The Spacetime Bomb and the Worst Mage's Confession
In the Otherworld War, the Dimensional Mage God—who had driven home that very dilemma with even sharper clarity—let out a chuckle laced with a faint smile and enlarged the screen further. “Heh heh—! It’s wrapping up. As expected, inexperience is the problem. Even Main Gods have far too little real combat experience.”
KWAAAAAANG—!KAAAAAANG—! The sounds now carried clearly past the expanded screen. The space beyond it was an independent gap where time and space existed separately, yet he had ignored that boundary and linked them almost directly. Such a thing would have been impossible without temporarily manifesting a world that connected the other realm to the current one. In fact, the moment he had manifested a being annihilated in the past into the present, it had already defied understanding.
What level of computational power and creative force would be required to make that possible?
The current him could not even guess, but he inferred that it would require at least the highest rank or above before any attempt could be made.
He really is talented because he’s the Management God. It’s truly astonishing that a god like him has lived under such constant scorn. If he had shown even a little skill in the creation domain, the situation would have been vastly different. Then again, who would give such an opportunity to a mercenary god of human origin? The ruling class of the Divine Realm controls the display of creative power, so he probably never had the chance. If he had, that extreme personality of his might have softened a little…
While he sighed with regret, the battle visible beyond the screen was racing toward its conclusion at breakneck speed—unlike the god race’s usual endless slugfests sustained by immutability and recovery. The cause was the Dimensional Authority, which converted divine power into magic power and fused it with Lord Slayer. The same authority that had focused solely on strengthening allies until now had shifted into a curse, weakening the enemy as well.
The desperate final charges of the Lower Gods finally began to land. Several divine weapons now protruded from the Main Gods’ bodies, blood spraying from the wounds. Their faces twisted hideously; all traces of composure gone, they scrambled frantically to dodge. The condition of the successor to the sky-ruling Main God was especially dire. Having secured a unique position through wide-area authority that surpassed the Transcendent rank, he was now being shredded helplessly beneath an even stronger wide-area authority called Dimension. His pride as a Main God possessing Transcendent Authority seemed on the verge of total collapse.
Only one goddess endured the Lower Gods’ attacks with her body, locked in a desperate life-or-death struggle. Yet the physical control and combat prowess of the woman once called the Saintess of Dimensions were simply incomprehensible.
The moment a Mid-rank Main God’s body collides with hers, it fails to withstand the impact and gets repelled.
Only now did he see that she was single-handedly handling every direct attack from the Main Gods. She blocked three Main Gods alone while counterattacking alongside the other Lower Gods, sending them vomiting blood and flying backward each time. It meant her physical ability vastly outstripped her divine rank.
Yet there were no signs she had learned the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors he had mastered. That meant this state was natural for her.
The body’s age, which I checked in a hurry, is less than ten years. Since the Dimensional Mage God granted her a physical body and resurrected her from a dead spirit state, it means the divine spirit itself possesses such characteristics.
Beings who naturally possessed bodies surpassing the ideal divine bodies implemented by the god race were exceedingly rare across the entire universe. Or rather, while the possibility existed, it was effectively impossible due to insufficient training or ability.
There had been some.
On planets whose planetary barriers remained intact, the giant god race—equipped with bodies and physical power so immense they were difficult to oppose—had once threatened the god race in the past.
“Could it be… a Planetary God? How did one appear on the Main God Star? There should have been protective devices to prevent their manifestation?”
The words that left Almighty Hwi’s mouth after he reached that conclusion on his own shocked everyone around the table.
Planetary Gods referred to lifeforms that had compressed the mountain-range-sized bodies of the giant god race down to human scale in exchange for acquiring tremendous physical ability and computational power, thereby obtaining divinity on their own. They were the race that had given birth to the Golden Race—the species that had most gravely threatened the god race’s ruling system in the past through sheer mutant-like physical strength. The fact that the Golden Race currently held the number one seat among the 10 Mainstays, the ruling class of the Absolute Realm, proved their power. Their true identity was natural gods spontaneously born from fully living planets.
