The uppermost layer of Olympus territory.
The highest stronghold of the Olympus forces where the Great Seongshin resided in seclusion.
A flash of unknown origin burst from the skyscraper jutting between the rock walls.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
At last, an explosion beyond imagination swept across the uppermost layer of Olympus.
"Kyaaak!"
"What the—!"
Ku-gu-gung!
Millions of gods lived on the first dimensional layer of Olympus territory alone.
And gods who had been chasing the snake god screamed at the sudden pressure blast.
"You lunatic!"
As if it wasn't bad enough that the servant-class gods had been dragged to the underworld because of the snake god, and the remaining gods in Olympus all had their lifespans reduced—shocking enough on its own—now the palace of the supreme god was being terrorized!
But what was even more appalling was this.
"The, the palace...!"
It was a palace that had never suffered a crack even under the surprise attacks of any force.
That was only natural, for it was a structure crafted by the finest artisans in the divine realm.
At the same time, was it not an object those artisans had created by borrowing the wisdom and blueprints of the clan once known as the Creators?
But.
"The, the palace collapsed?!"
"The ruling gods? Didn't they all go inside?!"
"Are they safe...?!"
As expected. By that time, the interior of the palace, struck directly by the bomb Lee Geon had thrown, was utter chaos.
"Keugh...!"
The blood-soaked ruling gods, all swept up by the explosion, were groaning in pain.
Their condition seemed critical for all of them.
Except, of course, for one.
'Ah, damn, I nearly got killed...!'
None other than the Scorching Lord.
The moment Lee Geon threw the bomb, he had instantly deployed his defensive authority and flung himself alone to a safe spot.
But even so, the sheer power was staggering.
'To take this much damage despite using a defensive authority.'
The Scorching Lord frowned at the blood running down his shoulder.
'Well, it was originally a bomb meant to be chucked at the Monarchs too.'
During the invasion of the unknown civilization, hadn't Lee Geon used Yang Wei, possessed by the helmet figure, to deliver and detonate a bomb?
Of course, back then the design was perfect, but the materials had been ordinary.
Hence, it couldn't kill the enemy, but this time was a different story.
'A bomb literally made by grinding up those Monarchs!'
As expected.
"Kuheok...!"
"What the...!!!"
The ruling gods who had taken a direct hit from Lee Geon were vomiting blood.
Normally, these were beings who wouldn't even suffer a scratch from any attack, but now it was different.
"Keugh...!"
Though they were caught off guard with no time to deploy their defensive authorities, their skin was festering, and they had become pitiful bloody rags. They glared with bulging eyes.
"Damn it, that snake bastard...!!"
At that sight, the Scorching Lord, who had been hiding alone, poked his face out from behind a pillar.
"Hey! Po! You alright? You guys alive?"
At the familiar voice, the ruling gods and the Lord of the Ocean boiled with rage.
"You lunatic...!! Do we look alright to you?! And besides, Louis! Why are you the only one perfectly fine?!"
"...Because I'm a genius, unlike you lot?"
The ruling gods seethed.
This son of a...!?
But soon they coughed up blood as if dying.
It seemed this was no ordinary bomb.
"Damn it, there seems to be a poisoning effect. I can't move my body!"
Seeing that, the Scorching Lord clicked his tongue.
"That's why you should've cultivated looks and intellect like me, not just muscles."
"Argh! That bastard's for real!"
"Hey! If you've got time to spout that nonsense, come help!! At least bring an antidote!"
"Rather not. If I get close, I'll catch that too. I mean, getting poisoned."
"Hey!! You dodged it on purpose knowing this would happen, didn't you? Honestly, what's your relationship with the snake god?!"
"As if. Look. I also suffered major damage protecting a comrade."
He glanced at the goddess pinned beneath him.
The goddess was one of the summons right before the bomb exploded.
The Virgo star god.
And he had thrown himself to protect her. After all, no matter what anyone said, she was a fellow zodiac comrade, a sworn sibling deity.
"Got it? I took a huge loss too. Forty permission vouchers..."
But the Scorching Lord's expression instantly hardened as he looked down.
The summoned Virgo was nothing but a cotton doll made in her likeness.
With a middle finger mark drawn on its face as a bonus.
The Scorching Lord despaired.
Had he really used those precious permission vouchers to save some stupid doll like this?
Meanwhile, the Lord of the Ocean ground his teeth.
He could understand Virgo, whose thoughts were unfathomable despite her powerful ability, and Scorching Lord, who was sometimes better off not being there for the sake of patience. But Hermes was the real problem.
'If that guy is gone, we're in serious trouble.'
His life or death was the top priority.
After all, the Lord of Messengers was the greatest information broker of this dimension.
At the same time, Hermes held information that could shake the Twelve Divine Thrones, the King of Gods' position, or even the divine realm itself.
'Information about the vanished Creator clan.'
Those called the Creators were beings who originally existed to revive the divine realm.
They were remarkable existences, each capable of feeding hundreds of billions of gods.
Anyway, the information suggested there was at least one survivor, though their whereabouts were unknown.
