They doubted their own ears for a moment.
What on earth was he saying right now?
"There is no Holy God!"
"Geon, what are you saying...!"
Hadn't the world been in an uproar over the appearance of the 13th Divine Throne?
But saying there was no Holy God—what nonsense was that?
Yet it wasn't as if they couldn't understand why Lee Geon would say such a thing.
'Indeed, we've never actually seen Geon having an audience with the Holy God.'
Hugo broke out in a cold sweat.
That was right. In truth, a Holy Person could meet and converse directly with the Holy God in the most sacred space of the sanctuary—the chamber known as the god's bedchamber.
And while it varied by each Throne, in his own case, he had to have an audience with the Holy God once a day.
There, he would offer tribute to the Holy God and listen to the god's complaints and demands.
Of course, since the Holy God lacked a human body, even meeting directly didn't mean seeing a human form.
Anyway, in Lee Geon's case, any audience with the Holy God was out of the question.
'He just played games, watched dramas, and lounged on the sofa every day.'
Anyone watching would think he was some king lording over the Sacred Knights, or even a Holy God himself.
Back then, they'd simply assumed that since he was a newborn Divine Throne without even a sanctuary, he was lacking in discipline.
'Come to think of it, releasing a subordinate god into our sanctuary was strange too.'
Now that he thought about it, there was no way the 13th Holy God would have permitted such a thing.
In reality, the Holy God threw a fit even if his own Sacred Knights merely stepped into another Holy God's sanctuary.
His complaint was always why his contractor was going to someone else's house.
Yet that thing had clung on like a parasite for a whole month.
'If the Holy God had truly appeared, there's no way it would've been allowed.'
So that's why he'd been able to brazenly rampage through another Holy God's sanctuary without fear.
Startled, Kevin asked.
"You mean you've never once met the Holy God? We naturally assumed it was the Holy God who healed your body too?"
At that, Lee Geon gave him a look of disgust.
"What crap, you idiot. I recovered on my own."
"?!"
Kevin stared at him in disbelief. But Hugo held his forehead.
Right, he'd heard those words before too, but he hadn't taken them that seriously.
He'd thought it was a case where, though a contract with the Holy God existed, Lee Geon simply wasn't aware of it himself.
'Because Geon has no experience.'
They themselves had been with their Holy Gods from the very beginning.
But hadn't Lee Geon become the 13th Holy Person belatedly?
Unlike them, he might simply not know how to encounter the Holy God.
So he spoke.
"Geon. You might not remember, but the Holy God has definitely appeared before. Maybe in a dream, or perhaps an animal spoke to yo—urk!"
Lee Geon looked at his friend with displeasure.
"I said there wasn't, you punk. Want me to hit you?"
You already hit me!
Hugo tried to say something, but flinched slightly at Lee Geon's glare.
"O-okay. The Holy God will appear soon. Don't worry."
After all, among the Holy Gods, some took great interest in humans, and some didn't.
At those words, Lee Geon nodded indifferently.
To be honest, even he didn't fully understand his own power.
What was certain was that he'd gained power in the Tower under some condition.
And that it seemed to be the power of the 13th Holy God.
And if that was indeed the case.
'The owner of this power might show up someday.'
But the quick-witted Kevin seemed to be thinking something completely different.
"...Couldn't it just be that he became the Holy God himself?"
Since Lee Geon had always been an oddity who manifested power on his own without a Holy God.
And if that was possible, could it be because he'd been the Holy God all along? But if he'd been in a half-awakened state 20 years ago due to an ambiguous awakening?
Kevin, who had been staring meaningfully at Lee Geon, called out to Hugo.
"Hey, Divine Archer. You definitely said Lee Geon can handle subordinate gods."
"So what?"
"Then maybe Lee Geon awakened as a Holy God when he came out of the Tower? It's highly like—"
But Kevin, who had been asking, was the one startled instead. It was because of Hugo's expression upon hearing those words.
"What? A Hooooolyyyy Goooodddd?"
"......!"
His face screamed, 'Where the hell did you hear such dog-like nonsense?'
Perhaps it was because he was his best friend. Hugo looked ready to spit.
"If that personality disaster is a god, then I'm the god of the universe! If it's true, I'll become that bastard's foot-wiping rag."
Kevin was half-doubtful but conceded.
Well, if a bastard like that were a god, humanity would've perished long ago.
"Anyway, let's find Giselle."
They sensed a presence nearby. She must have come close to control the creatures.
But it was right then.
Rumble!
The ground shook along with people's screams.
Startled, they looked outside and saw familiar faces.
"Those things...!"
Rampaging around were none other than the giant worms Lee Geon had taken down earlier.
"They had their vitals pierced, how...!"
The Divine Archer's Sacred Knights were bewildered, but the Holy People frowned instead.
