The Sparrow's Cry

The chain reaction began. The hundreds of thousands of colossal planets, which had been abandoned in the depths of space after their dimensional shift via Gigantic Meteor was blocked by the creatures of Wind Star, started detonating one after another.

Yet the opponent was on an entirely different level.

Countless layers—thousands upon thousands—of planetary-scale defensive barriers rose once more from Wind Star, neutralizing the explosions completely. The caster could only stare with his mouth agape as a force capable of annihilating a regional universe hundreds of times over was deflected or absorbed by those rising shields.

Goddamn it—! Is that a complete physical nullification barrier? Looks like my planet-based attacks won’t have much effect anymore.

Still, Gigantic Meteor seemed to work to some degree. The barriers were pierced endlessly, but the moment the meteors entered the atmosphere, they were shot down by the breaths fired from the insects swarming above Wind Star. The sight was utterly absurd.

Even the lowest, mayfly-like insects were exerting physical force strong enough to destroy planets. The only reason any of this worked at all was because these were colossal planets with immeasurable mass and volume. If they had been the size of satellites, they would have been swatted away without a trace.

What was even more ridiculous was that even when a planet was destroyed, its fragments remained. Some were the size of moons, yet the tiny insects batted them aside as if they were nothing.

I expected this, but this is just too much.

In a Master Universe, the trait of physical nullification would only be found in the heirs of Creator God Kings. Yet here, even the insects possessed it. Of course, their level seemed extremely low—they could only repel things the size of satellites—but their numbers were beyond counting. An endless swarm.

There was no way to deal with them and then strike Wind Star itself.

If I destroy Wind Star, will he get angry? Surely not?

Both the Absolute Realm and the Master Universes belonged to him. He wasn’t the type to throw a fit over a single planet used as a prison for defeated beings. And even if he did get angry, there was no punishment worse than being dragged to this star and turned into an insect.

For now, he had to resolve this situation somehow. He had simply been caught off guard by how much stronger everything was compared to the data he had gathered when Absolute Beings with past titles had fully unlocked their powers and struggled desperately before being hauled away.

Back when he had only been at the Main God level, everything had been too weak for him to even understand how he was being dragged off. Now that he could perceive it clearly, the problem had only grown worse.

Does Wind Star grant even its insects physical nullification and reflection? Well, I suppose it’s necessary when dealing with transcendent life forms far beyond the Giant God race. But still, there’s no way Annihilation World wouldn’t deal a serious blow. Damn it—! And what the hell are those?

Fortunately they were living beings, so they remained within the atmosphere. But the unimaginable life essence—pure aura—they emitted pushed the insects away and pulverized any that drew too close. It was an aura with the property of protecting the entire planet behind thousands of layers of physical barriers.

The moment he saw the being at the center of that aura flapping its wings, he was so shocked he nearly lost his mind.

He had just learned the identity of the entity that had blocked his Annihilation World, a spell capable of erasing even a regional universe.

It was a tiny, adorable little bird.

“A sparrow? The thing that blocked my Annihilation World is just a… a sparrow? This is ridiculous—! Aaaaargh—!”

Chirp! Chirp! Chirrriiiiiiick—!

The instant he confirmed the appearance of the new enemy, the birds’ cries reached him, and screams burst out simultaneously.

The moment those birds cried, the bodies and divinities of gods who surpassed ordinary Creator Gods were shaken to their very roots. Weak points in their divine bodies burst with blood and cracked open without fail.

The source was nothing more than the sound coming from the birds’ beaks.

The shockwaves formed by those concentrated sounds had struck him and his clones directly from the distant Wind Star.

“A sparrow’s cry that can pierce dimensional barriers capable of nullifying most ordinary Creator Gods? And with enough power to pulverize even the body of a reserve Creator God if he’s not careful? This is beyond absurd—!”

From the beaks of the sparrows on Wind Star, shockwaves strong enough to annihilate even High Lord Gods poured forth, crossing the void of space and dimensional barriers to slam directly into the Magic God of Dimensions and his clones.

The insects, limited by their nature as living beings, could not attack beyond the bounds of space. They could only defend against attacks approaching the planet. But the moment the sparrows stepped forward, that limitation became meaningless.

If the atmosphere hadn’t been in the way, they would have flown over and torn us to shreds with their physical abilities alone.

The two hundred clones of the Magic God of Dimensions instantly shifted their defensive properties to the utmost limit the moment they identified the nature of the attack. Only then were they barely able to stop the damage.

While rapidly regenerating his divine body, he analyzed the situation as he watched the dimensional barrier—now tuned to block shockwaves—tremble endlessly.

