The Origin's Rage
The Otherworld War. “The Main God of the Almighty Race—the Origin himself—has betrayed me—! When the Divine Realm isn’t even in crisis, no less—!”
Hwi had neither the strength nor the need to hide his trembling body or the storm of emotion raging inside him. The high gods, trusting their own blessings, had dropped every defensive barrier to pour everything into the attack. Reversing an authority once set during active combat was nearly impossible. Without defensive authority, their bodies alone could not withstand strikes from divine weapons. These were not Main Gods. Without defensive powers, high gods’ bodies were almost completely defenseless against divine armaments.
That was why they struggled to block the lower gods’ indiscriminate barrage and were dying across the battlefield. The fatal blow came from the fact that even the lower gods were receiving the effects of the high gods’ own blessings. The Magic God of Dimensions’ circle-enhancing effect overlapped with the immunity granted by Hwi’s own authority, rendering the presence or absence of personal powers irrelevant. The gap had narrowed from elephants trampling ants to a swarm of rats charging a cat.
Worse, there was no time to reorganize or recover. The enemy disregarded their lives entirely, charging forward no matter how many were cut down.
Half of them are already dead. There’s no chance the high gods will return to this suicidal battlefield while willingly taking hits to their own authorities.
Lower gods revived the instant they died and returned to the front lines, yet barely one in ten high gods came back. They could not offer the same mercenary compensation the Magic God of Dimensions provided, and the only lure for high gods—elevation to Main God status—held no meaning here. In the end, it was nothing but emotional opposition to a human-born mercenary becoming Main God King…
The tide had already turned too far to reverse. The real problem was that this battle formed part of the consecutive matches deciding the Main God King position. A high-god army that should never have lost to lower gods had been defeated while under their own blessing. And every catastrophe had begun the moment the Main God of the Almighty Race betrayed him—the Origin.
He knew exactly who it was. There was only one Main God in the Almighty Race right now.
The image of Gaiana blocking his path after receiving the Sage of Omniscience’s descent flashed through his mind. If he had finished her off back then, injuries be damned, none of this would have happened. Valuable Main God, holder of a potential Main God Star—none of it mattered. She had crossed the line of patience long ago.
“Iiiiiii—! Where are you—!”
For a higher Main God to interfere with the Origin’s wide-area blessing was the same as plunging a knife into his back. This was not a crisis situation for the Divine Realm. This was not something one did to the Origin.
Execution. I don’t care if she’s a goddess under my jurisdiction or not—I will kill her immediately. No matter what the Sage of Omniscience says, she will be disposed of.
Killing intent and fighting spirit rose visibly from Hwi’s body. The search authority of the Almighty God Tribe began scanning the Dimensional Divine Realm. An Origin could locate any god belonging to the race across space itself. The moment he found Gaiana, he intended to charge straight into the Dimensional Divine Realm. Precise spatial movement followed by the instant killing of a higher Main God had become possible thanks to his fall to Preliminary Creator God status. Having reclaimed perfect control of his body from the past, the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors now displayed their true power.
Even if the Magic God of Dimensions beside him tried to interfere, at this range he could not stop him.
Yet a cold voice devoid of all emotion cut through the tension.
“Calm yourself. This is not betrayal.”
The speaker clearly knew his intent to kill the proxy of the Main God of the Divine Realm, yet showed no sign of active interference. A flicker of doubt arose at that attitude, but Hwi’s senses immediately locked onto Gaiana’s divine power.
“There—!”
Target confirmed. The moment he locked onto her presence, he would move and kill. But the Sage of Omniscience who appeared before Gaiana blocked that murderous recognition, disrupting the spatial coordinates with raw magical power.
“Get a hold of yourself! You would kill a Main God over mere suspicion?”
As a Demon King, she had intended to avoid interfering in the god tribes’ Main God King election if at all possible. The current situation left her no choice. She could not afford to lose a valuable Main God of the tribe—one capable of becoming the Main God of the Divine Realm.
When Hwi showed signs of charging forward despite the blocked spatial recognition, she urgently sent her will.
He had suffered catastrophic damage. His divinity had fallen to Preliminary Creator God rank, yet the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors were operating at full strength. A direct confrontation now offered no guarantee she could stop him.
He must not die! Have you forgotten? Gaiana is a higher Main God, a former Creator God, and possesses the potential to retreat under her own power from a fight against Jinri. If she recovers her original divinity, she even has a chance to receive official Creator God status. She is not someone who can be disposed of so easily. Who knows how many more years it would take to obtain another Main God capable of overseeing such a Creator?
Out of my way! None of that matters anymore. Betrayal can never be forgiven.
His eyes had already rolled with madness. Words could no longer reach him.
No matter how many sentient beings a Main God Star could nurture—ten thousand times more than an ordinary planet—it was never enough for a prestigious divine race. If too many high gods gathered in one place, conflict was inevitable; dispersion was mandatory. Moreover, the Almighty Race now existed as a fusion of demon and god races with two Origins. They managed male and female gods separately to reduce friction, but any further increase in numbers would inevitably cause problems. Therefore, they desperately needed more Main God Stars, and only Main Gods possessing transcendental authorities qualified to rule one. Anything less could not bear the weight of a Main God Realm.
