“So you sent Jagyeolsa-juin to Hugo after all?”
Valhalla.
The gods of Valhalla seemed puzzled by Tongcheonju’s course of action.
“Jagyeolsa-juin is Hugo’s seongsin. No matter how much his life was at stake, he should still have some lingering affection for his seongin—will he really be able to kill him?”
Seongeon was a troublemaker who had turned the divine realm into a wasteland.
On top of that, though he wasn’t a first-generation ruler for nothing, his power was on par with the Great Seongsin.
‘So it’s obviously best to deal with him.’
They hadn’t bid on Seongeon in Valhalla for nothing.
Above all, if a guy like that was in the Serpent God’s retinue, they had to deal with him even more.
‘If the Serpent God’s stature grows any further, won’t the retinue gods who originally belonged to the Serpent Lord’s seat also raise hell?’
‘We have to give back the land too.’
After they had stolen that land, the retinue gods, and all those treasures.
“They say that in terms of skill, Jagyeolsa-juin ranks within the top 30 of the divine realm, but what if sentimentality keeps him from finishing off Seongeon…?”
[It doesn’t matter if he fails.]
“Pardon?”
Tongcheonju smiled as if that was precisely why he had sent him.
[Most likely, Jagyeolsa will be killed by Seongeon.]
“What?!”
They were about to ask how he knew that, but the gods promptly fell silent.
There was no point in asking such a thing of a Great Seongsin of Valhalla.
‘He must have seen the fate of the gods.’
Tongcheonju was said to be able to foresee the final moments of gods.
[The reason Jagyeolsa chose Seongeon as his seongin is because of the karma accumulated in the past.]
“!”
That wasn’t all.
[And dying at that Seongeon’s hands is his karma as well.]
In other words, Tongcheonju had sent Jagyeolsa to Hugo with the intent of killing him from the start.
At that, the gods were bewildered.
“Is Jagyeolsa not an exceptionally useful god? I do not know why you would deliberately have him killed.”
“With Tongcheonju’s power, bending him to your will would be no trouble at all.”
“Rather, to oppose the Serpent God...”
[No. If he stays alive, it will be troublesome.]
“Pardon?”
Instead of answering, Tongcheonju recalled Jagyeolsa-juin’s past.
His former self was Garan.
Though he was the firstborn son of the Creator patriarch, he was a man who, compared to his genius younger brother, constantly lamented his own ability. Because of that, that inferiority complex became a trigger, leading him to usurp the seat of his clan.
Of course, he himself was later usurped by his own retinue gods, but he wasn’t a former Creator for nothing.
Garan instead suppressed the will of the retinue god that swallowed him and was born anew.
Recently, it seems his memories from his time as Garan have been returning.
However.
‘It’s a problem if he regains any more memory than that.’
It couldn’t be helped.
Because it was they who had told Garan the Creators’ weakness.
And because it was a Great Seongsin of the Enead who had instilled hatred in Garan—who had been loyal to the Creators and loved his younger brother.
That was why it was a problem if Jagyeolsa remembered any more.
If he recovered more memories, he would figure out they were the ones pulling the strings.
Furthermore, he would even pick up on their own weaknesses.
‘Honestly, those wretched Creators.’
The Great Seongsin utterly despised that clan.
Right then.
“Tongcheonju?”
“Is this by any chance because of the Creators’ matter?”
“Ha. The Creators. Always those troublemakers. This time too, isn’t the youngest one trying to pass on the ancient god?”
Whatever form they took, the gods could not oppose the ancient god.
They couldn’t even bring themselves to think of making him a retainer.
But Tongcheonju smiled.
[Originally, both Manbyeon and Jagyeolsa were fated to die at Seongeon’s hands.]
But the one who twisted that fate was none other than Igeon.
So it was best to avoid getting entangled with Igeon as much as possible.
“But if Jagyeolsa tries to kill Seongeon, Manbyeon will deal with Jagyeolsa as well.”
Then Jagyeolsa would die, and just from fighting, Manbyeon too would take a serious blow because of Tongcheonju’s power.
[Yes. For now, they just need to fight each other.]
Then either way, it was a gain.
* * *
But in fact, around that time.
“Why, you! You good-for-nothing nephew!! Not even letting me fight! And you call yourself my nephew!”
“Get lost, you kin-slayer.”
“……!!!?”
Jagyeolsa-juin staggered as if shocked.
He had never imagined he’d hear such words from Igeon.
But even while reeling from the damage, he approached Igeon as if he had something that needed doing.
