The Goddess of Light's Fall
The War God Nation was still riding the massive wave of success from the papal election tournament that followed the war with the Goddess Faction. Construction continued across the entire city while the festival atmosphere never let up. It's good when humans are this lively.
The War God watched as several superhumans traded curses and blows inside the plaza he had built using immortal magic. From a distance, he recognized them as the former hero's party—the same group that had once dared to challenge him.
"Hand over the ring! I want to enjoy my youth too!"
"How dare a temporary cardinal speak so rudely to the Pope?"
"Then why don't you drop the 'temporary' part?"
"You've gotten a promotion and now you look down on your friends!"
"One must separate public and private matters. If you want the ring, go out to the battlefield, complete missions, and build up achievements like I told you. All the other cardinals are doing exactly that, so why are you all acting like this?"
"Whoa! Damn! Just listen to that sleazy tone!"
"He's completely become the Pope now."
"Weren't you the one who incited everyone, claiming the new War God would become an evil god? And now you're working so diligently?"
The former hero, now the War God Pope, finally exploded.
"You think being Pope is comfortable? Lady Erendra, the Platinum Divine Dragon, constantly nags me about how the number of believers isn't increasing fast enough! Why don't you all turn to dust from her Sonic Breath and see how that feels? Does that make you want to slack off?"
The completely agitated former hero's veins bulged on his neck.
"Damn it! This armor that prevents me from becoming a lower god means I can't even die! They say half-assed strength only brings more suffering, and I'm living proof. I regenerate instantly and keep dying over and over!"
"For someone suffering so much, you sure didn't waste time seducing women the moment you got younger."
"Last time I saw, it wasn't two flowers in each hand—it was a whole damn bouquet."
The moment the non-negotiable topic of women arose, the former hero's face instantly returned to its solemn expression, and even his voice deepened.
"Ahem! Turning away a woman who approaches you is a sin for any man. My soul as a hero—no, as a man—cannot forgive such an act."
"Ha! Just give us the ring and drop dead already!"
"Talking nonsense after you've enjoyed everything there is to enjoy!"
The former hero desperately dodged his comrades' increasingly murderous attacks while shouting back.
"This is for your own good too! Everyone, calm down and think about what you looked like in the past."
"Ugh!"
"Urk!"
The former hero's comrades had once been bear-like muscle monsters with faces that belonged in a dark alley. The mere memory made groans escape them involuntarily.
"You understand now, don't you? Even if you get younger with that ring, do you really think women will flock to faces and bodies like yours? You'd just end up getting hurt again like back then."
"Fine. We'll handle our own self-awareness, so just hand over the ring!"
"You said you'd only research it and then give it back!"
The citizens watching the new War God Pope and his temporary cardinals fight were cheering enthusiastically. It was naturally entertaining for ordinary people to safely watch superhumans battling with full power. Moreover, the divine power in the area was steadily rising along with their excitement.
The War God Pope system seems to be running smoothly.
The War God Nation's believer count was skyrocketing, and the clergy's holy power had increased significantly. Looking around, the War God saw sacred artifacts placed throughout the temples, amplifying holy energy. The vice-pope, watching the Pope and temporary cardinals fight while issuing various instructions to the other cardinals, clearly looked like he was planning another big scheme.
The humans' faces are bright, and above all, they're full of hope. It seems fine to leave them like this.
Deciding that the self-sustaining War God Nation needed no further intervention, he teleported to the outskirts of the Great Forest and began running toward the Survival Magic Tower.
With my strengthened divine power, the distance I need to cover by running like this has decreased dramatically. But it's still far from enough.
The War God could sense the presence of High Elves around him, but he had already lost interest in them. After five hundred million of their kind had died at the hands of the Otherworld's spirit gods, they were obviously avoiding him.
They're still the same. At this point, if I risk it in the Great Forest, I could probably pull off a double chant at the tenth circle, but I'd rather avoid fighting if possible.
Swish, swish, swish—!
