Lee Geon looked at the woman in disbelief.
‘A Saint Mask, really?’
If you’re going to scam someone, at least do it properly.
And with those gold leaf pieces and feathers... Did she really think she could deceive him with such a shoddy mask?
But then.
“Urgh...!”
The master of the Star of Strategy, who had been stabbed by Yeonwoo and vomited blood, opened her eyes wide.
It was not for any other reason.
‘That bastard...!’
Her gaze was fixed on Yeonwoo.
She couldn’t see the face because of the mask, but gods could identify each other through the aura of their soul.
And though it wasn’t exactly the same as before, it was familiar.
‘This scent is definitely from those twin serpents...’
Ophiuchus of the 13 Zodiac Palaces. It was the scent of the twin serpents who had served as the temporary Star God there.
That was why she was bewildered.
‘Weren’t those serpents executed after their master died?’
The Star God of Ophiuchus, the head of the 13 Zodiac Palaces, was originally the Creator, Asran.
But when Asran and his twelve comrades went mad, their vassal gods executed them.
It was an enormous incident even in the Divine Realm.
And no wonder, for it was the downfall of one of the Great Star Gods.
And the thirteen executed then were the blessed Creator gods.
Anyway, the Creators were wiped out at that time.
The twin serpents who succeeded Asran were also executed, accused of using demonic sorcery.
But why is there the scent of a serpent that should have been executed long ago?
No, that wasn’t what mattered now.
‘The problem is those vassal gods who were in Ophiuchus...!’
At the time, Ophiuchus had topped the Divine Realm in terms of the quality of its vassal gods.
Of course, after Ophiuchus’s destruction, the Great Star Gods of the Eight Major Factions joyfully stole them away.
Even now, they were being used as important slaves within each faction.
In any case, those twin serpents, though temporary, belonged to Ophiuchus.
‘Those slaves might show some kind of reaction...!’
The former vassal gods of Ophiuchus might entertain futile thoughts and rebel, or even attempt to escape.
That would be extremely troublesome.
‘I could let the Creators slide.’
The absurdly overpowered Magic God Asran was one thing.
But the other Creators executed with him were different.
‘If they were usurped by their vassal gods, then the entire Creator clan is clearly nothing special.’
Thus she had been skeptical about finding Creators, but the vassal gods taken from Ophiuchus changed things.
Regardless, Lee Geon raised an eyebrow as he looked at Yeonwoo.
“Hey, Ji Yeonwoo. Why are you here?”
At Lee Geon’s words, Yeonwoo, wearing a flashy(?) festival mask adorned with gold leaf and feathers, broke out in a cold sweat.
“J-Ji Yeonwoo? I’m the Saint Mask, I tell you! I’m not Yeonwoo.”
Lee Geon gave a hollow laugh.
“You think I wouldn’t recognize you?”
Horrified, Yeonwoo sweated even more.
“N-No! I, um, came at Yeonwoo’s request!! I’m the Saint Mask!!!”
“What are you doing at your age?”
At that, Yeonwoo wanted to burst into tears. But Lee Geon clicked his tongue.
“Anyway, why did you come here? What about Jiwoo? Or rather, how did you even get here?”
“Ah! Jiwoo is my clone... no, no, Yeonwoo is keeping a good eye on him, I heard! More importantly, I came because I have something to deliver to you!”
“Oh, really?”
Lee Geon still gave her a bewildered look, but Yeonwoo scanned the surroundings.
“By the way, O Star God of Ophiuchus.”
“What.”
Yeonwoo looked around Lee Geon as if searching for someone.
“Um, by any chance... is there someone with you? Isn’t there anyone accompanying you?”
Lee Geon tilted his head.
“I’m alone.”
“Y-Yuha? I heard she followed you... I was told...”
“Yuha’s with her dad.”
At that, Yeonwoo sighed in relief for multiple reasons(?) and then suddenly asked.
“Ah! Th-then, what about anyone else...?”
“Anyone else?”
“No other companions?”
Lee Geon tilted his head as if wondering what the hell was wrong with her.
“My vassal gods are all I have. Who else would there be? I told them all to stay on Earth.”
