Your divine status is revoked. Due to the risk, you are demoted from Holy God to Slave rank.
At that voice, the Master of Aries nearly screamed.
Cold sweat began to trickle down his back.
Because there was no way he didn’t know what those words meant.
‘Demotion to slave!’
Even the gods have ranks. There are Holy God rank treated like nobles, Vassal God rank treated like knights, Common God rank treated like commoners, and Slave God rank treated like the lowliest. And the Master of Aries, who knew full well how slave gods were treated, was seized with terror. It was a problem beyond simply being ignored. Being treated like an insect was the baseline, and he could neither claim nor possess any rights whatsoever. Most of all, he would end up in the torture realm called . It was said that the pain he would suffer then, and the pain to come, transcended imagination. Thus there were many among the demoted gods who took their own lives rather than go there. How much more so for a great Holy God treated like a noble to become a slave overnight! Of course, in this case, he wouldn’t be a personal slave of a Holy God but a public slave of the divine realm, but that didn’t mean better treatment.
‘Those picky bastards.’
At the very least, he could never dream of a life like now. On top of that, the ridicule and contempt of others! Absolutely unbearable.
Maybe that was why.
Finally, the Master of Aries leapt from his seat.
[Who would have expected a demotion like this!]
Panicked, he hurriedly tried to flee. The idea was that if he went somewhere beyond the divine realm’s reach, something might work out. But right then.
Thwack!
Someone grabbed the fleeing Master of Aries. And the Master of Aries was startled by the touch that seized him.
[You bastards!]
Because those holding him were none other than the Outer Gods he himself had hired. The shadowy Outer Gods held him as if to say, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Because of that, the Master of Aries could only bristle with rage.
[What are you doing! Let go of me! Don’t you understand the situation?!]
[It seems you’re the one who doesn’t understand the situation.]
[What?]
[You haven’t paid us, and you’re trying to run?]
The Master of Aries flared up in anger.
[I already paid you!]
[You only paid half. You said you’d give the rest once we dealt with Ophiuchus.]
[You know that and you’re doing this?! If you want the rest of the money, shouldn’t you be catching him, not me! Why are you causing this ruckus…!]
At that, the Outer Gods gave a chilling laugh.
[Isn’t it natural?]
[Taking your throne seems quicker than dealing with him.]
[……?!]
The hungry Outer Gods swarmed at Aries.
[You were a noble Holy God of the 12 Zodiac Palaces, so we let your past insults slide, but.]
[Demotion from such a precious body to slave. Now you’re just like us. No, worse than us.]
[Just catching and toying with you will raise our fame.]
[If our fame rises, we could even possess a .]
[With that, we could wield primal power, command underlings, and be ignored no more.]
The Outer Gods exuded strange magic and clung to Aries’ body. The wildly rough magic of the Outer Gods was quite powerful. Obsession, strong magic. The force they momentarily emanated was certainly enough to swallow a Holy God whole. Finally, it was the moment the Outer Gods were about to swallow Aries up.
Boom!
[……!!]
A tremendous force blew them away. At the same time, the Outer Gods who had withstood without being blown away turned their heads in surprise. There was Yigeon. And at the sinister magic Yigeon emanated, the Outer Gods broke into a cold sweat. Because the ominous power of was tightening around their necks.
And then.
[Want to die? How dare you touch my prey.]
At the voice of a god reaching them, the Outer Gods almost bowed their heads involuntarily.
‘Completely different from before.’
He’d thought him a formidable fellow before, but now that he had fully awakened as a god. And now that he had unleashed the power of , he was entirely different.
[ is greatly enjoying this.]
[ grows stronger with master’s mood.]
had always been one that responded to Yigeon’s rage and killing intent. And that power surged violently as it had with the General of Plenty before. The that had toddled about on newly-formed limbs now turned into a ferocious demon god, as if it had never toddled at all.
[ says let’s hurry and annihilate gods, humans, the earth, everything.]
