In an instant, the pet cafe became a scene of chaos.
Inside, the Scorching Heat Master couldn't help but scream, all because of Igeon.
"Ah, no. Wait! Let go of this!"
"You bald bastard, let go? Trying to run again?"
"No! You've got the wrong person!"
The Scorching Heat Master desperately tried to pry Igeon's hand off his collar, but well.
'Agh! What strength!'
Even though it didn't seem like he was gripping hard, Igeon's hand wouldn't budge like a lump of rock. Eventually, he shouted urgently,
"Aigo, elder! I'm just an innocent employee here! So... Ack!"
Igeon immediately ripped off the animal mask the Scorching Heat Master was wearing. And at the revealed face, the surroundings buzzed loudly.
"Lord Lewis?!"
"Heavens, why would such a distinguished person be working as a butler in a place like this...!"
The Scorching Heat Master was drenched in sweat.
"Haha, Serpent Lord. I never imagined you'd fancy such a place! Indeed, taste is important. So, which animal did you come to see? I'll introduce you to..."
"Hey. Want me to pull your hair out?"
As the pissed-off Igeon grabbed his wig fiercely, the Scorching Heat Master immediately clung to his wig and wailed.
"I've committed a sin worthy of death! Master!!"
The people leaving the shop were startled at the sight.
"What, who is that kid, that the White Reaper bows his head?!"
"More importantly, why is a god of his caliber working part-time here?"
At those words, the Scorching Heat Master sweated profusely. The reason he had come to the Lion's Den was simple.
'At least he's the most tight-lipped.'
Virgo was close enough to rummage through each other's rooms, but she was the type to enjoy seeing him get dragged away. The other gods were the same. Embarrassingly, he had many enemies in the divine realm.
But that lion!
'Absolutely safe!'
Of course, the negotiation wasn't easy. In fact, when the Scorching Heat Master visited, the look on the Lion's Den's face as he scratched his own face with his foot was quite something.
[I get the situation. But why should I help you?]
[Why! You haven't forgotten the promise we made long ago, have you?]
[Like I'd know. I'm going to sleep, so get lost. I have to sleep before the butler brings food.]
[Agh!!]
The Lion's Den star god lay down as if annoyed, but the Scorching Heat Master didn't give up.
'The gods avoid him saying he's a madman, but there's no place like this.'
The Lion's Den star god was once a baby lion raised by Aslan, but he was a guy who didn't care about Aslan or anyone else. That's why he was more trustworthy. So the Scorching Heat Master, who had known him since childhood, said,
[Kargo! If you hide me, it will be of enormous benefit to you!]
[There's no such thing. To begin with, a debauched god of leisure like you couldn't possibly benefit me...]
[If you hide me, you can meet Igeon!!]
[!?]
The guy who had ignored all sorts of offers—wealth, promises—had his eyes flash at the name Igeon. Sure enough.
[If I hide you, I can meet Igeon?]
[Yeah! Did you hear Igeon came to the divine realm?]
[What? He did?]
[Yeah! Anyway, the guy is chasing me. If I'm not here, he won't even think of seeing you, but if I'm here, he'll come here too, right?]
[……!]
[If you hide me, I'll actively help you so you and Igeon can fight.]
The Scorching Heat Master had worn a sly grin as he watched the Lion's Den rise with gleaming eyes.
'Good, he's hooked!'
He said Igeon would come looking for him, but in truth, he knew.
'There's no way Igeon would come to a pet cafe like this.'
So as long as he kept his mouth shut and hid well, it would be fine...
'Damn it, I never thought he'd really come!'
Could there have been a witness? The Scorching Heat Master sweated coldly as he looked at Igeon grinning menacingly at him.
Sure enough, Igeon's eyes blazed as he dragged the Scorching Heat Master.
"Forget the small stuff. Let's go to my place, sell you off. Just need a little help."
"There's no way it's just a little!"
The Scorching Heat Master struggled and urgently looked for allies, but.
'Damn it, they've all bolted!'
Maybe scared of Igeon holding the Heavenly Punishment? The gods who had promised to help were nowhere to be seen. Of course, seeing Igeon, who at the sight of beast gods first targets their hides, it wouldn't be strange to flee in terror.
And then it happened.
From the neck of the eagle god, already plucked bare by Igeon, light shone. It was a communication stone necklace, the same as the one Igeon was holding.
Sure enough.
[O follower of the Lion, the supplies from your side have suddenly stopped. What's going on?]
"!"
At the familiar voice, Igeon and Hugo's eyes widened. At the same time, a hologram of light rose from the shining necklace, and soon a familiar face appeared.
