Jinri's Rebuke
The situation in the Otherworld War was identical across the other Main Divine Realms. The Magic God of Dimensions had been judged a High-ranking Creator God, yet his qualification as Origin of the Dimensional Clan was reported as impossible to activate due to insufficient Innate Divine Power. The evaluation had been further downgraded after being deemed an overestimation caused by divine power amplified through dark magic. It was only natural that his victory in the Spirit Realm battle was attributed entirely to Almighty Hwi’s power, with the Magic God of Dimensions’ contributions dismissed as mere luck. In the end, the Magic God of Dimensions’ combat strength was assessed at the level of a mid-tier Creator God, and reports uniformly stated that two or more Lord God Generals could subdue him. Therefore, if all nine Main Divine Realms coordinated their response, war would be avoided. The matter was brushed aside as nothing more than a formal notice.
‘It’s a stretch, but our necks are on the line. We have no choice.’
The Lord God Generals had devoted themselves solely to training. Administrative Lord Gods handled all practical matters and only presented them with neatly organized reports. When those same Administrative Lord Gods delivered the shockingly low evaluation of the Magic God of Dimensions—the man who had somehow defeated Almighty Hwi in single combat—the Lord God Generals naturally grew suspicious. Yet because the Administrative Lord Gods managed all data, they accepted the assessment as accurate.
‘Above all, the desire to believe that the Magic God of Dimensions, who had suddenly claimed the top rank among Lord God Generals, was weak and simply lucky was so overwhelming that it clouded their judgment.’
None of them imagined that an entity existed who had watched the entire process—from the Administrative Lord Gods’ biased reporting to the surrounding Main Divine Realms’ reactions—without missing a single detail.
The Grey Absolute had been frantically busy normalizing the Grey Realm, yet the sudden contact from the Magic God of Dimensions made him lash out.
He had scolded the Magic God of Dimensions, but unease still gnawed at him. Using the deepest layers of Idea—a region even the Brain Gods could not access—he investigated the situation. The moment he confirmed the insubordination against the Magic God of Dimensions, the subsequent handling of it, and the movements in the surrounding Main Divine Realms, a smile formed on his lips.
‘His subordinate Spirit Lord Gods would have been so frustrated their hearts might burst just from reading reports, yet he’s taking the time to persuade them one by one. He really has changed.’
In the past, he would have instantly gathered every Lord God in the Lord God Temple, declared war on the other Main Divine Realms, and thrown the entire divine realm into chaos before the conflict even began as opposing gods rebelled. Seeing him inform them beforehand and persuade them individually suggested he would not run wild alone this time. For someone weaker than proper Creator Gods to become a Lord God General and still behave so recklessly would have made survival nearly impossible.
“I was worried he would stir up trouble again, but he’s handling this step by step. As expected, a higher position has improved him somewhat. This much is acceptable for now. The real problem is me. What should I do about this?”
The Grey Absolute shifted his gaze from the screen illuminating the Master Universe toward the incomprehensibly high sky above. This location was a planet at the very center of the Grey Realm’s battlefield. In the surrounding space, the Substitute Gods—massive silver orbs firing God Destruction Cannons—and the gods continued their brutal, desperate struggle.
The Creator Great Gods had seized more than half the territory of the Grey Realm within the Absolute Realm and successfully enlarged their bodies to nearly the scale of Main God Stars. With their authorities strengthened as well, they rampaged wildly, unleashing God Destruction Cannons at their enemies. Their opponents, however, were elite powerhouses even by Absolute Realm standards, making the fight far from easy. The Creator Great Gods, who would have been nearly unmatched in the Master Universe save for a handful of exceptions, now found themselves in a difficult battle.
While their numbers were limited to only a few hundred, the newly emerging powerhouses from the Absolute Realm already exceeded several thousand and continued to grow. They were also growing stronger by replacing the ruling class the Grey Absolute had slain. The physical size disparity was so vast that some beings had begun increasing their own bodies and abilities to match the Substitute Gods. These entities appeared to have studied the Substitute Gods; they were similar yet undeniably more powerful.
‘They’re on the verge of being driven out of the Grey Realm by the Substitute Gods, so they’re throwing every last hidden force they have into the fight.’