The power of swelled in size as if to destroy the world. Merely touching that black light made everything disintegrate. Indeed, a nameless Outer God grazed by the black light vanished in an instant.
[Gah!]
Neither data nor material remained. Truly a power that, with a slip, could turn everything around and the world itself into nothingness. Even as that power was about to wound its master Yigeon’s body.
[ says stop this foolishness.]
[ got smacked once.]
[ snivels and shrinks in size.]
took it upon himself to check Death. Because in this world, the only one that can check is .
‘But if the level difference is even slight, he’ll instead be devoured by .’ If that happens, even for himself, it’s the end. He looked easygoing, but he was absolutely not one to underestimate. You might call him a wild beast that could bite its master at any time.
‘The higher the level, the harder to control.’
And around the time he felt two godheads busily fighting within his body.
[!]
Once the wounding stopped, Yigeon stood before the Outer Gods. As Yigeon drew right up to them, the collapsed Outer Gods froze. Is it that a Holy God-rank is still a Holy God-rank? An incomprehensible pressure was felt from his gleaming red eyes.
Maybe because of that.
The sweating Outer Gods stealthily pushed the captured Master of Aries toward Yigeon. As if sorry for touching Yigeon’s property, they carefully wiped his head and body before offering him up.
And seeing that, Yigeon furrowed his brow, then his eyes flashed.
“Scram right now if you don’t want to die.”
As if responding to those words, the Outer Gods vanished like smoke. Well, he could have caught them, but he didn’t feel like it.
‘No need to swallow filth.’
As the Master of the Scorching Seat said, the Outer Gods summoned by Aries were of poor quality and not good as retainers. Swallowing their authorities was even less recommended. To compare, it was like drinking spoiled milk left out all summer.
And what was more important than those small fry.
“It’s you, you bastard.”
No sooner did the words leave his mouth than a skill seized the fleeing Master of Aries.
[Gah!]
Yigeon glared menacingly at the Master of Aries.
“You’re going to become my slave and spill everything.”
[Ah, no!]
Finally, just as Yigeon was about to use and together.
[The master of has been demoted to a public slave of the divine realm.]
[The divine realm seizes all assets of .]
A voice came. It was a sound coming from a golden light floating above Aries’ head. And at that unfamiliar voice, Yigeon furrowed his brow. Even with his divine gaze, no particular information appeared, but from what it said, it must be an agent of the divine realm.
‘A divine realm bank, is it.’
But there was something more important than its identity. Seizure of assets? Public slave?
“Hey, wait. So that means I can’t designate this guy as my slave?”
The golden light looked at Yigeon. Despite having no eyes, a gaze was felt.
[Master of Ophiuchus, we meet for the first time. To conclude, it is possible to designate him as a slave, but the subject is a god bearing risk.]
It continued.
[Moreover, Aries originally generated its authority through , and there was a rule set at that time. And now that risk has activated, everything from Aries’ throne, authority, and vassal gods belongs to the divine realm. That is the punishment imposed on that one.]
Yigeon furrowed his brow. No, punishing is fine but that’s not acceptable.
“Then, conversely, if I buy this guy from you?”
The light seemed surprised. It couldn’t be helped.
[In that case, all assets and authorities of would transfer to the esteemed Serpent Bearer, but the debt is a staggering 599.7 billion Talents. Can you manage that?]
“If I can’t pay?”
[A third-party guarantor will bear the debt.]
Yigeon raised the corner of his mouth.
‘In short, a guarantor system.’
Soon, after checking something, Yigeon’s eyes flashed.
“Alright, then I’ll take this guy off your hands.”
At that, the Master of Aries was dumbfounded, and Yangwei, watching hidden, screamed. Goodness, when the gods are terrifyingly fighting, and he’s been brutally torn to shreds by his master and can barely move. He had just been observing the situation.
[Is that guy crazy?! Does he know how much 599.7 billion Talents is?]
