The Bitter Taste of Complete Victory
When destructive force powerful enough to annihilate even the war zone of the Spirit Realm and the flow of time itself was unleashed, every screen observing the battlefield froze simultaneously. Crackle-crackle-crackle! Bang-bang-bang! The feeds watched by powerhouses from other Master Universes all went dead as well. Such a phenomenon should have been impossible. Those monitoring the battlefield were all core elites from the Master Universes, their overlapping authorities providing real-time observation, yet every single one had been severed.
This could only mean the explosion’s destructive power had surpassed the observers’ defensive authorities, inflicting damage directly upon their perception and shaking the very order they presided over. The self-destruction had rendered every watching entity’s authorities momentarily useless. Even the Cyber Realm of the Absolute Realm—which supported every Master Universe—had lost the footage, its time axis twisted by the Substitute God’s dimensional authority.
The Creator Gods were stunned. A collapse of authorities and order on this scale only occurred when beings close to the rank of Creator General clashed with everything on the line.
“The battle aftermath of a mere Creator Candidate has escaped the Cyber Realm’s control.”
“No matter how equal the god race of the 499th Master Universe is said to be to the Absolute Realm, this is absurd.”
“More importantly, to disturb even our own perception? Even if it stems from the rampage of the ‘dimension’ authority he granted, this cannot be tolerated.”
They had lost the feed while merely spectating a Creator Candidate’s fight. Their pride as Creator Gods was thoroughly trampled. With furious expressions, they forcibly restored the battlefield view.
Static—!
A faint burst of noise crackled before a crystal-clear image returned. Nearly all physical matter within the local universe had evaporated. Only fragments of spiritual bodies remained. In that literal empty void, the heir to the Creator General appeared, twenty-seven pairs of light wings mostly destroyed, chest heaving with ragged breaths.
The Creator Gods stared in open astonishment.
“Oh-ho! He’s still alive? The Creator God of the 500th Master Universe must have poured tremendous effort into manifesting this heir of the Creator General. Well, if the 499th fails this time, they’re next in line, so it makes sense.”
“Remarkable performance. To survive entanglement in the self-destruction of a liberated Substitute God Creator without annihilation or death—truly unprecedented.”
The self-destruction of a Substitute God Creator carried the power of god annihilation, erasing every spiritual body caught in its blast. The only path to victory was delivering a fatal blow that completely disabled its functions before it could trigger. Yet it had endured.
Upon closer inspection, the Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians were also on the brink of death but somehow clinging to life. A gentle radiance emanated from the Creator General’s heir, sustaining them.
“Ooh! Not only power sharing through parallel god-race connections, but overlapping reinforcement as well? And they even established an integrated defense zone for regional protection? To manifest such things with mere spiritual bodies—truly impressive.”
“Why didn’t you reveal this sooner? With results like these, there would be no need to prove the 499th Master Universe’s Creator God had failed.”
“As expected of the 500th’s Creator God. The price for that power sharing will be paid in full.”
“Heh heh. My thanks.”
At those words, the Creator God of the 500th Master Universe offered a bitter smile and a slight bow in acknowledgment. Inside, however, he was burning with rage.
Most of our countermeasures against him and the Substitute Gods have been exposed here, along with the Creator General and his heir whom we mobilized as the core of our authorities. Still, it isn’t a complete loss. If the Creator General’s heir could do all this alone, we wouldn’t have hidden them in the first place.
Highly specialized authorities lacking versatility were usually rejected due to extreme waste. These particular authorities represented the pinnacle of that flaw. The very concept of a combat-specialized heir to the Creator General was flawed from the start. The manufacturing of the Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians necessary for authority fusion had consumed most of the Divine Realm’s vitality, leaving the Origins—the foundation of the god race—pathetically weak.
Through such extreme concentration and specialization, we obtained an heir to the Creator General capable of rivaling the Substitute Gods of equal rank, but everything else has been nearly annihilated.
Vitality was scarce. Talented beings who could not endure the powerful central control and uniformity kept leaking outward, steadily weakening both the god race and demon god race. The resulting empty territories caused incoming vitality to shrink further, trapping the 500th Master Universe in a vicious cycle.
They desperately needed the 499th Master Universe’s Creator Gods and their ability to create superior Main God Stars and Creator God Stars compared to those produced by the Substitute Gods. Of course, they had no intention of paying a fair price. Their plan had been to pressure the 499th collectively until it spat out the required power. Yet this insane Creator God of the 499th continued to mock their collective pressure.
