"Hmph. Because of a mere frontier god, I've done something I didn't need to do."
Hades looked displeased as he headed toward the heart of the zero-dimensional layer.
Because of Igeon, he had gone to a hospital he never intended to visit, and now had to move around.
'That bumpkin, what kind of power did he bring from Earth?'
He clutched the stomach where he had been attacked by Igeon. Thanks to a quick decision to banish Igeon, the damage was only superficial, but his mood was still foul.
That bastard only caused him unnecessary expenses!
'How much are they charging for a wound like this, anyway?'
He had gone to the hospital out of necessity, but they demanded an astronomical sum, saying the wound wasn't covered by insurance.
'Those god-realm scum, only thinking about money.'
Hospitals in the divine realm that didn't accept medical insurance were unbelievably expensive.
That's why Valhalla, always gathering warriors and waging wars, was perpetually in debt. The hospital bills exceeded the value of the spoils, so they were always in the red.
It wasn't for nothing that Olympus made money through commerce, not war.
After conquering various dimensions and establishing colonies, the money rolled in on its own.
Of course, in the past, Olympus once had a legendary healing deity named Asclepius, whom all the other gods tried to steal.
Anyway, that wasn't important.
"Open the doors of Olympus!"
"Gasp, Lord Hades?"
"Master of the layers!"
At the center of each floor was a gigantic divine-realm elevator that pierced through floors 1 to 20.
Hades, having arrived to travel, glared sharply.
"To the 3rd floor. Move quickly!"
"Yes!"
Hades clutched his aching stomach and ground his teeth.
'That snake god bastard. I won't forgive him.'
If he told the star gods of Olympus about his situation, they would certainly help him gladly.
The same went for Kunlun and Valhalla, who had been aboard the ship.
'I went so far as to spend my entire deposit to extend such hospitality.'
Thus, he arrived on the 3rd floor, Olympus.
'Anyway, he's just a snake god without a proper faction. Killing him won't be hard...'
But the moment the elevator doors opened, Hades' expression twisted.
"Exterminate Olympus!!"
"Peace treaty, my ass!"
"These treacherous bastards!"
"......?????"
Hades' eyes bulged wide.
A place where warm sunlight gently embraced the city.
In the beautiful sky, all sorts of aircraft flew about, and the white skyscrapers stood as elegant and graceful as ever.
Graceful....
BOOOM!!!
"Kill them!! Kill all the Olympus bastards!"
"??????????"
Giants were hurling stones, and immortals were flinging lightning bolts.
The white skyscrapers had turned into a battlefield in an instant.
But when Hades recognized who the culprits were, he became even more dumbfounded.
"Where's Hades! We know perfectly well you've hidden that bastard!"
"What the hell are you blabbering about! We're the ones looking for Hades!"
"That son of a bitch caused all this trouble, and now he's vanished!"
"Shut up and bring out Hades! I'll cut off his head!"
"......?????"
Hades' expression was quite a sight.
"Aren't those Kunlun and Valhalla!"
They were the ones he had painstakingly made his allies over a long time.
But why!
But that wasn't what mattered right now.
As the star gods of Olympus moved to attack Kunlun and Valhalla, Hades grew frantic.
"Stop! Who do you think you're attacking? These are honored guests!"
At that voice, both the star gods of Olympus and the intruders halted.
"Why in the world are you fighting? Sheathe your swords at once..."
But it was at that moment.
"You mo￨ther￨fu￨cker!!!"
"What the hell are you say￨ing!"
They raised their divine weapons at Hades.
And at the strike of divine weapons that could extinguish even a god's soul in one blow, Hades had no choice but to flee.
"Why are our distinguished guests suddenly acting like this!"
But soon, Hades realized the reason for this insane situation.
"Well! On the ship, they say Lord Hades was attacked by the entertainer he hired!"
"They say that entertainer claimed to have received a heartfelt order from Lord Hades!"
Hearing his followers, Hades was dumbfounded.
"An entertainer! I never hired anything like..."
But then, Hades caught on.
Just as he feared.
"He's tall, with red eyes and a purple robe. They say he's a martial god!"
"!"
"A low-level god in human form reeking of human scent... When we inquired at immigration, there was only one deity matching that description, and his name was [No Need to Know]..."
Upon hearing that, Hades clutched the back of his neck.
It's that bastard!!
That snake bastard, I wondered how he'd slinked all the way up to the 10th floor, and it was on that ship?!
Nevertheless, the Valhalla warriors donned their divine armor and thrust their swords forward.
"Pay sweetly for the sin of humiliating us!!"
Hades nearly spat out curses.
"You idiots! I didn't send him... gahk!"
