Black Flames Over the Divine Realm
Even as the war in the Otherworld continued its relentless course, the Magic God of Dimensions fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware that his training persisted even in his slumber. That was when anomalies began to ripple through the Divine Realm.
The nature of the divine power flowing through the realm naturally followed the authority of the Main God of the Divine Realm. Because the Dimensional Authority held primacy, the primary response had always been the enhancement of individual traits. Yet now those traits were all beginning to convert. A hazy black flame started to coil around the entire Divine Realm.
The Sage of Omniscience watched with interest as the gods began to panic over the sudden shift in the realm’s authority support. As expected, this was new to all of them. It meant the Magic God of Dimensions had grown strong enough to trigger this change in the very recent past. One thing was certain: both the Grey Absolute and the Origin of the Mage God had been deeply involved.
The newly added authority was clearly the Authority of Black Flame. She had clashed with it directly only moments ago, so there was no mistaking its nature. It belonged to the magical power system. Yet seeing it apply to the gods of the Divine Realm and even some of the demon gods with zero side effects made her shake her head in disbelief.
The Divine Realm’s authority support has changed? Pure fighting spirit and killing intent? An authority that focuses on physical reinforcement? Can something like this become the authority of the God of Light? And it affects both the gods of light and the demon gods with identical results? Really, no matter how I look at it, the Magic Gods have far too many aspects that even I—a Holy Demon—cannot comprehend.
“Sage of Omniscience—! What in the world is happening?”
Gaiana was clearly flustered by the killing intent and fighting spirit that had taken possession of her body without any adverse effects. Yet her emotions remained perfectly stable while her body alone was being reinforced to an eerily high degree. The fact that the killing intent and fighting spirit—which should have been far more violent than magical power—were instead gently elevating her physical capabilities was utterly baffling.
The Sage of Omniscience looked at her with something like pity. Giving her a direct answer would be simple enough, but since she herself was an Origin, arbitrarily ordering around another realm’s acting main god could cause serious problems later.
Dealing with this situation takes priority over satisfying curiosity. Aren’t you the acting representative of this Divine Realm? You need to issue an emergency decree to all the gods immediately. The Magic God of Dimensions has released his awareness and entered complete rest. If anyone emits killing intent or fighting spirit above a certain threshold right now, the Main God of the Divine Realm will kill them instantly. All combat and disputes are forbidden. Furthermore, prohibit leaving the temples as much as possible and issue the highest level of alert.
“Pardon?”
When Gaiana stared back in utter confusion, clearly failing to grasp the meaning behind the silent gaze, the Sage of Omniscience pressed her right hand to her forehead as if suffering from a headache. Lower beings might have the luxury of panicking when something happened, but those in high positions had to act immediately or suffer catastrophic consequences.
If any main god decided to reveal their killing intent and fighting spirit to start a fight right now, they could die at the hands of the Magic God of Dimensions without ever understanding why. The demon races could simply claim he killed them because he felt like it, but dealing with the aftermath if it happened to a god would be extremely difficult. Preventing that disaster was Gaiana’s most urgent task.
That gentle personality seems like a virtue for someone of the god race, and her abilities are excellent, which is probably why the other main gods are leaving her alone… but this could become quite troublesome.
If she had the personality typical of the demon race, a major incident would have already erupted. The Sage of Omniscience couldn’t understand how someone who had lived so comfortably could have such a mild nature. As a member of the highest ruling class, her reactions were slow and her judgment flawed.
Yet despite her personality flaws, her capabilities were outstanding. Gaiana was the goddess of the Almighty God Tribe who had been entrusted with acting as representative of the highest Creator-class Divine Realm. After confirming it herself, the Sage of Omniscience knew there wasn’t a single goddess among the current female main gods who could defeat Gaiana. Of course, that excluded monsters like Shuddering March, whose specs were on par with her own.
Moreover, any being who held such a high position in a high-ranking divine realm was incredibly precious to any faction. On top of that, the Magic God of Dimensions she had just observed directly was a pure battle god with zero interest in the power struggles of the Divine Realm. She had expected as much, since Magic Gods tended to be individually oriented by nature.
