Hera's Warning
Hera, the Goddess of War and Queen of the Goddess Department, spoke with genuine concern. “Everyone has their reasons for sealing their powers like I do, but they are still Main Gods. You must never act recklessly. Be careful and conduct yourself as you have been. If you provoke their tempers, there’s no telling how they’ll react. Their seals aren’t forced, so if they grow angry, they’ll break them and come at you. Even you can’t defeat three or more of them. The current Main Gods can’t handle four or more either.”
“What exactly is this Divine Realm?” The protagonist’s ears rang from the shock, though he noticed the sudden shift in her tone.
Hera’s face grew sorrowful. “The Independent Divine Realm was originally created for this purpose. It’s a star where failed gods hold resurrection tournaments. It gives goddesses—except those male gods who chose annihilation over starting over—a final chance. The goddess who replaced Granzoa also has an unclear past, but even with her powers sealed, you must stay cautious whenever you’re apart from her.”
“Will Granzoa ever become a Main God?” The protagonist felt a pang of pity for Granzoa. Not only was there a Main God of the Divine Realm with over twenty billion innate divine power, but eight powerful goddesses stood above her as well. How could she possibly reach her goal of becoming the Main God of the Divine Realm?
“She will, eventually. The highest-ranking goddesses have already recovered much of their power, but they find this overly equalized realm unappealing. They’re focused on accumulating more power to claim their own stars. Granzoa grew up here and doesn’t know the ways of other realms, so she’ll be content. They’ve already agreed to support her if she defeats the current Main God.”
“Hah! Then the war against the Substitute Gods isn’t much of a problem. Did I overstep by getting involved?”
“Not at all. We’re restricted from using our true powers in external conflicts. If a Main God wields their strength against demons or other outsiders, we’re all sent back to the Spirit Realm. We can use it internally, though. Our role is to prevent the Main God of the Divine Realm from going berserk.”
“Does the Main God know this?”
“Of course. That’s why he allowed the realm to be shaped this way. That sly raccoon of a Main God and the primordial war gods wouldn’t have tolerated it otherwise—not even if their wives begged with tears.”
Hera continued firmly. “Granzoa believes the goddesses persuaded the male gods, but it was a precarious balance of power. This realm, pushed to the brink by the Substitute Gods, allied with the demons to survive. Yet the vitality paid as mercenaries’ wages and the terms of the pact drained our growth potential, pushing us toward decline. To prevent that, we had no choice but to maximize the goddesses’ vitality. That’s why this goddess-led structure must be maintained.”
“Why share this information with me?”
“W-well… we’re family now, so I should help, shouldn’t I?” Her face flushed as she spoke, and she began inching closer—an unmistakable sign something was amiss.
“Family? Granzoa is my subordinate god, but once she returns to the highest rank in the Divine Realm, I’ll release her. I promised to help her challenge the Main God. Is that why you call us family?”
“That’s truly something to be grateful for. If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word. I’ll assist however I can.”
“Do the other goddesses think favorably of me as well?”
“……”
Hera’s expression hardened into anger, but after a moment she calmed herself. “They’re coming to kill you.”
“What?” The War God blurted out in disbelief. “What did I do to deserve being hunted? Did my karma drop?”
He frantically checked his karma. It was clearly “Extremely Good.”
“My karma is fine. Then why do they suddenly want me dead? I’ve done everything asked of me and never harassed any goddesses. If it’s because I strung up those goddesses who tried to frame me, I’ll flip this place upside down.”
As the War God’s fury rose, Hera tried to soothe him. “Fortunately, since you didn’t harass the goddesses and proved your worth as the War God, they won’t kill you outright. But their disappointment in male gods runs so deep that they’ve decided no more licentious male Main Gods will be tolerated. My role is to decide whether to assassinate you immediately or give you a chance.”
“So you’re giving me a chance?”
“You seized the momentum of the Eternal War within six months. You never used divine power as bait to humiliate any goddess. And you even resisted my seduction—that’s a perfect score. They won’t try to kill you unconditionally.”
“Then it doesn’t matter. I need rest now, so tell everyone not to approach me. I have no intention of harassing goddesses. I’ll just work quietly.”
The War God found this Divine Realm increasingly bizarre. The more he interacted with it, the stranger things became. With so many gods, of course there would be monsters among them.
Already burdened by the Main God of the Divine Realm, now he had to watch out for eight goddesses as well. He felt his nonexistent blood pressure rising.
“But they still want your power. They each lead the goddesses of their former realms.”
“?”
“They can’t demand a forced essence transfer, so they want to set conditions and exchange.”
“They want Essence Exchange. Then why come to kill me?”
To him, the atmosphere felt like they wanted to bind him and treat him as a breeding stallion. Irritation began to simmer.
“A duel! If you lose the duel, you’ll transfer the designated amount of power via spatial transfer. If you win, they’ll support you.”
“This sounds like a deal where I lose either way.”
To the War God, the proposal was nothing short of a challenge. His blood pressure climbed higher.
The next words left his mouth agape.
