[You have learned the path of the Dark Divine Throne.]
At that notification, Igeon frowned.
The pain wracking his body was one thing, but what?
Catastrophe God? Dark Divine Throne?
Just as he was wondering what that meant, a voice continued to speak.
[Currently, two divine personas exist within Ophiuchus.]
[The Catastrophe God and the Life God.]
[Because of this, the owner of Ophiuchus may later become either the Catastrophe God or the Life God, depending on their inclination.]
[Your level is still too low to determine which divine persona it will be.]
Igeon laughed at those words.
He didn’t fully understand, but it likely meant he could choose between two paths in the future.
Simply put, it probably meant choosing between good and evil.
Whether to become the Life God who can even revive the dead, or the Catastrophe God that others had spoken of.
And right now, perhaps he was using the powers of both divine personas simultaneously.
After all, it was said that Ophiuchus harbored two divine personas.
Then, the voice spoke again.
[The divine persona’s senses have been sharpened thanks to the Cancer core.]
[You will be able to further develop Ophiuchus’s divine persona later on.]
Igeon grinned.
He might not have a use for it yet, but at any rate, he had gained something.
But then, at that moment—
“Urgh!”
“Uncle!”
Suddenly, as if in agony, Igeon clutched his heart.
[Danger. The core within your body has begun to covet Ophiuchus’s power fiercely.]
Perhaps because it had resided inside Igeon’s body and experienced his power firsthand, the Cancer core began to target his body like mad. It had clearly become infatuated with the power Igeon had displayed while fighting the Gold Beast Lord.
And sure enough—
[Danger. The core within your body has begun to eye Ophiuchus’s power.]
[Warning. It desires this noble Ophiuchus power.]
[It wishes to defile this Ophiuchus and steal that power.]
[Cancer’s power is fatal to Sacred Gods. The purer the divine persona, the more fatal it is.]
In the end, Igeon collapsed in agony, clutching his heart.
“Uncle!”
Startled, Cheon Yuha rushed to support Igeon.
“Uncle, are you alright? Uncle!”
Seeing this, even Steven was uncharacteristically shocked.
And he had good reason to be. In his entire life, he had only ever seen Igeon collapse twice.
Once, when Igeon had deliberately fallen during a sparring match as part of a deal with him.
And the other, over twenty years ago, right after hunting down a monster.
It had been a massive subjugation campaign where, for once, many Saints had gathered, and back then, Igeon’s collapse from respiratory distress had been truly severe.
That was when Steven first realized it.
That Igeon’s body was in far worse condition than any of them had thought. Though Hugo had already known, judging by how casually he’d pulled out the medicine.
In any case, given the situation, Steven had no choice but to be flustered.
No matter how much he belittled Igeon outwardly, to them, he was the strongest.
So much so that a sight like this was foreign to them.
And so, flustered, he called for his subordinate without thinking.
“Bring the Aquarius Chalice from the vault!”
“Y-yes? But that’s a precious S-grade recovery relic of the Sacred Order...”
Steven scowled.
“Shut up and bring it! He got hurt because of our Sacred God, so at least...”
But before Steven could even finish, he was struck.
Whack!
“Master of the Sacred City!”
Flat on his face after Igeon had hit him, Igeon swore at Steven.
“You idiot, it’s not because of your damned Sacred God!”
Gritting his teeth, Igeon couldn’t stand the thought of anyone mistakenly believing that.
‘Damn it.’
It looked like he was in for another scolding from Hugo for eating something weird again.
Still, the fact that Cancer’s power was fatal to Sacred Gods did make sense.
And even though he’d eaten it with that in mind for a purpose, this was beyond expectations.
“Ugh!”
Groaning, Igeon planted his hands on the ground.
[The insidious Cancer covets your body.]
[It attempts to destroy your divine body.]
With his soul being 30% that of a Saint, the Cancer core was terrifyingly expanding its own power.
It was a destructive force that surpassed even his super regeneration.
[Your divine body is being dyed with venomous foam.]
Poisoned fatally as a Sacred God, Igeon vomited blood.
But his eyes blazed.
Of course, the agony was maddening, as if he were dying, but...
‘This much!’
It was nothing compared to the pain he’d endured in the Demon’s Tower.
‘Do you think I’ll die before I’ve beaten the bastard who stabbed me just as badly?’
At that moment, a murderous hatred flared in Igeon’s eyes.
And then it happened.
As if responding to the hatred he had kept hidden, a skill activated.
