"So, Gwisun."
Park Gwisun.
His original name was Yujin, but the clerk who had at some point become Gwisun trembled.
Before him stood Igeon, flashing pearly white teeth with a bright, innocent smile.
That face looked at most twenty years old. A youthful face that could easily pass for a high schooler.
Of course, beneath that boyish face, his body was completely muscular, but still, one must never be fooled by that gentle tone and naive smile.
'This bastard is a god of calamity.'
There were all sorts among the Constellation Gods, but this one was the filthiest of them all.
There was no telling what would happen if you let your guard down.
In fact, the corner of his mouth, curved as if enjoying himself, was a whole 3mm higher than usual.
'I'm going to die.'
Moreover, it was true that he had tried to topple Igeon from the Ophiuchus Seat!
Not to mention, it was also true that he had hoped Hugo would kill Igeon!
In the end, the clerk, desperate to survive, put on his friendliest smile.
"Ah, no, G-God... Igeon-nim! You see, those bastards suddenly invaded, so I had no choice—Aack!!"
The clerk screamed.
Because a familiarly agonizing pain had stabbed into the back of his hand.
At the same time, a familiar fountain pen let out a wail.
[Boooooo!]
The fountain pen was immensely furious. The truth was, after joining hands with the unknown civilization,
Gwisun had temporarily been able to escape the fountain pen.
[Had no choice but to sleep in peak condition by the Lord's power, which bestowed abundance.]
The fountain pen, having received the Lord's power, had inevitably fallen into a deep, optimal slumber.
Thanks to that, he had been able to evade the pen's surveillance and approach Hugo.
But.
[The fountain pen wails, asking how it could betray it and try to meet the monster.]
[The fountain pen rages, saying never mind itself, how dare it try to betray its parent.]
Along with that, the clerk screamed "Aack!"
Because the nib of the fountain pen had transformed into an unusually sharp blade.
Flash!
[The fountain pen's form has changed.]
[The 'Pen That Penalizes Those Who Do Not Write' trait of Ophiuchus has been reflected.]
At last, the moment the pen, now turned weapon, charged at the clerk—
Grab!
Igeon caught the fountain pen.
"Whoa, whoa, Yearn-pen, not yet. Be good."
[Booooooo!!!]
The pen, having flown right up to the clerk's eyes, wailed in midair.
[The fountain pen says it cannot face its parent. Says this sin cannot be washed away.]
[The fountain pen says let's die together.]
"Alright, alright. I understand how you feel."
The clerk felt relieved, watching the pen in Igeon's grasp.
Because he had grasped Igeon's intent from his actions.
'Right. There's no way Igeon would give up the clerk's power.'
In other words, it meant no matter what he did, he wouldn't die!
That was why, just as the clerk's eyes flashed and he tried to use his power—
Thwack!
Something flew past the clerk's ear and embedded itself in the wall.
A long piece of metal quivered beside the clerk's face.
And what was embedded in the wall was none other than a tie pin!
"Urk..."
The one who threw it was none other than Hugo.
And that tie pin was a gift from the clerk, sent disguised as if from Hugo's wife.
The clerk trembled at the crimson murderous intent emanating from the pin.
And it wasn't just stuck in the wall, either.
A fly that had been on the wall was crushed flat by the tie pin.
And when the clerk turned his gaze in alarm, Hugo was smiling murderously.
"Igeon can't kill you, but I can, so don't even think about trying anything."
"...!"
The clerk froze at Hugo's killing intent.
Perhaps because she was around Yuha's age, he had felt of her as a junior.
In truth, Hugo had used to secretly give the clerk snacks, saying he had it tough anyway.
Saying he was stuck doing unnecessary work because of that rotten friend. So he hadn't known back when she treated him so well.
'Oh geez. When it comes to her own friend...!'
No, it wasn't just a friend. It was that bastard's faith that was the problem.
'In the first place, does a faith stat of 550% make any sense?'
Of course, that was when it had momentarily peaked, but the clerk cursed inside.
And on top of that, restoring his fallen faith with alcohol?
'As if alcohol's some kind of magic elixir.'
Was faith even something that could be refilled with booze?
But Hugo, who couldn't possibly know that, said, "Anyway. Unlike Igeon, I won't be so lenient, so any ideas of trying something fu—Cough!!"
