This bastard seems suspicious.
Igeon's expression as he looked at Hugo was quite a sight.
Actually, it couldn't be helped.
The guy who never used to act like that was now strangely trembling just from seeing him.
‘What the hell. This bastard. Why's he acting like this?’
He couldn’t even meet his eyes. No, he wasn’t just avoiding eye contact—he seemed afraid to even be in the same place.
Naturally, sparks flew in Igeon’s eyes.
After all, the way he was especially scared of him, and the way he looked like a thief with a guilty conscience.
‘This bastard. Could it be he ate Michael?’
Didn’t the Red Lord do just that?
He said instincts and memories would emerge. And that those memories and instincts would be quite dangerous to gods and humanity.
And he didn’t need to be told who had been here.
‘An archangel.’
And hadn’t he said that only two of the five captain angels remained?
But he’d already dealt with Raphael, so only one was left!
‘Michael.’
Anyway, with that bastard’s body nowhere to be seen, if there was a reason Hugo was trembling specifically at the sight of him...
“Hey. You couldn’t have...”
He was about to ask if his lord’s instinct had emerged and he’d devoured the angel bastard, but what on earth did Hugo make of that?
“Ack! No!!! I’m not a lord, I’m not a monster!”
Hugo screamed.
He thought Igeon believed him to be a lord.
‘He definitely suspects I’m a monster!’
And sure enough.
Clang!
“!!”
The moment Igeon summoned the menacing Sky's Judgment, Hugo screamed.
“Well. Whether it’s true or not, we’ll just test it out.”
At that sight, Hugo turned pale as a sheet.
It was certain.
Friend or not, the moment Igeon found out his true identity, he was definitely going to tear him to pieces!
‘Of course, it’s not that I don’t understand!’
Even though gods were involved, had he not lost his entire family mercilessly because of the lords, and suffered shame and agony for twenty years?!
In short, if it were a Cruder, he’d be someone he’d want to tear apart and kill without mercy!
So when there was a Cruder right next to him, how could he not go berserk?!
‘Damn it, I need to deny it!’
In the end, even Lee Jaewon turned pale at Igeon’s glare and hurriedly grabbed hold of him.
“I-Igeon-nim! You mustn’t!”
Igeon glared at Lee Jaewon.
“Save it. What were you two doing here?”
“Y-Yes? W-well... Hugo-nim was cleaning with me.”
At those words, Igeon laughed as if disgusted.
“Cleaning? You were here getting rid of the traces of that angel bastard you caught?”
“!!”
At Igeon’s words, both Hugo and Lee Jaewon were so startled their hearts seemed to drop.
‘We even hid our aura so he wouldn’t find out...!’
Could it be that they couldn’t fool the peerless Igeon after all?
However, Igeon narrowed his brow.
“Why are you hiding it?”
“Th-That’s...!”
When Hugo hesitated, Igeon clicked his tongue and raised Judgment. At that, Lee Jaewon screamed and hastily bowed his head, shouting.
“That! I’m sorry! Because if Igeon-nim found out about Hugo-nim, I thought you’d try to kill him!!!”
At that, Igeon, holding Judgment, frowned as if asking what they took him for.
“I’m not going to kill him, you idiot. Why would I do that?”
“N-No! Your mouth and your hands are doing different things! Ack!”
At the same time, Judgment fell right in front of Hugo.
Crash!
Hugo, who barely dodged it, froze white as a sheet.
Igeon, with a glint in his eye, told him not to dodge like a mouse.
“Don’t move, bastard. I’m just testing whether I can keep you around or not.”
At the glinting axe blade, Hugo let out a silent scream.
See! You are trying to kill me!
* * *
It was around that time.
-What? Why is Heiley my cat?
Yeonwoo was recalling her conversation with Igeon.
It was something she’d been curious about for a while.
She knew Heiley was a fellow 13-star companion, but the way Igeon looked at Heiley wasn’t simply as a comrade.
And even in the divine realm, it was the same; she found it puzzling how he’d often call Heiley his cat and be so protective.
No, honestly, she was anxious!
So Yeonwoo honestly asked Igeon about Heiley.
Then Igeon told an unexpected story.
-Remember when we were students? When I left the orphanage first and lived alone. That cat I had back then.
