We'll All Die Together
In the interdimensional war, the Main God of the Divine Realm overseeing the life and death of the lower gods beneath him had to follow the laws of the God Realm to the letter. There were, however, two exceptions. The first was wartime. When the God Realm faced a war so colossal it threatened its very existence, total control became necessary. The second was when the Main God of the Divine Realm’s power grew so immense it could decide the fate of the entire realm. If the combined strength of every god fell short of his own, twisting the destiny of a mere lower god was child’s play.
Therefore, if the God Realm’s ego offered no intervention even after hearing that it was acceptable to kill lower gods who had not yet been formally incorporated, it clearly signaled the latter case. Well, the God Realm’s ego never said a word even when they tried to eliminate me, the hidden guardian Main God. A few lower gods hardly matter.
He had already sensed that the Main God of the Divine Realm’s power now surpassed the total strength of all the gods in the realm, but experiencing it directly was a reality no one could have believed. The number of Main Gods in the current Dimensional Divine Realm alone was enough to eclipse the original Main Divine Realm. Even an average Creation Realm would struggle to fill this many Main God positions, yet the shortage of lower gods would be resolved the moment this group was absorbed.
Of course, their loyalty and stability left much to be desired, but with the Main God of the Divine Realm this overwhelmingly powerful, no problems were likely to arise. After all, he possessed the strength to suppress every other god in the realm even if they all rebelled at once.
In the beginning, when the rebellion provided a legitimate chance for a purge, he had not suppressed the goddesses. Then he swept in the Main Gods from the Spirit Realm and even granted high positions to the Giant God Race, the gods’ ancient enemies. At that point, the Beast God had genuinely wondered how this realm had not yet collapsed. Any single one of these events would have overturned the ruling class of any other divine realm multiple times over. Yet now, whether through adaptation or resignation, everything remained strangely quiet.
On top of that, the arrival of new Main Gods who weren’t combat specialists had triggered days of nonstop celebration. And notably, without the usual nauseating political infighting. A realm that had been spiraling toward ruin rather than progressing was undergoing a dramatic transformation.
The most extreme method turns out to be the best policy? It’s like pouring every dangerous drug imaginable into a patient beyond saving, yet somehow the patient is recovering? Well, as long as the Magic God of Dimensions sits as the Main God of the Divine Realm, there’s no fear of complete destruction. All the cancers that had plagued the realm are simply melting away under this radical treatment.
What worried him, however, was that there seemed to be no end in sight to this flood of extreme remedies. The so-called lower gods currently composed of transcendents numbered a million in name only, yet every single one was a sentient being from the Middle World. How unstable gods born from finite mortal lives could be had already been proven through several painful examples. Normally, almost none of them would ever be formally incorporated into the God Realm. Yet here they were, scraping the bottom of the barrel without distinction.
With hundreds of demon gods at the Main God level serving as direct forces, there was still room to spare. The real headache, though, was those metal monsters.
What in the realms are those mechanical lumps? A machine magic god? A mechanical civilization fused with transcendents? Planet-destroying weapons? The name sounds impressive, but will they actually be useful in the God Realm? If other divine realms learn of this…
The God Realm’s reputation was already that of a complete mess descending into pure chaos. He shuddered to imagine what they would call it now. Just thinking about it filled him with gloom, but the goddesses—who had always been so prickly about the God Realm’s honor—were now too busy worrying about the influx of their former mortal enemies to pick fights with the Main God of the Divine Realm. They seemed inclined to let things slide as much as possible. That made it difficult for him to step forward.
Besides, if he did so now, the Main God of the Divine Realm’s personality meant he would absolutely not let it pass. The man had endured everything in silence for the stability of the God Realm, but suddenly—after receiving some unknown request—his personality had completely flipped. He was now driving everyone forward with terrifying intensity. Moreover, while the Beast God himself had been left alone with the excuse that other gods were unnecessary and thus enjoyed the festival atmosphere, he had been hovering nearby out of fear that some fatal problem might arise in the God Realm. Apparently that had drawn unwanted attention.
Furthermore, the fact that he was the powerful Main God tasked with both protecting and monitoring the Main God of the Divine Realm as the God Realm’s guardian had now been exposed. There was no escape. He was going to be worked to the bone. The Beast God’s thoughts grew increasingly bleak.
