Igeon was flabbergasted.
No, it was absurd enough that he’d been kidnapped to a strange place while suffering from a stage-six rampage.
Now this stranger he’d never seen was suddenly spouting nonsense like ‘I’m your father.’
Not only that, but some bald Holy God was claiming to be his uncle.
And on top of that, this uncle bastard and the original inhabitants were bad guys, and he was telling him not to even think about reviving them.
‘Well, if they’re that shady, there’s no real reason to bring them back, but…’
In the end, Igeon, who had been listening, looked for an exit.
From the looks of it, this place seemed familiar.
It was the secret hideout where the Aquarius Holy God had hidden before. A dimensional crevice.
‘So roughly, is this Ophiuchus’s space?’
Anyway, no exit was visible.
So he tried to use his power, but the 13th just beamed and grabbed his shoulder.
[My son. Judging by your expression, you’re curious about your mother’s story, aren’t you?]
“No, not at all? More importantly, why are you my father?”
[Yes, yes, you must be curious! So your mother, well… she was the most beautiful in the universe…]
“I said I’m not curious??? How can a human like me be the child of some god?”
At that, the 13th smiled a complex smile.
It seemed he had a story he absolutely had to convey to Igeon.
Sure enough.
[Your mother was a human.]
“!”
The 13th gently stroked Igeon’s face as if longing for her.
It was a nostalgic expression, as if seeing his mother in Igeon’s face.
A past that was still vivid.
It was quite a long time ago.
The 13th often slipped out of the divine realm and hid among human society.
Of course, the purpose was one.
“Oh my, you came again on a moonless day.”
Igeon’s mother was a princess.
And not just any princess, but the princess of a strictly theocratic state that worshipped other gods.
Of course, as the saintess of a theocracy devoted to a single god, she was in charge of serving that other god.
If it were revealed that such a saintess had fallen in love with another god, nothing good would come of it.
So their meetings were held in secret.
On the New Moon, when neither humans nor the gods of sun and moon could see.
They appeared on the first day of the lunar month when even the moon hides, and parted when the crescent moon began to rise.
In principle, a saintess should only gaze upon the Holy God she serves, but she had fallen in love with the 13th instead.
They were content simply with being able to see each other quietly.
For the sake of this person’s happiness, the 13th could even give up his revenge.
So the 13th resolved to live quietly, no longer dreaming of revenge.
He even hid the fact that he remembered the past.
But.
[Damn! This is insane. Asran remembered what we did!]
[What?! Then, does he mean to take revenge on us?!]
[He didn’t say that! But how can we believe that?]
[Damn…! Should we have killed him along with his parents that day?]
[This is all because of Blazing Lion! If only that bastard hadn’t said to spare Asran to use him that day…!]
[This is bad! Asran was Blazing Lion’s younger brother!]
[What? Really? How did you find out?]
[I tailed him because something was suspicious! And then I found out they were brothers!]
[Damn Blazing Lion! So that’s why he saved him that day, because he was his own brother?]
[That damned bastard…!]
The original inhabitants trembled in fear.
Of course, the 13th had clearly said he had no intention of harming them, but there was no way they could believe that.
Perhaps that’s why they were afraid.
They noticed the princess’s existence that the 13th had hidden so carefully, and they made a plan.
They intended to use the princess as a hostage to put a complete leash on the 13th.
But.
[D-Damn! What do we do now!]
[Why blame me? Who knew it would turn out like this?!]
They accidentally killed the princess.
[Damn, we were trying to impose our authority, but she resisted…!]
[Damned humans, why are they so weak?]
[Ah…! Wait! This woman is still alive. I think she’ll live if we heal her….]
[Forget it! She already saw our faces! If she tells Asran, it’s over!]
The 13th must never find out that they tried to harm the princess.
Perhaps because of that.
[Let’s erase our traces and silence her.]
The original inhabitants informed the royal family and the humans about the princess’s deeds.
After all, the princess was a saintess serving the god of a theocracy.
Harboring another god in her heart was itself a grave issue that would incur the god’s wrath.
Moreover, the original inhabitants deliberately caused disasters in the nation.
So they pinned it on the princess, claiming that the disasters befell because she had been distracted by another god and become corrupted.
After that, it was very easy.
