Lee Jaewon.
A frail boy who worked as a gofer for Lee Geon and Hugo during his high school days.
He followed Lee Geon and Hugo like his own brothers, but then came the incident at the Demon's Tower.
[Humanity's Hero Lee Geon, Deceased at the Demon's Tower]
[He Couldn't Escape the Demon's Tower Alone Without Receiving Help]
He was a boy who blamed himself out of despair that he couldn't be of any help to Lee Geon because of his own inadequacy.
And so, he devoted himself to becoming stronger, rising to become a strategist for the Sagittarius Seat, determined to protect Hugo at the very least, since he couldn't protect Lee Geon.
And now, in the present moment.
His ability level reached 19.
[Congratulations. By building up exceptional skill and achievements grounded in your high faith, you've reached level 19!]
[Level 20 isn't far off now! Just push a little harder, fighting!]
[Once you hit level 20, a whole new world will open up to you!]
"……??"
Perhaps all he had accumulated until now was finally shining through this current invasion.
Lee Jaewon was startled by the notification that sounded just like Lee Geon's voice.
At any rate, it had been about 30 minutes since that conman-like notification rang out.
Having a level rise when he didn't even know what it meant – what use was it, and what could possibly change?
But…
"……?"
Lee Jaewon's expression as he looked at Han Jimin turned peculiar.
'What's this?'
Han Jimin. He'd heard he was Seongjae's best friend, that was certain.
And he had seen that kid just a few days ago. But back then, there hadn't been this kind of feeling…
'What is it? That unsettling aura.'
That was it.
At this moment, on the verge of level 20…
Lee Jaewon's senses were genuinely changing.
But Lee Jaewon soon shook his head.
'Well, maybe it's just because this is a battlefield chaotically flooded with monsters.'
With monsters running rampant everywhere, it was understandable.
However.
'It's still incredibly unnerving.'
Perhaps that's why.
Lee Jaewon activated one of his skills.
[Every Single Move (SS)]
-For 24 hours, secretly monitors the designated target's every bodily movement
-Monitors all biometric data (location, heart rate, leg movements, blink rate, what they're looking at, etc.)
It was a skill Lee Jaewon had possessed since his gofer days. A skill born from being touched by the Sagittarius Seat's holy spirit's power in his childhood.
And he had developed it from an F-rank to this current state.
Back then, he used this skill to check if enemies were dead or alive, or if Lee Geon and Hugo were suffering from any status ailments.
'Anyway, with this, there shouldn't be any problems for now.'
Ultimately, Lee Jaewon, having placed the surveillance skill on Han Jimin, moved quickly.
The situation was bad with the zombie-like humans appearing, but that didn't matter.
'The Young Master's skill will handle it.'
Therefore, as long as no monsters appeared, holding this area with just their own forces was possible.
'And for the rest, if Lee Geon-nim can just take down those three, it'll be humanity's victory…!'
But that was when it happened.
As if mocking that thought, the very ground shook alongside Han Jimin's laughter.
*Kugugung!*
Simultaneously, a giant monster appeared in the middle of the city.
[Krrrrreuk!!]
People were shocked by the 100-story-tall monster.
"Wh-what is that! That thing!"
"What's going on! Weren't no more monsters supposed to appear?! The dome was deployed again in this area!"
"I don't know eith… Kyaaaak!!"
As screams erupted from everywhere in the end, Cheon Seongjae urgently shouted.
"Everyone, change target! The level isn't high, but look at its size!"
The damage radius would be huge.
"Yerin noona and Jihoon hyung, stay here at the shelter and use shelter skills!"
At those words, Han Jimin shouted urgently.
"Seongjae! I'll stay here at the shelter! Since I can't be of any help anyway, I'll use a protection authority here at the shelter! So send even one more S-rank towards the monster!"
"Yeah! I'm counting on you!"
Finally, all the combatants rushed towards the monster.
And blessed by the Serpent Bearer's protection, they were swift and decisive, a quick battle indeed.
*Kwajik! Kwajik!*
And perhaps the reason they could be so effective was that Lee Geon had subdued the Four Calamities.
-Incredible, Lee Geon! Lee Geon is holding onto the monsters trying to scatter!
-The monsters' heads are being severed!
-As those monsters are falling, the anomalies occurring across the world are decreasing too!
-Good heavens, he must have Rental Skills active all over the world. Even in that overwhelming situation, he's…!
It was at that moment when news of Lee Geon was spreading across the world.
[Kieeek!!]
"……!!"
Lee Jaewon, who had landed a critical hit on the monster, suddenly flinched.
It was because of the skill attached to Han Jimin.
Han Jimin was leaving the shelter and heading towards a strange place.
And that direction was none other than near the dome.