At that confirmation, Yeonwoo was incredibly relieved(?).
“Then take this. I brought it just in case... Yeonwoo told me to give it to you.”
“!”
Yeonwoo held out weapons that Lee Geon had crafted by harvesting lords on Earth.
“I figured you didn’t bring a bow.”
Soon, she opened the rifle case she was carrying, and Lee Geon was overjoyed.
Inside was an unassembled bow. Originally, it was something to give after bringing Taek-su.
“Oh. With this, Taek-su can fight too.”
Partly because his divinity was stolen, but wasn’t he already struggling in the Divine Realm?
But then.
“Who said you could?”
“!”
The master of the Star of Strategy, who had been lying down coughing blood, lunged like a ghost.
As if it weren’t for nothing that she was a territorial goddess and a war god, she swung her sword with murderous intent.
Her speed was terrifyingly fast.
‘A bow can’t be used in close combat anyway.’
In other words, just destroy the weapon of that unknown intruder who even broke through the territorial goddess’s defenses!
Sure enough, her fierce sword first knocked away the blade Yeonwoo was holding.
Clang!
“!”
Yeonwoo flinched in surprise.
At the same time, as if planning to extract Lee Geon’s divinity, Athena unleashed a rough divine aura.
Craaack!
Lee Geon couldn’t use his authority because Aphrodite had just reduced his divine aura to the dregs.
That wasn’t all.
‘That bizarre weapon is gone now.’
In other words, victory was hers!
[Divinity Kill (5-Star)]
“I’ll make you my servant.”
Finally, it was the moment Athena stretched out her divine power.
It was the moment Lee Geon clenched his fist, looking annoyed.
Thunk!!
“Cough?!”
Athena, who had been charging with great momentum, tumbled forward.
Ka-thunk!!
It was because a spear had lodged itself in Athena’s back, as if hunting a beast.
“Servant? You’re asking to die.”
“?!”
It was Yuha.
She was even far away. Athena’s eyes widened in bewilderment.
‘From that distance?!’
It must not be for nothing that the blood of a Saint of Sagittarius flows in her veins.
Not only did Yuha throw a spear from several hundred meters away, she even struck her target.
Thanks to that, Lee Geon and Yeonwoo’s eyes went round. That already seemed beyond the human race.
But soon, Lee Geon looked at the suffering goddess.
And then.
“Urgh!”
He pulled out the spear and then lifted her up.
And he threw Athena into the hole in the ground where the goddess of beauty had fallen.
“Kyaaak!!”
In the end, even Athena fell from the palace of the Great Star God beneath the clouds, and Lee Geon threw once more at the falling goddess!
Boom!!!
“Kyaaak!!”
[Data acquired]
[Engraved in the divine chronicle]
As Lee Geon smiled at a perfect hit, Yuha approached him, gasping for breath.
“Uncle, are you... did you get dirty? No, no, are you safe?”
But then.
“Huh?”
Yuha, who had come closer, saw Yeonwoo and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“Uh... Yeonwoo... un-ni...”
“N-No!!! I’m the Saint Mask! I’m definitely not a person named Yeonwoo!”
“????”
At the sight of her desperately denying it, Lee Geon clicked his tongue. Then he suddenly tilted his head.
He couldn’t help it.
“Yuha. What about your dad?”
“?!!”
At the word ‘dad’, Yuha’s face turned pale.
“Oh no! I left Dad behind!!!”
“W-What?”
“I heard some women talking nonsense through the listening device about making Uncle a servant, so I just!”
Y-You rascal. Dad's crying.
* * *
Around that time.
“Aaaagh!!”
Left alone, Hugo screamed.
He was running away, dodging the sword of a man swinging it at him.
“Hey. Aren’t you coming here?!”
“Ack! Don’t come near me!”
“You damn bastard, scurrying away like a mouse!”
The man with a blank expression full of irritation was the master of the War God, Ares.
He had been guarding Hugo’s divinity, which Hugo’s party was searching for, from early on.
Before being caught in Lee Geon’s bomb, he had entered the palace together with the masters of Strategy and Adoration.
And now, Yuha, who had come with her dad to retrieve Hugo’s divinity, had disappeared.