“I’ll pretend I never heard any of what you just said. Hand over that wish voucher right now.”
“Oh, my? You’re trying to take back a gift?”
“I’m not taking it back! Do you think that wish voucher is some massage coupon written on a scrap of paper?! It’s a promise made by a god! A kind of absolute command that forms a contract the moment it’s used...! No, never mind. Anyway, until you can put it to better use, I’ll keep it safe for you. Hand it over!”
“Get lost. I’ll use it right now.”
“Huh, if you insist on acting that way, I won’t stand still either...”
But at that moment, Jagyeolsa-juin let out a scream.
It was because of the long-haired child wriggling its way up onto Igeon’s shoulder.
“Aack!! The Ancient God!!!”
The instant Jagyeolsa-juin recognized the child, he backpedaled and hid behind a tree.
“You! What have you done to the Ancient God!?”
As if telling it to get off, Igeon shoved the child away and spoke.
“What, you recognize me even though my appearance changed?”
“The aura and power are exactly the same, so do you think gods wouldn’t recognize you!!!”
As if terrified even to come close, Jagyeolsa-juin trembled.
To the gods, the Ancient God was that kind of existence.
Jagyeolsa-juin, not even daring to lift his head, said to Igeon.
“The an-ancient god is cheating, so put him away and let’s talk... Aack!!”
Igeon instead grabbed the child and thrust it toward Jagyeolsa-juin. And Jagyeolsa-juin had a fit and hid even more.
Igeon grinned as if he had discovered something good.
“Weirdly, when I have this kid with me, gods won’t come near. My own retinue gods try not to come close either.”
“The weird one is you, who can nonchalantly grab him and face him!!”
The Ancient God was an absolute being whom all gods feared.
No, what was scarier was the state and affiliation of the Ancient God right now.
‘To dare make the Ancient God his subordinate!’
On top of that, the Ancient God was hanging from Igeon’s neck, rubbing its face against him as if it liked him.
Then Igeon, as if annoyed, ordered it to turn back into a weapon.
At that, the Ancient God’s face fell and it changed its form.
And what appeared was none other than the shape of a gigantic hammer.
At the sight, Jagyeolsa-juin collapsed as if the strength had drained from his legs without him noticing.
He seemed to have witnessed an unbelievable spectacle.
“You—did you just turn the Ancient God into a weapon?”
“Yeah. With this, you become my little lackey without me even having to kill you.”
“…#*&$#**?!”
As if turning Hermes into an object wasn’t enough, now even the Ancient God?
“Well, perhaps because it’s so high-ranked, it keeps turning back into human form.”
Jagyeolsa-juin pressed his forehead as if dizzy.
As though he had seen nothing, he walked out from behind the tree.
“I... I saw nothing. So put away that horrific thing...”
Igeon casually held out the hammer.
“What, you punk.”
“Aack!!”
As if terrified to be anywhere near that aura, Jagyeolsa-juin screamed again and hid behind the tree.
And right at that moment.
“What’s going on? Who’s been screeching like someone’s having their throat ripped out?”
“!!”
Perhaps because of Jagyeolsa-juin’s screams, Hugo appeared at the lake’s edge.
At the same time, the moment their eyes met, Jagyeolsa-juin’s expression changed.
The instant their eyes locked, both simultaneously drew their bows.
There was no telling who was first.
BANG!!!
The arrow of light from Jagyeolsa-juin’s bow and the arrow from the bow Igeon had made for Hugo clashed.
But as to be expected of two who weren’t called gods of precision for nothing.
PANG!!!
The arrows meant to blow each other’s heads off collided and exploded. The arrowheads had met perfectly and burst.
At that, the two immediately broke away and launched attacks at each other.
Igeon idly scratched his belly at the spectacle.
That was the moment.
BANG!!!
Volleys of arrows flew, each arrowhead meeting and bursting against the other.
Thinking there’d be no end to it at this rate, Hugo first closed in on Jagyeolsa-juin.
At last, Hugo brought his bow down like an axe.
BANG!!
Jagyeolsa-juin, who had blocked the bow with his own, gnashed his teeth.
“Hugo! Without any gratitude for raising you all this time, you dare try to kill your seongsin!”
“Raise me, my ass! I’m the one who fed your damn kids and kept them alive!!”
In that position, Hugo created an arrow of magic power and shot it point-blank.
BANG!!!
It was an ultra-close-range shot.
As the intense explosion erupted, Jagyeolsa-juin gritted his teeth.