“Drought and famine occurred because of the corrupted princess.”
“This place was completely swept away by floods!”
“The nation’s god is enraged!”
“The god is enraged and commands that the princess be dealt with!”
In the end, the princess, branded a traitor to the nation, was burned alive at the stake.
And the 13th, who had been away on a mission, hurriedly came to save the princess.
But it was already too late.
The princess, who had been cursed by a god, could not be revived even with his power.
Of course, not everyone had died.
[It seems your mother protected you.]
The princess had been pregnant with the 13th’s child.
That was Igeon.
Igeon, still in the womb, miraculously survived, and the 13th clenched his teeth.
‘If they find out about this child’s existence, it will become dangerous.’
He didn’t care about himself, but they would constantly be targeted.
So the 13th took the child from the womb and launched him with his power.
‘It is not yet time for him to be born.’
Thus, Igeon flowed into the stream of the god who oversees human life.
So that he might evade the eyes of the gods and be born into the world when it becomes safe someday.
Though he would be born temporarily wearing the shells of fake parents, that shell would gradually peel away.
‘And remember nothing, get entangled with nothing, and live happily as a human.’
Thus, the 13th sent Igeon away.
And from the eyes of the 13th, who had lost his loved ones all at once, blood-tears streamed down.
[I will not forgive.]
What are mere honor and power?
After I had resolved to bury everything, they went this far.
In the end, all the suppressed rage and hatred boiled over.
Perhaps because of that.
[Now you try suffering the same. What you have taken, you too shall be robbed of just the same.]
The 13th immediately went to the subordinate gods of the original inhabitants who were being tormented.
They were gods subordinate to other Holy Gods, so he couldn’t extract them, but they were beings he had known and looked after from the start.
Thus, there was no way he couldn’t know what they were discontent about and what suffering they endured.
So it was easy to incite them.
[What do you lack to be treated like this?]
[!]
[Why, isn’t it so? Just looking at ability, you’re far more impressive than your masters.]
[!]
Thus, having incited the subordinates, he called his own subordinate, Mimir.
[Mimir, the one who knows all things in the world. You must know well the weaknesses of the 12 Holy Gods besides myself.]
[Master?]
[Spread it to the subordinates of other divine seats. Especially to the fish subordinates.]
[Pardon? But master, you will be in danger too!]
[It doesn’t matter.]
[……!!]
The look in the 13th’s eyes had already changed.
He was gradually turning into an evil god through hatred.
He knew that if he couldn’t control his rage, he’d become a monster, but it didn’t matter.
‘Let’s die together. The 13 Zodiacs or whatever, let’s annihilate them all.’
Just as they coveted that position and usurped it, let them be usurped in the same way and die.
Thus, the plan proceeded smoothly.
The original inhabitants, who had guilty consciences toward the 13th, fell into the trap themselves and fell ill, and their subordinates plotted usurpation.
Of course, he told no one of the plan.
Especially not to Yeonwoo and Junwoo.
‘I can’t let them turn into evil gods with me.’
If they learned of his affairs, they would all volunteer to help.
If done wrong, they’d be assimilated into his rage as he transformed into an evil god, causing other subordinates to fall as well.
Therefore, he prevented any of his subordinates from approaching.
He merely left contract termination requests and letters in the divine realm so that when everything ended, they could all live freely.
[Live happily with your little brother.]
The 13th gently stroked the sleeping baby snakes.
[And though I know it’s impossible, if it is possible….]
If you could watch over my child who will be born someday.
Thus, the usurpation occurred, and as planned, both himself and the original inhabitants died.
Well, the subordinate gods took that power, but that was fine.
The throne and the power of the original inhabitants were originally things of themselves, the Creators.
He could just consider it a gift and leave.
And just when he thought all revenge was over.
[Of all things, the Monarchs made that thing out of my body.]
In the end, at the 13th’s words, Igeon snorted.
“So things got tangled?”
[Yes. I was already dead and couldn’t do anything.]
That thing, made from my body, was a being born from the flesh of a Creator who had died long ago.
No wonder it was strong.
Of course, that thing eventually got reset by Igeon and became an experience sandbag… no, was dealt with nicely.
[Anyway, I fought them when I went out, so I know: the Monarchs were extremely troublesome beings. But among them, that thing was truly hopeless.]
