The Weight of Absolute Power

In the Otherworld War, the number of wings a Spiritual Being possessed represented the maximum number of authorities they could activate simultaneously. Naturally, the more wings one had, the stronger they became. Even the Origin of the Main Universe operated under the same principle. However, the Origin of the Absolute Realm transcended such limits. Since they could invoke the authorities of their entire clan, the number of wings held almost no meaning.

Once one reached the level of the Absolute Realm, true strength was measured by one’s ability to pierce through defenses that nullified most powerful attacks and deliver a maximum-output strike capable of annihilation. Grey’s current maximum output already surpassed the Spiritual Being limit of 1,000 trillion. When amplified to its peak using the body trained through the Incomprehensible Eight Founders and pure magical power, it easily exceeded 10 quadrillion.

‘This is truly the pinnacle of what a Spiritual Being can achieve—a power that even an Eternal Being would have to look up to.’

Therefore, when this power was applied defensively, Grey could easily block not only the full-force strikes of the other 10 Mainstays, but even their aftershocks or stray shots. Yet even with this level of strength, he could not confidently claim victory over the 10 Mainstays.

‘They too are powerhouses who have been endlessly trained and tempered by Grandfather Jinri.’

‘Even though it was only an avatar and not their true body, the fact that they could endure the full-power attacks of Grandfather Yuil Yongsinje—who is stronger than me—and continue recovering without pause… the word “monster” truly fits them.’

Simply put, the number of powerhouses capable of such feats could be counted on one hand even within the Wind Family, where Spiritual Beings with over 1,000 trillion innate divine power gathered like ants. Even Grey himself, ranked third in the Wind Family, barely qualified. Of course, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he would not lose against them, but neither could he win.

Yet eight such beings had gathered to launch a coordinated assault. Even while injured, they maintained a tense stalemate and continued recovering. ‘With only 100 billion innate divine power—the level of a mere low-grade warrior—how am I supposed to deal meaningful damage to those monsters?’

However, the fact that he had defeated a highest-ranking clan member at that level made the prospect worth watching. And seeing how he had nearly wiped out an entire clan with a single grey self-detonation, it seemed possible after all. It was intriguing.

‘The Origin of the Mage God really does pull off these absurd, insane stunts from time to time. As expected, his nature suits a dark mage far more than a god. Yet he stubbornly insists on remaining part of the deity race.’

Even Father, the Origin of the Deity Race, had not looked favorably upon the Dimensional Mage God remaining among the gods. His actions were simply too ruthless.

‘Has the ranking war already reached its final phase? He must be extraordinarily pissed off.’

The flow of the ranking war had gradually shifted. The enraged Yuil Yongsinje Grandfather, now at a disadvantage, unleashed an endless maximum-output breath of infinite power. All eight Absolutes joined forces to block it. This slowed their recovery speed, but they still could not be stopped. Once their wounds fully healed, the situation would likely return to the past—where the top rank was handed over to Golden.

Golden’s ability, the immutable Golden Age, was the strongest, and the political dominance he had built among the 10 Mainstays over the years exerted overwhelming force. They had always yielded to him without ever fighting to the death. For Yuil Yongsinje Grandfather, who spoke only of love and mercy without any political acumen, surpassing that was nearly impossible.

Yet the fact that he had prepared to confront even that was something worth trusting. Of course, it was not exactly pleasant that the head of the Wind Family—Jinri’s bloodline—held the second rank among the 10 Mainstays. That was precisely why placing even a sliver of hope in the Origin of the Mage God, who had taken everything to push for the top rank, was not a bad idea.

‘I’ve confirmed the current location and even checked the time barrier.’

Slowing time ultimately violated the laws of the universe, which fell under the authority of a dark mage. When Grey peeked inside the Dimensional Mage God’s barrier, it was exactly as he expected—an educational scene.

The Dimensional Mage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠God was sarcastically delivering a merciless beating.

“Uwek—! Eek—!”

The Dimensional Mage God was desperately struggling, but the gap in power was simply too vast. Far from resisting, he couldn’t even answer properly. Struck in the forehead by the Sword of Ruin and Soul, he spun endlessly in the air while vomiting. The surrounding area was already covered in gastric fluid and filth he had spewed.

The Origin of the Dark ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mage stared silently at the scene for a moment before closing the screen without a word. It was difficult to call someone working that sincerely and then assign him more work. He finally understood why Father, the Origin of the Deity Race, had stepped forward himself.

‘He’s educating him with great enthusiasm. Though it looks more like he’s forcibly conducting direct-line Wind Family training. Can ordinary beings even endure that? Most go mad from the pain or commit suicide, don’t they? Ah—! He must have forcibly manifested the partially opened title of Origin completely through dark magic. In that case, death is impossible, so there’s no problem.’