Because although disguised as the power of the Serpent Lord’s seat, it was in fact the power of a ruler.
“This bastard... you’ve gotten your memories back?”
“No idea what you’re talking about?”
“That’s exactly why you’re trying to kill me!”
It was right then, as Jagyeolsa-juin’s eyes flashed and he was about to use his ability.
Growing hungry, Igeon tore the wish voucher in half.
Rip!
And that was the activation signal for the wish voucher!
“Hey. I’m going to eat, so don’t attack Taek-su.”
When the intense red light finally flared up, Jagyeolsa-juin screamed as if Igeon had really done it now.
“Aack! I told you not to use it on some trivial thing like that!! Besides, even if you can’t attack, there are plenty of ways to kill—.”
“What are you on about? It’s a different wish.”
“What?”
[The Serpent Lord’s wish voucher has been activated against Jagyeolsa-juin.]
[Wish:
“……!?”
Did this brat just use the wish for something more comprehensive?
But soon Jagyeolsa-juin let out an empty laugh.
“You’ve made a mistake, actually. That wish voucher is a one-time-use. If you had issued a permanent command like ‘absolutely cannot kill Hugo,’ that would be one thing, but a wish like that ends its effect with this use, so...”
“Ah, don’t worry. I changed the attribute of the wish voucher from
“Changed... you... what? To perpetual? What do you mean?”
“I mean, that command I just gave. It isn’t one-time. It’s semi-permanent.”
“...Aha. So any command can become absolute obedience to the Serpent Lord forever... Ah. Forever...”
At the same time, Jagyeolsa-juin’s expression screamed silently.
‘I’d forgotten that the bastard’s other divine name is
If Asuran’s other divine name,
In other words,
‘All objects have a structure, and artisans can fix, remove, or destroy it.’
Put simply, the wish voucher Jagyeolsa-juin had handed over was also considered an ‘item,’ so it had been modified in Igeon’s hands. Of course, a price was needed.
At last, at Jagyeolsa-juin’s expression, the ultimate craftsman curled up one corner of his mouth.
“So that’s why you shouldn’t leave item-type stuff to me at all, you dumbass.”
“……!”
But Jagyeolsa-juin’s face looked like he still couldn’t understand, for that very reason.
It couldn’t be helped.
“Even if you paid a price, that wish voucher just now was 4-star grade! There’s no way karma wouldn’t follow changing the performance of an item of that level. It’s something a standard indulgence could never manage...”
“Ah, that doesn’t matter. Because right now I’ve got this.”
Instead of answering, Igeon shook the Ancient God hammer.
As Jagyeolsa-juin realized what that meant, he froze.
‘The Ancient God?!’
The Ancient God was the king of the gods, and among his original abilities was the issuance of indulgences.
Of course, now that the Ancient God had vanished, the divine realm system where his power remained was issuing indulgences.
But now that the very source was here...
‘Then could it be that he’s gained an indulgence on the level of a Great Seongsin?’
Or perhaps he had something even greater.
In the end, Jagyeolsa-juin’s face went pale.
After all, until now, even though Igeon had strong authorities, he hadn’t been able to use his abilities recklessly because he lacked indulgences.
But if that problem was solved by getting his hands on the Ancient God...
‘If this goes wrong, it could mean that even all the objects in the divine realm might end up corrupted...’
And by that point, Hugo looked at Jagyeolsa-juin.
Jagyeolsa-juin couldn’t attack him, but that didn’t mean Hugo couldn’t attack the bastard.
But it was at that moment.
“Hey, no. Don’t you touch that bastard either.”
“What? Are you going easy on him again just because he’s your uncle...?”
“Nope? No need for us to lift a hand; they’ll take care of him for us.”
“What? What do you mean by that—.”
No sooner had he spoken than light shone from Jagyeolsa-juin’s neck.
It was light emanating from the crow tattoo.
And from that light, two crows appeared.
[You failed the mission.]
[Failed.]
The moment Jagyeolsa-juin saw those crows, he went ashen with terror.
“Wait...!”
The crows emitted light and coiled around Jagyeolsa-juin’s neck.
Then the cords of light tightened around his throat.
“Urgh! No! Don’t drag me away!”
[You are to be executed. Executed.]
[Executed.]
Jagyeolsa-juin was dragged away by the crows.
At the sight, Hugo broke out in a cold sweat.
“I-is that alright?”
“No problem. Right?”
Igeon looked at the Ancient God and smiled meaningfully.
(To be continued in the next episode)