The Incomprehensible Eight Founders

The elbow strikes and knee strikes hammering into the abdomens of the Otherworld’s spirit gods did not relent—not even when the Giant Tribe’s Main Gods gathered in the skies above the Otherworld War, clicking their tongues in disapproval as they looked down.

No matter how much power they poured in or how desperately they struggled, the gods couldn’t budge an inch. It was utterly absurd. Yet continuing like this was impossible, and they absolutely could not let it be known that they had lost control of their own bodies.

After briefly weighing the two situations, the answer became clear. Even if they tried to look good in front of these gods, they would never escape the influence of their leader, who had held power for billions of years. But if the Otherworld’s spirit gods realized their bodies were moving unnaturally, they would undoubtedly come up with some new scheme to attack again. It had only taken less than a century for the protagonist to learn, bone-deep, that this was simply their nature.

‘Just go with it. My reputation can’t sink any lower anyway. Above all, I can’t let them discover my weakness.’

Aside from his right hand and knee pinning down the goddesses, the rest of his body was free. Although he had learned it in an extremely bizarre way, this was the defensive power of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, which rivaled even the Black Flame in close combat. There would be no problem entrusting it with the task.

‘The commission is what matters right now. I’ll overlook all the minor details.’

The gathered gods were buzzing as they stared at the Main Temple, now reduced to nothing but a pillar and its foundation. No—most of them wore expressions of utter despair upon seeing that their personal temples had all been destroyed. It made sense. In merely half a day, every temple they had built over the ages had been wiped out.

The areas where the Wolf God and Snake God had rampaged most fiercely were all former Divine Realm territories. They had targeted them for complete demolition. From Lokina’s position as the new leader of the influx of spirit gods, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she planned to strip away every advantage the existing faction held.

‘But why did it have to be my Divine Realm—! I was the one who accepted them from the Spirit Realm knowing full well what they were. If I could have recruited the gods through normal means, I never would have done this.’

When he glared at her with narrowed eyes, Lokina initially met his gaze with an air of defiance. The subtle rise in her magical power as she tried to pressure him showed she had no intention of backing down.

Then, suddenly, a sound reverberated throughout the entire Divine Realm.

And the sight of her staring at him with her mouth wide open in shock left even him stunned. No—he was shocked too.

Crack—!

Crunch—!

A splitting sound spread from the cracked Seat of Glory. His body began contracting and expanding on its own, generating a peculiar wave. That wave made direct contact with Lokina’s magical power wave.

The moment she was sent flying backward as if struck by something, even he couldn’t help but gape.

Words were unnecessary. The Incomprehensible Eight Founders had sensed a threat from Lokina’s magical power and automatically counterattacked.

‘Oh my god—! Can it really reflect even the distant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magical waves of a Magic God? Not just physical attacks, but authorities too? And it amplifies them several times over to achieve total suppression? No matter how absolute the authority is, what the hell is this? How is anyone supposed to defeat someone who’s mastered this? Wait, more importantly—you’re saying the Black Flame ranks higher than this monstrous authority? How the hell do you fight something like this?’

His thoughts grew tangled, but Lokina, who didn’t even seem to understand how she had been blasted away, remained dazed and unable to think of getting up. Of course she wouldn’t show that she had suffered serious damage to her magical operation. That much was obvious.

But this body wasn’t finished yet.

Twitch—!

The moment the index finger of his relatively free left hand lightly curled and extended, Lokina’s body—which had been trying to suppress her magical injuries and stand—flinched violently. She seemed to be defending her body with some kind of magic, but this bizarre bodily wave showed no mercy.

Shhhhhk—!

With the sound of magical power melting away, Lokina was dragged forward helplessly. She had no time to chant, scream, or do anything else. His left arm moved on its own and clamped down hard on her face.

Crunch—!

Power surged into the left arm with enough force to crush her skull. The wave rippled outward, shaking the core of the Magic God’s authority—her head. Her body flopped like a salmon a few times before going completely limp.

