The power of a Main God, the creator of a dimension, is absolute.
Naturally so, for they could decide the beginning and end of a world however they wished.
So vast that they were closer to systems than personalities, they used power approaching omniscience and omnipotence to cultivate their own fields according to their dispositions.
However, though they approached omniscience and omnipotence, they were not perfect, and even they had limits.
Namely, because their bodies were far too immense and their power far too strong, they could not attend to and fine-tune every single small and delicate facet of the world.
If they tried to alter something recklessly, everything connected to it could collapse in a chain reaction and shatter the world, so even if an error occurred in a dimension, they could not lay their hands on it carelessly.
That was also why the degree of divine intervention differed from dimension to dimension.
There were neglectful types who, reluctant to suffer losses, merely put together the basic framework and then watched as things flowed according to providence; interventionist types who invested aggressively for greater returns and placed lesser divinities to regulate the world in their stead; and so on…
Their methods of management varied according to their individual dispositions.
The Main God of Auterica was a common interventionist type.
After shaping the world, he separated a part of himself and created gods who could manage his creations from a closer distance.
The lesser gods also had their limitations, but because they could do far more than the Main God, they each cultivated the world little by little according to their tastes.
The World Tree, which governed nature’s abundance and cycle, created the elves.
The Titan, which governed fire, metal, and technology, created the dwarves.
The god in charge of animals, wildness, and hunting created the beastmen; the god who presided over the sea created the merfolk; and the god who protected strength and balance created the dragons.
There was also a god who managed humans—beings who, despite their short lives, were vigorously active and produced intense karma, making them, so to speak, highly “profitable.”
“Grrr— O Demon God…”
“Hoo, hoo— What in the world is that…”
The Celestial God and the Demon God were in similar circumstances.
For the sake of the world’s balance, the Celestial Realm was created to isolate an excessive overflow of light energy, while the Demon Realm was created to gather dark yin energy.
They settled in their respective domains and created the angel race and the demon race.
And so, a long time passed.
Conflict and harmony, war and development, and more…
The creations each held their own values, burned through their lives upon this land, and faded away, leaving only karma behind.
Naturally, there was not only peace in that process, but even so, they did not lose their balance excessively and continued advancing one step at a time.
—Until one god became overly immersed in his creations and, consumed by excessive greed, crossed the line.
The repercussions of a god who had been managing the world on behalf of the Main God running out of control were by no means small.
And considering that this god, backed by immense karma productivity, wielded more influence than several other gods combined, how could they have been?
Because of humans, whose power had expanded explosively, most of the other races were driven from their homes and forced to migrate to a new continent.
The dragons, who were few but elite, were somewhat better off, but even they could not do much in the face of direct intervention from the god who had run amok.
In the end, only after the Main God could no longer stand by and uprooted that being, imprisoning him in the Abyss—the dimension’s trash heap—did the commotion come to an end.
If he had recklessly annihilated him, the painstakingly cultivated world might have collapsed, so he merely stripped him of authority over the infrastructure he had built and erased his records. Still, if he remained trapped in the Abyss for a long time, he would naturally melt away and become fertilizer for the world, so it was not a bad decision.
After all, the Abyss itself had been created for that very purpose.
…Yes, if only he had obediently stayed there for a few tens of thousands of years or so.
From the gods’ perspective, tens of thousands of years were nothing special, but to that being—“the God of Humans,” who had already been steeped in a human way of thinking—it was a span no different from eternity.
Tenacious obsession, impulses blazing up like wildfire, desire that would not fade, greed that knew no satisfaction.
With those as his foundation, the God of Humans did not give up and stretched out his hands in all directions.
Naturally, his main target was the continent where his creations, the humans, lived, but he knew very well that pouring all his resources into a single plan was a foolish thing to do.
Was the Abyss not, in the first place, a place where all manner of dregs from the dimension gathered together?
Of course, the sewers and pipes through which those things flowed in also extended throughout the entire world.
[Aah! Fresh air! How wonderful, how wonderful!]
“Krrk! Fall back for now!”
[Kill them all! Kill them and offer their bodies and souls as a sacrifice!]
“Damn it! I knew those bastards would cause trouble someday!”
“Monsters of the Abyss…!”
And now.
In a certain region at the center of the Demon Realm.
The filth in the sewers had begun to flow backward.
***
‘A war breaking out in the Demon Realm, huh…’
The office of the Hubert Company’s chairman.
The demon who had come to visit so suddenly, Miyamoto Ken, disappeared without a sound just as he had arrived.
Leaving behind only a promise that he would return, and food containers that had been devoured until only scraps remained.
In a way, it was a positive sign.
Though he had the power to put malicious intentions into action, he had caused no particular harm and had withdrawn obediently.
Thinking of it that way, there was room for their relationship to develop into a mutually beneficial partnership, but…
Hubert never relaxed, maintaining his wariness all the same.
‘A demon isn’t called a demon for nothing.’
It was a separate issue from military might.
The defining characteristic of the demon race was that they could cut off your nose even while you were wide awake.
