The Weight of Shared Fate
The Otherworld War raged on, yet the Hero God's companions watched the scene with silent screams echoing in their hearts. This was far too familiar.
It was exactly like the old days in the Middle World, when the Hero would charge at the head of a subjugation force made entirely of Transcendents. The others might have been moved to tears by his bravery, but those who knew the truth understood the grim reality.
‘If the Hero dies while wielding the Main God’s divine sword and receiving perfect support from the Divine Realm, it’s almost impossible.’
The divine sword would instantly heal any wound as long as a spark of life remained. While the rest of them lived in a state of hair-trigger tension—knowing one slip-up meant death—he alone remained perfectly relaxed.
‘Again—! He’s trying to provoke them again?’
‘Stop—! Let’s at least talk first—!’
‘We don’t even have allies to boost our morale.’
‘This is just a power struggle between the higher-ups anyway, isn’t it? I absolutely refuse to die like this—!’
They hadn’t been told the detailed plan, of course, but the flow of the battle made it painfully obvious. The fighting looked incredibly fierce, yet there were almost no casualties. It was as if the Magic God of Dimensions and that Creator God had made a secret agreement to avoid mass slaughter while battling for control of the Divine Realm.
This wasn’t war. It was a duel. A contest to determine who was superior. They had finally realized it was no different from a succession war in a kingdom to choose the next ruler. This was absolutely not a battlefield where they should be risking their lives.
What’s more, their enemy—that Creator God—was from the God Tribe. He seemed to be holding back somewhat, but there was no telling what he might do if truly provoked. Even now, it was clear he was barely restraining an explosive temper that could erupt at any moment.
That was why they desperately tried to stop the Hero God from stepping forward. Then, like a hallucination, a voice rang directly in their minds.
“You lot really must want to live as insects for all eternity. Individually, you are nothing more than Intermediate Gods at 8th Circle with basic authorities. However, the authority required for the mission the Hero God volunteered for is Transcendent rank or higher. That is why I promoted you to Intermediate Gods and even granted you a joint authority. Maintain the Common Destiny that is currently active by any means necessary. I have already paid the price in advance, so keep in mind that you all share collective responsibility. If any of you cause even the slightest interference, I will turn you into insect gods immediately. Do I need to waste brain cells thinking about allies who hinder my plans? Shall I simply turn you into brain-dead puppets who only use your authorities?”
The overwhelming 11th Circle magical power stirred. Now that they understood it properly, they realized it operated on the standards of the Absolute Realm—what they judged to be a 2nd Circle higher world. It was a force that could crush 8th Circle Lower Gods in an instant.
Oooooooong—!
The wave of magical power constricting their entire bodies and the sensation of their forms beginning to change brought back a vivid memory: being transformed into insects by the Magic God of Dimensions and mercilessly crushed flat underfoot. Turning them into brain-dead puppets would be child’s play.
The memory resurfaced of how their own Main God of the Divine Realm had massacred over a million black mages simply because they were in his way. The fact that their lord was a former dark mage who had done such things hit them with terrifying clarity.
“Hiiiiiiik—!”
“Guh—!”
“We will do it.”
As if their reaction was only natural, the pressure of the magical power vanished completely. Then came a warning laced with an utterly fed-up tone.
“The activation condition for the authority being ‘life-risking trust’ is truly absurd. The fact that I must personally monitor and manage you like this is even more ridiculous. Never forget that I am always watching you. Do not think about anything. Your lives and your fates as gods all depend on whether the Hero God succeeds. It is strange for a human-born like me to say this, but human emotions have far too many variables and are a nuisance. Therefore, if you fail, I will judge you solely by sending you to Hell. Although you are mere bottom-tier Intermediate Gods, you are immortal deities. It would be arrogant to think the Hell of the gods is lighter than the one humans imagine. So stop thinking about surviving alone and start thinking about surviving together. You troublesome subordinates.”
A hazy will transmitted to the Hero God’s companions, who were frantically nodding their heads.
‘To create an activation condition based on life-risking trust for humans who would betray each other the moment the situation changes, even after spending a lifetime as comrades… it’s astounding.’
For the people in question, hearing such a will was humiliating enough to turn their faces red. But it was the truth, so there was nothing they could do. They held no complaints. The overwhelming relief of still being alive was far greater.
