Igeon's gaze changed in an instant.
The lord beneath him had transformed into a young face.
Perhaps similar to Igeon from 25 years ago, or a little younger.
A clever-looking face with short brown hair.
Should I say that the bright brown eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts were impressive?
And the moment he met those eyes, Igeon's hand holding Heaven's Punishment paused momentarily.
At that, Heaven's Punishment was bewildered.
[The slime looks at its master in bewilderment.]
At that reaction, the lord laughed, and even the slime on his shoulder seemed rarely flustered.
[The slime says not to be deceived.]
[The slime says it is extremely dangerous.]
Was that why?
The fallen lord was terribly satisfied.
'As expected, it works.'
That was only natural, for the criteria the lord used to choose this face were feelings of affection and guilt.
And for now, those who fulfilled that were the Cheon siblings and Cheon Jiwoo.
Hugo had plenty of affection but no guilt(?). Instead, trust and other aspects were stronger than anyone's.
In any case, among those whom Igeon could not attack, the face that would have the most overwhelming effect was this one.
And so it was unexpected.
This woman's face was clearly that of a human whom a powerful lord had ordered to be killed long ago.
So it was a bit surprising, but Plenty spoke with the face that would be Igeon's weakness:
"Geon-ah, don't kill me. I don't want to die…"
But it was that moment.
CRACK!!!
"Gah!"
The lord vomited blood. He couldn't even finish speaking.
For the blade of the axe had mercilessly struck the lord's neck.
And Plenty, struck in the neck, looked as if asking if Igeon was insane, but Igeon smiled chillingly.
"What? Did you think I wouldn't stab you just because of that?"
"…!"
As the lord's face twisted, the slime bounced around merrily.
[The slime laughs at the lord.]
[It laughs, saying didn't I tell you not to be deceived?]
[It proudly wriggles, saying it warned that it was extremely dangerous.]
It seemed the dangerous one it meant was not its master but the lord.
And sure enough.
BOOM!
"…!"
With a rough wind, black power surged from Igeon's body.
And at the same time, a ring flew from Igeon's hand!
BANG!
The magic control device, blown away by Igeon's ferocious magic power, let out a scream.
[The slime weeps sorrowfully, begging him to at least send a signal.]
[Penalty lifted.]
[Status: Holy God Advent.]
[The power that had been sealed at 50% by the ring's strength is released.]
Hugo trembled at the surging power.
'Could he be about to evolve to the third stage?'
No, probably not yet.
The reason I felt his power had grown stronger was because he released the ring that normally sealed his power.
Normally, because a Holy God's strong power affects the environment, he wore a magic-devouring ring to maintain a 50% state.
So it might feel stronger than usual, but…
CRACK!
Hugo flinched at the lord's scream.
Igeon was pressing the axe embedded in the lord's neck even deeper.
Was he trying to widen the wound of the fleeing bastard?
Igeon stepped harder on the axe blade and laughed.
"Originally I was going to drag you away and throw you alive into the Demon Tower, then use you as experience points for me and my kids. But I changed my mind."
"…!!"
Igeon put strength into his foot with a fierce glare.
Crack!
Finally, the weighted axe blade pierced through the lord's shoulder muscle and even crushed the slender shoulder bone.
At that terrible pain, the lord gritted his teeth.
At that expression, sparks flew from Igeon's eyes.
"Still not changing your face even after this?"
Igeon relaxed his foot as if telling him to try something more.
Crunch!
He put strength again and widened the wound.
Crunch!
The lord glared at Igeon, grinding his teeth.
Actually, under normal circumstances, it would be a trivial wound to them, but the weapon was the weapon.
[The material of the weapon, Leo's teeth, is extremely effective against the lord.]
[Heaven's Punishment, reacting to its master's emotions, emits magic power.]
[The characteristics of the Snake Master, critical hit and fatal wound attributes, are exerted.]
Was it because it was a weapon made from Leo's teeth?
As the power of the Battle Holy God struck directly, the lord was in great agony.
'Damn it, as expected, there's a limit to a human body.'
He had used a human body to avoid the dome, but that might have been a losing move.