“!”
That unwelcome guest, unlike the other Monarchs, made things go in a completely different direction.
[I never imagined it would join hands with the 12 Holy Gods to threaten humanity and even lay hands on Yeonwoo and Junwoo.]
A vicious bastard.
It went back to before it was born, and as if helping a usurpation that would have happened even without the monarch’s power, it formed a partnership with the 12 Holy Gods.
[Well, I didn’t expect the subordinates who newly took the 12 Holy Gods’ seats to become corrupt like that… but well, you handled that well.]
Does position change everything?
The 13th seemed all the more troubled because they had been children he trusted.
Moreover, that thing didn’t just repeat it once, but tens of thousands of times, tormenting Yeonwoo and Junwoo.
There was another problem.
That was, the 13th also got caught up in the regressions, just like that thing, for 18,733 times.
Surely because he was the matrix of that thing.
But what was maddening, unlike that thing, was that his regression point was the very moment of his death. That is, the time when that thing was born.
Perhaps because of that.
[I really thought I’d go crazy. It hurts like hell, and with my throat cut, I couldn’t even speak. I had no way to act. The only thing I could do was melt a bit of Ophiuchus’s authority with my last strength.]
“So thanks to that, you diverted Taeksu?”
Having heard up to there, Igeon let out a hollow laugh.
“So in short, you’re saying I’ve been cleaning up my parents’ mess all this time?”
At that, the 13th’s expression stiffened.
[No! Absolutely not! All of this was also part of raising you.]
“Wanna die? What nonsense is that?”
The 13th’s expression changed.
[Why do you think your mother was discovered?]
“!”
[And why do you think the 12 Holy Gods ended up killing Yeonwoo and Junwoo?]
The starting point of those tragedies.
Igeon’s mother was discovered by the gods, kidnapped as a hostage, and died; and Yeonwoo and Junwoo were killed by subordinates while trying to avenge the 13th.
[I clearly left letters revealing all the truth to Yeonwoo and Junwoo and then died. Saying they didn’t need to avenge me. To not mind my affairs and become free.]
“……!”
[If those had been delivered properly, Yeonwoo and Junwoo wouldn’t have thought of revenge.]
At those words, Igeon was startled.
[And I had requested that other subordinates be freed from their servitude after my death, but it failed. As a result, Ophiuchus’s subordinate gods were dragged away by other Holy Gods.]
Igeon’s eyes became serious.
There was no way he didn’t know what those words meant.
[That means, there is someone who told the original inhabitants about your mother’s existence and intercepted the letters left for Yeonwoo and Junwoo.]
“……!”
The 13th’s eyes sharpened.
[That is, among the gods, there are those who are after the power of the Creator.]
“!”
[In other words, you will be targeted.]
Well, they never imagined Yeonwoo and Junwoo would meet Igeon.
[Anyway, you must be careful. Honestly, I never thought that thing would use… Haley to jump to another timeline like that. But you overcame even the decomposition of the Creator’s power that gods couldn’t handle, and returned. All thanks to your power and the power of the human holy saints.]
“So?”
[That’s no ordinary power. They probably never imagined the power of human saints would reach that level. Thanks to that, now the divine realm and the outer realms, literally all gods, will take an interest in Earth, Ophiuchus’s sanctuary, and humanity.]
From the ones who stole Ophiuchus’s subordinate gods to the chief god-level beings.
However, Igeon, who had caught on to the meaning of those words, snorted.
“Damn it. So you’re saying those god bastards are going to invade this land, take it over, and make humanity their holy saints?”
[Yes. So…]
“Well, we can set aside that uncertain future for now. Right now, that’s not what’s important, is it.”
[!]
Igeon immediately summoned something.
And at that familiar sight, the 13th’s eyes widened.
Because it was none other than Yeonwoo’s body.
[I didn’t want to do it in front of others, but fine. It doesn’t seem like you have any intention of letting me out from here.]
Well, he could more easily procure it by summoning Yeonwoo’s body from the past.
Of course, he had filled in the missing parts himself.
At the same time, Igeon placed his hand on Yeonwoo’s body.
And.
[Come back.]
Finally, Yeonwoo opened his eyes.
(Continued in the next episode)