The thunderous impacts of silver planet-shaped Creator Great Gods and equally colossal giants engaged in brutal melee echoed across the front lines. As expected, the Absolute Realm held the clear advantage in the number of elite fighters.
KWAAAAAAAANG—!BOOM—!
Dozens of Absolute Realm powerhouses swarmed a single Creator Great God. No matter how superior the Substitute Gods’ Creator Great Gods were—possessing over ten times the vitality and defensive power of ordinary gods—they were struggling. Yet while the elite fighters were outnumbered, the Substitute Gods possessed countless Lord Gods of their own clan.
These beings had once been Creator Gods of the Master Universe. Defeated by Jinri, their emotions suppressed and bodies remodeled, they nevertheless carried Jinri’s undeniable blessing regarding strength. Thanks to it, they had shed their former weakness and grown powerful enough to stand against the Absolute Realm’s elites. Having absorbed the vitality of the Absolute Realm to increase their size, they guarded the Creator Great Gods, hurling themselves forward to pressure the enemy lines.
The uncountable Lord Gods of the Substitute Clan crashed into the Absolute Realm’s powerhouses like a torrential downpour, relentlessly pushing them back.
‘Push forward. Just a little more and victory is ours.’
‘We must secure at least sixty percent of the territory to maintain our advantage.’
‘Even if you perish in battle, restoration will be the highest priority. Do not miss this chance to enter the Absolute Realm.’
Had the Grey Absolute not used the justification of insubordination to eliminate the entire previous ruling class of the Grey Realm, they would never have gained a foothold, let alone claimed half the territory. The power gap had always been too vast; no clan from the Master Universe had ever established itself in the Absolute Realm. Securing a position in a realm with nearly a hundred times the vitality density was the dream of every clan from the Master Universe.
‘An opportunity that will never come again.’
Thus, the Creator Great Gods—who had previously left all combat to the Lord Gods and merely served their Creator Lords—now charged into the front lines with fervent zeal, as though their suppressed emotions had reawakened. Several had already been destroyed under concentrated assault from the Absolute Realm’s elites, yet none retreated. Even as they shattered into pieces, their morale-shaking divine words encouraged the Substitute Clan’s Lord Gods and shook the entire battlefield.
Once they absorbed sufficient vitality, they began to wage a clearly superior war against the Grey Realm’s forces.
‘Until now, the total volume of vitality meant there were no major issues. But the next phase is a disaster. I never imagined they would risk the very survival of their clan and step forward directly.’
The Substitute Gods had already committed to total war, yet the Grey Realm still possessed unfathomable reserves. Those reserves were none other than the Origins of the clans. These beings had left clan management to their successors and devoted themselves entirely to training. They could not tolerate the catastrophic damage that threatened the clan’s very existence or the loss of their territories. Now they were preparing to enter the war.
‘Their power surpasses the previous ruling class, but they are still weaker than the Creator Great Gods who have absorbed the Absolute Realm’s vitality.’
The strength of an Origin lay in the creation and enhancement of their clan, not in direct combat. The Grey Absolute cared little whether the weak lived or died, but these beings were different.
‘They cannot be allowed to die, yet they insist on fighting. Unlike the previous rulers, they cannot be replaced immediately. If even one perishes, the Grey Realm’s rate of development will plummet instantly.’
The death of Creator Great Gods—who oversaw most vitality production in the Master Universe—was already a serious matter. Yet vitality naturally generated within the Absolute Realm or created by his own hand could be managed. The Origins of the Absolute Realm’s clans were another story entirely. Their death would drastically weaken their entire clan. Should all the Origins now preparing to join the battle be annihilated, even he would require an additional volume of vitality so enormous it would leave him dizzy. They were irreplaceable powerhouses.
‘As Jinri said, these Origins are treasures of the Absolute Realm. Losing them without any countermeasures would be catastrophic.’
Even now, including the vitality from the Creator God King Stars he himself had created, he was barely within Jinri’s permitted threshold. The worst-case scenario of the Absolute Realm Origins’ annihilation would leave him in true peril. The image of an enraged Jinri mercilessly striking him with the Sword of Ruin and Soul as the Grey Realm’s development level crashed to rock bottom flashed through his mind.
