It happened in an instant.
As Lee Geon grabbed the Bull and leaped off, there wasn’t a shred of hesitation.
Far from hesitating, he was more worried the Bull might let go of him. So he tightened his grip on the Bull’s arm and dove straight in!
Splash!
At the sight, everyone on the Drakma couldn’t help but be horrified.
“Ack! Lee Geon and Ivan fell into the sea!”
“Are they insane? If you fall into this bath, you’ll be boiled alive!”
“More importantly, the monsters are still alive!”
The Fairy King, held captive by Cheon Seong-jae, was just as startled.
Well, the original plan had been to help the Taurus and make Lee Geon fall in, but who would have guessed he’d jump into the sea himself?
Because of that, Cheon Seong-jae and Hugo, who were watching the scene unfold in real time, couldn’t help but be terrified.
“Geon!!”
“Uncle!”
At a glance, it looked like the Bull had dragged Lee Geon down with him, but it was completely different!
“That crazy bastard really!!”
Does he think he’s Nongae or something?!
There was no doubt.
Lee Geon had deliberately fallen in with the Bull.
The Bull, the symbol of the Iron Fortress, was the strongest shield of the Twelve Zodiacs and a powerhouse of brute strength.
So no matter how strong Lee Geon was, he shouldn’t have been able to shake off the Taurus’s power!
But even so!
‘Jumping in now is suicide!’
The prickling demonic energy flowing through the sea told him.
‘Something above Black Zone level is approaching.’
He didn’t fully understand the Monarch yet, but its presence was definitely similar to Plutus’s from a few days ago.
Of course, back then, Plutus had been inside a human body. It was to infiltrate the Dome, which only allowed humans and gods entry.
So his abilities were somewhat halved, and strictly speaking, the similarity was more in aura than actual power.
Anyway, the monster inside that sea was far stronger than Plutus!
‘He’s gone crazy for death!’
There was no doubt. They would be devoured by the monster that ruled the sea.
And as if reading that thought, the Lord of Scorch spoke.
[This mouth pouts]
[The Serpent Lord pouts, asking if you didn't even consider he might die in the boiling sea, not just from the monster.]
It seemed they wanted to show off their power, but Hugo completely ignored them.
‘As if that guy would turn into snake soup just from being thrown into boiling water.’
If he was the type to be cooked by a measly sun, he would have been cooked long ago.
Because of that, Hugo urgently tried to dispel his skill and jump into the sea.
After all, the fact that Lee Geon, held by the Bull, was at a disadvantage hadn't changed.
But.
Bang!
“!”
The Bull’s followers and vassal gods blocked Hugo’s way.
They also blocked Cheon Seong-jae and Gote, who were trying to jump into the sea.
“Stop Lee Geon’s subordinates!”
“The Constellation deliberately threw Lee Geon into the sea!”
[Complete the mission!]
[The Master will handle Lee Geon himself!]
Blocked, Hugo ground his teeth.
‘And the sea is already dangerous enough as it is.’
At the same time, enemies rushed in.
They had been generously lent the skills of the Pisces Constellation.
And sure enough.
The emboldened enemies activated their skills.
[The Sagittarius has no chance of winning near water!]
[Eliminate them!]
“The Lee Geons too! And the Ophiuchus Constellation’s followers! Bring them all under our banner!”
“Sagittarius, be grateful that the great Bull is making you his subordinate!”
They chose to absorb the Ophiuchus group into the Taurus.
‘From here on, it’s a fight for shares!’
A newborn constellation like that—it was more profitable to bring them to ruin and make them vassal constellations before public opinion turned against them.
Moreover, a constellation like Ophiuchus promised tremendous growth.
Because of that, some high-ranking followers’ eyes glinted.
“Don’t let them escape!”
“Use this chance to make them all subordinates of Taurus!”
“Capture or eliminate any Sagittarius followers who interfere!”
At this, the infuriated Hugo pulled out .
“You bastards, who do you think you’re dealing with, some pushover?”
Worrying about Lee Geon, Hugo’s eyes flashed.
‘Geon, just wait a bit.’
He would soon go and rescue his Constellation.
Hugo drew back the bowstring of his new bow.
* * *
And it was then.
Just when everyone was predicting the Bull’s victory.
The Taurus himself was actually bewildered.
‘This bastard.’
Like a snake that had caught its prey, Lee Geon wouldn’t let go of the Taurus.