[Hundred Poison Body (F) has activated.]
- A body that, having endured countless poisons, now harbors poison within. Poison does not affect you.
- Automatically neutralizes poison above a certain threshold. (Limited to your own body.)
- Can consume poison above a certain threshold to acquire data.
What Igeon had activated was the detoxification skill he had unlocked long ago.
And his Divine Throne skills were generated based on his experiences.
Having been tortured with the venoms of countless monsters during his time in the Demon’s Tower, wasn’t this the very skill that had appeared the moment he left the tower?
From the start, he had planned to consume the Cancer core precisely because he possessed both this skill and his super regeneration skill.
And indeed, the moment the detoxification skill activated, it began to work like mad.
[Neutralizing the vicious poison attempting to ravage the body of Ophiuchus.]
[Neutralizing the vicious poison attempting to ravage the body of Ophiuchus.]
[Neutralizing the vicious poison attempting to ravage the body of Ophiuchus.]
Igeon grinned—just as he’d expected.
But then—
[Neutralization failed.]
[This poison does not exist in Ophiuchus.]
[Neutralization is impossible.]
“!”
Igeon frowned.
Had he trusted his skill too much?
He’d suspected something like this might happen, but he hadn’t expected it to actually turn out this way.
But then, at that moment—
[Data acquired. A component not present in Ophiuchus has been discovered.]
[Learning from the acquired data to generate a neutralizable poison.]
[Skill grade increased.]
[Hundred Poison Body (F) ▶ One Hundred and Eight Poison Body (E)]
Igeon smirked.
Just as white blood cells mobilize when a virus enters the body, his skill had activated like mad to resist.
And perhaps because the poison was too powerful, his skill’s grade had risen without even spending points—what a boon.
‘If pain is the price for a grade upgrade, that’s a steal.’
Besides, experience points barely rose these days unless it was from proselytizing or high-class monsters anyway.
And confronting a poison it had never seen before, the skill roared madly, as if warning anyone not to touch its master.
[Data acquired. A component not present in Ophiuchus has been discovered.]
[Learning from the acquired data to generate a neutralizable poison.]
[Skill grade increased.]
[One Hundred and Eight Poison Body (E) ▶ Two Hundred Poison Body (D)]
[Two Hundred Poison Body (D) ▶ Three Hundred Poison Body (C)]
[Three Hundred Poison Body (C) ▶ Five Hundred Poison Body (B)]
[Five Hundred Poison Body (B) ▶ Thousand Poison Body (A)]
But at that instant—
“Urgh!”
Igeon coughed up blood violently.
Even though his skill level had risen all the way to A, he still could not fully neutralize Cancer’s poison.
[Data acquired. A component not present in Ophiuchus has been discovered.]
[Learning from the acquired data to generate a neutralizable poison.]
[Insufficient level. Cannot neutralize the poison.]
Of course, even if it was only 30% of its power, this was the poison of a Sacred God. It was only natural he couldn’t neutralize it easily.
‘Just a little more.’
But he was now slowly reaching his limit.
Cancer’s power was now targeting his heart.
In the end, Igeon’s eyes blazed as if he had no choice.
‘Tch, I wanted to conserve it as much as possible, but I guess I have to use it now.’
Igeon immediately called up his skill window.
And quickly used his points.
[20 points used.]
[Thousand Poison Body (A) ▶ Myriad Poison Body (S)]
After all, he still had the proselytizing rewards from the Cheon siblings and Cheon Jiwoo.
Among the various proselytizing rewards—artifacts and the like—the most useful had been the Skill Grade Ascension Crystal, which could raise skill levels.
He’d held onto it, not knowing when he might need it.
And though it cost him points, well, compared to raising a skill from F to SS using only points, this was more than a good deal!
[30 points used.]
[Myriad Poison Body (S) ▶ Poison-Immune Body (SS)]
[All of the Cancer core’s power has been neutralized!]
And with that, something astonishing occurred.
Flash!
In a burst of light, Igeon’s skin tone gradually returned to normal.
And that wasn’t all.
[Your detoxification skill has reached SS-grade.]
[Conditions have been met.]
[Condition: Attain poison knowledge up to SS-grade.]
[As a result, an SSS-grade divine persona skill has been generated.]
[Ophiuchus’s Poison Fang skill has been generated and registered as an SSS-grade divine persona skill.]
- Based on the poisons remembered by the body, creates a special poison unique to Ophiuchus.
