Chaos (4)

It was not long after I Jaewon had disappeared.

Long before Cheon Seongjae had even caught wind of .

‘Damn it.’

I Jaewon, who had followed , was grinding his teeth.

He was inside a ten-story building.

It was an office building, its massive glass windows mostly shattered and the interior wrecked by monster attacks.

I Jaewon was dying there alone.

‘Damn it…!’

A hole larger than his face was gaping in his stomach, and his right arm was gone.

Of course, he couldn’t use any skills or magic.

Inside this building, he could use no blessings or skills whatsoever.

It was none other than .

Sure enough.

“I thought you’d slipped away the moment I took my eyes off you, and you came all the way here?”

“……!!!”

A familiar voice came from above the dying I Jaewon’s head.

It was Han Jimin.

He looked down at I Jaewon, who had crawled through the wet floor, and smiled with satisfaction.

“I was looking for you for quite a while. Did you really try to go outside to tell them about me?”

The gleam in Han Jimin’s eyes turned ice-cold in an instant.

And then.

“Ugh!”

Han Jimin stomped on the wound in I Jaewon’s stomach where the hole was.

“You can’t do that. Are you going to take responsibility if I Geon-nim can’t awaken as the god of because of you alone?”

“…Guh…!”

“I’ll still praise you, though. It was an attack aimed for instant death, and you’re still alive. You really are amazing! Jaewon hyung!”

At that bright smile, I Jaewon bit his lips until they nearly bled.

‘Damn it. To fall for such a cheap trick.’

He had been cautious, of course.

Han Jimin had been giving off an ominous aura.

Besides, I Jaewon was Iron Wall.

He wasn’t so soft a man as to fall for a mere monster’s deception.

But.

‘Aaaah!’

‘Young master!’

Seeing Seongjae struck by Han Jimin inside the building had made him step into this place without realizing it.

‘Seongjae!’

‘Hyung…! Sa-….’

It was never a matter of reason.

After all, Seongjae was the kid he had cherished and raised in place of the busy Hyugo.

And hadn’t he ground his teeth, swearing that the Hyugo family could never be sent off like I Geon-nim?

So his body had moved on reflex.

But.

‘I knew this would be your weakness, just as I thought.’

‘……!!!’

In an instant, he had been struck by , who appeared out of nowhere.

Ordinarily, he would have seen through such a trap as an enemy’s scheme in no time. He couldn’t, precisely because the enemy had taken on Han Jimin’s face.

He had thought that with that face, even Seongjae, even anyone, would be lured in.

Yet in reality, the one who fell for the lure was himself.

‘Damn it.’

I Jaewon, trampled at last by , ground his teeth.

He didn’t care if he died, of course.

Ever since his life had been saved by I Geon and Hyugo, he had already been a dead man walking.

But.

‘I have to let them know.’

The moment I Jaewon tried to use a skill.

Crunch!

“Kuh!”

Han Jimin’s blow crushed I Jaewon’s leg.

Han Jimin seemed disgusted.

“Ah, that startled me. You can still use magic in this building? Crazy.”

This building was one developed by these bastards as an execution ground for .

It was designed to sever the connection with Seongsin, so magic could never be used.

“Looks like you’re starting to get a bit of divinity. Is that why?”

But laughed, as if telling him not to bother.

“You barely have any usable strength left anyway. If you’re going to waste it on that, why not just look after your own life?”

“Kuh…!”

A pain that made death seem better.

Physical and mental agony so severe that I Jaewon’s consciousness threatened to snap.

In truth, I Jaewon wasn’t that strong of a person who could keep his wits through such pain, not like I Geon.

Sure, his younger friends called him a strong hero, but he was but a weak errand man who admired I Geon more than anyone.

And so, it was the moment I Jaewon’s breath was about to cease.

“Hyung-nim!!”

“Jaewon oppa!”

“!”

A familiar voice came from outside the building.

laughed, as if delighted.

“Ah. As expected, you came after all.”

“……!!!”

I Jaewon was jolted with alarm.

The voices from outside were Goteu and Cheon Yuha’s.

At the sound of their voices, I Jaewon’s mind miraculously returned, and he glared at .

But whether he did or not, just laughed.

