Several tens of minutes earlier.
Steven, the Leo Saint who had gone to find eul, was flustered.
"Wait, is this for real? What the hell is that...!!"
That's what happened.
Following eul, the place Steven and the Leo Deity arrived at was none other than outside Earth.
It was the Ashingye, the realm between the Divine Realm and Earth. The goddesses had concealed themselves there.
And it was fortunate that they met Yeonwoo, Heiji, and Heili there as well.
They had come searching early, knowing that this would become an ambush force.
To either destroy eul or take it to Igeon.
'If it's Igeon, he could probably fix even a destroyed eul.'
And thanks to Yeonwoo's help, it was good that they could enter the goddesses' hideout.
But.
-What the... Why is that woman Giselle here?
Steven couldn't help but widen his eyes at the presence of the woman inside.
And she was a former Zodiac Saint, Number One. And the one who had smashed the Hugo family to pieces!
-Why is that crazy Monarch here again!
At that sight, Heiji clicked her tongue and remarked.
-Idiot. That's the Saint who was originally human. That Monarch devoured that Saint and pretended to be the Saint, so that's the one who got devoured.
-What?!
She was a woman who should have been their comrade. But before she could even meet the other Saints, her body was stolen by the Monarch, and she died alongside her Deity.
Soon, Heili said.
-Anyway, the human side's soul somehow drifted into the Divine Realm and is with the Fate Goddess. She seems to be an attendant deity of the goddesses perhaps...
-Oh. So wouldn't she help us?
-Not sure. She's been in the Divine Realm a long time as a human, so I don't know if she'd be helpful...
But the moment they tried to approach Giselle, they noticed it.
-Oh dear.
-Who are you lot!
-How dare you approach Lady Verdandi!
-?!!
That was it.
Because their old comrade was one of the three Fate Goddesses.
And now, having realized that fact.
Steven, utterly dumbfounded, raised his voice.
"If it's Verdandi, isn't she the goddess above goddesses among the Fate Goddesses? Damn it, we didn't get help, we walked right into a tiger's den!!"
In short, she was the enemy.
Because everything that had tormented Igeon using eul had been their doing all along!
Just when they were finally preparing to fight, that moment came.
"You've come! I've been waiting!"
"......????"
She instead warmly grasped the hands of the group and greeted them.
So they thought it might be a trap, but somehow it didn't seem like one.
[Lady Verdandi? What is this...]
"Ah."
Giselle mercilessly blew away the necks of the attendant deities with her.
Then, to the bewildered group of Yeonwoo, Giselle approached as if she had been waiting.
"When I divined the fate, it said, 'Splendid guests will come seeking eul, and they will bring about the destruction of the gods,' so I've been waiting."
"Waiting??"
"Yes. Because I'm a fan of Lord Igeon... I mean, no, I knew the gods would destroy Earth."
"......???"
The original Libra Saint was a woman from a political family, the daughter of a president, who was deeply interested in international peace and seemed to be a fan of Igeon.
So she was a woman who lamented the way the Saints fought like cats and dogs.
And having noticed the Monarchs' purpose, even after death she helped Igeon, until she was discovered by the Cancer Saint, Zhang Rui, and while fleeing, got swept into the Divine Realm.
"Th-Then the divinity you hold now is..."
"Ah. I built up trust diligently and stole it. I wanted to help Lord Igeon... I mean, no, for humanity."
"......"
It seemed she was truly remarkable in unseen places, but Giselle let out a heavy sigh.
"The prophecy spoke of splendid guests coming for eul, but who knew it'd be Steven who came..."
"Disappointed it's not Igeon?"
As Giselle nodded instead of answering, Yeonwoo asked.
"There was such a prophecy? Then wouldn't we also be discovered?"
"Ah, I've altered any prophecies that would harm Lord Igeon into lies. After all, I, the goddess of the present, am the one who transcribes what the future reads onto parchment."
"Oh."
"Anyway, eun is possessed by the future!"
