[Breaking news. Around 3 PM today, the blood-colored fog that appeared in the northern part of Westerm Dome has disappeared.]
[The death toll reached over 2,000, and it was a major incident threatening the 3rd Dome for the first time in 10 years.]
[However, a strange event occurred where most of the deceased woke up again…]
[Experts are calling this the subjugation of the blood-red fog…]
Cheongdam-dong, Korea.
From the site of the Gemini Holy Ground, which occupied all of Cheongdam-dong, a scream of disbelief burst out.
“What?! The blood-red fog was caught?”
Gemini Magic Tome Library.
Yun Siu, who had been confronting Cheon Seongjae, was dumbfounded by the sudden news flash.
No, just a moment ago, they were making a huge fuss as if it were a crisis for humanity, saying the 3rd Dome was under threat and that deaths were overflowing!
But what was going on?
“What in the… No, who is it! Who killed it!”
Yun Siu looked at his phone as if he was about to smash it.
No matter how many times he checked, the breaking news only showed the news of the blood-red fog being caught and the cheering of people.
The name of who caught it hadn’t been identified yet, so it wasn’t mentioned.
Of course, it couldn’t be Virgo.
‘That was supposed to be something deliberately left to kill I Geon…!’
That was why he was going crazy with frustration.
“That thing is immune to skills! What kind of madman could catch it without any skills!”
But Cheon Seongjae, who was with him, brightened.
It was his uncle.
There was no doubt.
This was something even his father could never do.
The only person in the world who could do this was I Geon.
But regardless, Yun Siu seemed troubled.
‘It can’t really be that I Geon caught it.’
He broke out in a cold sweat.
That was only natural.
‘If that thing is caught, it will be troublesome.’
That monster was from 10 years ago.
It had been specially summoned by those people to cover the sins of their brothers.
It had also served as a kind of experiment.
And at that time, after Hugo failed to catch it and it disappeared, it reappeared exactly 10 years later.
So it was troublesome.
‘Damn it, after all that work covering up the incident…!’
More than 5,000 people died in their stead at the time.
Of course, the Sagittarius wife, the only witness who had seen their faces, had been dealt with long ago.
This time was supposed to go the same way.
The monster was supposed to destroy the Dome and disappear.
But if the monster was caught, the story changed.
‘If the monster’s corpse is analyzed, evidence will come out…!’
If it fell into the hands of a memory reader or an analyst, it would be over.
Yun Siu nervously sweated.
But soon he smiled.
‘If I Geon caught it, the corpse would be with him, right?’
Then they just had to intercept the body before it was handed to the media.
With that thought, Yun Siu quickly turned his head.
“Cheon Seongjae! You needed magic tomes related to souls, right! I’ll lend you the magic tomes I borrowed instead. Introduce me to your uncle…!”
But Yun Siu was startled.
“What, where did this guy disappear to!”
Cheon Seongjae was already gone.
No, that wasn’t the important thing.
“Wait! What about the magic tomes that were here?!”
He even ran off with his own magic tomes.
***
[Trial of Strength completed]
[For completing the Trial of Strength, a Trial of Strength reward has been given]
[Body Upgrade Stone]
[A new achievement has been added to the Bible]
[Achievement 2]
- The great saint called the Divine Bow is impressed upon seeing the master of Ophiuchus
[Achievement 3]
- Subjugate the god-devouring monster and liberate the souls of humanity
[A legendary achievement (Achievement 2) is engraved, and the divine might increases further]
[With the power of Achievement 2, you can borrow the power of the holy god of Blazing Leo, subordinate gods, and holy knights (with consent)]
[Each achievement can be manifested by the holy knights and master as authority]
I Geon was satisfied.
Especially the Body Upgrade Stone that came out as a reward was amazing.
It was a stone that had appeared in his pocket without him knowing.
[Body Upgrade Stone]
- A divine stone that can evolve a human body into a god’s body
- When used, the stone disappears and randomly upgrades one body part
I Geon immediately shattered the stone.
[Applied to the body]
[It will take a full day for adaptation and upgrade to complete]
[Please be careful as side effects may occur during this time]
Perhaps the effect was starting. I Geon smiled, feeling a slight stiffness in his body.
‘Now, the remaining rewards are probably the dedicated subordinate god of Ophiuchus, the Ophiuchus divine artifact, and a god-level awakening skill.’
