The Void's Humiliation
The Dimension Creator God Core confirmed the location of the Void, gathered the roster of those who had received titles, and rose to his feet. He opened a dimensional gate. However, his foul mood had yet to recover, so he simply yanked the leash and hurled them straight through to the other side.
“Kek—!”
“Guh—!”
“Ugh—!”
The titled beings slammed into the ground beyond the gate, the metal cord digging into their throats once more. Choking screams escaped them, only to be met by a low, murderous warning.
“…….”
The words weren’t a threat—they were dripping with pure sincerity. Any thought of resistance vanished. The titled beings hurried forward without a word.
‘I don’t know how it came to this, but we look exactly like death-row prisoners being dragged to the execution ground.’
Still, as battle-crazed gods for whom combat was everything, their anxiety quickly gave way to burning resentment. They exchanged their wills in silent fury, desperately searching for a way out.
‘Damn it all! Is being weak a crime punishable by death? Why is he doing this the moment he sees us? Even the demon race doesn’t act like this.’
‘We don’t lose one-on-one even to the Creator Gods of the Supreme Council. So why are we being called weaklings?’
‘Shut up. If you’re not careful, he’ll really extract our titles and erase us. Just pray that the Void takes a liking to us.’
‘Against the Void… couldn’t we win?’
Dis of Disobedience couldn’t answer right away. He shook his head.
‘Even the one considered the strongest in the current world—the Vein of Void—couldn’t handle more than four of us at once if we excluded titles. Yet five of us from the upper ranks gathered here, and he didn’t even notice our presence, let alone display any authority. Forget a proper fight—we were suppressed instantly. No matter how I think about it, we have no chance against the Vein of Void.’
It was a cold, accurate assessment.
But at that very moment, an excruciating pain exploded in his rear, and his body was sent flying forward.
Bam—!
“Kuaaaaaah—!”
“Uwaaaack—!”
“Ack—!”
“Kueeeh—!”
Since they were all connected by the leash, the other four were dragged along and sent flying through the air as well.
Thud—! Thump—!
The five of them crashed and piled on top of one another in the yard of a small house. Tears streamed from their eyes. These were not tears of pain, but of utter humiliation.
‘When have we ever suffered such disgrace?’
‘Even as fugitives, we’ve never been treated this miserably.’
Having received titles from Jinri and gained power through him, they could possess neither official positions nor factions.
‘We’re wanderers forced to move residences constantly under surveillance and restraint. We live as fugitives.’
‘However, because we were valuable—strong enough to rival the Creator Gods of the Supreme Council—we at least received minimal courtesy.’
The situation had deteriorated endlessly. Just as Jinri had become the head of the Supreme Council, the same logic applied: in the standoff against the traitors, they could not ignore the combat strength of over a thousand Creator God-level beings.
Yet this insane battle god who had come as Jinri’s deputy treated them like complete garbage. He beat them constantly, telling them to just kill themselves. Their pride had been utterly shattered.
Then a voice filled with pure disbelief rang out.
“What are you all doing over there? If you’ve come after so long, why are you lying outside instead of coming in?”
A familiar face leaned down to look at them as they lay piled on the ground. It was a muscular man with long black hair that reached his feet, half of his face hidden behind the strands.
“Hmm? And what’s with the metal leash around your necks? There shouldn’t be any cord in the current world capable of binding beings who have stepped into a Creator God’s domain?”
His body was so thoroughly trained that even through his loose clothing, the flexing of his muscles was visible. A very faint smile played at the corner of his stubbornly set lips. Overall, he gave off a favorable impression, yet there was an air of complete detachment—as if he had lost interest in everything the world had to offer. It was a sunken atmosphere that suggested the end of the world tomorrow would mean nothing to him. The rare sight caused even their composure to waver slightly.
Despite being outsiders, these were powerhouses who yielded to no one—and here they were, a whole group of them, crying together.
‘Void—! Help us.’
‘Run—! No… we can’t run.’
‘Please, just defeat that crazy so-called Truth Deputy.’
“Title holders under Jinri… are crying? That’s impossible… Huk—!”
A spine-chilling sense of crisis surged through him as he leaned down. His trained body moved faster than conscious thought. Whatever it was, he couldn’t perceive the attack at all, but he instinctively raised both palms to block it.
Smack—!
The impact was shockingly light compared to the lethal threat he had felt piercing his skull. He realized he was holding a fist. Naturally, the body connected to that fist should have been right in front of him, yet no matter how hard he focused, he couldn’t detect it.
He mobilized every title, authority, and sense he possessed. Only then did he confirm that someone was standing directly before him—a Creator God clad in black full-plate armor and a grey robe.
‘What the hell is this? I can clearly see him, yet I can’t tell if he’s really there or not.’
Completely unfamiliar with the experience, he asked with maximum wariness.
“Who are you?”
“Blocking my attack unconsciously… This is a first in the Otherworld. For now, I’ll consider it a pass.”