Unlike half-baked Transcendents who had overcome only some limits as living beings, they were true gods—different from spiritual beings. They possessed life force and eternity equal to the planet they were born on and could freely manipulate every element belonging to that planet.
To summarize simply: if the god race are beings who attained divinity through spirit, then the giant god race and Planetary Gods are beings who attained divinity through physical ability. And on a planet where they can exert their full power, no member of the god race can confidently claim victory.
Planetary Gods had been far fewer in number than the giant god race, yet their bodies and authorities surpassed the god race and had posed an even greater threat than the demon race—once demeaned as mere demons. Had they not possessed the opposite weakness of the god race—drastically reduced combat power outside their planet in cosmic space—along with the limitations of requiring a planet for birth and needing vast amounts of vitality that inevitably kept their numbers low, the current universal ruling order would have looked very different.
“Correct. In the dead realm of my planet, three precious Planetary Gods existed as spirits. So I went a little overboard and brought them under my command. I also have ten Main Gods of the giant god race serving me. It’s still insufficient for the Divine Realm, but it maintains things for now.”
When the Dimensional Mage God readily accepted the point and reported the additional details, the round table fell into momentary silence.
If an ordinary Main God built forces in this manner, it would mean immediate subjugation.
Because gathering this much of the faction opposing the god race could only mean rebellion against the Divine Realm.
Of course, that level of force was nowhere near enough to threaten the Main Divine Realm itself; at best it could invade the divine realm of a High-rank Main God’s planet. Yet for a being possessing the highest Creator Divinity—whose own Divine Realm did not even contain half the required number of gods—to covet another Main God Star was utterly absurd.
And the Dimensional Mage God was no ordinary Main God. He was a powerhouse possessing wide-area authority capable of shaking the entire Main Divine Realm by himself, as well as a Divine Realm Lord God with the highest Creator Divinity. In blunt terms, he was a war god surpassing Creator Gods, with the power to single-handedly devastate any Main God’s divine realm. Yet no one could raise an objection to him taking a few Planetary Gods under his wing and placing Main Gods of the giant race as subordinates. Moreover, the aura of the Dimensional Mage God—who had laid everything bare in a “try me if you dare” fashion—was far from ordinary. The round table of the Main Divine Realm looked ready to transform back into a battlefield at any moment. With Almighty Hwi present it would differ from before, but they still had to brace for catastrophic losses.
The combat power of the Dimensional Mage God they had witnessed earlier had completely overwhelmed the entire Main Divine Realm.
We can win, but in the worst case the Main Divine Realm could be utterly destroyed. And if he chooses to flee using the Dimensional Authority, we cannot catch him. We must not attempt it unless we are fully prepared to block his escape or it is a surprise attack.
Such anxiety had taken firm root among the Preliminary Creator Gods and Main Gods. They were simply no match for him. If he abandoned the Dimensional Divine Realm and bombarded them from afar, even a Creator God would be helpless. Furthermore, the colossal Creator Star floating in the void above made it clear—even the Creator Gods facing it could not relax—that it was a monster beyond any Main God’s ability to confront.
Even the highest Main God among the Substitute Gods, a Preliminary Creator God, could only win by teaming up with the Creator General and the Demon Emperor at the current Master Universe’s level. The Creator Gods naturally avoided direct confrontation and had to capture the controller—the Dimensional Mage God—first. Yet they could not dare suggest an ambush against Almighty Hwi, who was both Lord God and Creator God.
In the end, even the Preliminary Creator Gods who had previously spoken of rebellion and subjugation if other mercenary Main Gods acted this way had no choice but to clamp their mouths shut under the pressure and remain silent.
When those who had done nothing but run their mouths until now finally fell quiet, Almighty Hwi wore an expression of pure headache.
They fear and struggle with superiors. In terms of command this is neither inherently good nor bad. But if it becomes too extreme, it can lead to major incidents such as rebellion.
Now that he had become a Creator God, the Main Divine Realm had little direct connection to him, yet he still felt some attachment. Seeing their behavior, however, he could not help worrying about its future first.
