Eternal Samsara

The War of the Otherworld. Yet that initial panic shifted to relief the moment he reexamined the battlefield. Combat between Main Gods or higher beings reinforced or negated reality itself, distorting nearly all long-range observation authorities and making confirmation almost impossible. One had to witness it in person. It was no coincidence that higher gods personally descended when a battle caught their interest.

A being possessing upper-rank Main God divinity can ignore even that distortion to a degree. Besides, I hold the Authority of Dimensions—the one that displays supreme power in both wide-area capabilities and versatility.

Thanks to that, he could clearly see the successor madly spamming wide-area authorities after punching straight through the Celestial God Race Main God’s powerful defensive barrier. The distinctive sky-blue full-body armor and arsenal of countless divine weapons matched exactly what he had seen during the Spirit Realm battle. The divinity, however, fell far short.

It isn’t the main body that reigns above the heavens. A successor, then? That would explain why it’s only an Intermediate Main God rather than a High Main God. Barely within the margin of error. Lucky me.

As relief settled over him, the Administrative Main God urgently reviewed the data and began his report.

“It has been identified as one of the successors of the Main God Who Reigns Above the Heavens from the Fourth Independent Divine Realm. The evaluation places it at Main God rank, but voting rights remain at High God level because the formal recognition from the other Main Gods has not yet concluded.”

“Recognition from the Main Gods?” Almighty Hwi’s forehead creased deeply, carving harsh wrinkles. “The standard for a Main God surpasses ordinary divine thinking—it requires transcendent authority and 10th-circle divinity. With that much power it is clearly a Main God, so what further recognition is needed? What exactly have you all been doing? Did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I appear that insignificant to you?”

Lower gods were being slaughtered by the thousands with a single wide-area strike, the kind of massacre normally reserved for high gods. If this being wasn’t a Main God, even a dog would laugh. They had left non-Main God lower deities to their own devices for far too long, and now fresh problems sprouted. The repeated failures in the current Main God Tournament stemmed primarily from erroneous intelligence that grossly underestimated the Dimensional Divine Realm.

It was only natural that killing intent now edged into Almighty Hwi’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gaze as he stared at the Administrative Main God, who continued to analyze and report faulty data. Even if the error currently favored the high gods’ war situation, it had already crossed every line. Should this matter reach a formal protest to the Creation Divine Realm, a direct audit was inevitable. Having only recently become a Creator God, he had zero interest in being tripped up by such petty administrative garbage.

“That is…”

The Administrative Main God tried to offer any excuse, but an administrator who dealt only with paperwork could never withstand the killing intent radiating from a God of War who carried Creator God divinity. Cold sweat poured from him like rain. He couldn’t even finish a sentence. Though his status as a Main God would likely spare his life, he realized he would not walk away with all his limbs intact.

Snap!

The Dimensional Mage God flicked his finger, casually shattering the gradually solidifying killing intent. At this moment, securing even one more ally within the Divine Realm took priority. Saving the Administrative Main God—who oversaw all administrative affairs—from being beaten half to death by Almighty Hwi’s hand was the smarter play.

“The Administrative Main God can only follow the collective will of the Main Gods. This is not solely his fault, and we cannot punish every single Main God. Let it pass. We can simply have him report directly from now on to prevent the same mistake.”

The lower gods’ army was already crumbling under the sudden wide-area authority of the intervening Main God. When the Dimensional Mage God himself stepped forward like this, Almighty Hwi reluctantly swallowed his rage. The Administrative Main God, still looking bewildered, let out a sigh of relief, offered a slight bow, and returned to his seat. Having gained a reason not to antagonize the Dimensional Mage God, he now openly displayed his intention to remain neutral.

“Are you truly fine with this? A Main God has misused the voting rights reserved for High Main Gods. We could remove them from the current fighting strength.”

An Intermediate Main God wielding transcendent wide-area authority was not something lower gods could withstand. They needed multiple highest-tier gods at minimum, yet even with divine weapons boosting their divinity, upper gods represented the absolute limit. That was why the Hero God—who had been an Intermediate God—and a handful of others were frantically shielding against the wide-area damage, and even that was their ceiling.

On top of that, the high gods who had died so pointlessly were now attempting to rejoin the fight despite the unfavorable shift, because the improving war situation had ignited their pride. The heroic exploits of the successor of the Main God Who Reigns Above the Heavens were pricking the egos of the high gods. At this rate, the lower gods would surely lose.

“This is a matter I already decided through the vote. A Main God’s decision must be respected at all times. Please proceed exactly as planned.”

