The Gray Absolute's Vow of Vengeance
In the Otherworld War, he kept one hand on the robe he had lowered, pressing it firmly against his head as he continued to steel himself. Endure it. I have to endure. Simply killing them is far too easy. That’s not why I withstood that brutal training.
If he kept staring at Almighty Hwi—the one who had cornered and killed him in the past—he would want to charge over and slaughter him in exactly the same way right then and there. Now that he had become the Grey Absolute after training across nearly eternal time using the Authority of Dimensions just as Origin of the Mage God had taught him, it would be laughably simple. But he could never be satisfied with that, and it would ruin everything, so he endured. Still, the fury and madness that surged whenever he recalled the past was an impulse so ferocious it could even overpower the Authority of Black Flame.
No matter how pathetic I may be, I am still of the Black Flame Clan. Before anyone else, I’ll start by dealing with the Black Flame Absolute—who had the gall to step forward and erase me despite being nothing more than an Origin. After that, I’ll dispose of Almighty Hwi who killed me, and even Gold who annihilated me, in exactly the same manner. Fellow 10 Mainstays? Comrades? Don’t make me laugh. Far from helping, they only ran their mouths and rushed in to pass judgment? I’d rather have total strangers or enemies who expect nothing from me.
Back then, when he had been unable to fight properly in the worst possible situation, reduced to nothing but a spirit in utter misery, they had simply turned away. If they had at least done that much, things would not have come to this. Even if only his spirit remained and he was sent to the Spirit Realm, he could have returned through his own power. Defeat is only confirmed the moment one gives up; as always, if he refused to give up, he would not lose. During his days as the God of Mercenaries he had returned to bury those who believed they had already won and claimed victory, so there was no issue at all. That was why he had desperately prepared for resurrection using the fragments of his body he had left behind—only for the 10 Mainstays to appear and deliver the final blow.
The voices that had condemned him in unison were still vivid in his ears.
“Disgrace to the 10 Mainstays.”
“You have no future.”
“We will erase you. We await the next candidate for Grey Absolute.”
Escaping the grasp of the 10 Mainstays with nothing more than the divinity of a Creator Candidate had been impossible. He had been erased without being able to move a muscle, deleted by the Black Flame Absolute. It was unbearable. The rage was overwhelming. His first defeat—after surviving every injury and every death to seize ultimate victory—had been deletion. It should never have happened. And for the end of a God of War and Fighting God like himself to come not on the battlefield but in a courtroom—there was no greater humiliation. That he, a Creator Candidate of the Main Universe by the standards of the 10 Mainstays, should be placed on trial at all was unacceptable.
You haven’t done it yet, but if my past self ends up that way, you will do the same, so in the end it is identical. It follows the same logic you used to judge me before I had even become a 10 Mainstay. I still remember it with painful clarity.
“It was not a defeat suffered in the capacity of a 10 Mainstay, and since his spirit remains, the contest is not yet over. In the Spirit Realm he can revive and escape at will. Afterward he can restore his body and challenge Almighty Hwi once more to reclaim the Divine Realm. The match has not ended. Therefore, we shall overlook it this once.”
It had been the sight of himself desperately begging for a chance, met by Gold’s merciless verdict.
“One who suffers defeat at the hands of an equal is weak. One who seizes victory against an equal under any adverse conditions is strong. Only the strongest among the strong qualify as 10 Mainstays. From this battle, we see no potential in you. Since you would remain weak even after reaching the 10 Mainstays, we erase you.”
A flame-like surge rose in his throat from behind clenched teeth.
They judged me as having the potential to become weak even though I had not yet become a 10 Mainstay.
Finally the cry of rage tore free.
Once his thoughts reached this point he could no longer contain his fury. Even though he had not yet become a 10 Mainstay, the mere expectation of defeat had led to an almost unanimous decision to dispose of him. Dying at Almighty Hwi’s hands would have hurt less. It had been the worst possible situation, but at least he had been given the chance to fight.