'What the. Why is he going there?'
Even with a generous interpretation that he was going to save people trapped in that area, it wasn't a place a C-rank Awakened could leisurely enter.
Moreover, this dome was a dome created with Lee Geon's power.
'If he's planning to destroy that…'
It would bring danger to Lee Geon-nim, who is connected to the dome.
In the end, Lee Jaewon furrowed his brow.
"Ben. Hold the position for a moment."
"Uh, yes? Where are you going?"
"It's fine. I'll be right back."
Lee Jaewon secretly tailed Han Jimin.
And at that moment, Got felt an inexplicable sense of anxiety.
He didn't know why, but it was a similar feeling to 10 years ago.
When Lee Jaewon and the Lady had disappeared.
---
And just a moment before Lee Jaewon disappeared. The world was plunged into panic.
How could it not be, when the trusted Lee Geon was devoured by the Calamity.
"Lee Geon-nim!!!"
Not only that, he wasn't just devoured.
'Ahhh!! Save me!'
'You idiot, it's dangerous! Get out of the way!!'
'Lee Geon-nim!'
That was it.
Lee Geon was devoured in place of the people who were about to be eaten by the Calamity.
To make matters worse, perhaps the burden of spreading defense and regeneration authorities worldwide took its toll.
"Heavens, even those crimson eyes Lee Geon-nim wielded…!"
The crimson eye receiving power from Lee Geon was covered by his brother .
At the same time, , who had swallowed Lee Geon, roared towards the sky.
[Finally, I have devoured him!]
It was a massive roar that shook the world.
And then.
[Next is all of you.]
"……!!!"
Under that oppressive aura, people's legs trembled so much they couldn't stand properly.
'Damn it…!'
'How can Lee Geon meet eyes with a thing like that…!'
But the Holy City residents raised their weapons and stood up.
Normally, knowing they'd be no match, they'd have fled. But now was different.
"Damn it, rescue Lee Geon-nim!"
"We're the ones saving him now!"
Though his personality was notoriously bad, Lee Geon was someone who protected humanity without caring if his own body was ruined.
20 years ago, and even now!
"Save Lee Geon-nim!"
"B-but is it possible? He's probably been digested already!"
"What do I care! Just cut him open first! Lee Geon-nim sacrificed for us…!"
But that was when it happened.
[Kaa aaaack!!]
"!!!"
, who had swallowed Lee Geon, screamed.
And from 's mouth, surprisingly, flames like a blowtorch were shooting upwards.
At first, people thought it was fire that was breathing out, but that wasn't the case.
[Argh! You madman!]
vomited blood from the flames of death boiling up in his stomach.
And that wasn't all.
Along with the flames, a voice rang out, forcing people to doubt their own ears.
"Hahahaha!! This is great! I knew these bastards' esophagi would be decently useful!!"
"?!!"
Perhaps Lee Geon wasn't devoured, but deliberately entered the creature's body!
And sure enough, a small figure burst out from inside 's mouth.
*Kwajik!!!*
"L-Lee Geon-nim!!!"
"Ar-are you alrigh… Agh! And what's that you're holding in your hands!!"
"A present for the kids!"
"?!!"
What Lee Geon had torn out and brought back was something like a stalk of unidentified intestines.
[ experience increases]
[ power grows stronger]
[ power is on the brink of the 5th stage]
[Warning. Upon reaching the 5th stage, will automatically vanish]
At that notification, Lee Geon furrowed his brow.
He was delaying the growth of Death by storing experience in the divine seat, but even so, was the opponent simply too overflowing with nutrients for to grow?
'Tch, it's a shame for to disappear.'
There definitely had to be a way to use both.
Of course, in Yeonwoo and Junwoo's cases, they each took on Life and Death respectively, but he himself couldn't use a division method.
Why?
[A period of at least 100 years is required to transfer a divinity]
[The timing is unstable, so there's a risk of the divinity scattering during the transfer attempt]
It had only been 24 years at most since he had received the divinity transfer.
'The period is insufficient.'
But hadn't the Sagittarius Seat holy spirit, the Golden Beast Lord, definitely said this?
-The and you use were originally the 13th original seat owner's abilities.
-Really?
-Anyway, among the original owners, the 13th was special. Even among fellow original owners, the 13th was on a completely different level. The divinity of I temporarily took on was originally just , but because of that guy's ability, even came into being. It embraced life and death simultaneously, giving birth to that insane ability.
What exactly it meant was unclear, but did that mean that power later flowed towards Yeonwoo and Junwoo?
-Anyway, that talent junkie was good at making anything, but his real specialty was . That guy 'created' abilities and granted them to weak followers or inanimate objects.