So, originally the plan was to get on the good side of that god of blessings and recruit them into Olympus.
If that failed, they intended to strip the divinity or have it inherited within Olympus.
At any rate, having them as an ally guaranteed a benefit.
But there was no way that Hermes, who knew the precious guy's whereabouts, would have gone to the Monarch on his own.
'That snake god bastard...!'
Judging by the talk that he was a water god, it was definitely that little punk's doing.
But it didn't matter.
They had already dispatched a ruling god who had snuck out before the explosion to that side.
And.
"In any case, there are guards inside the palace. The reinforcements sent by the snake god must have been caught by now."
At that, a subordinate suddenly made a troubled expression.
"Well, that's... we've received word that all the guards inside were defeated!"
"What? Why!"
"Well, they were taken down by a single human wench..."
What? A human??
"Why are you losing to a human?!"
"Well, the problem is the spear she's carrying..."
"Spear?"
* * *
At that moment, the center of the Great Seongshin's palace.
A black rotating space opened in the ceiling. And Lee Geon, flying out of that rotating space, landed lightly like a squirrel.
Tuk!
Simultaneously, Lee Geon, who had been surveying his surroundings, lifted the corners of his mouth.
"As expected."
He had thought the inside would be swarming with guards, but they had all long since turned into gruesome corpses.
Thanks to the familiar spear marks on their chests, it was clear who was responsible.
So Lee Geon smirked and asked his bound deity.
"Those two? Did Taek-su say they found the other one?"
[Yes. They seem to have found it, but there appears to be an obstruction.]
At Il-nam's words, Lee Geon laughed.
"Good. As long as they can just get out. Prepare for escape from here."
[Yes, then you too, Master...]
"No. I still have something to find."
[Something to find?]
"Yes, Taek..."
But it was precisely at that moment.
"!!!"
Lee Geon furrowed his brow and extended his hand.
Clang!!
He had deflected a sword flying toward him.
But it seemed like no ordinary sword. Blood spurted from Lee Geon's hand that had struck the blade.
Puhak!
'!'
It was a sword that could pass through authorities.
The blade had pierced through the power of [Elimination (Death)] shrouding his entire body and torn Lee Geon's skin.
At the same time, a beauty in her early twenties holding a long sword walked out.
She was a woman with black hair, wearing a white shirt and black jeans.
[Divinity: Athena (Lady of Strategic Nature)]
[Divine Name: Patron of the Dark]
"So you're the god who deceived the ruling gods?"
The ruling gods who had been chasing them before the bomb exploded.
Lee Geon immediately tried to move toward the goddess, but his body wouldn't budge.
'!'
Because of the strange script floating up behind his back.
"...!"
That wasn't all.
Another line of script appeared.
Finally, as the script emitted light, blood gushed from various parts of Lee Geon's body.
Puhak!
"Kugh!"
The culprit was easily identified.
"My goodness, you look so pretty bleeding."
"!"
The one who had cast the script on Lee Geon's body was none other than a blond goddess.
She was a warrior goddess, seemingly seasoned in battle.
[Divinity: Aphrodite (Lady of Adoration)]
[Divine Name: Hymn of Absolute Beauty]
[Lady of Adoration has used.]
[Adoration of Beauty (5-star)]
-The god of beauty transforms appearance into the form of a beautiful ideal type she propagates.
[Warning. Divinity 7% (Authority Disabled State)]
[If below 5%, functions will cease, and you will lose consciousness.]
[If it reaches 0%, you will die.]
It must be because of that queen-like goddess that he couldn't draw out either authority or divinity.
As expected, a voice rang out.
"Gods are indeed most beautiful when they become powerless. You wouldn't believe how pretty the faces are of those crumbling, thinking themselves the greatest in the universe."
Lee Geon clenched his fist as if asking what kind of lunatic this was, but the goddess smiled, signaling it was futile.
Then, something like a long vine coiled around Lee Geon's body.
"I hear you keep a pushover around, and your divinity continuously recharges?"
"!"
Perhaps the rumor about Hugo being a battery had spread through the one in the underworld.
"But right now, we've got that pushover too. Can't use your authority either, can you?"
At those words, Lee Geon sneered.
Authority my ass. He could just smash this measly binding skill with brute force.
Just as Lee Geon was about to tense his arm—
The Lady of Adoration issued orders to the subordinates who had followed her.
"You go check for auction venues immediately."
"Pardon? An auction house? Why there all of a sudden..."
"Why do you think? Don't you see this one? He's obviously highly marketable just by looking. Of course, we should sell him off. I'm certain we can get a high price from the goddesses."
The subordinates flinched.
"You can't do that! This snake god is the one the Great Seongshin of Olympus explicitly ordered us to bring back...!"
"Ah, right, that was the order."
At those words, Lee Geon, who had stopped his body's struggle, raised an eyebrow.
'The Great Seongshin?'
Simultaneously, Lee Geon rolled his eyes as if pondering something.
Come to think of it, that damned Great Seongshin bastard had taken an important part of Taek-su, right?
