He unleashed his power toward the object.
The mighty force swept away the earth, and everyone in the A-shin Realm screamed as they were flung into the air.
"Aaagh!!"
The Cheon siblings who had brought Gwisun along, and Yeonu's party, were all hurled out of the shattered A-shin Realm.
Kugugung!
Everything was due to the attack of Manbyun.
And with that single strike, the Book of Commandments was destroyed in an instant.
The attacked Hwaryun could only raise his eyebrows.
'That Book of Commandments cannot be destroyed except by one with the qualifications of a Great Saint God.'
A universal law was in place, such that not even a scratch would appear no matter how many gods or monarchs attacked it.
In short, attack nullification.
But Manbyun boldly destroyed that object.
Then what could that mean?
'That bastard is Eden's Great Saint God, Baek-gwang?'
Hwaryun was the Great Saint God of Eden who had been defeated by someone long ago and fallen into slumber. The angels had tried to wake him.
But that guy claimed to be Manbyun?
'Does that make any sense?'
Of course, Manbyun was a fellow who toyed with enemies using transformation abilities.
So it was entirely possible, but why would he go out of his way to turn a Great Saint God into a monarch?
It would be nothing but a waste of ability.
Wasn't it enough to just eat him? That would have been far more nutritious.
'Could it be revenge?'
No, impossible.
From a guy who was barely a monarch?
But now, there was no time to think about that.
Bang!!
He immediately ordered a subordinate hiding in the shadows.
'Bring Asran's body right now!'
He intended to recreate the Book of Commandments. At the same time, he tried to kidnap Gwisun.
But Manbyun wasn't about to stand by and watch.
[Hwaryun! You bastard, I never liked you from the start!]
[Keugh!!!]
The attacked Hwaryun widened his eyes.
Eden's Great Saint God Baek-gwang was precisely someone who just didn't mesh with him.
Their relationship had been extremely bad. So even when he heard that Baek-gwang had fallen asleep, he didn't care and left him alone.
And Manbyun, knowing that fact, had sent someone? Or knowing that, he had turned that guy into a monarch?
In the end, Baek-gwang, having clashed with Hwaryun, launched this vicious attack.
[Die!! You punk! I'm gonna kill you and dump your debt on the Snake God and take you away!]
[This bastard's gone mad!]
[You're the one who's mad!]
In the end, Hwaryun was swept into the light alongside Baek-gwang without even a chance to repair the Book of Commandments.
The Cheon siblings quickly grabbed the fragments of the Book of Commandments they'd been trying to collect and fled.
They didn't know what it was, but it was a gain.
* * *
And around that time.
In a remote area where the monarchs gathered and grew.
Baram approached Hyugo with a smile.
[Brother, I did everything just as you asked.]
"!"
Baram, having fulfilled all of Hyugo's requests, laughed lightly.
[To be honest, when you first asked to release the monarchs on Earth, I wondered what was going on in your head, but in the end, it worked out well. My adorable subordinates were able to devour the power of the Great Saint Gods.]
True to his words.
Baram had sent the 2nd-generation monarchs to the Great Saint Gods at Hyugo's request.
Coincidentally, hadn't Hyugo leaked information that the Great Saint Gods were in a weakened state, making them easy to deal with?
And that wasn't all.
[I never imagined you'd send someone to destroy the Book of Commandments. No, honestly, I didn't know you knew its true identity.]
"You gave it to me. There's no way I wouldn't know."
[That's true.]
Baram, who knew the true nature of the Book of Commandments, laughed as if amused.
Indeed. In truth, it was Baram who had created the Book of Commandments.
But.
'The one who gave me the materials was Hyugo.'
It was back when Hyugo had been framed for killing the Creators and thrown into prison.
At that time, Baram had secretly come to save Hyugo.
- My brother. I've come to rescue you. Let's get out of the Divine Realm quickly.
But Hyugo refused to leave prison, and instead threw him a lump of something.
- Take this with you.
- What's this?
- It's a Great Saint God of Eden I captured long ago.
- What??
