The Past of the Grey Absolute

The Otherworld War. The Dimensional Mage God gazed up at the sky and spoke. Endless joy at having finally drawn events this far surged through him, yet worry followed close behind. ‘I’ve finally created a path that never existed. A secret election is guaranteed to fail. But with a partially open public election like this, there’s a real chance of victory. Everything now depends on what I offer. I wonder if my future self, the Grey Absolute, will accept it—but I have no path of retreat either.’

Even after double-checking, the video and audio transmission he had prepared the moment he arrived in the Main Divine Realm was flawless. Every scene and process was being broadcast to the gods inside the Main God Star of the Main Divine Realm that Seongmyeol had subdued. There was no need for further explanation, and above all else, the matter had to move forward quickly. If the interest of the 10 Mainstays drifted away, the probability of success would plummet. For now, the commission took precedence.

“The decision from the Creation Realm and the former Main God King, Almighty Hwi, has been rendered. The great battle between the opposing gods and the lower gods will proceed under the condition that the involved parties duel within a limited space. Certain regulations have accordingly been revised. With that settled, I shall now commence the public election for my position as Main God King. But first, I will announce my pledges.”

The Dimensional authority began to activate across the entire Main Divine Realm. He channeled divine power in earnest into the temples he had created earlier, bringing them fully online. While those for Main Gods and above were personal temples rivaling the level of the Creation Realm, the ones below were merely a notch superior to an ordinary Main God’s divine realm. Yet the temples he had demolished and rebuilt radiated brilliant light and offered divine-power support on a scale incomparable to anything the old Main Divine Realm had known.

“To every god who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chooses me as worthy of the Main God King position, I will grant these temples—equivalent to those of the Highest Creator Realm—free of charge. I also make this vow. Born a human, I understand all too well the pain and resentment caused by differences in status. Therefore, I will provide fair opportunities free of any discrimination. The proof is…”

He threw a light punch. The colossal spear that had been holding up the moon of the Dimensional Divine Realm shattered and collapsed. The spear had been formed from dark magic; canceling the spell should have made it vanish instantly, yet he felt no dissonance at all while striking it. The fact was proof of how urgent and ecstatic his mind had become.

Boooom—!

Ruuuuumble—!

With the supporting spear gone, the silver moon naturally began to fall toward the Main Divine Realm, triggering an overwhelming gravitational disturbance. The force was enough to crush any living being instantly and threaten even gods, yet not one of the deities seated within the Main God Temple stirred. Though they had been helplessly pierced by the Dimensional Mage God’s assault, every last one of them was a powerhouse qualified to rule as king of the gods—high gods above the Main God rank who could survive the explosion of stars.

A mere falling moon could not affect them. For the lower gods—the Transcendents deployed in battle formation atop the moon, however—it was a life-or-death crisis. Those who panicked and tried to flee were desperately held in place by the Hero God’s Indomitable authority. Yet even a commander’s iron will, strong enough to sacrifice lives, wavered before the threat of an entire planet and moon shattering. It was only natural when faced with an irresistible natural disaster that offered no enemy to hate.

In the end, the man who lived by giving his all in every moment had no choice but to issue a threat even he could scarcely comprehend.

“The Main God of the Divine Realm, the Dimensional Mage God, and every god of the Main Divine Realm is watching us. Do not run. Do not move! Maintain the battle formation at all costs. And remember this! We who became lower gods by the will of the Main God of the Divine Realm no longer possess lifespans. That is both a blessing and a curse to those of us who were once mortals. In exchange for death, we spiritual beings who live forever know no oblivion. Even at this very instant, everything is being recorded within the Divine Realm, and those records will follow us for eternity. From this point forward, neither disgrace nor failure will be tolerated. A single mistake will become an eternal brand that ends everything.”

Eternal memory and record of failure or shame. For beings who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lived forever, what could be more terrifying? An icy chill pierced every mind. They finally realized their true war had begun.

Though they had only watched and listened through the broadcast, they now understood exactly what mindset had driven the Dimensional Mage God to challenge for the position of Main God King. To stake everything and then fail because of one’s own subordinates—the mere thought was horrifying. If they showed an unsightly figure before the gods of the Main Divine Realm now, they could not imagine what punishment would follow.

