"Seriously, isn't this a bit much?"
Scribe Gwisun was sobbing. His hands were wrapped entirely in bandages.
And before his eyes, stacks upon stacks of paper were piled high.
They were no ordinary documents, of course.
They were all original pages extracted from Lee Geon's Bible.
"Aaargh! Ever since that snake bastard merged with the Divine Throne, the workload has exploded, damn it!"
That was right.
This place was . And the sanctuary of the former Snake Lord's domain, which the Star Gods had sold off to the Monarch.
There, Gwisun was losing his mind over the Bible revisions for the Snake Lord's followers, whose numbers had swelled with the merger.
"What kind of Bible is a damn chatroom?! A new line pops up every second, it's insane!"
Of course, outstanding followers had always been able to leave records in the Bible.
But it seemed that anyone with a Faith stat exceeding 100% could leave a record in the Bible now.
Naturally, the higher one's Faith, the more directly they received the Star God's power and the greater their abilities became, so meeting the condition was practically a given.
But that wasn't the important part.
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
...
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
After Lee Geon merged with the Bull Lord's domain, he had said this to the Bull Lord's followers:
[If you can't get your Snake Lord Faith to 100%, all the abilities you've built up so far will vanish♡]
So, the Bull Lord's followers had frantically pushed their Faith to 100% to keep their powers, and typically, those who managed it were A-rank and above—outstanding followers.
Thus...
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
[The has been added to the Snake Lord's Bible]
...
[The Snake Lord's Bible has added ! It's even in comment format now!"
"C-Comments?"
"Yes! Whatever you generate also gets posted on the actual internet, so I have to delete that too before I can make corrections, making it even more of a hassle! Do you know how many calls I make daily just to get those deleted?"
"Oh... but I don't have much to fix, do I? I don't write fanboy messages like Miss Yuha or the young master..."
"...What did you say?"
Under the scribe's murderous glare, Lee Jaewon coughed awkwardly, sweat beading on his forehead.
Gwisun was furious.
Of course, the biggest headache was Hugo's Bible.
"That damn Hugo Otters gets like one entry per second! Anyway, because he's in the Snake Lord's domain now, his update speed is insane! Take him back to the Divine Archer's domain!!"
"Well, I doubt Lord Lee Geon would allow that."
Anyway, that wasn't the important thing right now.
"Those bizarre corpses discovered here. Have you finished investigating?"
At those words, Gwisun immediately furrowed his brows.
Indeed.
In fact, Lee Geon had ordered an investigation into the unidentified corpses found here.
And Cheon Jiwoo had figured it out at a glance.
Just a few hours ago, in fact.
When Cheon Jiwoo returned with her tools and came to this land to see the corpses Gwisun showed her, hadn't she been utterly shocked?
'My god, these corpses—though only fragments remain—they're Star Gods!'
'What?!'
'And the physical bodies of those dead Star Gods are transforming into monsters.'
'What?! You figured that out instantly?'
'Oh dear, before I was eaten by that toad, I was a scientist who studied monsters and gods.'
'Ah... you did say you were an MIT researcher. You even made anti-monster missiles with that.'
It was a moment that revealed just who Cheon Seongjae took after in terms of intellect.
Cheon Jiwoo and humanity's scientists had agonized over whether there was truly no way for mankind to resist the monsters after Lee Geon disappeared.
And Cheon Jiwoo had received data on the Star Gods through Hugo, and had studied the monsters.
It was that Cheon Jiwoo who looked at the corpses and said something unexpected.
'Strange. Among these corpses, there's one with data similar to Lord Scorching Serpent.'
'!'
'Perhaps these might even be the corpses of the original owners...'
At the same time, Gwisun recalled that conversation and spoke to Lee Jaewon.
"The god said she discovered the data of the original owner inside."
"!"
"One of the 13, we don't know who, but they used the flesh of a Star God to create the . Turned them into monsters."
"Then..."
"They say corpse disposal is the hardest, right? The usurpers couldn't easily dispose of the original owners' bodies, so they buried them in this land and sold it off to the Monarchs."
At Gwisun's words, the quick-witted Lee Jaewon gasped with realization.
It was inevitable.
"They said the corpses here are only partial remains."
"Yeah, they are. So what?"
"Doesn't that mean the other original owners could have been turned into similar monsters and might be somewhere in this world?"
"......!"
At Lee Jaewon's point, Gwisun's face turned pale.
The possessed that level of destructive power.
If the others appeared as monsters of that caliber...
"Earth would be utterly devastated."
At Lee Jaewon's words, Gwisun also realized the gravity.
"Then could it be that the took the missing parts from these partial corpses?"
"!"
"Anyway, the can definitely turn gods into monsters."
That meant Lee Geon could also become a monster if he fell into the hands of the .