As he moved quickly, he noticed that all traces of war had vanished without a trace. Even the clearings created by destruction were now covered in weeds.
The Great Forest has already fully recovered from the damage. There are no traces of war left; only those involved still remember it.
But something felt off. Granzoa's divine power in the High Elf Empire had changed significantly.
Is this Granzoa's divine power? But why do I sense magic energy?
Granzoa had recovered divine power above the upper god level after the War God, now an upper god himself, transferred the faith energy earned from the War God Nation and even handed over the role of the High Elves' racial god. This had freed her from the burden of negative karma. She was supposed to be the Goddess of Light, yet her nature had suddenly shifted to something closer to a demon god.
I definitely offset the negative karma with the War God's power. What is going on?
When the War God checked his surroundings again, he found the High Elves' condition equally strange. They were melting into the darkness, just like Dark Elves.
The conclusion was simple.
This goddess has caused an accident.
He kicked off a tree and raced toward the descent site of the colossal World Tree.
The Goddess of Light, who had risen to become a candidate for succession in the Divine Realm, has now fallen into becoming a demon god? It's ridiculous.
He immediately identified the cause.
The more members of a race that fall to magic energy, the closer their racial god becomes to a demon god.
The despair and corruption from suddenly losing five hundred million High Elves in the war had consumed her.
Why didn't she purge the apostates instead of leaving them like this? Well, I suppose I don't have room to talk.
Of course, there were other ways for gods to become demon gods. One was choosing the path willingly. Given Granzoa's immense pride and her bad blood with the Demon Realm, she would never choose to become a demon god herself. This had to be related to her believers.
What could make that vicious goddess, who would normally smile while killing apostates, risk becoming a demon god by sparing them? Could the High Elf Queens be the cause?
The High Elf Queens, who had lost half the population of their precious High Elf Empire in one fell swoop, could certainly turn into Dark Elves. As a higher god, the closer the War God got to Granzoa—now his subordinate god—the faster his analysis became.
It seems this goddess tried to accept the High Elf Queens, who were turning into Dark Elves, as her subordinate gods in order to purify them. It wouldn't matter if her divine power overwhelmed theirs, but she forgot that she's currently only an upper god equivalent to a ninth circle master.
The High Elf Queens were seventh circle masters, but they were tenacious warriors who had defeated a ninth circle Demon King. Naturally, the weakened Granzoa couldn't suppress them.
Right now, the corrupted High Elf Queens are stronger than Granzoa. If things go wrong, the purification will fail, and Granzoa will become a demon god ruling over corrupted Dark Elves.
Swish, swish, swish—! Thud—!
When he arrived at the High Elf Empire located atop the colossal World Tree, the scene was truly appalling. Every High Elf had either collapsed on the ground or was draped over trees, in the middle of transforming into Dark Elves.
"Good grief. This is ridiculous. Did experiencing that miserable failure turn this goddess into an idiot?"
As the god of elves himself, he immediately assessed the entire population of the High Elf Empire amid this sudden massive corruption event. The result was shocking—more than half of the High Elves were in the process of turning into Dark Elves.
"Is this goddess planning to go to the Demon Realm and become the god of Dark Elves? If she's caught transforming High Elves into Dark Elves, it's over. Does she want to be subjugated by the divine races in the Middle World?"
Gods and demon gods could only use ten percent of their power when coming to the Middle World. Of course, there were two exceptions.
The first is descending with one's spiritual main body by recklessly consuming life force or divine power, like the former War God did.
Since it was a descent that bet everything, failure meant complete ruin—like the Demon King who became a skewer for the new War God, or the former War God himself.
The second is changing the Middle World's races to make them one's direct subordinates. For example, the Vampire King bites humans to increase his vampire forces and strengthen his own magic power. If one creates forces of the Demon Realm in the Middle World this way, the planet's exception clause is lifted, and divine races swarm in to annihilate them. This is an exception established to protect sentient beings who could become believers of the divine races, and to protect the Middle World's races whose planetary will is weaker than the Demon Realm's.