So he shouted.
"Are you in your right mind! How can you look at this form and still… Alright."
The lord's eyes flashed as if struck by an idea.
"If you withdraw this, I will give you this body."
At those words, Igeon's eyes grew fierce.
"What?"
"Why? This human already died 24 years ago, didn't she? Ah, yes… surely that one killed and devoured her."
Plenty clearly remembered.
That one had gone to Seoul with an army, saying they found the 13th Holy God.
And what they aimed for there was this woman who couldn't hear sounds.
At the same time, Plenty tilted his head, looking at Igeon.
'Come to think of it, this snake bastard was clearly an ordinary human…'
So he would have been killed by that one.
How did he awaken as a god?
But that wasn't important.
"Yes. Anyway, I'll give you this body. I can just create another body."
But at that moment, Hugo involuntarily shut his eyes tight.
CRACK!
Because Igeon's axe mercilessly struck the lord again.
At the same time, Hugo was afraid even to look at Igeon's face right now.
Along with that, Hugo realized.
'That face. It's unmistakable.'
His children seemed to vaguely think, 'Wow, a pretty person,' but Hugo came to a clear realization.
'That person is surely Yeonwoo.'
The person Igeon had been with before meeting him.
And although it's a guess, probably the person who influenced Igeon's awakening.
The relationship…
'Could it be a lover?'
Hugo tilted his head, but soon shook it.
That was something he could ask after catching that lord bastard.
What was important now wasn't that.
'He might really go to the third stage.'
If so, it was dangerous.
Of course, I didn't mean we shouldn't nurture the power.
Just as it was now, it was powerful enough to work on the lord.
The problem was that the power was too strong.
'Didn't he say that the reason Geon can remain fine even with two divine powers is because the two powers are equal?'
In other words, if one side grew, especially if the power of death unilaterally grew, even the owner of the power, Igeon, would be swallowed.
'Dangerous.'
Therefore, the stance was that if he wanted to grow it, he had to grow life as well.
On the other hand, someone was greatly delighted at this situation.
[Death shudders at the power manifested at 100%.]
[It cannot contain its excitement, saying that the master should become a god of calamity.]
[It says this sort of thing is of no help to the master at all! Hurry and kill this lord and offer him as tribute…]
But soon, Death, who had been speaking, let out a scream.
[It says killing is okay, but you must not swallow him as tribute.]
[It says it misspoke, so ignore it.]
Igeon grabbed the rampaging chew toy in the black smoke and threw it far away.
And just as he was about to examine the inside of the lord's body that had turned to mush.
Flash!
"Uncle!"
Everyone flinched in surprise and activated skills.
It couldn't be helped.
[Warning. Plenty, sensing the danger of death, scatters seeds of life.]
Plenty was an army that could create life of monsters.
CRACK!
Just as a mushroom scatters spores, Plenty had also scattered seeds when he entered this place.
Because if planted and then signaled, they could grow using humans as nutrients.
It was because he had received a request from another lord to create new life.
And at this moment when the life of Plenty, the master of those lives, was threatened.
Those seeds sprouted.
And it was Plenty's instinct to propagate offspring upon sensing a threat.
Thanks to that, monsters began to rise from all directions, tearing through the ground.
Their appearance was grotesque, like fungal spores.
[Become nourishment for the lord.]
[Dare to touch the parent's body.]
They were offspring.
But those offspring, receiving Plenty's authority, grew rapidly in an instant.
At that sight, Hugo and Gote hurriedly drew arrows.
Not far away, the shouts of the Snake Master, the Divine Bow Constellation, and other holy orders could be heard.
"Protect!"
"They are bastards who dare to invade human territory while pretending to be human!"
"Sweep them all away and offer them as tribute to the Holy God!"
At that, Gote shouted.
"We'll handle the left side, you take that side!"
As the Divine Bow Constellation stepped forward, the other constellations elsewhere ground their teeth.
"What can that pathetic last-place Divine Bow Constellation do!"
"That… Aaah!"
Gote grabbed the holy warriors and threw them at the monsters. At the same time, as Gote was about to draw his bow, Igeon stopped him.
