Something was wrong.
It was definitely, deeply, utterly wrong.
“To become a saint of a divine throne—this is seriously wrong!”
The Scribe clutched his head and screamed.
Indeed, the Scribe was on the verge of going completely insane.
He had no idea where it had all started to go wrong.
All he had done was escape from prison and try to eliminate Cheon Seong‑jae.
He had just wanted to gain a special skill and then take revenge on a certain woman.
‘But I ran into some lunatic…!’
Well, that didn’t matter now.
The Scribe’s eyes snapped open.
His gaze was fiercely resolute.
An expression as if he were marching into battle.
“Alright. This time it will definitely work.”
No sooner had he spoken than he flipped open the notebook before him.
[Notes of the One Who Compiles History]
Inside were five phrases he had written down.
They were the original texts of Ophiuchus that he had copied from Igeon’s sanctuary.
[Achievement 0]
– Return
[Achievement 1]
– Annihilate the demon of the sea and make a thousand beasts kneel
[Achievement 2]
– The great saint called the Divine Bow is awed upon seeing the master of Ophiuchus
[Achievement 3]
– Subjugate the monster that devours gods and liberate the souls of humanity
[Achievement 4]
– A young genius who followed another god enrolls in Ophiuchus as its first servant
He had tried to rewrite the original text but failed, so in the end he had ended up compiling four bibles instead.
‘This is all because of that strange fountain pen!’
It was all the fault of that obsessive fountain pen that kept altering whatever he wrote.
But this time was different.
[Bwooo!]
The wooden fountain pen was wailing on the gas stove.
To be precise, it was tightly bound to a wire rack and being burned over the flame.
At the same time, the Scribe picked up a pencil. The moment he did, his stomach ached, but it didn’t matter.
“Ugh!”
The Scribe immediately activated his skill and rewrote the contents.
[Achievement 5]
– A young scribe who denies divine thrones returns as a servant of Ophiuchus
→
[Achievement 5]
– Ophiuchus returns as a servant to the young scribe who denies divine thrones
This time he poured his heart and soul into it, infusing it with magic power.
Flash!
When the notebook finally flashed, the Scribe laughed.
“Yes! I succeeded!”
He had a good feeling this time.
But then it happened.
[The compilation of the sixth Bible has been completed.]
[Compilation of the Talent Recruitment passage finished.]
[Due to the Scribe’s compilation, the power of Ophiuchus’s Talent Recruitment function has grown stronger.]
[A special item (S) will be provided as a default to saints who join.]
“?!”
The Scribe was bewildered by Igeon’s voice ringing out once more.
“N‑no, wait! That’s not….”
At the same time, a flash of paper appeared.
Crackle!
It was the newly compiled Bible.
[Achievement 5]
– A young scribe who denies divine thrones returns as a servant of Ophiuchus
The moment he checked that paper, the Scribe screamed.
“What the—! Why won’t it distort? This time I even had the fountain pen tied up!”
As if to answer his question, a wail came from right beside him.
[Bwooo!]
“?!”
The Scribe was horrified.
The fountain pen he had been burning was now clutched in his hand before he knew it.
The pen was raging, as if demanding to know how he dared fool around behind its back.
[Bwoooo!]
The Scribe was flustered.
“What the—how is this here?!”
The letters he had thought were written with a pencil must have actually been written by this thing after all.
In the end, he tried to fling the fountain pen away in fright, but well.
[The fountain pen has received an unerasable shock.]
[The shock of being abandoned has made it even more ravenous.]
[The traumatized fountain pen craves more affection and desires its master’s blood.]
Crunch!
“Agh!”
The fountain pen stabbed the back of the Scribe’s hand without mercy.
Howling, the Scribe hurled the pen off the tenth floor.
But what good did that do?
Thud!
“Agh!”
The fountain pen appeared right beside him and stabbed again,
as if asking where he thought he was trying to run off to, leaving it behind.
[Bwo!]
Of course, that was because Igeon had bestowed special enhancements upon the fountain pen.
[Extracted data has been granted.]
– Teleportation (A‑rank) (added)
– Trait Slot (1/1)
Thanks to that, the fountain pen could obsessively follow its master anywhere, anytime.
Igeon had surely anticipated this situation when he applied it.
In the end, the Scribe grew desperate because the stalker fountain pen kept ruining his plans.
“Damn it! This time…!”
But right then.
“Why don’t you just give up?”
“!”
At the familiar voice, the Scribe hastily turned his gaze.
There stood Cheon Seong‑jae, looking at him with pity.