First, using the authority of the Elf God, he checked all the High Elves in the process of turning into Dark Elves and put them into a state of suspended animation.
This is already a High Elf Empire that has been cut in half because of me. If any more damage occurs, they'll truly face extinction in the Great Forest.
Avoiding the High Elves who lay as if dead around him, he opened the door to the descent site. Inside, just as expected, an incredible situation was unfolding.
As predicted, the five High Elf Queens were surrounding Granzoa with her green hair at the center. However, the six women were almost completely naked, caressing and entwining with each other.
"......"
The High Elf Queens had almost fully transformed into lower gods of the Dark Elves, and Granzoa was in the middle of the process. The six nearly naked women were tangled together, moaning and pressing against one another.
"Haaah! Haaah—! Lady Granzoa."
Completely stripped bare with her shining green hair, Granzoa was at the center as the five High Elf Queens surrounded her, caressing her intensely. The Red Elf Queen with scarlet hair was kissing her lips as if possessed, stealing her breath.
"Aaaah."
"Aaaahn—!"
The Silver Elf Queen with silver hair was frantically sucking and rubbing Granzoa's modest breasts, letting out nasal moans.
"There... right there..."
The one firmly holding Granzoa's legs and frantically licking her most intimate place with her tongue and rubbing it with her lips was the Blue Elf Queen with blue hair. The remaining two High Elf Queens knelt beside Granzoa, taking one of her hands and rubbing it between their own large breasts and thighs while letting out intense moans.
"Aah! No!"
"No... no!"
Even while caressing Granzoa, they used their free hands to frantically rub their own watermelon-sized breasts and their overflowing, wet intimate places, pleasuring themselves.
The War God, who had not expected this situation, immediately analyzed it.
Dark Elves are naturally different from High Elves. If High Elves are chaste and rigid, Dark Elves are lewd and faithful to their desires. In the process of transforming into Dark Elves, the surging desires became too much to bear, leading to this.
The High Elf Queens had nearly become lower gods of the Dark Elves, and Granzoa was in the midst of becoming a demon god.
The picture is becoming clear.
Just as he had predicted, Granzoa, the Goddess of Light, had tried to take the falling High Elf Queens as her subordinate gods to purify them. This caused her divine power to flow backward, and even her desires had been taken over.
When the power of lower gods grows strong, even an upper god can be overwhelmed. This is why upper gods must be cautious when creating subordinate gods.
Granzoa had lived only as a main god-level goddess before falling to upper god status. She hadn't accurately grasped her own power, which was why she ended up like this.
Having fully assessed the situation, the War God fell into thought.
This is the self-inflicted consequence of biting off more than she could chew. But now, what should I do?
Having witnessed his subordinate god's fall, the War God was so dumbfounded that a sigh escaped him involuntarily.
I don't know when the transformation started, but it seems there's still some time left.
First, to separate the women who were frantically caressing each other and moaning, he grabbed the Red Elf Queen's neck and stopped her kiss. The moment she pulled away from Granzoa's body, she immediately rushed at him, rubbing her naked form against him. The other High Elf Queens did the same.
"Aah!"
"Mmm!"
"Hngh!"
"Hng!"
Having sensed the War God, who possessed stronger divine power than Granzoa and was also male, their objects of desire had shifted to him.
Argh! What a headache. They always tried to kill me before, and now this—what is this happy, no, troublesome situation?
It wasn't entirely unpleasant to have the High Elf Queens, who had been his first love in childhood, throwing their naked bodies at him all at once. Their intense caresses naturally caused blood to rush to his lower body and member, but this was an urgent situation where the High Elf Queens had almost lost their reason and were already half-corrupted.
"Tsk! This isn't the time to comfortably enjoy myself."
Leaving the High Elf Queens as they were for now, he placed his hand on Granzoa's forehead and injected the power of light.
Flash—!
"Snap out of it, you accident-prone goddess."