That’s right—! I will act according to your own logic and take revenge in exactly the same way. I will drive every last one of you into the worst state I was in back then. Overcome this worst crisis—where my curse has dealt devastating damage to both my power and my body after I staked everything on it—and show me how you achieve victory. The Golden Alliance opposing Jinri? I will scatter you all. And as a result of this ranking war, if you fail to defeat Yuil Yongsinje and all lose, becoming the weak, then I will shatter the Wind Star and every one of your clans. This is true revenge—! I will stamp the brand of the weak upon you exactly as you stamped it on me, and from the viewpoint of the strong I will dispose of you with utter cruelty.
A circle of darkness glowed above his head as the 14th circle’s magic power stirred. It was the power of magic he had refrained from using even while under joint assault during the ranking war. They could have all been annihilated together, yet he had refrained for the sake of true revenge.
“And behold—! This is the power you dismissed as belonging to the weak—! During the ranking war I could have taken you all with me in self-destruction. But I endured and endured for the sake of rightful revenge—! Explosive Shatter—! Core—!”
Simultaneous with the magic chant, black dots erupted across his entire body. Then, accompanied by an explosion that sounded as if the universe itself were shattering, the boundaries of dimensions collapsed along the black dots’ trajectories.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
These black dots that endlessly poured forth while pulverizing space and dimensions were each a pinnacle of magical purification and destruction. The power contained in every point was a condensed bomb capable of destroying even a 10 Mainstay’s body. Using more than a thousand trillion in divine and magical power, he created them infinitely, seizing control of all time and space to position them at will. Each dot that appeared with impossible speed carried the highest level of barrier strength and destructive force.
Even a close-combat specialist God of War would be unable to pierce through black dots laid out in such density. For a 10 Mainstay, the only outcome upon approach would be the complete shattering of their body. And that was not the end. When the countless black dots grew even smaller they became a thick black mist. Within the domain of these further condensed, nearly invisible bombs, everything was annihilated and ultimately erased. Even the clans of the 10 Mainstays would face total annihilation if trapped inside this black domain; it would only be a matter of time.
When he created a domain like this it devoured existence itself like the Authority of Shuddering March. When condensed into tiny points they became the ultimate bombs that could penetrate and seep into anything before exploding from within. Although the scope of the authority was the most vast among all authorities that had ever appeared, because each point operated individually the power did not diminish in the slightest. On the contrary, when dispersed they grew even smaller and more stealthy, seeping into bodies to detonate any star or any powerhouse. This was how the Grey Absolute had been able to devastate one-tenth of the Absolute Realm—the gray region—within a single month.
It was the pinnacle of an incomplete wide-area authority created through black magic, comparable in raw power to Yggdrasil, the strongest absolute authority of the sage lineage.
“Huu—! There he goes again with that crap.” Origin of the Mage God had already noticed when the Grey Absolute began staring at the screen, pulling his robe down over his head and trembling. He let out a long sigh as he considered countermeasures after the request. “I told him to learn Yggdrasil first—the authority that governs creation and destruction to the degree that it can control the Eternal Being, the very proof of the Grey Absolute—but I knew from the moment he was half-assing it. To create such a vicious authority instead of the most glorious supreme one… I have no idea what he’s thinking. They did say the Grey Absolute was insane from the start, but isn’t this a bit much? He can’t keep doing this, so I suppose I’ll have to ask Grandfather Jinri for re-education. Huuuu—! If I tell him I brought the boy here because I couldn’t handle him, he’ll nag me endlessly. What am I supposed to do? Or perhaps he’ll just say that this is normal for the Grey Absolute and tell me to leave him be. That possibility worries me more.”
Origin of the Mage God, who had avoided the area the moment he sensed trouble, was now sighing repeatedly while thinking about what to do after the commission. He did not fully understand what the Dimensional Mage God intended, but he realized the immediate crisis had been overcome. The man had opened the path to becoming the Main God—a feat considered impossible—through his own power alone. The process was enough to make one’s blood boil, yet the result aligned with the Wind Family’s family motto of ‘Turning the impossible into the possible,’ so he felt a degree of satisfaction.
