[This is serious. At this rate, he will degenerate and Lord Igeon’s very existence will disappear!]
They wondered what was happening, but soon found the answer.
[The Great Gods used the . They stole faith with the .]
At Guryongju’s words, the Holy Disciples asked in surprise.
“If it’s called , it sounds like a book… Can something like that do this to Uncle?”
The gods too seemed unconvinced. It couldn’t be helped.
[No matter how much it’s a divine artifact that makes ‘what is written become law and reality,’ there’s no such law in the !]
The was an object created to rein in those extraordinary gods.
Whatever was written in it became reality and gained binding force.
It was a divine artifact born because only something of that level could control beings like gods.
But.
[There’s no way Taechoshin would have put a rule for stealing faith into it…!]
[That’s right. Faith is directly tied to a god’s power. If stealing it were possible, the divine realm would be a battlefield over stealing faith…!]
[Even if you can take a colony, you can’t take faith; the gods know well that it’s inefficient, which is why there’s less war…]
[It’s impossible! Only Taechoshin and the Creators could modify the in the first place…]
But Guryongju answered nonchalantly.
[Because Tongcheonju possesses the among Taechoshin’s powers.]
[!]
This time even the gods couldn’t help but be shocked.
The eight powers of Taechoshin that the Great Gods divided among themselves.
Among them, the was with Tongcheonju of Valhalla. And so the theory was that he had used that to alter and rewrite the law.
[They probably altered the section to . And with that, they stole the faith of the Serpent Lord.]
But Cheon Seongjae furrowed his brow.
“But just changing that rule alone shouldn’t let them steal the Serpent Lord’s faith.”
[They used the and the .]
“!”
Mimir said, as if immediately catching on.
Just as the Great Gods divided five of Taechoshin’s six authorities among themselves, they also divided three divine tools called the .
Thus eight Great Gods, eight powers.
And if the held the ‘Earth’ among ‘Heaven, Earth, Human’…
[The of Babylon and the of Olympus hold Heaven and Human respectively.]
“……!”
If what Guryongju had was a divine tool that ruled the body, the ruled space, and the ruled the soul.
[First, with ‘Heaven’ that rules cosmic space, they could manage Earth as they pleased. And with ‘Human’ that rules souls, they brainwashed humanity.]
Brainwashing.
“Then….”
[That is, after changing the rule with the , they brainwashed humanity and transferred the faith to themselves.]
“……!”
Perhaps they had simply replaced the existence of Igeon in humanity’s minds with the Great Gods.
And thus, Igeon, who had his faith stolen, couldn’t help but take damage.
Because to fill a fuel tank that had been expanded, a steady supply was needed.
But by this point, both the Holy Disciples and the gods seemed flustered.
[Even if they did that, they cannot avoid karma. Doing something like this would only bring enormous karma upon themselves…!]
Gods are incredibly powerful, but with that came restrictions.
That was .
It was the retribution that came when you excessively altered the order of the universe.
And when karma reached an unbearable level, one would degenerate into an evil god, be executed, or vanish.
Cheon Yuhye narrowed his brows.
“Don’t tell me, because they can change the rule itself, they can also avoid karma….”
[No, that’s not it. The very act of altering the rule for their own benefit is something that deserves punishment.]
[That karma cannot be avoided.]
It was the Virgo Constellation God and Guryongju who answered.
So the laws of the universe were not trivial.
Anyone who acts against providence receives punishment—that is karma.
But at the Virgo Constellation God’s words, the Holy Disciples fell into even greater mental breakdown.
“They can’t avoid karma, but they changed the rule and even brainwashed people?”
[That’s right. It doesn’t make sense. No matter how many high-level indulgences (absolution) the Great Gods have….]
Because the gods’ power could disrupt even the order of the universe according to their authority, it couldn’t be used recklessly.
Disrupting the order of the universe creates karma. That’s why the was issued.
That was the .
Wasn’t that the precious item Igeon had persistently taken and ruined when he went to the divine realm?
[But an incident of this scale cannot be smoothed over even with the highest-level indulgences (absolution)!]