⟨ Magic God of Dimensions ⟩
“Magic God of Dimensions? And you said the Otherworld, not the current world? Are you a battle god from the Void Realm? Then you’re the one who did this to them… Uck?”
He had many questions, but he could say no more. The aftermath of the attack he had blocked with his palms was far from ordinary. In fact, the situation was so severe that he began to doubt whether he had truly blocked it at all.
The muscles and bones in the hands gripping the fist were all vibrating violently.
Crack-crack-crack-crunch—!
His title was already operating at full power. This shouldn’t be possible, yet the shockwave was twisting his entire body. Vein of Void sensed something was wrong and let out a groan at the all-too-familiar attack.
‘My authority of the Void, which absorbs everything and returns it to nothingness, holds superiority over all titles. Yet it has no effect? Then it’s not a title. Is it simply a difference in raw power?’
He desperately tried to manipulate his body to dampen the shock, but it wasn’t enough. There were almost no combat techniques capable of driving him this far without using divine power.
“Kuuuugh—! The attack completely ignores defense and penetrates? Even my Void defense? Could this be Jinri’s Incomprehensible Eight Founders—the Earth-Time Bottomless? Are you of Jinri’s bloodline? Then why are you treating us like… Kugh—!”
He didn’t have the luxury of resolving his questions with words. The unimaginable shockwave that had burrowed into both palms finally pierced into his body, destroying muscle and bone alike.
Crrrrrrunch—! Puff-puff-puff-puff—!
He barely managed to redirect the force using every ounce of his Void authority, preventing his torso from being destroyed. However, the muscles and bones in both arms were left in tatters and hung limply.
In an instant, Vein of Void had lost more than half his close-combat capability. Gritting his teeth, he poured power back into his ruined arms.
‘I can’t let go of his hand. If contact is broken, I won’t even know where he is.’
But his shredded hands made it impossible. The moment the shock forced him to release the fist he had been gripping, he completely lost track of his opponent’s position.
With no other choice, he began regenerating his shattered arms with full power. A long, impressed whistle reached his ears.
“Hoooooo? It didn’t shatter into pieces? So the Void title returns everything it touches to nothingness? The fact that you even perceived my attack was thanks to the title. In that case, excluding the title’s effect—failure. Without the title, you’re merely an intermediate Lord God of the Main Universe. If the rank one title holder is only at this level, what am I supposed to do? Still, I can’t exactly summon the forces of the Main Divine Realm or the Divine Realm right now. If I gave that title to someone, even Almighty Hwi would step up to fight… What a waste. Haaaaaaaah—!”
Letting out a long sigh, Dimension Creator God Core finally revealed himself. He walked over and sat down at a small table prepared in one corner of the yard.
‘The title’s effect was certainly dangerous, but an intermediate Lord God could never hope to touch me.’
The analysis was correct; even Origin, now a Creator God, could not overcome him. Then, with complete seriousness, he spoke.
“…….”
The sheer sincerity in the suggestion left Vein of Void momentarily speechless. But he immediately absorbed all remaining shock and damage with his Void title and restored both arms and their muscles.
The noisy sound of bones and muscles knitting back together echoed, yet Dimension Creator God Core—the one who had done this—didn’t even twitch, as if the opponent wasn’t worth paying attention to.
He needed to counterattack immediately, but the biggest problem was that even though the enemy was sitting right in front of him, he couldn’t be certain his attacks would land.
‘Even though he’s sitting there, I can’t pinpoint his exact location. Judging from the authority aftermath that was absorbed and erased, it’s not merely divine power. Just what is this Creator God?’
Full combat was still impossible, but he raised his now-functional arms into a battle stance and asked again.
“What are you?”
“I am Dimension Creator God Core, dispatched as Jinri’s deputy.”
“Jinri’s… deputy?”
The way he revealed his identity so casually was truly astonishing. They had thought the Supreme Council had finally produced the battle god they desired, yet he claimed to be from the Void Realm.
‘If he’s Jinri’s deputy, his status is enormous. But if he’s from the Void Realm, he should be restricted by the re-embodiment penalty. How can he be this powerful?’
Even though beings from the Void Realm were strong, the one-ten-thousandth reduction in ability that occurred when they re-embodied themselves in the current world should have made this level of power unimaginable. He had long since surpassed the realm of Creator Gods.
‘His authority should be reduced by at least two circles, yet this is beyond Creator God level. Could it be fourteen circles? But he’s not one of the 10 Mainstays, who possess over 1,000 trillion in divine power. Then how did he bypass the re-embodiment restriction? No… it feels like his power has been further activated instead.’
The total of twenty-six pairs of light and dark wings—symbols of a Creator God’s divinity—were glowing even more brilliantly, as if they might materialize at any moment.
There were many questions about this impossible phenomenon for a Void Realm battle god, but he had to find some way to escape with the ones currently leashed. Having blocked that attack, he now clearly understood the insurmountable gap between them.
