"Th-the baby's coming."
"What?"
"Huh??"
"Th-the baby... the baby is...."
What?!!
At Cheon Ji-woo's words, even Hugo, even Lee Geon, rarely turned deathly pale.
Just as they'd feared.
Coming.
The baby was coming.
Don't tell me, here? Right here?
An actual newborn baby?
But it didn't seem like a joke, as Cheon Ji-woo's complexion was far from ordinary.
"Qu-quickly... otherwise the baby will...."
And at that sight, Hugo and Lee Geon both screamed.
"Airplane!!!!"
"Red Eyes!!!!!"
"Family Poet!!!!"
Forget Monarch bastards and all that, they urgently scrambled to find things to transport Cheon Ji-woo. If they didn't get to a hospital immediately, both mother and child would be in danger!
"Airplane!!!!"
"You think we'll make it in time with that, Red Eyes!!!"
"How can Ji-woo ride that thing, you moron!!!"
"Then parcel delivery!!!"
"Ju-just a regular car will do, so...."
"Ah!!"
In the end, they tried to put Cheon Ji-woo, who was crying out in pain, into a car.
But as they headed for the garage, they suddenly realized the problem.
"Dammit, those chicken-heads wrecked the building...!"
The car parked beside the building had long since been flattened like a pancake.
In the end, Hugo urgently grabbed Kevin by the collar.
"You have a flight familiar spirit! Hand it over!"
"Ah... no."
"Ah... it's coming out! The head, the head is!"
"??!!"
Even Lee Geon, at Cheon Ji-woo's words, seemed to be experiencing this for the first time in his life, looking completely mentally wrecked.
No, he'd rather be confident fighting monsters!
"Water!!!!"
"Towels!!!!"
"No, just kidnap a doctor!!!"
"Airplane!!!"
At that, Cheon Ji-woo's eyes flashed.
"No, I said a taxi will do!!!"
As if familiar from it being her third time, Cheon Ji-woo tried to head toward the road, and Hugo attempted to make a call to summon a taxi.
Seeing that, Lee Geon seemed to snap back to his senses immediately.
"No. I'll run, it'll be much faster than a car or familiar spirits."
"What? Run...?"
"It's fine, just hold her."
"What?"
As if time was precious, Lee Geon immediately summoned the power of the Abyss and shoved Hugo and Kevin into a puddle.
"Agh!"
And.
"Th-third uncle?"
Yuha, who had been calling the hospital in advance, was startled.
Lee Geon picked up the struggling Ji-woo, and Yuha urgently asked.
"Will you fly there?"
"No. I won't use it if possible. Who knows what effect it might have on the baby."
"Then how... Eek!"
Simultaneously, Lee Geon put strength into his legs and shot up in an instant.
"Uncle!!"
As if his own claim of having the fastest legs wasn't a lie, Lee Geon vanished in the blink of an eye.
So Lee Geon headed straight for the hospital.
It was the fastest speed in the world.
* * *
In the end, the time it took Lee Geon to reach the obstetrics hospital was a full 3 minutes.
"Doctor!!!"
When Lee Geon, who had crossed dozens of kilometers in minutes, arrived at the hospital, the hospital turned into chaos.
It wasn't for any other reason.
"L-lee Geon-nim?!"
"Whoa, it's Lee Geon!"
"What? Why is Lee Geon here??"
The doctors and people in the hospital looked at Lee Geon in shock.
That was how much of a celebrity Lee Geon was.
What's more, Lee Geon carrying a pregnant woman!
"L-lee Geon-nim?"
But regardless, Lee Geon grabbed the doctor by the collar.
"It's coming out!!"
"Excuse me??"
"The head!!"
"!?!"
Startled by his words, the doctors examined Cheon Ji-woo, and simultaneously, panicking, they quickly moved her.
Judging by the reaction, Cheon Ji-woo's feeling was apparently correct.