“To think you’d try to scheme against my uncle… you’re about ten thousand years too early.”
The Scribe’s delicately arched brow furrowed.
This little brat.
About two hours had passed. Cheon Seong‑jae, having recovered his stamina and opened his eyes, was considerably surprised to learn that a second saint had appeared in the meantime.
And that it was the very guy who had attacked him and his father, trying to kill them.
However, Seong‑jae didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“To be honest, there’s a lot I’d like to say, but since it’s Uncle’s choice, I have absolutely no complaint.”
After all, yesterday’s enemy being scouted today and becoming an ally was commonplace.
That was just business.
Of course, if that were the end of it, Seong‑jae could get along amicably.
“But just try any funny business. If you do, I won’t stand still as a saint of Ophiuchus, either.”
The power he exuded, as if being an S‑rank saint wasn’t for nothing, was extraordinary, but to the Scribe it seemed laughable.
And sure enough.
“What is this, an elementary schooler?” he retorted.
With those words, the two began trading punches.
* * *
Boom!
Near the hospital.
Hugo pressed his palm to his forehead at the sound of explosions from the empty lot.
His son had said he was just going to check the situation—so why was he dangerously tangled up fighting the Scribe again?
When a large tree finally toppled, Hugo looked at his friend urgently.
“Igeon, what do you think you’re doing, making the Scribe a saint?”
Of course, it was already astonishing to make someone with less than 100% faith into a saint.
‘It must be the Bible’s power.’
With divine power, anything could be made possible.
This incident truly might have been a one‑in‑ten‑million chance, but that just showed how immense the power of the achievements inscribed in the Bible was.
However, even if a saint was made that way, the aftermath was the bigger problem.
“How long do you think a guy with no faith will last? He’ll become a traitor. Then it’ll have a bad influence on the divine throne…”
Well, setting aside the issue of faith.
‘The Scribe is one of those guys even greedy Libra couldn’t give up on—and ultimately did.’
For now, the fountain pen had somehow managed to tame the Scribe, but still.
“The Scribe is certainly a powerful card, but what if the fountain pen breaks? The risk is too grea—!”
“No. We have to go at least this far.”
“!”
Igeon, who had cut him off, smiled sharply.
“We can’t settle for being roughly on par with their constellation gods.”
“!”
“I have to crush everything that interferes, all the way up to the constellation gods themselves.”
Hugo flinched.
He had suspected as much, but Igeon was definitely aiming not only at the saints, but also at the constellation gods behind them.
“Without a constellation god, a saint cannot exist; without a saint, a constellation god cannot exist.”
“!”
“Constellation gods and saints are inseparable. Do you think those bastards weren’t even one bit involved in imprisoning me?”
“……!”
“Even if they weren’t involved, in the end it was the constellation gods who lent them power.”
That wasn’t all.
“Taek‑su. Clean your ears and listen carefully.”
“Huh?”
“There are at least three more like the Red Eye.”
It was rare for Hugo’s scream to ring out, but that was the moment.
So loud that the saints of Sagittarius nearby even asked what was going on.
Igeon kicked such a Hugo.
“Be quiet. Idiot.”
Hugo had gone completely white as a sheet.
“No, no…! Beings like the Red Eye? And three of them—no, wait… hey!”
Hugo seemed genuinely in shock.
And well he might be; the Red Eye was the worst monster in history, one that had single‑handedly driven humanity to the brink of annihilation.
Not even humanity’s strongest could catch it by risking their lives—they had had to flee.
Even Igeon himself had been forced to trade his life for it, hadn’t he?
So what now?
“Three of those things?! Hey! Don’t even joke like that!”
“It’s not a joke. Besides, they might even be stronger than the Red Eye.”
“ ?!! ”
Igeon was serious.
The sentinel in the tower who had treated him as a test subject had been quite talkative.
‘He babbled quite a lot of things.’
Thinking that Igeon would die anyway.
“Moreover, those three are ‘pets.’”
“#$*&#*?!”
Now Hugo was about to stop breathing.
But Igeon paid it little mind.
“Well, leave that aside for now. I’m just speculating anyway—it’s not certain. In any case, right now the confirmed enemies are two.”
The Unknown Civilization and Libra.
Igeon smiled sharply.
“Monsters, and those who betrayed me. I’ll cut out everyone who isn’t helpful to humanity.”
Be they gods or demons.
“……!”
Hugo flinched and swallowed hard at that gaze.
And no wonder; those eyes.
Those terribly cold eyes—they were the very same eyes Igeon had when they first met.
