[The Gemini Star God has harbored a grudge against you]
[Curses you]
It was a few weeks ago.
Was it right after fighting with Heiji?
The Gemini Star God, having lost its saint, had tried to kill Igeon.
But after that, the Gemini Star God never came directly for Igeon.
Of course, Hugo said it was only because of the crisis at the god seat, but Igeon thought differently.
‘The Cancer core.’
That was it.
It was the trophy obtained after eliminating the avatar of Zhang Rui that appeared at Sophie's press conference.
That was why the star gods were not approaching.
And he had actually confirmed the reactions.
[The Scorpio Lord is having a seizure]
[The Scorpio Lord is enraged by what has been installed at the entrance of Sagittarius's sanctuary]
[Demands immediate removal]
[Hates even seeing the Cancer core]
[Extremely dislikes you being associated with such a thing and starts to rage]
The Gemini Star God, Hugo's Star God as well, all hated the Cancer core.
So Igeon deliberately kept it among his belongings.
To prevent the Gemini Star God, who held a grudge, from approaching.
Simply put, you could say he was carrying around rotten meat.
But maybe the stench was quite strong, because even Hugo got angry.
“What is that? Why do you have that?”
Hugo had cursed Cancer.
“You may not know well, but Cancer is a god seat too gloomy to be called a saint and a star god.”
Hugo personally loathed Zhang Rui, but he said that from the start, Cancer itself was not a god seat to get close to.
“Cancer is a god seat that even kills gods.”
“!”
Cancer is the darkest star among the sacred twelve seats.
Should we say that darkness devours the light of the gods?
“Anyway, it’s not without reason that it’s an object of avoidance by the star gods.”
And Hugo frowned as he looked at the Cancer core.
“And that core, I’ve seen it before.”
“You saw it?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if it was an internal conflict, but a low-ranking saint of Cancer once ran off with part of the core of the star god. I was commissioned to pursue that fugitive... it was horrible.”
There was no need to ask what was so horrible.
“As soon as he ate the core, toxic foam burst from his body, and guess what? That foam even killed the vassal god. Even though he was just a low-ranking saint. Of course, in the end, he himself died horribly.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Anyway, Cancer is a god seat that kills gods. That core of the star god is just poison to kill star gods.”
“Interesting. It looks just like square cereal.”
At that, Hugo was appalled.
“Can you tell the difference between things you eat and things you don't?”
“Of course.”
“Seriously, don’t eat that. Don't go eating it to test the efficacy of poison and monster blood like in the old days. It won’t just leave you wandering at death’s door. You'll really die.”
“Alright, alright.”
But right now.
[You crazy bastard!]
A change occurred in Igeon's body after he gobbled up the Cancer core.
Crack!
First, due to the Combat God Instinct, his body, which had been shining sacredly, changed color.
The light turned black, and Igeon’s skin was dyed a brownish hue.
And the Cancer core, having gone down his esophagus, began destroying the inside of his body.
[Warning. The god-killing poison body is destroying the body of the Ophiuchus.]
[The power of Cancer spreads throughout the body.]
A sensation of hot water flowing inside his muscles was felt.
And wherever that hot water passed, blood vessels burst, and muscles and organs burst apart.
That was not all.
In the places where the hot water had passed, there was a feeling of new blood vessels taking root.
[The dark star settles within the body.]
[It is a powerful lethal force that can even kill gods.]
Because of that, Igeon, who was lunging at the Leo Lord, nearly hunched over involuntarily.
It might be less for humans, but at least for the present Igeon, it was an agony beyond imagination.
[Warning. It is fatal to star gods.]
[Vicious darkness destroys and tears apart what is pure.]
But fortunately, the price paid in agony was extremely great.
[The trait of Cancer activates.]
Black foam bubbled up over Igeon’s skin.
And at that sight, the golden lion let out a savage roar.
[Damn it! That crazy bastard! Have you gone mad wanting to die together?!]
Along with the tremendous roar, the earth shook.
The Leo Lord, who had been so arrogant just moments before, retreated backwards.
The Leo Lord seemed very flustered.
And well it should be, for the trait of Cancer was truly a power that dyed stars with darkness.
Literally a power to kill star gods.
Of course, since the powers of each star god are equal, he wouldn't die from it, but it was still a critical blow.
He had no idea how much contributions and offerings would be needed to recover.
In the end, the Leo Lord bared his ferocious fangs.
[You crazy bastard!! If you want to die, die alone!]
At this point, it was even better than the skill he said he used during the Libra incident.
That would also hurt, but at best it was just the throat and teeth of a small snake.
Since there was a difference in divine rank, there would be no major problem.
Simply put, a small snake cannot swallow a lion.
Of course, it seemed that Igeon himself had noticed that and chosen this reckless method, but...!
[This serpent should know his place!]
In time with that roar, a golden bolt of lightning shot up into the sky.
The golden lightning exploded upon Igeon, who was leaping overhead.
Boom!
That lightning tore off a chunk of Igeon’s skin, but he didn’t care at all.
Far from being scared, his fierce serpent eyes flashed red as if tinged with venom.
Bang!!
With a deafening boom, Igeon’s torso plunged into the lion’s mouth.
[Keuk!]
Truly a body slam like a flash!
Finally, the body of the Leo Lord was lifted high.
Along with that, as the lion fell backwards, heaven and earth shook once more.
Thud!
And though normally the beast’s body would not be fazed by the weapons of other star gods, now it was different.
[The trait of Cancer erases the light of the star god.]
The foam extending from Igeon’s body dyed the inside of the lion’s mouth black.
Igeon did not miss the opportunity and immediately swung his axe.