"Stephen?!"
It was none other than the Lion's Den saint. And at his appearance, Hugo was surprised, and Stephen seemed taken aback.
[What, Hugo, you were safe... Ack!! What's wrong with those follower gods!]
Stephen was horrified seeing the birds of prey gods plucked of all feathers. The fallen gods had all lost their dignity and become like boiled chickens. Thanks to that, Stephen could only rage.
[Who on earth would do such a cruel and inhuman...]
"What, you punk."
Stephen, in the midst of rage, couldn't finish his words.
[I, Igeon!?]
He went pale at the sight of Igeon standing with a grim face.
[What, why are you there!]
But seeing his face, Igeon, for some reason, had an extremely displeased expression.
"Forget it, you're dead."
[What?!]
"You're dead when you go to Earth."
[What? Why all of a sudden!]
"And you'll have no weapons for the rest of your life."
[Why!!!!]
"Lastly, know that you won't even see your descendants."
No, why!!
At the bolt-from-the-blue notice, Stephen looked at Hugo with a wronged expression as if asking why he was like that, but Hugo averted his gaze.
"S-sorry. I'll pray for your soul."
[What?!]
Probably because when he talked about Haley, he must have mentioned Stephen. In their youth, when the saints first met, Stephen had also flirted with Haley. But Hugo, as if it wasn't his fault, pretended not to know and grabbed Igeon, who was shooting beams from his eyes.
"Anyway, Geon-ah. Let's quickly take him before the troublemakers come..."
But just then.
Boom!!!
"You think you can go?!"
"!!"
Along with a fierce voice, the second floor of the cafe was smashed.
And the building itself was a 'ㅁ' shape, with no ceiling and an open courtyard. As the second floor wall broke, debris fell onto the first floor where they were.
Boom! Boom!
"Kyaa!"
"Heavens! The Golden Beast Lord!"
A lion god boasting beautiful golden fur even in the divine realm. It was the Golden Beast Lord. Though there were patches of fur missing like circular bald spots. But regardless, as the gigantic golden lion, easily over 5 meters, bared its ferocious teeth, Igeon gave a hollow laugh.
"That cat bastard."
The Golden Beast Lord was a god from whom Igeon had ripped hide and teeth on Earth. Of course, that was on Earth, where gods couldn't exert 100% of their power, and the synchronization rate was low. And the lion god, who had always growled at Igeon saying he'd tear him to shreds if he saw him, spewed out divine might roughly.
"Welcome, you little mouse!"
As if intent on smashing his own shop, golden lightning struck everywhere.
Crackle!
At that lightning, Hugo let out a groan. Indeed, it was on a different level from when they descended to Earth. That felt like a clone body, about 10% power, but now a completely different power!
[Warning. The Golden Beast Lord is one of the Mahabharata's battle gods.]
At that voice, Igeon snorted. So, he was a war god of the battle god seat. Soon, dodging the lion god like a mole in a whack-a-mole game, Igeon landed lightly and said.
"Hey. I have no business with you. I just came to collect this. You know there's a bounty, right?"
"I know, even the Ennead Great Saint has put a huge bounty. Well, Lewis has many enemies."
"If you know..."
"Sorry, but that's all the more reason I can't let you!"
"!!"
Boom!!
The lion god attacked Igeon with a huge front paw.
"Do you think we'll let another god benefit?!"
Igeon raised the corner of his mouth, pissed off.
"Hey. You wanna die? I said I'm going home."
Then the lion god grinned fiercely.
"I know what you're thinking, but you think that'll solve it? And."
"?"
"Why go to a worthless place like Earth in the first place? Live here safely and comfortably! And keep being my opponent!"
The moment the words fell, the lion god emitted powerful energy. At the same time, an amazing thing happened.
[The Golden Beast Lord transforms into his fierce battle god form.]
The lion's head and body transformed into a human, and Igeon laughed angrily.
"You punk, I was letting you off because I didn't want to rack up debt."
Even though he had already mercilessly plucked the feathers and hides of the follower gods, it wasn't something to say, but Igeon raised the Punishment. And the power of the divine weapon unleashed in the divine realm was on a different level.
Rumble!
The Heavenly Punishment, imbued with Igeon's divine might, roared fiercely, and the golden lion god was about to clash—
"……!"
Igeon flinched.
And then.
[A thief steals something precious.]
At that voice, Igeon turned his head and frowned. The Scorching Heat Master had disappeared. And Hugo, who was watching him, and Haley, were also gone. Igeon's eyes blazed.
* * *
It was around that time.
"Have we shaken off the Serpent God!"
