I had thought it was strange anyway.
Because Hyugo felt weaker than I remembered after 20 years.
Hyugo's guardian deity wasn't a weak one, and I hadn't taught him to be so feeble.
Of course, even so, he couldn't keep up with me no matter how hard he tried, but I had raised him to be at least on par with any other adult.
But I just let it be.
Partly because I was too strong(?), and the years I'd spent in the infinitely resetting tower numbered in the hundreds.
Human memory isn't precise, so I figured there might have been some minor discrepancies.
'Or maybe he really forgot the kindness of being raised and just lazed around for 20 years.'
But that wasn't it.
[A god-devouring demon beast (SS) (0/1)]
[Strengthened by the power of Sagittarius]
[Grew into a sacred tree by consuming the power of Sagittarius]
Ten years ago, these things had sucked my friend's power dry and grown well.
[Warning. Has become even stronger by consuming the power of the sun god]
Well. It was certainly strong.
But.
Crunch!
"Buoooo!"
The monster's mouth was ripped apart and people screamed.
Igeon looked at the creature's jaws that he had torn apart with both hands and laughed sharply.
The tightly shut mouth was torn all the way to its ears, splattering blood.
The monster writhed as if in pain.
"Buoooo!"
It seemed to be saying to stop, but Igeon had no mercy whatsoever.
"With this gluttonous maw."
Riiip!
"If you've been stuffing your face indiscriminately all this time."
Crrrack!
"You'll have to spit it all out! You bastard!"
"Buoooo!"
A tremendous scream echoed.
Igeon tore the seized mouth completely off.
The ones shocked by the sight were the Sagittarius adepts.
"Huk...!"
They seemed deeply shocked by the sight of someone tearing a monster's mouth apart with bare hands.
Especially the youngest of Sagittarius, Seo Jihun, covered his mouth as if his own jaw hurt.
"He's crazy! He must think that's corn husk!"
But such bravado couldn't last long.
Though Igeon had stolen and worn Gote's superior equipment, no one would be crazy enough to tear at something with bare hands no matter what.
Even the defensive guardian Taurus wouldn't do such insane things.
And what might be the reason?
As expected.
"Igeon-nim!"
The skin of Igeon, who had touched the monster's hide, melted away.
That wasn't all.
Crunch, crunch!
The demon beast's blood was so toxic that it could melt the muscles and bones of nearby animals just by itself.
[Warning. Body is being damaged by the demon beast's blood.]
The muscles of Igeon's face, shoulders, and forearms, drenched in blood, rotted away.
Because the splattered blood emitted strong acidity.
Bone was visible through the melting muscle. The monster roared through its torn mouth as if to say, 'Did you see that?'
"Keek!"
At this, the Sagittarius adepts screamed.
"Igeon-nim!!!"
Gote's face also turned pale and twisted.
'As expected, I should have stopped him from getting close...!'
It was S-rank defense gear, but not strong enough to withstand the monster's bodily fluids!
"Hyung! What are you doing! Quick, Aquarius's recovery skill!!"
The youngest, Seo Jihun, urgently called for the banner, but Gote's hands were shaking.
On the contrary, being a higher-ranked ability user made him realize something more.
That was a fatal injury.
Ten years ago, hadn't Hyugo gone right to the brink and barely survived?
But this was already beyond that.
No, at that point, he's a corpse!
But then it happened.
Boom!!
With an ear-splitting roar, the giant toad flew away.
Thud!
The flung toad, lying overturned, bellowed.
"Ooooh!"
The toad was wailing with its tongue ripped out.
When they turned their heads in surprise, Igeon was walking out, rolling his shoulders.
"You brat, where do you get off spitting that filthy saliva?"
In one hand, he held the torn-out tongue.
The tongue's thickness alone was easily the size of a human body.
Igeon pulled the tongue and cut it to a suitable length.
Rip! Pop!
At the same time, something clattered to the floor.
It was Igeon's upper armor, unrecognizable by now.
Clang! Clang!
Thanks to that, his solid, muscular upper body was fully exposed, and the adepts were even more surprised.
