The Almighty Hwi's Fury
While the Dimensional Mage God was frantically issuing emergency measures in his quest to become a Creator God amid the Otherworld War, an emergency also erupted in the Main Divine Realm.
The Creation Realm restricted direct intervention in the Main Divine Realm’s development, so most decision-making fell to Preliminary Creator Gods. Yet the actual administration was handled by managerial gods. The managers carried out nearly all legislative proceedings, but the final approvals and responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the Preliminary Creator Gods. Given the Main Divine Realm’s role in defending against external invasions, they formed alliances to build the necessary military strength. Each Creation Realm oversaw roughly six Main Divine Realms, and six such Creation Realms gathered together to form a total of thirty-six allied Main Divine Realms.
The representative of these allied Main Divine Realms was always the most powerful Preliminary Creator God. For ages, the undisputed number one had been Almighty Hwi. He also held the title of Main God General, commanding the thirty-six Preliminary Creator Gods beneath him and overseeing the entire Spirit Realm.
‘In the case of the 500th Master Universe, we limited participation to a small elite force due to orders restricting us to a localized conflict, yet we still overwhelmed them in numbers.’
Unlike the Demon God Realm, the gods operated on majority rule and rational decision-making, so there were rarely situations that required the Main God General to step forward personally. Now, however, every single one of them had been urgently summoned, and the entire realm was in a state of extreme tension.
The one seething with the greatest fury was none other than Almighty Hwi. He had barely recovered from his life-or-death battle with the Creator General of the 500th Master Universe and was trying to rest when he was dragged back by an emergency summons in less than a day. His rage was so intense that he had ordered the forced assembly of every Preliminary Creator God involved in the incident.
The Preliminary Creator Gods, who had been unable to hide their displeasure at the sudden compulsory summons, arrived at the Main God General’s temple only to freeze in sheer tension. Divine blood was splattered across the floor of the Main Divine Realm, and managerial gods knelt everywhere, trembling violently.
Almighty Hwi’s voice rang out, his fury reaching its peak as he made no effort to conceal his boiling emotions.
The fighting spirit and killing intent of Almighty Hwi—who had already transcended the realm of Preliminary Creator Gods and stepped into the domain of mid-tier Creator Gods—descended like thick fog. The managerial gods could not even dare to reply. They simply pressed their foreheads to the floor, begging for mercy. After all, only moments ago several of their colleagues had given clumsy answers and been physically shattered, meeting instant death.
The Preliminary Creator Gods clicked their tongues inwardly at the sight. They had assumed they were the only ones, but now they realized everyone had taken out massive loans, driving the allied Main Divine Realms to the brink of bankruptcy.
‘Tsk! They should have shown some restraint. If everyone treats it like free money, of course this is what happens.’
‘It seems everyone took maximum risk and borrowed to the limit. Since I withdrew the maximum of five hundred billion, I suppose the total reached thirty trillion? That’s certainly enough to cause bankruptcy.’
‘I need to be careful. For Almighty Hwi to openly shed the blood of his own allies… he must still be excited from the battlefield.’
Nevertheless, even though they had been forcibly summoned, the Preliminary Creator Gods were on another level. They were the representatives chosen for their strength in each Main Divine Realm. Of course, their status as direct descendants of Creator Gods and various other backgrounds played a role, but their power was undeniable. Thus, they endured the oppressive aura that would have crushed ordinary Main Gods and took their seats.
At the massive round table, the seats for rank two and three were empty. Seeing the names written there, everyone frowned. The name Dimensional Mage God was inscribed at rank two, and Radiant Cross Sword remained at rank three.
‘Both of them are lowly human-born gods, and not even official partners but mere concubines’ direct descendants.’
‘Ever since they rose to the upper ranks, the lower ranks have naturally been pushed out of the ruling class.’
That was not all. The vitality the Dimensional Mage God had luckily earned from the weak 500th Master Universe was so enormous that even Creator Gods could not pretend to ignore it. Crucially, he had been dragged into Truth’s Eternal Judgment—a trial that normally lasted at least a billion years—making any claim to those rights impossible. As a result, tens of trillions of ownerless vitality had appeared, and it was only natural that the Preliminary Creator Gods had withdrawn every bit of vitality they could access through their authority.