And how long after they pulled Hugo out of the puddle was it?
"Lee Geon-nim!!"
"Uncle!"
Whether they heard the news and came, Yuha, Gott, the barely-conscious Lee Jae-won, and Cheon Seong-jae arrived.
Lee Geon looked at Lee Jae-won and Cheon Seong-jae.
"Are you two in your right minds?"
"Yes...! I think we did something to Hugo-nim but... I don't remember...."
"Well... you're probably better off not knowing."
"I also think I received permission to marry Uncle...."
"No such thing happened!"
Lee Geon smacked Cheon Seong-jae on the back. Yuha strangled Cheon Seong-jae's neck.
Well, that wasn't important right now.
"It's strange, it's too early. Mother's due date was supposed to be a bit later...."
At those words, Lee Geon furrowed his brow.
The attending doctor was flustered, as the baby was coming out much faster.
'That chicken bastard, I should have ground him up.'
Figuring it was likely due to the shock from the angels, Lee Geon gritted his teeth.
And if anything happened to Cheon Ji-woo or that child, he would immediately exterminate every single one of those angel bastards.
Time passed like that.
And after some time, Lee Geon looked at his watch as if something was off.
'It's taking too long...? And it's not even her first childbirth.'
He wasn't an expert in this area, but it was strange.
But that was when it happened.
"What do we do?"
"It's dangerous...!"
Softly, but clearly caught by Lee Geon's ears, the voices made him move.
"Why? What's going on?"
"Ah...!"
As the nurses tried to say something, the doctor hurriedly called for the guardians.
And what the doctor said was quite shocking.
"Something we cannot comprehend is happening. The baby won't come out."
"Won't come out?"
"Literally...!"
The amniotic fluid had broken, and she should be showing signs, but the baby had gone back inside her belly and showed no sign of coming out.
"The Aquarian painless medicine isn't working either...!"
If this continued, both would be in danger, so they even considered surgery, but...
"When the doctors try to touch her, they get repelled by some unknown force...!"
"And it seems to be the power of the Constellation of Sexagenary Cycle...!"
"But unfortunately, it's not a power from the 13 Zodiacs we know...!"
"Elder Hugo-nim has moved already, but...!"
"D-don't tell me!"
His nieces were shocked, but Lee Geon just bulged his eyes and said.
"You stay here."
Lee Geon disappeared in an instant.
It was the teleportation technique, . And this authority could basically use nearby darkness or malice as coordinates, or move to sacred objects containing the same power of .
Therefore, originally, he shouldn't have been able to move to Cheon Ji-woo with this authority.
But.
[ activates using nearby malice as coordinates.]
[Moving nearby.]
As the authority activated, the place Lee Geon landed was none other than right in front of the suffering Cheon Ji-woo!
And if that were the case, then...!
"This son of a bitch."
"Geon-ah?!"
Hugo, who had been searching for the cause, was startled.
Lee Geon glared at the suspicious bird that Hugo seemed to have caught in the meantime.
[The power of the Goddess of Fate, , is felt.]
[The power of a familiar spirit governing childbirth is felt.]
[It is obstructing human childbirth.]
It was definitely the work of the gods.
Cheon Ji-woo, on the verge of death, looked at Lee Geon in agony.
"L-Lee Geon-nim...!"
"Hold on a little longer."
Not knowing what effect it might have on the weak fetus, Lee Geon couldn't use the divine title of to apply [Pain Removal].
Instead, using the power of abundantly, he activated [God's Watchful Eye].
Simultaneously, he discovered the birds of light hiding everywhere in the walls. And upon seeing them, Lee Geon immediately unleashed the power of .
But it was right then.
The moment the power of grasped the birds like tentacles, Cheon Ji-woo was in immense agony.
[The gods say if you want to see that child safely, cooperate with Chloe.]
It seemed that attacking the birds somehow caused Cheon Ji-woo, connected to them, to feel pain as well.