The root cause of all this sat in the second-rank seat—the Dimensional Mage God. He could have taken the glorious seat of the Main Divine Realm and secured victory, yet instead he had proposed this cumbersome procedure. His intentions were impossible to fathom.
But as his thoughts reached this point, a question surfaced.
Wait—why is this guy even here doing this? Why leave his overwhelmingly advantageous divine realm and come alone to the Main Divine Realm—which is practically enemy territory—to leisurely explain things? And what exactly is that narrow ring-shaped space?
The Dimensional Mage God was a Divine Realm Lord God possessing a divine realm of the highest Creator rank. Logically, the strongest approach would be to remain protected inside his own Main God Temple, mobilize the round table, and conduct long-range attacks. He had granted the challenged party the right to decide the method of battle with the composure of the strong. Therefore there was no reason for him to set the battlefield here. The best course was to ask directly and straightforwardly.
Sitting in the second seat ultimately signified acknowledgment of the first seat’s authority—his own. It was only proper to treat the second rank with corresponding respect.
“Preliminary Creator Gods aiming for the Lord God position are acceptable at that level. However, why did you choose this place as the battlefield? What is the reason for selecting such a narrow space?”
To that question the Dimensional Mage God answered immediately, just as expected.
“The greatest drawback of wide-area authority is that it is difficult to distinguish between enemy and ally. Since you have experienced it yourself, I assume you already understand.”
“Indeed.”
He had been dumbfounded when the blessing he had bestowed upon the High Gods as the Origin of the Almighty God Tribe reacted with the authority of the Main God of the Almighty Tribe and applied equally to the enemy Lower Gods. No—the sudden increase in targets had exceeded his computational capacity, nearly causing him to lose consciousness in absurdity. If even a small blessing from a racial Origin that consumed almost no computational power produced such an effect, the burden and danger faced by those using ordinary wide-area authorities had to be truly immense.
Having experienced it firsthand, he had come to appreciate the greatness of beings who primarily used wide-area authorities.
“Therefore, most beings who use wide-area authorities choose one of two paths. Because exerting control to differentiate between enemy and ally is far more difficult than simply increasing power, they usually choose to fight large armies alone. I did the same.”
It was the same method the Dimensional Mage God had used when he charged single-handedly into the Main Divine Realm. In the end, to prevent damage to his own divine realm and freely wield wide-area authority, he had taken the risk and plunged into the enemy camp. That much was understandable; he himself would have done the same.
Yet his expression inevitably hardened at the next words.
“It is the complete opposite of my current method, which maximizes control to limit the effect.”
“……”
“The notoriety of being the worst and most heinous dark mage god was decided during my very first battle as a 10-circle Main God-level mercenary god. I was far too inexperienced. I never imagined the war gods standing at the forefront against the demon race would be that weak. It was my mistake for wrongly assuming every god race possessed superior transcendent authorities such as ‘Infinite Restoration.’”
Then the Dimensional divine power began to move. The brilliant golden light slowly transformed into grey. And it was all too similar to magic power. That grey light rose above his head, floated into the air, coalesced into a sphere, and began emitting an ominous divine power. It started vibrating.
Uuuuuuuuuung—!
The faces of Almighty Hwi and the Preliminary Creator Gods turned grim and froze. This was no longer the authority the Dimensional Mage God had used to compress and explode planets. For Main Gods, a star’s explosion was dangerous but not fatal. This was something smaller in scale yet far more vicious and dangerous than either magic power or dark magic. Their god-race instincts screamed of extreme peril.
“This is a light version of a spacetime bomb, for easier understanding. Dimensional Authority is the fusion of time and space. Its true nature is a power that destroys worlds. Because it interferes with existence itself, defensive authorities and physical toughness are meaningless. If used properly there is no need to waste effort compressing and exploding planets, but there is a reason I avoid it. In my first battle I was nervous and activated it without any restrictions. Everything at the front lines—demons, gods, and the battlefield itself—was annihilated. The fact that I alone survived is why the reputation exists. ‘The worst and most heinous dark mage who destroys enemy, ally, and world alike’ was the evaluation written in the protest document my first employer, the Main God of the Divine Realm, sent to the Cyber Realm. Well, if I had erred even slightly the Main God Star itself might have been blown away, so I still feel truly sorry about it.”