The effect of the title of Origin guaranteed infinite life force as long as one possessed fighting spirit. When only partially opened, it provided complete recovery from any injury. By fully manifesting it through dark magic and denying reality itself, he was using it for training. The authority that had once been the Dimensional Mage God’s greatest help had now become a tool for forced training.

From the victim’s perspective, having no rest thanks to the title of Origin must be driving him insane.

‘As expected of the Origin of the Mage God. He even uses the opponent’s main authority as a means to suppress them? Even as a dark mage, I must applaud such viciousness.’

The forced training that had drawn such admiration from the Origin of the Dark Mage was now entering its main phase. It would continue inside a space where time had been slowed to the extreme using dimensional authority—until the Dimensional Mage God’s personal desires and will were completely broken.

Wiiiiiiiiiing—!

The hundreds of layered dimensional barriers of the Survival Magic Tower opened, and Grey stepped inside. It was not much different from when he had first created it. However, its scale had already grown far beyond a tower—it could now be called a small planet. This was because the Dimensional Mage God, having advanced from Lord God level to Creator Candidate, had expanded it over a hundredfold using the divine power granted to him.

Below stretched rice and vegetable fields so vast the horizon could not be seen, along with livestock moving about. In the lake—now large enough to be called a sea—thousands of whale-shaped golems moved silently. On the ground, tens of thousands of golems diligently harvested and stored food. The Sun of the Origin and the moon, which he had first created and which later became the foundation of the Sun God’s authority, shone even more brilliantly, radiating overflowing vitality.

On top of that, he had added immortal dark magic. To an ignorant human, it would have looked like paradise.

‘But that’s as far as the good parts go.’

In the air, he saw spiritual beings scolding naked women who were running around in extreme panic as time decreased like a bomb counting down. He finally remembered that he had automatically activated the dark magic, threatening to kill all the hostages if they failed to reach 7th-circle.

And above the original tower at the center of the Survival Magic Tower, he sensed the cardinals holding the Saint of the War God and educating her inside a time barrier. The desperate will behind it was so intense he could easily guess how it had been done. They had somehow barely managed to raise her to the level of a 7th-circle Transcendent.

Below were hundreds of thousands of naked virgins, all the spiritual beings were female, and even the cardinals were women. Yet he had provided no actual management—only given out favors. And even then, he had chosen to do things that would earn him hatred.

‘Openly threatening to blow them up with a time bomb if they don’t work? What kind of low-class behavior is this? No wonder in the end he had no subordinates willing to share his fate and died struggling alone.’

If he had given favors and received appropriate compensation in return, things might have been different. The price of unconditionally giving out favors just to gain favor was so bitter that thinking about it again made his blood pressure rise.

“It seems my past self really wasn’t in his right mind. What the hell was I doing? Tsk tsk—! Well, he’ll clean it up himself.”

Snap—!

After confirming that the Saint of the War God had reached 7th-circle, he immediately canceled the time-bomb-like dark magic and ascended the tower. He could feel the women and spiritual beings below cheering in liberation from fear, and the cardinals letting out sighs of relief, but none of that mattered anymore.

He moved from the top of the tower to the city where the royal palaces were clustered, then dismantled the center of the tower. Tens of thousands of bricks filled with extremely concentrated magical power scattered, revealing a single small black orb.

It showed no apparent power, yet the 30,000 or more scattered magical bricks were all sealing formations controlled by over 1 billion divine power each. It was half of his own power, created to seal away enough strength to enable dimensional travel no matter the interference.

If he had been able to use this freely, such a miserable defeat would never have occurred. However, due to lack of ability, he could not use it until the very last moment. The same was true for the Dimensional Mage God even now. In the end, he himself had to use it.

Whoooooooosh—!

The black orb floated up as if it possessed will and flew toward him. He swallowed it whole, absorbing it into his body.

Oooooong—! Oooooong—!

Half of his dimensional authority had returned. He stopped the authorities that had been activating automatically and looked up at the empty air.

Even with this, he could not win in a head-on confrontation. At best, a surprise attack might inflict a critical wound.

‘The Golden Absolute and the Black Flame Absolute are walls the current Grey cannot overcome.’

Yet he could never retreat. The humiliation he had suffered back then was burned into his soul like a brand, and his rage would not subside. Thinking of that time, he repeated the words like a vow.

What was visible now was nothing but the rage toward the eight Absolutes who had once annihilated and erased him, and the self-loathing toward the version of himself who had pathetically begged for his life only to be erased anyway. Grey had been forcing himself to carry out this scheme all this time, emotions spiraling beyond his control.