Now that do had vanished and even the Great Deities had disappeared, it meant she would no longer use eun either.
"They must fear their own karma too."
"!"
They said that the Great Deities were basically changing the rules using do, the power of the Primordial God, or the stolen body of the Creator.
"They're deceiving eul."
Because the only ones who could modify eul were the Primordial God and the Creators who made it in the first place.
That was why the Fate Goddesses of Olympus had set their sights on the Creator, they said.
The group was half in doubt, but thought it would likely be okay.
Because Junwoo (Apophis), the wary serpent of Ophiuchus who is cautious when faith is low, casually followed Giselle, saying it's fine.
But as ga blew Earth away, the situation changed completely.
[O goddesses. What are you doing! Change the clause about the divine artifacts with eul! Make it so no gods can possess divine artifacts.]
With the appearance of ga, the Fate Goddesses found themselves forced to use eul once more.
Though the goddesses were flustered.
[Your Majesty, we are relieved you are alive, but a rule change of that scale would bring karma upon us. And in a situation where we can't even use eun, we too...]
[Do you dare disobey the king's command.]
[!]
[Better to die by my hand first than to die from karma.]
[......!!]
[Worry not. Once ga is retrieved, I'll pardon such trivial karma. Alter it just enough so you won't die. Even if you are too weak and die, I'll pass it on. With your memories.]
In the end, the goddesses altered the rules, bearing the karma.
[All gods may possess divine artifacts.]
[All gods may aid the King of Gods in maintaining order in the Divine Realm and receive compensation.]
[All gods over the age of 100 are granted authority to protect humanity.]
These three rules were changed in their favor.
Into something like eun, do, ga.
And Heili and Heiji defeated the goddesses, and Yeonwoo was able to seize eul.
But.
[It's already over!]
The goddesses looked at them and sneered.
[By the time you bring that to the Serpent God, the Serpent God will already have become human.]
"......!!"
[Even if you torture us into modifying it, it's useless. We've just used up all of the Creator's body.]
They planned to make a new eul itself by taking the Creator divinity of Ya, Asran, or Igeon after killing them.
[Eul is now beyond repai...]
But just at that moment.
"Fix it!!! Now!!"
"Argh!!"
"???"
An astonishing face appeared before them.
"You are...!"
"Argh! As if barely surviving death wasn't enough, where the hell is this now!!"
That's right.
The ones who appeared before them were none other than the Cheon siblings and the Scribe Guisun!
It seemed that the moment the Great Deity, ga, and others appeared, the Cheon siblings had quickly judged that this wasn't going well.
As long as the Great Deity was alive, they had no idea what tricks he might pull with eul.
'Before that, we should pull the tricks first!'
So they had followed Steven all the way here.
Of course, Guisun had been diligently correcting Igeon's Bible, only to get caught in ga's Earth explosion and die, and then got kidnapped by the Cheon siblings the moment he revived.
Just as expected.
"Hey! Leo! Eul, eul! You got it, right?!"
"Uh, ye-yes, here..."
Having swiftly snatched it, Cheon Seongjae held out eul to Guisun.
"Alright! Now! Hurry, change the rule! And eun is similar to the Bible too! Hurry up!"
"Argh! Do you think my power will work on a divine object!"
No, that was the least of the problems.
"If I use this, won't the karma come back to me too?!"
"Well, you could die, or your body might rot like those guys, but..."
"Uncle will resolve it with do or ga."
"Call me a lawyer!! I'm going to file a complaint with the labor ministry!"
The dragged-along Guisun wailed.
Of course, the Fate Goddesses laughed, asking how a mere human could fix that...
[Scribe Guisun modifies eul.]
[!?]
Naturally, they thought it impossible, but Guisun was different.
[Wait, that fountain pen... Could it be!]
[Bwoooooo!!!]
The fountain pen Guisun used was crafted by Igeon, the Creator.
And with the Creator's power within it, it meant modification was possible!
