The Thirst That Burns the Soul
As soon as he recognized it as a treasure capable of raising his divine power by a full ten million in the Otherworld War, the scorching heat that felt like it would incinerate his entire body became bearable. Upon careful inspection, his divine power was indeed surging and increasing. ‘Just as expected, this isn’t ordinary alcohol. It’s packed with an incredible concentration of vitality. The density is so extreme that my body can’t handle it and is triggering rejection symptoms, but as Dimension Creator God Coa said, if I fully activate the title, I can endure it.’
Still, it seemed impossible to withstand like this, so he desperately activated his title and struggled to digest the power. ‘There are few beings who have felt the necessity of strength as desperately as I have. Even as the strongest in the Current World, I was nothing but a weakling by Jinri’s standards. As the representative of the title holders, I barely survive by reporting the results of my deathly labor.’
The resentment of being ignored and beaten as a weakling for five hundred billion years had instilled in him an almost fanatical obsession with strength. Yet no matter how much he trained, there was nothing he could do about the stagnation of his innate divine power. The surrounding environment was simply too poor. Moreover, knowing through the Cyber Realm all the authorities that held the answers to every problem in the Current World, only to be unable to use them due to insufficient divine power—the helplessness was something no one could understand without experiencing it.
‘To properly use the authorities of the Main Universe Creator Gods, you need at least one hundred billion in innate divine power? Even using every trick in the Current World, that would take at least two hundred billion years. An absurd figure.’ He had even protested to the Cyber Gods of the Cyber Realm—who helped without asking for anything in return—asking if all the information was a lie. But in the Main Universe, hundreds of thousands of such beings swarmed like insects, constantly flowing in or dying out through life-or-death struggles over their very existence. It was enough to make one sick. And when he was even shown images of Creator Gods gathering to use their authorities, he had nothing left to say. Such overwhelming power was truly an eternal dream given his current divine power.
‘My innate divine power, which I trained like a madman for five hundred billion years, is only twenty-five billion. But if I can consume these treasures, even one hundred billion isn’t a dream. At last, I will reach the level of a Creator God where I can live without being beaten by Jinri.’
However, the concentrated vitality he had willingly drunk was truly vicious. It didn’t just flip his stomach—it felt like it was trying to burn him alive. “Kuuuuuuuugh—!”
Yet his divine power was clearly increasing at a rapid pace. His body, as if it had been waiting for this, absorbed the high-density vitality he had consumed and used it to strengthen his divine power. ‘It’s real! My divine power is skyrocketing. Was there a treasure like this in the Void Realm—one that increases divine power just by drinking it? At this rate, it should be called the Absolute Realm, not the Void Realm. But it’s not enough. My body is demanding more.’
His body, which had endlessly trained to expand its capacity, had been parched for vitality. The moment it encountered this high-density essence, it began explosively amplifying his divine power to the point where the pain was unbearable. Thanks to this, he finally understood why his divine power had never increased before. No matter how much he trained within such pathetically weak concentrations of vitality, there was no way it could grow. At this point, a little pain was no longer an issue.
‘Not enough. I need more.’
Unable to endure the pain that felt like it was flipping and burning his insides, he glared with bloodshot eyes at the liquor bottles still stuck in the mouths of the other title holders. He had tried to force them all to drink, but they had desperately vomited it out, leaving about half remaining. A powerful fighting spirit based on raw desire flowed unconsciously from his gaze. ‘It’s mixed with saliva and gastric juices, so it’s extremely filthy, but I want to snatch it away and drink it right now. However, with Dimension Creator God Coa watching, I cannot do that.’
He also understood now why Coa had told them to drink everything before leaving. If one bottle could so easily grant ten million in divine power, a war would erupt among the title holders and other powerhouses. “If you don’t want to drink that… give it to me.”
There was no time to worry about filth or propriety. Since five of them had each left half, he could gain at least twenty-five million in divine power. Judging from the explosive reaction happening in his own body, the effects might even exceed that. ‘If it can shorten the training time needed to obtain this much divine power, I’d be willing to drink even worse filth.’
Normally, Vein of Void was an existence who had completely cut off interest in the world and showed no motivation. The other title holders noticed the drastic change in his murderous aura and demand. Even though they were dazed by the burning pain in their guts, they realized that his divine power was truly increasing.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
They couldn’t speak for a moment, but their next action was identical. ‘If it increases divine power, I have to eat it no matter what.’‘Drink and die.’
Gulp—! Glug—! Gulp—! Gulp—! Gulp—!
