The Virgo Star God seemed greatly flustered.
And no wonder—first, she had never imagined Kevin would notice her old appearance.
And second, right at this moment, Kevin was truly radiating killing intent toward her.
And not just as a mere threat.
‘He really intends to kill me.’
There are two ways to kill a god.
One is the brute-force method, like Eegeon, ripping out their core.
But that method is not something a feeble human can use.
However, the other method—
The second method allows even a human to kill a Star God.
And that method is to destroy the bible containing the god’s origin.
As expected.
Kevin grinned.
“Since you lot wiped out the scribes, you know the bible is now managed by a saint, right?”
“……!”
The Master of the Full Moon flinched.
In truth, gods are beings who can only exist so long as they have worshippers and devotees.
If forgotten, they lose all influence.
Take figures like Buddha or Jesus—if no one continued to remember and preserve their legacy for future generations, they would eventually be forgotten.
And once forgotten, a god loses power.
Thus, the Star Gods possess a bible recording their origins and achievements.
They leave behind written records so that their existence does not fade—so they are not forgotten.
Long ago, a system was created by someone for the pitiful lower gods who vanished without a trace, lacking even worshipping followers.
And that system, leaving their hands, evolved and evolved to reach its present state.
At any rate, now.
If Kevin were to destroy that bible—
“The very existence of the Virgo Star God would vanish. And furthermore, all the achievements, honor, and followers Virgo has accumulated to date.”
At that chilling threat, a goddess sprang out from Kevin’s shadow, brandishing a sword.
[Kevin! How dare you utter such insolence…!]
“Don’t move. I’ll really erase it.”
[!]
“If you understand, crawl back quietly. You might not have seen it, but the humans under the Serpent Bearer clearly witnessed everything.”
[……!!]
“The Unknown Civilization took our humanity and Eegeon’s family. And these bastards, for their own growth, joined hands with the Unknown Civilization to usurp even the seat of the original master. After seeing that, shouldn’t you be grateful that your faith hasn’t completely bottomed out?”
[……?!]
The subordinate gods, flustered, looked toward the place where the Master of the Full Moon’s power could be felt.
They were asking if it was true.
“Now, speak. You’re the one who killed the 13th, aren’t you?”
[Kevin, our master would never…!]
[No, enough.]
[Master!]
The Master of the Full Moon sighed. She never imagined her own star map would be exposed to this extent.
[You are all confused too, aren’t you?]
[Not at all. We, we are…!]
[What’s the point of pretending? Your faith has already fallen. All those under the mountain witnessed that apparition.]
[……!!!]
The gods hiding within the shadows trembled and swallowed nervously.
Soon, the Master of the Full Moon answered.
[That’s right. We killed the original masters.]
[Master!!]
[But I swear, we never brought the overlords to Earth.]
“Is that so?”
[At least, I didn’t.]
“You?”
[Because the first to arrive on this land were the two Magic God Thrones.]
“!”
Meaning the Twin Ram and Twin Fish.
[And though recruiting the star maps was one objective, I came here because I had something to confirm.]
“Something to confirm?”
[It was I who reincarnated the lover of the 13th Star God, Eegeon, the one called the Calamity God.]
[What?!]
“What?!!”
The goddesses and Kevin all jolted in shock.
[You were the one who smuggled that person away, Master?!]
“Crazy, Eegeon really had a lover?!”
Their points of surprise differed, but it didn’t matter.
[Why would you do something so dangerous…!]
“Eegeon, this traitor… I thought he was a forever-alone comrade…!”
[If the Magic Gods learn of this, they won’t leave you alone, Master!]
“Pretending he didn’t have one while he did—they definitely won’t leave him alone.”
[Kevin!!]
The followers understood.
The most troublesome among the twelve Zodiac Star Gods were the Magic Star Gods.
In particular, they were twin gods, each possessing two thrones. They built the God Throne system and transformed Earth.
Moreover, they were beings who could steal even the magic of the divine realm and brazenly wield forbidden arts.
Haven’t they pressured the other Star Gods with that?
[Wasn’t it ultimately them who even stole the power of that mighty 13th Star God and drove him to death?]
[There’s no guarantee the Master will remain safe either…!]
Yet the followers could not continue.
Because they too understood.
‘If our master is a usurper, then perhaps to silence him, she killed the former 13th Star God…’
‘But then why reincarnate…?’
And as if reading their curiosity, Kevin asked.
“Just before Eegeon, was it you who killed the previous Star God, the 13th?”
But the Virgo Star God seemed lost in thought.
