In fact, it was a month ago.
After stripping the weapon materials from Drachma.
It was when Igeon had completed Hugo’s bow.
The very moment he set his tools down, satisfied with the finished weapon—
Flash!
A voice had come with the light.
[You have completed an object imbued with the Serpent's energy.]
[
[Using
[A sacred artifact with an attunement attribute can receive a god’s power to wield even greater strength.]
[Will you grant the Imprint?]
At those words, Igeon had hesitated for a moment.
That was because the Imprint skill was a new skill that had appeared after he unlocked the Creation Workshop.
Simply put, it means turning a weapon into an exclusive armament for its owner alone, so that no one else can ever use it.
And though he had crafted all kinds of weapons up until then, he had never been able to create an item with an attunement attribute, had he?
So Igeon had been greatly intrigued at first and had intended to use the Imprint skill.
But—
[Warning. You have not yet completed your first Awakening.]
[Using an Imprint with an incomplete body will place a burden on your physique.]
[A penalty period will be added slightly.]
That was it.
He did want to test the Imprint skill, but a month ago his only thought was to get rid of the penalty.
‘Because if a Holy God intervenes, it’s dangerous.’
After clashing with Leo Stephen, he had felt it keenly.
He could handle Saints, but the Holy Gods were extremely dangerous.
Leo was a simpleton who took time to summon his Holy God whenever he met Igeon, but matters were entirely different with the Libra side.
That woman, and those close to her, were remarkably close to the Holy Gods.
‘So it’s better to get rid of the penalty quickly.’
In any case, that was why he had not created an attunement sacred artifact then.
Even though doing so had the advantage of further increasing its power.
But now—
Now that he had made the Scribe stamp the Soul Contract, the story was completely different.
‘The opponent is the Scribe.’
A dangerous element that even the Holy Gods had shuddered at and locked away.
But that was not all.
‘A bastard who tried to mess with my friend and his wife.’
Igeon’s eyes grew sharp.
That very moment.
[Granting
[Transforming into an attunement sacred artifact through divine power.]
With the Scribe before his eyes, Igeon bestowed his skill upon the fountain pen.
[Your body has been upgraded; using divine power no longer greatly affects your physical body.]
[You do not receive a penalty.]
Igeon raised the corners of his lips.
And at that moment—
Flash!
[Successfully granted the Imprint.]
[You have created your first attunement artifact.]
[It has changed into a sacred artifact with the attunement attribute.]
[An attunement sacred artifact may choose its own master according to its preference.]
[The fountain pen greatly loves blood.]
[The fountain pen hopes for a master who can provide it with delicious blood at any time.]
Upon hearing that, Igeon, the fountain pen’s parent(?), had grinned and grabbed the Scribe’s arm.
‘Right. Eat your fill here.’
And at last—after devouring the blood flowing from the Scribe’s hand, the fountain pen had roared as if ecstatic.
[Proceeding with the attunement contract.]
At the same time, the fountain pen contracted with its new master.
[It is extremely pleased with this new master.]
[The fountain pen wishes for its master to never abandon it and to tend to it until the master’s death. Otherwise…]
Igeon smirked.
Well, the fountain pen had the foulest personality among all the mutants he had created, after all.
Wasn’t that why he hadn’t used it much despite its convenience?
Whatever, it didn’t matter.
“What the hell is this?!”
The Scribe stared in horror at the fountain pen that refused to let go of his hand.
“This thing is sucking my blood!”
Igeon grinned as he watched him.
That was only natural, because from here on out was the main point, after all.
[A target for the Trial of Knowledge has been found.]
[The Trial of Knowledge begins.]
[Save the Scribe (0/1)]
-A recorder is needed to record the deeds of Ophiuchus.
[Have the Scribe begin recording.]
[Once the Bible is completed, the final trial will be finished.]
Still, it was a relief that he had found the Scribe faster than expected.
For his purposes, he first needed power equal to that of the Holy Gods.
But that was not all.
‘The enemy isn’t just the Red Eye.’
When imprisoned in the Demon’s Tower, hadn’t he heard it clearly?
[My goodness. To dispose of a Red Eye—how impressive. One of the pets they cherished, caught by a mere human.]
[Are you really a human?]
Recalling the words of the tower’s gatekeeper he had killed, Igeon furrowed his brow.
‘Those bastards who came for the bone are also on my mind.’
Rare species against which only his own attacks had worked in Drachma.
And though he didn’t know if it was coincidence—
[Trial Clear Time Limit: 71h 54m 11s]
[Penalty: Physical Ability Reduced by 50% (Time Remaining: 71h 54m 11s)]
Was it really a coincidence that the trial clear time limit and the end of his penalty fell on the same date?
