The Master of the Epithet.
The Pisces God knew well.
What kind of bastard Igeon was.
And just how obnoxious and eccentric that bastard's personality was.
With good reason—Igeon had been a primary subject of observation.
'A beast of a guy with zero patience, following nothing but instinct.'
True to that, whenever something made him mad, or something of his got broken, he'd rampage without a second thought.
In the old days, that stubborn lone-wolf temperament gave them headaches.
'But it makes him easy to read, too.'
That's why he was certain this time as well.
'If provoked, he will definitely take the bait.'
He was a man who would terrifyingly ignore anything he wasn't interested in, but if it touched something precious to him or hurt his pride, he'd never compromise.
So this time, too, starting with the media, then Yeonu's soul, and those low-down slanders—
He had deliberately poked every nerve of Igeon's volatile temper.
The reason for the provocation was simple.
First, to shake the faith surrounding him.
'Gods grow stronger the more they are worshipped.'
True, he was still a fledgling god, so being worshipped wasn't a major threat yet, but there was no reason to leave it be.
Thus, they'd tear down his image.
And the second reason: it was an essential prerequisite for his plan.
Anyway, he'd already set up the kind of sleazy media play that would make Igeon gnash his teeth, and what's more, dangled Yeonu's soul before him—something that would make Igeon's eyes roll back in fury.
Surely, true to that temper, he'd come charging in, brandishing Judgment.
Yeah. That was definitely what he was supposed to do.
"?!"
Seeing Igeon, the Pisces God doubted his own eyes.
He had no choice.
"G-Geon?!"
Igeon was down on one knee, smiling with pure innocence.
Far from drawing Judgment, he even spread his arms wide and said,
"Dear Pisces God! I've finally come to serve under the Fish!"
"……??!!"
This time, both Hugo and Stephen froze solid.
So Stephen urgently whispered to Hugo,
"Hey. Wh-what the hell! Was this part of the plan?"
"I-I don't know!"
And just as flustered as they were, the Pisces God glared.
"What trickery brought you here like this?"
Though greatly taken aback, the Pisces God didn't let it show and immediately went on guard.
It was obvious this was some ploy of Igeon's.
'As if I don't know he'll try to lull my guard and then attack!'
The proof was that Igeon never put down Heaven's Judgment.
But then it happened.
Bang!
As if reading that thought, Igeon hurled Heaven's Judgment far away.
"I'm hurt. I'm really telling you, I have no intention of fighting."
"?!"
The most shocked by this was Stephen.
"Hey, are you insane! We're already inside the Magic God's domain!"
Pisces was the Magic God.
As expected of the god of magic who moves everything according to plan, there was no way this space was ordinary.
To throw away your weapon in that situation—that was utter defenselessness!
There's no way he wouldn't know that!
Yet, regardless, Igeon grinned broadly.
"If you still can't trust me, take it. I'll stay right here quietly."
"???!"
Panicked by those words, Stephen hurriedly tried to retrieve Heaven's Judgment.
What kind of weapon was Heaven's Judgment!
'A treasure unmatched in the world!'
But Igeon stopped Stephen from rushing to pick it up.
Horrified, Stephen instead grabbed Igeon.
"Are you insane!"
Above all, he hadn't put any trap or device on Heaven's Judgment.
"What kind of god is the Fish! He'll immediately take..."
But then.
'!'
Stephen's eyes went wide as he saw the Pisces God.
With good reason—the Pisces God hadn't moved an inch.
He had no choice.
'Why on earth is that bastard acting like that???'
Because the Pisces God was confused.
'This is absurd. With that temper, there's no way he'd come at me like this.'
He knew Igeon treasured Yeonu. Moreover, he knew his rage toward Zhang Rui.
Wasn't that exactly why he'd gone to the trouble of summoning Eul, who resembled Zhang Rui, intending to make him blow his top?
It wouldn't have been strange if he'd immediately grabbed Judgment and charged.
So the Pisces God laughed.
'Fine, this is that bastard Igeon's ploy.'
Above all, Igeon would never hand his weapon over to him.
In other words,
'Naturally, he must have rigged Heaven's Judgment with a trap.'
Who wouldn't know that?
The Fish smiled.
But it was true that this was a tricky situation.
'Troublesome. I can't use the skill I prepared.'
It was true that he had made all kinds of provocations to trap him, but above all, Igeon's rage was a prerequisite for the plan.
Why?
'Rage is the prerequisite for the skill that kills the original owner.'
Well, it's not completely unusable, but it's most effective when the target is in a state of rage.
So this situation was problematic in many ways.
Thus, the Fish smiled.
"Acting won't work. Did you think I wouldn't know your filthy scheme?"
"!"
The Fish knew Igeon all too well.
'Even if he pulls some trick, he can't keep it up for long.'
Igeon was a guy who was extremely faithful to his own moods.
'A guy with a short fuse.'
So he brought up the one thing that would infuriate Igeon the most.
"Wasn't it Junu?"
"!"
"Your younger brother."
Igeon fell silent.
The atmosphere seemed to change in an instant.
Seeing that, the Fish smiled in triumph, and the reporters buzzed loudly.
"Brother? Did he just say Igeon's younger brother?"
No one in this world knew about Igeon's family ties.
Considering it was Igeon, his past was a matter of peak interest, but Igeon never brought up anything from before his awakening.
Everyone grew excited at the scoop the whole world was dying to know, and the Fish smiled.
"A truly gruesome death it was. His limbs were severed, one eye was gone. A truly pitiful death."
Igeon remained silent.