No matter how powerful a Magic God might be, once the head responsible for computation was hit like this, there was nothing they could do. Especially when their magical activation was forcibly halted, their defensive magic stripped away, and their brain struck directly—there was no way to block it.

Whether this damned Incomprehensible Eight Founders did it knowingly or not, the way it demonstrated the textbook method for subduing a Magic God left him speechless. In this state, she couldn’t use any ability enhancement, defense, or regeneration that relied on magical power.

Even if he had been the one in her position, he would have been suppressed even more helplessly.

Thud—!

The left hand that had moved on its own released her the instant the suppression was complete. As Lokina tumbled down beneath the Seat of Glory, every god in the Divine Realm froze like ice.

There was no longer a single god who didn’t know who the master of the Wolf God and Snake God—the ones who had destroyed half the Divine Realm just moments ago—was. He was the very person who, with Hephais’s help, had forced their powerful goddess leaders into a desperate struggle for half a day.

Yet the Main God of the Divine Realm had subdued her from a seated position. What’s more, he was still using one hand and one leg each to threaten those vicious Otherworld spirit gods. The fact that he could casually deal with her using only one remaining hand left the gods who knew the extent of Lokina’s power trembling in awe.

As the completely frozen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gods fell into silence, only the sound of the wind could be heard.

And the Magic God of Dimensions, who had so easily overwhelmed them all, felt cold sweat running down his back.

‘That’s already the third goddess I’ve beaten. And I did it brutally, right in front of every god in the Divine Realm, then tossed them aside like trash around the Seat of Glory.’

At a glance, it was a merciless measure that would make even the Demon Gods shudder. But none of it had been his will. Lokina had been strengthened by the authority of the Lord of the Flipside and her own magic to the point where she could rival even a Preliminary Creator God. The defensive authority of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, sensing a threat from her rebellious magical wave, had simply suppressed her completely.

‘God damn it—! Why is this happening? How am I supposed to smooth this over naturally without anyone catching on?’

Looking at Lokina lying there brutally unconscious, it was obvious to anyone that this was the act of a cold-blooded tyrant without blood or tears. But admitting it was a mistake now would be like poking a hornet’s nest. Even though the goddesses who ran the Goddess Department considered them enemies, they would never stay silent in the face of violence against a goddess. The slightest slip would lead straight to impeachment proceedings.

In the end, he had no choice but to go even harder.

At the mention of suspending divine rights, every god’s mouth fell open in shock. Divine rights were literally the authority of a god—the very meaning of their existence granted by the Creator Gods. For humans, it was like human rights. Suspending them meant stripping away any value or respect they deserved as a being.

To suspend divine rights meant that not only were all qualifications and authority as a god revoked, but even the minimal rights to be respected by fellow gods were gone. As the Main God of the Divine Realm, this was the harshest measure possible—harsher than expulsion from the Spirit Realm. She had fallen from a Main God to a slave of the Divine Realm.

“Those who unlawfully occupied and attempted to destroy the Seat of Glory—the symbol of the Main God of the Divine Realm’s authority and the core of the Divine Realm—will receive the same punishment. All of this is the legitimate authority and command of the Main God of the Divine Realm for the sake of the Divine Realm itself. Anyone who wishes to reject it, defeat me.”

Oooooong—!

The Divine Realm vibrated, actively supporting his will. Even the Divine Realm’s ego probably hadn’t expected half of itself to be destroyed in half a day because of a single goddess. Sensing a threat to its survival, it desperately assisted his authority.

Seeing that his command pierced through every god’s resistance and dug into their minds, he continued issuing measures.

Their opponent was the Main Divine Realm led by Almighty Hwi. There were thirty-two Preliminary Creator Gods, along with more than ten times that number of direct high-ranking Main Gods under them. That meant their minimum force of Main Gods alone exceeded three hundred and twenty.

That was why all the gods had assumed they absolutely had to include the current goddesses in the roster. Yet he had just disqualified them all. He had no direct Main Gods under his command. There was only Shuddering March, but a Demon God was obviously ineligible to participate.

