What Igeon held out were none other than clothes and a golden parchment.
And that paper was no ordinary object.
‘A contract sacred object!’
That was it.
That was the main business item of Virgo, the Contract Constellation.
It was a very commonly used item, from ordinary citizens to the government to the holy orders.
There were many types.
From ordinary subcontracts to marriage contracts, real estate contracts, labor contracts. Even revenge contracts and slave contracts.
And there were contracts from F-rank to S-rank.
But that wasn't what was important right now.
‘That's the S-rank contract!’
S-rank. Commonly called a lifetime contract.
It was the highest grade among the contract sacred objects issued by Virgo.
With such a rank, once a name was written on it, even saint-level beings couldn't do anything about it.
It was also a rare item, with only 15 copies released into the world by the Virgo Constellation's god.
“But why does Igeon have that...!”
There was no need to ask why that bastard had it.
“Yang Wei! Why did you hand that over to Igeon!”
“!”
That item was monopolized by Yang Wei, who was overwhelmingly the wealthiest among the constellations.
“You fat pig! Do you really not know what that thing is!”
Heiji picked up a monster figurine and threw it.
Then the hungry ghost Yang Wei pouted.
‘Hand it over? It was obviously taken from me.’
I don't know what Heiji was saying, but I couldn't not know why he was angry.
However, Heiji was in great difficulty.
It couldn't be helped.
That color, that imprint.
‘That's definitely a contract.’
In fact, among the 15 S-rank contracts monopolized by Yang Wei, there was one special one.
It was a vicious one, with his own magic added at Yang Wei's request.
It was practically a cursed item, with a postmortem contract added on top of the already viciously effective S-rank contract.
‘He said he'd make some saint his slave with that.’
Since it involved the price of a soul, Gemini had specially inspected it.
It was natural, as they were a constellation dealing with spirits and magic.
But in the current situation, it was rather fortunate.
Why?
‘For the Fairy King, the strongest in magic, a contract like that...’
He just had to pretend to make a contract and then stab Igeon in the back.
But then, at that moment.
Leriquen, seeing the contract, said to Igeon with tears in her eyes.
“Lord Igeon, the spell placed here is too weak. It should be like this, and like this, to bind you and me even to the god level.”
Heiji almost fainted.
“Leriquen! What are you doing!”
“And those S-rank contracts you have. They're too flimsy, so I'll upgrade all eight for you.”
“Hey! You're really...!”
“If you want, I'll do the soul register as you command, Lord Igeon!”
But Igeon, as if finding it praiseworthy, patted Leriquen's head.
At the same time, a sound was heard.
[You have acquired new data]
[Soul Register]
[The acquired data will mix with the great achievements of Ophiuchus to become the foundation of skills]
[New skills currently learnable]
- Snake Contract (F)
- Can Endure Once (F)
- Can't Endure Thrice (F)
Igeon found it quite interesting.
To put it simply, the more useful data he obtained, the more nourishment it provided for his own skills.
Surely, the data and his abilities would combine to give birth to new skills.
‘Well, it seems I can also lend my skills to my followers and receive compensation.’
It was a structure where as he grew, his followers could also grow.
And although he didn't need to take all the creatable skills...
‘There are many useful skills here.’
And if these were contract skills, they would also show their power when facing Virgo, the Contract Constellation.
After all, the eight S-rank contracts were originally set aside for the saints.
Of course, the opponent was already a being close to godhood as a high-ranking constellation.
We'd have to clash to know which side was superior.
So it was when he was about to praise Leriquen for providing data.
“Lord Igeon! I've upgraded all eight to SS-rank!”
“Oh, well done.”
But then, at that moment.
For some reason, Leriquen trembled like an aspen leaf.
“...That Lord Igeon, that Lord Igeon...”
“?”
“That brutal Lord Igeon, who would grind up fairies without even a greeting, just said well done!”
“Ah.”
Realizing something, Igeon grinned broadly.
“Thank you, Leriquen. You're the best.”
The moved Leriquen sobbed. She even said Igeon was good.
At that sight, Heiji despaired.
And no wonder, for the dignity of a saint was also the dignity of a constellation. And he himself had educated his followers to reject Igeon.
But now, if he himself were to show such a sorry state...
The Gemini sacred city's citizens would feel betrayed by their lord.
‘This could lead to the dissolution of Gemini.’
And more than anything.
‘I can't stand the thought of bowing my head to Igeon with my own body!’
At any rate, it absolutely must not be discovered by the sacred city.
But then, at that moment.
