[Ah! My lifespan suddenly decreased!]
[Save me!]
[Seven hours? Does that make sense?!]
[More than that, who is that crazy bastard!!!]
Igeon was raising the corners of his mouth at the maddening screams he heard.
He had simply repaired and used the Olympus messenger bird that flew to Ennead, and their voices came in all too clearly.
"Good, seems the lifespan reduction worked properly."
He'd worried it might not work, but hearing their voices, that clearly wasn't going to be an issue.
But the death god was actually incredulous at the situation.
"You crazy bastard!!!"
Anubis stared at Igeon in disbelief.
Of course, when he stormed into Duat as luggage to find Hugo, and then skinned the Ammits...
He'd realized then that he was a complete lunatic, but never imagined he'd threaten gods with their lives.
And above all, he'd seen it.
[Ah. Made a mistake. This was in hours.]
[What?!]
[Eh, whatever. The underworld's underpopulated anyway, just tell 'em to die quick.]
The sight of Igeon cackling as he spouted such words!
And by this point, Hugo also seemed to have lost all common sense.
No, he was grateful Igeon was going this far for him, but it definitely wasn't just his imagination that the objective seemed to have shifted.
But Yuha, on the other hand, seemed a little dissatisfied.
And for a different reason.
"You could have just made it 7 minutes."
"You brat. Then your dad would die before we even get him out."
"Ah, right. That's true."
Hugo looked at the two of them, bewildered, but Igeon was pulling something else from the kiosk.
It seemed to be his own data.
[Possessed Talents: -1 billion]
[Sellable Authorities] (each)
1-star [Ultra Regeneration] [Absolute Defense] : 500 million
2-star [Pain Resurrection] : 1 billion
3-star [Pain Creation] : 5 billion
4-star [Come Back] : 10 billion
5-star [Come Back 2] [Circulation]: 20 billion each
6-star [???] : Unpriceable
(Prices same as above)
1-star [Removal]
2-star [Summon Dead]
3-star [Puddle Walking (Warp)] [Poison of the Dog]
4-star [Soul Decomposition]
5-star [All Things Annihilation] [Circulation]
6-star [???]
: Unmeasurable
1-star [God's Watching Eye] [Thirteenth Sense] [Creation Workshop]
5-star [Act Forbidden by God]
[Other Sellable Skills] (5 billion each)
[Oblivion] [Get Hit Instead of Me] and 10 others
[Sellable Items]
[Time Data] 10 billion
[Abyss Data] 10 billion
...
[Aquarius Star God Data] 100 million
[Chaos Data] 10 billion
[Sellable Attendant Gods] 5 creatures
Having sneakily glanced at the paper Igeon was looking at, Anubis freaked out.
'This bastard, just a fledgling, and he's valued this highly!'
What Igeon had just pulled was the personal data of gods as assessed by the divine realm.
And that was exactly what made it so surprising.
For the notoriously stingy divine realm, they'd put an absurdly high price on his Authorities.
'That means the fundamental quality of his divinity is incredibly high.'
But what about that divinity in the middle?
'Could it be beyond any valuation?'
But that wasn't the most shocking thing.
[Divine Realm Debt: 30 billion talents]
[Penal Labor: 1,000 years]
Anubis couldn't help but be aghast at the debt Igeon had racked up.
'This crazy bastard!!!'
What the hell had he done for this day-old fledgling to pile up this much debt!
Of course, seeing the items he possessed, it looked like he could pay it off in no time, but he was more bewildered than anything.
And he couldn't help it.
'An amount like this in such a short time means he's someone even the divine realm warns against...!'
He was insanely dangerous.
Still, he thought he had a rough idea why.
[Ahh! Save me!]
[I don't want to die like this!]
[Do you need money? I'll give anything!]
"Good, if I extort a life ransom from these bastards, I can clear my debt right away."
Anubis broke out in a cold sweat.
This guy is a disaster for the divine realm!
* * *
Around that time.
"Does this make any sense?!"
"Where the hell did this crazy bastard roll in from!"
The Olympus that Igeon had struck was a crucible of chaos.
From the start, they were gods. Not just 7 hours—to them, even 70 years was nothing, something that would pass after a night's sleep.
In fact, some gods would bathe for 700 years at a time.
To gods like that, a 7-hour lifespan was unthinkable, and many above the star god level couldn't even conceive of their own deaths.