In the end, he had excluded every Main God who had entered alongside the Magic God of Dimensions.

As all the shocked gods listened, a thunderbolt-like declaration struck their ears.

“Furthermore, all gods who failed to prevent the destruction of the Divine Realm and either stood by or fled will also be held accountable. There will be absolutely no support from the Divine Realm for the construction of new personal temples. You may use the vitality you already possess as collateral for construction loans. If you don’t like that, then build them using the rubble.”

It was a measure that would turn every god into a homeless person. Without the Divine Realm’s support, constructing a personal temple was automatically impossible. They would have to move their bodies directly or assemble them using divine power and authority one piece at a time. It required an enormous amount of labor—something none of these gods had ever done themselves. Even in the era before the Divine Realm existed, they had mobilized their followers to build them.

The goddesses, realizing what was happening, were about to explode in protest, but the next words made them freeze.

“However, I am the God of Light and the Main God of the Divine Realm. Even toward sinners who pretended not to see the destruction of the Divine Realm, I am merciful. I will provide temporary temples.”

Snap—!

When he lightly flicked his fingers in the air, countless disc-shaped objects about one meter in diameter fell from the sky. The gods looked puzzled at the strange items made of crisscrossing ropes and cloth, so the Magic God of Dimensions kindly gave them a demonstration.

He untied the ropes binding the cloth and threw it into the air.

“Untie the string and throw it, and it unfolds.”

Whoosh—!

Fwoosh—!

A hemispherical cloth temple appeared before their eyes. He had paid some attention to detail—there was even a door and windows, and it was painted blue. But its width was only enough for two people to lie down, and its height was barely enough to sit upright. It was literally a temporary shelter made of cloth, the kind used by combat gods deployed to the front lines.

Ordinary gods would never use something like this unless they were playing around. The suspicion that the Main God of the Divine Realm was mocking them turned to despair at his next words.

They realized once again that their Main God of the Divine Realm was a Mercenary God.

“It’s an instant foldable temple. It’s easy to store, has excellent privacy, and is extremely useful. As you can see, it’s really easy to set up shelter and convenient to pack up. If you camouflage it well, it even offers high stealth. It was one of my favorite items back when I was a Mercenary God.”

The Magic God of Dimensions looked genuinely proud as he spoke. His expression was that of someone bestowing a truly precious treasure.

The goddesses who realized this didn’t know what to do.

‘He’s treating the other gods with the same perspective he uses for mercenary gods.’

The goddesses of this Divine Realm had almost never done physical labor, let alone construction. Most of them were administrative gods who left everything to the Divine Realm and simply managed operations. It might be different for the minority of combat gods who lived only on battlefields or in temporary temples without regular temples, but doing this to the other gods was absolutely unacceptable.

If all the gods truly didn’t want to become homeless, they might leave. And if the majority of their will leaned that way, the leaders would have no choice but to follow. That was why they had desperately resisted and blocked the Main God of the Divine Realm.

“Wow, this is really good! Perfect for the battlefield.”

“As expected, you know good gear when you see it.”

From somewhere came the voice of a beast god marveling without reading the room, followed by the satisfied reply of the Magic God of Dimensions.

The goddesses involuntarily ground their teeth as old memories resurfaced. They remembered the carefree banter and policies between the Main God of the Divine Realm and the Beast God—back when the former had been a Mercenary God who knew nothing about ordinary gods and kept trying to run things with a mercenary’s crude sensibilities, shaking the entire Divine Realm.

‘Even back then, his mercenary instincts kept leading him to run things so ignorantly that the whole Divine Realm trembled.’

No one wanted the difficult life of a mercenary god for themselves. The pursuit of splendor and comfort was a basic desire, yet mercenary gods dismissed such things as pointless luxury. Preventing their involvement in management through extreme measures had been an everyday occurrence.

When the previous Main God of the Divine Realm left, they had felt somewhat relieved. But this new Main God of the Divine Realm had only been in power for less than a year, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same situation was unfolding again.

He had already taken out a small silver cylinder and was proudly showing it to the Beast God.