"His body...!"
The arm, which had shown bone, was healing at a crazy speed.
The rotted muscles grew back at a terrifying pace, nerves found their proper places on their own.
The toad again spat its malicious saliva, but it didn't matter.
Ssssss!
[Initiating super regeneration]
[Grade increased, regeneration speed even faster]
The melted facial skin also quickly recovered.
Igeon smirked, as if satisfied with the terrifying regeneration.
In fact, he had poured most of the points he had saved into super regeneration.
[Level 10]
[Remaining points: 15 ▶ 5]
Out of 15 points, he had dumped a whopping 9 into super regeneration.
[Eye of the God's Gaze (F) ▶ Eye of the God's Gaze (E)]
- Points used: 1
[Super Regeneration (E) ▶ Super Regeneration (B)]
- Points used: 9
[Super Regeneration (E)]
- Regenerates damaged body to a healthy state at ultra-high speed.
- However, if attacked during regeneration, regeneration power decreases (-50%)
- If complete recovery is achieved even without minor injuries, remaining time is stored. Can be immediately reused for the stored time.
- Reuse cooldown: 2 days
▶ [Super Regeneration (B)]
- Regenerates damaged body to a healthy state at ultra-high speed.
- Mana consumption per use increases.
- Warning. Cannot be used when divine power is below 30%.
In the first place, they had said that experience wouldn't rise until the trial was cleared, so they told him to raise his skills carefully, didn't they?
It was a point to ponder, but Igeon didn't think deeply about it.
'If I can endure, I can do anything.'
As long as he doesn't die, he can eliminate the enemy, whether he turns into porridge or rice.
So this time, after raising the level of Eye of the God's Gaze to check his faith,
he invested everything into Super Regeneration, the top endurance skill.
Actually, the reuse time was what bothered him the most. So he raised the level drastically, and it became incredibly useful.
[As long as mana and divine power permit, super regeneration will continuously activate.]
Igeon lifted the corner of his mouth.
'With this, it's infinite regeneration without cooldown.'
Of course, the creature devours divine power.
Super regeneration was also one of the skills, so it could be dangerous.
[Warning. Absorbing divine power for nourishment.]
[Effect of super regeneration is reduced.]
[Reduced from 60 seconds to 30, then 10 seconds]
[Mana is drained, limiting reuse]
At that warning, Igeon smiled.
'I just need to finish it before that!'
Bang!
Igeon dashed out.
Everyone was surprised. But without a moment to be surprised, Igeon reached out his hand.
Then the slime attached to his belt raised its head.
At the same time, the slime spat something out.
[Achievement-bestowing hammer (SS)]
In an instant, Igeon snatched the handle of the giant hammer and smashed it down on the toad.
Bang!
From the force, the toad's face and eyes were torn out.
"Buooo!"
"Does it hurt, you brat!"
Igeon, telling it to stop whining, pulled out the toad's eyeball.
"Because of you, my nephew couldn't even celebrate his own birthday!"
A few days ago, Igeon had learned about Seongjae's birthday from Seongjae's roommate.
Since it was on that day, he was going to buy a gift and congratulate him, but unexpectedly, he was told not to.
It seemed that, because it was the anniversary of his mother's death, he had never celebrated his birthday since that incident.
'Strangely, he doesn't like hamburgers either.'
Bang!
Amidst all that, the adepts were dumbfounded.
It was certain.
"He's not using any skills right now, is he?"
"He doesn't seem to be using mana in the first place."
"Th-then that's pure brute strength...!?"
There's no way to describe it except madness.
They had advised that it was dangerous to attack without divine power, and now they understood why Igeon had scoffed.
Igeon had never had such skills given by a god in the first place.
Skills were nothing more than auxiliary tools to Igeon, used only when he felt like it.
"H-he's even throwing away the hammer now?"
"Heh."
Of course, it wasn't an impossible tactic.
'If you can read the movements.'
In theory, it was possible for SS-rank and above.
But so what?
'I could never do it.'
It wasn't a matter of skill.
'Where in the world is there a person with that much reckless courage!'
