The Overlord’s Flames, which ravaged the gods, disappeared as if they had never existed. Even the bone dragons swarming the skies and the Divine Army troops covering the ground vanished with a flash of light.

The moment the Succession Ceremony ended, all of the damage that the players and the gods suffered immediately disappeared as they recovered back to their original state from before the ceremony started.

Everyone held their breaths. Whether the descendants could meet the required credibility rating was important for the players and the gods. Then, the very first notifications rang.

Valentino was very thrilled. Perhaps many of his fans were cheering for him at this very moment. This was a turning point for him. It would give him a stronger power and make his name known more. When the God of Shield first met him, he viewed Valentino as insignificant and commanded him to worship him. But now, everything would be different.

The hall where the Succession Ceremony was being held searched for its original position and slowly landed on the ground. In a blink, Valentino, who had a platinum crown floating above his head, and the God of Shields appeared in the Succession Ceremony hall in a flash of light.

Valentino’s heart thrummed in excitement when he heard the notifications in his ears. He looked at the outstretched hand of the arrogant God of Shields before him.

“Congratulations. I hope you will never lose your pride from here on out.”

Valentino clasped the God of Shield’s hands tightly. This was a noble, glorious, and touching moment for him.

Valentino knew he would lose everything he had built when he returned to the Luvien Empire. After all, he had angered Nerva. He still did not and would not regret what happened here today. In a way, it was his retribution.

When Valentino turned to look beside him, he saw Golden Mage Ali inheriting the power of the God of Magic. And it was not just him. All of the gods–the God of Animals, the God of Siege Weapons, the God of Fetters, the God of Lightning, etc.–who chose to side with Minhyuk had achieved a satisfactory credibility rating and successfully inherited the position of their respective gods.

Ali and Death, inheriting the power of their respective gods, would be able to tremendously boost Minhyuk’s empire. They had only opened the first level of their powers, but they were already 1.2x stronger than before.

Even Minhyuk could not imagine what heights Ali would be able to reach once he reached Level 700.

This was not Minhyuk babbling. Minhyuk was already in a state where he had opened most of his power as the Food God. After all, the Food God was a god that had no power that he could let his successor inherit. Minhyuk’s thoughts would not change even if he inherited the position of the Battle God.

The Battle God was considered the greatest god because he was strong. However, he was hailed as the greatest and most outstanding god because he was the That was his advantage, which no god could match or compare with.

Also, Minhyuk was completely unaware of his and Nerva’s credibility ratings.

“This?! Damn it!”

At the same time, Minhyuk heard curses all over the place.

“No way…”

“H- How…”

“I followed Nerva’s orders and even did a great job. So, why?!”

Those were the players who were notified that they were unqualified. The gods knew that some of them had enough powers and abilities. However, these people failed to take the opportunity during the Succession Ceremony. As if to console them, a notification rang in their ears.

It was quite a relief for these people. However, even if they passed the subsequent trial, there would still be a noticeable difference between them and those who successfully passed the Succession Ceremony once they hit Level 700.

Around 20% of the players had appeared here and were disqualified from becoming gods after they were forced to log out during the Succession Ceremony. Among those who weren’t forced to log out, around 65% failed to meet the required credibility rating and had to take a second trial.

Joy Co. Ltd. never intended the Succession Ceremony to be a ceremony where the gods would just hand things over to their successors easily. The primary purpose of the Succession Ceremony was to screen out the unqualified ones and give rightful power to those who were qualified.

Only 15%. That was the number of people who have won the honor of inheriting the position of God during this Succession Ceremony.

Finally, it was Minhyuk’s turn, and he heard the loud ring of the notification window that appeared in front of him.

Minhyuk trembled. Of course, he also hoped to become the true Battle God and boost the power of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. However, his face grew ugly not long after.

It was not just Minhyuk; even the Battle God was confused by the situation.

The Battle God never expected things to turn out this way. Even Nerva’s face, sporting a faint smile earlier, grew twisted. Minhyuk and Nerva hurriedly averted their gazes when they accidentally made eye contact.

At that moment, another notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

“...!”

Minhyuk immediately understood why he could not inherit the Battle God's position and powers right away.

