At the same time, a change occurred in Igeon’s body, accompanied by a massive light.
“Geon-a!”
It was a tremendous power.
The light bursting from Igeon’s body felt different from usual.
Even during Combat God Instinct, it had exuded an awe-inspiring radiance, but that was at 70% divine rank.
Now, having reached 150%, it was beyond awe—an outright sense of dread could be felt.
And the energy that exploded in an instant, the power of the unidentified 13th divine seat.
It was a force so mighty it felt like witnessing the Big Bang of the universe.
A powerful energy that seemed capable of swallowing everything and bringing forth new creation.
Perhaps because of that magnitude of energy,
the advance of the Absolute Order’s power that had been trying to consume Igeon’s body was completely broken.
Along with that, Igeon’s strength surged.
[You have embraced a power stronger than the one consumed.]
[Absolute Order can be recreated.]
Simultaneously, a flash of light enveloped the holy ground of the Sagittarius divine seat.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
“Urgh!”
Everyone screamed at the energy accompanied by a fierce gale.
Would it feel like this if a planet collided with Earth?
It was an impact like a colossal giant tearing a city apart and hurling it away.
It was fortunate that this happened within the holy ground of Sagittarius, surrounded by barriers.
Had such power erupted elsewhere, the city might have vanished.
Even though they weren’t directly affected, cars bounced, earthquakes struck—it was far from normal.
And accordingly, the inside of the holy ground, within a 100-meter radius, was hellish.
Kugugung!
Cars weren’t merely bouncing.
Hugo’s car, parked in front of the building, had long since been flung into the sky like a scrap of paper.
“Aaagh! Lord of the Constellation! Save us!”
“Everyone grab onto something! You’ll be blown away!”
They could only cling to objects to keep from being swept away.
It wasn’t just the humans.
Even among gods of the same level, was there a difference between the Star God’s aura and the presence of the vassal gods?
Nearly a hundred subordinate gods of Virgo also screamed, clutching onto fixtures.
[Please, save us!]
[Kyaaak!]
Normally, they were gods who would never show such disarray before humans.
But the sheer force was different.
They couldn’t even stand properly.
[Heok, what power is this!]
[We did say it was 100% divine rank, but…!]
Of course, they hadn’t been entirely unprepared.
Other Star Gods had also reached 100% divine rank before.
When their divine seats were in danger, when using special abilities, or when entering massive battles.
Moreover, the beings known as I—the Star Gods—stood at the pinnacle of countless gods.
They were the masters of the divine seats, where multitudes of gods and stars gathered in clusters.
It was only natural for them to wield tremendous power as the lords of their respective seats.
Because they could forge the gods and stars belonging to their seats into their own strength.
Thus, the moment they reached 100% divine rank, the power was such that the vassal gods could not dare to lift their heads.
But this wasn’t just about lifting heads.
[What kind of power is this!]
[This power is not 100%! It has already surpassed it!]
[What?!]
At those words, the subordinate gods were even more horrified.
Beyond 100% was a realm that even other gods struggled to endure.
‘Impossible!’
Moreover, wasn’t Ophiuchus the smallest of the divine seats?
A seat that had no proper foundation, no roots—nothing properly established, a mere pinhole of a divine seat!
[How can such a pitifully tiny seat produce this kind of power!]
That’s when it happened.
[But I don’t think this power comes from the scale of the divine seat!]
[What?]
[Ophiuchus is too small to speak of scale. So, perhaps this is the power of the Star God individually…]
[!!]
The power of I was a trinity of ‘Star God, saints, and holy spirits (vassal gods).’
As such, it was normally a structure that kept balance…
[So you’re saying this power comes from the Star God alone!]
[Good heavens, what kind of balance is this?]
But this wasn’t the time for leisurely analysis.
[Spread your protections!]
[Those not of Ophiuchus are being attacked!]
No sooner had the words fallen than the power exploded.
Objects that did not belong to Ophiuchus cracked and shattered; it was utter chaos.
And at that very moment.
The one who had actually caused all this commotion was suppressing his own body, feeling as if it might burst.
Of course, it wasn’t being eroded like before.
[Successfully deconstructed and recreated the power of Libra.]
[The power of Absolute Order has been recreated as a new divine-rank skill of the Ophiuchus divine seat.]
[Choice of Two (SSS)]
[You can now call upon the two divine ranks dwelling in Ophiuchus.]