[Are you saying it recognizes this as modification by a Creator?!]
"What! You guys used the bodies of Creators to deceive eul, didn't you?! Why wouldn't this work!"
At that sight, Yeonwoo thought.
'No, perhaps it's possible because the one who commands the Primordial God is Igeon's Scribe.'
The master of the Primordial God was, after all, Igeon. And Guisun was his Scribe.
Such a level of proxy authority was granted.
And as if experienced from having tinkered with the Bible all this time, Guisun modified the rule by changing just a single letter.
[Gods aged 100 or (under) become human]
▶ [Gods aged 100 or (over) become human]
* * *
Thus, the rule was changed.
And at that moment.
"Arghhh!!"
As the karma struck, one of Guisun's arms was blown off and he became blood-soaked. Cheon Yuha erased Guisun's pain entirely, and Cheon Seongjae immediately triggered regeneration.
"Guisun! Are you okay?!"
"Argh, see! I told you it wouldn't work!!"
Amidst Guisun's fury, the Cheon siblings were extremely sorry.
"Sorry..."
"Maybe we should've told you not to do it after all..."
"No! Not doing it is not an option! If I don't, not to mention the Divine Lord, humanity and even I will all be wiped out dead!"
Though Guisun fumed, that very moment.
Flash!!
Guisun's arm regenerated instantly at an absurd speed.
"Oh...!"
"It's Uncle!"
When Guisun was healed immediately by Igeon's power, the faces of the Fate Goddesses contorted.
Because they couldn't not know what that meant.
'The modification of eul has failed.'
Just as expected, the goddesses began to scream.
[Argh!!]
All gods aged 100 or over become human.
Once that rule took effect, the bodies of the goddesses also transformed into humans.
They immediately tried to snatch Guisun's fountain pen to correct eul.
At that, the group of Yeonwoo, who had secured eul, tried to flee to where Igeon was.
But right at that moment.
[It's dangerous!!]
Bam!!!
With a burst of fierce hellfire, the Leo Deity who had thrown their body to protect the saints screamed and collapsed.
"Deity!"
The Leo Deity glared with wide-open eyes at the figure before them.
[Wow, crazy... total cheat.]
There before them stood ga, utterly enraged.
And everyone was horrified by the overwhelming divine presence he exuded.
"Did eul not work on him?"
"No, the effect isn't entirely absent, but..."
One of ga's arms had transformed into a human arm.
While other gods became human in one go, perhaps ga's internal power was so immense that he was transforming slowly.
'A god so powerful that he can even delay the power of eul...'
Too strong, absurdly so.
It seemed he was indeed a god even Asran could not kill.
But unless he restored the rule back, he would suffer damage.
Ga, his face filled with rage, glared at Guisun.
At the same time, having instantly recognized Guisun's identity, ga boiled with fury.
It couldn't be helped.
[So it's a Scribe. Wretched things created by the Creator.]
"!"
Eul and eun were things created by the Creators of the past.
Eun was made to eternally record the deeds of the gods.
And eul was a thing created by them to monitor and record the misdeeds of the Great Deities after noticing their corruption, along with the lower-ranking gods of the past.
Ga couldn't help but burn with anger at that damned trace of the Creator.
'Things that keep appearing before my eyes like cockroaches no matter how many times you kill them.'
Just as expected.
[Human. Fix it if you don't want to die.]
"......!!!"
Guisun froze.
Everyone there saw their own deaths.
He was a god of that caliber.
In the end, Steven shouted urgently.
"Hey, Ophiuchus Saint! Summon Igeon! Deity's descent!"
But the one who answered Steven's shout was ga.
[Summoning is fine, but it might take a while for him to arrive? We threw him into hell before coming.]
"......!"
It was unmistakably ga's stalling tactic. Seeing that, the blood-soaked Leo Deity cried out.
[First, destroy eul! Make it so they can't fix it! So the rule stays fixed!]
"Destroy it?"
