The Grey Tyrant's Declaration
The memories of the Otherworld War still burned like a brand in the Grey Absolute’s heart, endlessly stoking endless fury and hatred. The most painful recollection was the expressions on the faces of the gods of the Dimensional Divine Realm as they stared down at him after he had been brutally defeated by the surprise joint attack of Hwi of Omnipotence and the Sage of Omniscience.
‘Just thinking about that time makes the blood inside me boil like molten lava.’
In the end, he had been branded as nothing more than a trivial being, and no one had come to his aid. Despite everything he had given them, he had been forced to watch Hwi of Omnipotence ascend to the seat of glory in the Divine Realm while he still lived. And seeing everyone bow their heads in acceptance as if it were only natural had stripped him of any remaining affection for his subordinates.
That was why he had left the Cyber Gods attached to Black Flame Absolute alone. Even though he could have forcibly reactivated the authority of the information planet Idea and taken them all back, he had chosen not to.
‘No matter how well I treat them, they’ll betray me the moment the situation changes. I have no interest in such subordinates anymore. From now on, I will have no subordinates at all. I will handle and control everything alone.’
‘Even if my twisted ideals turn this place into purgatory instead of heaven, it’s none of my concern.’
After all, he no longer held any affection for this reality. Still, he had intended to observe how the beings in his own domain would react and adjust accordingly. It was only natural that the 10 Mainstays took priority over them.
But witnessing the behavior of those clinging to the Golden Absolute, whom he had once managed as a proxy, had revived old memories. The conclusion remained the same: subordinates should never be treated kindly.
“However, I too have conditions.”
As he spoke, the Grey Absolute removed his robe, revealing a face so ethereally beautiful that even the God Race would call it the ideal of a beautiful boy. His expression glowed with the radiant joy of someone who had shed all burdens and tasted true freedom.
Everyone who had been watching him warily froze at the sight of a beautiful boy and bright expression that seemed entirely unfit for the God of Submission. But the words that followed only intensified the uproar.
“I demand unanimous consent.”
“Within my Grey Realm, only decisions where every single spiritual being and living creature shares complete and unanimous agreement will move me. Even if a single sentient being opposes it, I will not consider the matter. Only perfect unanimous consent will cause me to suspend the authority of the Grey as you desire.”
The crowd erupted.
Whispers and murmurs spread like wildfire. Their faces showed they had no idea what he was saying. Since his words had completely deviated from every scenario they had anticipated, immediate comprehension was impossible.
So he kindly provided further explanation.
“The number of sentient beings within the Grey Realm is beyond counting. And that number continues to grow explosively even now. Moreover, the major races are locked in relationships of extreme enmity—reading ‘shared interest’ but writing ‘securing profit.’ So tell me, how exactly are you supposed to unify all of them without a single dissenting voice?”
His statement essentially meant he would listen to no one within the Grey Realm. It also meant he would do nothing for the realm itself.
‘This is absolutely not what we wanted.’
The vacancy left by the Golden Absolute was far too vast. Without the Grey Absolute’s power to fill that controlling force to some degree, the entire realm would immediately turn into a battlefield.
They had wanted a strong being to prevent that, but they had not wanted another 10 Mainstay wielding absolute power.
Yet the situation was rapidly spiraling beyond imagination and growing far more serious.
Oooooooong—!
From the Grey Absolute’s back spread wings of light so vast they blocked the entire field of vision. However, their color was grey, and they no longer shone. They were dull and heavy, like ashes left after a fierce blaze. Yet they carried a suffocating dignity that announced he had fully become the Grey Absolute.
Oooooooooong—!
“Did every sentient being in the domains you manage reach a consensus before you came here? Of course not. You have no right to speak to me. This is my personal territory, recognized by Jinri himself. Therefore, all of you are expelled. I have no desire to converse with pathetic wretches who cannot even obtain the support of every being they claim to rule. Only the strongest one shall remain. Everyone else—get lost!”
Papapapapapa—!
Before anyone could utter a word, every being present was forcibly dimensionally displaced.
What remained were the members of the Golden Clan, their golden hair gleaming. They had served as representatives of the highest-ranking clan, acting as proxies for the Golden Absolute within the Grey Realm. Even among the Absolute Realm, they were counted among the strongest—yet right now, they were utterly stunned.