The Creator God of the 499th now cared only for battle against him. A god race powerful enough to approach the Eternal rank has no trouble implementing authority fusion that requires massive computational power and physical bodies. Let them manifest whatever they wish. Though creating those artificially specialized Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians nearly bankrupted the Divine Realm and froze the Master Universe’s functions, at least they endured the Substitute God’s self-destruction. That much is commendable. The damage is simply too great. Nearly 100 trillion vitality has been stolen so far. Still, since we barely won, we should recover at least 80 trillion… but that damn bastard is still alive?
Crackle! Clang!
The Creator God of the 500th, who had been staring blankly at a blurry section of the battlefield screen, suddenly snatched a bowl from the table and hurled it toward the image. The entity that absolutely should not be standing there unharmed was concealing its presence and stealthily approaching the Creator General’s heir.
In its current state, it should be on the verge of death after blocking the Substitute God’s self-destruction. It cannot possibly defend against such a covert attack.
If that happened, the combat-type Creator General they had spent ten billion years and countless sacrifices to create would vanish, and the 80 trillion vitality would be stolen by that loathsome 499th Master Universe. It was utterly unacceptable.
He urgently reached out and caught the bowl just before the screen could absorb it. Only then did he remember who else was watching this battlefield.
If he becomes involved, I won’t be able to die a clean death. Being beaten in front of other Creator Gods would be one thing, but I could end up at the very bottom of the food chain on his planet.
That was something his pride as a Creator God refused to accept under any circumstances. The shockwave from catching his own maximum-power throw created a deafening roar and sent dust flying everywhere. He had not held back, having infused the bowl with enough force to annihilate even a highest-ranking Substitute God Creator.
The other Creator Gods stared in bewilderment at the absurd comedy of a man catching his own throw. At that exact moment, the destructive power contained within the bowl erupted violently.
Crack—! KWAHHHHH—!
Everyone understood when they heard the 500th Master Universe’s Creator God crushing the bowl in his grip, completely suppressing its power.
“Damn it—! This cursed Absolute-grade Karma Contract—! Why does it prevent even Creator Gods from interfering? Those detestable Absolute beings holding the title from the 499th Master Universe—! Was the self-destruction itself an attack method? Even so, the god race stands no chance against a combat-type Creator General. Just accept your defeat already—!”
The transparent central core of the Substitute God Creator, operating unrecognizable magic, was hurtling toward the heavily breathing heir of the Creator General. From within that transparent core, the Dimensional Mage God laughed darkly. He had exhausted his computational power to its limit, detonating the entire liberated body of the Substitute God Creator in self-destruction, leaving only this unburdened core.
Heh heh heh heh heh—! After fighting an upper-rank Substitute God, that bastard self-destructed. I survived by abandoning my entire human body. Yet pulling off the acrobatic feat of opening a dimensional gate inside my body at the moment of self-destruction, extracting only the small central core, and sending it beyond the Otherworld is nothing.
At the instant of explosion, he had opened a dimensional gate within his body, immediately closed it to forcibly send the Substitute God’s central core beyond the Otherworld, then used the spatial homeostasis reaction to retrieve it once the blast passed. It was an extremely dangerous act where even the slightest error would result in actual suicide rather than a controlled explosion, but the Dimensional Mage God had handled it with ease. An irrepressible smile played across his lips.
Puhahaha! Thanks to the divine spirit core not being here, the power was greatly reduced, yet they somehow survived. I’ll finish them off soon enough. Though I no longer possess the Substitute God’s body, this central core alone lets me operate magic freely. The Substitute God’s regenerative power has completely healed my injuries. If I just kill all of them, I should barely meet his standards.
He summoned thousands of specially prepared Lord Slayer spears, enhanced to the limit after his battle with an upper-rank Substitute God Lord—spears now capable of wounding even a Substitute God Lord.
So just stay right there. All you proud and noble ones will have your throats slit by this lowly human-born mercenary god. No, I’ll imprison every last one of you in the Divine Spirit Purgatory and work you to death. You won’t be released until you each bring me a hundred times the vitality you owe.
Of course, he had infused the spears with unrecognizable magic. Not even the heir of the Creator General could perceive or block them. Since the Substitute Gods were still part of the god race, he had also generously layered the Lord Slayer authority obtained from the Lord Goddesses. In their current worst possible state, he could finish off the Creator General’s heir.
