"First, that bastard who cast the hair-loss curse—the one so irritating I can't even stand to mention it—come out."
At those words, Hugo and Kevin's expressions were a sight to behold.
What? A curse?
And what? The Star Gods are trying to kill Yi Geon?
They looked like they were hearing it for the first time, but Yi Geon just laughed as if it were despicable.
It was right after leaving the tower.
He was bathing in the villa that had been Cheonseongjae's home.
Maybe it was while soaking in the tub, checking his skill list.
'What's this? I can even see past records.'
Simply put, it was like a log. What skills he'd used, how many points he'd acquired.
And records of the Saints' activities, and so on—all the past records of Ophiuchus had appeared, and he'd checked them then.
[Entered the Demon Tower]
[Received curses from the Lords]
[Numbness]
[Loss of balance]
[Increased pain]
[Increased damage taken]
[Paralysis]
…
[Tinnitus]
[Increased fatigue]
[Increased fatal damage]
[Strength reduction]
[Muscle loss]
[Urinary stones]
[Herniated disc]
[Received a total of 584 curses]
…
[Obtained the power of Super Regeneration]
[Exited the tower]
[Curses have been lifted]
And only then did Yi Geon realize why it had been so hard to move his body in the tower, unlike usual.
'Those Star God bastards.'
His body had been in bad shape to begin with, but the Star Gods had cursed him on top of that.
Because of that, Yi Geon had ground his teeth.
Of course, he wasn't on good terms with the Star Gods. No, far from good, since he'd given their Saints a beating, he'd probably been marked.
But still, this?
584??
'They were set on killing me.'
Was it really necessary to go this far against a human without even a Star God?
'Even a Red-grade monster doesn't get more than ten curses.'
It was a miracle he'd been able to reach the 100th floor under those curses.
Without the skill Fighting Bull Instinct, the pre-evolution form of Fighting God Instinct, he probably would have died for real.
[Fighting Bull Instinct (lv.99)]
- Steel yourself for death with an indomitable will. Can push physical abilities to their utmost limit.
- Increases combat power
- Blunts pain through mental fortitude
- Can somewhat resist abnormal status skills
- Warning: Only blunts pain; body wounds do not heal. Same for abnormal statuses.
In short, he'd endured through a willpower skill.
Anyway, after seeing the records, Yi Geon realized the Star Gods had had a hand in his death.
And while that made him angry, what infuriated him even more was...
[Hair loss]
[Decreased virility]
[Erectile dysfunction]
…
[Curse of being unpopular]
[Decreased charm]
[A petty master with a hidden face...]
No, what kind of Star God would cast something like this, curses aside!
And now.
"Who the hell is it? The one who cast hair loss and erec... those weird curses! Seems like it's all the same guy."
At that furious tone, Hugo looked bewildered.
He wondered just what kind of curses had been cast to make Yi Geon that angry.
"Hair loss? What kind of idle Star God would do such a—"
At those words, the master of Leo flinched for some reason, but Hugo, who had no way of knowing, shot to his feet.
"Damn, here they come!"
He urgently looked to the sky!
The clear sky instantly darkened and pillars of light crashed down.
Boom!!! Boom! Boom!
The Star Gods who disapproved of Yi Geon were beginning to reveal themselves.
[The Star Gods with hidden faces are revealing themselves.]
Along with them came winds that made it impossible to stay upright.
"Aaaack!"
Pillars collapsed, and trees were snapped.
The Saints screamed from the sudden blast of wind pressure striking French soil.
This terrifying magical power, yet also familiar energy!
There was no way they wouldn't know the cause of this phenomenon.
"The gods have descended!"
"What?! In a place like this?"
And not just one.
"Five of them!"
"Are they insane?! Damn, if five of them come, there's no way the land will survive... Aaaaack!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the fortress city was swept away.
The descent of the gods.
Of course, it felt a little different from when the Leo Star God, Lord of the Golden Beast, had descended directly.
Back then, the god had revealed his true form with light, but now it was like a bolt of lightning!
And not ordinary lightning either.
[The Lords are directing their fury toward Ophiuchus.]
Brown, violet, sky blue, purple, indigo.
An array of beautiful colors, but up close they emitted an awe that felt like certain death.
And the lightning writhing like dragons in the sky finally transformed into beasts.
Some were dragons, some were tigers, some were small cats, and some were bears.
[The Lords are manifesting in avatar form.]
[Their power is reduced, but they can remain manifested for longer.]
It was .
There were roughly three ways a Star God could descend.
One was through the body of a Saint .
It didn't affect the environment, and although abilities were limited according to the Saint's capacity, it caused the least damage.
The second was .
Literally, the true body descending directly from the divine realm.
The strongest, but it consumed divine seat energy heavily and was rarely carried out.
And the last was .
Borrowing another creature or form to descend.
It had ability restrictions, but was used when a Star God absolutely needed to reveal themselves on Earth.
The appearances of Star Gods that humanity occasionally witnessed were those avatar descents.
And in the current situation, that was probably the optimal way to descend. Since they wouldn't want to show their true forms.
At the same time, it was an act of conserving divine seat energy.