That terror overpowered even the fear of the moon and stars shattering. Once the ranks that had momentarily faltered from dread of the Main God of the Divine Realm regained their composure, the Hero God and his fellow deities breathed sighs of relief. They had barely averted self-destruction at the hands of a superior god’s authority before the fight had even started.

It was understandable—the power was beyond anything even they, now Intermediate Gods who had awakened their own authorities, could have imagined. Still, such callous disregard never failed to send a shiver down their spines. A prior warning would have prevented this level of chaos. Yet having grasped the Dimensional Mage God’s personality, they abandoned any thought of pointless protest and simply endured.

Nevertheless, the measures that ignored the lower gods did not stop.

Kuuuuuuung—!

A colossal wall erupted from the ground in front of the Main God Temple and caught the moon just before impact. The wall that had risen from the floor of the Main Divine Realm transformed into a rectangular pillar, taking the place of the giant spear to support the moon.

The Dimensional Mage God raised both hands toward the sky and slowly lowered them. The power concentrated around his palms was the dark magic that controlled stars. Compressing giant planets, shifting them through space, and using them as primary weapons—it was the ultimate expression of Dimensional Dark Magic. Without a single incantation, it freely manipulated the Main Divine Realm, which had originally been at the Creator level, even altering its gravity. It changed the rotation of nearby planets at will.

Naturally the moon trembled and the Main Divine Realm shook, yet he suppressed and stabilized everything with pure magical power alone.

Gugugugugugugung—!

The final, orderly sight was that of the moon and the Main Divine Realm held aloft by a pillar resembling a vast continent, with the Main God Temple and the moon positioned at opposite ends. He had adjusted even gravity so perfectly that none of the Main Gods felt the slightest discomfort.

The rectangular structure that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠risen from the Main Divine Realm thus became a continent linking star and moon. At the same time, every Transcendent on the moon was forcibly summoned onto the newly created landmass. It was a compulsory relocation the lower gods could not possibly resist, and they were realigned on the side closer to the moon.

Though they were the lowest-ranked gods, a fully armed force of a million soldiers displayed overwhelming majesty.

“This is an army of one million lower gods formed from living Transcendents. Those who possess strength appropriate to lower gods have already been recognized as deities of the lower divine realms. If they succeed in this mission, they will be officially accepted into the Divine Realm. This is how I operate: those who follow me and accumulate merit will receive opportunities without any additional conditions. And…”

Ziiiiiiip—!

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaaaang—!

The moment he lightly drew a line through the empty air with one finger, half the continent flipped over as though a volcano had erupted. What appeared was a colossal canyon of immeasurable depth that split the landmass in two. Only a single giant bridge remained, separating the region occupied by the Transcendent army from the empty zone on the Main Divine Realm’s side.

At a glance, it was the perfect battlefield for large-scale forces to decide the outcome in a single clash.

“Those who refuse to accept me as Main God King, stand upon that battlefield! Even toward my enemies, I uphold the rights and duties of an Absolute who has received a title from Jinri. I will grant even my foes a fair opportunity. Should they prevail, I—as the God of Light—will humbly accept the result. However, I declare here and now—!”

Drawing a deep breath, he gathered every ounce of his divine power and transmitted his will directly into the minds of all present.

“I am the one who aims for the Grey Absolute, the pinnacle of the sage lineage among the 10 Mainstays, and I am the past of the Grey Absolute. With that authority, I request the emblem.”

Surprise bloomed across the faces of Almighty Hwi and the high gods. They had known the Dimensional Mage God was the past of the Grey Absolute—the very being currently overturning the Grey Area of the Absolute Realm with the Substitute Gods as if flipping the board entirely. An official incantation naturally carried matching power and authority, and the emblem that appeared was flawless. It signified formal recognition from Jinri himself. Of course, his divinity and strength were incomparably weaker than those of the original Grey Absolute.

‘An incantation announcing the Grey Absolute among the 10 Mainstays? Why here, all of a sudden?’