Only “Complete Victory” and “One Strike, Certain Kill”—titles that prevented any injury—allowed an Absolute being who had opened such titles to survive his eternal judgment.
The early stages had been somewhat messy, but he had still achieved his original goal. He had captured all the Origins and Creator Gods using Annihilation World and thrown them into the Divine Spirit Purgatory. The additional Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians had briefly pushed him back, forcing the conversion of Substitute Gods, but that was merely a bonus. He had even self-destructed to deal with the Creator General’s heir, yet the enemy’s losses were absurdly greater.
All he had lost was the liberated body of a Substitute God and the 100 billion vitality consumed in the explosion. In contrast, most of the enemy’s vitality had been consumed or leaked out simply to survive that blast.
The difference is now 100 billion versus 100 trillion.
The enemy had suffered a thousand times the damage. He had restored himself to perfect condition using the vitality stolen from the enemy and the title of Origin. By any measure, this was complete victory. He could clean up the rest and return with that overflowing vitality.
With 100 trillion vitality, there is almost nothing I cannot do. At the very least, I could hire vast numbers of powerful mercenary Lord Gods and instantly conclude the authentication war against the demon god race or Substitute Gods.
GOOOOO—!
The thought of earning his recognition made his fighting spirit surge. If he quietly approached while they believed the self-destruction marked the end and their tension had eased, then drove Lord Slayer spears into the hearts of the 500th Master Universe’s gods, it would be over.
The unrecognizable magic he had temporarily elevated to Demon King rank using the vitality of the Demon King obtained from Shuddering March was imperfect but had reached the 12th circle. Even a 13th-circle Creator General would fail to notice it unless paying close attention. The finishing touch would be effortless.
As expected, enduring persistently was the right choice. I really thought I was going to die this time. Kuhuhuhuhuhu—! But 80 trillion—! Eighty trillion, you say? I can hire mercenary gods by the tens of thousands. With 80 trillion vitality and dimensional Creator God Stars that have reached the highest rank, I can tell the Substitute Gods or whoever else to come at me. War is money! No, I’ll teach them that war is vitality.
Feeling the stealthily launched Lord Slayer spears slowly drifting toward the hearts of the Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians, he smiled involuntarily. Moving them physically like this was ridiculously slow, but any spatial transfer would alert them. By moving the spears infused with unrecognizable magic in such a physical manner, no god in their current near-death state could detect them. Even the Creator General’s heir had failed to notice. Only a full Creator General might manage it. Therefore, this was already a guaranteed victory.
Swish—!
The stealthily approaching Lord Slayer spears suddenly accelerated, slamming into the nearly defenseless chests of the god race beings.
“Kuaaaaagh—!”
“Uwaaaagh—!”
Screams erupted everywhere, announcing the results. Dominion Gods and Divine Realm Guardians appeared one after another, both hands clutching the imperceptible Lord Slayer spears that had pierced their hearts, bodies trembling violently. Even the heir of the Creator General had a spear driven deep into his chest. Unable to even scream, he simply shook as the Dimensional Mage God released his unrecognizable magic and prepared the God Destruction Cannon at full power.
There was no time to laugh. He had somehow captured enemies who clearly surpassed him. If he did not finish them quickly, he would be the one to fall.
“It’s over now. God Destruction Cannon—! Full pow—”
The moment he tried to fire, he saw the Creator General’s heir move his lips slightly despite the spear piercing his chest and the pain twisting his face. No—his combat senses were screaming a fierce warning. If he continued fighting like this, he would lose.
“I… have been… waiting. I will take back… all the Origins… and the vitality. Dimensional… Mage God.”
“!!!”
KWOOOOOOOOM—! Fwoosh—!
Contrary to his ominous premonition, the God Destruction Cannon he had already fired at full power swept away the main forces of the 500th Master Universe. Their hearts had been pierced by the Lord Slayer spears, and they were on the verge of death from the self-destruction specialized for killing Substitute God Creators.
At that exact moment, the heir of the Creator General moved. The specially prepared Lord Slayer spear that had pierced his chest turned to powder and scattered. He had taken the God Destruction Cannon’s strike directly with his body.
“Behold why the god race can never defeat a Creator General. This is the true power and authority of a combat-type Creator General. Infinite Divine Power Absorption—!”
SHWAAAAAAA—!
The Dimensional Mage God momentarily thought the heir had gone mad as he watched the successor to the Creator General leap directly into the God Destruction Cannon’s path after a simple divine word activated the authority. The moment he saw the God Destruction Cannon—divine power compressed to ultra-high pressure that no god race being should be able to block—being absorbed into the heir’s body, he let out a cry of pure shock.
