The Hundred-Year Deception
The Otherworld War ended before I could even begin analyzing what they intended with their incantation. No, it seemed like he had only spoken the activation word. A post-incantation spell?
The stronger a mage’s spell, the longer the incantation required. Even for a 14th-circle Magic God of Dimensions like myself, any magic capable of violating Jinri’s immutability would demand an incantation of absurd length. Even the Grey Absolute—who could attach Yggdrasil, the strongest authority in the sage lineage, to Koa the planet-destroying bomb and fire it—could not escape this rule. Yet along with the activation word, a small hole tore open in space-time.
"Come forth."
"My beginning self."
“What?”
There was no time to be shocked. From the hole in space-time, a man wearing a black robe so tattered it resembled rags was violently dragged out and slammed straight into the ground.
THUD—!BOOM—!
He had been hauled through with such force that he could not even right himself before smashing into the earth. The sky and ground themselves seemed to scream as if they were collapsing. Or rather, they tried to. Only the sound of a mouth stretched wide and a raw shriek echoed.
The arena for the 10 Mainstays’ ranking battles appeared to be an ordinary plain, but it was a special space built to endure the shockwaves of combat. Its air and gravity were nothing like environments ordinary living beings or typical gods could survive.
Only those above the rank of Main God could endure this.
Watching the shabby man clutch his throat with both hands and thrash wildly, the Grey Absolute spoke in a tone of belated realization.
“Ah—! That’s right. This is a world ordinary beings cannot live in. My mistake. Survival.”
The Magic God of Dimensions was rendered speechless by the Grey Absolute, who had casually cast upon the man a spell guaranteeing survival in any space or environment whatsoever.
“You… you? Have you completely lost your mind?”
“Aren’t you the crazy one? A mere head of the Main Gods blocking the path on a request from the 10 Mainstays and asking random passersby. Everyone would call you insane.”
“……”
The Magic God of Dimensions had no retort for the Grey Absolute, who answered a legitimate question with mockery. Yet he was utterly floored by the sight of the ragged mage who had barely caught his breath and risen to his feet.
No need to ask who he is.
The seven circles of magical power drawn on the black robe—patched together after countless sword slashes until it became nothing but rags—served as all the identification needed. The way he had already regained his composure, radiating the fighting spirit and killing intent of a wild beast while warily scanning his surroundings in a combat stance, confirmed it beyond doubt.
“It’s me from my 8th-circle days. No wonder there was no incantation.”
It was himself from the time he had received a title, authority, and magic from Jinri and ascended to lower-god status at the 8th-circle. For a 14th-circle Magic God to summon an 8th-circle god from the past was practically a prank, so the incantation had been nearly nonexistent.
“But why summon the past? You know how dangerous that is.”
Even I, an 11th-circle Magic God of Dimensions, could summon my past self whenever I wished. However, the risk of the future self coming to the present and the risk of calling the past into the present were on entirely different levels.
The Grey Absolute—my future self—had been pulled from an already-erased future, so there was no major issue. Even if the present changed because of the future self, karma’s law, which valued only progress, would simply rewrite it into a better future.
And since that future was ultimately annihilated as the highest Main God of the Main Universe, someone like the Origin of the Mage God would not be affected.
Therefore, the past must never be summoned lightly. The past self was ultimately the current self. Changing the past would change the present. The resulting problem would dwarf the influence of manifesting an erased future self in the present.
Even the reality-denying power of a 14th-circle Magic God strong enough to reach the Grey Absolute had limits in erasing that influence.
If karma itself moves to correct it, even the 10 Mainstays have their limits.
When I checked exactly when I had summoned my 8th-circle past self, a long sigh escaped me.
Right after receiving power from Jinri and being promoted? I was extreme and impulsive back then. I rampaged without considering the consequences.
It was the period after I had nearly been killed by the High Elf Queens’ deception, barely surviving with my Master’s help, and reached the peak of my distrust toward the world. Having received a title, authority, and magic from Jinri, I had finally gained the strength to survive. At that time I placed no value on life and charged mercilessly at the High Elf Empire—the only world outside the Great Cavity.
Without the restraint against death that Jinri had placed on me, I would have fought until I died.
It was an era when life was so unbearably harsh that I had gone half-mad. If I had known the trials that awaited me in the future, the odds were high that I would have given up completely.
