The Weight of the Second Throne

The gaze of the Creative Sword of Radiance trembled as he watched the Magic God of Dimensions take the second seat in the hierarchy of the Otherworld War. He couldn’t understand why the man wasn’t immediately claiming the Seat of Glory and declaring victory, but that was beside the point.

The Main Divine Realm had been reduced to ruins—everything except the Seat of Glory within the Main God Temple. This realm had been forged as the ultimate fortress against the Substitute Gods, a collaborative creation of thirty-six Creator Divine Realms. Any Main Divine Realm worth its name commanded dozens of powerful Creator Candidates at its round table and hundreds of Main Gods as its full fighting force. Among them, the one led by Almighty Hwi had been judged the strongest; no one short of a Creator God General could possibly break through.

Yet despite the warning declaration and the full mobilization of every defensive asset—even though it had been a surprise attack—the fortress had fallen to a single intruder. Almighty Hwi himself had emptied the realm and charged alone into the enemy camp; that decision could hardly be called a mistake. Under equal conditions, he would have prevailed. In fact, he always had.

But after he entered the enemy divine realm, no further word had come. He hadn’t even had the luxury of checking the situation here.

‘If it’s Almighty Hwi, he could suppress an ordinary Creator Divine Realm by himself. Without the Magic God of Dimensions in their divine realm, this should actually be the faster path to victory.’

No matter how powerful a God of War might be, it was nearly impossible for one being to subdue a divine realm of equal or greater rank alone. In an enemy realm, one had to simultaneously defeat countless divine beings who grew stronger beyond their limits and revived endlessly within their own temples. One also had to overcome the realm’s own ego, which exerted pressure far beyond any planetary barrier.

Of course, Almighty Hwi, who had mastered the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, could accomplish such a feat. ‘Without the Main God of the Divine Realm—the realm’s core—this is the obvious tactic. Under equal conditions, he would never lose.’

Since the Main Gods had each invaded the opposing divine realms alone, the contest had become a simple test of endurance. Yet the Main Divine Realm had failed even to buy the time it was meant to, collapsing in less than an hour. It had barely inflicted any damage on the invading Magic God of Dimensions.

The gods who had once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boasted of being the strongest Main Divine Realm were left stunned, unable to process the disgrace they had shown. And something even more irritating had begun: the Seat of Glory had been twitching and writhing for some time.

With those words, the Magic God of Dimensions, seated in the second position, completed his divine-power authentication within the Main Divine Realm. The robe covering his face slipped back slightly, revealing a brilliant dimensional divine power that shone forth. Above his head, eleven circles of magical power rotated and connected with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realm itself.

“I… I shall obey the command.”

Only then did it become clear that the egg-like object called the Magic Brain, which the Magic God of Dimensions had placed on the arm of the substitute chair, had been desperately trying to drop itself to the floor. Yet the moment authentication ended and the order was given, its movements froze and a polite reply rang out.

The realm ego—something that even Creator Candidates dared not ignore, possessing authority and power comparable to a Highest Creator Divine Realm—had answered with perfect courtesy. Objectively, that meant it now regarded him as an equal. No, judging solely by the outcome of this Main God Throne Battle, it saw him as something even greater.

The fact that a Creator Candidate stronger than Almighty Hwi, who had mastered the absolute authority known as the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, existed filled the Creative Sword of Radiance with involuntary awe. In the 499th Master Universe, where the decisive war between the Substitute Gods and the ruling races continued without pause, the strong were objects of respect. Whatever the ruling class might say, to the Gods of War standing on the front lines, whether one was human-born or a dark-mage god made no difference. In a continuous life-or-death struggle, worrying about such conditions when facing a powerful, helpful ally was a luxury.

“That’s not it. It’s simply a matter of specialization. I am optimized for battles against large numbers of opponents, while Almighty Hwi specializes in decisive duels against small groups.”

The Magic God of Dimensions seemed to have sensed his gaze and corrected it at once, then turned his attention to the screen. The egos of the Main Divine Realm and the Dimensional Divine Realm were nearly equal in capability, so each blocked the other’s information authorities. Even with the power of dimensions, he could only obtain fragmentary images and data provided by the realm ego.

He had appeared relaxed, but in truth he had been fighting with everything he had; he hadn’t possessed the spare energy to pierce the Main Divine Realm’s information veil. Now that the obstructing realm ego was actively cooperating, however, a crystal-clear image appeared right before them.