“If you win, you may do as you please with the loser’s body. It was a desperate measure to deter goddesses who found the Lust God attractive yet didn’t want their bodies defiled. But now I worry it’ll backfire, so I’ll revise it. Instead, for each essence transfer, you’ll grant one condition.”
“Any condition?”
“As long as the other party finds it acceptable. If your power rises by one stage, there won’t be anything you can’t ask for.”
“What if I refuse both the fight and the essence transfer?”
“Then they’ll force it.”
“What if I quit everything and flee to another dimension?”
“Huh—? You wouldn’t… You’re serious? Oh my god!”
Hera, seeing the burning anger in the War God’s eyes, nodded and continued, her face genuinely flustered. She hadn’t expected the War God to even utter the word “flee.” Especially not in the middle of the war he was leading.
If the War God vanished now, there would be no one left to move the stars. And if the reason became known, the Main God of the Divine Realm—who had lost his qualifications as a Creator God—would wage a fight to the death against the goddesses.
“I take back what I just said. I’ll renegotiate the terms with the other goddesses. I’ll make sure they consider your position as much as possible.”
“I have no interest in the goddesses here, so keep them from coming to me. In exchange, I’ll set aside time for each of them to perform essence transfers. Until the war with the Substitute Gods ends, don’t seek me out for such matters again. It interferes with my battle rest.”
“I’ll do that. Don’t be too angry. Your reputation was so poor that everyone was already worked up.”
“……”
Hera left the War God speechless with such treatment. His already dwindling affection for the Divine Realm had completely vanished because of this incident.
She looked at him with pity as his face turned expressionless, then turned away several times before finally departing as the door opened silently.
What a tiresome bunch of goddesses. They judged, predicted, and tried to control others at will, fully aware of how infuriating it would be if done to them.
To think the Sly Raccoon Main God had led these goddesses for eons—he truly was impressive. The War God could now understand why the battle-crazed personality had changed; it was almost pitiable.
The conclusion with the Substitute Gods would need readjusting as well. Without a common enemy, these women would undoubtedly start an internal war.
If civil war broke out in the Divine Realm, he—the one managing the Middle World—would be the one left exhausted.
“Ugh! It’s so hard to live comfortably. I was going to do research and live quietly once the Divine Realm settled down, but look at this mess.”
The War God threw himself onto the plush sofa and fell asleep without even washing. The days of thoughtlessly fighting the High Elf Empire in the Great Forest seemed better by comparison.
To the War God, the world of the gods was far too complicated, and the more effort he put in, the more tangled it became.
He devoted all his divine power to recovery, and a week passed. Upon waking and restoring his body, the temple’s recovery effects combined with his own regeneration left him in peak condition. Now he could fully retract his wings of light.
Whirrr—! Thirteen pairs of light wings folded completely into his back, and his hair returned to its original black-and-gold. He silently nodded at his reflection.
“Good. Now I can control it.”
He wrapped his scarred upper body once more in the black robe. Ten magic circles and half of a translucent circle enveloped his back, transforming him back into the Black Mage.
Creak—! When he stepped out of the temple, the goddesses who always waited were nowhere to be seen. Even the high-ranking angels who used to run over to greet him were absent.
They must have withdrawn, just as he expected.
The War God pulled the robe’s hood completely over his face. Step by step, he crossed the street toward the Main God’s Temple. No goddesses bothered him, and though the street bustled with noise, no one approached him.
“My power is that of a Main God, no matter how I hide it. Yet now that I’ve approved the essence transfers, no one comes near. That week of cheers feels like a dream.”
Once the Goddess Department got what they wanted, they kept everyone under control—no one approached the War God. This was the difference between an individual and a group.
This was how the world worked. He had briefly entertained the thought of living peacefully with them, but it had been nothing more than a pleasant dream.
Thud—! Thud—! Magic power radiated from his entire body, overwhelming his divine power. The Infinite Moon and the magic tower within the Survival Magic Tower granted him endless mana.
As expected, an outsider would always remain an outsider. Once he reached the Eleventh Circle, his mana would surpass even the Main God of the Divine Realm. Even now, at the Tenth Circle, he could overwhelm them with maximum-output infinite barrages.
Goddesses hurriedly dodged the powerful waves of his mana.
They were no longer his concern. He would simply fulfill his duties as the War God.
His eyes caught sight of gods being regenerated and returning to the front lines via spatial transfer. Their numbers were far greater than anticipated.
The number of war gods dying and regenerating exceeded expectations. Even the primordial war gods were falling. Had they ignored his warning and launched an all-out war against the Substitute Gods?
The situation had already surpassed the point where mere observation sufficed. As he expanded his authority domain, he sensed demon kings attempting to move from the Boundary into the Divine Realm.
More than ten high-ranking demon kings were approaching the Divine Realm.
He turned his gaze toward the Main God’s Temple where the eight goddesses resided. They must have known about the dire war situation and the approaching demon kings, yet they showed no reaction.
They had no intention of moving. If even one of them had participated in the initial authentication war, things wouldn’t have come to this.