Of course, since Ken was an acquired demon, one could not judge him purely in principle, but who knew how much he had been influenced by all the long years he had survived in the Demon Realm?
‘He might show a friendly face, then try to swallow us whole in an instant.’
On second thought, that did not seem so bad either.
For now, Hubert had been watching because he did not know how things would unfold afterward, but if the other side crossed the line first, then he could strip and devour him from head to toe without the slightest qualm.
“Um… Chairman?”
“Mm?”
Hubert, who had been lost in thought alone in his office, raised his head and looked at the one who had called him.
“Are you really all right? The person who just came…”
A mature girl, who had arrived at some point, was looking at him with a worried expression.
It was Diana, his capable personal secretary who, as Hubert’s right arm, was involved in most of the company’s work.
‘So she noticed after all.’
It felt like only yesterday that he had met the gaunt girl in a small frontier city occupied by vampires, but perhaps because she had eaten well and lived well for the past few years, she had grown rapidly enough that she could now be called a young lady.
‘And that mysterious sense of smell of hers seems to have matured even further.’
Even the true-blood vampire assigned as his guard had not noticed.
It seemed she had vaguely discerned the other party’s true identity through that sense of smell.
That was why she was looking at him so worriedly.
“Ah, it’s fine. I have something in mind.”
“That’s a relief, but… Hmm, I don’t know if I’m just being sensitive, but… after smelling that person’s scent, I started feeling uneasy.”
“Uneasy?”
“…It would be more accurate to say ominous. I have a bad feeling.”
“Hmm.”
Hubert slowly stroked his chin.
Along with her “mysterious sense of smell,” Diana also possessed the trait of “despair-inducing misfortune.”
For now, she was evading it by being with Hubert, an otherworlder who ignored predetermined fate, but the words of a girl who had long been a specialist in misfortune carried tremendous persuasive power.
“All right. Don’t worry.”
In truth, he had been somewhat conflicted.
After all, it was not a matter he could decide on lightly.
But after hearing her words, he was able to make up his mind for certain.
“I have a sure method.”
For now, he would use everything he could.
***
I gazed at the various entries of the 『Karma Shop Ver.2』 floating before my eyes, feeling a peculiar sense of emotion.
‘…Good. I have enough points.’
When I had checked immediately after restoring the Ganghwan Realm, I had had roughly 9.5 million karma points.
Now, after several days had passed by Earth’s time, that number had already swelled past 13 million.
‘Nothing much happened in the meantime besides the Hubert Company’s business, though.’
It was, quite literally, a terrifying rate of growth.
It was the cumulative result of the many achievements I had built up until now.
Seeing the number rise in real time even now, I felt full even without eating.
“Let’s begin right away.”
With this much ammunition, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
『Unique Skill Enhancement (2,000,000)』
I selected the entry without hesitation.
“Ugh.”
Immediately afterward, a familiar headache pierced my mind.
A sharp pain that even my powerful mental defenses could not filter out.
At the same time, my realm of perception, which had already reached a distant domain, began to expand even further.
《The effects of abilities derived from your unique skill will increase further, and the area in which avatars can be summoned will expand.》
A brief moment passed like that.
Then a message that had appeared during a previous enhancement floated before my eyes.
An enhancement of abilities linked to my unique skill, and an explosive increase in the remote summoning range that had previously been roughly sixty kilometers in radius.
‘At this level… would it be about a three-hundred-kilometer radius?’
That was enough to cover most of the Korean Peninsula.
Now, within that range, I could freely summon an avatar anytime and anywhere with just a single act of will.
‘The points needed for the next enhancement are three million, huh.’
The fact that the cost had jumped by a whole million left a bitter taste in my mouth, but since I had already expected it to some degree, I was able to shake it off quickly.
After all, I had more than enough points; what I truly lacked was only time to adapt to the enhanced unique skill.
‘Besides, there’s something more important right now.’
Namely, the fact that I could finally create a new avatar.
Since the last several enhancements had consecutively strengthened only other abilities, it felt like it had been quite a long time.
“The eleventh avatar, huh.”
All the necessary preparations were already complete.
I took a deep breath and moved toward the basement.
Woooong—
There, all sorts of magic circles and spells densely laid out were already emitting a faint presence.
They were all mysteries of the sort that blocked the energy inside from leaking outward.
My residence was already wrapped in several layers of security devices, but this place was a space further equipped with installations that utilized complex formulae to the utmost limit.
‘Here, even if Hans doesn’t conceal his power, it won’t be observed from outside.’
Of course, if he released it at full force, it would be difficult to block completely, but the aura that naturally leaked out could be perfectly contained.
Leaving aside the labor costs of the top-class ability users who had worked on this place, even the purely consumed resources had been astronomical.
“Now then.”
I had already decided what the next avatar would be.
As it happened, did I not already have more than enough materials needed for it?
“The time has finally come to make use of this.”
Woooong—
The moment I took that object out.
The barriers in the basement all shone at once and began suppressing the energy within.