Boom!
Then the lion’s fang, stained black, broke, and the observing vassal god screamed.
[My Lord!]
The griffon flapped its wings hastily and soared into the sky, but it was useless.
Igeon, shouldering the fang, grinned and once more put strength into his legs.
And.
Bang!
Hunched Igeon burst through the roof of the lion’s mouth and came out.
And as if the fang wasn’t the end.
Igeon, who had shot up into the sky, raised his axe bloodily.
At the same time, a flash of light was impaled into the lion’s back.
Bang!
It was Igeon.
Igeon, flying in like light, had embedded his axe in the back of the Leo Lord’s neck and peeled off the back skin.
At this, the scream of the Leo Lord rang out.
[You have dealt a heavy blow to the Leo Lord.]
[The other Lords are greatly astonished.]
[Having dealt a blow to a strong god, the divine rank of the Ophiuchus has risen.]
[Experience points increase dramatically.]
[Level up!]
[Successfully enraged a god. Condition satisfied, the next level-up restriction has been lifted.]
At that sight, even Stephen and the saints were speechless.
But Igeon, having secured the fang and back skin, hurriedly called for Stephen.
“Hey! Armless cat! It’s over now, so send that bastard back quickly!”
Stephen was dumbfounded.
Not only was it astonishing to see a star god treated like that, but what did he just say now?!
“After turning someone else’s star god into that state, what do you mea…?!”
“Send him back! We don’t need that monster cat bastard anymore!”
Stephen was flabbergasted, but he immediately knelt on one knee.
Because the Leo Lord, whose body had been taken, was struggling ferociously to stand up.
And currently, the Leo Lord’s descent level was around 30%.
Just as transferring large data takes time, it takes quite a while for energy of a star god’s level to descend 100% to Earth.
Thus, they first descend the body, then gradually draw their power from the divine realm.
That was why Igeon seemed to have finished his business quickly before the 100% descent.
Anyway, if his star god rampaged further, it would waste the offerings of the god seat and the area would be further destroyed, so Stephen used his skill.
[Beast God Ritual]
It was a special skill common to all saints.
Simply put, it was a skill to soothe an enraged star god and return it to peace.
As expected.
“Great Leo Lord, please return for a moment!”
At that cry, a golden flash erupted from the Leo Lord’s body.
The descent was being released.
[10 seconds until descent cancellation.]
With that, the lion’s body began to blur.
But the thoroughly enraged Leo Lord flashed his eyes ferociously.
[Do you think I will go back obediently?! 10 seconds is enough to turn you into paste!]
Bang!!
The lion’s savage paw slammed down onto Igeon.
“Keuk!”
Fortunately, he jumped to avoid it, but Igeon, landing on the ground, clicked his tongue.
“This bastard.”
Because of the Cancer core, his body wasn’t in good shape, and he didn’t want to move any further, but there was no choice.
[I won’t let you off!]
Igeon gritted his teeth and used his skill.
It was a skill he wanted to save because of its long cooldown, but.
[Gluttony]
Igeon’s eyes flashed, and the serpent’s radiance swallowed the lion.
The lion screamed, but perhaps due to the difference in divine rank.
Bang!
The lion kicked out in resistance.
At that, just as Igeon was about to swing the Heavenly Judgment out of irritation!
“Please return!!”
[The descent of the Leo Lord is released.]
With those words, the lion’s front paw passed right through Igeon’s head as if it were nothing.
It was like a ghostly scene.
And finally, the semi-transparent star god gnashed his teeth.
[You…! Come to the divine realm at once!! I’ll kill you!]
At that, Igeon sneered.
“You want to kill me, why would I go there? Are you stupid?”
[You…! Stephen!]
Finally, the Leo Lord disappeared, struggling fiercely.
At the same time, peace returned to the Leo sanctuary, but Stephen slumped down with a sigh.
“Damn it.”
Having forcibly sent back the star god, the thought of facing all that wrath later was already horrifying.
But what was more horrifying was Igeon.
‘That crazy bastard.’
To directly clash with a star god, is he even sane?
Even though he met his star god often, just seeing that existence before his eyes made Stephen’s legs tremble.
It was embarrassing, but actually he was still scared. No, anyone would react the same when facing a star god.
‘Yet he thought of clashing with one?’
And on top of that, he boldly took parts of the star god’s body as trophies.
So the slumped Stephen was about to say something.
“What were you thinking… Keuk!!”
Once again, Igeon kicked Stephen away and vented his irritation.
“Bastard. You should have sent him back sooner. Because of that, I had to use a skill I didn’t need to.”
“?!!”
“It’s a skill with a high failure rate to begin with…”
But his irritation was short-lived, as a notification was heard.
[Skill succeeded.]
[Experience points gained greatly.]
[Level up!]
[Reassembling the devoured lion’s paw.]
“What? It succeeded.”
Igeon laughed as if surprised.
The Gluttony skill was his own SSS-rank divine skill, but its success rate varied depending on the difference in divine rank.
Maybe because Giselle was in a human body, it was a decent fight.
But the lion was different.
It was originally a strong star god, and the divine rank difference was great, so he thought it wouldn’t work.
‘Was I lucky?’
But then, at that moment.
‘Keuk.’
Igeon frowned at his aching body. The core he had eaten was the problem.
And at that sight, Cheon Yuha ran over in surprise.
“Uncle! Are you okay?”
Igeon clutched his heart painfully.
And it was at that moment.
A darkness incomparable to Cancer’s aura surged up, and a voice was heard.
[You have learned the path of the dark god seat.]
(To be continued in the next episode.)