Here Lies the Answer to the Great Forest War

The answer to the Great Forest War was here. The black mage who had endlessly gathered and compressed vast magical power, ultimately transcending humanity to become a god, stood right here. Pop! Poppoppoppoppop! The ten circles shining above the grey robe blazed with a light so fierce it stung the eyes.

The High Elf Queens, having grasped that the black mage’s power surpassed imagination, bit their lips until blood welled up. They cursed their own past mistakes.

‘He truly is a tenth-circle main god-level black ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mage.’

‘When that wicked human mage first invaded the Great Cavity, we should have poured every ounce of our strength into destroying him.’

‘We waited for his stabilization period because we couldn’t approach his dark magic, and that hesitation created this crisis.’

‘If we had eliminated him at seven circles during his first stabilization period, no matter the sacrifice, none of this would have happened.’

Regret crashed over them in endless waves—regret for failing to land a decisive blow because of the lingering dark magic and the dimensional barrier even during his stabilization phase. This time, the High Elf Queens ground their teeth, resolved to exterminate him even if it meant the annihilation of their entire race.

Dong—! Dong—! The black magic tower began to toll like a massive bell, shoving the air of the Great Cavity aside with pure magical force. Having thus flaunted his existence, the black mage arrogantly declared before an army of one billion and ten thousand dragonkin.

The black magic tower’s radiance flared even brighter, carrying the black mage’s declaration across the entire Great Forest.

‘How dare a mere black mage presume to command anyone?’

Sharing the common thought that this supremely arrogant declaration must be answered with utter annihilation, all emotion vanished from the High Elf Queens’ faces. Above their heads, the Elemental Kings manifested in colossal forms and advanced toward the magic tower.

Clack. Clack. At the advance of their exalted queens, the other High Elves revealed their weapons and elementals and began to march. Every High Elf advanced with swords, spears, bows, and shields gripped tight.

Oooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkk—! A roar packed with the orcs’ fighting spirit shook the battlefield. The orc great warriors, muscles swollen to bursting from excitement and shamanic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rites, stepped forward in perfect unison. Any immature orc who lost control of his emotions and charged ahead had already been devoured by the Great Forest. Those who remained were the true orc lords—veterans who had survived eons of war against a billion High Elves evolved to the extreme through endless conflict with the demon race.

‘Outside the Great Mountain Range, even a single one of these orc lords could rally the tribes and topple kingdoms. Here, they’re nothing more than pebbles rolling on the ground.’

The elite force of one hundred thousand, composed entirely of orc lords, had been forged into a single collective entity whose very footsteps matched perfectly.

Whiiiiish! Hohohohoho! The sound of shamanic chanting that pushed the body past its limits through self-hypnosis filled the cavity. The collective sorcery of the nagas—upper bodies human, lower bodies serpentine—had begun.

‘The shamanism called by more than one hundred million nagas… is the subject the ancient snake god who once filled the oceans with his colossal body and swallowed the sun? They’re truly going all out.’

All nagas were descendants of the snake god and could temporarily wield divine power through possession rites. The bodies of those possessed by the ancient snake god swelled dozens of times larger and rose into the sky. In the Great Forest where normal magic could not be invoked, they claimed most of the air and wetlands through this shamanism.

Though they could not match the dragonkin, their enormous bodies, ability to fly, and command over water like extra limbs made them invincible in the Great Forest’s swamps. That dominance had ended when the Blue High Elf Queen merged with the Water Elemental King and seized control of every drop of water within a hundred-kilometer radius. Even their scales, harder than steel, proved useless against the High Elves’ elemental arrows, leading to repeated defeats. Afterward, in humiliation, they had been driven from the forest alongside the orcs and forced to form an alliance—protecting the High Orcs, who were helpless against attacks from the treetops, from the air.

Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom! The dwarves, too, began advancing with metal golems and bizarre weapons at the forefront.

‘They mobilized tens of thousands of those siege-grade colossal golems capable of smashing fortresses? They must be drowning in money and minerals.’

Thus the curtain rose on the Great Forest battle, triggered by the black mage’s provocative words. Yet the Magic God of Dimensions wanted to scream that it was all a misunderstanding.

‘Did I get misunderstood somehow? That was just the authentication chant to transform the magic tower. I seriously want to cry. I need to finish this quickly and close the gate.’

The Magic God of Dimensions had merely chanted the spell to complete the expansion of his Survival Magic Tower as fast as possible. But it had been taken as provocation. Seeing the beautiful faces of the High Elf Queens approaching with mechanical, expressionless steps—not even bloodlust anymore—made his skin crawl.

‘What the hell did I do wrong? Is it a crime to struggle just to survive? Did I destroy the world in a previous life or something? Why am I so unlucky?’

When misfortune and misunderstanding piled up this high, it could only be called fate.

“As expected, Master is magnificent. I think I’m falling for you all over again.”