Even merely recalling the event was horrifying, yet the explanation continued in an utterly nonchalant tone.
“To accept requests I sealed half of the Dimensional Authority for practical use and restructured the remaining power into the planetary category that produced the greatest destructive force among the dark magic I knew. However, physical-type dark magic did not work well on spiritual beings, so I suffered greatly. Maintaining the compressed planets in other dimensions for immediate deployment also required enormous computational power, making it extremely taxing. Still, thanks to that the development of the Main God Star became very easy, so the result was ultimately fortunate.”
Having spoken this far, the Dimensional Mage God pointed at the ring with his finger. The compressed grey domain immediately shifted onto the ring. It began radiating a dull grey light like a spotlight. Compared to the beginning the sense of threat had lessened. Yet Almighty Hwi realized the truth. That grey light, stabilized at the compression stage, was akin to primordial chaos; should it explode, it would shake even the immutable essence of gods. Unlike physical training or defensive power, a direct hit might annihilate even his own body.
“That narrow space is also the optimal area for dimensional destructive authorities such as my spacetime bomb to exert maximum power. Naturally, the closer it is to my body—the origin of the authority—the greater the force. The reason I have drawn out even the dimensional destructive authority, which I am not yet accustomed to and which is difficult to control with only half power, is…”
He politely placed his right hand over his chest and continued.
“…my resolution to do my utmost to show the greatest respect in a duel against the great Origin of the Almighty God Tribe and newly ascended Creator God, Almighty Hwi.”
It was a sincere statement from a Preliminary Creator God who surpassed ordinary Creator Gods. Yet the one receiving such courtesy—Almighty Hwi—found himself grinding his teeth involuntarily. The narrow ring was an absolutely advantageous arena for a war god possessing close-range authority. But after hearing the explanation, he realized it was also a target board prepared for concentrated wide-area bombardment and a trap that eliminated any room to dodge.
If that grey space truly was a spacetime bomb, it was dangerous whether one was an immortal god or not. An explosion of time and space would rip apart even the essence of a spiritual being. At this rate he could be shattered into fragments and vanish alongside his opponent.
Grind—! You don’t need to show the greatest respect or do your best—! What kind of insane resolution is this over a mere Lord God position? As expected of the worst and most heinous dark mage, it really is a spacetime bomb that basically says “let’s die together,” isn’t it?
The problem was his lingering attachment to the position and honor of Lord God, which became unnecessary once one properly became a Creator God. The Dimensional Mage God possessed enormous achievement rewards from the 500th Master Universe and Spirit Realm battles. Yet it was widely known that he had come close to subjugation for abusing his authority as a Main God—such as reviving demons on the battlefield.
Thus the Sage of Omniscience had proposed a negotiation: forgive the forgivable parts, and for the unforgivable ones, hand over the Lord God position—equivalent to a Creator God—in exchange for compensation. Since a Lord God position carried authority equal to a Creator God, power abuse would no longer be an issue; they could extract at least ten trillion vitality plus various conveniences.
Ten trillion vitality would solve the tribe’s chronic shortage and allow treatment and full recovery for the Main Gods as well.
If we can secure ten Main God Stars—each purchasable with one trillion vitality—the revival of the tribe will be virtually complete.
Even without the Lord God position, no Creator God would ignore the Origin of the revived Almighty Tribe or a powerful war god who had mastered the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors. There had been a comfortable path where everything could be resolved gradually afterward.
Why must I take such risks when I could have simply handed it over for compensation, just as the Sage of Omniscience suggested? Did I really believe I could ascend to Creator God so easily through the superiors’ consideration even though I had not completed the authentication battle?
It had been he himself who had furiously rejected the idea back then. The foolish him had failed to assess the situation calmly and had raged, asking whether the other party thought the Lord God position was something so trivial that it could be traded away for mere compensation.