"Yes! No matter what, the one blocking him is the Lion God, one of our ten. Even if he's a criminal who wiped out Olympus, he won't be able to chase us easily!"
"Good! Make sure this guy never falls into the Serpent God's hands!"
"Yes!"
The outskirts of the neutral zone.
The Scorching Heat Master, being dragged by kidnappers, sighed.
'Now, of all people, these guys are helping me.'
That's right. While Igeon and the Lion God clashed, he had been kidnapped by one of the eight major powers. But the Scorching Heat Master had deliberately let himself be kidnapped.
'As long as I can avoid my nephew and the Ennead Great Saint, anyone is fine.'
If he were handed over as a wanted person, he'd surely fall into the hands of the Ennead Great Saint! And the Mahabharata, which also belonged to the Lion's Den, hated the Ennead greatly. So they must have spirited him away.
'It might be okay to hide with the Mahabharata like this...'
But just then.
"You think you can go?!"
"?!"
As fierce arrows flew, the gods, flustered, used the Scorching Heat Master as a shield.
Boom!!
In the end, hit by the bombardment, the fallen Scorching Heat Master coughed up blood.
"Cough...! Cough! Hugo! Are you trying to kill your master!! And I'm currently human! Cough!"
Hugo ignored him and drew his bowstring. And the gods, who had been flustered by Hugo's appearance, laughed.
"If it's just one, it's still fine. We'll escape like this..."
But then.
"Sorry, but there are two of us."
"!"
Hugo, who had appeared openly, must have been bait. They were startled at the sight of Haley blocking their path. Thanks to that, just as they were about to bring out their divine weapons, the gods who confirmed the opponent couldn't believe their eyes.
'That face. I've seen it somewhere.'
There was no way they'd forget such a beauty. After a moment's thought, they realized.
'Wait! Doesn't she resemble that young girl the Great Saints put a bounty on long ago?'
'Come to think of it...!'
Flustered, they handed the Scorching Heat Master over to one person. This wasn't the time.
'First, I'll inform the higher-ups about that woman, so you block those guys. The Lion God is kindly holding off the Serpent God, isn't he?'
'True. That person knows better than anyone that it'll be a headache if the Scorching Heat Master gets sold. He'll block them as much as possible...'
But just then.
"You bastards!!!"
"?!"
The Mahabharata gods were left gaping at the voice from the sky. They had no choice.
"L-Lion God?!"
Somehow, their ally, the Golden Beast Lord, who had been blocking Igeon, had followed. So the ones who had kidnapped the Scorching Heat Master were dumbfounded. After all, wasn't the plan to deliberately obstruct the Serpent God to prevent other factions from benefiting!
But!
"Why did you follow us?!"
"Weren't you supposed to block the Serpent God for the Mahabharata?!"
"While you were blocking the Serpent God, we were helping..."
But the Golden Beast Lord got angry instead.
"Like I care! Because you stole the Scorching Heat Master, the Serpent God disappeared too! Hand him over!"
In the end, as the Lion God attacked, they were going crazy.
"Agh! You who are one of the great ten avatars!"
Like the twelve Olympians, each faction had certain executive gods. The Golden Beast Lord was also an executive god of the Mahabharata.
'Damn! At this rate!'
And just then.
"I wondered where you'd run off to, so you were just here?"
"!!"
Igeon appeared before them. And at his appearance, the gods tensed but immediately took an attack stance.
"We've heard about you, Serpent God."
"But we won't be as easy as Olympus..."
"You bastards!!! Wanna die! How dare you eye someone else's prey!"
"Agh!!!"
The Lion God attacked as if telling Igeon not to touch, and the fellow Mahabharata gods beat their chests.
And then.
As the Scorching Heat Master flew far from the Lion God's rampage, Igeon caught him right away. Then the Scorching Heat Master begged and pleaded.
"Nephew. Please, can't you not hand me over? If I go to the Ennead Great Saint, I'll really die."
At that, Igeon smiled.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of selling my one and only uncle to them."
"Nephew...! Then...!"
"Instead, I'm going to sell you as the husband of the Fates."
"Right! The Fates... What?!"
The Scorching Heat Master went even paler, as if in shock.
"No! Those women are even more...!!"
And at that moment.
Perhaps he had heard Igeon's words.
Whoo!
The Scorching Heat Master's body suddenly blurred.
And then.
[The Fates happily take away their groom.]
At that sight, the Lion God, the Mahabharata gods, Hugo, even Haley were all horrified, but Igeon raised the corner of his mouth.
'Just as planned.'
(To be continued in the next episode)