The coquettish voice dripping with charm from inside the tower nearly made the authentication magic fail.

‘I swear I’m going to blast that succubus queen all the way to the edge of the Demon Realm one day.’

Still, the expansion of the Survival Magic Tower was completed. The interior had expanded ten thousand times, becoming vast, while the exterior had reshaped into a rectangular prism the size of a one-kilometer World Tree using the remaining magical power.

But the dragonkin immediately flew in and unleashed every kind of breath attack.

Fwoooooooosh—! The breath attacks that filled his vision took the form of fire, cold, and lightning, yet they were fundamentally masses of magical power.

‘Dragonkin breath ignores all attributes and even damages the mental-type demon race. In the Middle World, it is an absolute attack.’

There were even strikes from dragon kings who had reached lower god status.

‘But all attacks are meaningless in front of the Great Cavity’s dimensional barrier.’

Poppoppoppoppoppoppop! Every attack vanished five kilometers in front of the Survival Magic Tower.

‘If this falls on a densely populated demon area, the Demon Gods will file another complaint demanding compensation. What a headache.’

To the bewildered dragonkin who had never experienced the dimensional barrier’s effect, the Red High Elf Queen’s cold rebuke fell like a whip.

“It is the Great Cavity’s natural dimensional barrier. Any long-range attack is spatially transferred to the Demon Realm. Stop wasting your strength and hold position until we approach and capture him!”

Watching the Red High Elf Queen scold the dragonkin—the strongest race of the Middle World and its designated administrators—the Magic God of Dimensions could not help but admire how impressive these elves were. The dragonkin, on the verge of throwing a fit at being yelled at by a mere elf, visibly calmed when the Dragon Emperor warned them and withdrew.

‘Well, even the Dragon Emperor would be in danger if those monstrous High Elf Queens went on a rampage. Besides, fighting a full-scale war against this absurd number of High Elves would be difficult even for the dragonkin.’

In the end, the battlefield was ruled by overwhelming numbers. And when those numbers consisted of fanatical troops who refused to retreat no matter how many were slain, they became even harder to face.

‘But what did that vicious High Elf Queen just say? They’re going to pierce the dimensional barrier? How can sentient beings do that? It should be impossible unless they’re main gods.’

Then he witnessed a truly bizarre sight. His magic tower floated in the empty space at the center of the twenty-kilometer-wide Great Cavity. Yet from every direction, gigantic legs made of intertwined wood, earth, and metal began to sprout toward it.

‘They can’t fly across the Great Cavity, so they’re building bridges to reach me? What kind of insane idea is this?’

The great warriors of the orcs and dwarves were constructing the bridges as they advanced toward his Survival Magic Tower. At the very forefront of those bridges stood the detestable High Elf Queens merged with the Elemental Kings.

‘Huh? These bastards are seriously just pushing with sheer numbers and volume? Even so, they’re going to build a bridge longer than ten kilometers with elementals? Have they all lost their minds?’

He was momentarily stunned by the insane act made possible only because they had elemental power to spare, but he had expected this much.

‘There was no way those venomous creatures would give up just because the Survival Magic Tower is in the sky.’

He had predicted they would either fly using special methods or devise some other infiltration tactic. However, building bridges to approach meant they could never break the dimensional barrier.

Not unless they used main god-level divine power.

‘Wait… what is this? This familiar yet ominous sensation?’

A chill suddenly ran down his spine.

‘My precognition is screaming at me to destroy that bridge immediately!’

But before he could act, all the ancient races cried out in one voice.

Wooooooooong—! Boooooom! Rumble rumble rumble!

In that instant, the explosion of divine power that momentarily filled the entire Great Cavity caused the Survival Magic Tower to lose buoyancy and slowly sink toward the underground depths of the cavity.

‘All the magical power in the Great Cavity vanished in a single moment because of the divine power!’

When magical power disappeared, the dimensional barrier collapsed. He was so dumbfounded he could not even feel anger.

‘So there was a method like this? But how did they time the activation so perfectly?’

A god with over a billion devout believers who possessed authority befitting a main god was, by definition, a main god. And the combined population of the races gathered here exceeded one billion.

‘If over a billion sentient beings simultaneously manifest and focus the authority of their guardian main gods, the dimensional barrier can indeed be broken. But if even one race’s timing is off, the divine powers will repel each other and become useless.’

Having thoroughly investigated the approaching races of the Great Forest, the Magic God of Dimensions was at a loss for words. Tiny wind elementals were clinging to every single one of their ears. Traces of mental-type elementals remained in their minds.

‘They attached lower wind elementals to all one billion members of these races to give commands? And then used mental elementals to hypnotize them so they would manifest divine power according to specific orders? Have these lunatics gone completely insane?’

It was the trace of mental control with severe side effects that caused memory confusion—something that could never be used again.

‘When did they prepare something like this? This could not have been done without intervention from the divine race.’

