It was a light akin to a ray.
The light that soared cleanly pierced through the Abyss's head in a single stroke.
At the same time, a savage roar shook heaven and earth.
[Kheo-eok!]
It was a scream as if spitting blood.
And at that cry, all the Holy City members plugged their ears in horror.
A truly agonizing howl they felt they would never hear again.
The monsters howled at their master's pain-filled roar.
[Our lord!]
Finally, the Abyss, its head pierced by Hugo's arrow, fell into the sea while writhing.
It was something that happened in an instant.
Literally a fleeting moment.
It had occurred in less than a second while it lingered in the void.
"What's going on?!"
"An arrow! He pierced its head with an arrow!"
"The temple!"
Those with keen eyes or detection abilities cried out in shock.
But that was why people could not help but be astonished.
Because they realized where Hugo had aimed.
"The temple—don't tell me you mean that tiny gap?"
Its entire body was encased in iron armor.
It was so hard that it could even break weapons from the genius forge.
But every monster has a weakness, and this one was no different.
Though its entire body was clad in iron armor, there were a few spots.
Places that the armor did not cover.
That was precisely the gaps between the seams of the armor.
And Igeon, along with the Holy City members, had identified that place as the enemy's weak point.
However, that gap was extremely small, about the size of a finger joint.
Like the eye of a needle, figuratively speaking.
And on top of the size, the opponent was moving at considerable speed.
Hugo could hear Igeon's voice thanks to his sharp hearing, but in truth, the distance between the Abyss and Hugo was hundreds of meters.
It was a spot absolutely impossible to target.
And yet!
[Master!]
[Kheok! You mongrels…!]
Without a hint of deviation, with not even a millimeter of error, it struck the target.
As it gnashed its teeth and fell into the sea, a ferocious cheer erupted.
"Woaaaaah!"
"It hit!"
"Divine Archer!!!"
Gote grabbed his face at Hugo's feat.
Because no matter how visible the target was, seeing it and actually shooting it accurately were entirely different matters.
A target that size—even he might have missed, yet Hugo did it in one shot!
'As expected of the Holy Lord!'
Gote wept inwardly, thinking that although he'd been overshadowed by Lord Igeon's recent exploits, his class had never waned.
'Holy Lord! I am sorry for briefly getting drunk on Lord Igeon's bow and praising him.'
Of course, Cheon Seongjae, who was watching, pouted.
"Why get surprised at that? I catch fruit flies way smaller than that with a toothpick when eating."
Well, whatever, it was fine.
Hugo, who had actually fired the EX-grade bow, was experiencing shaking pupils.
He simply couldn't help it.
'What the—did I just pierce a monarch's flesh with this thing?'
Honestly, Igeon had told him to shoot, so he'd taken the position and shot, that was all.
He hadn't dreamed it would actually pierce.
Of course, the spot was one that the peerless Igeon had directed him to hit.
Naturally, it must have been a place where an attack would work, but still!
'The toughness should be on a whole different level from regular monsters...!!'
Perhaps Abundance had been weak because it had entered a human body to infiltrate the dome.
But wasn't this bastard different!
In fact, the monsters that had accompanied the Abyss wore expressions of pure disbelief.
[What is that weapon?!]
[How dare you strike our lord's sacred body with an insignificant weapon!]
But Igeon merely grinned.
'It's a sight to see the results of grinding up a holy spirit.'
The relationship between monarchs and holy spirits was akin to a food chain, which was why things had gone that way.
Holy spirits were powerful.
And since he'd wholeheartedly ground up its spawn and fashioned them into an offensive weapon, there was no way it would be weak.
'It's packed full of the fish holy spirit's extract.'
Furthermore.
"Taek-su. That's not what you should be amazed by right now."
"!"
It was just when Hugo was about to think what kind of nonsense that was again.
[The Saint of Mountains and Rivers has gained immense experience points.]
[The Saint of Mountains and Rivers offers a portion of experience points to the Snake Lord Seat.]
[The Snake Lord Seat's experience points have accumulated greatly.]
[The level of [ ] has risen dramatically.]
