What the hell, who are these bastards?
Igeon and Hugo looked at the crowd before them as if dumbfounded.
Three men and women had come out to greet them.
Their ages were varied.
There was a girl who looked like a high school student, and a man who looked to be in his thirties.
But their appearances or looks weren’t important.
‘Saints?’
Hugo, seeing faces he’d never met before, whispered as if baffled.
“Geon, are those humans…?”
Igeon snorted. Hugo had likely asked that having sensed a subtle energy of power, but Igeon had read their strength in an instant.
In fact, some of them were giving off a strong scent he had smelled in the divine realm.
No, actually, that scent was coming from the entire Earth.
As expected.
[Master, the smell of Eden is everywhere.]
At the voice of the retainer god coming from Igeon’s shadow, Hugo raised an eyebrow.
“Then they aren’t human?”
“They are human, but they harbor a divine rank.”
“Then…!”
“Retainer god level. It means they’re already god-level, like you.”
“Then could it be that the gods of Eden have transformed…!”
“Who knows. They look human like Saints, but we’d have to crack open the lid to be sure.”
The moment Hugo shot him a look that said “Crack open the lid, just what are you planning to do,” the men approached.
“Anyway, Lord Igeon. It is an honor to meet you.”
“We are, rather….”
BANG!!!!
Before they could even finish, Igeon threw a punch.
Thanks to that, the young man at the front was struck by Igeon and sent flying.
At the sound, which would make one wonder if he was unharmed, the people who had gathered to see Igeon screamed.
“Kyaaah!!”
“Lord Igeo—n!!!”
Hugo was equally startled. In the end, he first checked if there were any paparazzi or reporters around before shouting.
“Geon!!!! The newspaper office is right in front… ugh! At least listen to what they have to say…!”
He was about to say that he had to hear what the ones claiming to be Saints said to grasp the situation, but Igeon cracked his knuckles.
“Yeah. So I listened. Three seconds.”
Hugo put a hand to his forehead.
Well, it was tremendous progress compared to when he used to listen for one second before smacking them.
‘But you have to know who they are before you smack them!’
At the very least, he needed to know how things were unfolding.
Sure enough, those who had been introducing themselves looked at Igeon like mute people who had swallowed honey.
The government officials, who had rushed over at the news of Igeon, came running to him in a fluster.
“Ah, there he is!”
“Lord Igeo—n!!!”
It was Igeon, who had appeared after a full six months.
They might have thought he could be a fake, but there was no way the observatory’s prophecy was wrong.
-A powerful force is heading this way.
-This force is unmistakably Lord Igeon!
Half a year ago. The world had briefly been turned upside down by a defector scribe’s SNS post that seemed to hint at Igeon’s death (?), but hadn’t they soon learned that he had undergone a dimensional shift?
And when Igeon and Hugo had used the authority of time while in the future twenty years later. By Earth’s time, it had been one hour before, and the observatory had noticed their return.
Thanks to that, the ones who had come out to greet Igeon were on pins and needles as they spoke to him.
“Please don’t misunderstand, those people are not Lord Igeon’s enemies!”
“They simply came out to greet Lord Igeon….”
But regardless, Igeon stretched his neck as if loosening it and said,
“Oh yeah? Then why aren’t the bastards who came out to welcome me even preparing a chair?”
“What?!”
“You said you came to greet me? Then bring out a red carpet and a private jet and welcome me.”
At that, the officials broke out in a sweat.
It must have been when he handled the fish sacred gods. When his tearful(?) appearance had been broadcast, the world had once mistakenly thought he actually had a tender disposition, but well.
‘That temper of his, it never changes.’
The citizens were taken aback too.
‘As expected of Igeon….’
‘He hits first and looks later….’
Well, because of that, there was no chance he was a fake.
However, Igeon himself snorted and glared at those who had come out to greet him.
“Enough. Why are you pretending to be Saints?”
“!”
At that, the three who were with them stopped being flustered and immediately bowed their heads.
“We are not pretending to be Saints; we are the new Saints.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“We fully understand that this sudden matter will leave you bewildered.”
