The entanglements of the multiverse were endless.
When the massive Ark appeared amid this sea of stars, every existence that had reached a certain level instinctively looked up at the sky.
This was the instinctive fear of life under threat, and also the respect that those below should show those above. An existence at the level of a God Above Gods was like an elephant in a room. You could pretend it was not there, but neither your senses nor your instincts could truly ignore it.
"It has come."
"Is this the reinforcement they mentioned before? Just what did the Earth Goddess summon?"
"We have descendants of evil gods too—the Octopus Child Prince. Our side should be stronger."
"Don't be stupid. Those Eight-Clawed evil god princes are dumber than the last. When they go mad, whose side ends up dead—ours or the enemy's? Every time they fight themselves into a frenzy, only they come back."
When both sides in the war received reinforcements, the atmosphere could not have been more different.
The humans welcomed the arriving army with delight, while the Eight-Clawed side was steeped in fear and unease. As incarnations of "appetite," the more powerful figures they brought, the more locally sourced their food supplies became.
There was a good chance that before a single war was over, the backbone of their own side would be gnawed up like biscuits by their powerful allies.
Naturally, morale soared on one side while deserters began appearing on the other. But this did not affect the course of the battle. The Eight-Clawed had always been like this. Their organization was practically nonexistent, and their army relied entirely on banzai charges and hunger to drive them forward.
Hunger and famine eternally hung over the lives of those Octopus Race descendants. The higher their