‘Above all, upon his return he would be a heinous criminal who broke countless taboos, even if it was during wartime.’
Although his powerful authorities would be taken into consideration, he had no supporting forces or higher Creator Gods willing to help him. The punishment would only be heavier, and the best outcome would be immediate dispatch to the Spirit Realm. In the end, the tens of trillions of vitality were left floating, and whoever claimed them first would be their owner. That was why they had acted. It was not something to warrant such explosive rage.
Yet if their mutual greed had truly driven the Main Divine Realm to the verge of bankruptcy, it was indeed infuriating. Still, it was by no means a situation that warranted executing managerial gods and demanding accountability.
Yet the moment those words left their mouths, Almighty Hwi’s fighting spirit materialized and slammed into the Preliminary Creator Gods.
Grind—! Craaack—!
The killing intent and fighting spirit that had been directed at the managerial gods now shifted entirely onto the Preliminary Creator Gods. The entire temple shook, and soon the whole Main Divine Realm began to vibrate. The thirty-three Preliminary Creator Gods were so suppressed by that colossal power that they could barely breathe.
Although they had erred, they had only operated at the very edge of the regulations. If they simply returned an appropriate amount to prevent the divine realm from going bankrupt, there would be no problem. As long as the Dimensional Mage God did not come to claim his achievements, there should have been no issue.
‘Since the person in question has already been taken to Wind Star for the Eternal Judgment, there is nothing wrong with this. Such arbitrary and humiliating punishment cannot be allowed.’
‘Above all, are we not fellow Preliminary Creator Gods?’
They resisted with their pride on the line. But soon, to their horror, they all vomited blood onto the round table and collapsed forward.
Crash! Creeeak—!
Moans and cries of shock burst from the mouths of the Preliminary Creator Gods as they slammed their faces into the table as if struck by iron hammers. Almighty Hwi’s fighting spirit had pierced through every transcendent-level authority they possessed as if those defenses did not even exist.
Almighty Hwi had always been powerful, but never to this degree. No matter how well he had mastered his secret art, Heavenly Time Without Limit, any god who could become a Preliminary Creator God in the 499th Master Universe should have been able to defend themselves to some extent. Four Preliminary Creator Gods working together should have been able to endure evenly. This was not a level one could even consider challenging.
The same conclusion flashed through all their minds.
Crack—! Crunch—!
Only now did they notice the armrest of the number-one seat of honor—the glorious chair of the Main God General who commanded the allied Main Divine Realms—had been crushed to powder multiple times by the grip of his hand, only to restore itself. To damage that chair even slightly would normally require the power of a full Creator God, yet it crumbled like a cookie.
Furthermore, beneath his splendid Main God attire, he was fully armed in battle armor. The cracks from the previous day’s war had not yet been repaired, yet he had come straight here wearing it. And the eyes with which he looked at them were not the eyes of someone regarding living allies.
They were the emotionless eyes of a god of war staring at enemies that needed to be killed.
Only then did they realize it. Almighty Hwi, who had mastered the Second Law of the Eight Incomprehensible Ancestors, was not an opponent they could defeat no matter how many Preliminary Creator Gods gathered. They also realized just how desperately he wanted to kill them for driving the allied Main Divine Realms he managed to the brink of bankruptcy, and how much he was holding himself back.
To the completely overwhelmed Preliminary Creator Gods, Almighty Hwi delivered his icy final ultimatum.
Watching the Preliminary Creator Gods hurriedly connect to their own divine realms and return the vitality they had not yet used, Almighty Hwi let out a small inward sigh of relief.
‘The allied Main Divine Realms under my leadership, bankrupt? I nearly left behind an eternal regret. As expected, once a war breaks out everything turns into a mess.’
He had rushed over in shock at the unprecedented crisis of the allied Main Divine Realms he managed as Main God General being on the verge of bankruptcy. Only to discover that everyone had latched onto the sudden windfall of tens of trillions of vitality, borrowing it all under the pretext of loans until even the operating funds had run dry.