“This cooking tool is both a bowl and a stove in one, as you can see. Plus it’s light and the material is hygienic. And when you cook, it doesn’t leak light outward, so the enemy won’t detect you. It’s one of my prized possessions.”

“Ooooh—!”

And he was about to go even further.

Here is a brief explanation of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, the authority belonging to the Bloodline of Truth that oversees the Absolute Realm and the 498 Main Universes.

First, here is the evaluation given by the 1st Grey Absolute regarding this authority:

The sequence of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders is as follows. Each stage has three detailed chapters and training methods attached, but they are far too vast to list here. The main story of the 2nd Absolute Great War, whose protagonist is Han Jinho—the biological father of Truth and the 108th Head of the Wind Family—is also included.

The Incomprehensible Eight Founders is the absolute authority that begins with the physical training of living beings, acquires the authorities of spiritual beings, and challenges the eternity of Eternal Beings without ever stopping its pursuit of challenge and development in order to ultimately win the war that will continue forever.

It is the soul of the family that the past Wind Family staked everything on, developing it from the very foundation. Every member of the Wind Family must master and complete the Incomprehensible Eight Founders to be recognized as an adult. Furthermore, once one becomes an adult, they must have a son and teach him. Once the teaching is complete, they must obtain their own independent authority and become an Origin of the Absolute Realm before they can leave Wind Star.

The range and perspective of influence one can exert is determined by the Law of Karma based on how much one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has contributed to the development of the universe. Even when intervening, one must strictly observe the three prohibitions (non-relation, non-love, non-killing). All these restrictions will only be lifted by someone who defeats me. Therefore, challenge me before the world. Surpass me. My beloved bloodline.

— Truth (眞理), 109th Head of the Wind Family, Han Jin-an

Second piece of common knowledge. An explanation of the Wind Family, the bloodline of Truth.

Originally beginning as a martial family of humans practicing sole succession, they completed their authority through the 1st Absolute Great War at the 108th generation. By the 109th generation—Truth—they rose to become a family that even surpassed Eternal Beings.

To put it plainly, if the Substitute Gods are the next generation after the Divine Race, then the Wind Family is the next generation after the Eternal Beings. The combat ability of a Wind Family member recognized as an adult nearly reaches the level of the 10 Mainstays, and once they become an Origin, they even obtain the eternity of an Eternal Being. They are beings more fearsome for their potential for growth than for their combat power.

The most outstanding point is that eternity is another name for fixation—there is no change. However, by developing across generations, they have taken the evolution and development of living beings into their own hands. Therefore, the Origins of the Wind Family, produced at a rate of roughly one every ten thousand years, possess basic abilities and authorities that are stronger than those of the previous generation.

However, because the training periods differ, it is almost impossible for them to defeat a higher generation. This is due to the ability correction granted by the training period and degree of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders. The higher-generation members of the Wind Family know this fact all too well, so they never stop their personal training. As a result, the higher the generation, the more they increase the intensity of their training and accumulate enough power to not fall behind their descendants.

As time passes, they become stronger, wiser, evolve, develop, and even increase in number. The family that will become the next Eternal Beings is none other than the Wind Family.

However, as powerful as they are, the aftermath of their intervention surpasses imagination. Even though Truth attached various restrictions to prevent direct intervention, the active reality intervention by the Wind Family Origins who created the Substitute Gods caused the dominant species of most of the 498 Main Universes to be replaced. The positive karma gained from that influence was so enormous that they were granted a certain degree of direct intervention and flexibility by Truth.

Seeing this, even the other Origins of the Wind Family are slowly preparing to intervene in reality. Their intervention will certainly bring about rapid development and evolution. However, the sacrifices the Absolute Realm and the Main Universes must pay in the process will surpass imagination.

Currently, the 10 Mainstays and their clans are pouring all their strength into blocking and controlling their intervention.

For reference, the current actions of Grey in opening his territory to the Substitute Gods are completely different from the previous policies of the 10 Mainstays. It is practically a declaration of war.