If the lower gods were defeated, the Main God Tournament would become impossible. Yet strangely, the Dimensional Mage God spoke with perfect calm, his lips curved in a faint smile. That smile, however, was slightly twisted. Seeing an expression that could hardly be called laughter, a thought flashed through Almighty Hwi’s mind. This was the exact smile many Main Gods of the Divine Realm had worn when looking down at those who dared challenge them. It carried a complex meaning—acknowledging the courage of a pitiful challenger while promising to thoroughly correct their manners.

Since this is a Main God who opposed him, he intends to mobilize every means available to kill them without fail, lowering both their authority and divinity. Makes sense. He can’t tolerate an openly hostile Main God if he wants to become Main God King. He’ll have to kill them repeatedly until they drop below Main God rank before he can relax. I thought he was purely emotional, but he has a cruel side as well. In the early days I personally disposed of many Main Gods who followed the previous Creator God King. Has that much time already passed?

Creak—!

Leaning back against the throne of the Main God King while lost in old memories, he reminded himself that this seat had never been one of pure glory. The Creator Gods, equal in rank to the Main God King, had once been emperors who ruled over the gods called kings of the divine.

Anyone can claim the seat through power, effort, and faction. But keeping it requires maintaining it with the blood and corpses of challengers.

Now that the Creation Divine Realm had been perfectly established and even the Main God King and Creator Gods had been reduced from absolute monarchs to mere administrative roles, those barbaric processes had vanished. The essence, however, remained. In a controlled class society, if superior positions never opened, inferiors had nowhere to rise. Without continuous development and expansion, the number of superior seats never increased.

Superiors always had to recognize and guard against the desires of those below them who wished for their fall. Leaving inferiors who openly displayed hostility unchecked would spread like a plague and erode authority. Especially when the hostile inferior was a Main God, it could not be tolerated. The current target was the Dimensional Mage God aiming for the Main God King seat, but he himself would never allow a Main God with such rebellious tendencies to exist.

Decisively, the Mercenary God of the Independent Divine Realm was not a direct subordinate of the Creator God, so there was no need to protect him. Since the Mercenary Main God participated only after receiving compensation from the Divine Realm or himself, he received none of the Divine Realm’s protection. The fact that he had still let emotion drive him into battle proved his immaturity as a Main God. A Main God who could not recognize his own position as successor to the Mercenary Main God and moved according to ideals was a dangerous element.

A Main God must remain neutral at all costs and place the organization and divine realm first.

They must not decide to antagonize someone out of emotion and throw themselves into a battle that offered no benefit. Any divine realm containing a Main God capable of such extreme choices was perpetually dangerous and carried the risk of rebellion against the Creator Gods. They had to eliminate even the slightest chance that this reckless Main God with his powerful wide-area authority might one day bare his fangs.

The best method was to kill him, damage his divinity, and strike his authority. A Main God’s death inflicted incomparably greater damage than a lower god’s. There was even concern that the hard-earned divinity itself could be tarnished.

Recalling the cruel punishments he had personally delivered to opposing Main Gods in the past, Almighty Hwi spoke in a heavy voice.

“Proceed as planned. I will tolerate it this once.”

The Dimensional Mage God was not foolish enough to miss that these words granted permission to purge the Main God. He offered a light bow in gratitude, then rose from his seat. The continuous stream of unexpected actions and judgments left the faces of the Administrative Main God and the other Main Gods—who did not know the full story—frozen in confusion.

Though he was merely the successor of an Independent Divine Realm’s Mercenary Main God, both his ability and divinity had clearly reached Main God rank. A Main God was a precious existence capable of becoming a Divine Realm Main God and expanding the God Race’s territory. In any circumstance they were protected, and their mistakes were almost always forgiven. Yet the situation had become vaguely equivalent to a disposal order.

On top of that, the atmosphere resembled the Dimensional Mage God reporting while Almighty Hwi issued instructions, as if the succession of the Main God King position was already underway. It felt far too natural, even though the Main God Tournament decision had not yet been finalized.

What in the world is happening?

I don’t know the details, but it must be high-level politics. It looks like the Dimensional Mage God becoming Main God King is almost decided. The Creator God has little need for the position, so a successor is required.

Then we should stay neutral?

We probably must. The rights and freedoms granted to us were ultimately guaranteed by the Creator Gods. Rejecting the will of our superiors means we must vomit back everything we have received.

Just like that foolish successor of the Mercenary God who thought alone and chose battle.