[Even the Great Gods wouldn’t want to become evil gods and vanish; what on earth were they thinking…!]
[I wonder. Seeing them act so recklessly, it seems they have some way to nullify karma…]
Just then. Igeon, burning with fever, gritted his teeth and rose.
“It’s fine… I can endure this much.”
“Lord Igeon!”
It meant he just needed to find and deal with them before that.
But at that moment.
CRACK!
“Cough!!”
“Lord Igeon!”
As if to snatch him away, a massive darkness crushed down on Igeon.
And the gods, realizing the nature of the darkness that began to envelop Igeon, were even more horrified.
[This is…! Is this not karma!!]
[Why is karma coming to the master…!]
[Mimir!]
Quickly, Mimir, who had been examining Igeon, gritted his teeth.
[You just asked how the Great Gods could bear the karma after doing such a thing, right?]
[No way.]
[That’s right. They transferred the karma to the master.]
[These bastards!]
Just as they had transferred the karma of killing Taechoshin to the five Creators who were directly under him, this time they transferred it to Igeon.
[At this rate, the master will turn into a that has lost both reason and power…!]
Moreover, Igeon was already weakened in defense and power because his faith had been stolen.
And on top of that, karma like a final stab!
[At this rate, he will directly vanish…!]
Just then.
BOOM!!!
“Aagh!”
The ominous power of karma enveloping Igeon penetrated his body.
And the moment the Great Gods’ karma turned to Igeon, Igeon’s suffering form began to change.
“Uncle!”
“Lord Igeon!”
Just like the evil god Creators who had monstrous forms, Igeon’s appearance began to transform into a monster.
But Igeon was already at the Great God level.
BANG!!!
“Aagh!!”
A power incomparable to the Creators’ flung the gods and Holy Disciples away.
KU-GU-GUNG!
There was no time to recover.
From Igeon’s body turning into an evil god, an intense power gushed out.
That power mercilessly destroyed the surroundings and tried to kill humanity.
“Cough!”
Black power surging up like hooks seized the high-ranking Holy Disciples and gods.
[Master!]
The power regarded them as prey and tried to tear them to shreds.
“Lord Igeon… gasp!”
“Ug…!”
The power that was about to tear allies apart stopped.
Igeon seemed to be barely holding onto his sanity and controlling the power, but he looked extremely strained.
And then, perhaps even that control became too much.
“Agh!”
Igeon, increasingly turning into a monster, was already in agony from high fever and pain. In the end, the power that had turned into an evil god without control indiscriminately spread out.
And the moment everyone felt danger from that power.
Flash!
Guryongju, the Master of the Scorching Hell, the Master of the Full Moon, the Leo Constellation God, and Kevin used their power to bind Igeon.
Beams of light bound the Igeon who had become an evil god and suppressed his power.
But.
“Argh…! What power!”
[As expected of the Serpent Lord…!]
Even with four top-tier Constellation Gods and a Great God adding power, Igeon’s level was not to be taken lightly.
Other gods and Holy Disciples also lent power, but at this rate, they were in danger of being swallowed by Igeon’s power!
[No! The limit…!]
That moment.
“Keep holding him!”
“!!”
At the familiar voice, the gods’ expressions changed.
What appeared was a slime, no, Asran.
And along with him, a giant pillar of light exploded above Igeon’s head.
BOOM!!
[The magician Cheon created the ability of restraint.]
The giant pillar of light lifted the earth, and the rising ground instantly trapped Igeon.
BANG!!!
In an instant, a massive sphere was formed. And over that sphere, giant metal chains appeared and wrapped around it.
It sealed Igeon so he couldn’t come out.
“Asran!”
[Lord Asran…!]
Asran landed before them, saying his cooldown (?) had finally returned.
It seemed that during the cooldown, he had been in slime form all along and couldn’t use his power.
“This will hold for a while.”
[Asran…!]
The Master of the Full Moon looked at him as if in disbelief. The Master of the Scorching Hell looked at his younger brother with a different meaning.
But as if knowing that imprisonment wasn’t a fundamental solution, Asran looked at the Leo Constellation God.