And just as expected, Almighty Hwi was in a wretched state.

The Creative Sword of Radiance, who had somehow already created and seated himself in the third-ranked chair, let his mouth fall open. An incredulous groan escaped him.

“Huk—! Almighty Hwi is……!”

The injuries were so severe that it was strange his limbs remained intact. Piercing wounds riddled his body without regard for vital points, bleeding so heavily that blood practically gushed out. These were clearly aftereffects of being mercilessly battered by authorities possessing tremendous divinity.

For Almighty Hwi, who possessed an immortal body thanks to the Incomprehensible Eight Founders, such a thing should have been impossible. But what was even harder to understand was the sight of the female Gods of War charging at him like hunters cornering prey, even though he was on the verge of collapse.

Almost all of them were wrapped in killing intent and fighting spirit so thick it cloaked their entire bodies. They were pushing their divine power and physical abilities to the absolute limit by stimulating them with fighting spirit and murderous aura. Even during his days operating undercover as a mercenary god, warriors of that caliber had been extremely rare—yet here were more than ten of them, every single one at that level.

“Materialization of fighting spirit—! The highest rank of Gods of War—!”

A gasp of astonishment mixed with admiration slipped from the Magic God of Dimensions, different from the Creative Sword of Radiance’s shock.

“Heh—! So that is their true fighting force? If I had been careless, I might not even have been able to collect my own bones. Shall we take a closer look? Dimensional Divine Realm. Transmit the battle records.”

“Yes. I shall obey the command of the Main God of the Divine Realm.”

Another screen now displayed footage of the battle currently in progress. The power of the Goddess Blood Alliance’s female Main Gods—who served as divine-realm administrators within the Dimensional Divine Realm—was astonishing. The ghost stories claiming they had actively used their overwhelming strength and beauty to massacre the male gods during the Main God War ten billion years ago suddenly made perfect sense.

Moreover, the Spirit Gods of the Otherworld, who had been purged into the Master Universe through an agreement because they could not be controlled there, were equally formidable. With those beings holding the line and hundreds of Main Gods from the round table unleashing long-range authorities without pause, even Almighty Hwi could not break through in a single rush. He was in genuine danger.

The moment his advance halted, he would be surrounded and crushed. And Almighty Hwi’s condition was strange. No matter how hostile the divine realm he fought in, he should not have been struggling this badly. Strangely, although he had become a Creator God, he appeared even weaker than when he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been a Creator Candidate.

Back then, no group of Main Gods could have stood against Almighty Hwi. Now he was sustaining critical injuries. He couldn’t even break through the main gate and was being held back by the Main Gods who had come out to intercept him, all while being pounded by the round table’s defensive authorities. He had never shown such disgrace in any battle in the past.

The Creative Sword of Radiance was once again left speechless, unsure what to make of it.

“Absolute authorities are not necessarily superior or more perfect than transcendent authorities. Mastering them requires tremendous effort as a baseline, and if one lacks the aptitude, even the入门 is forbidden. Therefore, if one’s control over the authority and the body falters, it becomes poison instead. It is better to master even a single authority perfectly, even if the overall level is lower, than to overreach. Greed for power and position beyond one’s capacity will only destroy the body. Not that I’m one to talk, of course. And as expected… this much, huh? I suppose I still need to watch a little longer. Well, it won’t be long now.”

The Magic God of Dimensions smiled as if enjoying himself and kept glancing back at the footage. The Creative Sword of Radiance sensed something odd in that expression. The outcome of the Main God Throne Battle had already been decided, yet the man refused to sit upon the Seat of Glory. Instead, most of his attention was fixed not on Almighty Hwi, who was being beaten, but on the female Main Gods of the Goddess Blood Alliance and the Spirit Gods of the Otherworld who were pouring on the attacks.

A faint fighting spirit even flowed from him, as though he considered them the true enemy. It looked as if he were running simulated battles inside his head.

The female Main Gods of the Goddess Blood Alliance were, he had heard, the divine-realm administrators of the Dimensional Divine Realm—and also the man’s concubines. Yet the Magic God of Dimensions was paying far more attention to the Goddess Blood Alliance and the Otherworld Spirit Gods than to Almighty Hwi.