No, far from letting go, he kept coiling tighter, gripping the Taurus even more fiercely.
That’s why he was bewildered.
He couldn’t help it.
‘This crazy bastard knows what state the sea is in and he still jumps in!’
Of course, the boiling water wasn’t scary.
The Taurus wasn’t called the Constellation of the Iron Fortress for nothing.
‘I can endure this much.’
With a god’s body, he could hold his breath far longer than a human.
And the truly frightening thing was something else.
Rumble!
‘That thing is here.’
The oppressive aura was right before them.
That creature which had roamed the seas of the Divine Realm in the past, devouring gods who ventured out.
That predator from the abyss which had even invaded the mental worlds of gods and devoured higher gods!
Because of that, the Bull urgently tried to rise to the surface.
In the sea ruled by the Monarch, skills didn’t work, so he had no choice.
But.
[Keuk!]
As if asking where he thought he was going, Lee Geon clung to the Bull’s neck.
When he turned his head, there was Lee Geon, his red eyes flashing.
Finally, the Bull, strangled, cried out.
[You crazy bastard, really! Let go!]
It was a divine Word of Power, conveying speech directly to the mind. So they could converse even underwater.
But.
[Fuck off, you bastard! Who told you to grab me? If you’ve caught me once, you stick with me to the end! Where do you think you’re running off to!]
This crazy bastard, for real!
Feeling the aura closing in, the Bull urgently shouted.
[Can’t you feel this aura?! At this rate, we’ll both just become food for that thing!]
This time, the Word of Power was slightly different from before.
[‘Persuasion’ is imbued in a divine Word of Power]
Because gods could infuse their power into their divine words, they could overwhelm enemies with speech alone.
Simply put, the structure allowed them to persuade an enemy by imbuing their voice with the will to persuade, or make someone fall for them by imbuing it with love.
But what good did that do?
[Keuk!!]
As if telling him to stop spouting nonsense, Lee Geon coiled around him even tighter like a sea serpent.
The Bull, his throat constricted, was bewildered by this.
‘Divine Words… aren’t working at all…!’
This meant that Lee Geon’s Divine Might (God’s Level) was not something to be taken lightly.
So the Bull’s eyes flashed.
‘No choice.’
It would consume a massive amount of Constellation energy, but he had no other option now.
[Begone!]
What the Bull imbued his divine words with this time was !
A prickling sensation attacked Lee Geon’s mind.
As the strength drained from Lee Geon’s hands, the Bull sneered.
[Now it’s over… Keuk!!!]
[Over my ass!]
As if repulsed, Lee Geon clung on, even using his legs this time.
His figure was just like a koala!
As if he had been a water ghost in his past life, Lee Geon relentlessly dragged the Bull down to the seabed.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, the Bull decided he would have to wrestle Lee Geon with strength—the very moment!
‘……!!!’
The Bull’s face froze pale white.
Because a massive shadow had fallen beneath the two Constellations.
Its form was like a gigantic whale gliding through the sea.
But it was completely different from an ordinary whale.
Its size was on another dimension entirely.
The part of its head that was briefly visible was the size of an island.
What’s more, its length seemed long enough to fill the deep sea, and its tail was the tail of an octopus.
Its snout was full of teeth like a shark, and its fins were sharp, like iron manes.
And that thing was unmistakably the Monarch!
At the monster’s appearance, Lee Geon raised the corner of his mouth as if he had been waiting.
[Good thing I didn’t heal and kept reeking of blood, just as planned.]
The Bull’s face hardened.
This bastard.
So that’s why he deliberately hadn’t used Super Regeneration!
And at that moment, the Monarch’s tremendous assault followed.
Boom! Crash!
Upon discovering prey, the Monarch and its minions began swarming madly.
[Become food!]
Terrified, the Bull urgently unleashed his demonic energy. Then, a brown flash of lightning streaked through the sea!
It was essentially broadcasting their exact location to the Monarch, but this was no time to worry about such things.
‘I have to use Lee Geon as bait and escape!’
And a skill was activated!
[Charge (SSS)]
Kwa-gwang!!
A tremendous roar echoed through the sea.
Simultaneously, an impact like a mountain crashing down slammed into Lee Geon’s body.
[Warning. The Bull’s rugged strength is destroying the Serpent Lord’s physical body.]
The shockwave alone shook the sea and altered the currents. A human would have already been torn to shreds.
‘For a blood-clot snake, he’s quite something, but.’