It was hopeless.

“So the insects are above Main God level, and the birds are above Creator God level? Then what about the animals? No—what about the humans I’m supposed to defeat to normally escape the Eternal Judgment? If even the insects have Main God-level physical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nullification, what kind of level are the beings above them? No wonder even Absolute Beings with titles get dragged here and never come back out. If sparrows are already this bad, what happens if bigger birds show up…? Oh, damn it—!”

As if his words had summoned them, birds far larger than sparrows began appearing one after another.

His sudden attack that threatened Wind Star itself must have drawn the interest of beings beyond the insects.

It’s a miracle that these creatures don’t seem capable of surviving in outer space, but their shockwaves are so powerful I can’t let my guard down.

Moreover, the coordination of the Absolute-grade Karma Contract and the contract he had staked nearly all his karma—now approaching Absolute Goodness—was almost complete.

And toppling Wind Star was proving difficult even with Annihilation World, which he had trusted just a little.

The sparrows, radiating an aura so powerful it could not possibly exist in a Master Universe, were deploying wide-area barriers that protected the entire planet behind thousands of layers.

They must be desperate because if Wind Star is shattered, they’re finished too.

There was nothing better than aura at blocking wide-area explosive force, so Annihilation World had almost no effect. However, since the aura was originally meant for personal use, it could not completely block every one of the hundreds of thousands of Gigantic Meteors shifting through dimensions. Holes were opening here and there, and fragments were burning up from atmospheric friction.

And a tiny fraction of them had finally touched the ground.

The eyes of the Magic God of Dimensions burned with fighting spirit as he watched.

Swish—! Swish, swish—!

With a light wave of his hand, a tree branch changed shape, transforming into a wooden sword.

As he crafted the wooden sword with an amused expression, the faces of the three people around him twisted in a complicated way.

Attacking Wind Star was, quite literally, an act of aggression toward him.

When they had tried to step forward in utter fury, he had shut them down with a single sentence.

There was no room for objection to that decision. Because in the past, the only being wiser and more intelligent than him had been the Grey Sage, and now there was none. Therefore, he was the most outstanding.

There must be another reason this time as well.

Still, it was impossible not to feel anger rising. So they had no choice but to speak to the most senior among them. At least he could make a suggestion to him and survive thanks to that incredible toughness.

Since he was clearly wearing an angry expression, they thought he would listen to another suggestion. But his answer was truly ambiguous.

At Yuil Yongsinje’s rambling answer, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the two bewildered listeners sent him a bitter look and explained through their will.

Wind Star is one of ten. Ten different lines, each forcibly nurturing the strong. This is the most underdeveloped of them, so Father is here only to accelerate evolution. The main house is not in the Absolute Realm but in the Otherworld. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say it belongs to Father? Even if I try to explain it properly, I can’t understand it myself, so I’m sorry. I don’t know why Father made things so complicated, but remember just one thing.

Yuil Yongsinje looked at the two who still didn’t understand and smiled warmly as he continued.

We are family. The only ones who are special to Father are us. Therefore, even the Wind Stars created by pouring in vitality enough to form a Master Universe, along with transcendent mental bodies and life forms over hundreds of billions of years, hold no special value. If they fail the trial and are destroyed, that is the end.

“But…?”

“Why are you speaking so gravely about something so obvious?”

He had tried to set the mood properly, but these heartless descendants were ice-cold. Their faces said they couldn’t understand why he was being so serious about something obvious.

Well, these children follow Father more than they follow me.

Because he was someone who had been born great, fallen to the very bottom, and risen again, these children—who were leading a race of a scale he himself could not comprehend through evolution—held greater reverence for Father than for a god.

In the past, he too had received comparable reverence. But the moment they learned he was preparing a harsh evolutionary plan that would select and eliminate most of the Dragon God race in order to make them the ruling species of the Absolute Realm, everything changed.

When I told Mother—the Dragon God Empress—the truth, she cried and clung to Father to save me, and I ended up completely under his thumb.

The self who had only trained suddenly became the Dragon God Emperor. He had clung to Father, begging to be allowed to take responsibility as an Origin and develop the race, only to be beaten to the brink of annihilation for the first time.

The sight of Father’s genuinely furious expression and the voice that had shouted while grinding him down with the hastily prepared Sword of Ruin and Soul was still vivid.

After that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had truly been beaten countless times.

I never knew leading a clan would be this difficult. The basic training I suffered through under Father was so brutal that I sometimes long to throw everything away and return to those days.