- He was making such a racket that I transformed him into a cruder. I thought I might eat him later as emergency rations, so I made him into a meatball and kept him.
- Huh.
- If I'd kept him as a Great Saint God, the gods would have noticed.
- That's true, but... Why now?
If he ate this now, he could recover his strength and become stronger.
But Hyugo said:
- Take it with you instead of me. Well, it wouldn't be bad to use it to make a new monarch.
- ...!
Cruders usually occurred naturally, like wild plants. The 1st-generation monarchs were such cases.
But Baram could cultivate monarchs like crops.
Perhaps that's why Hyugo handed it over to him.
- Well, if you don't like the idea of using a Great Saint God as a monarch, you can just eat it up.
In the end, Baram had no choice but to return with only that meatball.
He'd stashed it away because it felt like a waste to eat, and it seemed the clever Hyugo had immediately recognized its value.
Of course, no one else except Baram could create monarchs, but Hyugo was different.
Others needed each recipe spoon-fed to them just to barely create a monarch.
'That child was clever.'
Hyugo had gathered materials on his own and independently created his own comrades.
And the one who took the meatball (Eden's Great Saint God) that Manbyun had made and revived it as a 3rd generation was none other than Hyugo. That was Baek-gwang, remade with eight tentacles attached into a whale-like form.
'Since he's not yet recognized as dead, even that guy can destroy the Book of Commandments.'
And that wasn't all.
Cruders became better talents with each passing generation.
A Great Saint God would already possess powerful strength—so what if he advanced a generation further?
'He'll be stronger than the 2nd generation.'
And knowing that fact, Baram couldn't help but laugh even now as he looked at Hyugo.
[Well, when you went to meet the Primordial God, I was shocked, thinking you were going to commit suicide, but this time I was surprised in a different way.]
Thanks to that, the Book of Commandments, the pride of the Divine Realm, was destroyed, and that arrogant Hwaryun must be fuming mad.
[Well. Somehow it seems like this incident has benefited the Snake God, but as long as destroying the Book of Commandments benefits you, that's fine. I'll do anything for you.]
Baram smiled warmly as he looked at his brother.
[So now, you keep your promise too.]
"Promise?"
[Right. You haven't forgotten about our other brother, Geoni, who's still asleep, have you? He's also your own blood brother.]
At the familiar name, Hyugo furrowed his brow.
Geoni, formless like water.
Jii, able to move anywhere.
Giyeom, the very flame of life itself.
Yeom, holding deep treasures within the earth.
The four were 1st-generation monarchs and close sworn brothers.
[And though Geoni is currently in a deep sleep, you can wake him, can't you? And you said you'd wake him up on the condition that we send the monarchs.]
"......"
Geoni was Hyugo's blood brother, born from the same substance. Although a sudden accident had caused him to lose his strength, so Baram had put him to sleep.
Knowing that, Baram spoke with a smile.
[Haven't you recovered enough strength by now? So hurry and wake Geoni too, and let's devour everything again like we did back then.]
As he said this, Baram gestured, and a familiar monster appeared before them.
It was none other than Geoni.
At the sight of the giant monster, Hyugo smiled lightly.
"Right. Now I'll wake him from his sleep."
[Yes, good idea....]
But in that instant.
The moment Hyugo placed his hand on the monster, Geoni vanished in a flash.
As if the being he'd intended to wake had never existed in the first place, Geoni's form turned to trash and scattered into the sky.
At that sight, Baram looked at Hyugo with a bewildered expression.
[Wait, what is...!]
"You wanted to wake your brother and build up your strength again, but Geoni disappeared a long time ago."
[What?]
"Geoni is already dead. I killed him, and I devoured him ages ago."
[...What?!]
In that moment, Baram, seemingly shocked, glared at Hyugo with furious eyes.
He had no way of not knowing what that meant.
If the story about Geoni was a lie... Then could it be that even sending the monarchs to the Great Saint Gods was...
But Baram glared at Hyugo as if that couldn't be.
[Didn't you say that the Book of Commandments had rules written in it that suppressed your power? So you couldn't use your power until it was destroyed.]
"Why would something like that be written in the Book of Commandments?"