Perhaps when Lee Geon had encountered the Monarch of Space-Time, who looked like a corpse, in the Demon's Tower,
the fiend's offer to join their side might have actually been about this.
It meant becoming the same kind of slave.
And it was Gwisun who had confirmed that through the Bible's records.
Perhaps that was why.
"...I really hope Lord God never meets the ."
At that anxious expression, Lee Jaewon chuckled.
"What's this? You used to dislike Lord Lee Geon so much. Seems you've grown fond of him?"
Startled by the remark, the scribe blushed and exploded in anger.
"Who likes that sociopath?! Don't get the wrong idea! This is all just so I can get close to him and stab him in the back later!"
"Oh. Really?"
"And I only dislike the because it happens to resemble a Cancer saint!"
Gwisun clearly remembered the ones who tried to slaughter all the scribes.
Among them, there was no way the criminal Divine Throne of Cancer hadn't participated in the massacre, and Gwisun's teeth still ground at the thought.
At those words, Lee Jaewon furrowed his brows.
He recalled what Lee Geon had said.
'Oh, and keep it a secret from Gwisun. The part about the Star Gods massacring the scribes to bury their own secrets.'
'Huh? Why?'
'There's nothing good about hearing how your family was murdered.'
'!'
Remembering Lee Geon, who said he would avenge that grudge himself, Lee Jaewon smiled warmly.
'As I thought, he's a kind person who pretends not to be.'
"Oh, by the way, where is your mistress?"
"Jiwoo-ssi? Ah, she went to Lord God to share what we discovered here."
Startled, Lee Jaewon moved urgently.
"Heavens, why would she go alone in her condition?"
"What? What did you say? She's not alone?"
"Oh, it seems Lord Hugo is going to have a little one. Though Lord Hugo probably doesn't know yet."
Gwisun screamed.
"What? A little one?! But their kids are almost adults!"
"They're always like newlyweds."
"Wow, his vitality is impressive too. Anyway, since the siblings are all grown, they'll help raise the baby well..."
But soon, as if remembering something, Gwisun shrieked.
"Prenatal education!!! I'll handle the prenatal education!!! Please, tell them I'll do it!!"
* * *
Around that same time.
Spain.
Not far from the sanctuary of the Virgin Lord, nor far from where his nephews were staying.
Having received an invitation, Lee Geon had come straight here.
At the same time, since Spain was the sanctuary of the Fish Lord, the entire city was a magical fortress.
Skyscraper-like buildings rose everywhere, and magically crafted cars hovered about—a world entirely separate.
And Lee Geon had been invited to the Royal Palace of Madrid within this magical fortress.
"Welcome, Lord Lee Geon!"
"It's Lee Geon!"
"Take pictures!"
"The Lion Lord and Divine Archer Lord are with him too!"
"No... isn't Lord Hugo part of the Snake Lord's domain now?"
Outside, journalists who seemed to be waiting for him; inside, the place was packed with people in suits.
Well, most of them were familiar faces.
A royal from somewhere, a chairman from somewhere.
People who had woven ties with him over 20 years ago.
However, Lee Geon soon let out a scoff.
'Seems the one who called me here is that one.'
Indeed.
She was clearly there among them.
The Fish Lord's saint, Liv Rich.
No, the Fish Star God.
Finding it perfectly detestable, he asked again.
"Was it you who invited me?"
At Lee Geon's question, the last remaining Star God—
the Fish Star God laughed.
"No, I merely lent the venue. Since this is my sanctuary. And..."
The Fish Lord's master pulled something from her bosom.
It was a necklace embedded with a small piece of glass.
Seeing it, Hugo flinched as if startled.
It was inevitable.
That was the exact same energy he had felt in the Torture Abyss.
'Don't tell me, Yeonwoo-ssi.'
As if to confirm his suspicion.
The Fish Lord's master smiled.
"Lee Geon. Weren't you looking for this?"
In that instant, Lee Geon let out a hollow laugh.
That was undoubtedly Yeonwoo's soul.
'I thought it was a fake when I saw it on TV.'
As proof of its authenticity, something in his own pocket began to glow.
It was the very keepsake that Yeonwoo had left behind upon vanishing.
It was guiding him to her in resonance.
That was why Hugo's eyes flew wide open.
"Didn't the have that? Why does that god have it?"
Well, it didn't matter who held it.
As the infuriated Hugo tried to step forward, Lee Geon blocked him with his foot.
"You're only handling support this time. Leave all the dangerous work to that lion brat."
"Wha-what?? This isn't like you, what's wrong?"
Just as Lee Geon was about to answer.
'......!!'
Among those gathered inside, he saw a human face that bore a striking resemblance to the Cancer Saint, Zhang Rui.
But there was clearly another being present, distinct from that wretch.
It was the Monarch of .
(To be continued in the next chapter)