I suppose the rewards are given each time a trial is cleared.
‘Now, what’s left is the holy knights and the scribe.’
It's just the trials of fame and knowledge.
Of course, those two weren’t important right now.
‘As expected.’
I Geon’s sharp gaze turned to the toad corpse.
Exactly, the toad’s back.
On the thick vines protruding from its back, a familiar pattern was engraved.
[An unknown sinister energy remains]
There was no doubt.
It was that pattern that had been on the sword that stabbed him. It wasn’t an illusion that he thought he saw in the fog earlier.
So it was only hateful to I Geon.
Why?
The same pattern was engraved on the one who trapped him and the one who devoured Hugo’s wife?
‘Then the culprit is the same guy.’
That’s why he couldn’t help but be interested in the information the appraiser brought.
‘Didn’t he say that Virgo is definitely related to that pattern?’
Didn’t he say the warehouse was crawling with swords engraved with that pattern?
Moreover, when he dug into the memory of the sword, it was Virgo who had stabbed him.
‘Well, it would be faster to ask directly.’
I Geon’s eyes became fierce. As proof, he swung his scissor blade.
Splat!
What I Geon cut out was the area with the pattern.
And then he immediately summoned his holy relic.
[Book that holds anything] S-grade
Finally, it was when I Geon turned around after storing the evidence well on page 44.
“Ugh, urp…!”
“!”
The Sagittarius holy knights, who had been watching the scene, were merrily vomiting their guts out.
“Ah, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat for a while… urp!”
I Geon looked extremely pathetic.
“You’re making such a fuss over just that?”
“?!”
Just that!
In the world, what kind of madman could do such a crazy thing to a disaster-level monster!
“Even Libra, considered the cruelest, doesn’t do that!”
Oh, and who might that be?
“Anyway, like saint, like subordinates, you’re all so weak. Ah, I should have beef tripe hotpot for dinner tonight~.”
At the mention of beef tripe hotpot, the holy knights covered their mouths as if remembering that scene again.
Eventually, as I Geon approached the leader toad with his scissor blade, the holy knights were horrified.
“That man, surely he’s not going to put that in the hotpot!”
I Geon could have done that and more.
“Heok! No! Any more… huh?”
I Geon, who they thought would even make the leader toad into a slushy, passed by it unexpectedly.
So they were flustered.
“Why are you just going! Aren’t you taking the ingredients?”
After all, even at Cheon's legs, he had merrily dissected the bodies.
The sight of him slicing sashimi was already spreading as a worldwide GIF.
But I Geon returned the scissors to slime.
“I don’t need that stuff. You finish it, Hugo.”
“!”
The holy knights were even more surprised.
“Even if the ones made into slushies were not yet mature trees…”
“That one looks completely usable!”
The ones I Geon turned into slushies were mostly ones that hadn’t finished growing.
So even if he extracted materials, the durability would be weak.
That must be why he deemed them unnecessary and ground them all up.
But.
“That adult body, its vines and bodily fluids! If sold to Capricorn’s place, they’d make a fortune!”
“Even roughly selling at an auction would bring hundreds of billions!”
“So didn’t you leave it without making it into a shake?”
But I Geon paid no mind. And at that sight, just one person.
Only Hugo was wearing a complicated smile.
‘Thank you.’
The reason I Geon wasn’t greedy for this one was probably just one thing.
‘He’s definitely thinking of me.’
No matter what, it was the enemy that devoured his friend’s wife and subordinate.
He must not want to casually make the enemy’s body into his weapon.
And he was giving the opportunity to deal with that enemy personally.
Hugo summoned his bow. The arrow was a flame arrow made of fire.
That was when.
“Oh, Hugo.”
“……?”
Just when it seemed scary that he was being called by his real name again.
“Ack!”
Hugo was hit on the head by something I Geon threw and fell over.
“Hey! What the...!”
But Hugo was startled by the object rolling around beside him.
It was a blazing ore.
[Power of Blazing Leo]
Unlike I Geon, information didn’t pop up, but Hugo immediately knew the identity of the object.
It was the power of the holy god that had been stolen from him by the monster.
“Oh my, how did...!”
“It was stuck like a kidney stone in its bladder.”
“!”