“Why are you only observing that side? The match against Almighty Hwi has not yet been fully decided.”

The Seat of Glory still stood empty, the Magic Brain resting upon it. And surprisingly, most of the Creator Candidates and Main Gods who had been defeated by the Magic God of Dimensions earlier had not died; they were already being healed and returning to the front lines. The Creative Sword of Radiance himself had given up fighting after losing his divine sword, but he could not assume the others would do the same. No—they would surely regroup and charge again. If time was dragged out like this, another battle would erupt.

Yet the man seemed far more interested in the female gods’ combat style than in the direction of that coming fight. The Creative Sword of Radiance frowned deeply and spoke in a cold voice.

“Do not interfere. It is an extremely personal matter. I cannot answer.”

“Ah—! I see.”

The extremely irritated reaction and annoyed expression reminded the Creative Sword of Radiance of someone. It was exactly the same face his father made whenever the entire family gathered for meetings or parties. Because of that, he could roughly guess the reason.

His father, a Creator God, was an overwhelmingly powerful God of War. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He held the upper hand even against the Main Gods of the Substitute Gods. Yet he was not always so imposing. Not when facing his family. Of course, it had nothing to do with familial affection—it was purely a matter of strength.

Because he was such a powerful Creator God, he was obligated—whether he wished it or not—to have a great many concubines and direct descendants. In the beginning there were no problems, but as time passed, issues inevitably arose. His partner and numerous concubines, through frequent divine-power exchanges with the Main God of the Divine Realm, had reached nearly the same level of divinity. Some with talent had even attained equal standing. When all of them united, there were times even he could not handle them.

If they ever joined forces and rebelled, he might be the one defeated. In the worst case, he could even lose his position as Main God of the Divine Realm. It was still preferable if dissatisfied partners simply seized control of the realm and became its new masters themselves. The true nightmare was when the concubines allied with outstanding direct descendants and drove out the Main God entirely.

This happened because, on rare occasions, the direct descendants created by concentrating the divine power and authorities of the Main God, his partner, and his concubines proved superior. When such a stronger god appeared, it was only natural for the Main God of the Divine Realm to be replaced—whether voluntarily or by force. That was simply the cycle of the divine realms.

In the past, some Main Gods of the Divine Realm had tried to break that cycle by refusing to create direct descendants or even harming them after birth. But that was only possible when they held absolute power over their partners and concubines. If their strength was insufficient to suppress them, or if their numbers were so great that the entire divine realm would be shaken, there was nothing they could do.

That was why his father, a long-time Creator God, would make that exact frowning expression and fall silent whenever his equal-level partner and concubines gathered, began boasting, and started arguing. At first he hadn’t understood why. Only after witnessing, during his mercenary-god days, how taking one side could instantly spark a civil war did it finally make sense.

If the concubines were Gods of War so powerful that even Almighty Hwi would find them troublesome, and there were eight of them, the situation was truly horrific. Their relationships did not appear harmonious either, so the Magic God of Dimensions’ position as Main God of the Divine Realm was precarious indeed. If those powerful concubines had a history of executing a former partner and ascending to become Main Gods themselves, then he was undoubtedly in a state of extreme tension.

“It must be difficult for you.”

“……”

At the consoling words that implied full understanding of the situation, the Magic God of Dimensions said nothing. He simply pulled the hood of his robe down firmly, once again hiding his face.

And inside, he spat out a string of curses.

The result of the simulated battle against the female Main Gods had seemed like an easy victory at first. But the moment it entered the middle phase, defeat had become certain.

‘Damn it—! Not yet—! If I fight them with full power for an extended period, I lose. Every last one of them is a close-combat specialist capable of stopping even Almighty Hwi. A single strike won’t be enough, and landing long-range attacks will be difficult. On top of that, with only the reflexive defense of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders and the berserk state of the Authority of Black Flame that’s built into my instincts, I cannot endure a prolonged joint assault from warriors of that caliber. If this goes wrong, I’ll have to hold my breath and survive again. I’ll have to find some way to block them using the Origins of the 500th Master Universe and the Transcendents of the lower realms. Haaaaaaa—!’

The conclusion was that he could not fight them alone relying on the Authority of Black Flame—which would eventually cause his body to explode and kill him after a certain time—or on the uncertain defensive power of the Incomprehensible Eight Founders. A sigh escaped him whether he wanted it to or not.