-Oh. That... black cat. Was it a girl?
She clearly remembered the kitten Igeon had taken in. It was an injured cat, and she remembered Igeon raising it with great care and affection.
But that had been Heiley?
-She was injured and unconsciously fell into the future, and it seems it was in front of our house. She must have lost her power and taken that form.
-Then...!
-Well, after that, it was also that child who kept watching over us so we wouldn’t get attacked by monsters.
And at that point, Yeonwoo realized.
The reason why Heiley, who was on the Cruder side, had become a saint.
‘It was because of Geon.’
Back then, Igeon was an ordinary human. And she had tried to protect him from the Cruders. From places unseen.
But when the lords began invading Earth in earnest, she must have realized there were limits to protecting him just by lurking nearby.
Indeed, when it became too difficult for her to stay by Igeon’s side any longer, the Scorpio Constellation Deity approached Heiley.
Of course, she didn’t know if Igeon was aware of that or not, but one thing was certain.
‘Geon is interested in Heiley.’
Ever since the old days, he’d been a child with strong attachment and obsession toward his own things.
That was why Yeonwoo was becoming a bit anxious.
‘Does he like Heiley?’
On the other hand, she didn’t know what Igeon thought of her.
Before her death, she had been Igeon’s closest friend and family, but...
‘He might just think of me as a noona...’
Yeonwoo felt dejected.
Of course, there was something else to worry about even before that.
‘Geon was devoured by ____ that day.’
It was the day she died.
And the Igeon who was devoured by ____ had various emotions devoured along with him. In other words, the way he seemed to be missing one or two emotions couldn’t be entirely free from the influence of that time.
‘It might just be because of vengeance, but...’
So although it pained her heart, it didn’t matter who Igeon chose. If only he could return to those days when his emotions were rich.
‘Yeonwoo, I think I’ve found Junwoo too.’
‘What? Really?’
‘Yeah. I think he’s in Valhalla. I’ll find him quickly.’
Yeonwoo blushed as she recalled Igeon petting her head and smiling like that.
‘I really don’t want to send him to someone else...’
Anyway, whatever she said, the truth was just being able to be together with Igeon like those days made her happy.
The problem was that there were bastards trying to interfere with that.
‘The ones targeting Kreator have come close.’
In the end, the bastards disappeared without finding Aslan’s body, but what if instead they target Igeon this time.
Yeonwoo’s gentle gaze turned sharp.
But it was then.
“...ssi?”
“Yeonwoo-ssi!”
“!”
Startled, Yeonwoo turned her head. Beside her was Cheon Jiwoo, holding the third child.
“Yeonwoo-ssi, your expression doesn’t look good. Are you okay?”
They were leaving the hospital and heading home.
And when Yuha, Yeonwoo, and even the maternal grandfather had almost arrived at the house by taxi.
“Ah. Yes. I’m fine...”
Boom!!
“!!”
Everyone was startled by the explosion coming from the house.
“What, what’s going on...!”
But when they hurried inside, they couldn’t help but be even more surprised.
“Dad!”
* * *
“I-Igeon-nim?”
“Geon-ah!”
The ones who entered the house were startled to see Hugo and Igeon. Hugo and Igeon were fighting.
No, to be precise, Hugo was one-sidedly(?) screaming and being chased.
They wondered what was going on, but Igeon instead got angry at Hugo.
“Bastard, I told you to stay still! Because you keep dodging, now Jiwoo-ssi even came!”
“Shut up! Wouldn’t you dodge if you were in my shoes?! I’m about to die!!”
“I said I’m not going to kill you!”
“If you have a conscience, put that weapon away first!”
And at that point, Yuha and Cheon Jiwoo carefully whispered to Lee Jaewon.
“Um... did he cause another accident?”
“What did Dad do wrong again...?”
An accident, they say...
It seemed not a single person was on Hugo’s side, but Lee Jaewon couldn’t bring herself to say that Hugo was a Cruder and Igeon was trying to test his instincts.
‘He said if faced with death, we’d know whether instinct or humanity takes priority...’
But the moment Yuha and Cheon Jiwoo burst in.
Unexpectedly, Igeon stopped his Judgment and glared at Hugo.
Then he said something unexpected.
“You really aren’t connected to those bastards.”
