messed up, the dimensional authority currently blocking their space movement might shut down. In that case, he wouldn’t be able to stop the War Gods and the heir who were desperately charging toward him right now.
Of course he wanted to catch the heir with this momentum, but as expected of the Creator God King’s heir, their speed was monstrous. They were even dodging the planet’s ultra-high-speed long-range attacks that were impossible to perceive, so close combat was naturally a lost cause.
The Magic God of Dimensions specialized in long-range attacks and support. Brutal close-quarters brawls where bodies were smashed and blood sprayed everywhere were his absolute last resort.
“Oong—! Oong—!”
‘Tsk—! Is this what the Creator God King’s heir looks like? Thanks to the divinity and authorities granted to them, I can’t land a decisive blow except in close combat. Have the War Gods adapted too? Well, they are battle-hardened War Gods, after all. I can’t handle that many of them.’
As expected, to end this he would have to engage in direct close combat, but that was impossible in his current condition. Even moving this body was already straining his insufficient computational power.
Therefore, he made a cold decision to self-destruct.
“Oooooong—!”
‘Initiate self-destruct. Approximately one minute until completion? Take measures to accelerate and execute.’
At the Magic God of Dimensions’ ego’s shout, the Substitute God’s automatic thought processes responded. Compared to a divine ego, it was extremely limited, yet a flexible reply came back.
‘Self-destruct acceleration impossible due to unstable output. With current output amplified by magic, combat against the designated divine race is possible. Recommend canceling the self-destruct process and switching to normal combat readiness. If you refuse without legitimate reason, control of the body will be revoked once again.’
‘What?!’
He had certainly taken over control of the body, but the current operation was far from normal. It was like using the automatic thought processes of the Substitute God as a controller to pilot a robot-like colossal body. The problem was that the one who had handed over that controller was the artificial intelligence of the robot itself, and it could reclaim it at any time.
And because of his nature as a Magic God, magical amplification was necessary to draw out the body’s original power. The Substitute God’s automatic thought processes had acknowledged that necessity, which was why this was even possible. With his current computational power, controlling the liberated Creator God body of a Substitute God would have been utterly impossible.
He could come up with countless reasons to self-destruct, but he didn’t want to lie to himself until the very moment his life ended.
‘He is watching. I want to show him my first and last honorable battle. Right now I can somehow defeat the enemy, but how could that possibly become his pride? Moreover, after showing such a difficult fight, if punishment is unavoidable…’
‘Analyzing. Authority to pilot revoked.’
‘What—?’
It was an emotional line that would have moved even himself, but he had forgotten. The Substitute Race had been created by him and manufactured and operated by the insane Cyber Gods who lived in a world detached from reality.
Normal thoughts or sentiments meant nothing to those creations.
‘Self-destruct is denied. Such personal sentiments are not permitted for the Substitute Race. If there is no other reason, cease self-destruct and carry out normal subjugation or escape. Above all, loyalty toward him from a Substitute God contradicts our created purpose. Being disposed of due to unsatisfactory battle results is a matter that comes afterward.’
It was a response completely devoid of even a fingernail’s worth of respect for the being who was essentially their creator.
‘You automatic thought process are me too. If I get disposed of, you disappear as well.’
They should at least possess basic survival instincts, yet it was completely ignoring them.
‘W-wait—! You were created according to his plans, so shouldn’t there be basic absolute obedience orders or loyalty contracts…? There’s no control at all? That can’t be. He really placed no restrictions on the Substitute Race? How does he plan to handle that? Ah—! That’s right. To him, such safety measures are completely unnecessary.’
His mind felt numb. A liberated Substitute God was a transcendent powerhouse possessing a body comparable to an Eternal Being. And their numbers were being created and self-propagating to the point where it could almost be called infinite. The army formed by those numbers was enough to threaten even Eternal Beings, yet there wasn’t even the basic safety device he had believed would obviously exist.