“Looks like you came back to your senses at the sound of your friends’ voices?”

“…You!”

“Why so angry? Right after I killed you, I just sent a message in your voice to those two. Though I didn’t expect you to still be alive.”

The message was nothing special.

[Found a suspicious guy, so I’ll have to break in. Lend me a hand.]

I Jaewon ground his teeth.

He did value the well-being of humanity, like I Geon or Hyugo, but more than that, he was someone who wished for the heroes protecting humanity to be happier.

And the thing that had made him feel that deeply was after I Geon’s death, when he saw Hyugo weeping in heartbroken sorrow.

When he saw his younger friends crying at a comrade’s death.

That was why I Jaewon was always the type to think more of the safety of his friends, I Geon, Hyugo, and those around him.

Perhaps because of that.

Crackle!

I Jaewon squeezed out the last of his remaining magic.

At the same time, a strong light wrapped around Cheon Yuha and Goteu.

It was none other than an evacuation skill.

Thanks to that, looked startled.

“You little bastard! You’re about to die any second!”

And while attention was taken away, I Jaewon wrote characters on the floor with trembling hands.

Then he stamped it with his palm, and rose to his feet as if charging forward.

In the same instant, a dagger bearing the I Geon emblem, drawn from his waist with his one remaining arm!

And like a moth flying madly into the flame, he threw himself at .

There was no plan.

Crunch!!

“Kuh!!”

He simply charged in recklessly and drove the dagger into neck.

, bleeding, raised his voice.

“You think I’ll die from a measly dagger like this?!”

Yeah, I know you won’t die.

He knew that much himself.

But I Jaewon pressed his palm against shoulder.

[9999]

All he needed was to buy just enough time to leave this one thing behind.

‘If it’s Seongjae, he’ll definitely recognize it.’

That would be enough.

Even if he himself died, he wanted nothing more than for I Geon-nim, Hyugo-nim, and his other friends to be safe.

That no one would die anymore.

And that there would be no more tears.

At the same time, the enraged threw a punch.

In that punch, I Jaewon felt his death, but he smiled faintly.

‘My job is done now.’

The rest is up to I Geon-nim.

The one he had admired since childhood.

And so his fading life’s head was smashed at last.

That was the end.

* * *

[You have reached Level 20]

[You awaken as a Gwonsoksin]

With that alert, a holy light burst from Hyugo’s body.

As if molting, Hyugo’s skin, emitting a golden radiance, slowly peeled away, but that light was unmistakably the power of a god!

Everyone was astonished.

especially looked taken aback.

There was no way he couldn’t be.

“Ridiculous. A Gwonsoksin?!”

A human could never become a Gwonsoksin.

But no matter how you looked at it, Hyugo’s appearance was not that of a human.

And the one who knew that better than anyone was , who managed the Gwonsoksin.

“Ah, Dad??!”

He wasn’t just any Gwonsoksin, either.

‘A, an upper-rank…?’

He had observed many, from lower-rank ones like Pishu and Bojagi, to upper-rank subordinates like Disinfectant (Iaso) or Berserk.

Hyugo’s aura was akin to those upper-rank Gwonsoksin….

‘No. He’s different from them.’

Was it because of the difference in divine faith?

A mutant feel, slightly different from the other subordinates.

‘He’s stronger.’

And perhaps because he had just become a Gwonsoksin.

Since his nature hadn’t formed yet, his body twisted chaotically.

[Warning. In accordance with your nature, you may change to a Good alignment or an Evil alignment.]

[If you are consumed by anger, you can become an evil god.]

[A great anger is reacting to the power of the .]

But whether everyone was surprised or not, Hyugo immediately snatched by the neck.

“You bastard, how dare you lay a hand on Jaewon and even try to touch my son?!”

“!!”

Perhaps because many stats rose upon becoming a Gwonsoksin.

He seemed to be able to even detect the blood scent of the Seongdo.

Then Han Jimin, caught by Hyugo, wore a pained, tearful expression.

“Hyu, Hyugo ahjussi…! P-please spare me! I-I can’t breathe… guhk!”

“Quit your bullshit!!”

Hyugo twisted Han Jimin’s neck even more roughly.

So Han Jimin clicked his tongue.