No matter how low-ranked among the 10 Mainstays the Grey Absolute might be, he had still lasted less than a day before self-destructing in the ranking war. They had looked down on him. But now, not a single one of the other 10 Mainstays’ clans had been able to resist the forced dimensional shift. The fact that they themselves still stood was not due to superior authority, but because the opponent had deliberately left them behind.
“Oh? So these are the highest-ranking members of the Golden Clan, acknowledged by all as the strongest among the 10 Mainstays? I was considering giving it more thought if any of the Grey Realm’s own clans remained, but this leaves me quite speechless.”
“What are you thinking, Lord Grey? Do you intend to destroy this entire realm that the Golden Absolute has cultivated? He will never stand by and watch. Naturally, the other 10 Mainstays will intervene as well.”
Standing alone before a 10 Mainstay without the Golden Absolute present was pressure beyond imagination. Their heads bowed involuntarily, their bodies bending.
Yet they were the highest-ranking clan of the Golden lineage. As they struggled to raise their heads, a cold smile flowed across the Grey Absolute’s impossibly bright face.
“Hehehehe—! That is precisely why I left you here. But your heads are still held high. First, lower them again.”
Crack—!
Along with the command, the neck of the highest-ranking Golden clansman snapped, spraying blood.
“And you should kneel as well.”
Crunch—! Crack—!
Something burst from both knees with a horrifying sound, followed by geysers of blood and bone fragments. Naturally, his legs could no longer support him, and he collapsed forward. But it did not end there.
“Bringing both hands together politely in front is basic etiquette when serving a superior. No matter how low-ranked among the 10 Mainstays I may be, how dare a mere clansman show such rudeness?”
Snap—! Crack—!
Blood erupted from his shoulders. He tried to resist, but something inside his body exploded, crushing and shattering a physical form that had reached the absolute pinnacle of spiritual bodies as easily as crushing tofu.
He could not even comprehend what was destroying his body without any warning.
“Kuh—! This… what is…?”
The representative of the highest-ranking Golden clan, a being strong enough to act as proxy for the Golden Absolute, had his limbs shattered and neck broken without sensing anything or being able to react. Of course, such injuries were nothing to him; recovery would be instantaneous.
What was truly shocking was that the Grey Absolute possessed enough power to toy with someone of his caliber.
As the one who led the clans of the 10 Mainstays and presided over their participation to assist the Golden Absolute in the ranking war, he had a fairly good understanding of the power levels and authorities of the other 10 Mainstays.
‘The power I just felt from Grey is not something that would self-destruct after less than a day. He was a powerhouse who could have lasted for years and still remained until the end.’
Even if Sword Bat and the Black Flame Absolute had attacked together, the speed of his self-destruction now seemed far too intentional.
“D-don’t tell me… you deliberately dropped out first? What are you aiming for? Grey—! What exactly are you thinking? You, who should be leading the development of the Absolute Realm, chose to be the first to withdraw from the ranking war. What are you trying to do by acting alone?”
“Tsk—! This is no longer amusing. As expected of the Golden Clan. Your mind works quickly. However, for a mere clansman, that mouth of yours is still terribly ill-mannered—! The reason I left you alive is precisely because of that. Make sure to deliver this message clearly to the other clans of the 10 Mainstays. From now on, if any clan belonging to the other 10 Mainstays enters my domain, I will kill them without exception. Any being that approaches my territory without obtaining the unanimous will of every sentient being will also be killed. Convey this to them using your own body.”
Snap—!
Booooooom—!
With a light flick of his finger, the body of the highest-ranking Golden clansman exploded. Blood and flesh scattered in all directions. There was not even a lump of flesh left. He had been ground down into fine sand-like particles and pulverized completely.
The countless tiny black specks glittering within the red mist of blood resembled a crimson galaxy. The spiritual body of the highest-ranking Golden clansman, now reduced to a bloody mist, was seen being transported to the Wind Star of the Golden without even being able to scream.
Watching this, the Grey Absolute clicked his tongue.
“Tsk! If I followed my temper, I’d want to capture that and throw it into the Divine Spirit Purgatory, but it’s beyond my authority.”
