Igeon took out the divine tool, the Pincers of the Nine Heavens.
And finally, everyone's eyes widened at the object that fell into his hand.
“What’s that? That thing?”
“It’s not a weapon… is it?”
The black iron that Igeon pulled out was more like a crafting tool than a weapon.
“Isn’t that a pair of tongs?”
It was.
Surprisingly, the divine tool summoned by Igeon was a pair of tongs used by blacksmiths.
A pliers-like tool used to grasp or hold hot metal. But its appearance was far from ordinary.
“What’s with that size!”
The handle alone was as long as an adult man’s leg, thick, and even its shape was vicious.
“With that, you could even pull out the teeth of a monster beast!”
No, it would be fortunate if he only pulled out monster teeth.
The humans, who knew Igeon’s personality better than anyone, were sweating profusely.
In fact, their gazes were directed at the gods.
But regardless, Igeon infused the tongs with his power.
[Pincers of the Nine Heavens (ex)]
-Creator: Igeon
-Divine Tool (Tongs)
-A prison tool made from the Creator’s soul
-Can also be used as a crafting tool
A powerful force gathered into the tongs. The magnitude of the swelling power startled the gods.
Because from that power, they sensed the divine might of a Great Sage God.
Thus, the gods of Valhalla tried to stop Igeon from using the divine tool.
‘A newly hatched puppy.’
Just because he defeated gods and made a usable divine tool, does he think he can match the power of a Great Sage God!
Soon the gods launched attacks.
It was clearly an attempt to not give him even a moment to gather his power.
But it was right then.
Whoosh!
Igeon, who had been standing atop the pillar, vanished in an instant.
And where he appeared was above the ground!
Boom!
Boom boom boom!
Indiscriminate attacks from the gods rained down, but Igeon paid them no mind.
Pow!
Lightly landing on the ground, Igeon moved while evading the enemies’ attacks.
Meanwhile, the war gods pursued him, but they couldn’t catch up to his speed at all.
“Keuk! As expected of a god with the attributes of the War God…!”
“So fast… kue-heok!!”
The War God was the pinnacle among countless battle gods, the strongest combat god!
Ordinary battle gods couldn’t even stand against him.
“Over there! Chase him!”
“Got him… damn!”
Overwhelmingly outpacing the gods, dodging attacks.
Black flames were scattering from Igeon’s moving body.
Because Igeon, transformed into Stage 6, was cloaked in black fire.
Though only half, from head to toe he had transformed into black fire. Moreover, it was an ominous color never seen before.
And at the sight of him burning alone on the plain, the gods swallowed dryly.
That was only natural.
‘That appearance, small as it is, but isn’t it just like a Great Sage God!’
The flame-human form that is the symbol of Great Sage Gods.
Each had different colors and forms according to their nature, but they all possessed a giant, strange visage.
The Great Sage God of the Ennead, [name], was a giant of red flames.
The Great Sage God of Olympus, [name], was a giant of blue lightning.
The Great Sage God of Valhalla, [name], was a giant of purple gas.
The Great Sage God of Eden, [name], was a giant of light.
And only the Great Sage Gods among all gods could assume that form!
‘That bastard!’
Even the captured Holy Gods were shocked.
Because no god, aside from the eight Great Sage Gods, could take on that appearance.
But to the other gods, it was different.
Although he hadn’t grown in size like the Great Sage Gods, the gods felt both awe and displeasure at the sight.
“Strip off that appearance first!”
But as if mocking those gods, Igeon flew into the sky and activated the Death God’s divine tool.
Flash!
The moment Igeon lightly tapped his own palm with the tongs, a massive explosion erupted.
BAAAAANG!!!
Giant spheres of black flame surged up from various points on the ground.
Kwaang!! Kwaang!
The explosive force spanned a radius of hundreds of kilometers. The clustered gods were swept away whole by the explosive force, and screams echoed.
“Aaack!!”
The gods caught in the explosion had their physical bodies annihilated in an instant.
Where the black flames vanished, numerous gems of light were falling with a thud.
They were all divine cores.
The gods seemed shocked by the sight.
“That Death God…!”
“Is it a wide-area attack divine tool?”
There was a high possibility.
It seemed to be a divine tool utilizing the divine core of the Death God. And the advantage of a Holy God possessing a divine tool was even greater.
