In an instant, the sparring arena froze over.
They couldn’t help but doubt their own ears.
What had Igeon just said?
“No weapons needed, you say?”
“Yeah.”
They seemed utterly appalled.
Of course, they had already been quite flustered when they went to recruit Igeon.
And for good reason—it was because of Igeon’s reaction when they approached him.
‘Sure. I was planning to stop over in the US for a day or two anyway.’
‘……?!”
Igeon had accepted their proposal far too easily.
Even though it was a public duel in a stadium rivaling Wembley Stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the world!
‘Is he insane? This time it’s definitely going to sell out 100,000 seats!’
‘He’s okay with being publicly humiliated in front of all those spectators?’
That’s how it was. Their goal was to recreate the legend from 23 years ago.
In short, it was marketing.
They hadn’t said it outright, but they intended to use Igeon to clearly defeat him like 23 years ago and use it for the marketing of Leo’s sage.
After all, endlessly milking the duel footage from 23 years ago had its limits!
Moreover, the world was already in an uproar over the appearance of the 13th New Seat. It was the perfect opportunity.
They would broadcast it live worldwide in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. It would be incredible marketing.
Naturally, there was no way Igeon would willingly step into a match he’d lose.
That’s why the overall commander of the holy knights, Oliver, who was in charge of this, had said:
‘I’ve prepared thorough compensation for Igeon. It’ll be extremely difficult to recruit him, but we must do whatever it takes.’
But what was this?
‘Sure. Let’s have a go.’
‘Thank you! And don’t worry about the compensation! The compensation is….’
‘Ah. No need for compensation.’
‘Excuse me?!’
‘Just you guys take it.’
‘Excuse me???!’
Even Virgo and Hugo looked at Igeon in shock.
There was no way the mighty Igeon would act like that.
‘Why on earth?’
Either way, he accepted the recruitment far too easily, and even said he didn’t need compensation.
And now he’s saying he doesn’t even need a weapon?
In the end, the high-ranking holy knights of Leo looked at each other in sheer astonishment.
‘Is he insane? Is he saying he’s going to fight bare-handed?’
‘Or did he convert to a martial artist?’
But soon their eyes turned to the axe that Hugo was struggling to hold.
The axe wailed sorrowfully, as if unwilling to part from its master.
‘As expected of the Celestial Punisher.’
‘With a weapon like that, he wants to fight bare-handed?’
That weapon was one of the legendary weapons most coveted by awakeners worldwide.
Since it had an ego, it was rumored to be extremely tricky to handle.
In fact, before the item went to Virgo,
when it was up for auction, countless awakeners had practically foamed at the mouth.
Its vicious demonic energy aside, the sheer weight of it!
[Igeon’s weapon, no one can lift it]
Of course, there were rumors that it wouldn’t be heavy for its master.
Igeon had made such a contract when receiving the weapon.
So even when moving it, they had to use sealing magic to strip the axe of its power, and it still took a hundred people to barely move it.
In any case, it was that kind of weapon.
‘I naturally assumed he’d use it when facing our lord.’
Perhaps reading those gazes, Igeon scoffed as if it were absurd.
“Did you really think I’d use that here?”
At his words, the Celestial Punisher wailed as if hurt, and Igeon clicked his tongue.
“That thing’s activation condition is blood.”
“…!”
“Well, if you’re willing to give up your own heads, I wouldn’t mind using it.”
At Igeon’s chilling glare, the holy knights’ spines instinctively shivered.
‘So that’s why he’d behead monsters first when heading out for subjugation!’
The image of the axe seeming to absorb blood in the footage hadn’t been an illusion.
Moreover, that gaze, that smile.
It was the expression of someone who could only emerge from a life lived as an asura on the battlefield.
They gulped.
‘He really does seem comparable to our lord.’
Eventually, they nodded as if they understood.
“Understood. Then we shall guide you to the sparring arena right away….”
But it was then.
Bzzt.
“!”
At the urgent message, the high-ranking holy knights tilted their heads.