The spiritual bodies of the 10 Mainstays’ clans could not be imprisoned even in the Divine Spirit Purgatory. Beings of that level were far too valuable and received Jinri’s special protection.
Still, even if sent to the Golden Wind Star, the one he had just killed was a supreme existence possessing over ten trillion units of divine power. Returning to normal would require an enormous amount of time and effort.
Naturally, the Golden Absolute losing his mind and rampaging was to be expected. However, as long as a 10 Mainstay maintained development within their own domain, they held absolute authority. Killing intruders from other domains without permission was a legitimate right.
As long as it did not hinder development, complete freedom within one’s domain was the true reward Jinri had granted the 10 Mainstays.
‘Of course, the other 10 Mainstays who lead countless clans cannot act this way due to their reputations. But I have no such concerns. Even if I act according to my thoughts and emotions and cause incidents, as long as I develop the Grey Realm, it doesn’t matter.’
Above the 10 Mainstays stood only Jinri. Not the Golden Absolute who attempted to tame him, nor the Black Flame Absolute who sought to eliminate him as a threat.
“Hmmmm. Before seeing the blood of Black Flame and the Golden, this kind of entertainment isn’t bad either. Shall we clean up the rest, then?”
He scattered the golden blood mist—created by grinding up the highest-ranking Golden clansman—outward. It was poured like liquid over the rulers of each race and the clans of the 10 Mainstays waiting just outside the personal territory he had forcibly displaced them to.
The Golden clansmen who realized whose blood it was flew into a rage. Those who finally understood the situation fled desperately, like mountain beasts spotting a wildfire.
They had now clearly recalled the terror of the past—the massive war that had erupted when the Golden Absolute first arrived in their domain.
‘So Grey really is a 10 Mainstay after all.’
‘We have to run.’
Those fleeing at the very front were the ones who had felt uneasy from the beginning, thinking that attempting to tame a being formally appointed by Jinri without even experiencing him was far too reckless.
Above all, among the 10 Mainstays, only Yuil Yongsinje was someone with whom negotiation or conversation was possible. There had also been the fundamental question of whether Jinri would truly recognize someone without any power as the Grey Absolute.
He was a true tyrant who wielded absolute power, protected and guided Jinri’s karma of development. The optimism that they could pressure him into submission simply because he lacked a faction had been utterly ridiculous.
After investigating the Grey Absolute’s past with the cooperation of the Cyber Realm, their anxiety had only grown. There were almost no such venomous, wicked beings even within the Absolute Realm.
‘Would someone like this really yield to threats from the majority?’
Yet when the highest-ranking clans of the other 10 Mainstays arrived one after another, they had no choice but to participate. Still, they had been extremely anxious. If things went wrong, a war could break out between the newly appointed Grey and the other 10 Mainstays.
Those who had supported taming him had completely overlooked the fact that they themselves would be the ones dying in the crossfire within the Grey Realm, which would become the battlefield.
And just as expected, the Grey Absolute had brutally slaughtered the highest-ranking Golden clansman and scattered his remains over them, expressing his twisted mood and will.
‘No one can kill a highest-ranking Golden clansman in such a short time.’
‘His power alone is truly worthy of a 10 Mainstay.’
‘Even though he is the lowest among the 10 Mainstays and only lasted a single day, he is not someone we can dare to challenge.’
Having stirred things up like this, it would bring an unimaginable catastrophe upon every being within the Grey Realm. By killing even the highest-ranking clans of the other 10 Mainstays to vent his fury, the only option left was to flee desperately.
As if symbolizing the future of the Grey Realm, the blood mist was scattered. Almost the moment it began to settle, the Grey Absolute appeared at the outer edge of the Grey territory.
Around him, the tiny black specks increased explosively, occupying the surrounding space. The power radiating from them was so immense that even those possessing ten trillion units of divine power could not sense its limits.
At the same time, every other being who sensed the unimaginable and horrifying power fled madly toward their own domains without looking back.
Only now did they truly understand what a 10 Mainstay possessing one quadrillion units of divine power and absolute authority truly meant.
Unless they were also a 10 Mainstay, there was nothing they could do. This applied even to the clans of the 10 Mainstays.
Having faced him directly, they realized the ranking war had been nothing more than a promised sparring match. They also understood that they had only been able to buy time thanks to their clan authorities, which temporarily allowed them to wield power on the level of a 10 Mainstay.