“So, ill-mannered cat, quickly take the Saint and go destroy the . You can do it, can’t you.”
[Who’s a cat!!! You damn bastard! Want to get eaten!]
“I’ll give you 100 Churus.”
[What, you bastard?!!]
But since there was a need to destroy the , the Leo Constellation God bit Stephen’s head and left.
But then.
As if mocking the gods’ actions, a familiar voice came from somewhere.
[Do you think anything will change by doing that?]
“!”
It was Tongcheonju.
The Great Gods who had snuck onto Earth were laughing, as if they had anticipated this situation.
[Until the Serpent God turns into a and extinguishes himself, we will be recovering nicely with the faith of this place’s inhabitants.]
[We’ll use this Earth well as our new temporary dwelling.]
Above all, they seemed pleased that the Holy Disciples were quite usable as a fighting force.
Soon the Holy Disciples gritted their teeth.
“If we just eliminate that , will Lord Igeon recover?”
[We must get rid of the and they possess; only then will the brainwashing stop. They won’t be able to steal faith anymore.]
At Guryongju’s words, a mocking laugh came.
[Hah, even that’s only possible if you find us.]
“!”
Tongcheonju let out a laugh as if disgusted.
[Get rid of Heaven and Human? You traitor. In the first place, you will never be able to find us.]
[So just die as you are.]
With those words, Tongcheonju’s voice vanished. Thanks to that, the followers who realized the Great Gods’ purpose gritted their teeth.
[They intend to hide until the master vanishes…!]
[Damn it, if we only knew where those bastards are…!]
“Mister, can’t you find those bastards?”
Even as this happened, they could feel the Serpent Lord’s power gradually weakening.
At Cheon Seongjae’s urgent look, Guryongju spoke.
[We can’t find them. They deliberately hid perfectly. Even the gods can’t find them.]
Even if they could, it would probably take a very long time.
[Since four of them deliberately combined their powers, it’ll take about 50 years to find them…]
“Are you kidding?! Uncle will die before that!”
But just then.
BOOM!!
A loud roar came from the space where Igeon was trapped. It was like the sound of Igeon inside kicking the walls violently.
“L-Lord Igeon?”
But it didn’t end there.
BOOM!!
As the earth shook, the Holy Disciples broke into sweat.
“D-Don’t tell me, going berserk?!”
So they were about to bewilderedly guard and use their abilities.
[I smell delicious gods.]
CRAAACK!!!
Along with an unfamiliar voice, an earthquake occurred. Its epicenter was none other than the sky!
Those who looked at the sky almost screamed.
“Th-That’s…!”
A door opened in the sky, and horrifying creatures appeared.
[I smell delicious gods.]
[Kyahaha! Crazy, there’s a ton of prey here? Wasn’t this place supposed to only have insignificant humans?]
Humanity turned pale at the sight of the black monster shadows that appeared from the gate that opened in the sky.
It couldn’t be helped.
“A-A Monarch?!”
The gods were equally flustered.
[They’re 2nd generation Monarchs…!!]
[Why are those predators here…!]
The number of Monarchs was staggering, but hundreds of monsters following them were descending in a black mass.
And with the emergence of more Monarch-level monsters, humanity fell into despair.
On top of that, Lord Igeon wasn’t in a normal state to begin with!
“Those bastards…!”
“No, you’ve already been beaten up by Lord Igeon like that, haven’t you had enough…!!”
As the Saints and high-ranking Holy Disciples gritted their teeth and prepared to attack.
But regardless, the 2nd generation Monarchs cackled.
[Hey hey, listen! There are as many as eight Great Gods here!]
[What?!]
[Bring more guys! We only came on the orders of a 1st generation elder, and look at this windfall!]
[Strange. Our elder originally told us not to go to Earth.]
[Maybe Manbyun Elder lured them?]
[Who cares! They’re Great Gods!]
[Well, it seems a few of them are hiding.]
[What are you saying. Can you erase your smell just by hiding?]
[True. We’ll find them in a minute.]
Who sent them? Or who summoned them?
Those who can smell gods better than anyone in the world had appeared.
(Continued in the next installment)