“Ack! I don’t remember well, but anyway, daughter! How could you abandon your dad!”
Hugo was scurrying about, dodging Ares’s sword.
Actually, he still couldn’t recall much about his family, let alone Yuha.
About Yuha, he only had fragmented memories of holding her as a newborn and carrying her around as a child.
So he thought Lee Geon must be precious enough for her to abandon(?) her dad, but still, the situation was what it was.
Of course, to say his daughter abandoned him, the situation had been that they were hiding from Ares. And then Yuha, startled by something, said she’d be right back and disappeared, and he himself was later discovered by Ares’s area-of-effect attack, but...
“When you think about it, you fool, it’s because of your brat that Olympus has become a mess!!”
“!”
The master of the War God lifted his sword as if annoyed.
“If it weren’t for you, that crazy snake god wouldn’t have come here.”
“Ah, what are you saying!! If you want to argue that, you should take it up with Hades who kidnapped me in the first place...!”
“What do I care! I was dragged here while sleeping, and it’s so bothersome!! Just die!”
Agh!
There was another guy here as ill-tempered as my friend.
But even if he wanted to fight, he was currently a mere human with no weapon, let alone divinity.
‘Damn, this isn’t the time to be doing this.’
Hugo recalled when he was imprisoned in Hades’s palace.
[What? A Creator is alive?]
[Yes. The ones even the Great Star Gods are searching for.]
Actually, the master of Messengers, a certain Hermes, had once come to Hades’s palace.
And there, Hugo had heard very important information.
That was why Hugo had left a strange letter and sent it flying from Hades’s palace.
Anyway, for that reason too, he had to escape from this place quickly...
‘Damn it, I’ll die before that happens!!!’
Hugo screamed as he dodged the master of the War God’s sword.
But he was driven to a dead end!
The master of the War God raised the corner of his mouth in a perilous smirk.
“You useless clone bastard. Still, as a god, I’ll be merciful and just cut off your legs. You only have a week to live anyway.”
Finally, the sword was raised.
With nowhere left to run, Hugo shouted urgently.
“W-Wait!”
“Huh, begging for your life won’t help...”
“Actually, I’m not a snake god but a Saint of the master of the Blazing Archer!! Yes, his vassal! A direct subordinate of the Blazing Archer!”
“What?”
The master of the War God seemed quite surprised and, unusually, slightly withdrew his sword.
“Ah, my apologies. So you were Louis’s vassal?”
Hugo smiled as if that settled it.
“Yeah! The master of the Blazing Archer is your friend. So!!”
“Wow, so you were that obnoxious bastard’s servant!”
“Huh?”
“Hahaha! Then I’ll just kill you on the spot!!!”
“Aaaagh!!!”
A great sword, incomparable to before, was summoned.
And with the attack far more vicious, Hugo almost spat out a string of curses.
“Die!!! You servant of that obnoxious Blazing Archer!!!”
“Aagh!! That damned Blazing Archer star god! What the hell does he normally do?!”
Hugo swung the sword Lee Geon had given him temporarily, but was blown back like a scrap of paper by the master of the War God’s power.
Boom!!
“Urgh!”
Indeed, this was the world beyond the heavens, where star gods gathered like grains of sand.
The gap between human and god was vast.
‘Damn. Unless I retrieve the divinity over there...!’
Right then.
Thud!!
“!!!”
A spear that flew like a ray of light pierced the master of the War God’s arm.
“Aaargh!!”
As the master of the War God screamed, Hugo looked up with a bright face.
“Daughter, you came back...”
However, then.
Hugo’s expression upon seeing the one who attacked the master of the War God was something to behold.
And no wonder, for there was a completely out-of-place woman with long hair wearing a mask...
“Are you alright?!”
Because of that, Hugo put on a dumbfounded expression.
“...Hayley?”
At that, the masked woman flinched in surprise.
“H-Hayley?! I’m Black Scorpion!! Y-You have the wrong person!”
“???”
Ah, no, wait a minute?
No matter how you look at it, that’s Hayley, right?
And Lord, you shouldn’t be here!
(To be continued...)