Only 1%. If Minhyuk’s credibility rating were just 1% higher, he would have already become the Battle God. And if he became the true Battle God, he would probably be able to obtain enough power once he reached Level 700 to wage an all-out war against the Luvien Empire. But those plans were now completely dashed.

But Minhyuk and Nerva fought hard to increase their credibility rating to 50%. Would they be left without receiving anything?

The Battle God was about to lose his mind. He had two more things to worry about: what he should give the two as a reward and who would inherit his position.

That was not an appropriate behavior for the most extraordinary Absolute God.

The other players were also made aware of the situation and had now begun to mumble and whisper among themselves. Even the viewers watching the broadcast through Go Eun-Ah could not hide their confusion and shock when they realized the situation.

The Battle God hurriedly summoned the Absolute Gods for an impromptu meeting.

***

The Absolute Gods looked serious. The Battle God’s position was the most important one. He was the only god who could lead the gods and even the Absolute Gods in an emergency. Because of that, it was hard for them to choose between the two emperors, who obtained the same credibility rating.

“If that’s the case, then we can only send them back first,” the God of Will said.“Yes, we will send them back. But if we send them back from the Succession Ceremony without them receiving any kind of compensation and reward, then we will certainly receive a huge backlash. You have to understand that they tried to kill us just a few moments prior,” the God of Death immediately refuted.

“No. We have to send them back for now. Because there’s nothing that we can do right here and now.” However, the Battle God ruled in favor of the God of Will.

Yes, they had to send them back. After all, they could not keep them here forever. But it was also true that they had to give them something and satisfy them before they could do that.

“Then, it’s decided. Let’s first give them a satisfactory reward and send them back. We have no choice but to throw something together and let Minhyuk and Nerva compete with something else.”

The Battle God decided to think about what Nerva and Minhyuk could compete with once he sent them back. Now, the gods were left agonizing over what rewards they could give the two.

“How about the Sword’s Tribute?” The God of Cooking said.

The Sword’s Tribute was a fantastic power that could increase the attack power of the swords held by the soldiers under the command of the skill user.

“That won’t work. If you compare the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire, then the Luvien Empire has a greater advantage. After all, they have the advantage of numbers. This would benefit the Luvien Empire greatly, and it would be very unbalanced.”

The rewards and compensations that the two would receive should be fair and equal.

“Then, what about the Battle God’s Running Warriors?”

This reward was a song. If one sang this song, they could give a buff to the army they were leading.

“The Beyond the Heavens Empire already has a great national anthem. The Battle God’s Running Warriors will be unnecessary for him.”

They talked for a long time, but they still could not conclude.

Then, the God of Cooking opened her mouth and said, “I think it’s better to get the approval of the two and give them whatever reward they want.”

Give Minhyuk and Nerva the reward that they want and approve of. If they did that, the two would have no other complaints.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

After finishing their talk, the Battle God appeared again and looked at Nerva and Minhyuk standing before him.

***

A sense of shame washed over Nerva Sephiroth.

He was the emperor of the strongest empire—that was who he was. Yet he could not believe he had achieved the same ranking as the lowly emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire!

Then, the Battle God stepped forward and said, “Come forward.”

Nerva was extremely uncomfortable. He did not like standing side by side with Minhyuk one bit.

“I’m sure the two of you know the current situation. It would be better to determine who becomes the next Battle God later.”

Nerva kept on cursing in his head, although he nodded in agreement. He also knew this was the best solution for their current situation.

Next came the most important thing.

“However, both emperors have shown me outstanding and remarkable performances. So, I’m willing to give you both reasonable rewards. First and foremost, all of the participants of the Succession Ceremony were promised certain rewards. You were given the following choices–ten platinum, ingredients for Chobok Samgyetang, Succession Ceremony’s Celebration Ring, and Fantastic Potion. If you choose one of these rewards, I will give you a much better reward. For example, we were originally set to give you ten platinum, but I will give you 20,000 platinum as a reward.”

Of course, Nerva chose to receive the 20,000 platinum as his reward. It was enough to fund and run a decent-sized kingdom for a few months. For Nerva, this was just like a penny, but he is not an idiot who would refuse any reward.

