“Why are you giving off a monster stench while speaking in Master’s voice?”
The saints were shocked by the stranger's appearance.
Of course, the other Ten Stars present were the same.
“H-Hyugo-nim?”
They couldn't shut their mouths.
No, there was another reason they couldn't shut their mouths.
“G-Good heavens, that style...! That armor...!”
“I-I’m certain! That’s the look from Igeon-nim’s documentary back then!”
“Yes, when he was called Terius!”
Especially the expressions of the Cheon siblings who saw him changed the most.
Seeing Hyugo, they looked like they would cry at any moment.
Because in their memories, the image of their father who had arrived only as a severed head was still vivid.
Of course, unlike now where he looks like he’s in his late twenties, he looked much younger, perhaps just turned twenty.
Hyugo looked about Yuhwa's age.
But there was no way the children couldn’t recognize their father.
“Damn! Annoyingly a bit handsome, but it’s Dad...!”
“Dad!”
The Cheon siblings were about to burst into tears of joy, and Sophie was sobbing.
Since someone they thought dead was there, it was impossible not to be surprised and glad.
Kevin and Stephen also looked on in disbelief.
‘That appearance, it’s definitely him.’
‘I’m not sure, but it’s from twenty years ago...!’
A strangely less worn, polite appearance unlike now.
This was the appearance from the time when Igeon was rough, saying Hyugo was an annoyingly well-raised young master.
And Hyugo at that time was incredibly strong.
However, the summoned Hyugo seemed flabbergasted.
“What the? I definitely went to buy hair tonic by Master’s order, then was told to steal food from Virgo and Leo and dealing with that...?”
Hearing that, the secretly glad Kevin and Stephen’s eyes changed.
‘Of all times, it had to be the Divine Archer from that time!’
So they both flared up.
“You thief! Do you know how much we lost because of you?!”
“We went through all that trouble and didn’t even get paid!”
“!”
At the familiar voices, Hyugo tilted his head and looked at them.
At the same time, he widened his eyes in disbelief.
“What’s this? Why have you two aged so much in just a few minutes?”
“What, you punk?”
“Ah, never mind that. Have you seen Sophie-nim? I need to buy Master’s hair tonic.”
When Hyugo looked for Sophie, Sophie nearby began sobbing again.
Hyugo was looking for her in that exact same appearance from back then.
After Igeon’s incident, he always looked at her with eyes full of disgust worse than for a bug, so she had been sad, but...
‘He’s calling me Sophie-nim... Sophie-nim.’
As Sophie sobbed, Hyugo looked at her oddly.
“Strange. Everyone’s aged. Did I get summoned to some weird place?”
At that, Sophie choked up, and Kevin and Stephen bared their teeth.
“Hey, Divine Archer, you’ve been saying ‘aged’ this and that, what?”
“Hey! You, having gone back to that dorky face, where do you get off!”
“Wow, your face is covered in spite marks. Your personality is also strangely unpleasant... Ah, your personality originally wasn’t great either, any of you.”
“What did you say?!”
However, Hyugo glared at the entity as if they weren’t important.
“So. What are you? Where is Master and why are you here?”
At that, the entity frowned for the first time.
It was asking why Hyugo was here.
Moreover, it wasn't even an ordinary Hyugo.
‘So a past Hyugo Otus has come.’
But that's only possible with the power of [Time].
So Hayley, looking very flustered, had no choice but to alternately look at [Time] and Hyugo.
‘Judging by [Time]'s expression, that person didn’t summon him.’
In the first place, it was the first time the entity had such a flustered expression.
‘Then it couldn’t be...!’
And perhaps having similar thoughts as Hayley, [Time] frowned in displeasure.
‘It’s Igeon’s doing.’
After all, his other timeline self would have no reason to summon Hyugo here.
Of course, he thought the guy wouldn’t be so easily decomposed, but...
‘Could it be that moment?’
The moment he took over Igeon’s body, the bastard must have entered his body in return.
Because he had discarded his own body intending to decompose it along with Igeon.
And just as he could use Ophiuchus’s power, the bastard seemed to have luckily activated [Time]'s power.
‘[Time] isn’t something that can be handled so easily.’
That power became poison the more you used it, leading to self-destruction.
‘The bastard will become a lost child of time.’
He might get excited and use that power recklessly, but the more he used it, the more lost he would become.
In short, it was like an ant tunnel.
If you dig into only one place, you won’t get lost, but if many tunnels are bored, you can no longer know where you came from, nor where to go to return to your original place.
‘In other words, it’s faster for me to master [Time]'s power first.’
As proof, [Time] raised the corners of his mouth and activated [Time's power].
“This is the future. This is no place for you.”
“!!”
At last, [Time]'s power aimed at Hyugo.
Bang!!!
And after knocking Hyugo down, that power aimed at the holy disciples.
Kugugung!
After killing the holy disciples, he intended to revive them with [ ].
At this, the holy disciples tried to flee in a hurry, but perhaps because they had requested to enter under Ophiuchus’s command, giving up everything.
Thud!
[Kneel]
“Kgh!!”
In the end, at the holy god’s command, all the holy disciples unknowingly knelt.
It was the pressure of the master holy god.
And though they hadn’t been approved as under his command yet, from the moment they requested to swear loyalty, it was as if a leash was already on them.
‘Damn it!’
That wasn’t all.
High faith sometimes became poison.
For example.
[Everyone, disarm]
“Kghk!”
People all over the world put down their weapons and released their defensive skills.
And that was a skill, the unique authority of the holy gods.
-God’s Compulsory Command Skill
-Target: All who have faith in the relevant holy god (above 50%)
-The higher the faith, the better the effect, making them follow without any doubt
The adverse effects were severe and the price was huge, so holy gods didn't use it often, but it was their basic authority.