In truth, the Star God that Kevin’s group saw within the memories of the throne was the Master of Yeonu. The one said to carry an aura similar to Eegeon.
And Yeonu is the temporary Serpent Bearer Star God who inherited the position of that original master.
Though a temporary seat, she managed the God Throne well, carrying on her master’s will.
But she was attacked while she was away on an outing with a few others, including the Master of the Scorching Heat.
The reason was unknown.
Only—
[The snake god seeks to destroy the divine realm!]
[That wench revived the virus that sickened the original masters in the past and spread it again!]
The Virgo Star God could not forget the Star God who had screamed with such a maddened face.
In the end, realizing the severity of the situation, she went to Yeonu, but she had already been executed.
She had barely survived only because of the snake’s power.
So she asked the Master of the Golden Beast and the Scorching Heat, who were close to her in normal times, to draw the attention of the other twelve Star Gods while she herself merely reincarnated Yeonu.
At this tale, Kevin furrowed his brows.
Well, in the end, since the Virgo Star God reincarnated the 13th Star God, that led to the appearance of the Awakened One named Eegeon.
“Was saving the snake god out of guilt for killing the 13th original master?”
At that cold voice, the Master of the Full Moon laughed.
It would be a lie to say she felt no guilt.
She had been close with Yeonu to begin with.
But the real reason was different.
Actually, on the day they usurped the thrones—
It was when she volunteered and approached the 13th original master.
The moment she saw the original master, the Virgo Star God urgently said,
[O ruler of serpents, create a clone. I will pretend to execute you and smuggle you away to the outer divine realm.]
But at those words from Virgo, the 13th original master smiled and replied,
[It’s fine. Kill me quickly. This body is already done for.]
[!]
His flesh was dying under the power of the Pisces Star God. Doubtless the overlord had become entangled.
After all, they had shown strange movements recently, such as searching for the overlord’s whereabouts.
Soon the original master muttered something to himself. But though startled for a moment, the original master spoke other final words.
[…So I have no lingering attachments, except for one. I’m a bit worried about our baby snake. I wish she could meet my younger sibling and be happy.]
In the end, both what he had said worried her, and following his dying wish, she secretly extracted Yeonu.
At those words, Kevin furrowed his brows.
“Then what’s the relationship between the 13th and Eegeon?”
He was pointing out that the magical energy was identical.
Knowing that, the Virgo Star God spoke.
[I don’t know. It seems like they might be blood relatives. Anyway, that’s also why I’m here, to confirm that.]
“Hmm, anyway, I understand. I’m fully convinced.”
[Then…!]
Kevin turned away coolly.
“Eegeon! Let’s absorb Virgo too! Put me under the Serpent Bearer as well!”
[Kevin!!!]
The Virgo Star God became urgent.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
“Eegeon! Let’s absorb Virgo too! Put me under the Serpent Bearer as well!”
Hearing Kevin’s distant shout, Hugo looked utterly dumbfounded.
“What’s so good about this god throne that that bastard keeps asking to be put under it?”
“Well, he seems better than a certain someone….”
Hugo, suddenly irritated, pulled out his phone.
Then he opened the YouTube video he had subscribed to earlier.
Where there are fans, there are also antis.
Given Eegeon’s personality, there were thousands of inflammatory, provocative videos criticizing his friend.
Well, Cheon Seongjae and Kali weren’t the types to leave such things alone, but they couldn’t keep up with the upload speed.
Much less the livestreams spreading in the shadows—there’s no way to catch those.
And perhaps Hugo was pleased by the numerous inflammatory videos.
“Yeah, this is how it should’ve been from the start. Humans are creatures of brainwashing, after all. With this, my faith won’t be a problem either.”
His children watched him as if he were beyond pathetic.
Is he that desperate not to be beneath them?
“Father Seongdo, just get ready for your baptism. Stop wasting your time on nonsense.”
“What? Cheon Seongjae! Did you just call it nonsense? Look! See how nicely this young fellow hits the nail on the head!”
—Everyone, Eegeon is a thug. No matter how much of a hero of humanity, you must not forget his true nature.
“Yeah, a thug!! You mustn’t forget his true nature!!”
—Furthermore, we’ve secured testimony that Eegeon dines-and-dashes on a regular basis, and there are countless cases where he skipped out without paying.
“Yeah!! That bastard Eegeon is notorious for dine-and-dash, you know? Rotten to the core!”
—He’s even extorted money from a young child.
“Yeah! So petty, even to a kid… Huh? Eegeon never did that?”
—Do you see? Eegeon is a gangster who extorts. While other adults were protecting that world-famous cultural heritage site, this guy was right there extorting! Extorting!