“This crazy—! Ignoring the divine rank damage from Lord Slayer and activating two transcendent authorities of absorption and defense?”
The chest wound from the Lord Slayer spear was visibly healing, and even his divine power was recovering. This was no ordinary feat.
“Don’t tell me you can nullify physical attacks entirely? I created that body roughly since the original was gone, but that was a Substitute God’s ultra-high-pressure God Destruction Cannon that cannot be blocked by divine power. You’re saying you defended against it? No—you absorbed it?”
“I was originally created to be this way. I was made and raised to lead the god race in battle against him and the Substitute Gods. Our very purposes for existence are different. A lowly human-born Creator Candidate dares to look down on, challenge, and rampage against the glorious heir of the Creator General and the Creator Gods? Receive the price for your arrogance. There will be no forgiveness.”
Despite the cold declaration of judgment, the Dimensional Mage God’s resentful outburst left the heir momentarily speechless.
“You damn frauds—! You deceived me, so of course I was deceived—! The ones who deceived are at fault, not the one who was deceived! I’m already furious about being tricked, yet you want to pile on the sin of a weakling challenging the strong? The Dimensional Mage God’s bitter criticism continued without pause.
“Why is that Creator General so weak? Is that truly the ruler and strongest being of all the god race, the Creator General? And why does the heir of the pathetic 500th Master Universe’s god race operate two ‘Infinite’ authorities and even nullify physical attacks? This is even more vicious than the Substitute Gods, just a different variety. If I had known, I would never have participated. Furthermore, while the higher being known as the Creator General has learned his secrets, he still struggles against just two Creator Candidates. So why is the heir this strong? This is all a scam. Looking at that Creator General and those pathetic Creator Gods, anyone would underestimate them and charge in just as I did.”
After confirming the Creator General’s awkward state as he continued struggling under the combined assault of Almighty Hwi and the Sage of Omniscience, the heir’s face grew troubled.
How can I explain? The Creator God of the 500th Master Universe was originally a management god, not a combat god, so he cannot even defeat a Dominion God in actual combat. That is why I tried so hard to dissuade him from participating, but it is my fault for failing to break his stubborn resolve to sacrifice even his life for the god race. That decision has led to this catastrophic defeat.
The battlefield changed too rapidly for a management god’s predictions and foresight to keep up. Even so, he was a perfect Creator General in every aspect except combat.
Though his power is weak, he is a being loved by everyone.
In any era but this chaotic one, he would have possessed sufficient ability to lead the god race to peace and prosperity.
“D-do not insult my father. With his benevolence and virtue, he is the pride of the god race…”
What returned, however, was the Dimensional Mage God’s shout, now layered with the fury of having been deceived.
“Shut up—! In this current world where the Substitute Gods he created have nearly destroyed both the god race and demon god race, what use is benevolence and virtue? Why would a management god become a Creator General? Moreover, for a management god to lead the full force onto the front lines and suffer such a crushing defeat— the 500th Master Universe has clearly lost its mind. The magic I have poured out today alone would have been enough to conquer an entire clan of ordinary Substitute God Creators for the authentication war. Yet now that everything has been exposed, I must rebuild my magic and strategy from scratch. On top of that, I even signed an Absolute-grade Karma Contract to ensure complete victory—! If I don’t win perfectly, I’m finished regardless. And in this situation you speak of the glorious honor of the god race? You want me to return the hostages? Then who will take responsibility for me? If you have no countermeasures, don’t even open your mouth. And if that management god who prides himself on social skills is so great, tell him to stay in the rear and provide political support instead of coming to the battlefield. Stop burdening your own allies—!”
“……”
There was truly nothing to say. In fact, these were the exact words the heir himself had wanted to speak.
I wanted to do exactly that, but there was no way a higher management god would listen to or be persuaded by a lower combat god. If I had done it alone as I initially insisted, breaking through the defensive divine realm would have ended everything. Instead, pride got in the way and now look at this mess. Should I have knocked him unconscious back then and handled it myself? Just how are we supposed to recover from damage like this?
Rather than anger at the Dimensional Mage God’s emotion-filled roar, the heir of the Creator General could not hide his hollow feelings. He had moved secretly while worrying endlessly about being discovered by the Creator General and receiving an absolute command to return. The conclusion he had reached after all that contemplation was that things absolutely could not continue like this.