The Trade for the Grey Wind Star
The divine power pouring from the Eternal Beings—each one wielding over a quadrillion in raw strength—threatened to swallow the sky above the Otherworld War. In truth, it had already reached near-saturation. The overflow rippled beyond the planet itself, hammering against the barrier the gods of the Otherworld had desperately erected. The defensive membrane looked ready to shatter at any moment, and the faces of the enemy deities reflected in it were twisted with pure terror.
Most of them were merely Main Gods possessing around a billion in divine power. Creator Gods were almost nonexistent among their ranks. There was simply no way they could withstand Eternal Beings who each commanded over a quadrillion in divine power while also wielding absolute authorities. And there were not just a few of them—over five million. The pressure was beyond anything they could endure. Countless gods of war were already fainting where they stood.
Watching the spectacle through a projected screen, the Grey Absolute let out a chilling laugh.
“Heh heh heh—! Pathetic. Truly pathetic. Fainting from mere fighting spirit when you call yourselves gods of war? What kind of insignificant trash deities are you? No wonder the Ten Centers don’t even bother looking at the Otherworld.”
He turned slightly. “What are your impressions after seeing the Wind Family’s main force, current me?”
“……”
The Dimensional Mage God kept his mouth firmly shut.
Of course I’m shocked enough to have my breath stolen away.
Five million beings at the level of the Ten Centers sounded absurd in words alone, but seeing it in person was utterly ridiculous. When every last one of them was an Eternal Being, it finally made sense why the Ten Centers and the ninety billion members of the clan constantly wrangled over control of the Absolute Realm.
If there were just eighteen powerhouses on the level of the Origin of the Mage God, the war would already be over.
If nine of them tied down the Ten Centers while the other nine struck at each Wind Star and dragged the conflict into a war of attrition, there would be no countermeasure. Even if the absolute racial authority granted every clan member divinity equal to the Ten Centers, it came with a time limit. The highest-ranking members could maintain it for only an hour at most. Lower members lasted mere minutes. There was no way they could defeat that many Wind Family warriors in such a short window.
And if the Second Generation Wind Absolute—ranked second overall but first in pure combat ability—joined the fray, even the Ten Centers would be in danger. Besides, Eternal Beings are literally eternal.
No matter how devastating the attack, the consumption of divine power or the death of the body meant nothing to them. They simply reverted to their original state. Only the strongest sage technique, Yggdrasil, could deal with them. This was precisely why Eternal Beings with a mere ten trillion in divine power could rule as Creators of the Main Universe.
Yet here were beings with a hundred times that power, millions of them swarming like insects, still complaining they were lacking and devoting themselves to further training. It was beyond comprehension.
The Wind Family possesses five million Eternal Beings with a quadrillion divine power each. And they increase by one every ten thousand years? If they also carry the Origin’s authority, then what possible use could we have? Even a tiny fraction of the Wind Family could conquer and rule the Absolute Realm, the Main Universe, and the Otherworld without the slightest difficulty. So why in the world do the Ten Centers and the various clans even exist?
It was only natural to have such questions, but since Jinri was involved, he had no choice but to let it go.
Asking too many questions will only give me a headache.
And by “headache,” he meant literally being beaten until his skull cracked. He could not ask Jinri directly, so he would have to question the Origin of the Mage God. But there was no chance the old man would answer nicely. In fact, the probability of being punished for asking something even the Origin himself might not know was extremely high.
“Now do you believe me? I told you, didn’t I? Even serving as Jinri’s proxy isn’t that big a problem. The territory Jinri received after smashing the Otherworld is a dead universe completely devoid of life. There are only rocks and gas planets. There’s nothing to do. The real issue is the other rulers requesting cooperation, right?”
A vicious laugh escaped from beneath the Grey Absolute’s robe as he spoke of brutal measures.
“Kick them all to the curb. Kill every bastard who enters your domain without permission. That’ll shut them up. Half-kill the ones in charge among the rulers so they never come back. Show them the stick a few times and they’ll be begging you to return. Then you can come back.”
“……”
The moment he said he was being dispatched to the Otherworld, Jinri had personally granted him the name “Dimension Creator God Coa.” Suddenly his future self had become strangely kind. He was even using dimensional authority to provide detailed information about the current state of the Otherworld, Jinri’s intentions, and the exact location where he would carry out his proxy duties.
