The Burden of Absolute Power

The reason the Dimensional Mage God desired all the qualifications of the Origin of the Dimensional Clan, despite knowing it was impossible with his own talent alone, was simple. The authority representing the Origin of the Dimensional Divine Race was ‘Troop of Creation God.’

It granted a buff to multiple Main Gods, raising them by one circle and promoting them to Creator Gods. Its terrifying power had been proven by completely devastating nine Main Divine Realms—equivalent to adding one Highest Divine Realm to a single Main Divine Realm in terms of military strength.

If that was the case for the divine race, then the authority representing the Origin of the Dimensional Demon God Race was naturally ‘Demon Emperor’s Legion.’ It promoted all demons to Demon Emperors and sent them into battle. Once a sufficient number of demons were secured, its power was overwhelming enough that most divine races couldn’t withstand it.

Of course, if they simply didn’t fight each other, it might not matter. But the problem was that divine races with specialized wide-area authorities like the Dimensional Clan would inevitably clash with demon races of the same type.

‘Looking at the certification battle between Almighty Hwi and the Sage of Omniscience, as well as the course of all previous wars, the probability of this happening is extremely high.’

Because of their overwhelmingly powerful wide-area authorities that other clans couldn’t handle, the Origin of the Dimensional Divine Race and the Origin of the Dimensional Demon God Race were destined to meet on the battlefield and engage in a desperate, life-or-death struggle.

‘Excluding support from the Divine Realm and the number of subordinates, demons possess greater individual power than Main Gods. A Demon Emperor is slightly stronger than a Creator God in personal combat ability.’

If the number of Main Gods fell below that of demons, the forces of the Dimensional Divine Race’s Origin would simply be swept away.

‘Even with simple calculations, the Origin of the Dimensional Divine Race must maintain at least twice as many Main Gods as the Origin of the Dimensional Demon God Race to hold any advantage. And that’s no easy feat, even if there are more Main Gods than demons to begin with. That’s why I forcibly claimed the Origin qualifications of the entire Dimensional Clan.’

From the Dimensional Mage God’s perspective, these were truly deplorable conditions. In the end, the probability of victory in a power struggle against the Origin of the Dimensional Demon God Race was low.

‘Huuuuh… Maintaining twice as many Main Gods as the Origin of the Dimensional Demon God Race? With my personality, that’s impossible.’

If it were something he could handle alone, he would have found a way. But matters involving subordinates had almost never gone according to his wishes.

‘Aside from contracts, I’ve never built any real relationships or friendships with other gods.’

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Even after becoming the Main God of the Divine Realm and trying to force the issue, the result was this—having to go wild alone instead of forming any worthwhile alliances, despite staking his fate as the Lord God in the Main God War.

What made it even more despairing was that the distant future didn’t seem likely to change either.

‘Looking at what my future self, the Grey Absolute, is doing… is he going to keep volunteering to be alone forever? Is solitude my very nature? If so, then there’s nothing I can do about it.’

Even after gaining absolute power, authority, and forces, his future self—the Grey Absolute—couldn’t suppress his temper, went on a rampage alone, and failed to finish things as he intended. Now he was constantly struggling with the cleanup just to survive.

Since he had disposed of his subordinates exactly as he pleased, it would be nearly impossible to find any lower-ranking beings willing to help him without personal stakes involved.

‘Even my future self who reached the Grey Realm has to do everything alone, which is why he came to his present self with a pitiful request and even borrowed the combat rank 1 Creator Great God, Seongmyeol. Do the 10 Mainstays, who compete for supremacy in the Absolute Realm, really have to borrow full power from the Lord God of a mere Main Universe?’

That pathetic future was still himself, so he couldn’t deny it. If things continued like this, it would become reality someday.

Huuuuh—!

In his suffocating frustration, the cigarette smoke he inhaled poured out again in a long sigh. The white smoke filled the visible space before fading and disappearing.

‘So far, the honor of being an undefeated battle god has covered up the worst and most vicious reputation as a dark mage, but it’s hanging by a thread.’

The life of a Fighting God was like cigarette smoke—glorious moments gained from repeated victories shone as if they filled everything, only to eventually vanish.

‘No matter how many brilliant victories and achievements you pile up, a single defeat wipes it all away.’

