The Golden Decree
In the war of the Otherworld, with all the 10 Centers of nearly equal power gathered here, he still possessed enough final reason not to commit the foolish act of rampaging wildly. He immediately attempted a spatial teleport, his form beginning to blur. At that moment, the Golden Absolute’s voice rang out like a thunderclap.
“As the rank one of the Absolute Realm, I, Ariolina Ramases II, hereby decree: The Black Flame Absolute’s movement to the Main Universe is prohibited.”
Those words became an unbreakable law, seizing the Black Flame Absolute’s fading figure and snapping it back into sharp clarity. The Absolute Realm was a hundred times larger than an ordinary Main Universe, and 498 other Main Universes stood as barriers between them. An authority capable of crossing that distance in a single instant without support from the Absolute Realm or the Cyber Realm was almost nonexistent. In truth, it was no exaggeration to say that the only example was the dimensional spatial movement the Grey Absolute had displayed when he reduced his own domain to ash in a single month.
Puhahahaha—!
“Golden—!”
The Black Flame Absolute, now transformed into a three-meter-tall muscular giant, erupted with black flames amplified to their limit by pure rage. The inferno surged straight toward the Golden Absolute who had blocked his self-teleport. At maximum output, this was a power that could temporarily shatter an Eternal Being’s immortality, burn them to cinders, and scatter their ashes.
Yet the Golden Absolute simply swung the golden spear gripped in his right hand, dispersing the Black Flame’s destructive authority as if it were smoke.
Whoosh!Shraaaaaak—!
“!?”
The Black Flame Absolute watched his own flames die like a candle before a storm in the face of the golden authority radiating from that spear, and his fury froze for an instant. In his excited state, instinct warned him that he could not endure a strike from that golden spear—one that so easily dismantled even the Black Flame authority, the fusion of fighting spirit and killing intent. Even the incomplete Always Coin Heads was sending ambiguous danger signals.
He urgently wrapped his reason around the Black Flame authority once more and drove it back into the realm of pure instinct. Then, like a mantra, he carved the words into his mind.
No amount of anger or hatred can ever completely erode the reason of the one who was once the greatest sage of the Absolute Realm.
That was the sole reason and value behind his ascension to Black Flame Absolute. In one swift motion he shoved the madly rampaging authority deep into his instincts.
Anyway, with the Golden Absolute openly prohibiting spatial movement like this, there’s no way to move. Given Black Flame’s nature—trading nearly all other authorities for supreme physical power—reaching the Main Universe under my own strength is extremely difficult.
In the worst case he would have to leap from star to star. To reject the prohibition, he simply needed to defeat the Golden Absolute. Yet even though the Grey Absolute’s self-destruction had wounded him, the fact that the Golden Absolute could neutralize the Black Flame authority so easily proved the gap in power remained vast. It was like witnessing the true depth of the Golden Absolute, who had held unshakable rank one for more than five hundred billion years.
“Black Flame Absolute. No—Luka Eiles II. Did you truly believe simple brute force would work against fellow 10 Centers? As one who neither reigns nor dominates the Absolute Realm but controls and manages it, reclaim your reason. Do not insult the Truth who bestowed that name upon you, trusting in your potential for growth even though you are not yet fully complete. We cannot tolerate a 10 Center causing direct disturbance in a Main Universe. Long-distance spatial movement is forbidden until the ranking war concludes.”
“Understood.”
Boom—!
The Black Flame Absolute, having completely suppressed his berserk state, sat down on the spot. He did not shrink his enlarged three-meter body, so even seated his eye level matched the other 10 Centers. His face, hard as stone, made his displeasure at the prohibition perfectly clear. The Golden Absolute’s will reached him like a soothing gesture.
It is clearly a trap set by the Grey one. You are the only one who did not get caught in the Grey Absolute’s self-destruction, which was triggered while the Sole Dragon God Emperor was absent. He means to draw you out to the ranking war’s battlefield by any means and strike at you. Therefore, refrain from moving for now. In everyone’s current condition, if you do not stand at the forefront to block him, we cannot win when the Sole Dragon God Emperor exerts his full power. Should the Sole Dragon God Emperor become rank one, he will be able to petition Truth directly. There is then a possibility that the Wind Family’s seal can be completely lifted.
At the words Wind Family, the Black Flame Absolute’s brows furrowed deeply. The Wind Family was an overwhelmingly powerful clan that represented Truth’s bloodline. The Origins of the Wind Family, who had perfectly mastered the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors—the second-ranked authority in the Absolute Realm—and acquired other absolute authorities on top of that, were truly a headache.
