Meanwhile, around that time.
"What?"
The great holy god of Mahabharata furrowed his brows at the unexpected news.
It wasn't because of any other story.
[You're saying you actually saw that wench?]
"Yes. Her name is Heili. The age was different, but those unmistakable, peerlessly beautiful features—it is certain."
At the answer that finally came, sighs echoed throughout the realm of Mahabharata's great holy god.
"To think that Red-Blooded Princess would appear here again."
"Who's Red-Blooded Princess?"
"You don't know? She's the Kruder who was famous back when the monarchs invaded. You know, the daughter of that enemy monarch..."
"Ah! That little...!"
At the same time, the gods of Mahabharata all looked at their great holy god.
And the great holy god of Mahabharata was the deity of order and preservation.
Basically, Mahabharata operated under a three-headed god system, but one of them had been passed down and was still young, and another was in a state of annihilation.
And the attendant gods (storms) who had returned from visiting the snake god on the great holy god's orders bowed their heads.
"The problem is that Heili, that woman, was together with the snake god."
At those words, the attendant gods serving the great holy god of Mahabharata stirred.
They had no choice.
"Isn't that wench a Class 1 wanted criminal throughout the divine realm!"
The reason for the bounty was simple.
'That wench is connected to the murder of Mahabharata's great holy god, Shiva.'
No one knew how she had killed a great holy god, but she was the ringleader.
She was that dangerous, and the gods had every reason to grind their teeth.
Thus, the attendants looked at their master as if asking, Isn't this troublesome?
"If that woman is with the snake god, our Mahabharata cannot openly side with the snake god..."
"But wasn't the Leo Constellation god beside the snake lord! What in the world is Cargo doing?"
"Indeed. He's a saint of the same twelve zodiac constellations, how could he not know about that girl!"
At that, the attendant gods who had been dispatched broke into a sweat.
"...Isn't he utterly indifferent to others by nature?"
Sighs came from all around.
"Tsk, just like a combat god who said his own divinity was too noisy and devoured it."
The Leo Constellation god raised by Asran was a combat god, but at one point while cultivating his divinity, he found the personality emerging within his divinity annoying and devoured it.
Thanks to that, Asran's expression at the time, when she was trying to raise him into a combat god, was quite a sight to behold.
Of course, he's still so strong—if only he would listen a little better.
But then it happened.
The great holy god of Mahabharata spoke unexpected words.
[Understood. I shall go and deal with that Red-Blooded Princess personally.]
"What?! You're going yourself?"
The attendant gods who had been sent to assess the situation were shocked. They had to be.
"That woman seemed quite close to the snake god. If we touch her rashly, Mahabharata might..."
[Is there a problem?]
"Ah, no. It's just... there's an even bigger problem concerning that Red-Blooded Princess..."
At that, the gods of Mahabharata frowned.
"What else is there?"
"That is... Actually, in the presence of the goddesses of fate, he revealed the form from his karmic past."
"!!"
At Hugo's words, Mahabharata stirred incomparably more than before.
And with good reason: Mahabharata was a place that oversaw the punishment and reincarnation system known as karma, managing the karmic debts of sinners.
In other words, it was Mahabharata that had sent Hugo into the cycle of reincarnation.
There was no way they wouldn't know about Hugo's karma.
Other gods, not knowing what kind of being he truly was, might blithely talk about taking him as an attendant god, but...
'If they knew what kind of monster he is, they would never have let him into the divine realm in the first place.'
Anyway, that wasn't the point.
"His instinct emerged because he devoured a divinity—now I understand. Is he fine now?"
"Yes. Fortunately, because he consumed the divinity of , the instinct of that evil spirit did not awaken."
At those words, the gods listening inwardly felt relief.
'If he had swallowed even a combat god's divinity, it could have been truly disastrous.'
No matter that he was now an ordinary human, considering what lay within him, they could never let their guard down.
"In any case, be careful. We think it's fine since he's human now, but his past life's form must never be allowed to emerge."
That was true.
That bastard was the one who had annihilated the divine realm in the past and massacred the gods.
In fact, that son of a bitch was the reason the great holy gods had to be passed down.
And on top of that, Heili, who had killed .
'Troublesome bastards have latched onto the snake god.'
