Chapter 48 : Subjugation of the Demon King

Swoosh─

"Aaaah! Get out of the way!"

"Turn to starboard! Quickly!"

Tentacles, larger and thicker than the ships themselves, reached out. Despite the frantic barrage of bullets and shells, they continued to approach undeterred. Naturally, there was no damage. Even when concentrated fire caused slight scratches, they healed instantly. It was nearly impossible to inflict wounds, and even if they managed, it was meaningless. This realization drove the soldiers to despair.

"Headquarters! Headquarters, respond! Respond, you bastards!!"

"Damn it… we're finished."

"Aaaah!"

Crunch!

A massive tentacle wrapped around a ship, crushing it under immense pressure until it shattered. The colossal ship, made from the strongest artificial metal combining tungsten, titanium, and special minerals, and costing astronomical amounts to build, was destroyed in an instant.

Plasma lasers, neutron beams, hydrogen bombs, even planet-destroying penetration missiles—nothing worked. They even tried graviton bombs and space-warping cannons, modeled after the infinite gravity of black holes, but to no avail. At best, they managed to sever a single tentacle, but even that regenerated within minutes.

It was the epitome of despair. A terrifying despair that they could do nothing awaited them. To make matters worse, there was no contact with the headquarters' elders.

"They used us as shields to escape, those trash."

"Damn it all!!"

Realizing they had been used as fodder, rage consumed them. But rage was meaningless. From the moment they faced the monster, there was no option to flee. No option for victory. They could only struggle futilely until they were either crushed by the massive tentacles or swallowed whole into the gaping maw to be digested as prey.

One might think, why not just run away? But the monster seemed intent on not letting anything in its sight escape. Whether it possessed the intelligence to judge or not, it swiftly captured and destroyed any ship or spacecraft attempting to flee. That was why they stood still, unable to fight or run—instinctively hoping to cling to life for even a second longer.

All that remained for them was to await death. Many soldiers, succumbing to despair, took their own lives.

[...]

As the end of the Union seemed imminent, suddenly, the monster's massive tentacles stopped their slaughter and became still.

"…?"

"What's happening?"

The soldiers, momentarily confused by the abrupt halt, watched as four small silhouettes appeared before them.

"Are those… people?"

Amazingly, the four silhouettes belonged to individuals of various tribes.

#

In the universe, there are four fundamental forces:

Gravity, arising from the interaction between masses.

Electromagnetic force, governing the interactions between charges.

Strong nuclear force, the source of fusion energy, binding protons and neutrons.

Weak nuclear force, causing radioactive decay and being the source of fission energy.

These four forces are the foundation, the truth, and the essence of the universe. All matter and phenomena in the universe stem from these forces. If a person could directly manipulate these forces, the possibilities would be unimaginable. They could potentially destroy and create the universe, playing the role of a cosmic creator.

This immense power was divided among four beings, making them adversaries to the gigantic monster:

Celine, A Lorrian woman wielding the power of gravity.

Kotritas, The son of a Lubaran elder, possessing the power of weak nuclear force.

Lowie Hendrik, A Meias tribe candidate for the next elder, wielding the power of electromagnetic force.

Kon Arche, A Terra tribe space adventurer, wielding the power of strong nuclear force.

…This combination feels very familiar. They're Yujin's companions. It seems they weren't just randomly gathered around Yujin. These individuals are protagonist-level characters, playing significant and pivotal roles in this universe.

Indeed, their backstories are perfect.

The sole survivor of a destroyed tribe.

The abandoned child of a corrupt elder.

The apprentice of the greatest magician.

An adventurer from a minor tribe traveling the universe. It's the perfect backstory for a shonen manga protagonist. Ah, so they became the adversaries. It's fascinating. The will of the universe directly selected them and divided the cosmic forces among them.

There are cases where an entire tribe is born as adversaries, or a god-like being emerges. But here, the power is lent to create heroes. That power is indeed formidable. The others are on par with lower-tier outer gods, and Kon Arche, with the strongest power, isn't jokingly comparable to a lower-tier outer god in terms of influence and might within the universe.

At this rate, my gigantic monster might lose. But then again, it's only natural since the adversaries are created to be able to win. What happens if the opponent is beyond their capacity to handle? If I think about when I or another outer god suddenly intrudes, it seems they do nothing in the face of overwhelming power. They struggle against winnable foes, but otherwise, they just hope the threat passes quietly.

Interesting. There's a lot to explore. For instance, if the same adversary appears in identical environments within identical cloned universes facing the same enemy, would the adversary be the same, or would it vary? What if the environment is slightly different? Can the type of adversary be influenced?

It seems no outer god has directly cloned a universe for such experiments, and there are no similar reference materials. In other words, there's much I won't know unless I experiment myself. It appears that such tedious domestic experiments aren't a hobby for outer gods.

Anyway, since I'm having fun, maybe I'll try some experiments after this is over?

[Oh.]

While I was lost in thought, the battle between the gigantic monster and the four adversaries began. They unleashed nuclear fission energy, manipulated gravity, electrocuted with electromagnetic force, and blew off tentacles with nuclear fusion energy. In fact, the Union's latest weapons operated on similar principles—railguns, graviton bombs, neutron beams, hydrogen bombs. However, the difference was that these adversaries wielded the raw, natural forces of the universe itself. Naturally, their power was incomparable.

Even if one tries to mimic a black hole or a neutron star, it's infinitely weaker than the real thing. That's exactly what it felt like. They hurled black holes, threw neutron stars to explode, and compressed cosmic radiation storms into high-density blasts. It was a battle beyond the imagination of ordinary mortals.

"…My God."

"Where did those people come from…?"

People couldn't help but marvel. But to me, it looked like ants fighting each other. If I were still human, I'd be terrified, but now, as a top-tier outer god who orchestrates such battles, it's just amusing. It's like watching ants pick up grains of sand and throw them at each other—fascinating in its own way.

…Wait, isn't that incredibly cool? If I posted a video of this, it would easily hit a million views. Unfortunately, most outer gods aren't interested in such things, so even if I recorded it, it wouldn't get much attention.

Anyway, after an intense battle filled with immense power and exploding tentacles, the four adversaries emerged victorious.

[Groooar…]

"Wow, we won! Those people defeated the gigantic monster!"

"My God…"

Though they were battered and on the brink of death, the adversaries had won. The 100,000 km-long tentacle mass was now so thoroughly destroyed that its original form was unrecognizable, completely immobilized. The colossal space monster shattered and dispersed into the cosmos.

So, this is how it ends. What a spectacle. The birth of adversaries, the subjugation of the demon king. I saw what I wanted to see. Now that it's over… I should clean this up. Leaving it unattended might cause problems in other universes, especially our original universe. Natural cosmic collisions are one thing, but this is an artificial creation—essentially a man-made disaster. Or rather, a god-made disaster since I'm an outer god?

Hmm? That would just be a natural disaster then… Anyway, leaving an artificial cloned universe unattended could cause issues, and if it's because of me, it would leave a bad taste. So, I'll erase it. After all, it's a universe I cloned, so it shouldn't matter. It's not like I'm destroying naturally occurring, well-functioning universes. I'm just erasing cloned existences that never originally existed. Compared to other outer gods who go around wrecking perfectly fine universes, I'm much kinder. I'm not crossing any lines, right?

…Or am I?