The Almighty Hwi's Dire Straits
The state of Almighty Hwi in the Otherworld War was anything but good. In fact, it was the absolute worst. Even his mighty body—honed through the Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas to consume no divine power whatsoever—had no choice but to overexert itself simply to endure the crushing pressure radiating from the high-ranking Creator Divine Realm. On top of that, the endless barrage of long-range Creator God-level authorities made any forward progress a nightmare. This Dimensional Divine Realm had poured every last high-grade material and authority into maximizing the vitality harvested from the clash with the 500th Master Universe, and the result far exceeded all expectations. The sheer volume of Creator-level authorities pouring out in every direction left even him without a viable countermeasure.
Ugh—! Is this what a high-ranking Creator Divine Realm looks like? They said they squeezed every possible drop of vitality from the Main Divine Realm and threw everything they had into making it the best, but this is worse than I imagined. And they even brought the Dimensional Creator Divinity into play, so they’ve got vitality to burn. There’s no opening, no gap at all. Ack—!
Boom—!Crunch—!Bang—!Crack—!
No matter how strong the body, it still registered every impact. The attacks he failed to block even for an instant sent tremors through his muscles and blasted him back the very distance he had barely managed to gain. His self-defense should never falter like this, yet the unfamiliar Creator God physique was the problem. The slightest lapse in bodily control kept producing errors against these large-scale assaults. And because those errors carried Creator God weight, the accumulating damage could not be ignored.
Damn it all—! I should have just smashed through the lower gods instead! My mistake was thinking only in terms of relative distance and time.
But it was already too late to turn back. His divine power was being consumed at a frightening rate, and support from the Main Divine Realm had been completely sealed off by the enemy realm. Still, by gritting his teeth and wringing out every ounce of strength, he had torn through the long-range defensive line and barely breached the mid-range perimeter. The final defensive line of the divine realm now lay directly ahead. Turning back now would mean eating direct hits from the authorities raining down from behind.
The nearest divine realm was the correct choice time-wise. But I miscalculated its level entirely. And these endless Main God authorities on top of that? There are already over two hundred distinct divine powers and authorities—I can’t possibly respond to them all. Where did they gather so many Main Gods? The Spirit Lord Gods? But they were defeated long ago. How have they recovered their original authorities to this degree?
Even so, the final close-quarters defensive line waited just ahead. It was a deliberate invitation to decisive battle—leaving the main gate wide open like the Spirit Realm while perfecting every other sector. Charging straight through the gate would work, yet an ominous premonition kept gnawing at him. Right now the Dimensional Mage God had already smashed through the close-range defenses of the Main Divine Realm. But the pressure from the Round Table’s Creator Candidates combined with the Main Divine Realm’s realm suppression rivaled that of a high-ranking Creator Divine Realm. Such a swift advance should have been impossible.
I still have time. If that bastard arrives on schedule, they should be able to hold the line with just their forces. All I need to do is break through this main gate. But why does it feel so wrong? Should I pivot toward the lower gods’ sector instead?
Battlefield experience and instinct screamed a warning. The danger emanating from beyond the main gate told him that continuing forward would be fatal. Yet the army guarding the rear moon—though composed of lower gods—was an improvised force of one million ninth-circle Transcendents created by mobilizing every available artifact. For a close-combat specialist War God like himself, breaking through such a massive army was a soul-crushing prospect. Factoring in the God Race’s superior recovery, regeneration, and even resurrection, beating them one by one with fists and feet would never end. Forcing a full-power wide-area attack was one option, but even he could not afford the consumption. His specialty differed from the Dimensional Mage God’s. Besides, right after such reckless expenditure he would have to fight the Dimensional Mage God himself. That matchup was manageable, but the Creator Great God of the Substitute Gods—far larger than the distant Dimensional Divinity—posed the real problem. He had already learned the identity of those Substitute Gods. Since they were not mere Main Gods but Creator Gods, the information had cost him dearly.
In the worst case, if I must face even Seongmyeol, the Black Flame Creator Great God, I cannot afford to waste a single drop of divine power.
Turning back carried both a time penalty and the burden of facing that final monstrous opponent. As the combat rank one of the Substitute Gods and the being who had toppled the highest clan of the Black Flame Clan among the 10 Mainstays, Seongmyeol ranked among the Absolute Realm’s elite. Even if he was nothing more than a puppet moved by the Dimensional Mage God without an independent soul, he was not an existence to be taken lightly.
Now the only remaining choice was to claim the glorious seat of the Dimensional Divine Realm faster than the Dimensional Mage God himself.
No helping it—! With no Main God of Dimensions present, the Main Gods’ reinforcement is weak. Without a core, no matter how much the divine realm support increases, they’ll be high-ranking Main Gods at best. I can defeat any one of them. I am the Almighty Hwi.