"That . Originally, it would be better not to send him back to Earth either."
"True. If that thing were to awaken by mistake, that dimension would also be destroyed."
"The best course would be to confine him in a torture realm or an isolated dimension, but..."
At that, Mahabharata's great holy god clicked his tongue.
[That would not be right. No matter what his past life was, is he not a human now?]
"And what if that instinct does emerge?"
[In that case.]
The great holy god's next words made the attendant gods greatly alarmed.
* * *
It was around that time.
The very pushover the gods were so wary of was being tormented by Igeon.
"You little shit, bring me food. I'm starving to death."
"What? Food?"
"Yes. I used too much of my authority today, I feel like dying. For the record, I won't eat anything but meat."
At the sudden order, Hugo looked flabbergasted.
Well, of course, back in the days when he served Igeon as his master, there had been a time when he provided three meals a day...!
"You little shit! I bought you snacks, isn't that enough! What more do you want!"
"Yes, servant. While you're at it, bring mine too. For the record, I won't eat anything but first-grade meat, top-quality fish, and first-class ingredi— Gah!"
The Scorching Lord was kicked away by Hugo.
And at Igeon's order, Hugo was annoyed but then seemed to understand.
'It wasn't for nothing that bald bastard demanded hamburgers as tribute.'
In one word, the food of the divine realm was disgustingly tasteless.
Of course, it had the effect of filling one's divine rank, but well.
'If I had to describe it, it's an excessively healthy taste?'
Was it because they were gods and couldn't be tainted by defilement or something?
Of course, the few snacks that existed were so foul...
[Ah, you have a discerning eye. Those are special skewers pickled for 100 hours in the excrement of X-god! Only 10 dalants!]
[......?!]
Even the great Igeon had thrown away the chicken in disgust.
Well, that wasn't what mattered now.
"Anyway, a guest has come, so go bring some food."
"Guest?"
Instead of answering, Igeon pointed at Anubis and the door outside.
"I told this guy to bring the key to the underworld. We're going to Earth through the route you came."
"What? What about the physical body?! Only souls can pass through there!"
"Once we get to Earth, we can recreate my avatar. We'll leave the original body in the divine realm."
At that, the Scorching Lord looked at him as if to ask if that was okay.
"That's a god—no, a combat god's body. Even for you, it'll be hard to make. The body you create will have specs inferior to the original."
"Unfortunately, we have to accept some loss in specs. We need to get to Earth quickly."
At that, Anubis furrowed his brow.
'Well, truthfully, there is a route where you don't have to abandon your body and will absolutely never be chased by gods.'
That was the route used by the cleaners—in other words, the garbage chute route.
Of course, it was so filthy and dangerous that no god ever used it, but that route was a passage connected to any world.
And that route could only be opened by Set, the combat god of the Ennead.
But he had no obligation to reveal it.
Why?
'Because you need to be eliminated by a combat god right here.'
Sure enough, at this very moment.
Knock, knock.
"!"
The god Anubis had summoned was already outside the door.
"I have brought what the Lord of the Nine Provinces spoke of."
It was an unfamiliar goddess holding a scroll.
She was Set in disguise.
* * *
'I will strip you of your divine qualifications forever.'
Both Anubis and Igeon.
Set had come to Igeon with his eyes flashing that intent.
And under the command of the Ennead's great holy god, he intended to pass down Anubis as he had done with Osiris, and then clean up Igeon.
But.
"What is this?"
Set couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows at the hideous object placed before him.
He had no choice.
"Gun-ah... you..."
"What? What now."
Hugo pressed his forehead as he beheld the grotesque dish laid before them—no, it would be an insult to call it a dish.
Yes.
Before them was a thing that could no longer be called chicken, a chicken.
And it was none other than Igeon who had fried it himself.
'How the hell do you fry something to make food waste like that...'
Of course, the reason Igeon had made chicken in the meantime was simple.
It started when Igeon was talking with the subordinate Anubis had called.
Hugo had brought boiled chicken, telling him to just eat boiled chicken or something.
Igeon saw it and flew into a rage.
[Hey, you bastard, why did you put the chicken in water again...!!]
[If you're on the receiving end, just eat what you're given. Sheesh. I left out the salt because salt-free is trendy. Gah!]