“Since you have returned after six months and may not have heard yet, the existing Saints have already lost their qualifications.”
“What, lost?”
As if annoyed, Igeon’s eyebrow slightly twitched upward.
Then the ones calling themselves the new Saints answered confidently.
“That’s right. While Lord Igeon was away, new monsters… no, devils appeared, and the existing Saints were completely helpless and, just as with the unknown civilization, humanity was in crisis.”
Igeon immediately grasped the meaning of those words.
“Oh. But you guys took care of it?”
“Exactly.”
“!”
The one who answered was the man who had been hit by Igeon and sent flying. He had gotten up at some point and was walking over to Igeon.
Blood was flowing from his forehead, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.
Because of that, Hugo inwardly flinched.
‘He got hit by Igeon and he’s fine?’
Well, strictly speaking, with blood flowing, he wasn’t exactly fine, but he could still casually open his mouth to speak.
‘He’s a formidable guy.’
Actually, looking at Igeon, Hugo was startled.
Because Igeon rarely looked intrigued.
‘No, Geon is interested in the fake Saints!!’
Hugo’s anxious guess was correct.
As proof, Igeon’s eyes curved like a fox’s.
He had pulled his strength when he threw the punch so he wouldn’t kill him. And yet he was moving?
At that look that said ‘not bad,’ Hugo was on edge and was about to say something, but the men smiled and said,
“To begin with, aren’t the existing 12 Saints Igeon’s enemies? Those bastards locked Igeon in the Tower for 20 years and enjoyed wealth and glory. They are trash.”
“Yeah. That’s true.”
“Geon?!?!”
Hugo grabbed Igeon, but Igeon raised the corner of his mouth as if he didn’t care.
“I left them alive because of the monsters anyway. Now, I don’t care if they get cursed or whatever.”
“!”
“So. What happened to those existing Saints? Did you guys steal the 13 seats?”
“We didn’t just steal them. We took those seats fairly and honorably, before the citizens, before the nation. Through a contest of strength.”
“Oh. You had a duel?”
Igeon smiled faintly and looked at the officials and citizens.
“For real?”
Then the student who caught his gaze blushed and said,
“Yes, yes! And on top of that, those people…!”
Soon the Saint said,
“As the citizens said, all 13 of the replaced Saints were defeated by us.”
“Aha. So they reaped what they sowed?”
“Yes. That’s how it is.”
“Thus, we have now become the new 13 Saints who will protect the snake god, the ruler and guardian of Earth.”
“You must be confused by this sudden turn of events, and you may not trust us yet, but we will serve Lord Igeon with the utmost sincerity….”
Then, as if it didn’t matter, Igeon coolly said that if that was the situation, he didn’t really care.
“Alright. I’ll allow you to serve me.”
At those words, the faces of the Saints brightened.
“Then…!”
“Since I’ve allowed it.”
“!”
“All of you, die.”
Emitting a fierce divine rank, Igeon gave a refreshing smile.
* * *
[The Saints are powerless against the devils! Is this really going to be okay?]
[The Saints have been defeated by the new presumed SS-class ability users!]
[The new 13 Saints who have received the power of Eden are ready to protect Lord Igeon.]
[They are fake Saints. With their incompetence, they did nothing against the monsters for 20 years, they slandered Lord Igeon, and they couldn’t even set right the corrupted holy god.]
[What did they do while Lord Igeon was away?]
[They are trash.]
“That’s right. They speak well. It’s true that those idiots are morons.”
“…Geon.”
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Having raised hell in the middle of the city and even biting into a baguette as he waited for someone, Igeon was snorting.
It was all because of the news clips from the past six months.
“Why? I told those morons to watch over the house, and they’re just losing their own spots.”
So to sum it up, the existing Saints had undergone a generational change(?).
It was probably because of the unknown outer gods who had appeared on Earth before Igeon went to find Hugo.
Now abbreviated as devils.
And it seemed the current Saints’ powers didn’t work against those devils, and the newly appeared SS-class Saints had easily killed them.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘Honestly, angels are a cheat against devils.’