Above the Dimensional Mage God’s head, the pattern dictated by the official incantation materialized. The symbol representing the Grey Absolute was complex: two hands tearing apart half of an open book—the very symbol of knowledge. That paradoxical image, denying the emblem of knowledge while standing at the apex of the sage lineage, perfectly embodied him.

He was a powerhouse who had chosen to step onto the battlefield himself in pursuit of higher truth, even though the knowledge gained from books could have let him reshape the world. He wielded all existing authorities and dark magic with perfect freedom and had flawlessly managed the rear lines of the 10 Mainstays.

With schemes and political maneuvers more terrifying than raw power, he stripped the freedom of choice from every faction opposing the 10 Mainstays and drove them into the worst possible situations. Yet he had clashed with Gold, who sought to create the ideal Golden Age using only his own supreme power rather than the strength of the collective.

While mocking the other 10 Mainstays who followed Gold’s ideals as slaves to emotion, he had cherished and aided them more than anyone, achieving countless merits. The establishment of the eight inscrutable progenitors of the Wind Family—who became the pinnacle of Transcendents and ultimately the greatest military force among the 10 Mainstays—was merely a tiny fraction of his accomplishments.

The Cyber Realm, which oversaw all information across the previous universe and the Absolute Realm, had been nothing more than a subordinate organization assisting the duties he had managed in life. One could easily imagine how much he had contributed on a daily basis.

Neither the founding of the Absolute Realm nor the 10 Mainstays’ ascension beyond Eternal Beings could have occurred without him. Thus, the Grey Absolute had been the de facto supreme policy maker who oversaw every organization and administrative task in the early Absolute Realm. Because of this, he had noticed the deepening madness of the 10 Mainstays sooner than anyone and prepared for it—including the ideal end for the first-generation 10 Mainstays that encompassed his own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠demise.

It had been an impossible plan: to overthrow ten Absolutes who surpassed Eternal Beings while preserving the Absolute Realm intact. Yet for those descending into madness, he had prepared the glorious extinction and erasure that would serve as the foundation for the next ruler chosen by Truth. Even then, as the sage of the first-generation 10 Mainstays, he had fought and labored for them with all his strength until the very end.

The Grey Absolute’s final scheme succeeded perfectly, and thanks to Truth the Absolute Realm continued safely. It was the ability and conduct befitting the Grey Sage—something the Golden Absolute, who maintained the greatest power and reputation as representative and leader of the Absolute Realm, had disliked most yet respected deeply.

It was said that he had smiled, satisfied that he had decorated his end magnificently, then added his own power to Truth’s and allowed himself to be erased.

“I am no one’s ally and no one’s enemy. I will decide and act solely according to my knowledge and reason. In order to pursue higher truths—!”

Gazing at the perfectly formed emblem of the Grey Absolute, he raised his right hand and authenticated it. There was no turning back now. But without going this far, there was no way to improve his odds of victory. The only way to persuade those who weighed origin and position was to possess an even higher origin and position.

Among the god race that had produced countless Creator Generals, the only clan whose status far surpassed even the Almighty God Tribe—the supreme prestigious family—was the bloodlines of the 10 Mainstays within the Absolute Realm. As an Absolute who had grown stronger by receiving a title and authority from Truth, he possessed neither the qualification nor the capacity to become the origin of a clan. This concerned the highest ruling stratum of the great Absolute Realm, a realm he originally could not even look upon directly.

He could guess what consequences this would bring, yet he had no countermeasures.

‘If this one thing succeeds, everything else will somehow work out. After all, failure means the end.’

With a heart half given over to resignation and half filled with iron resolve, he shouted.

“Speaking with the qualification of the present Grey Absolute’s past, I declare: should I become Main God King, I will announce the revival of the Grey Absolute’s clan throughout the entire previous universe and the Absolute Realm. I will fill the last vacant seat of that great clan among the 10 Mainstays. And that opportunity shall naturally be granted first to those who follow me.”

Kuuuuuuung—!

A shock like lightning striking every listener’s skull reverberated through the crowd.