"It'd be stranger if they died...!"
"Huh?"
Those things were none other than them.
'The ones that appeared in Drachma too.'
They were the very ones who'd appeared, coveting Lee Geon's bones.
And so far, the total number of identified unknown civilization species was twelve. But rare species referred to a 13th species not included in those twelve.
'Above all, attacks don't work on them at all.'
The toad that ate his wife and subordinate might have been the same kind of rare species.
And the common trait of rare species was having a peculiar wound somewhere on their body.
That wound was like that of a snake.
"Those bastards, are they planning to kill all the Leo Sacred Knights and citizens in the arena!"
And on top of that, they were surely planning to eliminate them—the leaders of other Thrones.
After all, these were troublesome creatures that even Holy Person-level beings couldn't touch.
But Lee Geon, who had actually taken down such creatures, burst out in complaint.
"Guess I didn't land a fatal blow."
At that grumbling, Kevin looked utterly dumbfounded.
"Are you joking? Those things aren't affected by any attack! Do you even know what it means that your attack worked...!"
Hugo smiled, as if showing off, as if proud.
"No matter how mighty a rare species, Geon's magic power still affects them."
On the other hand, the spear Lee Geon had thrown earlier was a Leo weapon.
"Even that earlier attack only worked because it was imbued with Geon's magic..."
But before the words could finish, Hugo screamed.
Boom!
Along with a tremendous roar, Lee Geon vanished.
"Geon!"
That tremendous roar was the sound of Lee Geon calling his Sky's Judgment.
And at its master's call, the axe instantly flew into Lee Geon's hand.
Grabbing the axe, Lee Geon leaped out through the hole in the wall.
"Lee Geon-nim!"
That height was a full four stories!
Lacking a levitation skill, Lee Geon immediately used his skill.
[Summon Subordinate]
What was summoned at the same time was none other than the giant beast Pishu!
[Piggy Bank has been summoned]
[Failed to eat Sacred Knight 1 upon summoning]
Boom!
Had he done it on purpose? Pishu, the size of a building, threw a tantrum the moment it was summoned.
It had been just about to devour the Sacred Knight when some bastard interrupted its meal.
But realizing the summoner was its master, its yelping shock was short-lived.
Crunch!
"!!"
Lee Geon trampled Pishu's head and jumped.
It was a springboard.
Crunch!
But the force was so immense that the moment it was stepped on, Pishu toppled backward.
Thud!
Pishu, fallen onto an empty lot, howled in pain.
Because of this, the Holy People and the terrified Sacred Knights could only be flabbergasted.
"D-did he just use a subordinate god as a stepping stone?"
A subordinate god was a direct subordinate of the Holy God.
Of course, unless they were combat gods, many subordinate gods had lower combat power than Holy People, but still, they were undeniably gods.
'No matter what, treating one like that...!'
But Lee Geon paid no heed as he landed on the worm's head.
Thud!
Simultaneously, he raised his weapon high. Then, Sky's Judgment, activated by consuming blood, emitted light.
Flash!
It was a tremendous light.
The spectators evacuating the arena were startled by the light.
"What is this light!"
"Over there! Someone's riding on the monster's head!"
"Head? Hey, did you get shot in the head? What kind of lunatic rides on top of that thing!"
"Right, even the Leos and Tauruses, who fight up close, don't do crazy stuff like that!"
But those who approached the glass window were horrified.
"What? He actually climbed on its head?!"
"Who is that?"
"It's Lee Geon! Lee Geon!"
"What?!"
The activated axe bore glowing letters on its form, and it roared fiercely as it surged with blade-like magic power.
Woooooong!
In truth, Sky's Judgment was a dull axe that couldn't even split a single piece of firewood. But after activation, it completely transformed 180 degrees.
Fwoosh!
Its breath, once like an old man's, changed to the roar of a young demon, and its rusty copper hue regained its light as if shedding dead skin.
Boom!
It was a resonance that seemed to shake heaven and earth. A sound like the heartbeat of the earth echoed across the sky.
Boom!
At that sight, the evacuating people and reporters stopped in their tracks, stunned.
"Th-that's...!"
"Right! That legendary weapon that transforms three times!"
"Good heavens, to see the real thing...!"
As the form that had only remained in records unfolded before their eyes, everyone's jaws dropped.
And finally, the snake's magic power imbued the roaring axe.
Woooooong!
The roaring axe blade unleashed a massive flash of light as it crashed down onto the worm's head.
And the flash of light falling from the sky was, quite literally, a guillotine blade descending from the heavens!
Crunch!
The flash of light that drove into the head instantly split the worm's body in two.
From head to tail, in a single moment.
Boom!
People couldn't close their mouths at the sight of the monster crumbling in one blow.
