[Kyaaak!]
A scream echoed through the Leo Sanctuary.
It was none other than the sharp voice of the Golden Mane Master.
[Aaack! The master!]
[The master’s teeth have all been pulled out! How could this be!]
[Hey, do teeth even matter right now! Look! He’s gone bald!!]
[Even his splendid mane is all...!]
The followers turned pale as they saw the Golden Mane Master stripped of everything without mercy.
His magnificent, great fangs were the first to be pulled, and even his front teeth were ripped out entirely.
As if that weren’t enough.
Even his mane, tougher than steel, was completely shaved off.
But perhaps that didn’t satisfy him.
*Crunch!*
[Keuheok!]
Igeon, using Battle God Instinct, struck the Golden Mane Master’s cheek.
The master’s molars shook!
The followers, unable to dare intervene in the battle of celestial gods that was like a natural disaster, could only clutch their faces.
After all, the Golden Mane Master was, despite appearances, a higher celestial god!
[Good heavens, look at that young god who has lost all fear!]
[No matter how much every strand of his fur is so magnificent that all gods covet it...!]
As if agreeing, the Golden Mane Master once again erupted with powerful force.
[You insolent little snake brat! Stop hopping around on my body like a flea and meekly let yourself be eaten!]
But it was useless.
[A lump of clay that creates all things attacks the Golden Mane Master]
The slime that had turned into a bottle sprayed powder once again.
And that was something Igeon had fed him earlier!
In the end, as the powder poured down, the Golden Mane Master, who had been fiercely radiating killing intent, toppled over once more.
*Thud!*
And as the Golden Mane Master began rubbing his body on the floor as if intoxicated by drugs, Igeon’s eyes glinted.
*Crunch!*
[Obtained Golden Mane Master’s molar (SSS)]
The followers and Stephen couldn’t help but scream.
[At least leave him some teeth to chew meat, you thug celestial god!]
At the same time, Stephen, who didn’t want to see something dangling, was disgusted yet grew serious.
It couldn’t be helped.
“What exactly is that powder?”
At Stephen’s question, the followers looked at him as if horrified.
“Couldn’t it be catnip? Since he’s a feline celestial god, he might be intoxicated by something like silver vine.”
“Who doesn’t know that!”
What Stephen was curious about wasn’t the identity of the powder.
“Do you think we haven’t tried catnip and silver vine?”
Indeed, the followers who had tried everything with Stephen to soothe the Golden Mane Master’s anger agreed.
[Heavens, even when we brought him his favorite squeeze treats, he threw them aside saying they were detestable, so how can that god...!]
Perhaps because of that.
Even while thinking he should prevent his celestial god from being humiliated, Stephen shouted.
“Igeon! What on earth did you use! It’s catnip! Isn’t it!”
At that, looking at the Golden Mane Master rubbing himself on the floor, Igeon calmly answered.
“The ingredients aren’t limited to just that. I brewed it about a hundred times stronger in my own way and blended it.”
“……!”
As for the materials, the holy grail manufacturing room of Aquarius that mixes medicines was full of them.
And to Igeon, who had always made his own medicines, this was nothing.
Everyone was appalled, but ignoring them, Igeon, holding giant clippers, called Stephen.
“Hey, lackey cat. He keeps squirming so it’s hard to shave him. Hold him down for a moment.”
At Igeon’s words, Stephen seemed dumbfounded.
The fur of Leo’s celestial god was the softest in the world and so strong that even a celestial god’s sword couldn’t pierce it, but still.
“That crazy...!”
But that moment.
“You hate this bastard too. If you help me, I’ll make you an EX-grade weapon with this.”
“……!!”
Instantly, Stephen flinched. And the followers were aghast at his eyes, as if his reason and instincts were wavering.
“Holy Lord!!”
“Ah, Igeon-nim! That’s cheating!”
The followers urgently grabbed hold of the momentarily swaying Stephen.
“In the first place, we can just request weapons from Capricorn’s genius workshop!”
“Exactly! Both the Holy Lord and Igeon-nim, with your skills, that fussy one might even accept a request...!”
At that, Stephen scoffed.
Genius workshop my foot.
“That guy probably makes them better.”
“Excuse me?!”
“In the first place, that Celestial Punishment was probably made by him too.”
“……!!!”
Sebastian, the celestial of Capricorn, seemed to have stubbornly insisted to them that his own celestial god made it, and secretly spread the word to the followers as well.
And then it happened.