“Let’s head to the Main God’s Forest quickly. If we delay here any longer, we’ll be scolded again.”
The Hero God, having escaped the humiliating report, stood beside him with a face full of bright color. He had left the battlefield of the selection war so quickly it seemed almost unnatural. When the Beast God glanced back, he saw three lower gods bound tightly with divine power and dragged along like luggage. They were the same lower gods who had chattered away earlier without fear of the Main God of the Divine Realm.
They had supposedly been comrades for life, yet now that trust had been betrayed, the Hero God showed them no mercy. The Beast God worried about how he was supposed to elevate these three to intermediate gods and awaken their authorities.
Noticing his expression, the Hero God responded immediately.
“Do not worry. I know their personalities and weaknesses completely. We spent a hundred years as comrades, so I never realized their hidden feelings, but their outward behavior was obvious. They’ll resist for now since they don’t understand the situation, but once they learn the truth, they will have no choice but to follow me. If they were the type who could survive alone, they would never have stayed with me for a hundred years while harboring such complaints. Therefore, creating authorities for them and raising them to intermediate gods will be simple. I’ll handle the work. If these bastards can’t endure it and attack, feel free to beat them without holding back.”
The Hero God’s confident tone made the Beast God nod naturally as he began moving. The sharp, murderous glint in the Hero God’s eyes made it clear he had no intention of failing this mission and retreating. Dragging his unconscious former comrades along suggested he was quite furious.
The sound of the Hero God dragging his former comrades across the floor echoed behind them. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Whether by force or by choice, they had all boarded the same ship as the Main God of the Divine Realm. Whatever the Main God desired, if it contributed to the development of the God Realm, following him was also the guardian god’s primary duty.
At the very least, no god in the realm currently surpassed the Magic God of Dimensions in advancing the God Realm’s development. With that thought, the Beast God steadied his anxious heart and stepped once more into the training space prepared by the Main God of the Divine Realm.
The Magic God of Dimensions observed the scene through his authority and gave a satisfied nod.
Good enough for now. He has recognized his own limits and the necessity of comrades. Even I misunderstood because the Hero God was the greatest among heroes with exceptional talent. His true ability only fully manifests when he has companions supporting the Hero. Without comrades willing to risk their lives to cover his back, defeating a demon king with higher divinity would have been impossible. The problem is that those comrades have already been worn down by the harsh ways of the world and are now old men. They seem insufficient.
What enabled the wide-area authority of Indomitable was trust—the kind one could stake their very life upon. Yet such loyalty and trust that transcended worldly interests were the privilege of those with the burning passion of youth. Young men possessed nothing but their own bodies and believed so firmly in future possibilities that they could risk their lives for their comrades. Old men were different. They had tasted both the bitterness and sweetness of life and understood their limits clearly, so they would never overextend.
While that could be called the wisdom of age, in the current situation where a rapid increase in power was desperately needed, it was an obstacle. In the end, developing additional forces was required. Since he could not use the gods whose identities were already fully revealed, his gaze naturally turned toward the transcendents who had mostly collapsed after completing the brutal preliminary rounds of the selection war.
The High Elf Queens standing tall and warily scanning their surroundings stood out most of all, but they were ultimately Granzoa’s subordinate gods. Granzoa, the successor to the goddesses and now the representative of a faction possessing thirty percent of the God Realm’s military power, would need them desperately. They were excluded for now. If he mobilized even the subordinate gods of other deities as main forces, the situation would become untenable.
After observing a little longer, several figures immediately caught his eye. In front stood a swordsman with his blade drawn. In the middle was the hero, and beside him a magician. At the rear, a martial artist stood guard. Even during their rest period, they maintained perfect tension without letting their guard down even a fraction. Though completely exhausted and panting, they held a thorough defensive formation.
What was unusual was that, unlike other races who formed armies, this small group had somehow endured remarkably well. The number of times they had experienced death was extremely low. Their past experience fighting higher beings had created this clear difference in performance.
Weren’t they the disciples of past heroes? Since they still retain their purity, developing their authorities should be possible. But what is that? Those enormous breasts? Is that even naturally possible? There’s no way they received breast augmentation like in the Otherworld, right? Did all their magic power concentrate there upon becoming lower gods? Was there ever a case like this among flame-type mages?