“Hey! You sons of bitches, who told you to spread inflammatory garbage! Eegeon did all of that! Hey! Seongjae! Get a lawyer! We’ve got to sue these guys for defamation, or else!”
“…….”
The children looked at him as if he were a lost cause.
And then.
“Wow, these scam artists, what’s with the comments here? I’ll have to collect all this malicious crap. Using all the girls who approach him? With that personality, they’d all run away just seeing his face, what nonsense!”
[Hugo Otterus]
[Serpent Bearer Faith Level 580%]
At that sight, Eegeon shook his head with a sigh.
At the same time, his footsteps halted.
The place he stopped was none other than the center.
Eegeon looked at the light of life rising from the center and smiled.
[Someone is calling the Serpent Lord]
Truthfully, this was a mysterious magical territory once ruled by the overlord of Pisces.
Where it came from, why the Star Gods coveted it—no one knew.
But.
‘My god, it seems something is hidden in Pisces’s territory. Especially something you must never be deprived of.’
‘Is that so? Something I must never lose?’
‘Yes. That’s why the Golden Bull came personally to Drachma to claim this land, only to get crushed by you that day, I suppose…’
The scribe was happily dissecting the absorbed Golden Bull’s territory.
And he had succeeded in decoding the Golden Bull’s past records.
As a result, he had obtained great information, but well.
‘Well, with an ability like that, it’s no wonder he was massacred by the Star Gods.’
The reason the scribes were killed in the past was surely one thing.
‘The Star Gods must have been caught hiding their secrets.’
Because they were beings who could read the past. They must have discovered the usurpation.
And further, perhaps they had come to know the reason the Star Gods killed ‘Eegeon.’
As evidence, a certain vision flashed through Eegeon’s mind.
[Eegeon’s exploits are good, but it’s a problem if he really kills all the monsters.]
[Eegeon is too outstanding. If left alone, he’ll truly wipe out the Unknown Civilization.]
[We must use fear as originally planned to raise faith in us further.]
At the memories of the throne that surfaced anew, Eegeon’s blood shot up.
Well, there was a sense of a ringleader among those Star Gods, but anyway.
“These repulsive bastards….”
And at that muttering, Hugo momentarily shuddered.
He couldn’t help it.
‘A voice I’ve never heard before.’
The killing intent in that voice was on a completely different level from usual.
And I had thought he’d grown gentler after meeting Yeonu—was that just a momentary illusion?
‘Feels like his personality got even filthier.’
Is it just an illusion?
Hugo quaked in fear.
But whether that was the case or not, Eegeon, eyes gleaming, immediately activated a skill.
“Well, anyway, fine. Let’s check what they’re hiding that made them covet this land so badly.”
[Designating Sanctuary]
[Designating the territory of Pisces as the Serpent Bearer’s Sanctuary]
[An immense life energy is felt]
[Life experience increases dramatically]
[This Pisces territory welcomes its new master]
Boom!!!
The ground trembled, and something began to rise from the earth.
[A hidden object is revealed]
‘It’s out.’
Surely, that was the reason the Star Gods had interfered to prevent him from claiming this land.
As expected.
Eegeon grinned sharply and headed toward where something was rising, and at that moment—
Crack!
“Oh!”
Seongjae let out an exclamation.
Along with an enormous life force, the egg that Cheon Seongjae was holding began to crack.
[The Serpent Bearer’s Subordinate God (SSS) is reacting]
Eegeon flinched.
For some reason, it felt familiar.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very time.
“Is that so? The Aries Star God becomes Eegeon’s slave?”
The sanctuary of Pisces.
A Star God in the form of the Pisces Star God burst into laughter.
She was hearing the series of events from the divine realm’s agent.
And then.
“Aries went to Pisces’s territory and even bought that cube, I hear. Then why did they fail to capture Eegeon?”
[Ah, it seems the Master of Scorching Heat snatched it away.]
“Scorching Heat did?”
[Yes. But I don’t understand. The Master of Scorching Heat should also be an accomplice.]
At those words, the Pisces Star God subtly raised the corners of her lips.
“That fellow has his reasons. He wouldn’t be able to kill his own nephew.”
[Excuse me? What did you just say?]
“Never mind. Anyway, prepare. Now the only Star Gods remaining are the Magic Star Gods.”
[!]
“I know Eegeon’s weakness.”
[Then…!]
“I’ll bring her from the Pisces territory.”
But it was at that moment.
Boom!!
Suddenly, the Pisces sanctuary shook violently.
It was an intense shock, as if hit by bombardment.
(To be continued in the next chapter)