“All troops, draw swords—!”
At the Hero God’s command—he who stood at the center and core of the Common Destiny—they reflexively drew the divine weapons they had been issued. The same was true for the other Transcendents. Being connected by Common Destiny granted him command authority over them all.
Shing-shing-shing-shing-shing—!
Almighty Hwi nodded as he watched the sight. He had thought they were mere puppets, but they were actually a fairly well-trained army. The sight of over a million Transcendents simultaneously activating their divine weapons was spectacular and oppressive.
Each individual’s divine power was a mere 100,000 or less—insignificant—but their sheer numbers made them somewhat worth noticing. Moreover, the fact that they could faintly raise their fighting spirit without submitting to higher gods suggested they had some experience fighting High Gods.
Yet once he understood their true nature, he could only laugh.
“It seems I’m being looked down on quite a bit as well.”
Though they were Lower Gods, most lacked authorities. Their combat power was only slightly better than the Celestials—sentient beings specially appointed for serving the God Tribe and accumulating merit. This level wasn’t even funny.
Without authorities to transcend physical laws, one could not truly be called a god.
“Most of them are Transcendents who haven’t even properly created their own authorities yet. They’re barely at the level of upper-tier Celestials? They aren’t even worth paying attention to.”
Crack—! Crunch—! Crackle—!
The sound of bones and muscles colliding rang out from Almighty Hwi’s body like thunder. From his back, thirteen pairs of radiant wings of light revealed their full majesty. Thirteen more pairs of translucent wings slowly began to shine with their own powerful light.
Seeing this, the Hero God’s companions fell into complete despair. The other Transcendents, who had barely reached Lower God status, naturally couldn’t sense authorities at all. Yet even they—who had fully awakened their authorities as Intermediate Gods—couldn’t feel the gap in power.
They should have at least been able to predict the outcome or feel the taste of defeat, but this felt like staring into an endless ocean. Even when they had rushed at the Demon King as complete novices, it had never been this bad.
Only an endless difference in power could be felt. Moreover, the number and level of authorities activated as bonuses from the thirteen pairs of wings were far too high. The momentum with which divine power concentrated in his body was horrifying—it looked ready to sweep everything away and charge straight through.
That Creator God was at least hundreds of times stronger than all of them combined.
“…We’re dead.”
The Goddess of Authority spoke the words that represented everyone’s feelings.
The Goddesses of the Female Lord Faction and the Elemental Lord Gods who watched the scene could only say one thing. They themselves had only barely managed to stop the Creator God from pursuing further. The idea that Lower Gods with almost no authorities would try to block him with nothing but numbers was absurd.
Pushing with numbers only worked when gods of similar levels combined their authorities. Even then, a difference of two Circles or more made it impossible. Yet here were Lower Gods with almost no authorities trying to oppose a High God with absolute authority. It was only a matter of time.
“What the hell are those things doing?”
“That’s way too many troops to be throwing away, isn’t it?”
“Shouldn’t we do something?”
“Ugh, I don’t know—! We have no obligation to risk ourselves to help them.”
“The Main God of the Divine Realm will handle it. They’re his forces, after all.”
“I suppose…”
Although they belonged to the same Divine Realm, their factions were different. Moreover, they were furious that the current Main God of the Divine Realm, the Magic God of Dimensions, had thrown them into the Main God War without any explanation. On top of that, he was openly recruiting large numbers of human-born Transcendents to solidify his power. There was no way they would look upon him favorably.
The fundamental problem was that even if they joined the fight, the further they moved from the Divine Realm, the weaker the support for their authorities would become, making victory unlikely. If they collapsed, the Divine Realm would truly become a lawless land.
In the end, no matter how many Lower Gods died, the only option was to endure the losses and protect the Divine Realm.
Watching the situation unfold, the Magic God of Dimensions made no effort to hide his delight.
“Hmm—! He took enough damage to drop to the level of a Creator Candidate, yet he’s already recovering his original strength? As expected of Almighty Hwi. Excellent. Everything is proceeding perfectly.”