After a brief hesitation, Almighty Hwi charged toward the main gate with the clear intent to shatter it. The Dimensional Mage God clicked his tongue, reading the man’s inner turmoil as easily as if he held it in the palm of his hand.
Tsk, tsk—! This isn’t a siege. That is the true main force and headquarters of the Dimensional Divine Realm. Even if the Main Divine Realm severs my connection to the Dimensional Divine Realm, I have Lokina, the Flipside Lord, to take my place. The authority of a Flipside Lord specialized in battle and prosperity, empowered by the Main God of Dimensions, would strengthen our forces even more than my direct support. And the ones who will receive that support are…
If he were in Almighty Hwi’s position, that choice would be the worst possible. He should have accepted minor injuries and wasted time to force his way through the Transcendents, no matter how annoying. The divine realm management Main Gods currently gathered in his realm were not ordinary. Every last one possessed superior-or-better authorities, and their hidden powers were all likely at the transcendent level or above. If each of them temporarily wielded Creator God might by drawing on support from the Dimensional Divine Realm—which rivaled a high-ranking Creator Divine Realm—even a high-ranking Creator God would need to steel himself for a desperate struggle. Moreover, the female Main Gods were all top-tier War Gods capable of materializing their fighting spirit to push their authorities to the absolute limit. He had judged their hidden forces to be enormous. It was not for nothing that he had gritted his teeth and endured until he could imperfectly master the Authority of Black Flame and the Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas to reinforce his close-combat ability. He simply lacked the power to suppress them all at once.
Of course I agree that the Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas is the strongest technique for a War God, just as Almighty Hwi claims. However, the fatal discrepancy between body and authority that appeared after becoming a Creator God—the gap I indirectly confirmed through the Sage of Omniscience—was critical. Given his current condition and the proximity to the divine realm, they might be able to defeat him with their forces alone.
The higher the level of an authority, the greater the control required. Moreover, the Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas ranked second among absolute authorities and possessed the highest learning difficulty. Even after nearly thirty thousand years of being hammered into shape by Master Origin of the Mage God, its complexity remained beyond full comprehension. If the body had suddenly ascended and control faltered even for an instant, it was only natural that perfect activation would be impossible. The fact that Shuddering March, who was technically at a disadvantage, could fight the newly ascended Demon King Sage of Omniscience on even terms proved the point. On top of that, Almighty Hwi had made another mistake. Instead of spending the enormous time and training needed to regain proper bodily senses, he had chosen to forcibly learn the upper three Stanzas. As a result his power and speed had skyrocketed, but his control suffered even more, widening his vulnerabilities. There was no chance the goddesses would miss weaknesses that were obvious even to him, a Mage God.
Strolling casually while dispelling the divine realm’s pressure, he continued analyzing the battlefield.
As expected, Almighty Hwi’s Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas is far from normal. Even upon fresh inspection, it barely surpasses the absolute level. That puts him at roughly half the strength he could display during his Creator Candidate days. At best, he’s a mid-tier Creator God. To think he would attempt a solo infiltration into a high-ranking Creator Divine Realm crawling with top-level War Gods who possess transcendent authorities—with only that much power? A close-combat specialist War God who must defeat enemies one by one? Could he possibly keep pace with the realm’s force recovery speed? Impossible—! The only viable method would be winning over internal forces, but approaching while radiating killing intent and fighting spirit and smashing the barrier makes that impossible. And when you factor in the female Main Gods’ hidden forces? Kehehe—! You should taste this for yourself. Ah—! No, no—! I must maintain a solemn, dignified expression now. That was close.
He swallowed his cheerful laughter and schooled his features. The battle currently unfolding between the Main Divine Realm and the Dimensional Divinity held far greater importance than mere victory. The Main God Kings aimed for the throne, and the Main Gods of Dimensions launched individual assaults on each other’s realms to seize the seat of glory. Nothing was more certain or fair than this method of determining superiority.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The main gate of the divine realm swung open. Female Main Gods burst forth first, their fighting spirit and killing intent seething as though their fury had reached the boiling point. They looked ready to pulverize their opponent regardless of whether he was a Creator God. They had been enjoying the divine realm festival after so long, only for their realm and star to suddenly space-shift. Then an unfamiliar Creator God had shattered the outer barrier and barged in. It was impossible not to be furious. The female Main Gods had never possessed much respect for superiors to begin with. After the guidelines changed with the new Creator God King, they had waged Main God Wars, ultimately self-destructing their realm and being exiled to the Spirit Divine Realm. Naturally their attitude remained unchanged. Since the opponent was not even their direct superior Creator God Proprieties, there was no reason to treat Almighty Hwi any differently simply because he was a Creator God. Above all, although they had ruined a perfectly functional divine realm, they had not been exiled to the Spirit Divine Realm despite being valuable Main Gods. With their foul tempers, they barely tolerated polite visits from gods of other realms. There was simply no way they would endure someone radiating fighting spirit and killing intent while approaching in a combat stance—even if that someone was a Creator God. Moreover, the emergency had erupted during a festival that had lasted nearly a month. It was the equivalent of kicking a hornet’s nest.