All of this was happening while the other Ten Centers watched with great interest. Yet his future self spoke as if none of it mattered, casually suggesting he kill anything that got in his way.
He’s talking about a proxy mission from Jinri like it’s the duty of a God of Destruction, and the other Ten Centers are nodding along. So that really must be how it is.
There was clearly some deeper scheme at work, but what bothered him more was how suddenly accommodating his future self had become.
These people want something from me.
Still, it was absurd that the Ten Centers would want anything from a mere Creator God of the Main Universe.
“What are you thinking? Or rather, what do you want?”
“Ah—! Well, you see…”
The Grey Absolute paused for a moment as if caught off guard, then finally revealed his true purpose.
“Hand over the Black Flame Creator Great God Seongmyeol to me and go to the Otherworld. No, I need the Grey Wind Star that has fused with Seongmyeol. There’s no way you’ll need either Seongmyeol or the Wind Star in the Otherworld, so I’ll take good care of them for you.”
“……”
A Wind Star could replenish an infinite amount of vitality and divine power, something that could not even be compared to the sun and moon of the Main Universe’s Origin. The Grey Wind Star had already fused with Seongmyeol and was one of the main reasons his power was increasing so rapidly. Because he and Seongmyeol were one and the same, he monopolized the Wind Star’s vitality, causing his divine power and physical level to skyrocket as if in a rampage.
Such a treasure could not be ignored even by the Ten Centers. The higher one’s mastery of magic, the greater the vitality and equivalent divine power required. Even for a 14th-circle Dimensional Mage God, it was priceless.
The Grey Absolute did spam magic to the point that even my ultra-fast natural recovery as a Dimensional Mage God couldn’t keep up. But in the end, it’s that again? What a persistent bastard. He’s a suicidal maniac, yet from the very beginning he’s been trying to secure the Wind Star for himself no matter what.
When he sent an incredulous stare at the Grey Absolute, the latter immediately flared up.
“What’s with that look? Are you looking at me like I’m a thief? I’m not even asking you to give it to me. I’m asking you to lend it. No, since you and I are originally one, that doesn’t even apply. Why would we distinguish between yours and mine when we’re the same person? Above all, the Grey Wind Star belongs to the Grey Absolute, not to you, the Creator God King. Honestly, I’ve stirred up too much trouble. I can’t handle it alone. First, I need to throw a few Creator God King Stars onto the front lines to distract those things and split their forces.”
The Grey Realm was still locked in a desperate, life-or-death struggle between the Substitute Gods and the major races of the Absolute Realm. Every Creator Great God from the Main Universe had gathered, and they had mobilized nearly all remaining Main Gods except for the absolute minimum needed for defense. It was an all-out war.
The forces of the Absolute Realm, who had lost more than half their territory in an instant after their highest-ranking warriors were annihilated by the Grey Absolute’s surprise attack, were equally desperate. Although they had lived peacefully under the proxy rule of the Golden Absolute, powerhouses comparable to Creator Gods were appearing one after another to join the fight, as expected of the Absolute Realm. Some powerful Creator Gods had already been extinguished by them, and naturally the other side had suffered even greater losses. The atmosphere was vicious beyond description.
Both sides have been mindlessly beating each other senseless, and even the highest ruling class has been dying off. They’re both on the verge of completely losing it.
It had already become a brutal battlefield where words could no longer stop the carnage. If the Grey Absolute stepped forward again, it would end immediately, but given his personality and authority, a massive number of casualties would be inevitable. That would put the development of the Grey Realm in jeopardy.
Until now, he had simply purged the incompetent ruling class that consumed excessive vitality relative to their positions and power. But if even the competent key figures began dying, the Grey Realm’s overall strength would plummet. Although the Ten Centers were granted absolute freedom to do whatever they wanted within their own domains, regression was the one sin that would never be forgiven. That was likely why the Grey Absolute was acting this way.
Perhaps the reason he was so insistent on sending him to the Otherworld was related to this as well.
Throwing them Creator God King Stars is like tossing out food to make them pause for a moment. He plans to replenish the vitality and the number of powerhouses lost during the war with those stars.
While they could not compare to a Wind Star, the value of a Main God Star—which possessed ten thousand times the vitality of an ordinary planet—a Creator God Star with a million times that amount, or a Creator God King Star with a hundred million times that amount was higher than any planet in the Absolute Realm.
It would be more than enough to recover from the damage suffered during the war and still have plenty left over.
