For a brief moment, Yeon-woo analyzed the difference in power between himself and the Head Bishop.

[Time Difference]

The Head Bishop was one of the strongest players in the Tower, and he would be too difficult for Yeon-woo to handle with the power he currently had. He was confident that he wouldn’t lose, but he wasn’t sure he’d win, either.

He thought back to the time when the bishop had descended into Doyle’s body. He’d been very strong then, and now that he was appearing in his actual body, Yeon-woo would probably have to open Sky Wings and release all his powers to even have a shot at victory. For a moment, he contemplated revealing his full power to take care of the Head Bishop. ‘No. Not yet.’

He might have considered it if they were fighting one on one, but with all the eyes watching them, he needed to hide his power as best as he could. He would open his Sky Wings when it was the right moment to take off his mask. It wasn’t time yet. ‘All else aside, if the Head Bishop also has a hidden card up his sleeve…’

From what Yeon-woo knew, the Head Bishop could barely move at this point as his body continued to crumble after being rejected as the Heavenly Demon’s official Apostle. Yeon-woo believed that was the reason why he’d tried to take over the Heavenly Demon’s other aspect, the Monkey King, and enter Doyle to take over his body. However, the Head Bishop looked perfectly healthy now. There was no indication of his body’s imminent destruction, even when Yeon-woo observed him with his Draconic Divine Eyes.

He was near perfect, which was impossible unless the Heavenly Demon had decided to acknowledge him. It meant one thing.

‘Did he discover some method?’ While Yeon-woo was in Tartarus, the Head Bishop had found a solution. Yeon-woo didn’t know what it was, but if the Head Bishop had regained his strength, Yeon-woo couldn’t afford to take him lightly. Of the Nine Kings, the bishop was the only one strong enough to be compared to the Martial King.

However, since he had appeared, Yeon-woo couldn’t just walk past him either. Just as he was considering his next move, the Head Bishop suddenly appeared in front of him. “What are you thinking about?”

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened as he quickly spread his Fire Wings to create a distance between them. His quick-flowing time cracked like glass.

“Your reaction time is impressive, as are your instincts. Very good.” The Head Bishop chuckled lightly as he looked on the wary Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo’s back dripped with sweat as he retreated. ‘He followed my flow of thinking?’

Time Difference allowed its user to quicken their speed of thinking to help them assess a situation. It was now Yeon-woo’s signature ability, and hardly anyone could catch up to the speed of his thinking, apart from superior divine beings like Athena and Mother Earth.

They had a different concept of time from ordinary players, and so they found it easy to interfere. However, the Head Bishop was definitely not a divine being, even though his power was greater than those of the lower divine beings from Tartarus. However, he was hardly the equal of superior divine beings. How was it possible?

“Do you want to know?” The Head Bishop smiled faintly as if he knew what Yeon-woo was thinking. “I’ve temporarily left the god who abandoned me and received help from his friends. Thankfully, they listened to my pleas.”

Friends? Wishes? These were mysterious words, but it was clear that the Head Bishop had contacted something powerful enough to allow him to move around like this. “I can’t tell you the details right now. But since it’s you, I don’t mind answering a few questions. I like you a lot. Will you join us?” He extended a hand towards Yeon-woo. The battlefield was still in pandemonium with the jumble of multiple forces, but time flowed around him in a tranquil manner as though it had frozen.

Yeon-woo snorted, lifting a corner of his mouth. “You don’t like me. You’re only after the potential of the Heavenly demon.” Yeon-woo had crushed the Head Bishop’s plans and swallowed the Monkey King in his stead. That meant if Yeon-woo so desired, he could become another aspect of the Heavenly Demon. He was a vessel that the Devil Army would want more than Doyle.

“Oh dear. You noticed?” The Head Bishop took back his hand as though he were embarrassed and scratched his temple. Then, he smirked and clasped his hands behind his back again. “Then you must know why I’m here.” As soon as he finished speaking, the Head Bishop suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Yeon-woo. Boom!

Then, he spread his palm open and brought it down. However, Yeon-woo calmly thrust Vigrid up, and black Aura collided with the Head Bishop’s demonic energy and exploded. Columns of flames from Wave of Fire soared to the sky, but the Head Bishop waved his hand gently and pushed it away. At the same time, he stretched his other hand forward, his sleeves fluttering as the shadows of his hand multiplied. They approached Yeon-woo, looming over him, each one with the power to shatter mountains.

Yeon-woo didn’t face the shadows directly. Instead, he unfurled his Fire Wings with Blink and Wind Path and distanced himself even more.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’m not done speaking.” The Head Bishop attempted to approach Yeon-woo, closing the gap between them.

“Sorry.” Yeon-woo just smirked. “I’m not the one who needs to speak to you right now.”

The Head Bishop stopped chasing Yeon-woo and looked up to see something large falling from the sky like a meteor. Boom! The Head Bishop quickly raised his hand and flicked the object away. Although he was strong enough to push away Yeon-woo’s wave of fire, the object, which looked like a giant ball of flesh, only jiggled as it bounced away, landing not too far from where he was standing.