The amount of Talents that the so-called richest ones had was around 100 billion. But what the hell! But upon seeing Yigeon, Yangwei could only doubt his own eyes. He couldn’t help it.
[Hey! You, that!]
That’s right. It was because of a certain piece of paper that Yigeon had taken out after summoning his inventory book. And that contract was definitely from the very beginning, right after Yigeon had returned. It was the soul contract he had torn from him after being killed by that guy.
‘That one he tried to make Hugo sign too…!’
Well, after some scuffle, Hugo tore it up, and he himself had been forced to sign it. Wasn’t it because of that thing that the Aries forces in Korea were expelled and he was humiliated? But why bring that up now!
But regardless, Yigeon fluttered the contract toward the golden light.
“This. I left it because I was too lazy, but according to this contract, I can set this guy as the guarantor. His signature is on it.”
[What, how come?! There was no such clause in the contract!]
“There is.”
Yangwei rushed over as if to say what nonsense, but soon couldn’t help but scream.
[What! This wasn’t here! When did it appear!]
“Just now.”
[What do you mean just now?!]
After inscribing a line on the contract with his crafting ability, Yigeon smiled at the golden light.
“The guarantor, can I set it to this guy?”
The light, looking at the signatures on the contract, fell silent, then for some reason answered thus.
[It’s not without issue, but what does it matter? In any case, it’s a risk from trying and failing to take Ophiuchus.]
[What do you mean risk?! Hey!]
At the same time, Yigeon’s lip curled up.
“Alright. Then I’ll buy the Aries Holy God from you.”
[We accept. The Holy God himself and the assets and authorities of Aries are transferred to the Serpent Bearer. A debt of 599.7 billion has been incurred by the Serpent Bearer. Henceforth, to the Serpent Bearer…]
At that, Yigeon smiled brightly.
“Sorry, I’m a beggar so I can’t pay. I mean, I have no intention of paying.”
[Understood. Then, according to the contract, we will transfer the debt to the guarantor.]
Naturally, as Yigeon’s debt came before Yangwei, the person himself screamed.
[Hey!!! What the!]
And along with that, an amazing thing happened.
[The Master of Aries has become a personal slave of .]
[The vassal gods, authorities, throne, and wealth belonging to Aries have been transferred to .]
[You can partially use the authorities of Aries.]
[, authority]
Yigeon smiled as if it was a success. Perhaps, since Aries caused trouble with his trickery, they’re allowing this much discretion. On the other hand, Yangwei, stuck bearing the Holy God’s sin, looked aggrieved.
[I’m a human, not a god! How can I bear a god’s debt…!]
[It is fine even if you are human. Until the debt is fully repaid, even after death you will be used as a slave in the divine realm.]
[Hey! How can that be!]
[The holy spirit ’s rank has been demoted to slave.]
[The bank respects the existing contract and has recorded affiliation under Ophiuchus.]
[Periodically, an agent will appear before Ophiuchus to collect the debt from .]
[A slave spirit has been created in Ophiuchus.]
Yigeon smiled. Well, he didn’t go through this process just for this.
‘Because I didn’t know Talents could be used so usefully.’ Moreover, he didn’t know there would be an entity like a bank with clear notarization. ‘Well, I’ve also gained the authority to bid, so Talents seem like they’ll be helpful in taking down the remaining ones and expanding my scale.’ But Talents didn’t seem easy to amass even for supreme gods. It was said that even obtaining 100 Talents wasn’t easy.
Maybe that was why.
Yigeon looked at the golden light.
“Of course, all debts have interest.”
[That is correct. The interest is 0.1% of the principal in Talents per year. However…]
“Don’t worry. I’ll pay that interest for him.”
Yangwei was enraged.
[You think I’ll be grateful for that?!]
“Instead, you give me 10% of the principal in Talents every year as slave fees. Well, I’m being generous, so split it half-half with your Holy God.”
[??!!]
This time, the Holy God of Aries was also shocked.
How can this happen?!