A divine spear that could kill gods with a single graze wailed sharply.
In the end, Hades shouted.
"Fine. I will take responsibility for all of this!!"
"!"
The situation had spiraled out of control, but all he had to do was settle it himself.
'As long as it doesn't reach the ears of the Great Star Gods.'
The Great Star Gods were the mighty pillars supporting each faction. Of course, Olympus had them too.
'I just have to catch that snake before he comes to Olympus.'
That snake's target was himself.
But no matter what, he was the culprit behind this mess. If it were just his shipboard party, maybe, but if he let him slither all the way to Olympus, then even the Great Star Gods wouldn't stay still.
With that thought, Hades immediately summoned his subordinate gods. They were jackal-headed subordinate gods.
"Here's a clue about that snake."
He pulled out a small gourd he had secretly taken from Igeon.
"It's a good thing I took it, just in case. Use this to track him down and eliminate him so he can't even dream of coming to Olympus."
Immediately, the subordinate gods started sniffing.
And.
"Ah."
"Have you found him?"
Hades, the corners of his mouth rising, prepared to dispatch the subordinate gods right away.
"Where is he? Is it the 18th floor after all? Or has he already been branded by the god realm and gone to the 20th..."
But the jackal-headed subordinate gods were sweating profusely.
"Er, well, that's..."
"What is it."
"O-Olympu..."
"What?"
"It says he's already in Olympus!"
"......????"
Hades' expression was quite a sight.
How the hell is that guy already here?
* * *
Meanwhile, around that time.
Thanks to his internal spy (?), Igeon, who had entered Olympus, raised an eyebrow.
It was because of the man right in front of him.
A blond man who looked to be in his late twenties.
His sleeveless white divine robe bore the characteristics of the Olympus faction.
And he was the master of Leo, the star god.
Igeon was now standing in his private residence.
But the retainers dressed as maids, watching from a distance, buzzed loudly at the sight of Igeon.
"Who is that?"
"Isn't he a low-level god?"
"Who is he that one of Olympus' pillars would face him personally?"
But the Lord of Leo, seeing Igeon, smiled with a stiff face.
"Um... so... neph... ew?"
Instead of answering, Igeon raised his fist.
The Lord of Leo, seeing that menacing expression, quickly changed his words.
"...L-Lord Snake."
"What, you punk."
The Lord of Leo, terrified of being hit by Igeon, pointed his finger behind him.
"First, can you calm that thing down?"
Behind Igeon, it was absolute chaos.
BANG! BANG!
A slime was rampaging, destroying the furnishings.
It was the slime Igeon had smuggled in a glass bottle.
Of course, he couldn't take out any items before immigration, and even after arriving, the counterfeit currency penalty had locked all his items.
[Identity not guaranteed, all economic activity is prohibited]
[Combat prohibition is active]
[Combat skills, items cannot be used]
In short, he was marked as a criminal, with public facilities, bank accounts, and personal assets all locked and unusable.
So the Lord of Leo had unlocked them using his authority.
[The Lord of Leo has requested temporary identity guarantee in the divine realm]
[Item usage restrictions have been lifted]
But as soon as the slime was freed, it had gleefully started wrecking the Lord of Leo's private residence.
BANG! BANG!
Walls were broken, and the expensive-looking furniture was already getting devoured by the slime, looking as if rats had chewed it up — it was a chaos.
"Lord Snake! Please calm that slime down!"
At that, Igeon, sitting on the sofa, let out an annoyed sigh.
"Laimie. That's not right."
"Oh, as expected...! Thank..."
"That's weak. Make it beyond recovery."
At those words, the Lord of Leo screamed, and the slime transformed into a 20-year-younger Igeon and smashed everything to pieces.
At that sight, the retainers turned pale as sheets.
'A madman has appeared.'
In the end, the Lord of Leo, having lost his property, looked wronged.
"Even now, haven't I hidden you? So..."
Igeon radiated killing intent from his eyes, as if asking if he wanted to die.
"Why do you think I came here in the first place?"
"!"
"You just sit around here while your star saint has been sold off? That lolicon bastard had Taeksu imprisoned, and you just sat there watching?"
As he raised his fist again with a look that said "You want to die?", the Lord of Leo broke out in a cold sweat.
"In the first place, isn't Hades part of the same Olympus faction? Are you really just blowing it off because you're upset that Taeksu is the Snake Lord?"
"No! There's a good reason for that!"
"What!"
The Lord of Leo, with zero uncle authority, looked extremely troubled.
In truth, it wasn't that he hadn't thought of looking for Hugo.
But Leo could never enter Hades' domain.
They were already sworn enemies, but well.
The matter regarding Hugo was officially settled, with Hades' underworld having taken him over for a fair price, so the moment he stepped in, it would become a war.