This fool—! The fact that it has come to this is entirely because of your pathetic abilities! You focused solely on combat power instead of creation despite being the God of Light, so of course limitations appeared once you became a Creator God. For you, converting an ordinary planet into a Main God Star is the limit, and even that takes at least ten thousand years. At this rate, complete revival of the tribe is impossible; mere maintenance would already consume too much time.
This was Almighty Hwi’s current weakness. His authority’s extreme focus on combat power had created an unexpected flaw in creation ability. It did not mean his destructive power was strong while recovery was weak. The issue was that his creation power—the primary authority of any Creator God—could not keep up with his divinity. Creating a Main God Star required him to devote every ounce of power without doing anything else.
Most Creator Gods of the 499th Master Universe shared similar tendencies, so it was not normally a major issue. For the Almighty Race, however, it was critical. On top of that, the existing Creator Gods and Demon Kings had begun checking them in earnest.
We can no longer wait for natural emergence. The forces and interference from the current Creator Gods and Demon Kings are too powerful! That is why we need the sealed Main Gods whose divine power circles were destroyed in the fight against Jinri. Have you forgotten that the Magic God of Dimensions is required to restore those destroyed circles? Even after restoration, high Creator Divine Realms and proper positions are necessary for them to regain their authorities and divine power normally. Only with Gaiana, the proxy of the Main God of the Divine Realm, can everything be stably maintained. To restore the currently sealed Main Gods and achieve complete revival of the Almighty Race, this Dimensional Divine Realm, the Magic God of Dimensions, and Gaiana are all indispensable. The position of Main God King—which is nothing more than an honorary title to an official Creator God—can be wrapped up nicely according to the final plan and handed over. Four goddesses have already begun treatment. Are you really going to ruin everything? Dispel that killing intent right now and regain your senses.
Yet repeated defeats and blunders had nearly paralyzed Hwi’s reason. At this rate, the tribe’s only higher goddess might lose her head at the Origin’s hands. Even though it concerned only goddesses, the situation was unacceptable from the perspective of a fellow Origin.
The goddesses’ faces turned deathly pale at the sudden appearance of the Sage of Omniscience. They had grasped the situation. The killing intent and fighting spirit saturating the area were overwhelming. The Creator God they had previously repelled had shown some instability, but the being before them now made them doubt whether it was truly him.
The Sage of Omniscience finally revealed her will openly.
“Sigh. I will personally guarantee that Gaiana has no tendency toward betrayal. This was achieved by adjusting the divine power and authority patterns with magic before injecting them into the divine weapons. These are weapons created exclusively for lower gods to nullify high gods’ authorities, so the child has nothing to do with it. Ask the Magic God of Dimensions yourself.”
Hwi’s killing intent swung toward the Magic God of Dimensions beside him, but the reply came back utterly calm, as if completely unaffected.
“Correct. These are standard-issue divine weapons for lower gods, created by copying the divine power and authority of the Almighty God Tribe from Gaiana, the Main God of Divine Realm Management, and injecting them into Machine God cores. Fortunately, we had a Main God specialized in Machine Gods on our side, which made it possible. For lower gods lacking or possessing weak authorities, the only way to oppose high gods is the power of the Almighty God Tribe that manifests all authorities and grants immunity. There was no other choice. If the great Origin of the Almighty Race is displeased that we unintentionally made use of your wide-area blessing in this matter, I offer my sincere apology.”
When the Sage of Omniscience herself provided a guarantee and the other party responded with such courtesy, there was nothing left to say. Yet questions remained. He did not fully understand what a Machine God core was, but these were clearly divine weapons designed for combat against the god tribes. If the god tribes were not the intended enemy, they would be nearly useless. Large-scale wars between god tribes were almost nonexistent now that the era had stabilized. Preparing such items in bulk seemed excessive even for the Main God War.
“With that level of power, they appear centered on divine-power immunity rather than the demon race. Why would the Main God of the Divine Realm create such useless things? The Main God War is over—how many opportunities will there be to fight other divine realms?”
“Do you wish for an answer? Speaking publicly would be somewhat awkward.”
Watching the Magic God of Dimensions firmly close his mouth after that reply, several thoughts flashed through Hwi’s mind. He recalled the strength of the Goddess Blood Alliance’s goddesses and the Spirit Main Gods who had fought inside the Dimensional Divine Realm, along with the tendencies noted in their reports.
“No, never mind. It is not something that needs to be discussed officially.”
“Thank you for your consideration. It is not a pleasant topic to share with others.”
Even past records made it obvious that neither the goddesses nor the Spirit Main Gods were the type to offer obedient loyalty. Far from being loyal to the Main God of the Divine Realm, they appeared to be rebels determined to climb higher by any means. Precisely because they were so powerful, gathering that many in a single divine realm raised doubts about whether even he could control them.