So, if he got caught quietly like this, did that mean he'd be taken before the Great Seongshin?
That thought drove Lee Geon to raise the corners of his mouth.
Alright. Then he'd deliberately relax and get dragged...
"Look at this guy! He's a natural monument-grade bachelor, rarely seen even in the universe!! Do you know how much this kid will sell for?!"
"?!"
Lee Geon looked at the Lady of Adoration with bewilderment.
But the Lady of Adoration instead lashed out at her subordinate.
"Do you know this? He's a forever-alone who's never even held hands with a girl, a virgin! With this level of marketability and rarity! Freshness! How much do you think the starving goddesses of the divine realm will shell out!!!"
Twitch!
Veins bulged on Lee Geon's face.
However, the goddess scrutinized the lower part of Lee Geon's body with a serious face.
"Heok, or maybe unexpectedly he's a virgin because he's bad in bed..."
Twitch!!
"Eh, well, that's not my problem once he's sold. Oh right, now that I think about it, is the reason his ability is so high for a young snake also because he's a virgin? I should research that sometime."
Twitch!!!!!!
Veins popped on Lee Geon, but the goddess grabbed his face regardless.
"Now then. Don't resist and submit to m..."
"You vermin-like bitch!!!"
Lee Geon immediately headbutted the Lady of Adoration in the face.
Ppak!!
Lee Geon's hard head crushed the face of absolute beauty.
"Kue, kukheok...!!"
As blood spurted from the Lady of Adoration's nose, the Lady of Strategic Nature's eyes widened. There was no way she didn't know what that strength meant.
The subordinates were horrified.
"Sh-she's the renowned goddess of beauty in Olympus!!"
"Oh my. I thought your body looked good. So you're a war god."
The Lady of Strategic Nature drew her sword as if intrigued.
But Lee Geon mercilessly trampled the Lady of Adoration.
"You little shit! Did being a virgin add anything to me?!"
"Kugh, no... kukheok!! Kugh!"
"As if it's not miserable enough being trapped in a tower because of you god bastards, what now!! You really wanna die!"
Lee Geon even tore apart the goddess's vine coiled around his body with sheer strength.
Kwajik!!
The gods trembled at that astonishing brute force.
But Lee Geon, clearly furious, beat the Lady of Adoration relentlessly.
"Ah, damn, I was gonna pretend to be weak and get captured, now it's all ruined! Because of you, the whole plan's gone to shit, so get hit more!"
At the ensuing stream of Lee Geon's vehement curses, the gods shivered uncontrollably.
The words they'd never heard in their lives, the undignified language unimaginable for gods, were driving them towards mental corruption.
"Th-that bastard! Could it be he was a war god with that acorn-like build?!"
"Ah, no, more importantly, that guy! Taking her down without even using authority?!"
Authority my foot!
"Piss off! Authority, my ass—some dog-like authority!! If you've got fists, that's all that matters!!"
In the first place, to him, authority was just a bonus buff, nothing more!
Eventually, under Lee Geon's attacks, the Lady of Adoration righted herself.
"You little brat!! I was going easy on you because you're merchan...!"
But it was right at that moment.
Puhak!
"Kyaaak!!"
Someone stabbed the Lady of Adoration. It was none other than the Lady of Strategic Nature.
And the Lady of Adoration, having her thigh suddenly stabbed, glared at the Lady of Strategic Nature as if dumbfounded.
"What the hell are you doing right now! Can't you tell friend from foe?!"
But the Lady of Strategic Nature, flicking the blood off with a disgusted look, scowled.
"Yeah, get lost. I'm taking this one for my retinue. He's my type."
"What was that?!"
"So I said, get lost."
"Hey!"
The moment the Lady of Strategic Nature struck the floor.
The floor vanished with a flash of light, and the Lady of Adoration plummeted beneath the ground.
"Kyaaak!"
And with the nuisance gone, the Lady of Strategic Nature approached Lee Geon.
"Your temper is damn cute. Become my retinue."
At the words of the Lady of Strategic Nature, the subordinates were appalled.
"No, goddesses! This snake god must be brought to the Great Seongshin, I said!"
"Just say he died en route. I'll raise him better. Despite how I look, I'm top 10 in the divine realm for retinue scale."
"No!"
"So, my retinu..."
But it was precisely at that moment.
"Sitting there spouting about retinues."
"!!"
Someone thrust a Monarch's weapon into the Lady of Strategic Nature's waist.
Puuuk!!
"How dare you eye someone else's property?"
"Kuheok!!!"
The Lady of Strategic Nature vomited blood.
At the sudden appearance of this unexpected woman, even Lee Geon's eyes widened, which was rare.
Because it was someone who shouldn't be here.
"Yeonwoo?"
At those words, the masked woman flinched in surprise.
"Yeon-woo? Who's that!"
"What?"
She sweat profusely and shouted.
"I-I am Saint Mask!! I'm not someone named Yeon-woo!!"
"???"
This brat?
(To be continued in the next chapter)