One arm, wrapped in silver chains consecrated with the divine power of high-ranking priests, with sharp metal spikes driven into various places to hold it in place.
It was the “right arm of the 14th Demon King Lraye,” which had been sealed within the 「Golden Treasury」, the legacy of the gold dragons inherited by the hatchling Horus.
‘As expected, it’s incredible.’
Even though more than a thousand years had passed with it firmly sealed away, a mighty presence could still be felt from this Demon King’s remains.
If not for the barriers installed here, the Guardians would surely have come rushing in long ago.
“Now…”
And immediately, I was about to use 「Customizing」… but before that.
I then searched for one entry under 『Item Purchase』.
There were still more prepared procedures remaining.
『Horn Containing the Essence of the 14th Demon King Lraye (4,080,000)』
When I had first seen it, it had been a product that cost over five million points.
But even now that it cost over four million, it was still an incredible price.
Back then, I had wondered if there would ever come a day when I would buy such a thing…
‘Well, you really never know how things will turn out.’
Until now, I had always used only one medium when creating avatars.
In truth, that alone had been enough to target a specific race.
‘But as my unique skill was enhanced and 「Customizing」 grew, another possibility opened up.’
Namely, using multiple additional mediums with similar dispositions while creating an avatar.
But what if the medium was none other than the remains of a Demon King?
And what if they were the remnants of the Fourteenth Demon King, recorded as being no less formidable than the Immortal King in his prime?
‘Right, I already have ten avatars. It’d be a bit much to start raising a new individual from scratch at this point.’
These days, level-boosted characters were all the rage in the gaming industry.
So why couldn’t he do the same?
With a faint chuckle, I carefully set a pair of black horns down in the center of the magic circle.
They were gently curved horns, each about thirty centimeters long.
Perhaps because they were said to contain his “essence,” the power dwelling within them was incomparable to that of the sealed right arm.
Wooooong—!
The barrier in the basement, which had been operating quietly, began to function with even greater intensity.
A cluster of light glowed softly amid a grand vibration.
Still, perhaps because I had poured such an enormous amount of resources into it, it seemed to have a little more leeway.
‘That’s right. It has to. It’d be a problem if it reached its limit already.’
After all, there was still one more.
I immediately took out another object.
It was a transparent glass bottle tightly wrapped in a thin silver chain engraved with tiny prayers.
As the bottle tilted slightly, the black sphere inside rolled with a soft clatter.
A ruby-like eye embedded in the center of the black sphere.
It met my gaze head-on.
“The eye of Lereie, the Fourteenth Demon King.”
This was something I had brought from the sacred site of the Order of the Chief God, the Grand Temple of Rosellia.
Naturally, the fragments of the Immortal King I had previously seized weren’t the only things sealed there.
Among them was a part of the remains of a Demon King who had invaded the surface over a thousand years ago, and Heinrich had quietly smuggled it out under the pretext of destroying it forever.
‘…Honestly, it’s not a lie. This thing is about to disappear from the world completely.’
Thanks to that, I had been able to gather three remains of the Demon King to serve as mediums.
The horns, right arm, and eye of Lereie, the Fourteenth Demon King.
On top of that, the horns even contained his essence, and since all the mediums came from the exact same individual, it was the best possible combination, one from which I could expect extreme synergy.
‘Is something seriously incredible going to come out of this?’
The barrier in the basement was gradually coming under strain, so I couldn’t delay any longer.
Without hiding the expectation welling up inside me, I immediately used 「Customization」.
And then…
“Huh? What the hell is this?”
***
The creation of an avatar through 「Customization」 was complete.
An unprecedented power could be felt within my body.
It was a new power dwelling in the newly acquired body, but it didn’t take long to adapt to it and bring it under control.
After all, I’d already handled immense power through other avatars more times than I cared to count.
One step, then another.
Feeling a subtle discomfort, I slowly moved my feet.
It was something that happened every time I made a new avatar, but this time, the unfamiliarity was especially pronounced.
After slowly arriving before the mirror placed in one corner…
I cautiously raised my head and looked at my reflection within it.
A pair of black horns sprouting from both sides of my head and rising high.
Inverted eyes, with red pupils shining within black sclera.
Jet-black wings that had torn through the clothing around my shoulder blades and burst out.
No matter how you looked at it, it was the very image of a splendid Demon King.
However, an unexpected variable had occurred during the 「Customization」 process.
Perhaps because I had used too many materials from a single individual with powerful strength, the authority I had been given to modify the individual was not particularly extensive.
Of course, I could adjust the finer details well enough, but several major parts were impossible to change no matter what I tried.
“Lereie, the Fourteenth Demon King.”
For example, the pair of black horns.
Or the inverted eyes shining like rubies.
Or…
“…Don’t tell me it was female.”
The individual’s sex.
“Haa— I didn’t see this coming.”
The beautiful woman with an alien appearance reflected in the mirror let out a deep sigh.
In a bewitching voice that seemed capable of enchanting anyone who heard it.