[Warning. The Bible’s debuff (Book of Holy Blessings, Chapter 50) on the Golden Mane Master has ended]
[Warning. The Golden Mane Master’s power is returning]
“Igeon-nim!”
A murderous golden light blazed from the body of the Golden Mane Master, who had been intoxicated by catnip.
[You snake brat! I’ll kill you!]
[Insufficient Faith to open the Bible. (Requires Holy Seat Energy above 50%)]
[Currently 11%]
[Warning. If Holy Seat Energy falls below 10%, the Holy Seat will halt]
However, Igeon, who had tested the Bible before confronting the lord, seemed quite satisfied.
‘Indeed, even if I fill Holy Seat Energy to 100%, at present, about ten uses of the Bible and I’m completely drained.’
Of course, the amount of energy used likely varies depending on the Holy Seat’s level or the passage used.
Anyway, he could no longer use the Bible to shave away the Golden Mane Master’s power, but it didn’t matter.
*Crunch!*
In the end, Igeon left only the celestial god’s instep and face, and refreshingly shaved off the rest of the fur like giving a dog a summer cut.
[Obtained finest fur (SSS)]
[Holy Seat experience increases]
Having obtained even the fur, Igeon spoke as if his business was done.
“Hey, lackey cat. It’s over. Send that thing back home.”
“What?!”
Stephen was dumbfounded, but Igeon, as if he had some conscience, held out a vial.
“Here. If you sprinkle this, his fur, teeth, and claws will all grow back quickly.”
Stephen was astounded.
“You feel some guilt, then? You’ll handle the aftermath?”
“I’ll come back to pull them again in two weeks, so make sure you spray it well.”
“You’re going to rip out more from here?!”
Eventually, Stephen used a reverse summoning skill on the rampaging Golden Mane Master.
As the Golden Mane Master was being dragged back to the divine realm, he raised a front paw toward Igeon.
[You wicked little snake brat! Come here at once! I’ll swallow you in one bite!]
But Igeon, having gathered his goods, fled using a return skill.
The Golden Mane Master was fuming with rage.
[You scoundrel! Where do you think you’re running! Come to the divine realm at once! I’ll be waiting!]
At the sight of the sanctuary once again devastated, Stephen despaired.
* * *
“Huh. So this time you even cut off his mane and claws?”
Hawaii, Igeon’s Sanctuary.
Hugo looked at the pile of items before him, seemingly astonished.
Stacked in the workshop were all byproducts of the Golden Mane Master.
‘What on earth sin did Stephen’s master commit?’
Well, he understood.
Because the dagger made from Leo’s fangs was enviable even in his eyes.
And since even tougher teeth and fur were growing back thanks to the holy grail’s effect, it was ultimately a gain for them too.
But.
“Did you even kidnap a follower this time?”
Hugo looked at the Leo follower trembling beside Igeon.
It was Puffin, whom Igeon had once tried to recruit during the Stephen 3-second defeat, saying his stats were useful.
Besides Puffin, there were a few other upper-grade followers who looked usable.
They were the ones who had once said they wanted to join Igeon’s clergy.
“Well, I don’t know if Seongjae will pass them, but we need basic combatants on our side too.”
At that, Hugo tilted his head.
After all, Igeon hadn’t been particularly greedy for followers.
Of course, if they were people Igeon personally assessed and brought in, they’d all grow to saint-level.
And since the Holy Seat would grow as well, it would be an enormous gain for Igeon.
‘But why suddenly??’
And the Golden Mane Master’s materials, too?
Hugo tilted his head.
‘Is it because of what happened 24 years ago that I saw through the general?’
But Igeon was looking at Hugo’s hand.
“How’s your hand?”
“Ah. This?”
Hugo looked at his own left hand wrapped in bandages.
When the divine status of Death went berserk, he had brushed against the force of death while grabbing Igeon’s shoulder.
Because of that, his hand was crumbling, and the force of death had encroached upon his left hand.
He had treated it with Super Regeneration, but it wasn’t fully healed.
But Hugo laughed.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s my own fault for meddling anyway. And it doesn’t affect my shooting. I’m not left-handed like you.”
“I’m sorry. And thank you.”
At Igeon’s words, Hugo couldn’t help but doubt his own ears.
It couldn’t be helped.
Did he just hear Igeon say he was sorry?
Hugo looked as if he’d been shocked, but soon Igeon said.
“Anyway, thanks to that... hey, what are you doing?”
Hugo was leaning against the wall, covering his face as if deeply moved.