Confirming Lee Geon was falling towards the Monarch, the Bull frantically swam towards the surface.
‘For now, escaping this place is the priority.’
But it was then.
“……!!!”
The Bull, who had been heading for the surface, felt chills run down his spine.
It was as if an invisible, horrifying hand was about to grab his leg.
But he couldn’t turn his head to check.
Even turning his head gave him goosebumps.
And sure enough.
[Keuk!]
Crunch!!!
A massive body coiled around the Bull.
[Grk! You…!]
Unable to finish his sentence, the Bull was dragged back down beneath the sea.
[Keuk!]
The speed was tremendous.
And the Bull, who had been about to use his strength again, nearly stopped breathing for a moment.
He couldn’t help it.
‘That thing.’
A snake’s glare, flashing from the deep sea.
Even though it was too dark to see anything but a silhouette, its writhing form was unmistakably a giant serpent!
‘The Calamity God!’
And that was undoubtedly the Dragon Body, the great true form of the gods.
That’s why it was so horrifying.
Because the snake they had hunted down and killed 24 years ago was right there.
‘The snake that reincarnated this time—we definitely found it back then, and the Monarch killed it.’
In truth, the 13th God had been hunted down by the gods long ago.
Out of fear of its power.
And to cover up a certain truth.
Then, 24 years ago.
This time too, they had tracked it down and wiped it out.
Of course, loathing even contact with that power, they had pushed the task onto the Monarch, the natural enemy of the gods.
Anyway, even seeing Lee Geon’s power, they had thought there was no way, absolutely no way, until now.
He must have been exposed to the power and gained a portion of the Calamity God’s strength. It must just be something similar.
They thought that.
Well, still, it was bad luck, so they agreed to kill him in the Demon’s Tower.
Sure, that Scorch bastard grumbled, insisting it absolutely wasn’t him, asking if there was really a need to kill him.
‘What do you mean it’s not? It is, isn’t it!’
The Bull ground his teeth.
Now that he thought about it, didn’t that Scorch bastard also fail to put a proper curse on that guy in the Demon’s Tower?
‘We’re all accomplices in killing the Serpent God just the same.’
Whether he got scared in advance and entered his domain as a subordinate, he didn’t know, but it was despicable.
But that raised a question.
‘Then who the hell was that woman we killed back then?’
Well, it didn’t matter right now.
[Serpent Snare]
[Keuk!!]
The Bull vomited blood.
The serpent’s body that had coiled around him turned into chains, and the giant serpentine form reverted back into Lee Geon.
And.
[Hahaha! Let’s become monster chow together, you bastard!]
Lee Geon pulled the Bull with the Serpent Snare skill.
A monstrous strength, incomparable to before, erupted.
He wondered how this could be possible.
[ trait is manifesting]
[Combat power increases as pain is felt]
[Pleasure increases]
[Awakening effect obtained]
[Endorphins are rising]
[Effect of Stage 2 has caused the related trait to evolve (Masochism lv.2)]
[Pain is proof of life. Greater vitality and energy obtained]
[Masochism lv.1]
- When feeling pain: physical ability increase, vitality increase, awakening effect, sensory enhancement
▶
[Masochism lv.2]
- When feeling pain: physical ability increase, vitality increase, awakening effect, sensory enhancement
- As wounds and pain increase, vitality and combat power double per instance
- Energy gained in proportion to pain increases
At the energy blazing from Lee Geon’s body, the Bull felt his body chill.
It wasn’t just the energy.
It was because of Lee Geon’s expression, with his flashing red eyes.
Grinning eerily, it was like a ghost!
Unknowingly, the Bull felt terror.
‘This crazy…!’
Not using Super Regeneration was partly for luring him, but surely, it was for this moment.
And that very moment arrived.
[Precious Constellations, two gathered together!]
The Monarch rushed at them with joy.
Its gaping maw was a bonus.
And in the midst of it, Lee Geon literally dragged the Bull and charged straight into the Monarch’s mouth!
The swimming speed was incredible.
Because of this, the Bull couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
Where in the world was there such a madman, willingly charging into a monster’s mouth to be eaten?!
So the Bull frantically used a defensive skill and cried out.
[It’s useless! Did you forget I am the Constellation of Defense?! I won’t die easily anywa…]
[Yeah, let’s see who wins, your defense or my regeneration, you bastard!]
At last, the abyss loomed before them.
And Lee Geon threw the Bull right into the maw of the abyss.
(Continued in the next episode)