[lv. 5]
[Upon reaching level 20, grade promotion [Hero ▶ Vassal God (Low-grade)]]
"Aagh! What the hell is this!"
At that scream, Igeon's lips curled up.
After all, when looking at the grade chart, saint-class beings already showed signs of being promoted to vassal gods.
And that bastard's vital point was nothing difficult.
'It was in the [ ] I got from Abundance.'
[ ], the Unknown Civilization Bible.
The rules about those bastards and the source of their power were written there, so he had been able to learn their details.
That's why within the Commandment of Abundance—which Igeon called the [ ]—there was a single line about the Abyss.
Having been in charge of the [ ] of various factions as a [ ], it contained many such stories.
For instance: [Do not go near a sea beast's eyes, shoulders, or jaw.]
That sort of thing.
And since he had handled [ ] by referencing that commandment before, he thought it would surely be effective this time.
Well, that wasn't important now.
"Seongjae!"
Cheon Seongjae, hearing the call, immediately flashed his eyes.
He hurled the net made from his skill into the sea.
Bang! Bang!
First, the green-glowing chains entered the sea.
Rumble!
As the chains split, a gigantic net appeared in the sea.
And that net instantly enveloped the Abyss.
At the same time, as the giant net wrapped around the Abyss was pulled up—
[You insolent, brainless fools!]
Unable to bear it, it imbued the net with its own power.
[Pain ]
Crunch!!
Along with that, the Abyss was forced to feel a horrifying pain in its temple.
[A mere human...!!]
Of course, this sort of pain was not exactly unbearable.
'You cunning bastard.'
It hurt enough to be deeply aggravating. And this power undoubtedly belonged to the 13th holy spirit, the Snake Lord.
So the Abyss could do nothing but gnash its teeth.
'The 13th. I was intrigued because that [ ] bastard put so much effort into this one.'
That's right. It was a sly bastard who never acted at a loss and only moved for gain.
He had come intending to snatch away the holy spirit that such a bastard cherished, but what was this?
'It was just an outrageously insolent snake brat.'
Finally, the enraged Abyss flashed its eyes.
[The Abyss renews its life.]
[It summons scattered parts of itself from the world.]
[It recovers a fraction of its power with the gathered strength.]
[ ] lived not only in the physical ocean but also in various abysses: dimensional seas, otherworldly seas, seas of the mind.
And the [ ] drifting through Earth's waters was one of them.
It was a method of swimming between different abysses, storing power, and sending it to each other when needed.
Thanks to that, it could replenish its power as a temporary measure even now.
As expected.
[The Abyss attempts to use an Authority by consuming this energy.]
Then a jet-black strait slowly emerged from the sea!
Just when the black water was about to engulf the humans like ink spreading—
Splash!
[!]
With a splash, Hugo plunged into the water.
Other Holy City members followed suit one after another.
Perhaps it was because his bow had been made by grinding a holy spirit.
[Sea Defiance]
Thanks to the basic skill embedded in the bow, he could move easily underwater.
And the sight of humans bearing bows and harpoon-like spears was truly that of whale hunters.
At this, the monsters, too, seemed to laugh at the enraged Abyss.
[Those fearless human bastards!]
The Abyss immediately twisted its body.
The net made of [ ] shook violently.
"Crack!"
Cheon Seongjae, who was holding the net atop Drakma, strained himself.
He had increased his physical stats through training with the vassal gods, but his strength stat was still lacking against this colossal beast.
'Damn it, I need to raise my life level further!'
[ ] was literally living energy. When the level of [ ] went up, stamina, energy, and strength increased.
It applied to holy spirits as well as to holy city members and vassals.
In any case, they had barely managed to hold the net for only a moment.
Rumble!
The furious Abyss whipped up a powerful current.
Thanks to that, the net snapped, and the Holy City members who had entered the water were swept away.
Hugo was no different.
As the humans were carried away by the current like paper dolls in an instant, the Abyss laughed sharply.
[How dare...]
But just then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
[Gwaaagh!!]
Flashing lasers shot from the sea toward the Abyss.