“I choose to receive the 20,000 platinum reward,” Nerva answered, taking the initiative to choose. When he turned his head, he could see Minhyuk’s bright smile.

“...I don’t need to hear it. I already know.”

“Hehe. Thank you very much!”

Of course, Minhyuk chose the ingredients for Chobok Samgyetang. Minhyuk smiled in delight at the thought of receiving ingredients guaranteed to be at least at legendary grade. It was sure to be delicious!

Was this really the person ruling a newly emerging empire?

Then the Battle God said, “Nerva is the Battle God’s Sword; he is the sword that will protect me. And Minhyuk? He is my successor and will eventually inherit my position. Since both of you are equal, I’m sure you have obtained some of my power.”

Indeed, this was the case. Both Minhyuk and Nerva had received some of the Battle God’s power. And it was mostly similar in strength or effect. Of course, there was a probability that one of them had received a better power. And that was most likely Nerva. After all, he had been the Battle God’s Sword for quite a long time.

“Then, choose one of the Battle God’s powers you possess, and I will increase it by two levels.”

“...!”

Nerva was highly delighted when he heard that. Even for him, the emperor of the strongest empire, this was an astonishing and great reward. Why did he think that this was a great reward? There was one reason. And that was because, among the powers of the Battle God in his possession, he had this special authority called

How could the Sword of the Gods have power comparable to the gods when they were not even gods? Even talented people would reach the limits of their talents. So, how were they able to reach such heights? It was because they grew with this power.

If , a power that could no longer grow and had a limit on the number of people he could help, were strengthened, it would be amazing.

Nerva turned to look at Minhyuk.

He was sure Minhyuk had taken significantly fewer missions and things from the Battle God than him. The Battle God had also given a lot of power to him before. Nerva was sure he had taken most of the Battle God’s outstanding powers for himself.

So, no matter what Minhyuk did here, Nerva was sure he would still be the one with greater benefits. The only problem was that he had to receive the approval of the Beyond the Heavens Emperor. After all, there was no way that he would agree and help the Luvien Empire gain such a considerable foothold. Nerva glanced at Minhyuk and made eye contact with the man.

Minhyuk opened his mouth and said, “Battle God, from what I understand, this will only be done after obtaining Emperor Nerva's and my agreement, no? Then, can we settle on this agreement between ourselves?”

The Battle God immediately understood. He thought,

Seeing the Battle God nod, Minhyuk said, “Emperor Nerva, I demand two million platinum from you.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

“I also want your territory up north, the Aveid Territory. Also, let me recruit three of the Luvien Empire’s talents. Of course, I will not recruit anyone that’s a part of the Swords of the Gods.”

Minhyuk’s words caused a stir among the players. The initial demand of two million platinum was enough to supplement the Beyond the Heavens Empire for quite a while. The Aveid Territory was a barren land that the Luvien Empire had recently pioneered with many of its talents after determining that it was an excellent place to live.

In other words, Minhyuk demanded not two million but more than ten million worth of platinum from Nerva. But Nerva, without hesitation or change in expression, responded, “I agree.”

“...!”

“...!”

Nerva’s face remained expressionless, but he was laughing deep inside.

If Nerva’s grew by two levels, he could set up a knight order far more extraordinary than the Sword of the Gods of today. Of course, it would be hard to manage people once they were stronger. But Nerva only planned to increase his knight orders to the Third Order. He could manage it well on his own.

The difference in value between that and what Minhyuk asked for could not be determined with money alone.

Nerva chuckled to himself.

At that moment, the notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears once again.

The corners of Nerva’s lips twitch in joy. He just could not hide the delight that he was feeling.

Nerva looked smugly at Minhyuk. Then, Minhyuk looked back at Nerva and said, “Emperor Nerva.”“...”

“By any chance, do you know about the Origin Authority?”

Of course, Nerva was aware of the Origin Authority. He could almost obtain one in the past, but the Battle God lost it, so he did not get it. The Origin Authority was also a power that only three of the most powerful Absolute Gods had.

Only after seeing the grin on Minhyuk’s face did Nerva realize something was wrong.