[What?]
"Unless the gods had gone mad, would they inscribe stories about Cruders in a sacred Book of Commandments?"
Baram's eyes widened.
[You, then, all this time, for that Snake God...!!]
"You finally figured it out? You moron?"
Realizing he'd been tricked, Baram seemed utterly unable to contain his rage.
[...Why! Why did you do this!]
At those words, Hyugo burst into laughter as if it were absurd.
"You idiot. Are you seriously telling me you don't know?"
* * *
Hyugo loathed the existence called Cruders with a terrible hatred.
'Bastards who'd abandon even their family for the sake of eating.'
Creatures who devoured what belonged to others, who only knew how to steal from others and fatten their own flesh.
Beings who knew nothing but destruction.
They were truly repulsive.
'Including myself.'
They had killed countless people, invaded countless lands, and Hyugo, having survived, felt a sense of disillusionment.
He'd tried starving himself out of hatred for his own self, but his predatory instincts wouldn't leave him alone.
Those predatory instincts even devoured his own family.
[It's alright. Little brother. It's not your fault.]
When his family, Geoni, lay dying covered in wounds.
It seemed the damnable Cruder instincts recognized his weakened family not as a brother, but as food first.
Because of those instincts, Hyugo had devoured even the family he loved.
Even as he ate his older brother Geoni, his hungry stomach accepted it greedily, as if enjoying itself.
It was so agonizing that he vomited it back up, even built a grave and placed offerings, but his hungry instincts didn't even allow him to mourn.
His hands couldn't even place a single offering for his brother; they were filthy hands that destroyed the grave, rummaging for more to eat.
Truly, garbage obsessed with eating.
Fellow kin who thought it natural to devour even the graves of their family, asking what need there was for them.
Beasts who knew nothing but destruction.
He thought he wanted to die, but the Cruder instincts wouldn't allow him to kill himself.
Then, in the midst of that, Hyugo heard something:
- Did you hear? If gods and Cruders get too close, the weaker one might die.
So Hyugo targeted the Primordial God, the king of gods, who was said to be the strongest.
But in the end, his plan failed and he was captured by the Creators.
- From now on, your custody will be taken over by the Creator Tribe.
Creator Tribe?
'Creator Tribe, my ass.'
Weren't gods just the same kind of destroyers as them?
'Those who flaunt their power and subdue the inhabitants of their colonies by force.'
But the Creators were different.
They were the Creator Tribe.
Unlike themselves, who only knew how to steal and kill, they were a tribe who created something. A tribe who gave life.
Hyugo liked them.
You could say it was love at first sight. Well, the more he got to know them, the sloppier and more foolish they turned out to be.
So maybe that's why he became even more enraged when they were annihilated.
Especially once he figured out that the Great Saint Gods were entangled in that conspiracy.
Thus, he swore he would one day wipe them all out.
And now, after countless ages had passed.
At the look in Hyugo's eyes, Baram trembled.
[Brother!]
Hyugo looked at him and laughed.
He knew.
Baram acted all friendly, calling him brother, but what he truly desired was Geoni, Hyugo's powerful ability.
What's more, this bastard was the one who had pushed them, claiming he'd make Geoni stronger, and caused the accident. And he was also the one who had sold their sister Yeom to the gods, saying she'd fallen in love with one.
And in the first place, did he really think Hyugo would abandon his current ties for something like past-life connections?
That's why Hyugo, who'd planned this from the beginning, smiled as he looked at Baram.
"Thanks. For making Geoni deal with the Great Saint Gods and the Book of Commandments instead."
[!]
At the same time, Hyugo, his objective complete, immediately drew out his power.
His purpose in coming here from the beginning was to kill Baram. In truth, there was no one else who could deal with this bastard except himself.
And as long as this bastard was eliminated, Cruders would have no reason to come to Earth.
And sure enough.
"You have to die by my hand."
[Brother!!]
"Get lost. You're no brother of mine."
[!]
"The only brother I have in this world is Geoni."
Hyugo launched a deadly strike at Baram.
(Continued in the next chapter)