Karma’s power to modify reality—focused solely on progress—could have dealt the current me a blow equivalent to annihilation.
That’s why I ran my mouth so much back then, intending to beat some sense into him the hard way, but I never managed it. Influencing the past is practically suicide. I must send him back before he understands the situation.
Since he did not even know where or by whom he had been summoned, there was no problem yet. As long as he was sent back without learning anything, everything would remain fine. But the Grey Absolute clearly intended to make a spectacle of this.
Without any warning, he revealed the circles of magical power behind his back and spoke.
“Welcome, my beginning self. I am your future. I am one of the 10 Mainstays of the Absolute Realm—Jinri’s personal guard and direct subordinate—the Grey Absolute. A 14th-circle Magic God.”
“!!!”
You crazy bastard.
A groan escaped me involuntarily. My future self had just revealed the future directly to my past. The influence on reality could no longer be avoided. I braced myself for the shock as the world attempted to forcibly correct reality. Yet nothing happened.
“Huh?”
The words of disbelief slipped from my mouth. Karma showed no reaction whatsoever.
No matter how much the Magic God’s authority is based on denying reality, this should be impossible. It feels completely natural, as if this was always meant to happen. Don’t tell me—!
A shock flashed through my mind, and the seal on my memories shattered.
Ah—! That’s right. I did come here. And I met two future versions of myself. They were great Creator Gods and 10 Mainstays standing at the pinnacle of the Absolute Realm. What exactly did I hear and do back then?
Nearly all the memories resurfaced. My face twisted horribly.
I was scammed in the greatest con of my entire life.
My past self wore an expression of disbelief, then confirmed my existence through divine power and immediately recognized the truth. Past, present, or future—we were ultimately one and the same. Having reached the realm of gods, he realized it was himself.
His tension melted away, and he began asking questions.
“Is it truly possible for me to become one of the 10 Mainstays—specifically the Grey Absolute, the pinnacle of the sage lineage? If so, can I fulfill every promise I made to him and obtain freedom?”
“Of course—! It’ll all be finished in roughly a hundred years.”
“Only a hundred years? What kind of miraculous opportunities did you encounter for that to be possible? After ten years of research I barely understood the 8th-circle and despaired at the limits of my talent. Incredible. How did it happen? Did he intervene personally?”
“Let’s leave the process as a pleasure for the future. It was difficult, but it was rewarding.”
“That makes sense. If I can become one of the 10 Mainstays in a hundred years, I would endure any price.”
“As expected of my past self. So confident.”
“As long as there is hope of success, I can do anything. Don’t you agree, my future self?”
“Naturally. With certainty of success, I can endure any trial.”
Watching the Grey Absolute speak with a kind smile and gentle explanation completely unlike the way he treated me was absurd.
In current time it was indeed around a hundred years, but that was absolutely not the whole truth. Using my dimensional authority, I had multiplied training time to an insane degree compared to others.
You damn con-artist bastard. It wasn’t a natural hundred years, was it? How many years did you actually train under the Origin of the Mage God to become the Grey Absolute? At least tens of billions, right? Even the Wind Family, said to possess the greatest talent, only produces one 10 Mainstay level every ten thousand years. How could I possibly reach that in a hundred years? So that’s why my past self fell for this logically impossible nonsense and suffered so terribly.
Even I, after becoming head of the Main Gods, had been dragged to the Eternal Judgment on Wind Star as punishment for failing the standard after fully opening my title. Using dimensional magic to compress time, I had passed quickly, but the trial I personally endured lasted twenty thousand years.
On top of that, to serve as bait to lure out the Black Flame Absolute, I trained under the Origin of the Mage God for another thirty thousand years. Combined, it was over fifty thousand years of training worse than death.
Becoming one of the 10 Mainstays in a hundred years was not a lie, but it was hardly the truth either.
“And in only ninety years you became the head of the Main Gods of your Main Universe. As the top-ranked head of the Main Gods, you even took charge of the entire Divine Realm. All thanks to managing karma well and never giving up.”
“Indeed? Magnificent.”
My past self gazed at me—dressed in the formal attire of the head of the Main Gods—with a deeply moved expression. This appearance had been meticulously crafted through the tremendous efforts of the five phantom-beast Main Gods. The radiant circles of divine power, the golden full-body armor glowing with golden light, and even the perfectly styled hair created the image of a noble, majestic Creator God.