[The snake has come to harbor poison.]
Igeon smirked.
The Cancer core, its power completely neutralized, now attempted to kill him again in a panic, but—
‘How dare you.’
Igeon’s eyes blazed. How dare it covet his power.
As if on cue—
[Expelling Cancer’s power with the divine persona of Ophiuchus.]
At the same time, Igeon spat something out.
It was the Cancer core, now tattered, its data thoroughly extracted.
Watching all of this, Leo’s vassal god seemed utterly dumbfounded.
[That mad god—was he using a Dark Star all along?!]
Even surviving after consuming a part of a Cancer Sacred God—no matter how small—was a miracle.
The griffon recoiled in disgust.
But regardless, Igeon smiled, wiping the blood from his lips.
‘Good. An unexpected gain.’
To be honest, his original goal had been to use the Cancer core to obtain the Gold Beast Lord’s item.
And the reason Igeon had gone this far to get the Gold Beast Lord’s item was simple.
‘He’s stronger than I thought.’
That was it.
All of this was because of the Black Zone monsters that had invaded his sanctuary.
And while he had managed to eliminate them, facing them had made one thing clear.
‘If those bastards come in swarms, humanity is doomed.’
He’d felt that same chill as when he first encountered the Red Eyes.
What was more, even though they likely weren’t king-class, their attack and defense were both monstrous.
Enough to destroy his own hand.
‘Everyone needs to be able to fight back.’
That was why he’d immediately summoned Leo’s Sacred God through Yuha’s baptism.
‘If it’s a Sacred God’s body, it should be able to stand against Black Zone-class monsters.’
Other Sacred Gods wouldn’t descend even if called, since they hated wasting their contribution.
So, the easiest target had been that cat’s Sacred God—Leo’s—that was all.
Of course, as a result, Leo’s Sacred City seemed completely wrecked and even its contribution had been drained, but that wasn’t his problem.
‘It’s their fault for having a lousy Sacred God.’
And as for Yuha, he had unintentionally used her, but hadn’t he already planned to bring her to his own Sacred City anyway?
‘I need a Saint too.’
And sure enough, a notification rang out.
[Remaining Sacred City missions:]
- Create an Ophiuchus emblem [90% complete]
- Appoint a Saint [0%]
[A Saint is needed to serve the great Ophiuchus.]
[Without a Saint, all power cannot be used.]
[The highest rank of the Sacred City. The existence of a Saint is the final foundational element that constitutes the base of the Divine Throne.]
[Once a Saint is born, Ophiuchus will officially inscribe its name into the divine realm.]
As if his business here was done, Igeon called out to Yuha.
“The monsters are roughly dealt with, so let’s go. We have somewhere to be right away.”
Cheon Yuha nodded.
“Yes. Then I’ll call Seongjae. We’ll need a teleport.”
But then—
Thud!
‘!’
Just as they turned to leave, Leo’s Sacred City soldiers blocked their path.
“Master Cheon of the Sacred Order!”
They clearly could not let Cheon Yuha go. If Yuha left, Leo would suffer a devastating blow.
Steven stepped forward too.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t let our Divine Throne be destroyed.”
In response, Cheon Yuha silently raised her spear. It meant she saw no need for her uncle to intervene.
But at that moment—
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
With a tremendous quake, something shot up into the sky in a flash of light.
And what shot up into the sky was none other than a serpent of light!
At that sight, everyone recoiled in shock.
“What is that?!”
“A snake?!”
Indeed.
The enormous thing hurtling toward them from the sky was a snake of light!
Of course, it was far smaller than the serpent visible in Igeon’s inner world, but it was still considerably large.
Everyone was horrified.
And for good reason.
“Impossible!”
“That’s a demigod!”
The soldiers stared at Igeon in terror.
After all, this was what was known as an imitation of a Sacred God—and they couldn’t fathom why a Saint’s technique was being unleashed here.
Even Cheon Yuha, and uncharacteristically Igeon, widened their eyes in surprise.
But there was no time for shock.
“Agh! It’s coming this way!”
No sooner had the words left their mouths than the serpent attacked the Leo soldiers.
[You little shits! How dare you do this to my uncle! Die and become tribute for my uncle!]
“Aaaargh!!”
As the giant serpent crashed into them, the Leo soldiers were swept aside in an instant.
And at that moment—
[An additional person qualified to be a Saint has been found.]
[Current prospective Saint count: 2]
[Who will you choose?]
(To be continued in the next chapter.)