Thanks to that, his current regret was endless.
Hmm—! I have become a Creator God, yet the debt I owe the superiors who helped me excessively is enormous. Yet creating a Main God Star is difficult with my own creative power—what kind of absurd situation is this? The sixteen trillion vitality received in exchange for accepting the Lord God battle must fill the deficit from the loan, so it is as good as nonexistent. And now the dimensional destructive authority is a spacetime bomb? There is no reason to leap into such danger merely for the position of Lord God.
As Almighty Hwi, his face completely rigid, suppressed his boiling frustration while staring at the ominously glowing grey illumination, the Dimensional Mage God was also letting out a sigh of relief internally.
The Cyber Realm had received vicious protests from clients whose planets and divine realms suffered catastrophic damage from that spacetime bomb. They had been threatened with the termination of all requests, forcing him to adjust the authority while swallowing his tears. Honestly, however, using that spacetime bomb was impossible. One mistake and his own essence could shatter into pieces and be scattered across countless dimensions.
Although I possess the greatest recovery and restoration by obtaining the title of Origin, true Dimensional Authority changes even the essence itself. If that happens it really is the end. I could end up fragmented like an amoeba.
The first time he used it he had barely survived a crisis where he truly should have died, but fortunately only his head remained intact. Even without the Cyber Realm’s threats, if he wished to live properly for a long time he must never use it. He had almost no intention of using it even in the decisive battle against Almighty Hwi.
The reason he had decided to display it at a minimum as a threat was separate.
Phew—! As expected, revealing that I resurrected the dead spirits caused little backlash because they were shocked by the spacetime bomb. Accepting the Planetary Gods and the Main Gods of the giant race also passed without much trouble. But have I really abused divine authority this often? Why does it never end? Still, I must clear everything out on this opportunity. If I’m not careful, even becoming Lord God will be the end. I cannot lose authority and legitimacy again and become a mere figurehead.
The difference between power abuse being exposed after becoming Lord God and somehow glossing over it, versus revealing everything beforehand, gaining acceptance, and only then becoming Lord God was as vast as heaven and earth. This was after he had already tasted bitter failure once by clumsily becoming the Main God of the Divine Realm. Therefore he could not reveal that the current messy method was a way to somehow justify these power abuses that could later become weaknesses and shameful stains.
Reviving demons could only be done by a Creator God, but the rest could be glossed over by taking advantage of this chaos and through negotiation. To achieve that he had to meet face-to-face with the ruling class of the Main Divine Realm and coordinate directly—hence this convoluted approach.
This time I will definitely become a proper leader and earn recognition from those around me. Since the request will succeed anyway, I can secure some personal profit this opportunity. But if I’m discovered it will be a big problem…
He knew all too well that if the two who had commissioned him learned these inner thoughts, he would not be allowed to die peacefully, and the anxiety gnawed at him.
The Origin of the Mage God was at least trustworthy, but his future self had become the Grey Absolute and now only chose completely insane actions.
Ah, damn it—! Isn’t something completely wrong here? Isn’t the standard pattern that the self from the future helps the past self live well? If the future became difficult because of the past self’s mistakes, the normal thing is to help the current me properly or emotionally move me onto a better path! So why is the me from the future killing the proxy of the Golden Absolute, the rank-one being of the Absolute Realm?
Purging the disrespectful ruling class is one thing, but why drag the Substitute Gods into the Absolute Realm and create this entire mess? If I am the past of the Grey Absolute, this only increases the number of people I would definitely kill—people I cannot handle. The future is not the problem; the present is about to end right now. Isn’t this guy completely crazy? Why does he keep doing things like this? I am not running wild over some ideal; I simply want to live well even if alone, so why is he acting this way?
Even now it was like this. If it interfered with the request, far from showing leniency to his past self, the future him would come at him even more viciously. Seeing his current behavior, the future self was more than capable of it. Therefore he had no choice but to hide the plan instead of consulting on it. And beyond the screen, the battle between the Main Gods and his own pope, saintess, Hero God and companion gods, and the High Elf Queens had finally ended.