[Power increases by 4 times every moment you make a choice.]
My Gluttony skill was a skill of consumption and recreation—obliteration and restoration.
And the holy ground of the Sagittarius divine seat had been recreated in my stomach as a 63-story building, while the power of the Libra divine seat seemed to have been recreated as a skill.
After passing the trial called the First Awakening, newly arranged skill information surfaced.
《Usable Divine Seat Skills》
※ Ophiuchus common / lendable
[Super Regeneration] [Body of a Hundred Poisons] [Take the Hit for Me]
《Usable Divine Rank Skills (SSS)》
※ Exclusive to the Star God / usable when divine rank conditions are met
[Combat God Instinct] [Sanctum Management] [Mission] [Subordination] [Wealth Conversion] [Netherworld Market Entry] [Sanctum Defense]
[Creation Workshop] [The Thirteenth Sense] [Acts Prohibited by the Gods] [Gluttony] [Choice of Two]
Divine seat skills were, literally, common skills that anyone belonging to Ophiuchus could use.
In practice, my vassal gods and Seongjae had all awakened these as basic skills.
‘Though it seems each awakens them slightly differently.’
In the case of the saints, even the Super Regeneration skill manifested with different names, effects, and power depending on the individual.
For Seongjae, the regeneration skill only seemed to activate when he praised himself.
And divine rank skills were skills that only I, as the Star God, could use.
They likely required divine rank to activate.
But.
[If divine rank reaches 0%, you lose divine power and die. At 10%, your life becomes endangered.]
[When divine rank drops, you fall ill and cannot use power, so gathering saints and holy spirits (vassal gods) to recharge and maintain divine rank is crucial.]
[Using higher-tier skills consumes a great deal of divine rank.]
Of course, as long as I had saints, divine rank rarely dropped below 20%. Things might be different now, but even when I had no saints, it had been manageable.
‘Since killing monsters also raises it.’
Well, it rose only in tiny increments—unless it was a lord-class monster, it couldn’t compare to the activities of saints.
Anyway, what mattered now wasn’t that I had gained precious divine rank skills.
“Urgh!”
Igeon clutched his eyes.
[The divine power remaining after recreation is being absorbed into your physical body.]
[Your still-frail body is being upgraded.]
[One part of your body has been upgraded: Eyes.]
[You have obtained a clue for the Second Molting condition.]
And with that, Igeon’s vision suddenly changed.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that time.
Hugo, watching Igeon, was utterly flustered.
And no wonder—it was because of what had happened after he prayed.
‘What in the world is that…?!’
The power Igeon was emanating was nothing short of extraordinary.
It was unmistakable.
That was divine rank. Clearly, the Star God of Ophiuchus was pouring power through his friend’s body.
Since he had to digest something strange he’d eaten, the Star God must have personally descended.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
‘Even our Star God has never shown such divine rank.’
Hugo, who had no way of knowing it was the power of 150%, grew restless.
One thing was certain: seeing how the subordinate gods of Virgo were so terrified, this was no ordinary situation.
And for some reason, the subtle anger he felt from his own Star God was surely just his imagination.
At that moment, a massive flash erupted.
Boom!
And as the flash vanished, Igeon staggered.
“Urgh.”
“Geon-a!”
Clutching his eyes, Igeon cried out in pain.
Thanks to that, the goddesses of Virgo and even the youngest members of the Sagittarius divine seat inside the building rushed over to Igeon.
“Igeon-nim! Are you all right?”
[How could he possibly be all right?! That was a power exceeding 100% divine rank!]
[No master’s body can survive beyond 100%! Quickly, bring medicine!]
Just the mental fortitude to withstand such power alone was remarkable.
So the goddesses’ delicate hands reached for Igeon.
But Igeon, brushing off their touch as if annoyed, was unexpectedly smiling.
Perhaps because of the 150% divine rank, some parts of his body were burning, but thanks to the regeneration skill, it didn’t matter.
The pain was nothing.
And the demonic energy that seemed subtly stronger than before was secondary.
“That bitch, for real.”
What had he seen during the process of absorbing the divine power?
In truth, Igeon’s eyes were wide open.
It couldn’t be helped.
[Memories were read from the absorbed power of Absolute Order.]
Igeon had read Giselle’s memories.
He hadn’t read them clearly yet, but it seemed to involve when he’d been trapped in the Demon Tower and something very recent.
‘Seems related to the Unknown Civilization.’