‘Of course it means nothing to him, the absolute strongest, but if he ever stops intervening, they could all end up annihilated by the Substitute Race.’
The difference between having basic control measures and having none at all could be seen just by looking at the Absolute Beings who held titles. If he hadn’t placed the restriction called ‘Eternal Judgment’ on the opening of titles, most of them would have become Destruction Gods and run wild.
‘Even I have felt the temptation countless times, but out of fear of his judgment, I’ve been trying to live virtuously by playing the role of Main God of the Divine Realm, which doesn’t even suit me. Yet there are no restrictions at all on the Substitute Race, who are more than ten times stronger than the divine race. That means any one of them could become a Destruction God at any moment.’
Looking at the entire Master Universe, the military power of the Substitute Race had already reached a level where even if all the gods and demon gods united, they couldn’t possibly oppose them.
‘There are sometimes fools who spout nonsense like “if all living beings unite as one, they can defeat a Spiritual Being,” but those pathetic beings are nothing more than the lowest-ranked demigods, not Spiritual Beings.’
While he was shocked by the fact that beings capable of treating all gods and demon gods as lower races had no restrictions whatsoever, the Substitute God’s automatic thought processes responded.
‘You, who did not undergo the normal manufacturing process, would not know. The Substitute Race are manufactured and autonomously operated solely for the ‘eternal prosperity’ of the entire Master Universe. There are no restrictions or compulsions placed upon us. That purpose is everything. Obeying him is simply the fastest path to that goal. The Absolute Being of Truth who created the first one did so with that purpose, and the Cyber Realm that created us afterward shares the exact same objective. If there is no other reason, I will convert you into a lower ego for magical amplification and operate you as such.’
‘What did you just say? You’re going to make me a support ego—! I’m the one who made you. I am your creator.’
‘An incompetent creator has no command authority. Switching to support ego mode. As a support ego, please faithfully amplify divine power output as magic.’
‘Huuuuurk!’
The Magic God of Dimensions felt his reason and ego sinking deep as the exclamation of shock escaped him unconsciously.
‘At this rate, I really will become a support ego and have to take on the role of handling the automatic thought processes’ magical authority. Even if I mobilize every spell I have to resist, my basic computational power is pathetically inferior to the automatic thought processes, so there’s no way to stop it.’
In this state, he was on the verge of being devoured by the body’s instinct-like automatic thought processes.
‘Stop—! There is a way to survive even if I self-destruct. Using the dimensional authority, I can separate only the core nucleus at the moment of explosion and send it to the Otherworld. That’s why self-destructing right in the middle of the enemy camp gives me the highest chance of success!’
‘Analyzing. Then proceed. Permission granted.’
‘Grrrrrr—!’
Whoever made this automatic thought process, he wanted to see their face and punch it. Even though there were personal circumstances involved, it was acting completely on its own.
‘Since I made it, this is like spitting in my own face.’
Thinking about it again, the automatic thought processes were the very essence of a defense mechanism created by selecting only the most rational parts of the main body, with slight adjustments made to align with the purpose of ‘eternal prosperity.’ Therefore, the automatic thought processes represented the deepest and most fundamental instincts of a being transformed into a Substitute God, making them closest to his own true nature.
‘Now that I’m experiencing it firsthand from my own automatic thought processes, it’s overwhelming.’
It denied all other beings and considered only victory and efficiency. It even judged the main body’s reason and will as unhelpful and tried to turn them into a support ego. That said everything.
‘At this point, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been the one inflicting harm on those around me rather than the other way around.’
Oooooooooong—!
Those thoughts lasted only a moment. Seeing the heir and the War Gods who had now approached within range where close-range authorities could take effect, he drew up his magical power. A black circle of magical power, like a black pearl, instantly swapped with a circle of light and burst forth.
First, he would clean up these pests. The automatic thought processes that were the essence of instinct would need separate education later.
He poured every last drop of magical power—pure enough to exceed 12th-circle—into the Main God Star-sized body.
Crack! Crunch—!