The ball of flesh turned out to be the greasy-faced Gluttony Emperor, who licked his lips as he looked at the Head Bishop. He shook himself lightly and began to transform. Crunch, crunch. His flesh grew firm and then was pulled tight as he became an emaciated man with sunken eyes. It was hard to believe he had just been the roly-poly Gluttony Emperor.

The Gluttony Emperor smiled with his teeth bared and shouted. “Who dares behave so rudely to my friend? What a nasty person.” With the Gluttony Emperor’s transformation, loud drum rolls echoed from the fringes. Thump, thump, thump. The Blood-Scented Battle Drums thundered whenever the Blood Land’s army marched in war. Past the drumbeats, the military song soared.

The Head Bishop turned his head in their direction and frowned before looking back at the Gluttony Emperor. “Are you saying you’ll go to war with us?” He realized that the Gluttony Emperor’s sudden appearance was something Yeon-woo had planned with the Blood Land.

“Why not?”

“I heard that White Dragon is in the middle of beating you all up.”

“Hahaha! Victories and defeats are common in war! Even if we lose the battle, it won’t matter if we win the war!”

The Head Bishop looked from the Gluttony Emperor to Yeon-woo as the emperor laughed maniacally.

“You’re thinking of raising the stakes because things are already messy and prevent any one group from making a move. Are you planning a great war?”

“Think what you want. Now, shall we see how much the meat of religious fanatics has ripened? Keekeekee!”

“The ghosts of the fallen empire are maliciously influencing the living in modern times. They must be removed through any means.”

The two hurled themselves at each other. Boom. While everyone was frightened by the sudden collision between the Nine Kings, Yeon-woo reached Edora.

“Oraboni.”

“Let’s leave this place to them and get out of here.” Yeon-woo held Edora by the waist as he spread his Fire Wings. Just moments ago, she had been fighting violently, but in Yeon-woo’s arms, her cheeks flushed slightly.

Rumble! Various battles were still ongoing.

「Leaving after causing trouble. Whew. There’s no one like our master.」 He could hear Shanon’s teasing, but like always, Yeon-woo ignored it and left the battlefield.

* * *

“Damned fools.” Anastasia swept her hair back and cursed Yeon-woo. She didn’t know why the most annoying things always happened whenever he was involved.

“Master.” Victoria, who had been helping Anastasia, carefully called her.

Anasatasia clucked her tongue, thinking if it wasn’t for Victoria, she wouldn’t be so involved in the Tower’s matters. She shook her head. “No.”

“That’s…!”

“Why is that!?”

Kahn raised his head with an outraged expression. Anastasia scowled. If there was someone who annoyed her as much as Yeon-woo, it was this one right here. The guy that muddled her one-and-only disciple’s head. Anastasia promised herself that she would blast him away if he acted impertinently one more time, no matter how much her disciple tried to stop her. She looked down at the patient she had just examined. Doyle lay in bed with a pale face. “What do you guys think Channels are? Antennas that can easily be attached and removed?”

“I…”

“The disturbance of the Channels connected to this child is too severe. He’s already had one Channel ripped from him, and it hasn’t even healed yet, but to force another one off? This child’s soul won’t remain intact.” Anastasia snorted at the shocked Kahn and Victoria. “Furthermore, the beings connected to this child seem to be high and mighty fellas. Beats me how he found them. Others would kill to have a Channel with just one of them. Tsk.”

First, it had been the Heavenly Demon, and now, it was Mother Earth. It would be completely expected for a mere mortal’s soul to be blown apart just from the connection to these beings. Anastasia didn’t say any more.

She knew better than anyone else what the dangers of divine beings were. It was the reason why she had used “fellas” despite knowing that many gods and demons were looking in their direction. It was related to the past she had hidden from everyone, but she didn’t mention it.

“There must be a way if we think about it together.” Kahn’s eyelashes quivered. After enduring so many rough experiences, he thought that he could finally relax, and he never imagined this would happen again. He didn’t know if bright days would ever appear in their future, and it pained him. Victoria rubbed Kahn’s back, feeling sorry for him.

Whoosh. Anastasia thought to herself as she let out a long breath of smoke. ‘What a load of bullshit.’ She’d seen this happen so often that she wasn’t even affected anymore. But at the thought she’d have to continue watching their ridiculousness, she sighed and put her pipe down. “It’s not completely impossible. It’ll be hard, but there’s a way.”

“What is it?”

“We need to find a replacement.”

“Replacement…?”

“All we need is someone who can take the place of the Heavenly Demon and Mother Earth. But do you think it’ll be easy to find a being like that?”

Instantly, Kahn and Victoria’s eyes met as the same person popped in their minds at the same time. ‘Cain!’

They knew Yeon-woo had succeeded to the throne of death from Hades. Although he hadn’t achieved exuviation or transcendence yet, he had the qualifications. Moreover, there was that being who had borrowed Yeon-woo’s body when dealing with Allforone. It was the being that had given Yeon-woo invincible strength. They guessed that it was still inside of Yeon-woo. Wouldn’t it be possible for Yeon-woo to replace the Heavenly Demon and Mother Earth?

It would be difficult, but it was worth a try.

“And it would be best to search for that replacement right away. I’ve forced this child to sleep like this, but no one knows when he’ll wake up. And when he does, he might not be the child you remember anymore.”

There wasn’t much time. Kahn and Victoria looked at each other and nodded with heavy expressions.