Something was in Igeon’s hand.
And when he opened his hand, Igeon’s eyes widened.
What he held was a small doll.
Of course, it was nothing more than a truly ordinary doll, but Hugo, who had been approaching Igeon, was startled.
Because the moment Igeon saw the doll, his expression became incredibly complicated.
It was an expression Hugo had never seen before.
He wasn’t shedding tears, but his eyes were unbearably sad.
That was why Hugo could not approach him. The atmosphere somehow warned him not to speak.
So, just as he was turning his head, deciding to quietly pretend he had seen nothing—
[Whoa, amazing. This is an incredible item!]
“??!!!”
Yang Wei approached Igeon with a beaming face.
And without a shred of tact, he hovered right beside Igeon.
[Amazing, this is a treasure of the Divine Realm! If you sell this in the Divine Realm, you could buy an entire layer of the Divine Realm! Bro, bro, where did you get this?]
“Argh!”
Hugo screamed.
That tactless pig Yang Wei, seriously!
Hugo urgently dashed over and grabbed Yang Wei.
“Geon-ah, it’s just nonsense, so don’t pay it any mind. Pull yourself together… Huh!”
Yang Wei was enraptured as he gazed at the doll.
[As expected! This is exactly like that Divine Realm treasure I saw!]
“!”
Hugo was alarmed.
No, he wondered how a guy who had lost his memories even knew such a thing, but he flinched at the words ‘treasure of the Divine Realm.’
He couldn’t help it.
The small doll Igeon was holding was clearly something Igeon had made at a single glance.
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize its crafting method and form.
‘Well, judging by its looks, it’s definitely a curse doll.’
In any case, it seemed to have no relation to the Divine Realm.
“Anyway, Geon-ah, about that ugly curse doll…”
“I made it for him long ago, saying it looked like Yeonwoo’s face.”
“Pffft!!”
Hugo choked on his breath.
At the same time, he glanced at Igeon’s reaction, flustered.
“Th-that’s right! When we were kids, making things that ugly was trendy! Yeah! It was! You made it well, man! Yeonwoo must have been happy!”
“…….”
Hugo broke out in a cold sweat, but Igeon himself simply gazed at the doll with a faraway look.
It was so ugly and even grotesque that no one could possibly imagine Igeon had made it.
But.
[Whoa, if a servant carried it in their bosom, they must have treasured it quite a bit.]
“!”
At Yang Wei’s words, Hugo’s eyes went round.
‘Right. That Yeonwoo was a servant.’
In truth, there was no way servants were ever permitted to own anything.
But even they had items they could keep in their bosom—things so precious they could not bear to lose them even in death.
That was why war heroes were buried with their medals, beloved steeds, or weapons in their bosom.
In any case, that was the kind of object this was.
‘It seems they treasured it that much.’
But perhaps for that very reason, Igeon appeared to be deeply distraught.
Because this was the first and last thing he had ever done for Yeonwoo.
“Back then I was too busy, so I never did anything for him.”
“Geon-ah.”
“If I had known he would like it, I would have made it better.”
“Geon-ah…”
Yet Igeon soon said it was fine and slipped the doll into his pocket.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”
Hugo fell silent.
‘There’s no way it’s nothing.’
It couldn’t be helped.
‘Geon probably already knows too. That Yeonwoo cannot be resurrected.’
He had been devoured by the monarch of ?.
Moreover, ? was an existence that even obliterated gods themselves.
And.
‘Wasn’t it said that resurrecting a soul that has already been extinguished is impossible for any god?’
That was why even the Blazing Lion God had spoken.
Even if the body dies, there are ways to seek a solution, but if the soul itself is extinguished, there truly is no way—so one must absolutely beware of monsters that kill souls.
That was not all.
‘They said finding the whereabouts of ? and ? is no easy task.’
? turns even the spaces they dwell in or any eyewitnesses into complete amnesiacs, and ? is a wanderer adrift through past and future.
Even Hailly had not found them easily.
So Igeon, too, would surely know in a corner of his heart.
‘Yeonwoo, whose soul has already been extinguished, cannot be recovered.’
But that was when.
Flash!
“!!”
The object he had thought of as a mere keepsake suddenly began to emit light.
[By the power of the new owner, the item sheds its old shell anew.]
The ugly doll’s outer husk peeled away, revealing a smooth glass doll within.
And the power it radiated was no small matter.
[The power of the original owner of the Snake Lord Seat, ?, has been applied.]
Yang Wei screamed, as if to say he knew it all along.
[See! It was definitely a treasure of the Divine Realm!]
Hugo kicked him, telling him to be quiet.
Because the issue was not the item that had changed its form.
“It’s shining!”
It was almost like dowsing.
Every time he moved the doll, it emitted light in a specific direction.
And.
[The souls of the followers who contracted with the original owner in the past, ?, are reacting.]