And yet, this!
Of course, the lord of Scorching Leo was also in a panic.
'No, nephew! I even blocked the Ennead's Great Star God for you!'
The lord of Scorching Leo seemed inwardly aggrieved as he looked at his reduced lifespan.
He'd already nearly died taking a hit from the Ennead's Great Star God and barely escaping.
'I barely got out of there alive!'
As if asking why this was happening to him, the lord of Scorching Leo clutched his head.
'Aren't we fellow members of the 13 Zodiacs...!!'
In the end, he pulled out a phone-like device.
And for a different reason.
'First, I need to contact my nephew and ask him to give back my lifespan...'
But right at that moment.
Smack!!!
"Keuk!"
The lord of Scorching Leo was struck by a slime that emerged from his own pocket.
As if demanding how it dared to play tricks on its master, the slime trampled on the fallen Scorching Leo's face.
Crunch! Smash smash smash!
Thanks to that, the lord of Scorching Leo could only gape in disbelief.
This bastard, first in front of the Ennead's Great Star God, and now this!
"Why on earth are you doing this to me!"
Maybe it was a case of like master, like minion. Or maybe it simply hated him.
But the slime kicked the lord of Scorching Leo as if telling him to go find Hugo already.
And in all this, the gods whose lifespans had abruptly been cut could only stand there dumbfounded.
"Damn it, all our subordinates got dragged off to the netherworld, so we can't even conduct a search!"
"It's clearly deliberate—they removed our hands and feet to cut off our limbs!"
"Then why the hell did Hades bring a guy like that! Ugh, forget it! First, kill that bastard!"
"What are you saying, he's already dead!"
"Argh! That's why I said don't mess with things that have owners!"
"Ah, enough! We don't even have time to waste fighting!"
They all tried to find Igeon.
"He possesses the Underworld Register! If we use a tracking Authority on a divine artifact, we can locate him instantly!"
"Ah, for that, the lord of the Sun...!"
When all eyes turned to the lord of Scorching Leo, he flinched violently.
"Great territorial god of Olympus, quickly use the tracking Authority on the Underworld Register!"
"With you, you can find that despicable wretch!"
Under their stares, the lord of Scorching Leo broke out in a cold sweat. And under the slime's glare, he pretended to collapse.
"Ah, no, I'm feeling weak right now. I can't use my strength?!"
"Territorial god!"
"Aah, it seems that snake god has done something to me...!"
At that sight, the gods grabbed onto the lord of Scorching Leo in shock.
"That cunning bastard! Daring to do this even to a territorial god!"
And at that moment, someone raised a hand.
"I, I can use a detection-related skill!! The Underworld Register is currently being activated in the Ancient Temple!"
At that cry, the gods of Olympus' eyes flashed.
The famous star gods in particular seemed more enraged than anyone by this situation.
"We will kill that god who doesn't know his place!"
"Daring to threaten gods with their lives?!"
"!"
At the sight of high-ranking gods fiercely unleashing their divine might, the lord of Scorching Leo, who had been pretending to faint, felt his heart drop.
It was only natural—if gods of that caliber gathered, even Igeon would be hard-pressed.
'No! Those are gods within the top 100 with long histories!'
The lord of Scorching Leo grew desperate. But the other gods were faster.
"Let's move over there quietly. If other factions find out about this situation, it will be a big problem."
"Agreed."
But right at that moment.
As they hurriedly tried to enter the neutral zone where Igeon was.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"?!"
Those blocking the entrance to the neutral zone appeared.
The Olympian gods' eyes bulged.
'Valhalla, Eden, and Kunlun...!'
Gods from other factions were approaching the Olympian gods with menacing faces.
And their numbers were anything but ordinary.
They couldn't help but be bewildered.
"What is this, you lot! Move aside!"
"This is no time to be dealing with you—"
"I heard you've got a 7-hour lifespan?"
"?!"
"Hahahahaha! I don't know why, but if we just block you for 7 hours, you're all wiped out, yeah?"
"Total jackpot! If we just trap these bastards for a little while, Olympus is finished!!!"
"Lock them in!!!"
"??!!"
The Olympus faction, turning white as sheets, screamed internally.
Who the hell had spread this rumor in the meantime?
Of course, that question was quickly resolved.
[Ah. Right. Can you all hear me? Just in case, I'm telling you, don't waste your efforts trying to catch me. I've already spread rumors about you all throughout the divine realm.]