Well, whatever, it didn’t matter.
Given how few clues there were about the Scribe, he had actually given up on the final trial.
He was prepared to forfeit the remaining reward and accept an additional penalty period.
But it seemed there was no need to worry about that.
Igeon looked at the Scribe.
“Whatever. What’s your name?”
“Like I’d tell y—!”
Igeon raised his axe.
“P-Park Jaeha! Why?!”
Igeon raised an eyebrow.
[Yujin Christian (Name Deleted)]
Awakening Name (Baptismal Name): [Deleted]
The little bastard was lying.
Well, whatever.
“Alright, Sebastian. From now on, you’re my Scribe.”
The Scribe looked dumbfounded.
‘Is this bastard insane, for real?’
Yujin.
He was the sole survivor possessing the Scribe’s ability.
His family had been hunted and killed by the Holy Gods and their subordinate deities.
Immediately after, he had sharpened a blade of vengeance to slay a Holy God, but ultimately he was captured.
And after ten years in prison, he had escaped. He didn’t know the full situation, but one thing was certain.
‘This guy needs the Scribe’s power.’
Well, he understood.
Because the Holy Gods had wanted to use the Scribe’s power to become even more absolute gods.
‘Greedy bastards.’
Anyway, if someone was well acquainted with the Scribe’s power, there was a high probability that they were a high-ranking Saint close to a Holy God.
So the Scribe, who had been racking his brains, raised the corner of his mouth.
‘This is a chance to steal the original tome.’
Yes.
The price was enormous, but if the Scribe set his mind to it, he could either make a Divine Seat flourish even more—or bring it to ruin.
Of course, that required the original tome.
‘I was planning to destroy all twelve Divine Seats, but to think one would come looking for the Scribe of its own accord. How fortunate.’
He would annihilate every one of those related to them.
Sure enough.
He smiled broadly.
“Alright. I’m an escaped convict with no money anyway, and I needed work, so that’s good. I’ll join. Your Divine Seat.”
“!”
The one flustered by those words was Hugo.
‘No way. There’s no way the Scribe would comply so easily and willingly like that?’
This was a man who loathed Holy Gods and Saints.
The Scribe’s eyes narrowed.
“But to use the Scribe’s ability, I need the original tome. You must show it to me.”
“Original tome?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
At those words, the Scribe smiled as if he had taken the bait.
‘I don’t know which Divine Seat you are, but the moment you reveal the original tome, I’ll bring about your ruin immediately.’
The cost was great, but he only needed to alter the core record of the original tome.
Of course, with the Sagittarius Divine Seat’s original tome, he hadn’t been able to obtain the core part, so he hadn’t managed to ruin it.
And just then.
Igeon suddenly opened the door to the corridor and went out.
‘!’
It was a place that led to a terrace garden. And the moment he stepped into the terrace garden—
An astonishing thing happened.
Rumble—!
“!”
From beneath Igeon’s feet, a serpent-shaped magic circle was drawn, and something began to rise.
[Sanctuary Opening]
The Saints of the Sagittarius Divine Seat, who saw him, were astonished.
“That’s…!”
[Ophiuchus Sanctuary
[Ophiuchus Sanctuary / Sagyeon Palace (Lv.2)]
[Area: 16m² (5 pyeong)]
[Master: Undecided]
[Ophiuchus Sanctuary Base Trait: Super Regeneration]
[Will you designate this location (Montreal White Hospital 10th Floor) as the base location for Sagyeon Palace?]
At the same time, the Scribe was also taken aback.
‘Wh-What is this power…!’
It was the power of a Divine Seat he had never seen before. Its scale was also exceedingly small.
But an immense pressure could be felt.
‘It’s strong.’
The Scribe’s body trembled.
Igeon stood with his arms crossed and smiled.
“I heard the original tome is engraved on the sanctuary. I don’t know about that. Think you can find it?”
At that, the Scribe, who had been dazedly staring, snapped to his senses.
“A Scribe can find the original tome.”
No sooner had he spoken than the Scribe used his ability.
[Eye of the History Reader]
As the color of his irises changed, his vision began to shift as well.
At the same time, luminous phrases appeared among the structures that had risen around them.
‘Found it.’
They were the achievements Igeon had accumulated so far.
There was something weird like , but he paid it no mind.
‘That’s it.’
The very first phrase.
[Achievement 0]
-Return
It was unmistakable.
That was the primordial sentence heralding the birth of a Divine Seat—the beginning of everything.
The most crucial sentence of any Bible content.
‘I only need to alter that.’
It was only natural; if you wanted to kill someone, you simply made it so that person had never been born.