Just as expected, it was that moment.
"Lee Geon-nim!"
"Uncle!"
"Mother!"
Those who had been outside came rushing in, and a light figure they'd never seen before rose from the floor.
[I never imagined the God of Life would kill Lord Raphael, who shares the same attribute.]
"!!"
Was she a goddess in charge of childbirth?
The entity soon spoke.
[I am not entirely pleased with this situation either. But this side has also realized a troubling matter.]
Lee Geon immediately fired his , but whether she was an illusion, the power just passed right through the goddess.
The goddess continued.
[Our demand is simple. If you want the health of the child and the mother, eliminate that monster over there before he finds his instincts.]
Everyone was horrified at the direction the goddess pointed.
"Why Dad!"
The one the goddess indicated was none other than Hugo.
And while everyone was confused, Lee Geon, alone, frowned as if he had some guess.
At the same time, he recalled the conversation he'd had with the Monarch.
[That is the Monarch.]
Hayley's mother, the Flame Monarch, said that indicating Hugo.
Thanks to that, Lee Geon was utterly dumbfounded.
[What utter nonsense. He's my best friend, and in the first place, why would a Monarch bastard become a Seongju? Unless that baldy is a moron, he wouldn't have chosen something like that as his Seongju, right?]
[That fellow is a 1st generation Monarch like me.]
[!]
The Red Monarch, bringing up her own story first, continued.
[1st generation Monarchs are all called the kings of Monarchs. Your friend is one of them.]
[……!]
[He is the Formless King. The Monarch of , formless like water. The most cunning and ferocious among us, a predator who is always bored and eternally hungry.]
He was said to be the first to invade the divine realm.
[He violated and killed gods, used his authority to wear their skin and impersonated them.]
That wasn't all.
[On a whim, the bored creature lived among the gods. But eventually, unable to control that predatory urge, he slaughtered countless gods.]
[So? Why is he human?]
[Because he belonged to the divine realm and impersonated a god, he incurred karma and was handed over to .]
The story was that he had ultimately been executed for those sins.
And originally, it was a karma where he was to die a humiliating death by the hands of a descendant through .
But.
[Fate changed.]
Because of that, his soul and body separated, the soul was released, and Hades smuggled the soul to the divine realm, causing him to begin recovering those memories.
[And that madness-filled original personality will emerge. The other 1st generation will happily seek him out.]
[You're telling me to believe that right now....]
In the first place, would a Monarch bastard have 600% faith toward gods?
Even the Abyss was a creature that happily chased gods around thinking of them as a buffet.
At that, the Red Monarch said.
[Right. He might have been even more drawn to them, staying by his side, precisely because they are prey.]
[……!]
Of course, to Lee Geon, it all sounded like absolute bullshit.
Therefore, he had no intention of believing it, but Lee Geon also couldn't deny it entirely.
Recently, after retrieving Hugo from the divine realm,
because a strange scent of monsters wafted from him. More precisely, it was a smell similar to the Monarchs.
And the Monarchs were Lee Geon's sworn enemies.
Naturally, just the similar scent they emitted made him physiologically uncomfortable.
No, honestly, the feeling went beyond being brought back to reality; it felt like a sense of betrayal.
So that's why he said it.
- Looks like I've raised a tiger cub after all.
Anyway, having heard that story, Lee Geon immediately understood what the goddess was talking about.
Therefore, Lee Geon smiled coldly.
For the first time, though he was always like this, a sense of justice toward the gods appeared in Lee Geon's eyes.
And the goddess spoke.
[As the God of Life, what is your opinion?]
At that, his nieces were dumbfounded, and Lee Geon reached his hand out toward Hugo.
"I got it. What's important right now is over here."
"Uncle!"
Everyone was startled by the gaze fixed disapprovingly on Hugo, and Lee Geon pulled out a divine title.
It was the divine title of .
(Continues in the next chapter)