Moreover, the faint killing intent leaking from the man’s eyes and the terrifying tenacity he exuded were on a horrific level.
‘What kind of eyes are those? We absolutely cannot provoke him. I need more time to recover.’
He changed his tone to something slightly more polite and asked again.
“You are Jinri’s deputy, you say? Then why are you treating us like this? We are title holders who received our power from Jinri. Although we cannot betray the current world, we ultimately belong to the Void Realm faction. Since you have come as the deputy, we have every intention of helping. You should already know we are practically on the same side—so why are you doing this?”
Having received titles from Jinri, they had no choice but to side with the Void Realm whether they liked it or not. Moreover, if Jinri’s deputy had finally begun to act, they should have been the first to step forward and assist enthusiastically.
Yet although the logic was perfectly sound, the next words left them speechless.
“E… Eternal Judgment. You escaped from there? How could a battle god of that caliber come to the current world?”
Those who passed the Eternal Judgment grew strong enough to join the bloodline of the 10 Mainstays or become part of the ruling class of the Absolute Realm. Knowing full well what the Eternal Judgment entailed—being transformed into insects and rebuilt from the very foundation—they had nothing to say when told they were weaklings. According to the information the Cyber Realm had provided about the strength of Void Realm title holders and the situation they faced, it was undeniably true.
‘If Jinri truly intervenes in the current world, most of us are finished.’
They knew very well that Jinri was extremely displeased with them. Every time he visited to receive reports and beat them for just a brief moment, he would click his tongue with a look of both pity and irritation.
‘Each time, we broke through walls that had blocked us, but those were truly humiliating and dangerous moments.’
However, when they looked at the history of the Absolute Realm and the Main Universe that the Cyber Realm had shown them, they couldn’t even dare to protest. The fact that they hadn’t been dragged to the Wind Star as insects for being substandard and were still alive and intact was already something to be grateful for.
‘If Jinri had even the slightest interest in the current world, the only ones still alive and well would probably be me and a handful of others.’
“Since you’ve met Jinri multiple times and survived, you must already know. I’ll ask simply. Are you truly strong? As title holders under Jinri, do you have any value in living?”
“…….”
Knowing exactly how harshly the weak were disposed of in the world under Jinri’s direct management, they could not answer. The one who received direct support from the Cyber Realm as the representative of the only title holders in the current world understood better than anyone how far below Void Realm standards their level truly was.
‘Every time he visited and trained us in passing, we barely survived. There’s no way I wouldn’t know.’
The fact that he had bothered to personally train beings of their level—even if only for a very short time—meant he considered it a waste of effort. If they didn’t understand his nature after that, they would be lying. The Jinri they had experienced directly was not a simple ruler. He was the very embodiment of the pure pursuit of strength, one who would never tolerate weakness or stagnation in development.
‘It was fortunate that the beings of the current world were so weak that his standards had been lowered. He only stayed for a very short time. I was also substandard as a direct management target, but thanks to my position as representative of the title holders and being the strongest in the current world, I barely managed to survive.’
They had survived only because their surroundings were too weak for them to grow any stronger. If even a single being stronger than them had existed in the current world, they would have been beaten to death.
Having understood this much, he immediately judged what he needed to do to survive. He bowed deeply with utmost respect.
“I, Vein of Void, representative and rank one of the title holders of the Otherworld, greet the Truth Deputy. Please give us any order you wish.”
“Your situational judgment is quite fast. This is a first in the Otherworld—weaklings who only stubbornly resisted. I’ll barely give you a passing grade.”
The other title holders stared in blank amazement at the lightning-fast change in attitude, but he paid them no mind.
‘If the weak stubbornly flaunt their pride and persistently challenge the strong, far from being praised as impressive, they are considered detestable and beaten to a pulp until they die.’
Moreover, judging by the man’s words and actions, this battle god who seemed to worship Jinri was not someone from whom mercy could be expected.
‘There’s a time and place for stubbornness. If I fight him seriously, I will really die.’
When the situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable and victory was impossible, immediately accepting and adapting was the number one rule of survival.
‘This was the wisdom of life I learned while being ignored as weak and beaten by Jinri.’
Yet even as Vein of Void bowed and declared his submission, merciless orders descended upon him.
“I am called the Magic God of Dimensions. The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off, but I am also the Grey Present among the 10 Mainstays. Straight to the point. While I’m still speaking nicely—betray the Otherworld and become the lackeys of the Absolute Realm. If you refuse, I will kill you, reclaim the titles, erase you, and wipe your very existence from all records. I’m even erasing any future repercussions because they’re too annoying. Since I am the Light Creator God and a young junior who has only recently obtained a title, I am giving you this honest warning. Do not be moved by this excessively generous treatment. Answer immediately.”
“…….”
There were plenty of nicer words he could have used—cooperation, coordination, and so on—but he had chosen the most extreme command possible.