The Goddess Blood Alliance’s other nicknames were Companion Slayers and Usurpers of the Main God of the Divine Realm. So these weapons were for civil war. Or perhaps they prepared them in advance, knowing other divine realms would inevitably pick fights? As a human-born god and mercenary god, he would have found it nearly impossible to recruit other high gods. With no other options available, it must have been a difficult path for a newborn divine realm. Ruling over such a realm, even with his ability, becoming a Creator God would not be easy.
Once he understood the situation, the killing intent and fighting spirit that had nearly driven him insane subsided. In their place came a faint sense of pity. This was an existence who had built such power and influence alone in roughly a century—an extremely short time. It would not be an exaggeration to call him the greatest Hero God, one who fell short in no way when compared to himself. The thought that such a being had become a Demon King sent chills down his spine. Yet here he was, struggling this hard simply to remain part of the god tribes.
Was the position of Main God King truly that valuable? After becoming a Creator God, it felt like nothing at all.
To a Creator God like himself, the title of Main God King—nominally equal in rank—was little more than a decorative medal. Watching someone fight so desperately to obtain it stirred old emotions within him.
And now the high gods’ army had been utterly crushed by the lower gods’ forces. A large-scale divine war, which normally required hundreds of years until the vitality needed for revival ran dry, was unfolding in mere moments. The lower gods’ victory seemed certain. He had believed no further variables remained—until an anomaly occurred.
An enormous surge of divine power and authority erupted from within the high gods’ ranks. Countless pillars of hazy light descended from the sky. The result was devastating.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!
The earth overturned. In an instant, more than a thousand lower gods were slain. Massive canyons resembling bite marks from a colossal beast tore across the ground, bisecting both armies in a single stroke.
In terms of raw power, it was at least a superior-grade wide-area attack backed by Main God level or higher divine power. No god failed to recognize the distinctive aftermath—like the bite of a savage beast. The elites who had participated in the Spirit Realm battle against the 500th Master Universe recognized it most clearly of all. The power that had blocked the Origins and titled absolute beings of the 500th Master Universe was slightly inferior to the Dimensional Mage God’s wide-area authority, yet it remained formidable enough as battlefield support.
The atmosphere of the battlefield flipped instantly in favor of the high gods. Yet Hwi showed no sign of pleasure.
After being lectured by the Sage of Omniscience, he had once again realized how complicated his own and his tribe’s position had become. He had never imagined that even after ascending to Creator God, his insufficient creation power to produce Main God Stars would become the very weakness holding back his race’s revival. He had assumed that becoming a Creator God would solve everything, but creation was not a matter that could be overcome by talent and instinct alone. It demanded endless repetition of creation work and the accumulation of knowledge, much like the specialized authorities of management gods.
More importantly, this anomaly posed a problem for him as well. The high gods’ army consisted of those who had voted against the Magic God of Dimensions becoming Main God King. The presence of an actual Main God among them indicated an administrative error. It was no longer a secret that the enraged Creator General had thrown the Creation Realm into chaos over rank manipulation tainted by personal feelings. Ability evaluations had become an extremely sensitive issue; even a Creator God like himself could be dragged into the fallout if careless.
He immediately summoned the management Main God and issued orders.
“It is the wide-area authority of the Heavenly Sky God Tribe—Blue Sky Cheongong. Why is the secret art of the highest Main God of an Independent Divine Realm appearing from within the high gods’ army? The Main God who reigns above the heavens claimed he had not fully recovered from his injuries and would only send his divine weapon. More than that—why is a Main God even included in the high gods’ forces? Who adjusted the voting rights like this? Did they downgrade it because it is an independent realm? There is no way a Main God would do such a thing. Confirm it immediately!”
“Yes. I will investigate right away.”
“Mmm…”
The Magic God of Dimensions glanced at the management Main God who hurriedly ran off, then let out a low groan as he checked the battlefield. The Main God who reigned above the sky was a highest-ranking deity possessing wide-area authority capable of supporting rare groups like his own while launching attacks. He had never expected the man to participate directly in the high gods’ army. He had clearly stated that sending the divine weapon earlier would be the end of it—yet here he was.
Of course, the addition of a single ordinary Main God would not collapse the army of over a million lower gods burning with near-mad fighting spirit. Even now they refused to retreat, advancing while sustaining enormous losses. But could lower gods possibly stop a highest Main God wielding transcendental wide-area authority? From his own experience with dimensional wide-area authority, it was impossible. It was only a matter of time before they were all slaughtered.
The more serious problem was that the relentless pressure that had given the enemy no breathing room had now been halted. High gods recovered the instant their breath was not completely severed. Their regenerative ability far surpassed that of lower gods; unless they were killed outright and removed from the board, the battle would never end. More than five thousand high gods had died in the all-out assault that not only neutralized but actually made use of the enemy’s wide-area blessing. Yet once the remaining five thousand fully recovered, the lower gods would once again be at a severe disadvantage. And now they were being given exactly that time.
The Main God who reigns above the sky—! So in the end you cannot bear to watch a fellow mercenary god succeed, even in death! I will not let this stand. But… what now? This is completely unexpected. A highest independent Main God with no direct ties to the Main Divine Realm has joined the high gods’ army through a loophole.
For the first time since the Main God King election began, the Magic God of Dimensions felt genuine panic.