Not only could they better draw out their authority, but they could also compensate for its weaknesses to utilize it more effectively.
In fact, the Death God’s divine tool he just used had power and range beyond imagination, but that very fact made its weakness large.
The gods of Valhalla, well aware of that fact, immediately looked as if targeting the gods at the execution ground.
Then an astonishing thing happened.
“Keuk!”
“Huk!”
“Ak!”
The gods of the 13 Zodiac Constellations, who were bound, as well as the saints who had been captured for some reason, all scattered in confusion.
“Keuk!”
They were hostages.
They had deliberately scattered them so that Igeon couldn’t use a wide-area attack.
As expected, the Valhalla gods who had scattered them shouted.
“If you fire indiscriminately like that, they’ll get caught up too.”
“Abandon the divine tool. Otherwise, they will lose their lives first.”
The Valhalla gods reached out their hands toward the scattered Holy Gods of the 13 Constellations and the saints.
As killing-intent-filled divine might emanated from their hands, the gods of the 13 Constellations and the saints screamed.
Because they were shackled by the Great Sage God’s authority, in terms of defense alone, they were no different from powerless humans.
But Igeon laughed.
[Attack or don’t, it’s your choice.]
“L-Lord Igeon!”
“This is no time for jokes!”
The Valhalla gods immediately launched attacks at the hostages.
At this distance, using that divine tool from earlier would only kill his allies as well.
But it was right at that moment.
As if waving a fan, Igeon lightly brandished the Death God’s divine tool he was holding.
Then screams were heard from all directions.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
“Keu… kue-heok!”
“Kyaaak!!”
The eyes of the Holy Gods of the 13 Constellations and the saints widened.
That was because, in front, behind, left, right—in all directions—Valhalla gods rose up and became meat shields in their stead.
As if the nearby gods were being pulled by a magnetic force, they were dragged right in front of the Holy Gods of the 13 Constellations and the saints.
That wasn’t all.
“H-Hugo-nim?!!”
Before Jae-won, none other than Hugo rose up as a meat shield. Hugo, struck by the gods’ attacks instead of Jae-won, coughed up blood with a “kuek.”
“Igeon… this son of a…!”
“Hugo-niiim!!”
Thanks to that, everyone could only stare at Igeon with surprised eyes.
In response to their questioning gazes as to what happened, Igeon smiled like a fox and said,
[The Pincers of the Nine Heavens. A weapon that can kill one to save ten thousand.]
“!”
[And the Pincers of Hell. A weapon that kills ten thousand to save one.]
Holding the tongs, Igeon smiled viciously.
[Now do you know what ability this is?]
In short, he had done something fitting of its name.
To save one, he had mercilessly killed others as shields.
In reality, just as the Pincers of the Nine Heavens had the history of killing monster beasts to save countless humans and lives, it was a thorough tool of slaughter.
But the Death God’s divine tool was a binding prison tool.
Just as the saying goes, no one can escape before death, those caught by it were objects that had both body and soul captured.
As proof, when Igeon slightly lifted the Pincers of Hell, an astonishing thing occurred.
“The, the gods…!”
The gods who had been meat shields floated into the air at Igeon’s gesture. As if something invisible was lifting them up.
The Death God’s divine tool was a tool that could dominate life and death itself by pulling with attractive force, pushing with repulsive force, binding, and so forth, grabbing hold of the opponent.
As expected, the Valhalla gods who were lifted flew in the direction Igeon threw them.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
“Uaaak!”
“Kue-heok!”
The gods who collided with them like cannonballs collapsed with severe injuries.
In the end, at that sight, Tongtian Zhu, who had been watching, raised an eyebrow.
[Pathetic.]
He struck the ground with the staff he was holding.
Then, beneath the feet of the scattered gods of the 13 Constellations and the saints, a giant black hole appeared.
An execution ground that would annihilate anything just by falling in had formed.
And as if falling, they all plummeted into the hole.
“Aaack!”
“Kyaaak!”
But at that moment, Igeon’s eyes flashed as he swung the Pincers of Hell. Then, as if a powerful attractive force was generated, they all flew toward Igeon.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
“Keuk!”
“Keo-pu-heok!!”
In the end, as everyone crashed down beside Igeon, Jun appeared and with her fern-like hands, she erased the cube-shaped shackles binding their hands and necks.