The cause of this disaster was the absurdly enormous vitality earned from the Dimensional Mage God’s overwhelming military achievements. After removing impurities, thirty trillion remained. Since one trillion was enough to create a single Main God Star, that was equivalent to thirty Main God Stars.
Yet the Dimensional Mage God who was supposed to receive those achievement rewards had fully released his title during battle and been absorbed as an insect on Wind Star. The Eternal Judgment normally required at least a billion years, meaning the vitality would have to be stored in the Main Divine Realm for that entire period.
‘It is vitality that can only be paid out upon his return after a billion years.’
‘Though everyone thinks his return itself is uncertain.’
Naturally, he had been tempted as well. But touching the rewards of a comrade who had fought alongside him felt wrong, so he had turned a blind eye. In the meantime, those who had not even participated in the war had borrowed it all under the name of loans. The amount was so staggering that the Main Divine Realm had faced immediate bankruptcy. That was the true nature of this incident.
However, as he watched the returning vitality and the Main Divine Realm slowly returning to normal operation, Almighty Hwi’s face twisted violently.
‘Only half of the recovered vitality has returned.’
Out of the thirty trillion for the Dimensional Mage God’s achievement rewards and the two trillion for the Main Divine Realm’s operating budget, only sixteen trillion had come back. If the Dimensional Mage God withdrew the full amount, bankruptcy would be certain.
Boooom—! Thud—!
The aftershock of Almighty Hwi leaping from his seat completely shattered the seat of honor, and the entire round table turned to dust. He slammed the nearest Preliminary Creator God headfirst into the floor, then the next, and the next, all the way to the farthest. Now radiating open killing intent, his roar shook the heavens.
The managerial gods, who had only been trembling with their heads pressed to the floor, now cried out desperately as they watched Almighty Hwi lift the fatally wounded Preliminary Creator Gods with his fighting spirit.
‘If the current Almighty Hwi steps forward, every Main Divine Realm belonging to the alliance could truly be destroyed.’
They had thought the Preliminary Creator Gods could endure to some degree, but mastering the Second Law of the Eight Incomprehensible Ancestors was a level only full Creator Gods could handle. Moreover, if the Preliminary Creator Gods of other Creator Gods died in the allied Main Divine Realms, an all-out war would erupt immediately.
The aftermath of a war that had nearly become total war with the 500th Master Universe was already enormous. If chaos grew any larger now, the allied Main Divine Realms would self-destruct before they even went bankrupt.
Anyone could see that the report of the allied Main Divine Realms being on the verge of bankruptcy had driven him beyond reason. They had expected this reaction ever since he began killing the managers who made excuses in their reports, but it was excessively violent. It was strange that he was going to such lengths to protect the achievements of the Dimensional Mage God, who was supposed to be disposed of anyway. Yet they had no choice but to report it.
Sliiide—!
The highest-ranking managerial god who reluctantly stepped forward secretly showed Almighty Hwi alone what he had hidden in his sleeve: the Karma Contract and its seal.
The moment he saw the seal that appeared, Almighty Hwi’s face hardened severely. The pattern engraved on the seal depicted a sharp chisel placed at the center of a square stone and a hammer swinging down to strike the chisel’s head.
It meant, ‘A protruding stone will be reshaped by chisel and hammer.’
‘That is unmistakably the seal of Creator God Proprieties, my direct superior.’
Although in terms of pure power Almighty Hwi, who had mastered the Second Law of the Eight Incomprehensible Ancestors, was clearly superior, Proprieties was not of the Demon God race. He could not simply ignore the position.
‘Come to think of it, something felt off from the beginning. No matter how great the authority of Preliminary Creator Gods is, they cannot withdraw such massive amounts of vitality without permission. Managerial gods never want to take responsibility, after all.’
In the end, his direct superior, a Creator God, had moved personally and provided the sixteen trillion. In the process, the trivial loans of the Preliminary Creator Gods had been casually approved under the assumption that they did not matter, leading to this accident.