Back then, there were no domes or anything—literally nothing—and hundreds of people died daily, mauled by monsters.
What did Junu look like when he was found, without even a single line in the news?
And there was no way Igeon didn't know what it meant that the Fish knew this in such detail.
The Fish was revealing that fact.
Sure enough.
With the atmosphere shifted, Igeon did not raise his head.
Watching this, the Fish raised the corners of his mouth.
'Now, rage! Come at me trying to kill me!'
But then.
"Uh, uhhh???"
The reporters who saw Igeon started to stir.
And drawn by the commotion, Stephen and Hugo also looked at Igeon, tilting their heads.
But upon seeing Igeon, they were so shocked they nearly fainted.
"G-Geon?!"
"That's right, my brother is dead."
Igeon was shedding tears.
And shedding pitiful tears like chicken droppings, Igeon looked terribly sad.
"Since my brother was killed by a monster... knowing the grief of losing family better than anyone, I did my best to hunt monsters so that no one else would suffer like my brother, and I even took down the Red Eye."
"……!"
"And yet, what returned to me was betrayal by colleagues, honor stolen. And now, even a false accusation that I killed gods...!"
At Igeon's tearful voice, the interior of the palace stirred greatly.
It couldn't be helped.
"I-Igeon is...!"
"Igeon, who grins and enjoys it even as monsters tear away his flesh... That Igeon!"
What's more, at a young glance, the current Igeon looked like nothing more than a high school boy.
Seeing a child struggling made him seem all the more pitiful.
On the other hand, the Pisces God seemed to fall into a mental breakdown.
'Crying? That bastard is crying??? The guy who didn't seem like he'd bleed a drop even if you stabbed him??'
And he wasn't the only one in a mental breakdown.
"Doctor!!!!! Ah, no, Hugo-ya!"
Hugo fell into a mental breakdown at the unprecedented sight.
And Stephen had also turned pale.
'This is insane.'
With good reason—they were Sages.
As beings with extremely developed senses, they could discern an opponent's acting at a glance.
So they could tell right away whether Igeon was pretending to cry as part of an act or not.
But that sight...!
'Wha-what is this? Is Igeon actually human after all?'
But Stephen soon shook his head.
'No. This is the great Igeon. Of course it's a trick...'
But at that very moment.
As if reaching the climax, when Igeon leaned against Hugo and cried, the Sage with 600% faith finally showed a murderous intent they'd never seen before.
"Wanna die! Who made our boy cry!! How can humanity treat the hero who even took down the Red Eye like a cold bowl of rice?"
As if witnessing his own son crying, Hugo roared in fury, and the reporters buzzed.
"What is this, what's going on?"
"The Pisces God clearly said Igeon had gone astray..."
No, recalling Igeon's usual image, they had indeed thought the Pisces God's claim might be right.
It was true they had all voiced concerns seeing him rush off looking delighted at the sight of monsters.
In reality, many awakened ones did go astray, after all.
But.
"Is someone like that now trying to endanger humanity?"
"Wow, so Igeon was human after all."
"H-hey. Isn't that just crying for show...?"
"Hey! If that's an act, Igeon should switch careers!"
Everyone in the palace stirred.
Even the figures the Fish had prepared, assuming Igeon would naturally attack—
Even the reporters hiding and filming looked at the Fish, and the Pisces God urgently looked toward Eul.
He had no choice.
'You never said anything about this future!'
* * *
Meanwhile, at that moment.
"What's with them? Are they messing with Sir Igeon right now?"
The palace was in a huge uproar.
But regardless of that, there was one person who was smiling.
'Well, I'm glad the relic I made with Gemini turned out useful.'
Indeed.
Igeon was giggling inside.
Of course, he hadn't anticipated things going this far, but he had already caught on that the Fish was deliberately trying to provoke him.
And,
'Well, I know my own rotten personality well enough.'
So just in case, he had brought this item.
[The Joy-Anger-Sorrow-Pleasure Dial (S)]
- Creator: Igeon
- Made by imbuing Gemini's magic data (emotion-altering magic)
- Can manipulate the target's emotions according to the dial button.
Originally, he had made it to use on the nagging Hugo; he never thought he'd end up using it on himself.
'But still, I really didn't know I could cry.'
No matter how sad things got, no matter how much he was beaten, these tears wouldn't come out anymore.
'Well, I don't know if what he showed me is the real future, but I can't give the Fish what he wants.'
Sure enough.
Igeon continued to shed tears as he spoke.
"Anyway, I did my best so that no one else would end up like my brother."
"There, there. Our Geon worked hard."
"And the one who said that with the other gods' thrones, we could handle the unknown civilizations too, was the Pisces God. You're the goddess of the Nile, aren't you?"
"……!"
At those words, Stephen and the Pisces God flinched for an instant.
'That bastard.'
Igeon looked at the Pisces God with the grievance of one betrayed.
"Didn't you say that would wipe out the Monarchs, too?"
"Wait..."
"Then why are you doing this to me? Is this killing the dog after the hunt? Like when you mercilessly disposed of the other Fish Gods and the Sages?"
At those words, the surroundings stirred.
"Killing gods and Sages?"
"What's he saying?"
At the same time, the Pisces God gritted his teeth.
'Faith is dropping.'
He couldn't help it.
If things went on like this, the original plan would be ruined.
Maybe that's why.
'Even if the conditions aren't met, it's not that I can't use that skill.'
That very skill that killed the original owner!
Pisces activated that very skill.
And at that moment.
As if he had been waiting, Igeon's eyes flashed.
(To be continued in the next chapter)