It seemed the Main God of the Divine Realm was trying to maintain the status quo by granting him special growth benefits, but with the situation this clear, the story changed significantly. She would have to educate Gaiana somehow and solidify her position. Unfortunately, basic education was an annoying chore.
So instead, she spoke in her characteristically playful, teasing tone.
“Didn’t you see it earlier? How the Magic God of Dimensions automatically reacted to my killing intent and fighting spirit by engaging in combat? Perhaps it’s an authority that automatically moves the body to eliminate anything judged as a threat to the physical form. Don’t you think?”
“...?”
“He’s capable of close-quarters combat with me, a Demon King. Once that ability activates, are there any main gods in this realm who could possibly stop it? Yet do you think the female main gods here will simply choose not to fight? The Divine Realm is overflowing with dangerous bombs like the goddesses of the Goddess Blood Alliance and the Elemental Main Gods. If the Magic God of Dimensions reacts to any of them, won’t an immediate battle break out? In that case, you should be prepared for at least half the Divine Realm to be reduced to ashes.”
“...!”
Only then did Gaiana finally grasp the situation. Her face turned deathly pale as she immediately dashed out of the Dimensional Temple. The Sage of Omniscience looked down at her own palm.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my own blood. What terrifying power. Even his speed was at a level where I barely managed to endure it. And to think he targeted vital points with such precision while delivering consecutive strikes?
To suffer an injury this easily was something she could never have imagined during her days as a demon. The shock was even greater because she had finally become the Demon King she had always wanted to be, only to discover this weakness.
She had been unaware of it because there were almost no equals to fight against, but a truly fatal flaw had revealed itself.
This is bad! When I became Demon King, I thought my physical abilities and authorities had increased dramatically, making me stronger. But in terms of actual combat capability, I’ve become significantly weaker. This is truly dangerous. Those sly Demon Kings knew about this and were deceiving me while treating me better.
Thinking of the Demon Kings who had immediately started using honorifics the moment she became Demon King and offered uncharacteristically kind words made her grind her teeth. She had sensed something was slightly off, and now she understood the trick.
This was a weakness she would have remained ignorant of for a long time if she hadn’t experienced that fierce clash filled with killing intent against the Magic God of Dimensions. It would have become a fatal vulnerability the next time she clashed with another Demon King over differing opinions.
Beeeep—!
There was no point in trying to hide it anyway. The Demon Kings who needed to know had probably already guessed. And for Almighty Hwi, who was about to wage the Main God Campaign against the Magic God of Dimensions, this was an urgent matter.
The Sage of Omniscience activated the direct emergency line between Origins. The figure of Almighty Hwi appeared before her. He seemed to have been in the middle of personal training—his entire body was drenched in sweat and covered in dust. Having clearly felt the threat from the Magic God of Dimensions she had shown him through the screen, he appeared to have been sparring with several Preliminary Creator Gods.
But in his current physical condition, that was actually poison.
“Hm? You’ve already figured it out? As expected, you’re fast.”
“What exactly are you doing while leaving me here like this?”
“Huh? I’m training. Sparring too.”
Seeing that he had no idea what the problem was, it seemed the Creator Gods of the god race were reacting the same way. Truly, both the god race and demon race were merciless toward newcomers.
Well, it was someone else’s business. Getting too deeply involved could lead to misunderstandings, and there was no benefit to be gained, so silence was probably the correct answer. However, if the person in question remained ignorant until the very end, they would suffer defeat in a single careless moment.
She could not allow the Creator God of the Almighty Tribe to be lost so pathetically.
“Go to sleep.”
“What? Is he that weak? Was it just my imagination?”
Almighty Hwi’s face immediately relaxed. He had been somewhat tense, but now he seemed completely relieved. However, once he learned about the flaw she was trying to tell him—something even more fatal than the weakness he had imagined—he would not be able to remain so comfortable.
“Before you go to sleep, compare your current self with your Main God-era self. Check your odds of victory in your current state and prepare yourself.”
“What nonsense. Obviously a complete victory for me, now that I’ve become a Creator God.”
