His world was also a closed hell, but in terms of nature it was somewhat better than the previous two.
Under the Law of Eternal Mercurial Recurrence, after a person dies, they return to their mother's womb and endlessly repeat their own unique life.
For those whose lives were happy, this was certainly blissful. But for those whose lives were miserable, it was no different from an eternal, inescapable hell. Thus, this Law was also nicknamed the "Prison" or the "Detention Center."
The meaning was that even after death, you would not be given any so-called next life. Whatever your life was like in this lifetime, after you die, it will simply replay all over again.
As long as the Mercurial Snake remained upon the [Throne], this situation would continue forever and ever.
These three were all the highest-tier Hegemony Gods in the game.
They were existences that had conceptualized themselves, reaching the realm where "one is all, and all is one."
Life, nature, celestial bodies, and the universe itself were all parts of their bodies. Put simply, a Hegemony God was a universe-class colossal lifeform that encompassed all phenomena.
At the very least, a Hegemony God possessed the power of a single universe. The three mentioned above were all among the very highest tier, having reached the level of the multiverse.
However, so-called Hegemony Gods—and the tyrannical [Law] of their divine great works—were just like the Longinus Sacred Gears in Raize's world: they came with enormous costs.
Although Hegemony Gods possessed the ability to absorb and dominate the souls of others, correspondingly, they also had flaws they could not ignore.
That flaw was the unavoidable self-destruction factor—a coexistence of life and death akin to cancer. As long as one was a Hegemony God, one would possess this defect: the causality of inevitable annihilation.
Hegemony Gods had unique [Laws], but no [Law] could ever be truly perfect. As the imperfect defect of that Law—the self-destruction factor—sooner or later it would grow increasingly uncontrollable, until it eventually backlashed upon its host.
For example, the seemingly most perfect Fifth Heaven, the Goddess of Rinne-Tensei Marie's Twilight Reincarnation, in Raize's objective view, possessed an undeniable flaw.
For instance, the desire of the Fifth Heaven's Throne Holder, the Goddess of Rinne-Tensei, was "to love and embrace all."
The essence of her divine [Law] was to love and encompass all of humanity, regardless of status or worth—wishing happiness upon all humans was the goddess's Law.
Under the Fifth Heaven's [Law], both good deeds and evil deeds were affirmed without distinction. Freedom was granted to those pursuing happiness, and even if happiness could not be obtained in this life, it was promised that happiness would be granted in the next.
Humanity could freely develop and grow under this environment, which indeed promoted the progress of civilization.
However, it also served to accumulate evil karma.
Treating the world with boundless goodwill would never result in good outcomes!
Hajun was Marie's greatest karmic retribution, and also her self-destruction factor.
The mechanism and background that produced the disastrous consequences of the Sixth Heaven lay precisely in the Fifth Heaven's reincarnation system, which indiscriminately bestowed "benevolent care" and excessively granted grace to the world.
This mechanism drastically weakened the fundamental driving force of humanity's "self-variable," thereby massively accumulating malignant variables of self-indulgent inertia!
Why do humans believe in religion? Ultimately, it is to fulfill wishes that resolve their own suffering. Once they have something to rely on, there is no longer a need to strive.
Have you not seen that once any country in the world adopts Buddhism as a malignant tumor, its civilization inevitably falls into a state of vicious stagnation?
With Marie—the living Bodhisattva—and such a mechanism of unlimited salvation truly in place, the malice within the human heart would expand without limit. Ambition would vanish, and humanity would become increasingly base and degenerate.
As the saying goes, extremes must reverse. Reincarnation infinitely tolerates and accumulates malignant factors, so the birth of a god of ultimate evil like Hajun was only natural.
The Goddess of Rinne-Tensei spread [Good] throughout the world by her own strength. Her greatness was beyond question, yet she met a tragic end, trampled to death.
To be honest, ending up like that was not unjust at all, because it had been predetermined from the very beginning.
Hajun's existence was the embodiment of all [Evil] in this world.
As the counterpart to Marie's [Good], the more [Good] the Goddess of Rinne-Tensei possessed, the more [Evil] Hajun—rebounding as the self-destruction factor—would contain!
Marie's solitary [Good] could not withstand the counterattack of all the [Evil] in the world.
This was the causal cancer known as the self-destruction factor. Whether seated upon the Throne or not, Hegemony Gods all possessed this enormous defect.
To walk the path of tyranny was to pay the price of the causality of "certain annihilation."
In contrast, Transcendence Gods were, on average, slightly stronger than Hegemony Gods. Such gods could reach the state where their own existence rivaled an entire universe.
Completely opposite to Hegemony Gods, whether good or evil was entirely decided by themselves. As long as one did not come into contact with them, they would not affect others or the external world.
Although they could not overwrite the laws of the world, they were still mobile singularities—both the heavens and a universe the size of a human body itself. Bodily density equaled that of a single universe.
Even a single drop of their blood could rival a celestial body.
Transcendence Gods could be regarded as existences that had cultivated the "cosmos" of Saint Seiya to the level of divinity—they themselves were humanoid universes.
In terms of pure strength, on average they surpassed Hegemony Gods, though some were weaker, hence "on average."
Thus, Transcendence Gods could be called [Ultimate Individuals].
Due to their single-cell-like structure, they did not generate self-destruction factors. As long as they were not killed by other gods, they were immortal and ageless.
Moreover, compared to Hegemony Gods bound by the [Throne], multiple Transcendence Gods could exist simultaneously, with far less likelihood of mutual conflict and a much higher degree of freedom of action.
Because they could not absorb others' souls as power, it was fundamentally impossible for them to defeat Hegemony Gods seated upon the [Throne].
Throughout all history, the only one who truly managed to defeat a seated Hegemony God as a Transcendence God was Hajun—that Indian bastard.
Before him, all previous gods had practiced abdication of the [Throne]. Only Hajun, that fool, relied purely on overwhelming brute strength to slaughter and crush everything, forcing his way onto the divine [Throne].
The detailed situation could be illustrated as follows:
First Heaven: Dualistic Truth of Good and Evil: "Come, just defeat me. Next, it's your turn."
Second Heaven: Remorseless Paradise of the Fallen: "Let me see it. Next, it's your turn to ascend."
Third Heaven: Sorrowful Heaven of the Morning Star: "Hmm, did I make a mistake? It can't be helped. Then please, next it must be you."
Fourth Heaven: Eternal Mercurial Recurrence: "Ah~ Marie~… my beloved supreme goddess, I entrust everything to you. You will be next."
Fifth Heaven: Twilight Reincarnation:
"I am the eternal watcher. I want to embrace—"
Sixth Heaven: Hajun's Great Tengu Realm of Avarice: "Who the hell wants your loving hugs?! Disgusting trash, get lost! Get the hell off the Throne already! Annihilation unto annihilation—I only want myself to exist!"
Thus, the tradition of abdication of the divine [Throne] was completely shattered by Hajun, that Indian bastard. That he became the strongest without reason was not entirely without reason.
But Hajun himself was an extremely special existence. He was a powerhouse that embodied the principle of extremes reversing.
That is, he pushed the path of Transcendent to its absolute limit, overflowing with selfhood and achieving the great work of transitioning from Transcendence to Hegemony, simultaneously possessing the characteristics of both Transcendence and Hegemony.