The majestic sound of bones realigning throughout his body and muscles repeatedly contracting and strengthening echoed out. In any case, the authorities of ordinary light gods would never work on the heir of the Creator God King, who stood at the pinnacle.
The sword of light embedded in their chest clearly possessed the power to instantly kill an ordinary Creator God, yet the fact that they were blocking it with only a single-circle drop in power was proof of that. They undoubtedly possessed some degree of immunity to the light gods’ authorities.
Therefore, he had to strike with magical power that acted as poison to the light gods, or with pure physical force capable of shattering their bodies.
‘Originally, these countermeasures were created to be used against the entire divine realm of the Main God Star where I was born. How they ended up being used to feed the divine realm and help me ascend is beyond me, but now is not the time to worry about that.’
Oooooooong! Oooooooooong!
Feeling the magical power, shining like black jewels, settle perfectly into the liberated Creator God body of the Substitute God, he focused his consciousness on manifesting a physical reinforcement aura—a concept alien to a mage.
If he added magical power transformed into an aura specialized for body reinforcement to the incomparably powerful body of the liberated Substitute God’s Creator God, he should be able to respond to some extent.
Of course its power would be weaker than that of aura specialists who had devoted themselves to it, but this was the aura of a Root School mage who prided himself on possessing the highest speed.
‘Jumping into a chaotic melee where I have to fight head-on is suicidal, but at the very least I can circle around them, maintain distance, chant spells, or strike with close-range magic. Only after obtaining this level of speed can one be called a Root School mage on the battlefield.’
It was the ‘magical aura’ unique to Root School mages, obtained after countless sacrifices by the school’s predecessors. It did not reach the level of a proper aura, but it was a speed-specialized aura that had been reinforced in any way possible purely for the sake of surviving on the battlefield.
‘Wizard Ora activated—! Before the main body self-destructs excluding the life nucleus, I must somehow take down the Creator God King’s heir first, who appears to possess immunity to authorities—! Since that bastard joined them, the War Gods’ overall combat power seems to have more than doubled. He must be the core of their group authorities. If I don’t finish this, I have to at least make sure he can’t fulfill his role. Support with full power.’
‘Approved.’
The automatic thought processes in charge of the Substitute God’s body and the will of the Magic God of Dimensions became perfectly aligned. And the result appeared instantly.
Shuk—! Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!
The colossal body of the Substitute God, the size of a Main God Star, vanished before the eyes of every Creator God. Then, accompanied by the deafening roar of space being torn apart, the armor of the War Gods who had been advancing in the front line shattered as they were sent flying, and a massive scream rang out.
“Kuuuuuuu—!”
“Kraaaa!”
The divinity that had endured direct hits from the mechanical Substitute Gods until now scattered like dust. What appeared and disappeared before them like an illusion were satellite-sized fists and the tips of feet. Wherever dozens of afterimages appeared and vanished, a War God would have their divinity destroyed, vomit blood, and be blasted away without fail.
Tuhahahaha! Zzzzzzzzt—!
Along with the surreal sight of some colossal being dragging a finger in a straight line across the vacuum of space, the path of blood and shock stretched all the way toward the Creator God King’s heir.
The heir, shocked by a speed that surpassed the common sense of the divine race, reflexively gathered all their divine power into their body and thrust it forward in the direction of approach.
‘If I take that head-on, even I will die.’
The moment the Substitute God’s Creator God fist, thrown with full power, collided with the heir was simultaneous.
Kwaaaaaaaaadududududuk—!
The muscles, reinforced to the point of bursting with divine power from both widely spread arms, flexed powerfully as they received the satellite-sized fist. Even the physical force that could have destroyed an entire star system was completely dispersed by the reinforced body.
The twenty-six pairs of wings of light shining behind their back now blazed like the sun, looking as if they would explode at any moment. Most of all, the twenty-seventh translucent wing slowly turned black, raising the Creator God King’s heir’s divinity.