Then, glancing back and forth between their phones and Igeon, they exchanged looks for some reason.
“Um, Lord Igeon?”
“Would it be possible to conduct a quick ability check!”
At those words, Hugo looked at them as if they were spouting nonsense, and Igeon’s eyes sharpened dangerously.
“An ability check?”
In that instant, killing intent could be felt from his gaze.
For awakeners, an ability check meant directly clashing against one another.
As a result, the startled holy knight hastily denied it.
“Ah…! Not that, it’s more like a physical examination. We have testing tools that the holy knights of Leo use.”
Hearing that, Hugo acted as if he knew about it.
“Oh, right. Since the highest rank humans can measure is SS-rank.”
Those who were avatars of gods were never labeled with a rank, but in any case, when they underwent ability tests, they also came out as SS-rank, the highest human rank.
In reality, they were likely above SS-rank, but since the maximum measurable rank was SS-rank,
it was difficult to measure their power specifically. So Leo had made tools to measure power in more detail.
That was the ability testing tool they were talking about.
But.
“Why that all of a sudden? Does Geon really need an ability check at this point?”
“Ah, well... the lord... ugh!”
They stepped on their comrade’s foot and grinned brightly.
“It’s to adjust the arena for the best sparring match! After all, it’s a clash between sages! We have to measure the limits of your strength so we can calibrate the arena so it doesn’t get destroyed!”
At the same time, the knight whose foot had been stepped on protested in a whisper.
“Hey, are you crazy? Why suddenly ask for an ability check! Sir Oliver never said anything like...!”
“Ah, then what do we do! The lord told us to test Igeon’s abilities with this right now!”
“What? Why now, of all times?”
“I don’t know either! Especially to check what level his power is at...!”
Though it was a small whisper, it couldn’t escape Igeon’s hearing.
Igeon smirked.
Well, it wasn’t as if he didn’t know why they were asking him to check his strength. It didn’t matter.
Besides, it was better for him not to head straight to the arena right now anyway.
Why?
[Holy Knight 1 is under attack]
[The patron god harms Holy Knight 1]
[Related experience points are coming in]
It seemed Seongjae was struggling(?) with his patron gods.
‘Watching this is pretty entertaining.’
Actually, Igeon was trying to make contact with Scorpio because of Libra.
And Scorpio’s sanctuary was in Canada.
He had planned to stop by Leo, who was on the only route to Canada, and take care of business there first. It was because he had a goal of rescuing a sage.
Of course, he had originally intended to raise Seongjae to sage level, but there was one thing bothering him.
[Holy Knight (Human Subordinate) Rank]
[Slave ▶ Ordinary ▶ Rare ▶ Bigwig ▶ Giant ▶ Hero (Legend) ▶ Subordinate Hero God]
‘Subordinate Hero God?’
Surely that didn’t mean the patron gods.
Either way, to develop Seongjae, the first thing was durability.
Of course, he could just raise him personally, but Seongjae was his nephew in name at least.
How could an uncle grind him down like he did Hugo?
So he sent his patron gods. Even though others might see it as an even crueler thing to do, Igeon didn’t care in the slightest.
‘Well, still, he won’t die….’
[Holy Knight 1 has fallen into a near-death state]
Hmm. Maybe he went too far with the patron gods.
Just as Igeon was scratching his cheek.
“Lord Igeon!”
The holy knights of Leo brought something over.
It was a sturdy-looking golden punching machine.
[Golden Beast Master’s Power Gauge]
“Lord Igeon, please imbue this with your demonic energy and strike this doll.”
Seeing the punching machine, Hugo’s eyes widened.
‘That’s a treasure of the holy god!’
Judging by the holy god’s energy brimming within it, it was clearly a holy-god-grade item.
It might have been something the holy gods used to measure strength, sent to their holy knights.
So he was about to say something, but the Leo knights acted as if they knew better and smiled.
“Oh, despite its looks, it absorbs even sage-level demonic energy, so it’s perfectly fine.”
No, that wasn’t the issue.
Hugo looked at Igeon with a troubled expression.