Sure enough, the Scribe activated his skill.
[Recorder’s Notebook]
A small notebook materialized in the Scribe’s hand. This was a tool for Scribes to compose scriptures.
At the same time, it was an object capable of editing and distorting achievements.
It was also the chief cause of why the Holy Gods had wiped out the Scribes.
‘I’ll erase the very existence of this Divine Seat.’
At last, the Scribe took out a pen from his bosom.
And the very moment he tried to edit the phrase—
“Argh…!”
The Scribe, who had been about to write the phrase with the pencil, collapsed clutching his stomach.
“Agh, why does my stomach suddenly—!”
At that sight, Igeon clicked his tongue. He tapped the Soul Contract.
“Article 2, Clause 3.”
“……?!”
[Will use only items provided by Igeon. Failure will result in abdominal pain to the point one would rather die.]
Ah, damn!
The Scribe ground his teeth inwardly.
Right. That contract. He had forgotten about it.
In the end, he clenched his teeth and picked up the fountain pen that was sucking his blood.
‘Fine. After all, once I do this, I can even nullify that shoddy contract.’
At the same time, the Scribe used his ability.
He transcribed the Bible into the Recorder’s Notebook.
Along with that, light began to emanate from Igeon’s body as well.
‘!’
[The Scribe’s compilation begins.]
Of course, he did not transcribe the phrase verbatim.
[Achievement 0]
-Return
→
[Achievement 0]
-Sworn submission
At the same time, light began to shine from the Recorder’s Notebook.
Flash!
And the ground began to shake.
Once the shaking stopped, the Scribe folded the notebook as if it were done and smiled smugly.
“Ha ha ha! This is the end! Go submit yourself to another Divine Seat!”
But that very moment—
Boom!
A verdant light surged up beneath Igeon’s feet.
It was a colossal energy.
[The conditions for the Scribe’s compilation have been satisfied.]
[The Trial of Knowledge has ended.]
[The final trial has been completed.]
[As a reward for the final trial, you obtain Ophiuchus’s unique subordinate deity and unique divine-status sacred artifact.]
[Experience gained during the trial is accumulated.]
[Level has increased (Lv.11)]
[All trials have been completed; the lock has been released.]
[The sealed Divine Rank is once again open.]
[From this moment, experience points will increase again.]
Igeon smiled.
At the same time, the Scribe, sensing something had gone wrong, screamed.
“What the— Wait, what is this?! Why…!”
As if it were impossible, the flustered Scribe hastily checked his notebook.
And the Scribe’s expression, upon opening the notebook, stiffened.
“?!”
At this, Igeon laughed.
“Why? It looks like something different from what you wrote is written there, huh?”
“?!”
[
[A wood pencil engraved with an Imprint exhibits even greater power.]
[Falsehood is erased, and only truth is revealed.]
It was so.
What was written in his notebook were the original contents of the Bible.
The distortion had failed.
But that was not all.
[Achievement has been added.]
“……!”
At the same time, stone rose up within the sanctuary Igeon had opened.
Crackle! Rumble—!
And as a new phrase began to be engraved on that stone, the Scribe turned deathly pale.
That was only natural.
[Achievement 5]
- A young Scribe who denies the Divine Seats swears submission as a servant of Ophiuchus.
“?!”
It was clear. That was an achievement related to himself.
‘No way. Because I said earlier that I’d roughly join!’
Achievements record exceptional, distinguished events—cases special enough to be left as records.
Since it was not a common occurrence in these times for a Scribe to follow a Divine Seat, it was worthy of being engraved as an achievement, but—
‘Damn it. I thought that no matter what happened, I could just fix it…!’
In the end, the panicked Scribe hurriedly tried to correct the achievement.
[
[A wood pencil engraved with an Imprint exhibits even greater power.]
[Falsehood is erased, and only truth is revealed.]
“Argh!”
Thanks to that, Hugo, who had grasped the situation, was flustered as well.
‘The Scribe couldn’t distort it?’
Igeon smiled insidiously.
‘Well, the fountain pen’s effect is better than I thought.’
The flustered Scribe stepped back.
“No, not this! Something’s wrong with this!”
At the same moment, Gote, who had been watching with his mouth agape, spoke.
“So does that mean he has become a Saint of Igeon-nim? That pretty boy.”
At those words, Hugo tilted his head.
Boy?
Whatever, it didn’t matter.
‘To actually bring in a Scribe. The Holy Gods will raise a fuss.’
Right at that moment.
Igeon seized the Scribe who was trying to flee.
His smile was menacing.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re officially our second Saint. I’ll treat you well.”
This is a fraud, Igeon!