His subordinates caused accidents constantly, fought over who was better, and frequently blew up entire planets. The number of beatings he received until those planets were restored was beyond counting.

I don’t even know how five hundred billion years passed.

Moreover, the Dragon God race he had saved, instead of obeying his control, used their superior basic abilities to live freely, ran amok in the Absolute Realm, and eventually became an endangered species with fewer than a hundred million members. He had lost all face and control within the family.

Right now, the greatest awe I feel is toward the fact that they can still stand firm in their convictions even after being beaten by Father. Only he can do that. Still, it is a relief that these children are managing the clan well.

If the clan had fallen into complete ruin, he really would have been dragged to the Otherworld and forced to start training from the beginning again.

Until then I was the heir of the Absolute Realm, not some half-baked existence. How did it come to this? It’s all because I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong. I shouldn’t have tried to become the Origin of a clan that didn’t suit me. I could have finished all my training first. Instead I got involved in Father’s business and ended up like this?

While he was lost in old memories, he suddenly snapped back to reality when a wooden sword was thrust before his eyes. A chill ran down his spine on reflex.

It was the most famous divine artifact in the Absolute Realm. And it was proof of those who had surpassed their limits while leading not individuals, but entire groups.

Written on it in black letters were the words:

No attack made with this wooden sword could cause death. It would never break, and it could inflict endless blows while keeping the target alive. Even if an Eternal Being swung it with full power to kill an insect, the insect would not die.

Only Eternal Beings could survive Father’s attacks, so he used it when dealing with lower beings.

Of course, the reason this sword had been created was because of him.

I was beaten so much that in the beginning, even with this powerful body, I really thought I would die.

When he had still been young and not yet at the Eternal Being level, Father had created this special divine artifact out of fear that he would die every time he was beaten as the representative whenever problems arose with the Dragon God race.

That was why the back of the sword read:

This sudden phrase was the part that puzzled other beings in the Absolute Realm the most. A divine artifact symbolizing his mercy—never killing any enemy but subduing them—suddenly bearing such words made no sense to them.

So if a child does wrong, beat them without holding back. Because I was too weak and he couldn’t hit me properly for fear I would die, I ended up becoming a half-baked existence. So I will correct it now, even if it’s late.

When he thought of the phrase Father had engraved and then erased once the Dragon God race had stabilized somewhat, a chill ran down his spine.

Whenever other beings praised Father in front of him and praised the divine artifact as a symbol of mercy that spared even those who dared challenge him from death, he could say nothing.

That symbol of anxiety had now appeared in the form of a brand-new, sparkling sword.

Father, who still hadn’t erased his joyful smile, held the tip of the wooden sword and placed it in front of his face.

The fact that he still hadn’t reported how he had increased the Dragon God race past one hundred million flashed through his mind. If the report was late, he would naturally be beaten severely.

Is one sword not enough anymore, so he’s going to use two? Father originally used twin swords, didn’t he? But after settling things with the Eight Absolutes, there were no opponents on his level, so he stopped using them…?

Just imagining Father swinging the Sword of Ruin and Soul in both hands and beating him made his entire body ache down to the marrow of his bones. Thanks to the direct beatings he had received over the years, he had gained defensive power that could completely ignore even an Eternal Being’s attacks, but pain was still pain.

The Sword of Ruin and Soul never killed its target; instead, it converted all impact into pure agony. When Father struck, even most Eternal Beings would roll on the floor in torment.

Looking at his tense son, Father spoke in a playful tone overflowing with mischief.

Leaving behind his son’s dumbfounded, pathetic expression that clearly said he had no idea what that meant, he turned his gaze toward the Magic God of Dimensions, who was putting on a rare fireworks display of chained planetary explosions.

Rumble—! Uuuuooooong—!

He was engaged in a desperate battle with the sparrows right beside the planet.

Before anyone realized, the space before Wind Star had turned into a battlefield. Two hundred Creator God-level magic gods were performing precarious acrobatics as they fought desperately against the sparrows.

Some of the insects had died, but their numbers were still beyond counting. The Magic God of Dimensions and his clones were charging through that endless barrage of attacks.

“Why won’t these things die? Are they really birds and bugs?”

“No matter how you look at it, these are life forms from Wind Star. Their physical strength and authority can destroy even colossal planets—!”

“Even if they don’t die from a direct hit, they should at least take critical damage! How is it ending with just a scratch—!”

“Chirrriiiick—!”

“Chirrrrr—!”

The only answer to their frantic questions was the twittering of sparrows. The slightly larger birds simply watched the spectacle from afar as if enjoying the show.