“Geon. I’m telling you in advance, but this is a national treasure-level sacred item….”
Igeon didn’t even listen.
“Here, Lord Igeon!”
But then they tilted their heads. Igeon clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Lord Igeon?”
“All of you, get out.”
“Pardon?”
“Get out. If you don’t want to be crushed to death.”
“Pardon? Crushed to death?”
Igeon grinned wide.
Sensing something ominous, Hugo shouted.
“Wait! Geon!”
Before anyone could stop him, Igeon threw a punch.
And in that moment, an immense force exploded onto the punching machine.
* * *
“What? The measuring device was destroyed?”
Upon receiving the call, Leo’s face turned pale as a sheet.
“And the impact destroyed the entire building too?”
Indeed, it had been Steven who had ordered them to test Igeon’s strength.
At this point, with advertisements already blasted worldwide, there was no backing out now.
So Steven of Leo had told them to at least find out Igeon’s strength first.
With that treasure, they could check any awakener’s ability level in graphs or numbers.
He himself had become incomparably stronger than before, so he intended to compare his own abilities with Igeon’s.
If it seemed doable, then he could just step into the arena.
But what in the world happened?
The holy god’s measuring device was destroyed?
‘Impossible.’
It was an item designed to withstand any attack, as long as the opponent was human!
‘What on earth happened?’
But it was then.
- Ah, well, even so, the measuring device did react. The results will be sent to your phone shortly, Lord.
“!”
It seemed it was a treasure for good reason, even if it broke.
At that moment, Igeon’s ability scores arrived to Leo.
Ping.
Relieved, Steven quickly checked his phone.
But the moment he saw the results that had arrived.
“…….”
Steven’s expression froze.
Cold sweat began to stream down his face.
At the same time, only one thought crossed his mind.
‘Fake a stomachache and run away.’
But it was then.
“My lord, do not worry.”
Oliver, the SS-rank of Leo, his eyes sparkled.
“In case Igeon might fake a stomachache and flee, I have prepared the best doctors, the finest medicines! Everything has been arranged at the world’s top level. With this, you can focus entirely on the battle.”
“?!”
…This bastard, seriously!
* * *
And around that time.
Kevin, who had been fuming about only fighting Leo, was circling the stadium.
“Igeon! You won’t fight me, but you’ll fight that muscle swindler?”
It had only been a single day since the news broke that Igeon and Leo would fight.
Considering how hastily it had been arranged, the crowd gathered at the stadium was beyond imagination.
All 100,000 spectator seats were sold out, and hundreds of vehicles—from the global press to broadcast stations—had arrived in front of the arena.
Of course, among them, the people who recognized Kevin made a fuss, but Kevin didn’t seem to hear them.
“Ah! Why is that damned cat’s waiting room so far away!”
Indeed, Kevin’s destination was none other than Leo’s waiting room.
His intention was to deal with the cat who was getting the luxury of fighting Igeon, and then take his place in the arena himself.
And watching Kevin with pity were Lee Jaewon and Gote.
Actually, they had been targeting Leo’s warehouse in the stadium because Igeon had given them a task, but well.
“Leo’s waiting room is in the exact opposite direction. Does he even know that as he heads that way….”
“Leave him be, hyung. He’s been at it for an hour already. Anyway, that guy is also determined to deal with Scorpio.”
“Virgo, you mean?”
“Yes, hyung. Actually, he’s convinced that Scorpio is the one who killed Igeon-nim. He’s been fuming about it. He was nursing him back to health with even herbal tonics, and they killed him, he says.”
At his subordinate’s words, Lee Jaewon made a strange expression.
“Really? That’s odd. The sage of Scorpio should be in love with Igeon-nim.”
“You’re right. Scorpio is in love with Igeon-nim... Wait, what?! What on earth...!”
Just as the startled Gote was about to question Lee Jaewon closely.
Spotting something in the arena, their jaws dropped.
It was then.
[Igeon, Igeon has made his appearance.]
The stadium erupted with cheers.
(Continued in the next episode)