Hugo, who had been sneering, got smacked by Igeon.
Crack!
Hugo, whose forehead nearly shattered, flared up.
"What now?!"
"You brat. You let those bastards manipulate you, raising your hatred stat, and now you're acting all high and mighty?"
"H-Hey, that was all to draw out the hidden enemy, I was just acting...!"
"Yeah, right. Your damn eyes broke down, and you tried to stab me with a butter knife."
"...!"
Well, it was partly because of that that he became interested in the power of the Lord of Abundance.
And then.
Squelch!
"Aack!"
The clerk screamed.
The fountain pen's chilling nib touched the clerk's neck.
It didn't pierce his neck, though.
Because Igeon held back the pen, which was trying to charge forward, adjusting its force.
At the same time, Igeon's eyes glinted coldly.
"What do you mean I can't kill this thing?"
"...!"
At the clerk's shocked expression, Igeon's eyes narrowed as if disgusted.
"Oh, what's this? You thought the same? Don't get the wrong idea. There are already plenty of people who can be the clerk."
"...!"
At those words, the clerk was terrified. It was just as Igeon said.
It was just that they didn't know how, but both Yuha and Seongjae had the clerk's blood, and Cheon Ji-u was a clerk too.
And above all, Igeon's eyes were dead serious.
"Now. So if you want to live, give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you. If I don't like it, I'll let this guy go right now."
The clerk gulped, looking at the fountain pen wailing against his neck.
In the end, as if giving up on ever standing above Igeon, he squeezed his eyes shut.
"I'll falsify the Bible from the Lord's side!"
"!"
Both Igeon and Hugo's eyes went wide. They couldn't help it.
"What? They have a Bible too? Did you know about that and hide it?"
As magic power emanated from Hugo, the clerk trembled and squeezed his eyes shut.
"No! I only found out after teaming up with them this time...! Unlike a Constellation God's Bible, theirs is more like commandments, or a contract, but anyway, they seem to have something similar! With that, we can capture the unknown civilization side more easily...! Like seeing their weaknesses, siphoning their powers, or destroying monsters!"
Igeon looked quite intrigued.
"Is that true?"
"Yes! This time, I was able to steal a glimpse of their original scripture through a cockroach, and it's certain! Of course, the cockroach was low-tier, so I couldn't see anything crucial!"
Igeon's eyes gleamed.
"Then if we capture a stronger one, we can see something important enough to even affect the Lord, is that it?"
"Ah, well... if we threaten those bastards to bring the original scripture of their commandments..."
"You said you saw it directly with the cockroach. So I'll capture a general, and you'll look at it directly. And falsify it."
"Ah, n-no, that's putting my life on the line...!"
"As if I care. Put your life on the line."
"?!!!"
Igeon said he'd grant a stay of execution for that and put away the fountain pen, and the clerk wailed.
Well, he'd done it as a lesson and to scare him, but honestly, he'd never really planned to kill him.
Why?
Because of his own Bible.
[Uncle, please get married Uncle, please get married Uncle, please get married]
-Effect: Ophiuchus comes to harbor affection for his follower.
That was Yuha's original Bible scripture.
But the clerk had changed it to something normal(?).
[The follower said Ophiuchus is such a wonderful person, worthy of marriage.] (Edited)
-Effect: Increase in Ophiuchus's charm (significant boost to recruitment applications)
It was the same for Seongjae's.
[Uncle is so cool, pant pant Uncle is so cool, pant pant]
-Effect: Ophiuchus's fatal allure (A fatal charm that makes even men fall at first sight)
▷
[Ophiuchus's coolness seemed to make even light shine from him]
-Effect: Flash effect (temporary increase in faith)
Well, Ophiuchus's seat had faith of 100% or more.
Basically, since fanatics were the baseline for entry, the probability of such unimaginable things being written into the Bible was high.
In fact, even now, it's only a relief the clerk panicked and changed the Cheon siblings' fangirling notes into something normal.
'If left as is, it would be a disaster.'
No matter what, he didn't want to be attacked by his own nieces/nephews.
In any case, for that reason, the clerk, at least, had to remain a very normal guy.
'Monitoring this guy is easy, just need to strengthen Yearn-pen's tier.'
And seeing him organize the Bible from the start made it obvious.
He says he hates it, he hates it, but seeing him organize the Bible, he was still arranging everything to his own benefit.
