Demon God Arms Race!?

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, three months had gone by...

Three months was neither long nor short, but it was at least enough time for Dungeon City to undergo its initial development.

Through the efforts of Isaac and the two virtual gods, Dungeon City had grown from three hundred people to three thousand in just three months!

Its population had increased tenfold!

The number of divine followers had also reached over a thousand!

They made up a full third of the population!

At this point, however, they had temporarily reached the limit of their development. The nearby humans had already been thoroughly gathered up by Isaac and the two virtual gods. If they wanted to expand further, they would have to explore more distant areas.

Of course, it was not as though they lacked the ability to do so. Three fourth-rank powerhouses—one fourth-rank wizard and two gods—were all extraordinary beings with absurd combat power. Without more than ten fourth-ranks joining forces, it would be absolutely impossible to take them down.

But there was no need.

For one thing, it would take too much effort. For another, Dungeon City was not suited to taking in more people right now. Although both Mephisto and the God of Strife had once been leaders, even Mephisto had managed only a little over a hundred people at most. Managing three thousand people...

It was truly no small test for them. They had only barely managed to hold things together through absolute strength-based suppression, combined with the fact that many of the humans gathered from various places had some management experience.

If they continued expanding, Dungeon City would collapse!

Thus, Dungeon City's current goal was not continued expansion, but consolidating its existing gains, properly managing the humans already there, while also increasing infrastructure construction and intensifying Dungeon exploration!

After all, Dungeon City differed from other magic cities. Isaac would not provide them with basic supplies for nothing. Whether it was resources for building the city or food, they had to obtain everything themselves.

That was not too difficult for them.

Unlike other magic cities, although Dungeon City did not have Isaac supplying survival materials, it gave them stronger extraordinary power. It was no exaggeration to say that, under the leadership of the two virtual gods, none of the seven nearby Dungeons, aside from their deepest levels, could stand against them!

Although the other followers were somewhat weaker, as long as they were careful, sweeping through the first floor was not difficult.

With the support of Dungeon resources that could respawn regularly, maintaining basic food and clothing in Dungeon City was not a problem. But that was all it could do. If they wanted to go further, they would need to make more refined use of Dungeon resources.

That meant continuing to strengthen the divine followers. The two virtual gods alone were not enough.

And for some reason, recently, every Dungeon the two of them entered had offered far greater resistance than before!

They could not make sense of it. They wanted to ask Isaac, but ever since Dungeon City's population had surpassed two thousand and it had begun operating on its own, Isaac had vanished. They could not contact him at all, so they could only bury their doubts, halt their exploration of the deeper Dungeons, and focus on strengthening their followers.

In truth, the dimensional demon gods behind the Dungeons were even more bewildered than the two of them!

Dungeons that had not moved in many years had suddenly begun operating again. That was still normal enough. After all, the Boundless Tower had opened once more in the real world where those wizards lived. They would certainly stir up trouble after entering. During this period, other Dungeons the demon gods had arranged had also begun activating one after another.

But what was abnormal was this: why had two gods appeared?!

They were not inferior things like god species. They were genuine gods!

True gods who had voluntarily lowered their power level to the fourth rank while retaining all divine traits...

Had the orthodox gods of that world already gone this mad? Had they finally been infected by those wizards?

One had to know that severing one's own power was no trivial matter. Once one fell, climbing back up again would not be so easy.

First, after severing one's own power, the authorities and divine powers one had previously occupied would all shrink to a certain degree. Moreover, it was foreseeable that those diminished portions would definitely be seized by other gods or wizards. Meat that had already been swallowed was not so easy to make someone spit back out.

Second, after severing one's own power, the Faith Power needed for advancement had to be accumulated anew. This was even more troublesome than having one's authorities and divine powers encroached upon. Without several hundred years, recovery was impossible—and that was assuming the religious order developed smoothly.

If they encountered even the slightest trouble, then they could just wait!

They would be waiting for a long time!

Finally, and most troublesome of all, during the process of severing one's own power, the slightest misstep could leave behind incomparably severe aftereffects—severe enough to completely lock one's strength at the fourth rank forever!

Never again able to advance an inch!

That was the most despairing outcome of all!

And based on their observations over this period, those two fools seemed to have encountered precisely this worst-case scenario!

Not only had less than one-tenth of their divine power remained, but even their path to recovery had been locked. Even the gods' [Eternal] trait had developed a faintly illusory quality...

That last point was fatal beyond fatal!

Aside from dimensional demon gods like them, every other god, whether orthodox or evil, possessed one greatest advantage in this world: they had the concept of [Eternal], making them extremely difficult to kill!

And as long as they did not die, they had limitless opportunities!

But now, the [Eternal] concept of those two fools had developed a problem...

The dimensional demon gods were first shocked, then curious, and finally greedy!

So what miraculous thing did this world possess that made two true gods willing to pay such an enormous price just to enter it?

Although they had remained in this world for a long time and had essentially investigated all of its resources thoroughly, this was, after all, a Great Wizard's Great Creation, even if it was merely one part of that Great Creation.

The mighty power it possessed was beyond the comprehension of small fries like them.

Perhaps there really was something extraordinary hidden within?

After all, those two true gods came from that world—the main world where the Great Wizard had originated, that unimaginably powerful world of wizards. It was only natural that they might know some inside information, right?

With that thought in mind, the demon gods began increasing their investment in the Dungeons. Especially whenever Mephisto and the God of Strife entered a Dungeon, they poured in magic power at full force. To demon gods like them, a little excess magic power was nothing compared to the secret treasure left behind by a Great Wizard!

They even began increasing the flow of magic power into Dungeons in other places as well!

And the circle of demon gods was very small, especially among the demon gods of the Wilderness Dungeon. Although the other demon gods did not know the exact situation, they followed suit. It was only a little magic power and a little time, after all. They could afford it!

Besides, while the Boundless Tower was open, that real world was also covered by the Great Wizard's mighty power. Neither orthodox gods nor Outer Gods could interfere with that world.