Once the shackles were gone, Jun bounced around joyfully.
“It’s done! It’s a success! Now the master is mine!”
“Hey. Who told you to jump around.”
When Igeon tapped her head lightly with the Death God’s divine tool, Jun sniffled and then erased all the execution grounds.
That alone was tremendous power.
[With this, no more damned executions can happen.]
At that sight, Tongtian Zhu let out a hollow laugh.
[They aren’t the only ones captured, you know.]
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a familiar face appeared before Tongtian Zhu’s eyes.
“Kreuk…! Master!”
“S-sorry!”
They were Ilnam, Inam, and other original subordinate gods of Igeon from the Scorpio sanctuary.
They were covered in blood and nearly dead. Some gods had already breathed their last.
It seemed they had been caught up while resisting when Tongtian Zhu captured the gods of the 13 Constellations.
But Igeon looked at them and smiled.
“I told you. One person to save ten thousand.”
As soon as those words fell, Igeon summoned the Pincers of Hell and swung the axe widely.
The long handle, like a spear, traced a black semicircle.
Seogeok!
The head of a giant god who had been aiming at Igeon’s back was severed in an instant.
Then an astonishing thing happened.
“……!!”
Perhaps it was thanks to the power of the Pincers of Hell.
As soon as the giant god died, the power of the Pincers of Hell bloomed from the bodies of the groaning subordinate gods.
[The power of Resurrection is applied.]
[The power of Stamina Increase is applied.]
[All divine might is restored.]
Everyone was shocked.
But Igeon glared at Tongtian Zhu as if disgusted.
[I know you deliberately let me use my abilities.]
“!”
It seemed Igeon already knew the reason Tongtian Zhu was staying still.
[I can clearly see through your intentions, so don’t even think about collecting my abilities with those eyes. Because you can’t take them anyway.]
[!]
That was it.
The reason Tongtian Zhu had allowed Igeon to run rampant was because of that.
He could take the abilities of all gods within his sight. In Igeon’s case, he must have planned to steal the authorities he used.
It was an action befitting a god who collects all knowledge and authorities.
In the end, Tongtian Zhu let out a hollow laugh.
[Mimir told you, I see.]
Only then did he begin to move his body.
[Just because you rescued those petty prisoners from Hel, you think you’ve become something.]
As he moved, thousands of Valhalla gods who served him followed.
[Before countless stars, your light is nothing but a firefly.]
But it was right at that moment.
[Lord, everything is finished.]
A voice reached Igeon’s ears.
Igeon raised the corner of his mouth as if he had been waiting. And he murmured,
[Come forth.]
As if responding to that voice, the earth trembled.
Ku-gu-gung!
The gods flinched in surprise. But it was only for a moment.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
As if answering Igeon’s call, gods began to be summoned across the vast land.
Hundreds, no, thousands.
It was truly a feast of light.
“……!!”
At those familiar yet unfamiliar faces, the gods couldn’t close their mouths.
What appeared there were not only the prisoners from Valhalla.
They were all the subordinate gods of the constellation of Ophiuchus, imprisoned across the eight major forces such as Eden, Ennead, and Mahabharata.
They were the gods that the freed ones from Valhalla had brought back.
[The master of the Azure Sky follows the new Ophiuchus.]
[The master of Wind and Light follows the new Ophiuchus.]
…
[The master of Sword Light follows the new Ophiuchus.]
Not only high-ranking gods, but countless gods revealed themselves at Igeon’s call.
The earth was instantly dyed in a massive light from the radiance they emitted.
It was no longer a firefly’s level of light.
Along with that, a change occurred in Igeon’s body.
Flash!
Standing at the apex of that countless light, Igeon’s power surged up differently than before.
That was unmistakably the light of a Great Sage God!
At the same time, an astonishing thing happened.
Hwarreureuk!!
The black flame that had covered half his body enveloped Igeon entirely. And as that flame grew massive, the size of Igeon’s body also changed.
Flash!
The gods looked as if doubting their own eyes.
He had transformed into a giant of the same size as Tongtian Zhu.
“Th-that appearance!”
“Im-impossible!”
At that sight, the gods couldn’t find their words.
That appearance was undeniably that of a Great Sage God!
The 9 Great Lords.
The 9 Great Forces had been resurrected.
(To be continued in the next installment)