“……”
The Creative Sword of Radiance now wore an utterly fed-up expression. The Creator Candidates and Lord Gods he had thought dead were, just as the Magic God of Dimensions had said, recovering rapidly after receiving only near-fatal blows. They were now surrounding the area.
They lacked real combat experience, but they were still an overwhelming force: over thirty Creator Candidates with Transcendent authorities and hundreds of Lord Gods. He himself could not fight the Magic God of Dimensions after losing his main divine swords, but they were different.
The Main Divine Realm had been completely shattered, and the Main God Temple was left with only the seats of glory and the round table. There was no way they would quietly accept this. It was obvious they were radiating murderous intent as they formed their encirclement.
Yet the Magic God of Dimensions showed no concern whatsoever. He simply gazed at Almighty Hwi’s condition with admiration. Moreover, he was grinning from ear to ear, delighted that his enemy, Almighty Hwi, had returned to his original strength.
‘I truly cannot understand the Magic God of Dimensions.’
Still, he had shown mercy in the previous battle by not killing him, considering it was a freshly revived body. In the end, he had no choice but to speak.
“Magic God of Dimensions. This is not my place to interfere, but you should make some preparations. The encirclement is nearly complete.”
The situation had grown so tense that even he—who was not the target—began to feel a sense of crisis. Although the Authority of Dimensions was omnipotent, if beings of equal rank completely sealed off all escape routes with an encirclement, even he would be restricted.
Yet the Magic God of Dimensions was freezing space and time around the round table with perfect calm. If they completely sealed this dimensional zone and poured in close-combat specialized gods of war, the Magic God of Dimensions would not survive.
He had also noticed something strange about the Authority of Black Flame that had devoured his divine sword earlier. It meant the Magic God of Dimensions was not a perfect powerhouse like Almighty Hwi.
At those words, the Magic God of Dimensions smiled strangely and replied.
“The commissioning ceremony for the Main God Seat has concluded successfully. Now it is time for the inspection.”
Thud—!
At some point, the round table had regenerated. The nameplates upon it had already been moved. The nameplate of the Magic God of Dimensions now sat side by side with that of Almighty Hwi, who held the first rank.
It was the Main Divine Realm’s ego acknowledging that, as a result of the Divine Realm power struggle, they possessed equal strength. Given such an overwhelmingly different outcome, it had no choice but to accept the decision.
“Having effectively won the Divine Realm power struggle against the former Main God Seat holder, Almighty Hwi, I now possess the qualifications to be a candidate for the Main God Seat. All that remains is the vote. However, I am the Magic God—! I do not care whether the lower gods approve or not.”
He moved his magical power and divine power simultaneously. Eleven layers of magical circles spun at full force, distorting reality to form magecraft. The thirteen pairs of wings of light on his back shone brilliantly, rapidly encroaching upon and expanding across the surroundings.
He had pushed the Authority of Dimensions to its limit through magecraft. Naturally, it collided with the barrier created by the Creator Candidates’ encirclement.
Oooooooooooooong—!
Pffffffffffft—!
The moment the blocking barrier and the Authority of Dimensions collided, a sound like air escaping rang out, and the barrier was nullified with ridiculous ease. Still, the barriers containing 100 billion divine power were torn apart like paper. The backlash made the gods groan in pain.
“Kuhuuuugh—!”
“Ugh—!”
“Our barrier… so easily…”
Realizing that even the barrier they had poured their full strength into as Creator Candidates had collapsed so easily, they understood they could not possibly contain him. Above all, no matter how much the basic authorities were amplified by magecraft, the difference was beyond comparison.
They could no longer believe the investigation results claiming his innate divine power was only 10 billion. He had activated such a mighty Authority of Dimensions without even rising from his seat.
They were forced to acknowledge the composure of the Magic God of Dimensions.
‘There is absolutely nothing we can do against that magecraft and the Authority of Dimensions. Only Almighty Hwi can face him.’
Toward the Creator Candidates and Lord Gods whose will to fight had been broken, the Magic God of Dimensions moved his creative power.
Snap—!
With a light flick of his fingers, hundreds of chairs appeared. They were the very chairs engraved with their names and ranks that had been blown away during the previous battle.
“Sit in your respective seats and await the arrival of the former Main God Seat holder, Almighty Hwi.”