[Argh! This is why I'm saying I'm going home!]
At that, Set, disguised as a goddess, had smiled and said.
[There's no way Earth's food is better than ours here. You must have a particular favorite?]
At that, Igeon had raised an eyebrow at Set.
Then he had furrowed his brow and said.
[Ah, this won't do. Wait. I have to show these god bastards the greatness of Earth's food.]
So saying, Igeon had immediately turned a slime into a giant frying pan, summoned a torch, and begun to boldly make chicken.
And 30 minutes later.
The food he brought out, calling it chicken, was this piece of trash... er, food.
"N-Nephew. That looks very different from the chicken I know."
"The appearance is one thing, but it'll taste good. Try it."
At that, the Scorching Lord tried to pick it up with an interested expression, but Hugo grimaced and quickly grabbed him.
Meaning, don't you dare eat it if you don't want to die.
'You have no idea how bad Igeon is at cooking.'
Back when he served Igeon as his master, he hadn't prepared three meals a day for nothing.
It wasn't just out of boundless respect, or because he was a pushover.
'It was all to survive!'
How could someone who made objects so well create such horrifying food?
This bastard simply had no sense for cooking whatsoever.
And the problem was even worse after his return.
Just as the objects Igeon made were imbued with egos, the food he personally prepared also came to life—sauce moving on its own, the food gaping its mouths.
'Well, now the food he made miraculously isn't moving...'
But Hugo flinched at the canister Igeon was holding.
[Insecticide]
Had he put the writhing food out of its misery with that?
And at the aura Igeon held in his hand, Hugo was horrified.
[Death]
Did it not die even with insecticide, so he used a divine authority on it?!
But Set, unaware of the process, looked at Igeon with a dubious expression.
"Is... is this edible?"
"Of course. It's the most popular food where I live. I guarantee the taste. Right?"
At Igeon's gaze, Hugo and the attendant gods broke into a sweat.
"Uh. Yeah."
"Th-that is so."
At that, Set looked at Igeon with interest.
He had come on orders, but in truth, he was curious about Igeon.
'Humans are slaves not even worth gods associating with.'
Normally, a constellation god would consider it shameful to dwell in a colonial dimension.
Because colonial slaves like humans could only exist thanks to the constellation gods.
But this being, who possessed enough divinity to annihilate Olympus, cherished such a place?
So Set grew interested in Igeon and the place he ruled as a colony.
'Perhaps even colonial slaves have their tiers, and there might be things worth interacting over.'
Moreover, Igeon was a combat god.
Combat gods of their level were so rare anyway that becoming close could only be beneficial.
Was that why?
"I shall gratefully partake of your bestowed benevolence..."
Set smiled and swallowed the chicken of unknown origin.
At that sight, Igeon smiled with satisfaction.
And the moment the chicken went down.
"Cough, cough-hack!"
Set nearly died on the spot.
Then Anubis's face went pale.
He had no choice.
"Wai—!"
Was it because he couldn't even maintain his transformation as he was dying?
The goddess form of Set shifted into the fierce figure of a combat god.
And as the revealed, familiar-looking male god appeared, everyone could only go on guard.
“Master!”
“Heavens, isn’t that the cleaner of the Ennead?!”
The follower gods, who simultaneously unsheathed their weapons, seemed to have a great epiphany.
“Then His Grace already saw through his identity and poisoned him…!!”
“As expected of His Grace!”
I Geon felt inwardly wounded at the word “poison.”
He’d known the other could transform, but he made that dish to show what real fried chicken tasted like.
In the end, Set gasped for breath and sought an antidote.
[Self-Regeneration (5-Star)]
He invoked his body’s inherent healing, a trait of the war god.
But.
[You cannot recover your body with that.]
[The War God of Sand suffers difficulty breathing.]
[The War God of Sand is dying.]
Set coughed up blood, his body unable to recover even with a 5-star authority.
“Keugh!”
And at that very moment.
As Set finally expelled the morsel he’d swallowed, he barely managed to save his life.
Fuming, Set staggered and glared at I Geon.
“I suspected as much, but it’s just as I thought. The history of a race is written in the food it eats. Humans—utterly irredeemable, a species with no foundation. Now I know it for certain.”