That guy was close with the 13th original seat owner, so he told various stories, but that wasn't the important part.
-I don't know about this Yeonwoo or Junwoo you speak of, but the original owner seems to have used both divinities simultaneously.
-Really?
-Well, since that power is such an unknown ability and so extraordinary, it seems even that world-renowned, irritating talent junkie struggled with it a bit.
Anyway, that was what the Golden Beast Lord had said.
So Lee Geon was certain.
'There is a way to awaken both Death and Life.'
Though he didn't know the method yet.
And that was when it happened.
[Insolent wretch! Meet your death at the hands of the humans you sought to protect!]
Citizens began to be controlled by the power of , whose esophagus had been torn.
He was issuing a command to people all over the world to kill Lee Geon.
But it was at that moment.
Lee Geon, who had been looking at the enemies as if disgusted, flashed his eyes.
He seemed to have realized something.
Perhaps he had caught on to a way to use both Death and Life simultaneously.
'Yes, that's it.'
---
Meanwhile, around that time.
"Huff…! Huff! It's over. This area is cleared!"
Cheon Seongjae, having dealt with the monster that suddenly appeared, was barely catching his breath.
"Seongju-nim, you've worked hard…!"
But Cheon Seongjae soon looked around, finding it strange.
"Huh? But where's Jaewon hyung? He was just here a moment ago."
"Ah, if you mean Jaewon hyung-nim, it seems he went towards the dome."
"Really? Did he go to defend that area?"
And that was when it happened.
[Kyaa, Baby Viper-nim has taken down two Calamities!!!]
Once the monsters were tidied up, the Virgo followers who had commandeered the Holy City residents' TVs flushed their faces.
[As expected of Baby Viper-nim…!]
[Huh? Wait a moment! What's this? Baby Viper-nim's appearance seems to have changed a little!]
Cheon Seongjae, listening from afar, choked up.
Whatever happened, he was sad he couldn't see his uncle's exploits live.
And he was holding it in because watching TV might make him want to go there even more!
"Agh! I want to watch the live feed too!"
But that was when it happened.
Perhaps sensing the frustration of that uncle-otaku Cheon Seongjae…
A Virgo goddess he was meeting for the first time approached him and said,
[If you really want, shall I transform your appearance? I'm confident even Lee Geon-nim wouldn't notice!]
"What?! Really?!"
[Yes, since I have confidence in such things…!]
However, Cheon Seongjae pouted his lips.
"Nah, forget it. No matter how important desire is, I don't do things Uncle would hate."
[Is that so?]
"Well, it's actually a gain. I can just level up with the feeling of closed-door training. This way, I won't fall behind my friend either."
[Oh, friend? You mean Jimin-nim?]
"Yeah. Jimin."
[Falling behind? Isn't that person a C-rank Holy City resident? Seongjae-nim, you're an SS-rank, so why would you be falling behind…]
At those words, Cheon Seongjae's eyes flashed sharply.
"No! I am falling behind. Even when Uncle first came to our house, I tried to chase him out, but Jimin brought him inside. He even accidentally broke a statue and caught the Gemini Seat adult hiding inside it."
Cheon Seongjae pouted his lips pettishly.
On top of that, there was that smell I couldn't even detect!
"Jimin said he smelled a good scent when Uncle first came home. That's the smell gods give off, right? Anyway, that kid believed Uncle was Lee Geon-nim from the very beginning. I've completely fallen behind in faith and otaku-spirit."
But the expression of the follower god listening to that turned strange.
[A good scent… you mean he smelled that before Lee Geon-nim fully awakened? A human?]
"Yeah. I heard it was the day Uncle first came to our house? So he held out his hand and had me try to smell it too. But I didn't know anything at all…!!!"
Just as Cheon Seongjae was about to get mad about having lost to his friend in otaku-spirit…
[Wait a moment.]
The Virgo follower god's voice hardened in an instant.
The goddess's face as she looked at Cheon Seongjae was stiff.
[That's strange. Only monsters can smell that scent before awakening.]
"…What?"
[Don't you remember when Lee Geon-nim fought in Drakma? That Bull said Lee Geon-nim, who hadn't yet awakened as a god, smelled like a holy-spirit-grade good scent and tried to devour him.]
"!"
[That's something only monsters who prey on gods can say.]
"……!"
Cheon Seongjae's face froze.
For there was no way he wouldn't know what that meant.
And that was when it happened.
"Ah, found you. Seongjae!"
Cheon Seongjae stiffened at the familiar voice.
At the same time, the boy approaching him grabbed Cheon Seongjae's shoulder.
"I was looking for you forever. You were here?"
Cheon Seongjae turned his gaze with a frozen face.
It was Han Jimin.
(To be continued in the next chapter)