Even the Magic God of Dimensions, whose situation had reached an extreme, found his mind endlessly generating trivial questions at the sight of the Crimson Sorceress’s chest, now belonging to a lower god. He had experienced perfect bodies that rivaled the pinnacle of voluptuousness among the goddesses. Yet the breasts of the female mage wearing a silk robe that clung tightly to her body in the center of the defensive formation created by the hero and his companions were on a scale that defied comparison.
Moreover, however she maintained them, they showed no sign of sagging. With every breath, they rose and fell with a soft, rhythmic bounce that inevitably drew the eye. Strangely, despite their size, they did not appear deformed. Combined with her long, slender limbs and hips that matched her chest in generous proportion, the balance was exquisitely perfect. It was an allure no man could possibly avoid.
She radiated a fatal charm more like a demon goddess than a proper deity. Did she inherit succubus blood? She looks even more stimulating than Eleanor, the Succubus Queen. No? She’s purely human? Then how is this even possible? The physical changes that occur when a living being ascends to lower godhood—how can they manifest so extremely? She’s practically a research subject. Ah—! This isn’t the time. I’ll investigate later. I need to prepare the spirits in the Survival Magic Tower and have the saints stand by. This is total war now.
Whooooooosh—!
The Main God Temple vibrated as it summoned all the lower gods who had collapsed on the moon. It then transported them onto the empty seats where only divine artifacts had rested, naturally guiding them into seated positions. Since most of the transcendents remained unconscious, there was hardly any commotion, and those still conscious lacked the strength to protest.
The Magic God of Dimensions nodded as he watched their depleted bodies naturally absorb the divine power and authority that filled the Main God Temple.
It seems it will go even better than expected. Since I originated from humanity, I match well with them.
If left like this, they would recover and become even stronger than before on their own. He opened the dimensional gate connected to the Survival Magic Tower.
“Pope of Dimensions. And Saintesses of Dimensions. Are all preparations complete?”
From beyond the opened dimensional gate came the voices of the popes.
“We have raised the Saintess of War to the 7th Circle. The other saintesses are nearly at the 6th Circle as well. The spirits have also agreed to participate in this battle.”
“Prepare the spirits immediately. Have the saintesses wait in their respective temples. If you achieve satisfactory merit in this Main God Battle, I will open the path for you to become lower gods.”
“We will follow with our lives on the line. No—we will swear loyalty with our very souls.”
These were spirits who had been waiting only for a chance at reincarnation whose timing they could not predict. Yet now, not only the resurrection they desired as humans but the opportunity to ascend as gods had appeared. Across countless histories, such a golden chance had never existed. Temporarily becoming the ego of a divine artifact was nothing. It was pure fortune that the human-born Magic God of Dimensions was taking one drastic measure after another to reach the position of Main God—the gateway to becoming a Creator God.
As the spirits crossed the dimensional gate and flooded into the Main God Temple, they began to settle one by one into the divine artifacts. From now on, they would no longer be simple lower divine artifacts. With spirits attending them, they would demonstrate autonomous movement and enhanced power.
“Win. Victory alone will bring forth your future. Glory to the victors—!”
“Glory to the victors—!”
The Magic God of Dimensions and the spirits displayed an almost fanatical atmosphere. However, the true intentions and plans were secretly conveyed to the popes through a different channel.
They are important, but the saintesses are the ones we need most. Prepare the princesses as well. And if it fails, press the detonation switch immediately and escape to the Otherworld. Do not hesitate. If we lose, it is the end anyway.
Understood.
The detonation switch was a self-destruct device that used the Survival Magic Tower as its core to destroy the dimensional Creator divinity and obliterate the entire holy constellation. The self-destruct mechanism he had left in place before undergoing the Eternal Judgment had not been retrieved and was now prepared as a final mutual destruction measure.
After confirming that the spirits had properly settled as egos within the created divine artifacts, that the saintesses were positioned in each temple of the Survival Magic Tower, and that the princesses were preparing under separate orders, the Magic God of Dimensions performed one final verification of the Survival Magic Tower’s self-destruct device. Finding nothing wrong, he poured additional magic power into it to increase the explosive force.
After everything I’ve survived through, you think I’ll die quietly by myself? If we fail and everything collapses, we’ll all go together. Let’s die as one.
His pride and venom as a former mercenary god were fully alive.