“Uncle. Shall we just call the reporters?”
“Seongjae!”
“If I film that and upload it to YouTube, their faith would probably plummet.”
Heiji was now beyond recovery.
Not only had he lost Seongjae, but the imprisoned Gemini subordinate god, though he didn't know the connection to Ophiuchus, was showing interest in Igeon.
And even Leriquen was in that state.
[The mage of Gemini has completely lost their will to fight]
And Igeon, claiming he was his nephew, patted Cheon Seongjae's head.
“Well done. Just keep doing that.”
“……!”
Cheon Seongjae sobbed alongside the crying Leriquen.
“I got a head pat from Lord Igeon! This is a dream!”
The servant Hugo was simply dumbfounded.
This was the same kid who would snap and tell him not to treat him like a child when he patted his head.
And leave Gemini?
He'd said it would be an honor if Igeon accepted him, and even if not, he'd go to Leo.
‘He said he'd never come to his dad's constellation even if he died.’
Yet Cheon Seongjae, after being patted, was sobbing and looking for a hat.
“I'm never washing my hair for the rest of my life!”
In the end, as Hugo sighed deeply, his daughter approached.
“Dad. Cheer up. I bought cake and the Yirgacheffe brand coffee you like.”
As his daughter kindly even massaged his shoulders, Hugo was genuinely touched.
As expected, no matter what, there was no one but his own daughter.
“As expected, our dau...”
But then, at that moment.
Hugo's expression as he looked at the cake became strange.
The cake his daughter had brought was definitely a strawberry cake, but there were no strawberries.
But then, Hugo's face distorted as he happened to see Igeon's plate.
All the strawberries had gone to Igeon.
What's more, the size of Igeon's piece was bigger!
So Hugo screamed.
“Yuha! There are no strawberries on Daddy's! And mine is smaller!”
Then Cheon Yuha looked at him as if to ask what he meant.
“Dad, you don't usually eat strawberries. You always take one bite and throw them away.”
Then Hugo wailed.
“Daddy has come to like strawberry cake starting today! So give me some!”
Cheon Yuha was dumbfounded, but Igeon clicked his tongue.
Meaning it was childish.
Of course, even while doing so, Igeon would never give up his own food even if it killed him.
* * *
“Is that the famous one?”
Manila.
The gateway to the Pacific. A sinister aura hung over the island nation there.
Gooo-
It seemed like the cry of a monster could be heard from the sea not far away.
And the identity of that monster was none other than .
It was famous as the one Igeon had caught in the past, a demonic creature that still appeared in the few Igeon videos.
The sacred city's citizens gathered in Manila could not hide their excitement.
It was to be expected.
“A creature that hadn't appeared in 20 years...!”
That video, ranked in the top 5 on YouTube, was a video everyone in the world had seen.
It was a truly legendary monster.
“Malaysia and Indonesia, which it passed through, have already turned into red zones!”
Upon that report, the holy order commanders who had spread out in Manila drew their swords.
“We'll stop it here!”
“Ohhh!”
Igeon's return.
But this was a time when the holy order commanders were bristling at news saying Igeon was stronger than them and so on.
From the holy orders of the constellation representing the south, to Leo in the north. The sacred cities formed a large assault team.
The number alone was over ten thousand.
It was almost like a force for a red zone assault.
Especially for Leo, the holy orders from all branches had gathered.
It was only natural.
“The Lord is in this area!”
“Ohhh!”
The one who sighed at the Leo holy order commander's cry was Cheon Yuha.
Actually, the area where the Leo saint had fallen from the drachma was over the Pacific Ocean.
It was precisely Luzon Island, where Manila was located.
‘The entire island and the surrounding waters are a danger zone.’
“Understood! Before we begin the search for the Lord, we'll take down Thousand Legs first!”
But someone expressed concern.
“Thousand Legs has appeared for the first time in 20 years. It's our first encounter with this creature, so maybe we should follow Igeon's manual...”
“That's right. The people too...”
“There's no reason we can't catch a monster that Igeon caught!”
“Ohhhh!”
“It's just an outdated B-rank manual at best!”
The cameramen in charge of the live broadcast cheered at that.
At that moment, Thousand Legs appeared from the water.
But it was not alone.
“Uh, uhh?”
There was someone on top of Thousand Legs' head.
“L-Lord?”
* * *
Meanwhile, around that time.
8 a.m., Sagittarius sacred ground.
“Damn.”
Igeon was now in quite a difficult situation.
Actually, he was in the middle of repairing Hugo's royal sacred weapon.