"You can't kill those just like that."
"Huh?!"
Igeon threw the notebook that the scribe had handed him.
"This is…!"
"Commandments."
"!"
It was a notebook in which he had written the contents of the Commandments he had extracted from the generals.
"I'm not sure, but their souls have the lord's mark engraved, and when I interpreted it, various things came out. It's probably a kind of contract they made with their master."
Well, the definition didn't matter.
"What's important is that their weaknesses are written there."
"!"
In short, it was a strategy guide.
"It's not fully decoded, but I was able to decipher not only the dead ones but also their kin's skills and level information."
"Then…!"
Of course, for low-grade monsters, deciphering the contract doesn't yield much, but for general-grade ones it's different.
'Even those above Red Zone grade can be identified.'
"Anyway, I'll give you that, so figure out the epicenter and sweep it."
Perhaps with the Commandments, no, the strategy guide, even the unknown civilizations that the 12 Holy Gods couldn't conquer would become conquerable.
Gote immediately understood that meaning.
"If we do well, we could even handle lord-level beings!"
Then, the holy warriors of other constellations looked at him as if he were insane.
'A lord!'
'The Ophiuchus Constellation is still just a newborn!'
Was he saying he would boldly do what the other constellations couldn't?
But before they could be bewildered, Gote disappeared first.
And just as Hugo was about to follow.
"Aaaah! Seongjaeya!"
Hugo screamed, turning pale.
Cheon Seongjae, who had been attacking the monsters, was lying with his torso severed.
Of course, he wasn't injured or dead.
[Aaaah! What is this! Why did it suddenly pop out again!]
Cheon Seongjae had been dealing with the monsters when he messed up and his body was split apart.
At the moment his body was severed, Cheon Seongjae thought he was going to die, but lo and behold.
The moment his flesh was damaged, his soul separated.
It must be the power of the Life Saint.
A principle where he wouldn't die and could even attack enemies in soul state.
In fact, Cheon Seongjae's body immediately began to reassemble thanks to super regeneration.
Of course, his father who saw it live seemed too shocked to speak.
"Seongjae… Seongjae."
But his shock was short-lived; soon Hugo screamed.
"Dad! It's okay! I'm right here!"
"Ack!"
Hugo was startled. Because instead of Seongjae, the monster Igeon from 20 years ago appeared before him.
Soon the monster Igeon began using Cheon Seongjae's magic.
So Hugo wondered what was going on, but soon Cheon Seongjae screamed.
"What, this is Uncle's body!"
It was.
That was Cheon Seongjae inside the transformed slime.
On Igeon's orders, the slime had transformed into a highly reflective Igeon, and Cheon Seongjae had temporarily entered inside it.
While his body was being healed.
Thanks to that, Hugo shouted at Cheon Seongjae, who was sobbing inside Igeon's body saying he was screwed.
"Seongjae! If you go too far, how will you get back to your body!"
"No! I'll just live in this body forever!"
"What do you mean?!"
And it was at that moment.
"Move aside for a moment."
"Geon?"
Igeon seemed to have business with Cheon Seongjae's body that Hugo was holding.
And as if disgusted, he plucked something like a flea from Cheon Seongjae's neck.
[Gasp!]
"This thing really covets our power."
The flea Igeon plucked out was none other than the vanished lord of Plenty.
In the meantime, he had diverted attention with his subordinates and was trying to seize the body of the Life Saint as originally planned.
His scheme was to consume the saint's body and link it with his authority to recover.
Indeed, Igeon's regenerative power would combine with his own to become a very good power.
But.
[Tsk…!]
"If Plenty covets it that much, I'm rather curious too."
The zombie lord's spatial authority had become the power of death.
Then what about Plenty?
"Let's test it."
"G-Geon?"
Igeon threw the bug and unleashed his own ability.
[Gluttony (SSS)]
A tremendous flash of light surged up.
At the same time, a notification sounded.
[Experience increases.]
[You have obtained a new authority.]
[...]
[The stage of Death has risen.]
[Death speaks to you.]
(Continued in the next episode.)