'In the first place, the life registers of my subordinates are held by Hades.'
If he made a move, Hades would take the lives of all the subordinate gods under Leo.
"That bastard is a vicious one. He murdered his adoptive father to steal his divinity, and even passed down Persephone to gain power."
"Passed down?"
"There are three main types of gods in the divine realm."
The first is a reincarnated god. Simply put, when the previous god dies, the one who inherits their divinity is reborn in their place.
That is, a completely different person with a different personality and memories. But because the authority and subordinates are inherited intact, they can use their divine authority right after birth. Hence, it's the most preferred method on the battlefield, and they are pure-blooded gods.
The second is a usurped god. In short, it's receiving the divinity by either killing the owner or having it willingly handed over.
The Twelve Star Gods usurping the power of their original owners, and Igeon stealing the power of the Zodiac, all fall under this category.
The downside is that it isn't one's own divinity, so it takes time to digest the authority as one's own. And depending on talent and disposition, one may never fully master it.
And the third is a born god.
Whether a god and god bear a child, or an object, spirit, or human becomes divine, or through any other means, an entirely new god is born.
The downside is having to start from the very bottom.
Anyway, that wasn't what was important right now.
"The reason Hades kidnapped Hugo is probably because of the Great Star God seat."
"The Great Star God?"
The Lord of Leo extended his fingers and drew a star in the air.
It was a nine-pointed star, a nonagram.
Three triangles intersecting.
"This is the divine realm. The eight great factions occupy each vertex, and we are currently here, in the twelve directions."
He said it was the area occupied by the Olympus faction.
Igeon roughly understood.
'Now that I think about it, they said it was Sector A when I used the pass.'
The divine realm was probably composed of nine worlds, each with floors from 1 to 20.
And they were connected at the center. In fact, it was said that each sector connected every five floors.
"Anyway, right now, for the Great Star God selection, the gods are fighting over that important position."
"So. What does that have to do with Taeksu?"
As if telling him not to change the subject, Igeon raised his fist, and the Lord of Leo yelped.
"I mean, it's a time when everyone is trying to grow their power. Everyone's limit is at the 5th stage of divinity, so they're aiming for the 6th stage. And a subordinate god with 600% faith is excellent for increasing a god's power..."
As sparks flew from Igeon's eyes, the Lord of Leo hurriedly added.
"Anyway, he's a rare subordinate god! Even the Great Star Gods are interested, so I couldn't touch him... ack!"
In the end, the Lord of Leo was kicked by his nephew.
"Master!!"
"You little punk, you're giving me a long-winded excuse about being scared."
"No!"
The Lord of Leo started to speak but stopped.
Truthfully, among the Great Star Gods interested in Hugo, there was one who bore a grudge against the 'Creator' clan.
And although he had regained his memories late, the Lord of Leo was also of the Creator clan.
If he approached, he would be executed by dismemberment.
"Anyway, neph..."
The Lord of Leo flinched at Igeon's glare, which said he'd kill him if he called him that.
"...Lord Snake. It would be best to give up on Hugo and return. Look at this."
He held out a paper airplane that was said to have been sent while Hugo was captured.
"My men were lying in wait and retrieved it."
Unfolding the paper airplane, Igeon's eyes widened.
Inside, there was text that appeared to be in Hugo's handwriting.
[Geon, you don't need to come find me]
[It's really nice here]
[I've found a new family, so I'll live happily, you live well too]
[Now, stop hindering my happiness, and live well with Yeonwoo and have kids]
[I never want to see you come back]
The Lord of Leo sighed softly.
"Anyway, since he himself is hoping that... ack!"
The Lord of Leo was kicked by Igeon's running shoes.
But soon, the Lord of Leo began trembling.
For a different reason.
"Nephew! Your divinity! Your divinity!"
It was because the 6th-stage divinity that Igeon had been sealing was leaking from his body.
Just before his appearance turned grotesque, the power subsided.
Igeon looked pissed.
"What was that family-obsessed idiot thinking, writing something like this?"
"......!"
"I've been holding back, trying not to cause trouble and just find Taeksu and go back, I really have been staying quiet."
"No, hey, Lord Snake. You've already turned Olympus upside down."
"Still, it's my first time here, so staying quiet was incredibly hard."
"You turned Kunlun and Valhalla upside down too!"
But Igeon ignored him completely and said to the Lord of Leo.
"Hades is here, right?"
"He is, but..."
"Then."
"?"
"Which faction hates that bastard the most?"
"What?"
The disaster god raised the corner of his mouth viciously.
"That bastard already messed with something he shouldn't have."
(To be continued in the next episode)