And…
‘Igeon hates saints and monsters to an extreme degree.’
He didn’t know why, but when they first met, Igeon had detested them even more pathologically.
The man had been so prickly and hostile that it was frightening to even speak to him.
The moment he found out Hugo was a saint, he had swung an axe at him.
It was only after meeting him that Igeon’s perception of saints had softened.
So that was why he had said this.
‘Perhaps the reason he took in the Scribe was…’
Well, none of that mattered.
“No matter what, it’s impossible for you alone…”
At that, as if asking what nonsense that was, Igeon grabbed Hugo’s shoulder.
“Of course you’re coming with me?”
“Excuse me?”
“First I’ll make Yua and Seong‑jae saint‑level. But as their father, you can’t just sit around sucking your thumb, right?”
Hugo was dumbfounded.
Even if the two were S‑rank saints and could potentially rise further, that was one thing.
“Look here. Saints have already completed their ability awakening. How can they get any stronger from here on…!”
Igeon laughed brazenly at that.
“Well, if it really doesn’t work, why don’t you evolve into a subordinate god? And come over to Ophiuchus.”
“Are you joking right now!”
Hugo was furious, but Igeon himself smiled meaningfully.
Why?
Because of the rank chart he had seen.
[Saint (Human Follower) Ranks]
Tier 1 Slave (Grade): Drudge
Tier 2 Common (Grade): Lay Believer
Tier 3 Rare (Grade): Talented
Tier 4 Big Shot (Grade): Widely Known
Tier 5 Great Star (Grade): Mover of Nations
Tier 6 Heroic Legend (Grade): Humanity’s Strongest (Saint)
Tier 7 Retainer Divine Hero (Grade): Subordinate God
Well, it wasn’t certain, but if Tier 6 really meant a saint…
‘A human of a certain level might be able to evolve into a Subordinate God.’
But having no way of knowing Igeon’s ulterior motive, Hugo pressed his forehead.
“Anyway, I get what kind of plan you have in mind by taking in the Scribe. You intend to grow the divine throne, right?”
“That’s righ…”
Right then.
Boom!
Along with an explosion, Cheon Seong‑jae came flying.
“Ugh!”
Perhaps because he hadn’t yet received baptism.
Most of his key skills had been deleted, leaving him nearly powerless, so even as an S‑rank he had no choice but to be at a disadvantage.
And sure enough, the Scribe smiled.
“An elementary schooler is an elementary schooler, after all. You’re no match at all.”
“Hey! Who’re you calling an elementary schooler all this time! I’ll be in high school next year!”
“High school? With that height? You even over 160?”
“#$&#$^&!”
“Incredible. I thought you’d just entered elementary school.”
Wounded, Seong‑jae howled.
“Uncle! That bastard is the enemy! Excommunicate him!”
The guy who didn’t budge no matter what insults he heard had crumbled in one blow.
At the same time, the Scribe, who had deliberately provoked him, seized the opportunity and moved.
And in an instant, the distance closed!
‘!’
Just as the Scribe was about to finish Seong‑jae and obtain a skill—
Wham!
“Hurk!”
Igeon’s kick flew at the Scribe. Wholly merciless, the Scribe was sent flying and knocked unconscious on the spot.
Then Igeon called out to Seong‑jae, who had become dejected over his complex and was sniffling.
“Seong‑jae, come here. Let’s perform the baptism.”
“!”
Seong‑jae was startled.
That was only natural.
Until now, whenever uncle said he would baptize him, he had simply been happy without much thought.
‘Baptism is the only chance to meet the constellation god.’
And it was the moment when a saint learned the true identity of the constellation god.
Because any constellation god would shed its disguised appearance and reveal its true form.
But for that reason, there were frequent cases of saints fainting during the baptism ceremony.
Scorpius was a prime example.
Rumors abounded that its saints fainted after seeing the god’s monstrous appearance.
The more tolerable thrones were Sagittarius and Aries—because their forms were said to be human.
‘If I remember right, Sagittarius was the sun god, and Aries was the Jade Emperor.’
Rumor had it that Sagittarius was a handsome man, just like its saint, while Aries was a petty old grandpa who cackled.
Because of that, Seong‑jae was drenched in sweat.
‘A snake? A snake?’
If he didn’t prepare himself mentally, he might faint during the baptism, too.
‘Damn. I don’t even know what kind of god Ophiuchus’s constellation god is…!’
Just what was the true identity of the Ophiuchus constellation god?
And then the moment came.
A dazzling baptismal light blazed over his head.
(To be continued)