“No, don’t mind me. I just feel like Yoo Ha and Seongjae just pinned a carnation on me.”
Igeon looked at Hugo as if dumbfounded.
It couldn’t be helped.
[Seongjae’s faith is rising]
[Yoo Ha’s faith is rising]
Seeing that, Igeon spoke.
“Taek-su.”
“Yeah, Igeon. Keep talking. I’ll listen as much as you want.”
“I want to fix your hand, but right now it’s a bit difficult.”
“!”
Of course, that was true.
‘Super Regeneration is a skill from the Life side.’
And since the divine status of Death was currently higher than Life, perfect healing wasn’t possible.
Of course, seeing that, the followers of the mountain said the healing itself was incredible and praised Super Regeneration highly, but well.
Igeon wasn’t satisfied at all.
In other words.
‘I need to raise my Life divine status.’
If the Life divine status rose, the skills in that category—
That is, skills like Super Regeneration would become more powerful and evolve anew.
In fact, when his death divine status reached stage 2, the skills in that category had grown stronger.
And most importantly, a new skill had appeared.
[Lion Summon (死者召喚)]
“Anyway, to perfectly heal you, I think I need to raise my Life divine status.”
It would also be better to have both divine statuses raised when fighting lords.
“So to level up my Life divine status, I need to make special-grade items.”
“Make special-grade items?”
“Yeah. Life seems like it could advance via tasks related to life... but first, it responds to crafting skills. I think I can raise its stage based on that.”
“!”
So that’s why he raided Leo’s sanctuary and came back!
Because the better the materials, the higher the chance of a high-grade result.
Moreover, the reason why crafting was related to life was somewhat understandable.
After all, Igeon’s crafting essentially gave birth to living beings with egos.
‘It’s likely connected to Life.’
And Igeon continued.
“So recently, when I fulfilled the crafting requirement, the special-grade results that came out were ‘Predator’ and ‘Sky Punishment.’”
In fact, he had confirmed it by looking at the stat logs.
He didn’t know why those two weapons influenced the advancement of the Life divine status, but.
“Anyway, I want to upgrade your weapons to EX-grade as well, and I’ve gathered a ton of materials now, you know?”
At that, Hugo was moved as if he’d just heard Yoo Ha say she was going to marry her dad.
EX-grade, no less!
He had admired the Celestial Punishment and was envious, and now an EX-grade for him!
[Seongjae’s faith rises even more]
[Seongjae’s faith rises madly]
“So, shall I make you a prosthetic hand?”
Hugo, who had been deeply moved, flinched.
And as expected.
Igeon’s eyes gleamed as he grabbed Hugo’s shoulder.
“If it’s uncomfortable, just tell me. I can change it instantly.”
Fully realizing the meaning of those words, sparks flew from Hugo’s eyes.
“There’s a line even for jokes!”
[Hugo Otter’s hatred increases]
[Influences faith]
At that, Igeon laughed, saying it was a joke.
“Anyway, I’ll heal your hand soon, so don’t worry.”
Hugo, still angry, told him to forget it, but Igeon, having checked Hugo’s faith, nodded as if everything was going according to plan.
[Hugo Otter’s Faith 450%]
‘Good. Just right.’
It wasn’t exactly right(?), but through this incident, Igeon had been thinking.
High faith was beneficial to him, but at the same time, it meant that followers were willing to give their lives for their celestial god at any time.
And while rising faith was good, if it rose too much, wouldn’t they prioritize their snake master over their own family?
‘That won’t do. They have families.’
So that level of faith from his friend was enough.
‘Well, if I make just one more EX-grade item, my Life divine status might rise.’
Or he could eliminate enemies with such power.
Indeed, a notification sounded.
[To become a true god, you must raise your divine status to the highest stage.]
[There are monsters that harbor the power of Life and Death.]
[Defeating opponents on par with gods seems like it could also raise the level of your divine status.]
Then, could killing lords raise his divine status?
But then.
Perhaps having heard Igeon’s story.
[The Scorching Heat Master says he has a very good idea to raise the stage of Life]
[He proposes: Wouldn’t saving two of his body parts raise Life?]
At that, Igeon scoffed.
This bastard?
But as if it was worth a try, just as he was about to hand the holy grail over to Hugo.
*Thud!*
The ground shook.
[A lord-class presence has revealed itself]
At the same time, a notification came.
[The Great Maga Lord Beelzebub sends this message]
(To be continued in the next chapter)