They all closed their eyes tightly and swallowed every last drop remaining in the bottles. If one understood why the title holders had received their titles in the first place, this was the natural response. ‘For the sake of becoming stronger, we can smile and accept any hardship or crisis. This level of pain is nothing but a joke.’
Because they knew the sorrow of the weak all too well, in front of an opportunity to become stronger, comrades or anything else no longer mattered. “You—!”
When the opportunity to gain twenty-five million in divine power vanished before his eyes, Vein of Void ground his teeth in fury. ‘The vitality is concentrated at such an extreme density that even I, a Creator God, feel this burdened. There’s no way these mere Lord Gods can maintain their sanity and properly digest it.’
Watching them clutch their swollen bellies like tadpoles, rolling on the ground in agony and looking utterly pathetic, he even considered slicing their stomachs open to steal the liquor. If Dimension Creator God Coa hadn’t been watching with keen interest, it might have actually happened.
“Enough—! As the rank one, do not covet what belongs to those below you. Come here and receive a glass.”
Coa placed another bottle of the power-raising liquor he so desperately wanted onto the table and called out. Vein of Void’s feet moved toward it of their own accord. His steps staggered and the world spun before his eyes, but he could not miss this chance to raise his divine power further. When the barely-standing Vein of Void approached, Coa handed him a large cup filled with the liquor using his right hand.
Vein of Void reflexively reached out with both hands, but Dimension Creator God Coa did not allow it. “Tsk—! Do not lower your guard. And do not waver under any circumstances. This is how Jinri drinks it.”
He struck the hands away so that the cup rested on the back of the right hand instead of the palm. The hand was already trembling violently as if completely drunk, so the precariously balanced cup had no chance of staying steady. Vein of Void desperately controlled the cup that threatened to spill at any moment and brought it to his lips. Once he had barely managed to get the cup to his mouth without spilling, Coa spoke.
“I, Dimension Creator God Coa, welcome you to the world of Jinri, Vein of Void.”
“Ha… ha.”
Gulp—!
Barely forcing a thin smile, Vein of Void emptied the cup without spilling a drop. His consciousness cut off immediately afterward and he collapsed. The excessive intake of such powerful vitality had left him with no strength to remain conscious.
When everyone else had collapsed to the floor like drunkards, groaning in a stupor, Dimension Creator God Coa, once again left alone, clicked his tongue. “Kk—! As expected, even he couldn’t handle more than one bottle. This method was wrong too.”
Even though he was trying to feed them precious medicine to make them a little stronger, they were so weak that it was practically poison instead. ‘At this rate, all medicine is useless.’
Though extremely troubled, Dimension Creator God Coa emptied his own cup and collected all the bottles. From the look of them, the moment they woke up they would probably try to suck out even what remained inside the empty bottles. He stored every bottle in his subspace and initiated another spatial movement.
‘This time, I need to check the traitors’ territory.’
Given their current state, there was no way proper data existed. In this situation, the fastest way to prepare for war was to see it with his own eyes. He had arrived and immediately begun turning everything upside down without even holding an inauguration ceremony, but once he sat in his seat, the probability of being entangled in various interests and becoming unable to act was high. He had to finish as much as possible before that happened, even if it meant checking everything with his own eyes because he had no trustworthy subordinates.
“Is this pathetic state of not trusting anyone around me and rampaging alone my fate again? I’m the only one dying of overwork.”
Swishswishswishswishswish—!
Even while grumbling about the endlessly unimproved pathetic situation, he continued repeating ultra-long-range spatial movements without end. Having crossed a regional universe-scale distance in the Otherworld in an instant, Dimension Creator God Coa saw before him the sight of armies confronting the traitors.
It was a frontline where dangerous suns and spatial distortion zones were lined up on both sides, with safe zones installed at regular intervals between them—a setup that would be dangerous for ordinary transcendentals. Both sides had established safe zones on the scale of large stellar systems, connected hundreds of satellites and planets as bases, and deployed what appeared to be a double-layered barrier.
“A barrier utilizing multiple satellites and planets?”
However, since it was a barrier that ordinary transcendentals could penetrate with a slight projection of power, he judged it as nothing more than a boundary line. It seemed structured so that gods waiting at each satellite base would deploy when an incident occurred. But this method could not stop a large-scale army invasion, though it might handle a few infiltrators.
“Tsk—! It’s not a defensive line but a stalling tactic for show. A waste of troops.”
Dismissing it as useless, he broke through the boundary with spatial movement.