Almighty Hwi looked momentarily puzzled by the absurd statement before sinking into thought. First-rate battle gods accurately projected themselves inwardly and constantly fought virtual battles to verify their strength. He was currently simulating combat between his past self as a Preliminary Creator God and his present self as a full Creator God.
Then his face turned deathly white.
“Th-that’s impossible—! Why is a Creator God like me being pushed back like this?”
He had finally discovered the anomaly. It was the exact same situation as hers. The fact that he wasn’t denying or distorting the result was a relief. If he couldn’t at least judge himself with such objective accuracy, he could never dream of reaching first-rate or above.
Almighty Hwi had clearly been satisfied with the fundamental abilities that had risen sharply upon becoming a Creator God, but there was one thing he had overlooked.
“My win rate against my Main God-era self is less than half? And nearly ninety percent of those defeats come from being destroyed in the early stages? What is this? This can’t be right. What happened? My basic abilities and the number of authorities I can activate have more than doubled, so why this result? Sage of Omniscience—! Are you the same?”
Almighty Hwi’s expression turned urgent as he practically pressed himself against the screen. His face showed complete confusion. Of course, she would have reacted the same way.
My abilities increased, but my win rate dropped.
There was no way he could understand what that meant. However, she had to deliver the conclusion in a single phrase.
Even though she, now a Demon King, faced no major incidents like the Main God Campaign, the Demon King world was dangerous. For the demon race, strength was everything. She could not claim with certainty that no Demon King would aim for the momentary weakness of another. No, there would definitely be some. She had to deal with this quickly.
“Proficiency.”
“Proficiency? Ah—! Aaaaaaaaagh—! Damn it all—! So this was the source of my anxiety? It wasn’t just that the Magic God of Dimensions had grown stronger—I’ve lost combat power? What do I do? Time—! I need time—! No, I need a place to rest comfortably—! Aaaagh—! But now that I’m a Creator God, there isn’t one, is there? The temple is too small and weak—!”
It seemed Almighty Hwi had finally understood the entire situation. He let out a scream mixed with curses.
Almighty Hwi had possessed a Main God body reinforced to the point of surpassing Creator Gods. On top of that, he had mastered the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, so no one could match him in handling and fighting with a Main God’s body. Although his basic abilities and the number of authorities he could activate were lower than a Creator God’s, in terms of efficiency he had far surpassed even them.
This transcendent proficiency in body manipulation was what made him unrivaled among Main Gods and gave him the hidden foundation to defeat most Creator Gods.
There’s no way a newly ascended Creator God’s body could easily defeat a transcendent Main God who surpassed Creator Gods. On the contrary, as a Main God he would naturally win, but right now—freshly ascended to Creator God—he is at his weakest.
Almighty Hwi had realized that he himself had become one of those ordinary Creator Gods. Of course, because all objective numbers showed Creator Gods overwhelmingly superior to Main Gods, he couldn’t sense the defeat. Naturally, he wouldn’t have known. But the moment he saw the Magic God of Dimensions directly, his sharply strengthened reason had predicted victory while his instincts had sensed danger.
First-rate battle gods occasionally found their instincts more accurate, so they could not be ignored. This was why Almighty Hwi had felt an inexplicable sense of crisis and sent her an urgent request for help.
She could not go to the opponent of the Main God Campaign herself to confirm. As a result, although she had identified the problem, there was no immediate solution.
Proficiency in body manipulation does not rise through training. It can only be increased through long periods of self-reflection to deepen one’s understanding of the body.
The answer was rest and time. This was why the majority of hot-tempered battle gods remained stuck at simple first-rate despite repeating mindless training.
Of course, Almighty Hwi, who knew this fact very well, was on the verge of a panic attack. Having risen through ranks at an explosive pace to reach Preliminary Creator God in the shortest time, he understood better than anyone what kind of results could come from the discord between body and mind when one’s level increased too quickly. One wrong move and he could be swept away by his suddenly enhanced physical abilities and self-destruct.
If he faced a transcendent Main God in this state, he could be struck at his weak points and suffer a hollow defeat. It seemed he had reached the same conclusion, as he stood there not knowing what to do.