Well, it didn’t matter.
Thud!
The energy of the Star Gods surrounding Hugo and Kevin completely shifted.
“!”
[The master of the Scorching Sun is wary of the power of Ophiuchus.]
[Amazed that he can maintain his sanity under such power, yet also unleashes a strange anger.]
[The Goddess of the Full Moon shows strong interest in Ophiuchus.]
[The vassals of Virgo wonder how divine rank can exceed 100%.]
At those words, Igeon smirked.
How could it exceed 100%?
Instead of answering, Igeon pulled out Hugo’s divine relic.
And at Igeon’s next action, Hugo screamed.
“Aaaack!!! What are you doing!”
Hugo snatched the divine relic back.
Igeon had been about to break the relic he’d barely managed to repair.
Enraged by Igeon’s violence, Hugo shouted.
“Why is this bastard trying to break the sacred relic I fixed with so much trouble again!”
Igeon grinned shamelessly.
“Why? If you don’t want your Star God’s treasure destroyed, tell him to join Ophiuchus.”
Hugo clutched the back of his neck.
“You give medicine and then poison?! Why is he acting like this!!”
Why?
Igeon scoffed.
Because with just Hugo’s prayer, his divine rank had surged by 65%.
‘Once you become a saint, it’ll be a total jackpot.’
Of course, with high faith, you receive buffs for whatever you do.
Since raising faith was tough, they usually relied on the number of saints, but high faith always brought tremendous benefits.
Even a mere prayer did this.
‘A whole 65%.’
But at Igeon’s proselytizing, Kevin let out a mocking laugh.
“How pathetic, Igeon.”
“!”
“Trying to convert a saint is nonsense to begin with, and the other party being a last-place divine seat makes it even more absurd.”
Hugo felt a surge of irritation, but it didn’t matter.
After all, what Kevin said wasn’t wrong.
“Right. Preaching to a saint is impossible in the first place…”
“If I’m going to be preached to about such crap, convert me instead!”
“Hey!!”
At the same time, the subordinate gods of Virgo screamed.
[O apostle of the Goddess! What are you saying!]
[The Goddess will never forgive this!]
But Kevin’s expression was fiercely angered.
“I’m sick of pandering to the Goddess now. And anyway, why the hell was a man chosen as the saint of Virgo? She only chose me to use me as labor, didn’t she?”
[Kevin!]
“Whatever. If I can’t quit being a saint, then changing Star Gods is better.”
If it was Igeon, he’d be worth respecting, and if he became his saint, wouldn’t he at least spar with him?
But Hugo sighed.
Ophiuchus already had a saint.
“A saint, my ass, when Geon is already one. At best, you’d be the captain of the Ophiuchus holy knights.”
At that, Kevin looked at Hugo as if pitying him.
Then he spoke to Igeon.
“If you don’t want a saint, a sub-saint is fine too. The Goddess will likely permit it with high probability.”
But Igeon didn’t even pretend to hear.
It meant he had no use for a bastard who only raised divine rank by a mere 15%.
“Taek-su, if you become our saint, I’ll give you a 10% discount on weapons.”
Hugo was dumbfounded.
“You’re even planning to take money from your saint?”
Igeon ignored him.
“Alright. With generous heart, the monthly salary will be a whopping 100,000 won.”
“That’s less than minimum wage, you son of a bitch!!!”
At Hugo’s reaction, Igeon clicked his tongue. He meant to aim for later.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll settle for you being our sub-saint.”
Well, truth be told, there were benefits to having Hugo at Sagittarius anyway.
His archery skills, the Sun’s power, and his various abilities were all things he’d received from the Scorching Sun Star God.
Perhaps because of that.
“Think hard. You won’t be able to resist joining.”
“That’s hilarious. Listen well. I’ll never take your stinking position even if I die.”
“Don’t worry. Sub-saint is enough. Besides, someone who’ll be the saint has already joined.”
“I didn’t even answer and… What? Someone to be the saint?”
“Yeah. Just from proselytizing, the divine seat’s level shot up tremendously. Probably more outstanding than you.”
Hugo was flabbergasted.
‘What is this guy talking about?’
The divine seat’s level goes up from converting just one person?
“Are you joking? That’s nonsense. Who on earth…”
But Igeon, looking at Hugo, gave a strange smirk.
At the same time, Hugo, seeing the phone Igeon held out, screamed.
(To be continued)