Who would be crazy enough to charge in with bare hands, no weapon, no skills!
That boldness had already transcended humanity.
Igeon seemed like a person who had no fear of death whatsoever.
Right then.
"!"
The adepts were startled by a familiar energy.
"Lord of the constellation!"
Hyugo had come to their side.
They didn't know when he arrived, but he was panting as if he had just gotten there.
The distance from where Hyugo was to here was a full 100km.
It wasn't a distance that could be covered in just ten-odd minutes, but from the looks of it, he had clearly run at full speed.
Because he knew the opponent was that monster from ten years ago.
It was his archenemy, and above all, an opponent he had faced directly and nearly died to.
It wasn't enough that his wife and subordinates had been lost; he was determined not to let Igeon die to that thing as well.
But.
"Keek!"
Right before his eyes, the creature was being torn apart and dying.
In the past, it was the one he had wanted to kill but could never kill.
The one that made him, who was called one of the top 12 heroes, taste absolute helplessness, and after that incident with Igeon, gave him unparalleled despair.
That's why it was the very culprit that made him prevent his children from becoming awakened.
"Keek!"
Thud!
A cry rising toward the sky. The sound of it collapsing to the ground.
At those sounds, Hyugo was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions.
[Another master's contractor is moved by the deeds of the master of Ophiuchus.]
[The great second historical deed has been recorded in the Ophiuchus Bible.]
There stood my unchanging idol.
* * *
Meanwhile, Hyugo's subordinates, unlike Hyugo, were in a complete panic.
As expected, when Hyugo appeared, the adepts grabbed him, pale and terrified.
"I-Igeon-nim!! He didn't even pick up a weapon!"
"He's not using skills either!"
"His skin is melting, but he's tearing it apart with his bare hands like peeling corn husk!"
The adepts were practically on the verge of tears.
"Is Igeon-nim really okay doing that?!"
Hyugo sighed.
Indeed.
At least when he sliced the thousand legs, it was done rather calmly and logically, so there was no fuss.
'Only the adults know that eccentric style.'
"I-Igeon-nim! The opponent is what it is, so it seems he can't use skills!"
"If he attacks that recklessly, he's going to die!"
"Ah... that's fine. He's always been like that."
"Excuse me?!"
No, actually, this is mild.
When he really goes wild, an unimaginable sight unfolds.
After seeing that, I couldn't eat for three days.
Then.
Thump!
"Woah...! This is! Really damn heavy!"
The youngest of Sagittarius and Eun Yerin brought the black bow with both hands.
It was the longbow Black Hawk that Igeon had thrown aside earlier.
They must have quickly brought it before the monster could devour it.
But.
"Ugh! Igeon-nim...! You were shooting continuously with something this heavy?"
"To use this freely, your strength stat must be insanely high!"
Hyugo received the bow, which weighed as much as a small truck, with one hand.
Thud!
Unless your strength level is at least SS-rank or above, it's difficult to even draw the bowstring.
"Anyway, he threw this away midway! Even though its power was outstanding, I don't know why he deliberately abandoned it and got close!"
"As expected, did the bow not suit him?"
No, that can't be. Even Hyugo acknowledged Igeon's archery skills.
There must be a reason he's not even using his own weapon, the hammer, properly.
But then it happened.
"Hyugo!"
At Igeon's tiger-like roar, Hyugo was startled.
He reflexively drew the bowstring of the Black Hawk.
Then something lunged at Hyugo. They were the branches he thought were dead.
"Eungaeaeae!!!"
"Eungae!!!!!"
There was no doubt they were thrashing about upon finding delicious prey.
Indeed, these things had grown up consuming the power of Sagittarius in the past.
They were going wild over that familiar, specially formulated nourishment.
At that moment, Igeon shouted angrily.
"You idiot!"
"Got it, I'll handle it right...!"
"No, idiot! Don't shoot, just physically block it!"
"What?!"
What!
I can understand not using skills, but just block it?
Is he really insane!
Just as Hyugo was about to retort in anger.
Something in his possession emitted light.
It was Igeon's item.
(To be continued in the next episode)