While fully aware of the danger their power posed, they interfered with the Absolute Realm and the Main Universes as they pleased under the justification of contributing to Truth’s eternal development. When he and the Black Flame clan grew angry, they might destroy a small portion of the surroundings, but compared to the damage caused by the Wind Family’s meddling, it was laughable. The incident in which they created the Substitute Race and replaced most of the dominant species across other Main Universes was merely the tip of the iceberg. Behind every major event that shook the Absolute Realm and the Main Universes, the Wind Family was always present.
Why would the Grey one do this? If he bears a grudge, why not settle it in the ranking war? Why resort to such a troublesome scheme?
It is presumed to be in order to elevate the Sole Dragon God Emperor to rank one. Most likely the Origins of the Wind Family have moved.
Those bastards again? Persistent fools—!
The sharp gazes of the Golden and Black Flame Absolutes turned toward the Origins of the Wind Family’s god race and demon race, who were maintaining the barrier that blocked the ranking war’s aftershocks. A killing-intent-filled stare from the 10 Centers could crush most beings in the Absolute Realm, yet they simply returned the look with faint smiles.
The Wind Family is a clan of Transcendents that pursues power. They do not avoid battle with strong enemies—they welcome it.
The newly appeared Origin of the Wind Family even waved his hand, as if delighted by their murderous glares.
This is an invitation to fight if we wish.
No matter that they were Origins of the Wind Family, they were ultimately lower in rank and decisively weaker. Yet to dare act so arrogantly toward them caused the Black Flame authority, which had been suppressed in the realm of instinct, to twitch once more.
Grind—! Those insolent bastards—! How long must we tolerate the Origins of the Wind Family running wild like this?
Endure it. Our projected forces are still at a disadvantage. Do not forget—they are beings who have perfectly mastered the Incomprehensible Eight Ancestors. We cannot know what additional forces the Wind Family may possess.
Hmm—! The seventh lineage hereditary transmission is the problem. Can’t we ask Truth to impose some restrictions on it? They can mass-produce them after creating just one; this is far too unfair. It makes no sense, does it?
I have already tried. But he refuses to hear anything that opposes development. And ultimately, the development of the Wind Family—where Transcendents of every race gather—is also the development of the world itself. There is nothing to be done.
After becoming rank one, the Golden Absolute had made countless suggestions out of concern for the Wind Family’s growing monopoly, but none had been accepted. If it had been mere favoritism toward bloodline, there might have been room to argue, but the condition of possessing the star called Wind Star, which held infinite vitality, and maintaining a clan was the same for all 10 Centers.
Even when we endure being correct and persistently petition, we are scolded that we cannot match even one of them despite having eight Wind Stars, leaving us unable to say another word.
The hereditary transmission varied in level according to the degree of training, yet it was a fraudulent authority that should never have existed—one that allowed descendants to surpass their progenitors and erased the limits of an entire species. Thanks to it, the Wind Family produced a 10 Center-level powerhouse at a rate of one every ten thousand years. The Wind Family had already existed for five hundred billion years. That meant as many as five million 10 Center-level powerhouses could exist within it.
A force possessing five million powerhouses who did not fear but actually welcomed battle against the 10 Centers was a terrifying thing. Moreover, that number was still increasing at this very moment.
It was doubtful whether even eight Absolutes of the Wind Family, activating their racial authority and mobilizing the entire clan in an all-out war, could suppress them. The greatest problem was that even now—with fewer than ten Origins of the Wind Family recognized by Truth for their ability and contributions active—the situation was already precariously dangerous. If more than five million Origins of the Wind Family began interfering across the Absolute Realm and the Main Universes, it would threaten not merely control but the very survival of the current order.
The Wind Family, having achieved extreme evolution by gathering Transcendents of every race, would surely attempt to elevate their relatively inferior kin to the same level. The Golden Absolute understood the logic, yet the consequences would be catastrophic.
What is wrong with the Origins of the Wind Family assisting ascension? Because every living being and spiritual body currently existing would be judged substandard and excluded, forcing a cataclysmic revolution tantamount to extinction. Just as the god race and demon race suffered at the hands of the Substitute Race created to replace them.