To the eyes of my past 8th-circle self, who had worn rags and lived like a starving beast, the sight brought tears to the verge of falling.
It’s the face a beggar would make upon seeing himself become king of the world. It’s almost embarrassing.
At the same time, an intense fighting spirit unbelievable for a lower god was surging upward. One look revealed tremendous emotion and flames of hope burning brightly.
That’s right. Back then I was desperately clinging to life. I had been on the verge of giving up on circles that refused to rise no matter what I did, yet suddenly I burned with strange confidence and hope. So this was the reason. The Grey Absolute must have sealed the memory before sending me back. That’s why no one ever knew.
Aside from Jinri, there was no one capable of noticing a memory seal placed directly by the Grey Absolute, the strongest being in the sage lineage.
“Hey—! My past self. No, I should call you my current self now. It is correct that you became the great head of the Main Gods in ninety years, right?”
“…It is.”
As if he could not cause trouble alone, he ended up dragging me into it as well. Still, I could not interfere.
If my past self falls into despair and gives up on everything, it will negatively affect my current self.
The circles were not rising no matter what, and he was exhausted from a life of hardship, nearly in a state of self-abandonment. If he learned he would have to endure over fifty thousand years of horrific trials and training, he would surely give up.
The probability that he would run away and hide—Creator God or 10 Mainstay be damned—is extremely high.
The time required would be incomparably longer, but there was also a path of comfortable research leading to the 10 Mainstays. However, if my 8th-circle self returned to the past and hid inside the Great Cavity without moving an inch, he would never receive the requests from the mercenary gods or the trials that had shaped the current me.
In that case, it is doubtful whether he would even reach the 9th-circle after a hundred years.
As a Magic God of reality denial, even if I suppressed the negative effects, the worst-case scenario could see most of my current divine power vanish. If my divine power plummeted, becoming head of the Main Gods would be canceled outright, and it was questionable whether I could even maintain my position as Main God of the Divine Realm.
Trials are opportunities. I’m sorry, my past self. If you become comfortable, I will be the one in trouble.
The Grey Absolute smiled at the unavoidable self-confirming answer and continued.
“Correct. Ninety years to become head of the Main Gods, and merely a hundred years to reach the 10 Mainstays. For a Transcendent, that is only half a lifetime to become a ruler of the Absolute Realm. I congratulate my past self on his hard work. If you strive harder, it can become even shorter, so I look forward to your future efforts.”
“Do not worry. Now that I know of such a future, there will be no giving up. I will definitely become the God of Light, rise to head of the Main Gods, and become one of the 10 Mainstays. I will spare no means or method in my efforts to ascend.”
“Excellent—! Splendid. This is also why I called you here—to encourage you. And I apologize, but when you return to your original time, I must seal all of your memories. I will only leave enough for your unconscious to hold the conviction that such a future may exist. Influencing the past too strongly causes side effects, which would be troublesome. As one of the 10 Mainstays responsible for maintaining the order and progress of the Absolute Realm, I have no choice.”
“I understand.”
Watching the Grey Absolute shamelessly scam his past self left me speechless.
What order and progress of the Absolute Realm? The moment you became the Grey Absolute you massacred the ruling class of the Grey Realm and dragged in the Substitute Race to flip the entire region upside down. Where do you get the nerve to spout such nonsense?
In the long term, it might have aided the Grey Realm’s development prospects, but the Magic God of Dimensions knew the truth. He had simply disliked the rude subordinates, wiped them out, and then fabricated a plausible cleanup so Jinri would not hold him accountable.
Sighing, I watched my past self fall so easily for my future self’s words.
“But is this your entire purpose? You would not have taken the risk of summoning your past self for something so trivial.”
“As expected—! The me of this era was a little more knowledgeable about the ways of the world. I have a request.”
“The future me who has become one of the 10 Mainstays needs help from me—an 8th-circle lower god?”
The doubt was perfectly natural. Logically, such a thing should be impossible. But I already had a rough idea of what he was planning.
“The beginning me, the current me, and the future me will combine our strength to manifest absolute magic. Through the impossible distortion of reality where past, present, and future overlap, I will prove my power and thereby demonstrate my value and loyalty to Jinri.”
In simple terms, it was the straightforward conclusion that since signing the Sword of Ruin and Soul could not be done alone, they would do it together.