And the moment those beasts struck the ground, the sanctuary was destroyed.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
"Aaack!"
"Damn it, run! If you're nearby, you'll die!"
"Aaaaack!"
Even if it was a somewhat subdued avatar descent, a Star God descent was still a Star God descent.
Just their appearance caused immense damage.
That was why ordinarily, even avatar descents were rarely used.
Above all, no insane Star God would try to destroy their own sanctuary.
But descending in another deity's sanctuary was, literally, a signal to grab each other by the hair and fight.
So they all descended through the bodies of Saints.
But now, things were different.
[The Lord of the Full Moon glares, asking who dares to descend on their land.]
[The Lord of the Full Moon rages that the rule has been broken.]
[At that, various other Lords scoff.]
[They say this place has already been taken by Ophiuchus.]
This was already Ophiuchus's territory.
Whether it was destroyed or not, there was no need to care.
That wasn't all.
[The Dark Star summons its retinue.]
With that call, mists rose from the ground and the subordinate gods of Cancer were summoned.
Hundreds of them!
With a vortex, a divine army appeared.
Simultaneously, Hugo, who had been on the building, was threatened.
Boom!!
"Ugh!"
Hugo jumped from the collapsing rooftop and landed beside Kevin.
The menacing subordinate gods were encircling Kevin, Hugo, and Yi Geon.
At that sight, Kevin immediately let loose a silver bolt of lightning.
[Semi-Deification]
Simultaneously, something astonishing happened.
Poohak!!
Silver light surged up, and a unicorn revealed itself.
And the silver lightning instantly struck down the subordinate gods.
At that familiar power, Hugo gaped.
"Didn't you say you hated using Semi-Deification and refused to use it?!"
[Oh, shut up, Divine Archer! Are you telling me to watch Yi Geon die?!]
But soon, Hugo grew puzzled.
Because whenever Kevin, the Virgo Saint, used me, or rather, star-god-related skills, he'd transform into a female form.
It was all the Virgo Star God's mischief.
So even though that power was transcendentally strong, wasn't Kevin someone who'd rather die than use those two skills?
Hugo had witnessed it by chance 20 years ago, but he'd kept his mouth shut for privacy's sake.
But that appearance now, just what...!
However, that question was quickly resolved.
[You are within the authority of Ophiuchus.]
[You can escape the influence of the Virgo Star God and modify skills.]
[Virgo skills can be combined with Ophiuchus skills.]
Hearing that voice, Kevin excitedly used his abilities left and right.
[The Virgo Saint's faith in Ophiuchus increases dramatically.]
[Contribution points rise.]
[Great! From now on, I'll just make star god descents manifest in figurines!]
At those words, the Virgo Star God screamed.
[The Lord of the Full Moon wails.]
[Begging, please, at least hold back on that, weeping bitterly.]
Well, it didn't matter either way.
Hugo was about to use Star God Descent as well.
[The Lord of Leo refuses.]
[Saying that if you step forward before Ophiuchus now, you will die.]
"????"
It was when he wondered what that meant.
Boom!
"Aaack!"
The screams of the Saints echoed. It wasn't because of the descents of the other Star Gods.
Bang!
A roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth. Along with it, green and black light shot up.
[Star God Descent]
[Penalty removed. Exerting 100% power.]
It was Yi Geon.
Green and black light enveloped him in a massive sphere.
And where the green light touched, strange things were happening.
"The collapsed buildings are regenerating...!"
"The grass and trees too...!"
Grass and trees that had completely died from the Star Gods' descents came back to life.
And in an instant.
It was as if witnessing the resurrection of life.
And at that power, the subordinate gods flinched.
It must be because they knew there was no Star God who could wield such authority.
But unlike that wondrous ability, the black power Yi Geon emitted was chillingly terrifying.
At the same time, Hugo, who had felt like he might be blown away, groaned.
'Could this be what appeared in the future vision?'
He had seen two futures.
One was a future where the intruders who had entered the Virgo sanctuary were vomiting blood, but that seemed to be a future where Seongjae was running wild(?).
The other was about Yi Geon.
And now, this moment.
The Star Gods who had manifested as avatars flinched at Yi Geon's power.
But only for a moment.
[The Lords are exerting their abilities.]
It likely meant they thought it was worth a try even with avatar descent.
After all, the opponent was a mutant who was a human turned into a deity.
However, at that moment.
Thump!
[Fighting God Instinct]
Even while in Star God Descent, Yi Geon activated his awakening skill.
As Yi Geon's power amplified, the Star Gods frowned.
They must have realized that clashing would be harmful to them.
Sure enough.
[The Lords are saying not to do this.]
[They say they don't want to fight.]
At that, Yi Geon flared up as if dumbfounded.
[These bastards don't know who the victim is and who the perpetrator is.]
The Star Gods flinched.
That voice, laced with killing intent, was unmistakably the word of a god.
Yi Geon sneered.
[Aren't you ridiculous, asking me to stop after showing up baring your teeth first?]
Along with his words, the black light surged.
The unease of the Star Gods became reality.
It was the power of a calamity god.
(Continued in next chapter)