They naturally flared up at the enemy’s command, but the following words left them unable to protest.
“Or die together with the Main Divine Realm.”
At the same time, something resembling a black orb appeared above the head of the Magic God of Dimensions. An incredibly fast high-speed chant followed.
“I am the Magic God of the Root School and the Dimensional Lord. Invincible on the battlefield, I reign through terror and desire a world of my own. The birth and death of stars—the ultimate life—now rest in my hands. I preside over the fate of brilliantly shining stars with the Authority of Dimensions. The time has come. All stars, follow me and preside over the destruction and birth of all existence.”
⟨ Dimension Gigantic Meteor Core ⟩
Magic Type: Space-Time and Dimensional Magic, Offensive
Effect upon Manifestation: Summons a giant planet compressed to the verge of explosion via dimensional teleportation and detonates it inside the enemy’s body. Since a planet’s explosion is pure physical force, once successful, it cannot be blocked by authorities. Even higher beings will suffer near-fatal injuries or be torn to pieces.
The 9th Circle Gigantic Meteor was difficult to use against planet-sized enemies or before they were immobilized and could be defended against by gods of equal or higher rank. However, fused with the Authority of Dimensions, it cannot be blocked by the same methods.
One can only avoid the manifestation coordinates or endure the impact with physical durability, but because it is a stellar explosion rather than simple expansion, avoiding massive damage is impossible.
It can now destroy stars larger than a Main God Star. Omitting the chant drastically reduces power, but when combined with the Authority of Dimensions, it can be used for ultra-fast personal combat. Its power exceeds the 12th Circle.
Restriction: Cannot manifest without fusing the Authority of Dimensions with 11th Circle or higher magecraft.
First Manifestation Protagonist’s Comment: This isn’t for self-destructing again, right? It won’t be.
The close-combat specialized Creator Candidates had no idea what had just happened. They only knew that an incredibly powerful magecraft had suddenly appeared, followed by a chant.
However, the long-range specialized Creator Candidates, who understood exactly what this meant, wore expressions of utter disbelief. The magecraft had manifested first, and the chant had been performed afterward.
“It is the Magic God’s authority, ‘Reality Denial.’ What I have denied is the fact that the chant comes before the magecraft manifests.”
Even the close-combat specialized Creator Candidates who still didn’t understand turned deathly pale at the following explanation.
“Using the Authority of Dimensions, I pull the magecraft that will manifest in the future into the present and send the current act of chanting into the future. If shortening the chant is impossible, I will simply do it later. It is called post-chanting—! From now on, my magecraft requires no pre-chant time. I can activate an 11th Circle magecraft capable of killing even a Creator God without any warning and chant the spell afterward. This means that in the Main Divine Realm, no one can stop a Creator-class Magic God like me except Almighty Hwi. Moreover, having mastered the Authority of Black Flame as well, do you think I would lose in close combat?”
The sense of danger emanating from the black orb floating above his head clearly surpassed what they could endure. If the Magic God of Dimensions could manifest such magecraft without any casting time, there was no way to hold out until Almighty Hwi arrived. They also had no idea how to deal with the Authority of Black Flame they had suffered earlier.
In the end, they accepted the situation and began reluctantly returning to their seats.
The Magic God of Dimensions watched the Creator Candidates and Lord Gods with a relaxed gaze, but inside, he let out a sigh of relief.
‘Phew. It worked out easily. Still, it wasn’t a lie. Since you who are inexperienced in battle cannot defeat me, you will struggle, but victory will ultimately be mine. There are a few minor problems befitting magecraft, though. Post-chanting is only possible with single-shot magecraft, and during that moment I cannot use the Authority of Dimensions. Additionally, I become completely defenseless while chanting afterward. It means it can only be used at the very last moment in a one-on-one fight. On top of that, this damned Authority of Black Flame is always looking for a chance to run wild on its own, so I can’t use it recklessly.’
However, he deliberately pushed from his mind the fact that if these gods accumulated combat experience on the level of the Goddesses of the Female Lord Alliance and refined their ability to combine authorities, he would be the one forced to flee.
The most important thing right now was to display absolute confidence—whether it was a bluff or the real thing. To the gods of the Main Divine Realm and to the Black Flame Absolute, who was surely watching this place.