'Well, maybe it was at Hailey's request.'
For some reason, even his faith was rising very slightly, bit by bit.
Of course, Hugo seemed unconvinced, frowning, but soon acted as if it didn't matter.
"Fine. Whatever tricks you try to pull from now on, it'll be hard to escape my tracking."
The clerk shivered at the look in Hugo's eyes.
Even without being told, there was no way he wouldn't know how terrifying it was to be targeted by the head of the Sagittarius Seat.
'He's a guy who'll shoot you dead with an arrow even if you flee to the other side of the earth.'
And all that was probably because of that high faith.
That seemed to make the clerk burst out in frustration.
"Are you a pushover?! How the hell can your faith be that high?"
Hugo clicked her tongue.
As if asking what kind of question that was.
"Well, since he's my friend, it's probably a bit higher than for others. Around 60%, maybe?"
The clerk was dumbfounded.
What? 60%?
60?????
And as if reading that dumbfounded expression, Hugo cleared her throat, "Ahem."
She seemed to feel a bit guilty about her own words.
"Alright. Maybe about 70%. I know it too. Whatever else, Igeon does some cool things sometimes."
The clerk, having been thoroughly wrecked by Hugo because of that faith, felt anger surge up.
"Oh, goddammit! That...!"
"Anyway, Igeon doesn't go easy on you just because you're a girl. So you'd better not cross the line too much."
"His personality, I already know—Wait, what?"
The clerk flinched.
For a moment, he thought he had misheard, but seeing Hugo's expression, that wasn't the case.
He sent a questioning look, asking if Igeon had said something, but Hugo let out a hollow laugh.
"Information distortion? It's not that it doesn't affect me, but you shouldn't disregard an adult's experience."
"...?!"
"Well, Igeon, who has no children, probably wouldn't figure it out even if he woke up a hundred times..."
"What do you mean, no children? He does have one."
"What?"
"Ka—Mmph!!!"
Hugo hastily clamped the clerk's mouth shut.
And after sending Igeon far away, she dragged the clerk to a safe distance and asked.
"Hey. What did you just say?"
Of course, she didn't think the clerk was saying anything proper.
But Hugo had brought him over, feeling a strangely ominous premonition.
And true enough, the clerk—Gwisun—spoke.
"What do you mean, what! Kalli! He said Igeon is his dad! It was fishy, so I used my ability to look into his history, and while he isn't really a hidden child, the Holy Grail owner used Igeon's DNA to... Mmph!!!"
Hugo urgently covered the clerk's mouth.
The Holy Grail owner. Igeon's DNA.
Those two words alone were enough to explain.
Hadn't she recently heard about the existence of a son they tried to turn into a homunculus but failed?
At the same time, Hugo seemed furious.
'That woman Giselle, seriously.'
She should have realized when Kalli turned out to be insanely strong!
'Right. Where else would that DNA go?'
That wasn't all.
'Then the body resembling Igeon that Hailey found in the Demon Tower, is that connected to this?'
But Hugo soon shook her head.
Because that wasn't what was important right now!
'I have to hide this!'
If Igeon found out, it would be absolute chaos.
Even she would have a hard time dealing with the fallout.
But it was at that moment.
Igeon gestured.
"Anyway, Gwisun. Come here a sec. There's something I want to as—"
"Igeon!!! This is no time for that! You need to go to your territory, quick!!"
"What?"
"There might be enemies coming to your territory!!"
"If they come, I'll know right away anyway. I can just use my return skill—"
"You should go heal Kevin!!!!"
At this, Igeon looked at her like she was spouting nonsense.
"...I already sent him a super regeneration skill, didn't I?"
"No!!! You have to see him in person!!! No matter what, he's your follower now! Tsk, how can you just send a skill and nothing else? Don't you worry about him at all??"
Igeon's expression was a sight to behold.
"...Hey. Since when did you care about him so mu—"
"Wah!!! Our poor, pitiful Kevin! I'm really worried! Now! Let's hurry up and go! Gwisun, don't even think about following!"
"?????"
And right at that moment.
Boom!!
A massive shockwave shook everyone's bodies along with the sound.
The ground split, and light exploded from far away.
And a golden legion revealed itself.
[Warning. The Legion of Abundance reveals itself.]
(Continued in the next episode)