‘Maintaining development superiority of more than two circles above the Master Universe is the sole duty imposed upon the 10 Centers, who are otherwise forgiven for all actions.’
Yet that critical duty was now in jeopardy. He knew that direct intervention could stop the war, but he also understood he must not step forward in the current situation. Doing so might only pour oil on the flames.
‘The Substitute Gods do not know this, but the Origins will not obey me even if it costs them their lives. After all, I executed their successors for insubordination. There is no reason they would listen.’
When he had punished the rebellion, it had felt refreshing. Yet that very act left him without legitimate justification to intervene with the Grey Realm’s clans. Or rather, the Origins had no reason to follow the Grey Absolute who had killed their successors and stolen more than half their territory to hand it to the Substitute Gods. Backlash was inevitable. If the Origins defied him to his face or talked back, the chance that he would lose his temper and execute them directly was far too high. If he tried to prevent their deaths only to slaughter them all in a fit of rage, it would be worse than doing nothing at all.
“Aah. This is a serious problem. They’re clashing after all.”
KUUUUUUUUUUNG—!KUUUUUUUUUUU—!
The Origins, having completed all battle preparations, finally collided with the Creator Great Gods. At the charge of these merely human-sized Origins, the planet-sized Creator Great Gods were brutally hurled backward everywhere. Divine words and screams of confusion erupted from the Creator Great Gods, who had maintained dominance even against superior numbers until now. The Lord Gods guarding them exploded like fireworks under the Origins’ power.
The Substitute Gods suffered catastrophic damage in a single instant from the surprise attack. However, the moment the Great Justice—ranked second in the Substitute Clan but its true ruler—stepped forward to compensate for being weaker than the Black Flame Creator Great God Seongmyeol, the tide turned.
Urgent orders flooded the battlefield. The Substitute Gods’ Lord Gods vanished toward the rear like a receding tide through spatial movement. No matter how powerful the Absolute Realm’s Origins were, they could only watch; the Substitute Gods’ spatial movement had been directly enhanced by Jinri to an overwhelming degree that could not be blocked. In truth, the Origins could spare no attention for mere Lord Gods—the transformation of the Creator Great Gods demanded their full focus.
The silver planetary surfaces split apart, unleashing God Destruction Cannons of power far beyond anything seen before.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOO—!KUUUUUUUUUUUUNG—!
The Origins barely managed to block the barrage that filled the front lines in an instant. The next sight left them stunned. Beings of war clad in complete sets of radiant silver armor and equipped with countless divine artifacts manifested with bodies the size of enormous planets. Their divine power surged as though restraints had been removed, and the strength of their authorities rose dramatically. When these Creator Great Gods—liberated from their bio-planetary armor seals—leveled their divine artifacts at the Origins, an overwhelming sense of crisis washed over them.
‘Terrifying. Is this the true power of the Substitute Gods’ Creator Great Gods?’
Even the Origins of the Absolute Realm had found the restrained, planet-state Creator Great Gods formidable opponents. Once liberated, the gap in power was on an entirely different level. They realized they would have to fight with the resolve to die. A battle staking one’s life held no fear, but the thought that their deaths as Origins would cause the authorities of most clans in the Grey Realm to plummet—and that they would be forced to flee—sent a chilling wave of dread through them.
‘Yet with the enemy revealing such power, retreat is no longer possible.’
As Origins, they had reached the point where they must gamble the fate of their entire clans. Involuntary laments escaped the lips of these supreme powerhouses of the Absolute Realm.
The Grey Absolute could only frown. He had become one of the 10 Centers through gritted teeth and vengeful fury against the world that had cornered both him and the Black Flame Absolute. Yet because lower beings had committed insubordination and he had dealt with them as he pleased, this crisis had erupted.
‘I summoned the Substitute Gods because killing them one by one was too bothersome, but the situation has grown far more serious than expected.’
The liberated Creator Great Gods, having absorbed the Absolute Realm’s vitality to the limit, possessed extraordinarily high capabilities. Of course, they remained insignificant compared to the clans of the 10 Centers, but they posed a genuine threat to the existing clans of the Absolute Realm. The greatest problem was that the Substitute Gods originated from the Master Universe. They were already nearly equal; if they grew any stronger, maintaining a two-circle superiority over the Master Universe would become impossible.