‘The original owner?’
[Right now, it is reacting to the soul of the one who carried the item for a long time.]
Yang Wei spoke up.
[Seems like it’s pointing out where the soul of that thought-form from earlier is?]
Hugo was astonished.
“What? Then you’re telling me that thing is tracking Yeonwoo right now?”
That wasn’t all.
‘The fact that it’s reacting means Yeonwoo’s soul is still safe!’
In truth, Igeon’s own followers hiding in his shadow also said this:
[Because she was the 13th Holy God of the previous generation, it seems she did not easily vanish away like a human.]
“What? The 13th Holy God? Yeonwoo?”
[I did not realize it was that lady, but the 13th Throne was originally notorious as a disaster god.]
“So in any case, she is alive?”
And perhaps Igeon, too, had realized that very fact.
Igeon’s eyes had completely transformed from how they were moments before.
Well, it wasn’t that he had looked like he was giving up earlier either, but the difference between when something is just a vague hope and when it is not was enormous.
In truth, Igeon, holding the doll, smiled.
“I will definitely wipe out those bastards.”
At that look in his eyes, Hugo’s eyes went round.
In all the time since he had known Igeon, had he ever witnessed such vitality in his friend’s eyes?
But that was when.
Rrrrrumble!
The ground suddenly began to quake.
“What! What is going on!”
At the same moment, Hugo was stunned.
The very floor they were standing on began to crumble away like sand.
Yang Wei screamed.
[Argh! If the floor collapses, we’ll fall all the way down there again!]
“What did you say?!”
In other words, after barely climbing up with great effort, they were about to plummet straight back into the Gomun Realm.
So just as they were wondering what was happening, a voice resounded from the sky.
[Warning. The permitted stay time for the Snake Lord Seat has expired.]
[We inform you once again. The permitted stay time for the Snake Lord Seat has expired.]
[Current location is the boundary layer between the Divine Realm and the Divine Realm. We announce your expulsion.]
At that solemn announcement, Hugo was completely taken aback.
“Stay time? What are you talking about!”
“Ah. What, it’s already over?”
“What do you mean, stay time!”
“Ah. It’s nothing. I bought it with Dallant to come find you.”
“What?!”
“Though, since it was the cheapest, the destination was this place that could not even be called the Divine Realm… but even after scraping together all my money, this was all I could buy, so it can’t be helped.”
But Yang Wei looked utterly dumbfounded.
[Divine Realm passage ticket? Are you insane? That’s incredibly rare! It must be unbelievably expensive!]
Even though he had lost all his memories, had any information involving money become engraved on his body like a physical sensation?
Hugo wore an apologetic expression.
“Sorry. Because of me, you even had to use up a god’s money. Dallant is truly hard to gather…”
“Forget it. Saving you was more important.”
“……!”
Hugo’s heart swelled, and he nearly shed tears.
Meeting Yeonwoo… had he become a little kinder after all?
‘The guy who always carried such venom, even his eyes have softened…!’
“Thank you, truly. It was my own mistake that got me trapped, yet you scraped together your entire fortune just to save one person like me…!”
At those words, Igeon looked at him like he was spouting utter nonsense and scoffed.
“My entire fortune? What are you saying. Obviously, I used the Divine Palace Seat’s entire fortune.”
“??!!”
“Why would I use my own money to save your ass?”
“…….”
All thoughts of him having turned kinder—utterly canceled.
And that was the moment.
“.”
Igeon, with one hand on his throne, raised a black stone, and a flash of light erupted.
[Using the Return Stone.]
[Return Stone (SS)]
- A sacred artifact of the Scorpio Seat. Travels to the location of the Scorpio Seat’s saint.
And that was when.
“!!”
Hugo saw another vision within that flash.
Doubtlessly, the throne was showing him something once more.
-Have all that crazy creator clan of creations been executed?
-No, the owner of the 13th Throne still remains!
It looked like an incredibly crucial scene.
And the vision that emerged was of the 13th Throne, and a man sitting upon it.
But when Hugo saw that man, he could not help but flinch.
‘He resembles Geon.’
Of course, it wasn’t that they looked alike in appearance. They did not look alike at all.
‘But the feeling of their magic power is remarkably similar. Almost like a descendant.’
But glimpsing the vision lasted only a moment.
[Leaving the location.]
“!”
Perhaps due to the dimensional shift, Hugo’s consciousness cut off.
And the place where that Hugo reappeared was none other than .
Bang!
As a powerful beam of light struck down at ?, both Hailly and Kevin were startled.
“Igeon!”
“Divine Palace!”
And as Hailly approached, Igeon smiled.
The place he had been to was a layer between the Gomun Realm and the Divine Realm.
It could not be called the Divine Realm, but for that very reason it was an even more dangerous place.
But.