“Tch, not falling for it.”

Of course, if Hyugo had been human, it would have worked one hundred percent.

As someone raising kids, he might have flinched at a kid around his son’s age in pain.

But to Hyugo, who had awakened as a Gwonsoksin, it was clearly visible.

“Stop putting on an act. I can feel the foul monarch’s power seeping out all too well.”

“Wow, so a Serpent Bearer constellation’s Gwonsoksin can see even that?”

Well, from the moment I Jaewon was killed and Cheon Seongjae had caught on, he hadn’t bothered to hide his magic anyway.

As proof, ’s eyes flashed.

At the same time, a massive wind pressure destroyed the city.

Buildings collapsed, and hazy dust veiled the city.

And , having blown the enemies far away, erased his presence and leisurely tried to slip out of the city.

It was a shame he couldn’t kill Cheon Seongjae, but he had already achieved his goal.

That wasn’t all.

‘Fighting anyone of upper-god rank is a headache.’

Killing a god-level being causes the laws of cause and effect to twist far too greatly.

Twisting that himself carried too much risk.

‘Anyway, once I awaken I Geon as the god of the , they’ll all die.’

sneered and vanished.

But.

Swish!!

“!!!”

An arrow suddenly flew from behind.

But it didn’t hit.

Boom!!

“……!”

The arrow went way off the mark, but flinched.

There was no helping it.

The place the arrow had flown to was exactly the direction had been about to head.

As if, had he moved even one second sooner, he would have been struck by that arrow.

In other words.

‘A strike as if he knows beforehand where I’ll go.’

Was it an illusion?

So used teleportation within the mist to move to another building.

“……!!!!”

As if he had been waiting for him, Hyugo fired an arrow right in front of him.

Boom!!!

“Agh!!”

Because of that, ground his teeth.

At the same time, he became certain.

‘That bastard, did he really foresee the future when he awakened as a Gwonsoksin…!’

And sure enough.

Hyugo fiercely loosed an arrow.

tried to move his body, but it was useless.

“You can’t run away!”

“!!”

As if he had read movements in advance, Hyugo put him in a headlock and seized him.

furrowed his brow.

‘As I thought!’

Indeed.

Hyugo had originally been a human with the trait of .

Before, he would see future scenes in dreams or suddenly witness future sights, but now it was different.

[Future Sight (F)]

- You can see the target’s future 5 seconds ahead.

- As your level rises, the length of the future you can see also changes.

But laughed.

“The game is already over. The ’s awakening preparations are finished.”

“What? What do you mean….”

Instead of answering, pointed to a billboard in the middle of the city.

Though cracked from the monster attacks, the circuit was apparently still live, and the news was playing.

The moment Hyugo saw it, he froze.

- Wh-what on earth is going on?

- S-suddenly, human bodies fell in front of I Geon!

- There are three!

- Oh…! One’s face is crushed and can’t be seen, but that pattern on the clothes is… the Divine Archer Constellation’s— Oh my god! Isn’t that Saint Leader I Jaewon?

- One is Benjamin Goteu…! The current Divine Archer Constellation’s Saint, and another is Cheon Yuha…!

Hyugo’s eyes shot with blood.

But laughed, haha.

Well, catching Yuha, a Saint of the Serpent Bearer Constellation, or Goteu, a member under the mountain, was never easy, but thankfully that ploy had worked.

He himself had suffered considerable damage from their strength and incurred significant loss, but he didn’t let it show.

Wince.

‘Those vermin.’

“Just so you know, that’s not a fake.”

He knew without being told. And while Yuha was fortunately alive, the other two were completely different.

Hyugo’s teeth chattered.

And under the foul power, Hyugo’s own strength threatened to go berserk.

But cackled, calling it a success.

“No matter what, with your nephew ending up like that, you’re bound to lose it! Now, I Geon! Quickly, awaken to the 6th stage! Come on, quickly…!!”

But that was when.

“…Huh?”

The expression of watching I Geon became a bit strange.

No, he froze up.

So it was the very moment Hyugo was wondering why this bastard was acting like that.

On the TV, I Geon approached them.

[Serpent Bearer uses Stage 4.]

(To be continued in the next chapter)