Even the gods, who were not human and seemed destined to live forever in happiness, were the same. So it was only natural that a single defeat would cause one to plummet.

‘I no longer care about the end, rewards, threats, or anything else.’

Now he simply wanted to live as he pleased and then disappear.

‘Anyway, neither the Creator God King nor the Demon Emperor can come here. They serve the Eternal Being, the Creator, directly and know the dangers of this place too well. And judging by how they’re acting, maintaining a good relationship with them seems hopeless. I need to become stronger than them in the Otherworld.’

When problems arose with superiors and you couldn’t endure it anymore, the simplest solution was to become more capable and stronger than the harassing higher-ups, making them unable to touch you, then climb even higher. In the past it would have been impossible, but as the Origin of the Dimensional Clan with its authorities and the power of the ‘99-Second Hero God,’ it was entirely feasible.

‘Ignore them. The issues arising with the Creator God King and the Demon Emperor from this incident—I’ll resolve them with the simplest yet most difficult method.’

That was why, even though the Creator God King and the Demon Emperor kept trying to talk to him and his ears were ringing with noise, he completely ignored them and stared straight ahead.

The situation was unfolding exactly as the Dimensional Mage God had predicted.

Riasna and Feminist, who had forcibly dragged their father and the clan’s Origin here only to abandon him, had become complete criminals. They could only hang their heads low. Meanwhile, the Origins were exploding with emotion, hurling curses and insults at one another.

‘As Origins of the Main Universe, they have the right to speak their minds even in front of the Creator God King and the Demon Emperor, so they have zero hesitation.’

The reason they hadn’t immediately gone to war was simply because their opponents were no pushovers. So they busied themselves with running their mouths and hurling abuse.

‘As expected, they only run their mouths in comfortable places? They don’t even realize this might be the place they die.’

No matter how he looked at it, the situation was an absolute mess, yet the owner of this Main Divine Realm—himself—was being completely ignored. Thanks to that, his mood was turning extremely foul.

‘By the way, why does the current situation feel so unpleasant? Is it because things are moving completely against my intentions in my own divine realm? Or is it the influence of the Wind Family’s Dimensional Origin getting angry?’

Right before his eyes, mere Origins of the Main Universe were brazenly revealing their fighting spirit and killing intent toward each other in front of the Eternal Being who was their direct superior—the Wind Family’s Dimensional Origin. Naturally, the future awaiting them was death, exactly as he had already seen.

‘The expressionless Wind Family Dimensional Origin’s right hand fingers are slowly curling inward toward his palm.’

Whether they were aware of the full situation or not, the voices of the Creator God King and the Demon Emperor grew louder, but they couldn’t exert any coercive force. They knew this was an unavoidable situation, so they were simply building up justification.

Unaware—or perhaps uncaring—of their superiors’ urgent feelings, the pathetic fools were now even pulling out divine weapons, raising the tension as if ready to fight.

‘Taking out combat divine weapons and entering battle stance inside someone else’s divine realm is a serious act of provocation.’

Most Main Gods of Divine Realms were Fighting Gods or War Gods, so this was essentially a declaration of war, yet they were ignoring him. It meant they didn’t even consider the Lord God, the Dimensional Mage God, worth their attention. His displeasure was growing by the second.

‘Is an Origin allowed to ignore the Main God of a Divine Realm? Well, if it’s an Origin of a high-ranking clan, I suppose that makes sense. But damn, these bastards really piss me off.’

Still, the Wind Family’s Dimensional Origin would kill them soon anyway, so he endured it, bringing the cigarette holder back to his mouth. Then the next sight made his eyes widen dramatically.

‘My Dimensional Divine Realm!’

Crack—! Creeeeak!

The Seat of Glory in the Dimensional Divine Realm began to crack under the wave of divine power and the divine weapons drawn by the high-ranking Origins. The Seat of Glory, which hadn’t been properly repaired yet and was only at the Highest Main God level, couldn’t endure the battle readiness of Origins who surpassed high-ranking Creator Gods. Cracks were spreading wildly across the backrest and armrests.

Shatter—!

“!”