Of course it would be temporary, but it would still be a disaster bordering on annihilation. As the Golden Absolute commanded by Truth to ensure the endless development of the Absolute Realm and the Main Universes, he could not tolerate even a moment of destruction. The current level was optimal. For that reason, the Sole Dragon God Emperor had to remain at rank two. Should he rise to rank one and gain the right to petition Truth, the probability that the Wind Family’s seal would be lifted was extremely high.
There are no further variables. Therefore I will block all spatial movement leading outward for the time being. I ask for your understanding.
“Got it.”
It was regrettable that he could not finish off the Main Universe’s Creator God who had dared call him a rampaging berserker, but the statement was factually true, so open action was impossible. And when the Golden Absolute took this firm a stance, the matter had to be postponed.
Though it truly displeases me, the Dimensional Mage God—the past self of Grey from the Black Flame clan—will surely repay this rudeness somehow.
In such a confined space, a melee was Black Flame’s specialty. Though he might be the lowest of the low, there was no chance a member of the Black Flame race would lose to a Main Universe Creator God under those conditions.
Having thus calmed his excitement and exchanged wills with the Golden Absolute, the Black Flame Absolute drew no further attention. The other 10 Centers, having lost interest, refocused on the screen displaying the ongoing battle. Then an incomprehensible remark reached them.
“Huh? He’s dead.”
“It’s over.”
“Why is the Black Flame clan so weak?”
“Hmm?”
They looked at the screen in a hurry, and an unbelievable scene unfolded. It was the hollow defeat of the Black Flame clan, considered the strongest in close combat even within the Absolute Realm.
Shaaaaash—!
Crack—!
The image showed the Dimensional Mage God’s neck being severed by Hwi’s full-powered hand chop before he could even react, his head flying into the air. No matter how powerful the being, if it possessed a physical body, a severed neck meant death. That rule applied even to the 10 Centers. There were no higher life forms that survived decapitation; it was only natural.
Even Hwi himself, the one who had delivered the blow, looked bewildered by such a simple conclusion.
Puhahaha!
Rumble rumble rumble—!
Yet the body of the decapitated Dimensional Mage God spurted blood from the neck and toppled backward. It finally struck the ground with a heavy crash.
Kuuuung—!
The head that had rocketed upward from the sheer speed and power of the strike was still rising. The opponent was a powerful war god recognized as at least a mid-level Creator God. Even though it had been a heartfelt strike delivered with full force, there was no way it should have ended so anticlimactically.
This can’t be? This can’t be right? There’s no way that guy would die so easily?
The Dimensional Mage God, who had wielded such mighty magic, had died from a single blow to the neck without activating any defense or authority. Such an outcome was impossible.
Is this an illusion created by magic? But there cannot be an illusion that works on a Creator God. The physical sacrifice he used on lower gods? The entire body? Exchanging death for victory? That’s nonsense—!
Even a Creator God with a physical body would die if his neck was severed. Trading lives to win would only result in a draw, and a draw was no different from defeat; he would never do such a thing. Still, Hwi retreated as far as possible in haste and kept his guard up.
Considering the persistent combat the Dimensional Mage God had displayed until now, there was no way it would end like this. Yet the situation of Hwi’s victory did not change. The Dimensional Mage God’s body, collapsed on the arena floor, twitched as if in seizure before going still. The head that had soared into the sky began to fall without any reaction.
There was no sign of a counterattack anywhere—only a fading life force could be felt.
The Dimensional Mage God was definitely unable to withstand even a single one of my strikes and has been defeated.
It clearly was not an illusion. He could sense that every being watching this scene was extremely shocked by the utterly hollow outcome of the battle. An illusion capable of deceiving not only himself, the Creator God facing the opponent directly, but every other observer as well was truly impossible.
Yet it was an undeniable fact that, no matter how strong Hwi was, he could not possibly kill a being who had reached mid-level Creator God this easily. Even in the face of clear death by decapitation, he did not dare relax his guard. In a state of extreme tension he continued to analyze whether it was an illusion or reality.
Illusions operated within uniform and limited domains. Within the perceptual field he had expanded to the maximum in order to grasp the exact truth with full power, a thought mixed with an emotion and will different from astonishment was caught.
That magic? Is that Main God truly a black magician of the Root School—and even its sect leader? So in the end, that is how they reached godhood.
Swish—!
He turned his head at once, concentrating his perception to locate the being emitting the alien thought. Now it was definitely not an illusion. You could not insert another thinking entity into an illusion.
Even if that entity was a parrot that had lost nearly all its red feathers.