‘Elevating the Substitute Gods to the ruling race of the Grey Realm is one solution, but the other 10 Centers would never allow it. Nor can we pull the entire Substitute Clan up from the Master Universe. There is no easy answer.’
Maintaining two-circle superiority in other territories would be no simpler than dealing with Substitute Gods who had grown this powerful by absorbing the Absolute Realm’s vitality. The likelihood that the other 10 Centers would gather to expel the Substitute Gods from the Absolute Realm entirely was extremely high.
‘There have been several such precedents among the 10 Centers before. Even facing a single Black Flame Absolute is no small matter. If another joins, the only option left would be flight.’
Once, a member of the 10 Centers had attempted to experimentally create clans strong enough to break the Absolute Realm’s standards, risking collective punishment. The others had beaten him down and nullified the project. Expelling the Substitute Gods from the Absolute Realm immediately was ideal, yet having come this far at great cost, they would never accept it.
‘I thought tossing them a few Creator God King Stars—like throwing scraps to hungry fighting dogs—would stabilize the situation. That was a miscalculation. They were more like starving wolves. The Substitute Gods have grown too strong to listen to gentle persuasion. Should I intervene personally and sweep them all away as Coa? Or seal every last one in the Divine Spirit Purgatory and make use of only their authorities? It would be physically exhausting, but mentally far easier.’
Whether dealing with the Substitute Gods or the Origins of the Grey Realm, he possessed both the power and authority to handle them all. Worrying was a waste of time. Irritation surged at this unexpected development, and the Grey Absolute began to consider simply following his emotions and resolving the matter quickly.
‘The capacity of the newly created Divine Spirit Purgatory since I became the Grey Absolute should be enough to contain both the Substitute Gods and the Origins. Let’s just kill them all, absorb them, and manage everything alone.’
As he casually decided to dispose of them all and operate solo, something suddenly landed lightly on his shoulder.
Thud—!
The Grey Absolute’s mouth fell open in shock. Even he—a member of the 10 Centers possessing dimensional authority—had failed to detect it. More than that, the sensation was intimately familiar. Cold sweat broke out across his body. When he cautiously glanced at his shoulder, there it was: a wooden sword. Goosebumps erupted from his shoulder and spread across his entire body in conditioned reflex, freezing him in place.
“!!!”
‘The Sword of Ruin and Soul? Even the Origin of the Mage God can no longer do this to me. Yuil Yongsinje is still occupied with the ranking battles, so… could it be Jinri?’
He was startled by the conclusion, yet he dared not turn around. There was no life signature behind him. It appeared the Sword of Ruin and Soul had materialized by piercing through space from the 499th Master Universe.
‘The fact that it did not appear directly suggests they do not even wish to show their face. They must be furious. This is bad.’
He had far too many reasons to feel guilty. The moment he turned, he might be beaten. He remained frozen stiff.
As expected, Jinri’s voice came immediately.
"When your subordinates fail to act as intended, your first thought is once again to dispose of them all by force? Your personal ability as a Sage is excellent, yet the other aspects remain extremely precarious. If you lack social experience and the ability to manage subordinates, do not resort to despair. Ask those who understand such matters and learn from them. Furthermore, the Grey Realm is at its ideal state—overflowing with vitality. There is no need for further reorganization. Proceed with your original plan: create the Creator God King Star and restrict the conflict to the battlefield alone."
“Yes!”
"Handle the matter properly, as befits the Grey Absolute—the pinnacle of the Sage lineage. I have already spoken with Daeshin. Go and receive instruction on territory management. Above you as one of the 10 Centers, only I remain. To prosper while preserving order and stability is the most basic quality expected of the highest ruling class. From now on, refrain from causing incidents directly. Maintain the dignity of the 10 Centers."
“Yes—! I will keep it firmly in mind.”
The Grey Absolute answered frantically, nodding his head with the rigid discipline of a new recruit freshly arrived in the army, completely cowed by Jinri’s slow, emotionless voice of warning.