[If you don't destroy it, that Scribe will be tortured to death while being forced to fix the rule!]
Then everyone urgently used their power to destroy eul.
But.
Bam!!
"!"
Eul was so incredibly hard that not a single scratch appeared. When even the Leo Deity's full power didn't work, they gritted their teeth.
[Maybe it needs a power that's more antithetical to it?]
At that moment, he smiled ferociously and approached them.
And it was right then.
BANG!!!!
“……!”
Someone burst in, smashing apart the goddesses’ hideout.
At the face that appeared, everyone wore expressions that could neither laugh nor cry.
[So you were here, you Daeseongsin bastard!]
[Devour! Devour everything!]
“…!”
He had appeared, leading the flying whale-like Lords.
He flashed his eyes in annoyance.
‘Could it be that he sent them?’
No. There’s no way that could be.
After all, he and that person already had a prior arrangement.
Though it was baffling, he let out a scoff as if it were laughable.
[What can a Lord bastard possibly do.]
But Heilli, seizing the opportunity, shouted.
“Hey, destroy that book-like thing first! Then we can easily devour the Daeseongsin!”
[Oh. Really?]
At that, the Lords glared murderously and approached him.
Yet even as the Lords targeted him, he was not the slightest bit flustered.
The reason was simple.
[You don’t know anything. That is something only a Daeseongsin can destroy.]
“……!”
That was not an object that could be destroyed by brute force in the first place.
It was a law itself, acknowledged only by Daeseongsin-level power, not just any Daeseongsin.
To prevent the rules from being altered or destroyed by invaders, that special function had been placed upon it.
It was a law of the universe that no one could do anything about.
In other words, the only ones in existence who could destroy it now were him and Igeon.
[I’ll finish this quickly before the Snake God arrives.]
Since he was a formidable one, he would soon come here, but if he achieved his goal before then, that was all.
That was why he immediately snatched it.
He intended to kidnap Gwisun along with it, and move elsewhere whenever Igeon gave chase.
In the meantime, he planned to torture Gwisun and edit all the rules.
[Yes. It’s been a while, brings back old memories. Hide-and-seek will be fun too.]
“…Huk!”
Just as he raised the corner of his lips and was about to move, it happened.
BANG!!!
He launched an attack toward it.
He snorted as if dumbfounded.
[You vermin. Have you no brain? It cannot be destroyed unless by a Great Sage God from the start…]
But at that moment.
CRACK!!!
[……!]
His eyes widened, a rare occurrence. He couldn’t help it.
Thud, thud.
[……?]
With a single strike from him, the rule book was destroyed.
He could not understand what that meant.
‘Why.’
This.
Because it simply did not make sense to him based on common sense.
But just then, a familiar voice reached him.
“You moron. Don’t you recognize who that really is?”
Gwisun’s voice.
Yet the tone was completely different.
His eyes widened as he looked at the Gwisun he had with him.
‘This bastard, don’t tell me…’
He didn’t perform Sage God Descent on a sage—he did it on this bastard…!
But that wasn’t what mattered.
[Don’t tell me you granted that brat the divine status of a Great Sage God?]
“No way.”
[…….]
Right. No one knew better than him that such a thing was impossible.
There wouldn’t have been time for it either.
Then why. How.
“Think carefully. Among the Great Sage Gods, there’s one you didn’t deal with. One should still remain.”
[There’s no way….]
But soon, his expression hardened.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
And indeed, one remained.
The eighth.
The moment he recalled that, his expression froze.
In that frozen air, Igeon’s laughter could be heard.
“I heard from my subordinate that you made one of the Great Sage Gods into a Lord.”
In that instant, his hand trembled faintly. The foreboding felt like it was about to become reality.
As if on cue.
“Who do you think that is?”
[……!!]
That damn bastard!!!
And right at that moment.
Saying it wasn’t fully destroyed yet, he launched another attack toward it.
BOOM!!!
It exploded mercilessly, and the earth was swept away.
(To be continued in the next chapter)