“Swallow that and quickly recover your power.”
“Geon-ah...!”
Hugo looked at I Geon as if moved. As expected, he was a friend who always seemed indifferent but was actually considerate.
“Geon-ah, thank you so much. You’re the only one...…”
“Yeah, get lost. You bastard. You’re dead.”
Hugo froze.
“…Yes?”
“You bastard, you got your power stolen by such a thing just to die?”
“……!”
I Geon smiled fiercely.
“A guy I taught gets beaten by such a crappy thing? You want to die?”
“Ah, no!”
Honestly, it wasn’t a crappy thing.
And in the first place.
“Back then, I had no choice!”
Hugo was hit.
“My lord!?”
I Geon cracked his knuckles.
“And on top of that, you didn’t even say anything about your wife?? Plus, a subordinate of the holy knight captain level?”
“Ah, no, that’s...!”
“You should get training from me again after a long time, right? Right?”
It was when I Geon’s hand approached.
Buzz.
“!”
Hugo quickly pressed the answer button on the incoming call.
“G-Geon-ah! J-Just a moment! Phone! I have a phone call! Important work!”
It was a work phone he wouldn’t normally answer well, but it didn’t matter if it was to survive.
He turned away pretending to be busy.
“Yes! This is Oteoseu! What’s the... yes?”
Hugo’s expression changed as he answered the phone.
His fleeing steps and hand stopped.
“They’re waking up?”
The other side of the phone was filled with the sound of crying.
And the nurse on the phone said.
- Yes! The patients have woken up!
The place the call came from was the hospital he had been secretly supporting for 10 years.
Most people wouldn’t have been able to care for those who had been in a vegetative state for as long as 10 years.
Because it required enormous money to sustain life.
Moreover, he couldn’t receive funding due to pressure.
But under the support of Sagittarius, most in that hidden hospital were able to keep their lives.
And above all.
‘Because it’s also where my wife and subordinate are hospitalized.’
Of course, he hadn’t told his children, the Sagittarius holy knights, or anyone else.
They all think they were cremated after the funeral.
But.
- I don’t know the reason, but anyway, the patients who couldn’t wake up for 10 years are getting up!
“……!”
- Anyway, I thought I should tell you first, Hugo-nim, as the hospital’s patron...!
Hugo’s lips twitched as he listened.
The people waking up was joyful, but there was one thing he wanted to ask.
“T-Those two people!”
- Yes?
“Did the two of them wake up too?”
His voice trembled greatly.
Then a small sound came from the other side of the phone.
- Ah....
The answer was enough.
- I’m sorry. Those two haven’t woken up yet....
Hugo’s expression slightly saddened.
“Thank you for letting me know. It’s a relief that the others have woken up. Yes. If anything happens...…”
That was when.
“Where?”
It was I Geon. At his question, Hugo said it was nothing and hung up.
“Just the European government... ack!”
“It’s a hospital, right?”
“!”
It was when he sent a look asking how he knew.
“Uncle!”
“!”
A familiar voice was heard not far away.
It was Cheon Seongjae.
I don’t know what was in his bag, but it was bulging with something like books.
“Uncle! You caught it, right!”
He must have seen the broadcast and teleported here.
Though teleportation isn’t cheap, it was unimaginable.
And his eyes sparkled for only a moment.
Cheon Seongjae stood rooted to the spot upon seeing the toad I Geon had caught.
“……!”
Even though it had been 10 years, there was no way Cheon Seongjae wouldn’t recognize it. An indescribable mix of joy and sorrow crossed his face as he looked at it.
“Uncle really caught it...!”
Hugo was happy beside his son but couldn’t hide a bitter feeling inside.
Clearly, the people in the hospital waking up must be because this monster was caught.
Those people only had their souls eaten.
But his wife and subordinate were different. Their very bodies had been devoured.
Perhaps it was already too late.
In that sense, he thought it was good he hadn’t told his children.
Because it would be sorry to give them false hope.
But that was when.
“Seongjae.”
“Yes?”
“Take it. It’s late, but a birthday present.”
“!”
I Geon tossed something. Cheon Seongjae’s eyes widened.
“Uncle went through a lot of trouble to find it.”
Something was placed in Cheon Seongjae’s hand.
During those 10 years.
They were the people he had missed the most.
(Continued in the next episode)