“Hailly, thanks to you casting that skill on me, I arrived without getting caught by any small fry. I used the Return Stone well, too.”
At that smile, Hailly’s face flushed bright red and she hastily stepped away.
“Ah, a-anyway, I am glad you returned safely. So first, let us designate this land as the sanctuary of the Snake Lord Seat and…”
But that was when.
“Argh! Why is this guy like this!”
Kevin screamed. It was because of Yang Wei clinging onto him.
[Whoa, insane, this guy is totally loaded! His tie, his socks, even his underwear are luxury brands! If you just sold everything he’s wearing, you’d become a mega-millionaire!]
“Hey! Divine Palace! Why is he like this! Get him off me!”
The depressed Hugo looked at Kevin with pity.
“Ah… you’ll have to try to understand. He’s a bit sick right now.”
“Sick?!”
“Yeah. In the head.”
“What?! What do you mean— Argh! Let go! Don’t strip me!”
In the end, Kevin, who had been fuming thanks to Yang Wei whose sudden greed had taken a bizarre turn, pulled his stripped-off clothes back on and spoke.
“Anyway, whatever! Divine Palace, why have you looked like you’re about to die since earlier?”
“Why do you think. Because I’m thinking of doing mercenary work…”
“Mercenary??”
“What. You know, because Geon used up all the Divine Palace Seat’s Dallant to buy that passage ticket, or so they say. So even that Holy God is depressed right now. Probably whining again that he used up all his fortune…”
At those words, Hailly tilted her head.
“That is likely not the reason. The cost, Igeon put it as a debt to the White Sheep Seat’s Holy God.”
“?!”
Hugo shot daggers at Igeon, as if accusing him of deception.
But there was something more important.
“No, wait. Then why is our Holy God depressed?”
At that, Igeon let out a snort.
“Having his saint stolen from him, isn’t it only reasonable he’d be depressed?”
“Ah, his saint was stolen… what? What nonsense are you spouting now?”
At that reaction, Kevin looked utterly dumbfounded.
“What. Divine Palace. You’re telling me you still haven’t caught on?”
“C-caught on to what?”
Igeon raised the corner of his mouth and cut in.
“Hey. What do you think is the name of the skill that pulled you out of Tartarus?”
“What? I wouldn’t know. What is it?”
“A Holy God-exclusive skill, .”
Hugo was taken aback.
That skill was a skill that allowed a Holy God to summon their saint before them, no matter where on earth the saint was.
But.
“Huh, what’s gotten into our stingy Holy God? That thing consumes a huge amount of throne energy, so he normally never uses it because he thinks it’s a waste.”
“Well. This time, it wasn’t that he didn’t use it. He couldn’t use it.”
“What?”
“In the first place, if your Holy God was going to use that skill, why would I have even gone there?”
Hugo fell silent.
The ominous feeling had seemingly become reality.
And as expected.
“Congratulations on becoming the Snake Lord Seat.”
“……???!!”
The now-frozen Hugo screamed.
“What are you talking about!”
“What do you mean. They say the only skill that could save you there was called ?, but you, sir, had only a 50% faith level in the Divine Palace Seat.”
“!!”
“The standard for a saint is 90% or higher, but you were far too short, so skill activation was impossible. So the Blazing Lion Lord asked me. He said he was fine with it even if you transferred to the Snake Lord Seat, just please pull you out with that skill. Because the only one who could meet the faith condition was the Snake Lord Seat.”
Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold.
“Well, your faith in me was overflowing and spilling over, so I didn't even strictly need to designate you as a saint, but anyway, you are now the Snake Lord Seat. My formal… subordinate.”
“Wow, so his faith is 90%?”
“Hey! Are you joking? There’s no way I would…”
However, as something suddenly dawned on Hugo, he froze.
And.
“Hey! Don’t be ridiculous! No matter how you slice it, I’m a saint of a divine seat, there’s no way I would get transferred over so absurdly…!”
But at that moment, a call came to Hugo.
It was Gote.
-Lord!! You finally answered! Just now, they told me I automatically became a saint—what does this mean?! Did something happen to you?!
“??!!”
Hugo urgently tried to activate the Divine Palace Seat emblem, but it would not work.
[Believers of the Snake Lord Seat cannot use the Divine Palace Seat emblem.]
“Argh!!”
Because of this, Igeon burst out laughing at the panicking Hugo.
“Don’t worry. I’m not that bad of a guy either.”
“Th-then…!”
“If your faith in the Divine Palace Seat ever rises higher than your faith in the Snake Lord Seat, at that time I’ll restore you to your original state.”
Hugo let out a sound like a monster.
And as Hugo turned away, Kevin asked him,
“What, Divine Palace. They say Igeon has a story to tell from here on. Where are you going?”
“Down with the Snake Lord Seat! I’m off to lower my faith!”
(Continued in the next episode)