Crrrrrrrrrrrrack—!
A sound like shattering glass rang out, and armed transcendentals poured out from all the satellite bases. It was only natural since he had deliberately shaken the boundary with great force. Ignoring the hundreds of transcendentals rushing from the nearby satellites, he moved directly into the traitors’ territory. His action of entering the traitors’ domain was naturally faster than the pursuing transcendentals’ response.
Upon arriving at the anomaly zone, there were only traces left to confirm. The transcendentals who spotted the movement trajectory from afar shouted urgently.
“Huh?”
“Open fire from range—! It’s a deserter—!”
But when they saw thirteen radiant wings of light shining brilliantly from the back of the transcendental who had shattered the boundary while moving toward the enemy camp, the transcendentals stopped their attempt to shoot from behind. Possessing thirteen layers of light wings meant the being was undoubtedly a Lord God. In the defense forces, only about ten such highest-level executives existed, so they immediately halted their fire.
“Cease fire, everyone—!”
“Are you joking? Why would a Lord God desert?”
The commander of the frontline defense forces was a Creator God, and the captain leading ten thousand troops under him was a Lord God. The idea that captains of the defense forces—whose careers were guaranteed—would desert was absurd.
“Is this some kind of military training? Or an unscheduled inspection?”
“Who conducts training or readiness checks by going all the way into the enemy camp?”
“No matter how strong that Lord God is, it’s dangerous.”
The enemy forces were at least three times larger than their own. Even a Creator God charging alone into such a massive army would be in danger. Besides, the enemy also had Creator Gods, so it made no sense. The enemy forces seemed to have noticed the approach as well and were gathering.
“Wh-what the—!”
“A Creator God, not a Lord God?”
However, the response of the suddenly appearing Creator God exceeded all imagination. In an instant, behind the figure who had plunged into the center of the enemy army, thirteen layers of dark wings unfolded in addition to the thirteen layers of light wings. Wings of authority possessing overwhelming divine power and magic power that dominated all visible space swept over the enemy camp.
Only then did the enemy forces realize this was no ordinary deserter, and chaos erupted. In particular, the enemy Creator Gods and Lord Gods who sensed divine power and divinity surpassing that of a Lord God rushed over in panic. Their wills transmitted so intensely that the communication network nearly burst as beings above Lord God rank initiated spatial movement.
‘A Creator God with at least twenty-five billion in divine power launched a surprise attack?’
‘It’s a frontline assault using a powerful Creator God—!’
‘What the hell—! Why are those cowards and oppressors who clung to Jinri suddenly doing this?’
In terms of pure military strength, the liberation army held the advantage. Therefore, they could initiate provocations, but those cowards should not have been able to. However, because such a large force was stationed there, provocations could only be carried out on a very small scale. A mistake could trigger an all-out war that risked their very existence, so it had all been political maneuvering. Yet these cowards had suddenly broken through the defensive line using a Creator God as a strategic asset. It was the kind of thing that only happened in ideological wars, leaving everyone stunned.
But having engaged in a nerve war of pushing and pulling for five hundred billion years, their response was incomparably swift. The commander of the liberation defense forces suppressed all other wills and transmitted his orders.
‘All regular transcendentals withdraw—! That is a Creator God with that level of divine power. If he has the confidence to charge in alone, lower gods will be of no help. Gather only forces above Lord God rank. Explain the situation to the commanders of the other defense forces and request support. I will head out immediately as well.’
When the opponent was a Creator God, only a Creator God could face him. That was why even the commander of the frontline defense forces had to step forward. Not only the sector defense commander in charge but also the other defense force commanders who received the urgent contact came running in shock. If the adjacent defensive line collapsed, they risked being attacked from the flank. With equal forces, being attacked from both front and side left no way to maintain the line.
Watching the traitors’ forces swarming in like a black tide under full emergency alert, Dimension Creator God Coa chuckled with laughter.
“Kukukukukukuku—! How truly enjoyable.”
Standing alone in the enemy camp with the certainty of victory, watching the enemy forces rush toward him, filled him with extreme satisfaction. As a Demon God who pursued only strength and victory, it was a truly rewarding moment.
“Now then—! Let’s see the enemy’s level. Whether Lord Gods or Creator Gods, come out, all of you. Bring out your secret weapons, your final weapons, your decisive weapons—anything and everything. If you cannot respond to this, you will all disappear. Annihilation World incantation, commence.”
Dimension Creator God Coa’s voice rang out as a declaration of war that all the traitors could hear as he began the incantation.