The fully armed female Main Gods, the primordial War Gods, the Spirit Lord Gods, the Otherworld spirit gods, and even the phantom beast lord gods had all mobilized. When even the Main Gods of the Giant Race—who normally ground their teeth at the mere sight of the God Race—joined the fray, it was safe to say every Main God had risen up. They wore every artifact and divine garment the divine realm ego had provided for the festival without exception, charging forward with the clear intent to end the matter once and for all. Among the God Race, few could surpass the female Main Gods of the Goddess Alliance when it came to sheer killing intent and fighting spirit—especially those who also possessed the Lord Slayer. No, excited by the battlefield, the strong enemy, and the Creator Divine Realm’s divine power coursing through their bodies, they radiated even greater fighting spirit. Even rampaging gods of destruction would have stepped aside. Such overwhelming fighting spirit materialized into colossal female War God silhouettes that charged in unison—a sight terrifying enough to freeze the blood.
“Wh-what the—!”
The sheer momentum and power stopped Almighty Hwi in his tracks. The killing intent and fighting spirit that slammed into him the moment they saw him were vicious, as though they had encountered their mortal enemies. Coupled with the control issues plaguing his Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas, the sight of powerful War Gods charging madly—beings he could not possibly ignore—left him genuinely shaken. One or two might have been manageable, but dozens of them? His startled expression was plain to see.
Backed by high-ranking Creator Divine Realm support and further strengthened by the Dimensional authority granted to the Flipside Lord, they were formidable. To use an analogy, this was not a gathering of young masters but a swarm of battle-hardened Creator Candidate-level mercenary gods who had survived every kind of conflict. Normally, even a Creator God one circle above would be in danger against four or more top-tier Creator Candidates. With nearly thirty of them, the situation was simply absurd. In terms of pure combat strength, his own divine realm nearly qualified as a high-ranking Creator Divine Realm. Yet that mid-tier Creator God power was expected to break through it. The dumbfounded look on the man’s face—clearly shocked that so many powerhouses would come pouring out—actually stirred a strange sense of kinship.
So they possessed not superior authorities but transcendent ones or higher? They’ve endured a great deal all this time. If I had tried to dispose of them the moment they rebelled, I would have been the one crushed instead. My suspicion was correct—the high-ranking Main Gods and primordial War Gods were holding back, and they seemed far too weak compared to their past strength during the Goddess Alliance era.
Without that level of power, their past record of massacring the other male Main Gods would never have been possible. That was definitely not the level of mere superior authorities. The presence he felt clearly surpassed the transcendent rank.
They were hiding their true strength after all.
They had kept their final trump card tightly hidden until the divine realm ego warned them that the opponent was a Creator God wielding the absolute authority of the Incomprehensible Eight Stanzas. Only then did they charge forward with full power, without the slightest hesitation. They understood that failure would mean no second chance—even if they had obtained Creator God might through the high-ranking Creator Divine Realm’s assistance and the strengthened Dimensional authority support.
Watching the startled Almighty Hwi collide with the eight female Main Gods of the Goddess Alliance while Otherworld spirit gods rushed in, the Dimensional Mage God let out a long sigh. Even the mighty Almighty Hwi was already bleeding from that powerful body after a single clash, clearly taking losses. Had he not endured and thrown tantrums during that period, he himself might have ended up in that sorry state.
“I hope you feel at least half of what I’ve been feeling. Even I—who am now specialized in wide-area authorities against lower beings—cannot fully handle this without divine realm support. Damn it all—! Every bastard who wrote books and acted superior, claiming that success requires surrounding yourself with many competent subordinates, should be buried in the ground. Logically speaking, why would such competent people listen to a superior who is less capable than themselves? That treating them well and cherishing them will move their hearts? No matter how well a superior treats them, once they rise to the top they can have everything. So why would they bother with difficult loyalty? Being clever, they all secure only their own share, and when an opportunity arises they simply dig in their heels—! In the end they only aim for the position of a pushover superior. Thanks to believing and practicing such nonsense, my divine realm is constantly in chaos as the talented fight among themselves, and I am left in this perpetual state of anxiety. The incidents and accidents that erupt every single day are so loud I feel like I could die. Damn it—! Well, this kind of mess won’t last much longer. Once I become the Main God King, it’s immediate goodbye. After all, the support provided by the Main God King is superior to that of the Main God of Dimensions.”