Open hostility from an inferior toward a superior always ended in catastrophe. No superior enjoyed watching any being provoked by those below them. No matter how the provoking inferior rose, they would eventually be purged. Superiors eliminated them out of fear that an upper-intermediate being would do the same to them one day.

The Main Gods knew full well that such a fate was called “being sent to the Spirit Realm.” In promotions to positions above Main God, sudden leaps equivalent to treason were never tolerated. Only those who passed established procedures and tests, or were recognized by the majority of Creator Gods, could ascend.

Like the second-ranked formally challenging the first.

The Dimensional Mage God stood from the second seat at the round table and began to chant.

“My magic that I love, cherish, and hate more than any other—for the sake of this great challenge—! Reveal your true form now!”

The divine weapons of the lower gods roared, beginning to transform the authorities granted to them. Instead of the protection of the Almighty God Tribe, the magic of the Dimensional Mage God began to infuse the weapons. The conversion was instantaneous because the core of a Machine God possessed neither attribute nor emotion.

“This is the ultimate curse and blessing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at once—the first destination and origin point of the magic and authority I received from Jinri.”

By offering one’s own body as a sacrifice, it simultaneously manifested physical sacrifice that allowed unrestricted use of upper-level authority and spacetime manipulation that granted infinite opportunities. The name of this magic was Eternal Samsara.

Black orbs resembling black pearls began to appear within the cores of the lower gods’ divine weapons. It was proof of magic that had escaped the circles entirely, immeasurable since no circle of power existed.

“Only after completely mastering this did I gain the courage to step into the world. It was my proud ultimate magic—the one that allowed me, a 9th-circle Magic God, to defeat the 11th-circle Magic God after countless challenges and finally ascend to 10th-circle. Therefore, accept it with joy.”

The lower gods rejoiced. Although they had to offer part of their bodies, many ultimate techniques already required risking one’s life. Since they were lower gods whose deaths carried no real consequence, they had no reason to hesitate over sacrificing a mere portion of flesh. And if spacetime could be manipulated to allow repeated challenges, there was even less reason to hold back.

It granted the use of upper-level authority and continuously provided new opportunities to challenge. They could not fathom what kind of curse this was. Yet the next explanation sent a cold chill racing through their bodies via the divine weapons.

“There is, however, one very small restriction. The spacetime-manipulated challenge will repeat until the designated enemy is defeated. Because the magic was activated while including the opponent’s existence, it cannot be stopped by your own power. And the moment you give up the challenge…”

The restrictions that followed grew increasingly absurd. No matter how powerful the effect, the brutal price it demanded was exactly why it was called a heinous magic.

“You will be judged as a rebel against time and space and erased for eternity. To correct the spacetime distortion, measures exceeding your own erasure may be taken. It is only natural that your existence will be treated as one that never was, all records erased from reality, and even the memories of everyone connected to you deleted. No one knows how far the erasure will spread. Moreover, the probability of defeating an upper-level being is vanishingly small. It is unknown how many challenges will be required to raise your realm enough to reach victory. Most beings with any will eventually gave up and vanished. Therefore, activation must be performed with extreme caution…”

The Dimensional Mage God, who had paused for a moment, finally continued.

“The Master personally warned me never to use it unless the situation is one where you must win no matter the sacrifice. Therefore, you too must choose. Will you ultimately be defeated and die by that Main God over there, or will you seize this chance—however slim, however dangerous, however agonizingly difficult the path to victory may be? I am not forcing you to activate it.”

Sitting back down in his seat, the Dimensional Mage God drove the point home as if hammering a nail.

“I myself used it only once before sealing it away forever. Challenging the impossible is far too harsh for ordinary beings, so I merely grant the opportunity. I will not force it.”

The war halted. Both the lower gods’ army and the high gods’ army could only stare fearfully at the divine weapons where the magic lingered. Even the successor of the Main God Who Reigns Above the Heavens, who had been massacring lower gods with wide-area attacks, stopped as if sickened.

Having rampaged in the madness of war while disposing of insolent lower gods, the number of enemies now surrounding and confronting him had grown to the greatest extent. In fact, every single one of the few Intermediate Gods had converged. If that magic activated, he would face endless challenges from Intermediate Gods without even realizing it. He had no choice but to stop.

And to the Dimensional Mage God came the sneering voice of the Grey Absolute—his own future self. In the end, the future self could no longer endure and had made the slightest intervention.

No matter what experiences they accumulated or what they referenced, the fundamental nature of the worst and most vicious Magic Gods never changed. They were already preparing their final measures in secret—even from themselves.