Hugo had no intention of excusing the Saints either.
But.
“They say all the newly appeared Saints have the power of Eden’s angels. In the first place, our skills are tailored to the unknown civilization, and suddenly it’s devil extermination? Isn’t it natural for them to freeze up?”
“Well, they aren’t the type to freeze up at that level.”
Anyway, before going to find Hugo, Igeon had ordered that the empty positions of the Saints be filled with new ones.
—Because managing each sanctuary one by one is annoying. Just pick the strongest guy and make him a Saint. The holy god is me anyway.
In other words, he had ordered them to remove the existing divine seats and newly appoint Saints for ___, ___, ___, ___.
But in the meantime, this unfortunate event had occurred.
Moreover, the existing Saints seemed to be missing.
‘To be precise, they’re either hiding, captured, or dead. One of the three.’
And after that, Earth had received the protection of angels and gotten a new system of the twelve zodiac signs.
Hugo sighed.
“Eden used its head. Angels, of all beings, were bound to work well on Earth.”
Although the power of existing religions had weakened with the appearance of monsters and the sacred gods of the twelve zodiac signs, the existence of angels still boasted immense power among humanity’s three major religions.
If they approached intimately by invoking the human hero Igeon, it was perfect for humans to accept without resistance.
“Then would the Great Holy God of Eden be God?”
“I doubt it’s that.”
Well, for now, there was something to check first.
As proof, when Igeon turned around, Hugo looked at him strangely.
“Geon, that way isn’t the airport. Aren’t we getting on a plane?”
Wasn’t that why they had caused that ruckus downtown and stolen a government official’s car?
But Igeon snorted.
“Why would I ride something so damn slow.”
“What? Then why did we come to the airport?”
“Why do you think.”
Igeon chuckled and whistled.
Then, a moment later, a fierce earthquake and something amazing happened.
Kugugung!
“Aaaahhh!!!”
“A monster!”
Screams were heard from around, and a familiar face appeared in the sky.
And at the red object rushing toward them while wagging its tail, Hugo went pale.
* * *
Hugo’s worries became reality.
And with Hugo, who was suffering from motion sickness while riding the red-eyed creature that had come out to greet its master, left behind, they were able to arrive at a familiar place.
And that place was written as the Singungjwa building and read as Igeon’s house.
As soon as he returned home, Igeon looked for someone.
“Ji-u ssi!”
At the familiar voice, the sound of a dish breaking came from inside.
Simultaneously, a familiar face emerged.
“Lord Igeon!!”
A heavily pregnant woman revealed herself with a surprised expression.
Beside her, Goteu, who had been helping Cheon Ji-u, and the youngest sanctuary members of Singungjwa could be seen.
“Lord Igeon!!”
“Oh my god, is it really Lord Igeon?”
Everyone was surprised to see Igeon, who had appeared after six months.
They asked why he hadn’t answered his phone, but let out sighs of relief as if it was a relief.
“Ji-u ssi, as promised, I brought that bastard Taeksu.”
At those words, Cheon Ji-u had an expression as if she was about to cry.
“Really? Is my husband alright?”
Igeon smiled and pointed to the side. Hugo was also happy to see Cheon Ji-u.
Though his memories were still not whole, there was no way he wouldn’t know about his wife.
Soon, as Hugo spread his arms and approached, Cheon Ji-u ran pitter-patter.
However, they absurdly passed right through each other. And Cheon Ji-u opened doors, opened cabinets, opened the toilet lid and cried out.
“Honey, where are you…!”
“No, that’s not it! Honey!! I’m here!”
At that spectacle, Goteu tilted his head.
“Where is Lord Hugo?”
“Right in front of you.”
“What?!”
To the question of why he couldn’t be seen, Igeon laughed.
“Without a physical body, he became a god in itself. Humans can’t see him unless they concentrate.”
In the end, seeing the couple desperately waving at empty air, Igeon looked around.
“So, where’s the body storing this guy?”
“Huh?”
“First, let’s get this guy back into it, and then I’m going to go kill those angel bastards.”