And sure enough.
[You shall never use super regeneration. Willingly accept the divine punishment.]
“Aagh!”
Thanks to that, they could only gnash their teeth.
‘Damn it. Ophiuchus’s faith must be high worldwide right now...!’
Besides, Igeon had just handled the disaster sent by Chaos.
That scene was broadcast live, and people all over the world were praising Igeon.
And they too!
‘Damn it. If this happens...!’
In the end, it was the moment when [Time]'s spearhead-like power flew toward the defenseless holy disciples.
“Kek!”
“Keheok!”
“Ack!”
Someone kicked the holy disciples and deflected [Time]'s attack.
‘!’
It was almost teleportation-like speed.
And the holy disciples were startled by the appearance of the figure.
“H-Hyugo-nim!”
“Uh. I don’t know the situation, but anyway, that guy’s the bad guy, right?”
At Hyugo’s carefree attitude, the saints laughed.
‘He’s the only one not under command, so the pressure doesn’t work on him!’
That Hyugo was a being of the past.
He was the only person unrelated to Igeon, who had become a holy god.
Moreover, in that era, since Igeon hadn’t been deified yet, it was a time when there was no faith in Ophiuchus at all.
‘Even the compulsory command doesn’t work on him!’
Additionally, Hyugo from that time was an evasion-type archer who went all-in on speed!
His speed at that time was the fastest among them.
Thanks to that, the Cheon siblings, held in Hyugo’s arms after being saved, bawled.
“Dad!”
“Ah-bba-aa!!!”
“What?? Dad?? What are you talking about?”
“Dad!!”
“What. Did I get married??? Crap, no way?? I have to serve Master? No, I absolutely hate marriage??”
Just then.
As [Time] reached out in anger, Kevin shouted.
“Divine Archer!! Dodge! Igeon is trying to kill you!”
“What, what? Then is that Master?!”
“Then did you figure out who it is!”
“Wow, insane! Then Master really became a holy god?”
“Ah.”
At that moment, when they felt something ominous, they thought ‘oh no’.
[Hyugo Otus Ophiuchus Faith]
[None ▶ 600%]
Though the number wasn’t visible, at this all-too-obvious sight, all the saints were collectively dismayed.
Especially Kevin, who had called out about Igeon, despaired as if wondering what he had done.
“Ha... I forgot he’s an Igeon fanboy.”
“You idiot! He barely didn’t recognize him because of the rejuvenation!”
At Stephen’s raised voice, Hyugo’s mouth dropped open.
“Huh?! Master can even rejuvenate?”
“Uh? Uh... He came back to life, and on top of that, he rejuvenated...”
“What did you say, resurrection??!!”
[600% ▶ 1000%]
“Amazing as expected! Master! I will serve you even better!”
Perhaps Hyugo’s baseless faith began from here.
The saints held their foreheads as they watched the sobbing Hyugo.
“Hey. Is that okay? Is it really okay? Won’t the future change?!”
“Sorry... it’s ruined. It’s my fault.”
At Kevin’s solemnity, Sophie was sad.
“Heu-euk, Hyugo. Please look here too.”
[Time], as if dumbfounded, tried to strike down [him].
But that was when.
Could it be that Hyugo’s faith, as someone not from this era, was merely a number that didn’t affect reality in the first place?
Whether his faith rose or not, Hyugo avoided the holy god’s pressure.
So [Time] tried to attack Hyugo directly, but well.
“Too slow!!”
Hyugo, from the time when he was receiving harsh one-on-one combat training from Igeon daily, was very sensitive.
Moreover, unlike now, it was his evasion-archer days when he clashed instinctively without long deliberation!
His physical ability was completely different.
Indeed, it could be said that whoever sent Hyugo had taken all of this into account.
And above all, [Time] was not yet accustomed to Igeon’s body.
“……!!!”
It was then that, with Hyugo’s spryly dashing speed, [Time] tried to use [Time's power].
“Is this the source of that power!”
Hyugo strongly aimed for the ring [Time] was wearing.
Then, though the ring didn’t shatter, was it momentarily affected?
“Kghk...!!”
Time and Death, who had been balancing, staggered roughly.
At the same time, the unbalanced [Time] rampaged dizzily, tormenting [Death].
Just as Igeon had struggled to control Death, Time was also in agony.
And if [Death] couldn’t be controlled, then [Time] would also be lost.
Time gritted his teeth and controlled Death.
But perhaps because Time’s consciousness was focused elsewhere.
[Ophiuchus has completed the approval of subordinates]
“!!!”
At the sudden voice, all the holy disciples flinched.
Had the vanished Igeon approved the subordinates?
At that, the Cheon siblings shouted.
“Magic power! Use it full force!!”
“!!”
“That’s right! If saint-level beings all use their magic power at once, even a holy god will have trouble enduring!”
“While he can’t pay attention to this side because of [Time], hurry!”
“Drain all the holy god’s magic power!”
“Since it’s not Igeon-nim, don’t worry about it!”
Perhaps because he had anticipated this situation, [Time] hadn’t approved the subordinates.
“Dare.”
[Time], as if not yielding to such things, approached them.
“I’ll eliminate you just the same.”
But that was when.
Crack!!!
Hyugo kicked [him/it].
“If it’s not Master, there’s nothing to be scared of.”
“……!!”
In the end, [Time], as if pissed, tried to use the power of [Time] that he hadn’t wanted to use.
But that was when.
Clang!!
Along with the sound of something being severed, [Time]'s face stiffened.
The culprit was someone he knew well.
(To be continued in the next episode)