Lee Geon's seasoned skill prevented the enemies from even approaching the crowd.
But that wasn't the end.
"Hahaha! Material for making tents—one, two, three!"
Lee Geon gleefully began carving out flesh and bone. And at the sight of him tearing out innards with his bare hands, the weak-stomached Hugo and Gort clamped their mouths shut.
Of course, Lee Jae-won was smiling brightly in admiration.
"As expected of Lee Geon-nim. Unchanging as ever."
Truly someone he'd respected since his porter days.
But Hugo, who had shared those days, was repulsed.
"Does that look unchanging to you? He's come back a complete lunatic!"
"Excuse me? What do you mean. Lee Geon-nim's always been a lunatic."
"......"
Unable to deny it, Hugo suddenly wanted to cry.
Whatever, it was fine.
"Saint Lord! Look over there!"
"!"
In the direction Gort pointed, both Kevin and Hugo were shocked.
A familiar crystal had fallen from the monster's body that Lee Geon had butchered.
It was none other than the mark of Scorpio.
At this, the two Holy People furrowed their brows.
There was no way they didn't know what this meant.
'That monster was summoned by Scorpio.'
"As expected, that woman is in league with them."
Well, though Lee Geon having taken it down so easily bothered him somewhat.
* * *
Meanwhile, it was around that time.
While the majority were cheering at Lee Geon's monster subjugation.
Someone was grinding their teeth in agitation.
"What is that! How is he taking it down so easily?"
She was an exquisitely beautiful, peerless woman.
And she was the very one who had unleashed the monsters.
The Scorpio Holy Person.
Of course, not the real Scorpio Holy Person.
"Dammit, this ruins the plan."
That was right.
She appeared to be the Scorpio Holy Person, but she was in fact an SS-rank of Pisces.
One of them, Selvia.
Pisces specialized in transformation and was another magic Throne rivalling Gemini.
And she had disguised herself as the Scorpio Holy Person to come to this stadium.
The reason was simple.
That was right.
She had come with the purpose of assassinating Lee Geon.
Why?
[Deal with Lee Geon in America.]
It was because of a direct order from their own Saint Lord, the Pisces Holy Person.
Thanks to that, Selvia was flabbergasted.
'I mean, you were out of contact for two whole years, and suddenly this...!'
But regardless of Selvia's internal decay, the person on the phone sighed.
- What a shame. I thought killing a Holy Person would definitely yield a skill beyond Faith Destroyer.
"!"
The person on the phone continued.
- If you kill Cheon Seong-jae right now, you're hundred percent guaranteed to get that SS-rank skill. But if it's a Holy Person, an SSS-rank will definitely come out. Before hunting Cheon Seong-jae, it would've been nice to handle the Leo and Lee Geon.
At that, Selvia, who was on the line, bowed her head.
"I apologize, after you went through the trouble of luring Lee Geon here..."
She knew citizens would be harmed, but it wouldn't have mattered if she struck quickly and withdrew.
That's why she gritted her teeth.
'This is all because of Scorpio.'
Flustered by her Saint Lord's unreasonable order after two years,
she had asked how she was supposed to kill Lee Geon, and after a hundred messages, the reply had been this.
[Scorpio. Ally. Informs.]
Ultimately, after deciphering that it meant 'Scorpio is an ally, so request cooperation,'
Selvia went to Scorpio and asked.
Then, the peerless beauty who could captivate even a woman at first glance smiled enigmatically.
'Yes. She wants Lee Geon dealt with.'
It was a chillingly beautiful voice. It didn't seem human. And those eyes, gestures, the pressure.
It was immense charisma.
So this is what it meant to be able to kill with a mere look.
'Yes. The price has already been received.'
The woman with long jet-black hair and a jet-black dress raised the corner of her lips.
'I'll give you a fitting creature. With this, you should be able to handle even Lee Geon for sure.'
What she had received were these monsters.
And told that the monsters would obey if she took on her form, she had transformed into Scorpio and come to the arena.
But what on earth...!
'Did that woman give me the right thing?'
She'd said this would make certain of Lee Geon's elimination!
But it was completely different from what she'd said!
Sure, they had asked for monsters, but it almost felt like she'd deliberately sent these creatures to Lee Geon.
At this rate, weren't they the only ones who got played?
The person on the phone said.
- Lee Geon. Whatever kind of bastard he is, his level is low. The way he obstructs things, tsk.
Selvia's eyes flashed.
"Don't worry. Even if he's the 13th Holy Person, he only has one Sacred Knight, which is a critical weakness. So as for Lee Geon, I'll definitely deal with him today..."
But it was right then.
"You're having quite the interesting conversation."
Someone grabbed her shoulder menacingly.
(To be continued in the next chapter)