The bridge created by the races of the Great Forest stretched out as if it would touch the Survival Magic Tower at any moment. At some point the High Elf Queens leaped forward, crossing the Great Cavity in an instant.

Tap tap tap tap tap! Five High Elf Queens landed all around the Magic God of Dimensions, wearing bewitching yet terrifying smiles.

‘They merged with the Elemental Kings and flew straight in. They didn’t even prepare a retreat path. They’re here to settle this once and for all.’

Because the heterogeneous divine powers had manifested ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simultaneously, his magic activation was delayed and he could not stop them. But that was not the only problem.

‘Damn it—! The divine power is restricting my magical power as well.’

On top of the lone Survival Magic Tower, the five High Elf Queens began to surround him. Their wasp-like waists, astonishingly large breasts, and elastic hips—all belonging to bodies that had been trained to the extreme through combat—were more than enough to disturb the eyes of the male Magic God of Dimensions.

‘Get a grip. If I lose focus here, my heart will be ripped out just like Master’s.’

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠light of the Elemental Kings pouring from the High Elf Queens’ eyes and heads interfered with his magical power.

‘Magic distorts reality, while authority and elementals reinforce phenomena. In other words, elemental power is the natural enemy of magical power on par with divine power.’

On top of that, the elemental-jewel armor and weapons worn by the High Elf Queens combined with immense holy power, radiating brilliant light that protected their bodies from magic.

‘At least seventh-circle magic defense armor. When the hell did they make those?’

Right now, main god-level holy power filled the space instead of dark magic.

‘The infinite magical power that had been supporting me until now has vanished. Instead, it means infinite divine power is being supplied to them.’

The situation was very bad. No—it was a crisis.

“It has been one hundred years. This time I will definitely cut off your neck instead of your heart!”

The death sentence pronounced by the High Elf Queens surrounding the Magic God of Dimensions echoed across the top of the Survival Magic Tower.

‘I’m not the type to lose spirit over something like this.’

Above all, he had to correct their mistake.

“I am not Master.”

At that answer, the High Elf Queens’ eyes sank even deeper. This arrogant and wicked black mage responded to even a death sentence with indifference.

‘The entire High Elf Empire poured all its strength into preparing to nullify the dimensional barrier.’

‘Every race in the Great Forest invested all their resources and abilities to eliminate the black mage who had contracted with the Demon King.’

‘The dwarf race poured a hundred years’ worth of metal mining into creating that bridge.’

‘The High Elves will suffer for a long time from the excessive consumption of elemental power.’

It was a grand undertaking in which every High Elf and orc great warrior had been deployed to prevent the destruction of the bridge created through tremendous effort. The High Orcs crossing it now were the most outstanding among the orc lords.

‘At the head of the bridge stands the Orc Emperor, a demigod and outstanding warrior who has fought and survived countless battles against them.’

‘With the full assistance of the exalted gods, they temporarily halted the dimensional barrier and even severed magical power using divine power.’

‘They have blocked the infinite activation of black magic that tormented us endlessly for a hundred years.’

‘Under these conditions filled with divine power, it is natural that the circles of magical power are diminished.’

‘Unable to draw in surrounding mana, they must use only their own magical power, and recovery is extremely restricted.’

Even upper-grade demon race members would have to prepare for death if exposed to main god-level divine power. Yet despite knowing these terrible conditions, the black mage continued his faint chanting as if preparing to fight them.

However, within main god-level divine power, magic that manifested effects externally was impossible. Which meant the only thing left was close-quarters combat.

‘There is no way the black mage can defeat us in close combat.’

‘We have fought the demon race for eons, spilling blood with these very bodies and swords.’

‘There is no way we will be pushed back by the black mage in a melee.’

‘The longer the fight drags on, the more advantageous it is for us.’

Yet this was the black mage’s magic tower, and because they did not know what devices it contained, they hesitated to charge in. The black mage’s muttering bothered them, but since there was no flow of magical power, they simply tightened the encirclement even further.

‘We will finish this with a perfect coordinated attack.’

Meanwhile, the black mage was busy protesting to the Divine Realm. Directly to the elf goddess who had caused all this.

‘What the hell is this? Elf Goddess Granzoa! My karma is clearly on the good side right now, so why are the gods uniting to attack me?’

‘Oh my—! Why would you pin such false accusations on me? How could the divine race possibly do something that violates the karma contract?’

‘You’re telling me it has nothing to do with the main gods combining their divine power? Are you joking with me?’

‘I never expected our children to use it this way, and I truly did not anticipate the gods of the other races would do so either. Really, you should have behaved better usually, don’t you think?’

‘Remove this lingering divine power right now.’

‘Impossible. Right now the main gods have gathered their proxies and are furiously raging. They seem extremely offended that divine power equal to their own has manifested. Why are all the male gods like this?’

‘Remove it right now—!’