Of course, there was no problem with the repair itself. The materials obtained from the Fire Lord and the drachma were excellent for both making and repairing weapons.
However, the hammer used for smelting was too flimsy, so the stats just didn't come out right.
‘Why do they break every time I just hit them?’
Even Hugo's temporary bow had stats worse than I expected.
‘Tch. I didn't think I'd have to go looking for my own hammer.’
That's right. It was also an S-rank tool with special abilities, but it wasn't that urgent.
They said the craftsmen of this era used plenty of smelting tools.
But the things they brought, claiming to be precious tools used by S-rank craftsmen, were all worse than a slime.
‘This is serious. I can't make medium or large weapons with just Limey.’
To deal with Constellation gods or red zone monsters, medium and large weapons were essential.
But at this rate, I couldn't even repair Hugo's medium-rank royal sacred weapon, let alone reinforce the temporary items we were using.
‘In the long term, I do need my own smelting tools.’
Looking into it, the one who took the smelting tools was said to be one of the twelve saints.
‘Well, it's probably that old man anyway.’
Capricorn. The crafting constellation, also known as the Goat.
Considering the distance, it's closer than Virgo, so maybe I should target them first.
‘After Gemini, they've all hidden tightly in their sacred grounds, so it's become a bit bothersome.’
They were probably afraid that their contracts might be severed by Igeon, like the Gemini saint.
Well, whatever.
Igeon groaned as if in pain.
It wasn't for another reason.
[Your body's condition is very poor]
[Status ailment: Stomachache]
Damn it. At this rate, he'd die before finding the bastard who stabbed him.
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary stomachache.
[The followers are horrified to learn that Ophiuchus's sacred ground doesn't even have a storehouse]
[The followers are horrified, wondering if Ophiuchus is malnourished]
[The followers offer various tributes for Ophiuchus]
[The tributes offered by the subordinate gods help recover stamina and magic power]
[What are you doing! Gather more tributes for the master quickly! It's smaller than something like Sagittarius, this is unacceptable!]
[Loot Sagittarius's storehouse!]
[Look! The master is so dried up! He's malnourished!]
[His golden hair is all dry!]
[Shouldn't he be at least more corpulent than the Aries saint!]
No, at that point, he'd already be a pig.
Of course, the loyalty and ability of the subordinate gods were quite outstanding.
[A storehouse has been created in the cramped sacred ground]
[Ilnam (Yareul) mobilized his forces and brought back piles of tributes]
[Inam (Yotun), not wanting to lose, mobilized giants to bring tributes]
[Samnam (Berserker) discovered a pig in the sacred ground]
[The piggy bank (Pisyu) runs away in shock]
[They continue to offer]
[They offer again]
[Endlessly offering]
[They willingly go out hunting again for the master's magic recovery]
Igeon lamented.
It was good, but it was like excessive energy accumulation.
[The storehouse is about to burst]
[The sacred ground is too small to contain the followers]
[Current Ophiuchus sacred ground size]
[3.3 square meters (1 pyeong)]
[Expanding the sacred ground would help]
[A human manager, a human follower, is needed to manage the followers]
[The power of the constellation strengthens the more followers you bring in]
Igeon eventually sighed.
‘I'll have to expand the sacred ground and appoint a manager.’
To deal with the Constellation gods, he had to become stronger than now, no, stronger than them.
And personally, he wanted someone he could trust as the manager.
‘Anyway, I need followers.’
But he couldn't just take anyone as his follower.
Why?
[Ophiuchus human follower condition: 100% Faith]
It seemed that, although it was a secret, each constellation had specific criteria.
Hugo had also lamented that the reason Sagittarius had few followers was because of the strict conditions.
[Sagittarius human follower condition: Handsome men and women recognized by the Constellation god (at least celebrity level)]
But 100% faith?
I don't know why such a condition was set, but whatever.
Would there ever be anyone who could satisfy that?
‘I heard that even the holy order commanders or saint-level beings beloved by the Constellation gods are at most 90%.’
That was natural.
No human could have absolute faith and loyalty.
That's because humans are fundamentally creatures with thin ears.
A figure of 100% was impossible.
Well, anyway, that wasn't what was important.
Clang!
Looking at the hammer that had broken again, Igeon's face distorted.
‘Damn. I'll have to resolve the crafting tools first. It's pissing me off.’
Followers were important too, but he had to resolve the weapons first to be able to fight those bastards.
Right then.
[It's me.]
A voice he thought he would never hear came.
(To be continued in the next episode)