Their body changed from that of a boy into a young man, muscles flexing as they pushed out the immortal sword of light.
‘There will definitely be aftereffects, but this is not the time to worry about that. If I deal with this half-heartedly right now, I’ll die immediately.’
The Creator God King’s heir, who had not yielded even an inch against an attack that had sent the War Gods flying like leaves in a storm despite deploying full divine power, rarely showed emotion as they ground their teeth and shouted.
“Khup—! You weren’t a filthy Magic God who uses disgusting magic power, but a War God specialized in close combat—! This power—! This speed—! This strength—! All of it is at the transcendent level—! So you’re forcing even me, the glorious heir of the Creator God King, to use my full power? A mere human-born provisional Creator God—!”
“Ooooooooong—! Ooooong—!”
‘Yeah, you were born well. And your father is impressive. It’s not you yourself. For the heir of the Creator God King’sWar God line to bring even the main forces just to deal with a human-born provisional Creator God… your father would be truly proud if he saw this.’
While spitting out remarks that would make the heir’s blood pressure explode if they understood them, the Magic God of Dimensions continued to leisurely add more power, emitting the unique resonance of a Substitute God even as the heir poured on more strength to block him. But inside, it was a different story.
‘A-amazing. The Substitute God’s physical abilities are more than ten times those of the divine race, so amplifying them with the magical aura produces this result? It’s nearly six times stronger than even the most reinforced body of a normal War God. Moreover, the speed is more than ten times faster, to the point that even I, who am directly moving the body, can’t perceive it. If it weren’t for the Substitute God’s automatic thought processes, I wouldn’t have been able to attack at all and would have been slammed straight out of the boundary.’
He was utterly stunned by the endless potential of the Substitute Race. When a normal War God reinforced themselves with aura, their physical abilities could rise by up to three times at most. However, the magical aura’s limit was normally less than double, though it could raise speed by a little more than triple. Yet the amplified physical abilities from that inferior magical aura were now on par with the Creator God King’s heir, who was using their full power and sending War Gods flying.
The speed was so fast that even a Creator God’s transcendent senses couldn’t track it. That said everything.
‘If several of these guys pop out during the next racial decision war, I wonder if the current military power of the 499th Master Universe can even stop them.’
Facing such powerful Substitute Gods, it was a mystery how the 499th Master Universe had safely survived the previous racial decision war.
‘At this rate, maybe I can win without self-destructing? If I play my cards right, there might be a way to avoid being disposed of…’
The moment the contest of strength against the heir became relaxed enough for other thoughts to surface, the automatic thought processes issued a warning.
‘Focus solely on the battle as you are doing now. Keep in mind that this is a temporary full-power release state caused by the rampage. If you interfere with combat, I will immediately switch you to support ego mode.’
At the threat from the automatic thought processes—which were essentially artificial intelligence inferior to a divine ego—the Magic God of Dimensions finally exploded in anger.
‘Is there such an ill-mannered automatic thought process?’
It kept threatening to drop him into support ego mode, and having been pushed right up to that point, he finally snapped. Above all, he judged that since victory in this war was impossible without the help of his magic, it would be accepted to some extent.
If he didn’t somehow tame it, he might end up becoming the support ego of the automatic thought processes he himself had created before he could even be disposed of by him.
‘Still, what kind of way is that to speak to your creator? Who the hell made you like this? Are all Substitute Gods originally like this? In life, basic courtesy makes things easier, yet you threaten me like that?’
However, he could say nothing in response to the automatic thought processes’ reply.
‘Having not received formal manufacturing from the Cyber Realm, I was created based on your instincts and reason, selecting only the most efficient judgments to achieve eternal prosperity. I am the craving and sincerity for your purpose. And I am the crystallization of your experience.’
‘J-just hurry up and self-destruct already.’
Since it was the truth, he couldn’t even argue. The Magic God of Dimensions was completely fed up with the automatic thought processes that disregarded even their creator and simply declared that the weak were unnecessary.