Bang!!
It was Hugo.
Though he seemed to be swept away by the current, Hugo had already read the flow and launched a strike at the Abyss.
Thud!!!
That wasn't all.
Invisible arrows flew and mercilessly aimed at the Abyss's vital points.
Bang! Bang!
The startled minions tried to rush at Hugo.
[The Snake Lord Seat draws upon its maximum power.]
[Shifts the state of [ ] to maximum output.]
[[ ] willingly lends its trait.]
[ ]
[Though [ ] was a power that life would favor, since it is a power that can grow [ ], it is specially granted.]
[It declares it will cause the Snake Lord to descend as the god of [ ].]
[The power of [ ] and this resonate.]
A light on an entirely different level from before gathered in the bow.
And its magnitude was enough to swallow the entire sea!
Finally, the force that exceeded its critical point was fired from the ocean.
Bang!!!
A sound that shook heaven and earth rang out.
The surging colossal energy extinguished the monsters in the sea in an instant and pierced into the Abyss.
And then an astonishing thing happened.
[Decomposing the body of [ ].]
[Shattering the shell of [ ] into fragments.]
As its body was pulverized, the Abyss screamed.
It was a bloodcurdling power.
Of course, it was not something possible solely because of the holy spirit's power.
The bodies of the monarchs were not that simple.
Their hardness differed from that of holy spirits; they were so hard that they could contain not only external attacks but even the power they themselves emitted.
A truly perfect body.
And the culprit that made this body crack was not the holy spirits' mana, but...
'The weapon...!'
That weapon, crafted by grinding a holy spirit, was the problem.
'That bastard's weapon is dangerous.'
By further upgrading the holy spirit's power, he had created an armament from an entirely different dimension.
And its destructive force could obliterate not only holy spirits, but even the monarchs themselves.
A weapon to annihilate all divine existences.
'That bastard is not a simple crafter.'
It wasn't just weapons.
Every item that bastard made could potentially alter the order of a world, no, even an entire universe.
At the same time, a tremendous light surged from the sea.
[Successfully dealt with a part of [ ].]
[Obtained a part of the Authority of [ ].]
[ ]
[It is an Authority that can grow Death.]
[The level of [ ] has risen.]
[LV.3]
[[ ] cheers enthusiastically.]
[It says this becomes experience for Death too.]
[It says to throw this bastard into the furnace and ascend as a god of death.]
But just then.
When it was about to sink into the deep sea.
A hand shot out from within the black water that the Abyss had released.
And that hand quickly tried to snatch [ ] away.
It was attempting to steal the body of [ ].
But right at that moment.
Thud!!!
With a deafening noise, the hand flinched.
Had Igeon anticipated this and entrusted the subjugation to Hugo?
[How dare you try to steal my prey!]
Igeon, who had dived into the sea, kicked [ ].
And thanks to the combined effect of the shoe relic and the buoyancy skill, the corpse instantly shot up to the surface.
Bang!
At the same time, the Holy City members screamed at the giant body flung into the sky.
"Aagh!! It's falling!"
Thud!!!
Soon after sending his prey up to the surface, Igeon quickly looked toward where the hand had emerged.
The hand had already vanished.
Having confirmed that, Igeon rose to the surface with a bull slung over his shoulder.
"Uncle!"
"Yeah."
At the same time, Igeon saw the trembling Holy City members of the Bull Seat.
Their gazes were fixed on the bull Igeon was carrying on his shoulder.
"Ah."
Igeon, having confirmed them, raised the corners of his mouth.
"Come to think of it, your leader's already gone, right?"
"!!"
"If we merge them into one, there'll be no reason for the God Seats to fight each other. I was planning to merge all the God Seats anyway."
"……!"
At those words, the bulls stirred.
What? Merger?
A merger of the 12 God Seats??
They looked shocked at something they'd never even imagined.
But amid their stirring, Igeon spoke.
"Enough, just answer."
"!"
Igeon's red eyes flashed as he said,
"Do you prefer the Bull, or the Snake?"
(Continues in the next episode)