The process had been far too smooth. The proof was the faint smile visible even beyond the screen, radiating both confidence and composure.
“I am finished. It is now Almighty Hwi’s turn. Please bestow your blessings upon the army of High Gods. As the Lord God and Main God of the Divine Realm, you must also deliver a pre-war speech to raise the army’s morale. Bestowing blessings and promising rewards for victory—! Is that not the proper duty of the Main God of the Divine Realm before a war?”
“…So be it.”
For Almighty Hwi the situation was the worst possible. Having primarily trained personal authorities, forcibly activating a wide-area authority would consume an enormous amount of divine power and stamina. He knew he should not keep pushing himself like this, yet he had no choice. If the Dimensional Mage God bestowed blessings on his own forces while he conserved strength, it would be unacceptable. Regardless of victory or defeat, losing the trust of the God Race would create severe problems for the future management of the Main Divine Realm.
The Dimensional Mage God—who until now had won solely through brute force and underhanded tricks—was now resolving matters politically in a way that benefited himself as much as possible. It was the moment Almighty Hwi felt the knot tightening further.
The ones who analyzed his personality and reported that he was an emotional type who holds back but ultimately cannot overcome his nature—I will not let them off easily. This snake is worse than the old monsters of the clan.
In the end, despite being unaccustomed to wide-area authorities, he mobilized every ability at his disposal to bestow blessings on all ten thousand High Gods, thereby dispelling the curse to a certain extent. Having done his utmost and recovered at least 0.5 circles, he let out a sigh of relief.
The army of High Gods is now stronger. The advantageous situation has not changed.
Yet he himself had to forcibly steady his staggering body, dizzy from the side effects of activating a wide-area authority that exceeded his computational limits. He could not show weakness here. Mobilizing his divine power to manifest the colossal form of a God of War through fighting spirit, Almighty Hwi looked down upon the army of High Gods and delivered his speech. He inspired them with a vigorous tone, speaking to the High Gods who had partially escaped the curse, filling them with pride as elites of the Main Divine Realm and guaranteeing their future.
The Dimensional Mage God watched their enthusiastic response with a faint smile.
In most cases it is better not to do anything at all if it is not your area of expertise. Especially when the opponent is a specialist in that field. Even if the future situation worsens, leaving it alone would have been the correct choice. Thanks to that, the battle between the armies is now decisively won. That leaves only the final duel, doesn’t it? Before that, shall I deliver a speech of my own to drive the wedge in?
Once Almighty Hwi’s passionate speech ended and the High Gods’ cheers rang out, it was the Dimensional Mage God’s turn. Still seated in his chair, he looked at the army of Lower Gods and opened his mouth. Unlike Almighty Hwi’s words—which mixed personal pride and emotional stimulation with passion—nothing of the sort emerged from the Dimensional Mage God.
“This is a war for me to become the Main God.”
It has nothing to do with any of you. If the selection had not been involved I naturally would not want to fight, so that would be inconvenient. The opponents are not foes that can be defeated merely by doing your best for your clan. The High Gods of the Main Divine Realm are the greatest elites of the God Race, so doing your best is nowhere near enough. Heh heh—! No matter how hard Lower Gods without even a single authority try, from the perspective of High Gods it is nothing more than the meaningless flailing of insignificant insects. Even if I arm them with divine weapons and strengthen them through the Main Body of the Magic God, in the end they would be little more than frightened dogs barking because they do not want to die as bugs. That would be very troublesome indeed. Right now I require an overwhelming victory that leaves no room for argument. Winning after a desperate struggle through threats or coercion would still fall far short.
A languid, almost muttering tone flowed out—one completely unsuited for a pre-war speech meant to raise morale. In fact, the very act of speaking while seated as if talking to himself made it all the more so.