Tap—! Crunch—!
When Almighty Hwi lightly flicked his finger, the managerial god’s face turned deathly pale. The sleeve that had been protected by double and triple safeguards to store the contract had turned to dust. And with such a casual gesture, the managerial gods had been crushed. The fact that he, the strongest managerial god in the allied Main Divine Realms, could not react at all and had his precious backdoor contract with a Creator God taken from him was a tremendous shock.
Almighty Hwi brought the backdoor contract close to his face so no one else could see it and read it. His face twisted in utter disgust.
‘It is definitely the seal and divine power of my direct superior, Creator God Proprieties.’
The content was extremely simple. In exchange for temporarily borrowing sixteen trillion vitality, they would actively assist the allied Main Divine Realm with its convenience and promotion. For an allied Creation Divine Realm where a direct subordinate Preliminary Creator God served as Main God General, it was a condition that could not possibly be bad.
‘With the victory in the 500th Master Universe battle, receiving the support of a powerful Creator God who is guaranteed mid-tier treatment and definite promotion to upper-tier would solve most problems. But the fact that they touched the Mercenary God’s achievement rewards is the issue.’
If nothing went wrong there would be no flaw, but if it exploded, the Creator Gods of mercenary origin in the Creation Realm would not stay silent. To those who had risen to Creator God status through military achievements, the compensation for mercenary gods was akin to sacred ground. They would not tolerate any attempt to touch or alter it.
‘No matter how strong Proprieties is among ordinary Creator Gods, the mercenary Creator Gods are absolutely not to be underestimated. They are beings who became Creator Gods through their own power alone in the 499th Master Universe, where authentication battles against the Substitute God race and Demon God race are everyday occurrences.’
Almighty Hwi’s thoughts grew complicated, but since it was a request from his direct superior as Main God General, the lower managerial gods would have naturally assumed it would pass, and it had. That was why they had postponed reporting to him while he was recovering from his injuries, and even the loans of the Preliminary Creator Gods who had run wild claiming the Main God General had gone insane were postponed to a later report.
In the end, the greatest responsibility lay with him for leaving his post to recover from his wounds. The final judgment was that this accident had occurred because even the Main God General himself had been absent during the chaotic period after the war. He had failed to properly mediate the excessive request from his direct superior, a Creator God.
‘Damn it! What were you thinking, doing something like this? Well, given your previous arbitrary actions and emotional responses, some mediation was probably necessary. And as long as we fill it back before the Dimensional Mage God, who was taken to the Eternal Judgment, returns, it should be fine. But if the allied Main Divine Realms go wrong, it really will be grounds for impeachment? My senses are telling me this is very bad.’
There was no need to activate authorities that sensed minor crises or foresaw the future. He had personally witnessed how the Dimensional Mage God had latched onto the Creator Gods and Origins of the 500th Master Universe.
‘In terms of pure ability it should have been impossible, yet through venom and underhanded methods he drove even the direct descendant of a Creator General into a corner. There is no way someone like that would have taken the risk of fully releasing his title and being dragged into the Eternal Judgment without preparing countermeasures.’
He must have devised some revolutionary method to drastically shorten the period or some means of evasion.
‘For now, I have no choice but to let it go. No matter what, it will still take over a hundred million years, so we can fill it in plenty of time. Tsk! I really shouldn’t have left my seat so carelessly.’
The sixteen trillion vitality used this time would be difficult to replenish immediately, but if they worked diligently and saved, the allied Main Divine Realms could make up the amount in 160 million years.
‘In the worst case, if we operate with extreme austerity, the period can be cut in half. In exchange for the full patronage of an upper-tier Creator God, it is a worthwhile transaction.’
Having made his decision, Almighty Hwi released his fighting spirit and killing intent and sat back down in the seat of honor. It was less comfortable than the seat reserved for the Almighty God Tribe, but he felt he needed to remain here until the situation stabilized. The experience that bad things never came alone but always in droves weighed heavily on him as well.
And that prediction proved exactly right.
The Dimensional Mage God had passed the Eternal Judgment in just a single day and returned to his own divine realm.