"?!!"
So it was that bastard who spread the rumors!
But Igeon laughed infuriatingly.
[So don't even think about pulling any stunts, and just bring back the fool you kidnapped. You morons.]
"......!!!!"
The Olympian faction gods shot murderous intent from their eyes.
To be toyed with like this by a lowly, nameless, factionless snake god!
Panicking, the Olympian gods, as if they had no choice, raised their voices to the point of bursting veins.
"Hermes!!!! Where is the lord of messengers!"
"Hermes! You're listening, aren't you! Use your Return Authority and clear these bastards out right now!!!"
"No, just tell him to use the address book and summon this snake god!!!"
But the gods who had been trying to contact him since earlier wore bewildered expressions.
"No matter how much we try, we can't reach the lord of messengers!"
"What?! Why!!"
"We don't know! He isn't responding to summons either!"
By that point, they were thrown into confusion.
They had no idea why that attention-whore wasn't showing up at a time like this, but none of that mattered now.
"Where's the fool! Just hand him over!"
"What nonsense! The fool is an object treasured by the Great Star God! We absolutely cannot grant the demand!"
"Is this really the time to quibble?! It's 7 hours, 7 hours! Our lives come first...!"
But right at that moment.
"He made one mistake."
"!"
Everyone jolted at the voice that rang out.
It was because of three goddesses who appeared among them.
"You—you're clearly the servants of the Three Fates...!"
They were the servants of the Three Goddesses of Fate.
And though they were servants, they were treated much like Great Star Gods. Even territorial gods couldn't treat them carelessly.
And besides, weren't they the ones who'd been working with Hades lately?
Having harbored a grudge against Igeon for killing Hades, their eyes flashed.
"That snake god, thanks to his meddlesome personality, left information on his divinity behind."
"Divinity information?"
"His voice."
"!"
"A voice holds a great deal of information. And 6 hours is more than enough. He's made a foolish mistake."
And sure enough, the moment the goddesses activated their Authority, the lord of Scorching Leo turned deathly pale.
That was none other than a 5-star Authority!
'That's an Authority that severs fate!'
Growing desperate, he urgently threw himself down and texted the Virgo star god.
[What are you doignㅇ! Tell Igeon to contact you and return our lifespana quick!]
At this rate, not only would Igeon die, but if he was dragged out in this state and investigated, his own connection to Igeon would be exposed!
[Tell him to at least extend our lifespans first!! If not, we might seriously get imprisoned and die after 7 hours!]
But the reply was cool as ice.
[I don't care. My lifespan wasn't reduced.]
"?!!!"
Wha—what the hell!
And right at that moment.
Just as the three goddesses were about to pull Igeon's soul from his voice information and sever his fate.
"Huk!!"
"Kyaahk!"
The three goddesses collapsed, foaming at the mouth. The gods were bewildered.
"Look here! What is this?! Are you alright?!"
The ones who had tried to remotely extract Igeon's soul were now trembling in fear.
And for a completely different reason.
"Kuhuk, kuhuk...! That snake god... what on earth is he carrying inside his body... hyuk!"
The moment they tried to grasp Igeon's identity, they'd been overwhelmed by the gaze of some unknown monster.
As if they had glimpsed something that should never be touched.
And they definitely felt it.
'This guy...! He's not a god!'
'Just what in the world did Hades bring into the divine realm!'
And it was right at that moment.
[Now, time keeps ticking. 3 hours left, huh?]
"......!!!"
At Igeon's voice ringing out, the gods' veins bulged.
"What nonsense! It's only been 30 minutes...!"
But they couldn't help but scream.
The timer that had been at 6 hours 27 minutes 38 seconds had changed to 3 hours 27 minutes 38 seconds.
"Aaack!!! How is this happening!"
[Among the guys I killed, there was one who handled 'time'. A bit of his data remained, so I used it to fast-forward.]
"What?! Data? What do you mean... Aaaack!"
Soon, they screamed at the giant magic circle that rose from the floor of the neutral zone.
It was a skill utilizing the data of 'time'.
Accelerating the physical time of the gods.
And then.
[Remaining lifespan: 1 hour.]
"Aaaack!!!"
Igeon raised the corners of his mouth.
[Now, next is 7 minutes.]
A chilling voice echoed out.
(To be continued next chapter)