It was the Seat of the Lord God that he had obtained by staking everything. As a Mercenary God, he had naturally risked his life. He had even endured battles against Hero Gods he never wanted to face again. To obtain power befitting his position, he had entangled himself with the 10 Mainstays—beings stronger than Eternal Beings he didn’t even want to approach. He had endured thirty thousand years of forced training just to serve as bait for the Black Flame Absolute, and had become a dark mage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the Creator God level.

Having become the Origin of the Dimensional Clan, he had finally become a Main God of a Divine Realm who lacked nothing in power or potential compared to others. And now that very symbol was about to be shattered.

‘The proof of all my efforts, the symbol of my life, is cracking miserably. No… I myself am being disregarded.’

The cause of the displeasure he had felt until now surged up from within like a volcanic eruption. And then the cracked armrest of the Seat of Glory broke off and fell to the floor.

Seeing that, strength unconsciously entered the teeth biting the cigarette holder, producing another crunching sound.

Crack—! Crunch—! Creeeeak—!

Earlier he had crushed the holder out of surprise, but this time it was pure rage.

In the end, the Dimensional Mage God could no longer hold back. With a voice trembling from fury, he rose from his seat.

“Hey….”

He didn’t bother hiding the fighting spirit and killing intent that had exploded past the limits of his patience, directing them straight at the Origins.

The other Lord Gods, who had been sitting quietly behind the Dimensional Mage God, still retained the senses they had honed on the front lines against the Substitute Gods and demon races. The other Lord Gods, who had been quietly assessing the extremely dangerous atmosphere, now wore expressions of panic.

The Dimensional Mage God, who had first warned them to be careful, was now stepping forward himself while radiating fighting spirit and killing intent. Thanks to that, when the gazes of the Wind Family’s Dimensional Origin and the two Origins turned directly toward them, a chill ran down their spines.

They were now fully exposed to the killing intent and fighting spirit of overwhelmingly powerful beings who looked ready to tear them apart at any moment. It was the instant they understood why they had felt danger.

They urgently called out to the Dimensional Mage God, who was rising from his seat and stepping forward.

“W-wait… calm….”

At those words, a sliver of reason returned to the Dimensional Mage God. He cleared his throat and spoke with polite restraint.

“That’s enough. This is my domain. If it’s going to be destroyed, I’ll do it myself.”

It was the Dimensional Mage God speaking while suppressing his emotions as much as possible, but the reply came immediately.

“Do you think being an Origin makes you the same as us? A leftover who doesn’t even have a clan and only possesses the qualifications—know your place, you trash!”

“Get lost—! A half-baked dark mage who isn’t even a proper Creator God, and you dare step forward as a pathetic Lord God?”

Booom—!

From the Origins’ perspective, they had encountered unforgivable enemies and were already highly agitated. Now they had been provoked by someone they had looked down on. The two divine weapons were hurled straight at the Dimensional Mage God, and the shockwave from the attack shattered the round table.

Attacks from Origins who surpassed high-ranking Creator Gods—powerful enough to annihilate ordinary Creator Gods in a single strike—came crashing down without even giving him time to react.

Rumble—! Groooan—!

The other Lord Gods, who had been caught up in the attack along with the Dimensional Mage God, urgently tried to throw themselves out of the way. But a rainbow-colored barrier appeared in front of them.

Pop—! Pop—!

The moment the divine weapons thrown by the Origins touched the barrier, instead of an explosion, there was only the sound of air escaping, and the weapons vanished. They reappeared above the Dimensional Mage God’s head.

The destructive divine power and demonic energy had completely disappeared. The weapons were now under someone else’s complete control. A serious sense of alarm spread across the faces of the Origins.

‘That strike just now definitely couldn’t have been blocked by a mid-rank Creator God. How?’

‘Is it dark magic? Or an authority? Even I, a Demon Emperor, can’t tell what it is. What the hell is that?’

The Dimensional Origin watched the divine weapons, which had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠passed through the dimensional barrier and gently moved above his head, with a complicated heart.

‘Know my place? So that’s how they evaluate me after all.’

He lightly held the cigarette holder in his right hand and spat out words filled with killing intent.

“I’ll take that as a declaration of war. Tsk—! Even though we’re fellow Origins, you immediately resort to execution over a protest? So this is my position in the Main Universe’s Creation Realm. Right at the very bottom. The side effects won’t be small, but there’s nothing easier than defeating a higher-up who’s underestimating you on the way up.”