“Hey. Saying that wounds me, you know.”
Everything else aside, he’d really served him proper cooking.
Well, it didn’t matter anyway.
Set, whose overall perception of humanity had worsened thanks to I Geon, immediately invoked his authority.
“I see my judgment—that some exchange might be possible—was mistaken!”
“!”
“I’ll deal with you according to the original purpose.”
“Master!”
“Don’t ever think of setting foot in the divine realm again!”
“!”
At Set’s gesture, a crimson light erupted from the ceiling.
Rumble!
Everything in the room—objects, living beings—was sucked into that crimson glow.
[Dimensional Rift Gate (Third Gate)]
Seeing it, the master of Scorching Heat and his follower gods flinched in shock.
“That’s the authority of the cleaners!”
That very thing was what Set, as a cleaner, used to dispose of gods.
The master of Scorching Heat, however, narrowed his brows.
“Isn’t that a space connected to another dimension?”
At the mention of another dimension, Hugo, who had been clinging to a pillar, widened his eyes.
“Dimension? Then through that, we could even get to Earth?”
“You could, granted.”
“Then can’t we just go out that way? We wouldn’t even have to discard our physical bodies!”
At that, the follower gods cried out urgently.
“No! You can certainly reach Earth there, but that place is—!”
“Enough. All of you, get lost.”
As Set wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes blazing, the follower gods let out screams.
They were on the verge of being sucked into the gate Set had opened.
As a powerful gale tried to pull I Geon in, the follower gods shouted frantically.
“Damn it! Master! You mustn’t be dragged into that place!”
“What? What is it? If it’s a dimensional rift, then isn’t it different from the sub-divine realm?”
“That is a forgotten labyrinth—older than the divine realm itself!”
In truth, when I Geon had declared he would go to the divine realm.
The Virgo follower gods had worried that perhaps I Geon wasn’t arriving via the official entry route but some other path.
And that passage Set had opened was exactly that route!
Sure enough, Set laughed.
“You said you wanted to leave Earth without going through proper channels, so I’m sending you on your way. Well, it’s a labyrinth, but there’s an exit station at the end—someone of your caliber will find it quickly, no? Maybe about ten thousand years?”
“!”
That must have been what the Great God of the Ennead meant by sending him to Earth.
“By rights, capital punishment would be fitting, yet you’re getting off with mere exile. Dwell on the great god’s mercy and live out the next ten millennia without catching the divine realm’s eye.”
“What the... ack!”
In the end, all the gods, including Hugo, were sucked beyond the gate.
And that gate, which a war god with the divine realm’s blessing could open, was one not even gods could evade.
Even I Geon seemed hard-pressed to hold out.
“Kgh!”
At last, I Geon too was pulled in.
But just before being drawn inside, he hurled the power of death at the gate.
Boom!!
Set sneered at the impact.
“Fool. As if that could destroy a gate like—.”
Yet in that moment, Set and Anubis appeared slightly bewildered.
Inevitably so.
The gate wasn’t destroyed, but the color emanating from within had changed.
‘Black?!’
Anubis, realizing the implication, was horrified.
“Wait...!! That’s the First Gate, isn’t it!”
“The space it connects to has been altered by that bastard’s power...!”
That place was a space linked directly to every colony.
And the fact that they had entered inside meant...!
“They might reach Earth directly at this rate!”
“What does it matter.”
“What?! But the Great God commanded you to cast the snake god into the labyrinth...!”
“He’s fallen into a place far worse than that labyrinth. You know what’s inside, don’t you?”
“!”
That place was one even gods would die, so they never ventured there.
“He’ll die before he ever finds an exit... ack!!”
Set groaned as a chain of light coiled around his neck.
“Keuk, no! Wait—just a moment!”
“You’re coming too, you piece of shit!”
“!!”
That chain was I Geon’s skill, [Snake Catcher]!
Even as he was dragged toward the gate, I Geon bared his teeth and yanked on Set.
“Guide the way, asshole!!”
Set seemed thrown into panic.
“No! I can’t leave the divine realm! Wait!! Hey! No, not there—!”
In the end, Set, caught in the serpent’s clutches, vanished from the divine realm alongside them.
(To be continued in the next episode)