If such a delicious bait as a Creator God King Star appeared, both sides would immediately focus their forces there. They would avoid destroying the planet and reach a temporary truce of sorts.
As he was thinking this, the Grey Absolute’s irritated voice continued.
“So just hand it over already, you bastard! Why are you holding onto something you can’t even use properly? But since this guy is me, there’s no way he’ll give it up. Argh! How do I knock some sense into this version of myself?”
He absolutely had to take it, but the authentication was tied to the current self. Moreover, since it had been fused with Seongmyeol, there was no way to seize it by force. When he also considered his own personality that absolutely refused to take any loss, it seemed there was no solution, which only fueled his frustration.
Of course, he had never intended to hand it over in the first place. However, his thoughts had shifted slightly.
He’s right. Creating even the lowest Main God Star takes me at least a year. But if it’s the Grey Absolute with a Wind Star, it would take only a few days. Even a Creator God King Star, which requires ten thousand times more time, could be completed within a year. The beginning and end of a war are determined by profit rather than pure strength, so creation power is the most important factor right now. And I need more allies.
Although it was only the Main Universe, becoming a Creator God King—a member of the upper echelon—had made him realize just how comfortably he had been living. His life had been hanging by a thread based on evaluations from those around him that he himself wasn’t even aware of.
If he had maintained a good relationship with the Ten Centers, this incident would have been something he could laugh off. But because they were so vicious, he had ended up taking on everything from serving as Jinri’s proxy in the Otherworld to the revival of the Dragon God race that even the Second Generation Wind Absolute had given up on.
Above all, the fact that the substitute gods would pretend to lose when he stepped forward—while they immediately started duels the moment the insane Grey Absolute acted—had left a deep impression.
They said to bestow favor and create debt. This is also an investment, I suppose.
Moreover, after seeing the situation in the Otherworld, there were things he absolutely needed to prepare. Like the Grey Absolute said, one option was to do nothing and ignore all requests, but if bad rumors about the Main Universe began to spread, it would be impossible to handle.
Since Jinri’s territory in the Otherworld contained nothing, he had to prepare thoroughly before going.
If I ignore it and go on strike like Jinri, it will cause problems for me for a long time. Even if it can’t be helped, who would give another chance to someone who performed their mission in such a disastrous way? Until I become the Origin of the Dimension God Race and create my own clan, I am alone. Outstanding results are absolutely necessary.
Only those at the level of the Ten Centers could ignore others’ evaluations. Everyone else had to be extremely cautious. And he was at the very bottom among those others. As the current Grey Absolute, no one would dare say anything to his face, but he had no way to block indirect evaluations from those around him.
That was why he finally spoke to his future self, who was still fuming and rambling incoherently.
“I’ll lend it to you.”
“Yeah, you bastard. I know you don’t want to give it up, but just hand it over! I helped you with this request too, didn’t I? I’m doing this much for you, but you’re going to be stingy and not even lend it?”
“Listen to what people say! I said I’ll lend it!”
The Grey Absolute had already assumed he would refuse to lend it and had spat out a ridiculous answer, causing the words to burst out involuntarily. The fact that he was bringing up this request again made it clear how much he intended to milk the situation.
“Huh? I’m lending it to myself?”
Startled by the shout, the Grey Absolute asked again a moment later. It was exactly the same tone and question he himself had used earlier.
“What are you thinking? Or rather, what do you want?”
“Ah—! Well, you see…”
As expected, the same tone and the same troublesome request. While he was hesitating and secretly conveying his answer through will, the Grey Absolute’s eyes gradually grew fiercer. In the end, curses exploded out.
“Damn it—! You crazy bastard—! The kind advice and fair warnings from those around you telling you to go do a decent job since it’s a proxy mission—are you ignoring those too? What kind of mess are you planning to cause by doing whatever you want again? You’ve completely lost it just because you became the Creator God King?”
“Ah, damn it—! You insane Grey who’s practically certified as crazy shouldn’t be saying that to me, the Creator God King! Take those words back right now—!”
Watching the current Dimensional Mage God and the future Grey Absolute cursing each other for being crazy, the Black Flame Absolute spat out a string of crude language.
“Both the present and the future are a pair of lunatics. Let’s please never associate with each other again.”
The Black Flame Absolute realized that the more he dealt with these incomprehensible madmen, the more it dragged his own dignity down.