“I’m not! Please! Believe me! It’s true! I swear on the heavens!”
“Okay.”
“......!”
As if he knew, Igeon coolly turned around.
“Ah, I’m hungry. Let’s just eat.”
Was it because he didn’t want to show them fighting now that Jiwoo had come?
Igeon decided to end it. And just as Hugo wiped his sweat in relief at that sight.
[Brother. Is there any meaning in continuing this act?]
“!!”
Along with an unfamiliar voice, a fierce wind blew through the house.
And at the aura he felt, Igeon’s eyes changed.
‘A lord.’
And not an ordinary one at that.
A being distinctly different from those he’d seen on Earth, something alien.
The moment that thought struck him, Igeon reached out toward the flickering shadow before him.
Then he grabbed the bastard by the scruff of the neck and immediately used his skill.
[Puddle Walk]
In an instant, Igeon moved together with the enemy.
And the place they appeared was none other than the Ophiuchus Sanctuary in Hawaii.
It was the area used as a workshop for crafting armaments.
At the same time, as if dragging the enemy by the hair, Igeon pulled the bastard along and hurled him.
Boom!!
And the enemy, having been moved in the blink of an eye with no time to land, let out a hollow laugh.
[I didn’t expect you’d deny me even a foothold.]
The moment he landed, had he intended to blow up Igeon’s house— no, Igeon Tower?
[To read my intention just from my movement and teleport me here... Honestly, I’m impressed. Your speed is incredible, isn’t it?]
Igeon’s eyes turned a fierce crimson.
“Who are you.”
[I am ____.]
“!”
Dust rose, and a strong wind blew.
[Are you the one who eliminated the ____ I so diligently raised?]
The silver-haired man smiled as he said that, and Igeon glared at him warily.
He looked human.
But Igeon could tell just by looking. Though he pretended to be a normal human, that thing was an overwhelmingly powerful monster.
‘Is that a 1st generation lord?’
His depth, range of ability, and power were clearly greater than the lords that had come to Earth.
So the moment he saw him, Igeon immediately activated his divinity.
At that sight, ____ clicked his tongue as if telling him not to do that, warily.
[I didn’t come to fight. I only came to find my brother.]
“Brother??”
[Yes. My brother just—]
No sooner had the words fallen than someone attacked ____.
Boom!!!!
At that strike, ____ let out a hollow laugh.
[As expected of my brother. Your welcoming greeting is rough right from the start.]
The one who launched the attack was Hugo, who had chased after them.
____ looked at Hugo and smiled very happily.
[Brother. I’ve come to fetch you.]
At those words, Igeon’s eyebrows twitched.
“What? Brother?”
At Igeon’s murderous glare that seemed to ask ‘Didn’t you just say you had no connection with the monsters?’, Hugo screamed.
“No, that’s not it!”
[Brother! Why are you acting like this? Have you already forgotten me? Are we not comrades and brothers who have shared blood and soul?]
“Ah. Brothers who shared blood and soul?”
As Igeon smoothly drew out Sky's Judgment, Hugo went pale.
With an aura that seemed ready to kill them both, whether he knew it or not, ____ clicked his tongue.
[What’s this? Have you already forgotten our promise? Didn’t we say that when we awoke after tens of thousands of years, we’d devour everything together? All the arrogant gods and humans alike.]
At that, Igeon’s glare toward the two grew even fiercer, and Hugo, sensing death, shouted angrily as if telling him not to spout nonsense.
“Hey! You! Shut your bullshit and get lost right now!!! If you don’t want to die!!”
[……?]
____ looked at Hugo as if wondering why he was acting that way.
[Could it be you don’t recognize me? I am your only brother, and didn’t we say that only we are family… Mmf!]
“Ah. An only family.”
As soon as the murderous voice fell, a powerful force flew and blew ____'s head off.
And Hugo, who had launched the attack, glanced at Igeon and shouted.
“Geon-ah! He’s talking nonsense!! I’m not his brother! I’m not a monster! Let alone a lord!”
Igeon drew Sky's Judgment with a scraping sound.
“Alright. Your only brother? Or was it family? Anyway, I’ll take care of you both. Don’t worry about the kids and your wife. I’ll take good care of them.”
“?!!”
Wha, what did you say!