A 10 Mainstay encountered as an enemy on the battlefield with only their clan members was nothing less than absolute violence itself—something utterly impossible to contend with.
Whiiiiiiing—! Oooooong—! Weeeeeeeng—!
The black specks around the Grey Absolute vanished in an instant. Seeing faint lights flashing again from far away in every direction, he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
In that vicinity, there was nothing left but the deaths of the rulers of the Grey Realm who had attempted rebellion and the clans of the 10 Mainstays, their bodies ground into blood mist. He had killed them all and reclaimed their vitality.
“Kahahahahahat—! Now I finally feel refreshed. But was that a bit too extreme? It makes me feel just a tiny bit sorry for my past self… but who cares? I helped them so diligently, so this much should be fine. The one who inherits it afterward can clean up the mess. As for me, who will quietly disappear, shall I run wild however my heart desires?”
“Still, seeing that some managed to escape means I’m not fully complete yet. Is this the power of the highest-ranking clans of the 10 Mainstays? However, I cannot let those who invaded my domain and gave me justification to kill them get away. Is there anyone who can escape from me, whose fundamental authority is dimensional manipulation? Running away well simply means you’re good at being chased. Try your best to escape. Kuhuhuhuhuhut—! Kahahahahat—!”
That day, every single being who had gathered there was killed by the Grey Absolute and converted into vitality. He hunted them down to the very last one.
Before the spiritual bodies of the dead could return to their divine realms and headquarters, inform others of the situation, and prepare countermeasures, the Absolute Realm was thrown into chaos once again.
The Grey Absolute began personally tracking down every being with over one trillion units of divine power, finding petty excuses to label them insolent, and killing them. It was a solitary purge carried out regardless of race or alignment, based solely on the criterion of possessing over one trillion divine power. No one could stop him.
The moment anyone tried to lead their forces to block him, their entire clan would be turned into a blood mist and reclaimed as vitality. No matter how many numbers were mobilized, it was meaningless before the Grey Absolute’s absolute wide-area authority.
In the blink of an eye, the Grey Realm was submerged in endless blood and frozen in terror. Eventually, even beings possessing over one trillion divine power, unable to endure the fear, fled to other domains.
Those who escaped all spoke with one voice: the new Grey was not an ordinary tyrant, but a mad tyrant.
And that perception was immediately confirmed in the other domains as well.
Formal protests regarding the indiscriminate slaughter of the highest-ranking clans of the 10 Mainstays were delivered directly to the Grey Absolute. However, his response was to immediately kill the envoy who had come to protest and turn them into a blood mist.
Then, through the Cyber Realm, he forcibly issued an official public statement to the rest of the Absolute Realm.
“If anyone enters my domain as the Grey without permission, I will kill them without exception. This applies even to fellow 10 Mainstays, so it is only natural for worthless clans. I will also kill those useless beings who contribute nothing to development, only running their mouths, and convert them into vitality. Furthermore, I will not converse with inferior beings who have not obtained the unanimous support of their ruling faction. This is who I am—the Grey.”
It was an official response from the Grey Absolute, filled with deep-seated resentment.
The clans of the eight Absolutes were stunned beyond words. The envoy sent to protest had been brutally killed, with only his spiritual body returning, and they had even received a declaration tantamount to a declaration of war.
‘Who has ever dared to treat the clans of the 10 Mainstays with such contempt?’
‘Even among the 10 Mainstays, some consideration is usually given.’
Of course, basic courtesy and respect existed between them. Yet the Grey had openly declared that he would kill even other 10 Mainstays if they trespassed into his domain.
The completely unexpected nature of the event had momentarily halted their thoughts.
However, they could not protest again or launch an attack. Their opponent had massacred the highest-ranking clans without any of them being able to respond. Moreover, he was openly showing murderous intent toward the other 10 Mainstays.
Above all, the other 10 Mainstays were currently absent due to the ranking war. If the Grey, in his madness, decided to invade their domains claiming revenge for an attack, there would be no way to stop him.
The Absolute Realm painfully realized that, with the other 10 Mainstays tied up in the ranking war, there was currently no one capable of stopping the Grey Absolute as he rampaged according to his temper. They could only shut their mouths tightly.