Urrrng! The Ruyi Bang trembled, still embedded in Astraeus’ body. Then, her body began to scatter into black smoke that the Ruyi Bang absorbed. A name was carved onto Ruyi Bang: στερία

After Astraeus’ name appeared, the Ruyi Bang split apart again and fell into Yeon-woo’s hands. Everyone watching stiffened, some couldn’t believe what had just happened. Yeon-woo’s act was beyond anyone’s imagination.

He had sealed a god. He’d activated the power that made gods and demons consider the Great Sage as the most evil being—forcing the souls of god and demons into the prison of the Ruyi Bang and stealing their powers.

[You are absorbing Divine Factors.]

[You are absorbing Divine Factors.]

…..

[‘Demonic Divine Draconic Body’ is being awakened.]

Crunch, crunch! Yeon-woo could feel the Divine Factors in his body multiplying now that he’d killed Astraeus and gained the title of God Killer. His soul was being boosted, his cells expanding. His senses were greatly sharpened.

[Be careful of external impact.]

Those who had been watching the battlefield couldn’t step up easily. The killing of a god was shocking, but it was more unbelievable that the ceasefire had been broken in just a few seconds.

Hades and Typhoon were both rulers of Tartarus. A ceasefire in their names could influence their statuses, but it had been broken by a mere mortal who wasn’t even a member of Dis Pluto. Although Astraeus was considered one of the weakest Titans, she was still a god with a divine level. She had been killed as though it meant nothing.

Even in Tartarus, where all kinds of strange phenomena happened, a god had never been killed by a mortal before. No one had ever imagined it would be possible.

Hades’ subordinates quickly looked at Hades, ready to rescue him. They were certain that he’d been affected by the disruption of the ceasefire, and if he was in a critical condition, Typhon and the other Giants might return to attack again.

However, Hades was laughing. “Hahaha! A crazy bastard like the Great Sage and Allforone has appeared!” Hades looked at Yeon-woo in an uncharacteristic manner, and he didn’t seem injured at all.

‘How…?’

‘Maybe…?’

The smarter subordinates realized what had happened. The ceasefire between Hades and Typhoon had two sides, Dis Pluto versus the Titans and Giants. However, Yeon-woo wasn’t affiliated with either.

He had fought with Dis Pluto, but he wasn’t Hades’ subordinate, and he wasn’t connected to the holy territory either.His sudden interference hadn’t broken the ceasefire.

‘What an incredible coincidence!’

‘It’s not. It’s too miraculous to be called a coincidence.’

‘It’s not…something he expected, right?’

They suspected that what Yeon-woo had calculated everything, and they trembled because if that were true, it was truly incredible. Just a tiny miscalculation and the system would judge him as Dis Pluto’s ally and penalize them greatly. One needed true guts to attempt this.

“What’s everyone doing?! Protect him!” Dis Pluto got themselves together at Hades’ cold command and began to surround Yeon-woo protectively. Now that the ceasefire had been broken, there was a chance that the Titans would attack.

『How…amusing…』 However, Typhon’s eye appeared through the clouds again. He was definitely smiling, as though he shared Hades’ thoughts. 『Truly…』 At those words, he quietly vanished. The column of light that surrounded the Titans disappeared, and a silence descended onto the battlefield.

Everyone looked blankly at Yeon-woo, who stood alone in the middle of the battlefield.

* * *

Kahn and the others arrived half a day after the battle was over. They heard from Brahm that the temple of the King of the Underworld was surrounded by Titans and traveled at full speed, only to be greeted by the aftermath of a great battle.

Soldiers sat on the ground, gasping for breath. They all looked exhausted. The corpses of the monsters were beginning to rot, but no one had the inclination to clean up. Most of the castle walls had collapsed, along with the barrier around it.

No one among Yeon-woo’s companions could understand what had happened, except for Brahm, who had once been a divine being. He mumbled, “Things are more messed up than I thought.” The situation in Tartarus was worse than he’d expected.

Just one look at the holy territory showed it all. A holy territory was where a god’s will descended. It was the only place where a god could stay in the lower world. If such a place was in ruins, it was obvious that things were in critical condition.

“Are you with Cain?” At that moment, someone quietly approached them. She was a small woman with a mane of hair that came down to her shoulders. Her eyes were sharp and her aura was still violent as though the battle wasn’t finished.

However, the party was surprised for another reason. She was a player like them. They had heard that players went to Tartarus to train, but they didn’t know they would meet one so soon.

“Yes.” Brahm nodded on behalf of everyone.

The woman scanned the party and said calmly, “Lord Hades ordered me to take you to him. Follow me.” She turned around and didn’t seem to care whether they followed her or not.

Kahn looked at Brahm, wondering what to do.

“Let’s follow. It looks like Hades sent his Apostle.” Brahm nodded and quietly followed the woman. The rest of the party looked at the woman with surprised eyes as they walked behind her. An Apostle of Hades? That meant she was as powerful as Benteke, who had been Poseidon’s Apostle. But then, based on her aura alone…

‘She seems even stronger. How powerful is she? I’ve never heard of there being such a strong person.’ Kahn looked at the woman as he muttered to himself.

The woman stopped and glared at Kahn. “I’ll warn you now. Don’t do anything unnecessary. If you do anything like that, your throat will be cut, and no one will blink twice.”

Kahn rubbed his neck instinctively, shivering. The woman began to walk again, leaving Kahn standing in a cold sweat. ‘She…might be on the level of the Nine Kings.’

* * *

“Long time no see, Hades.”

There were glares everywhere as a murderous intent boiled in the air at the person who called their master’s name so casually.

Brahm didn’t care. He had once been one of the three main gods of Deva. Though he had lost his power after gaining a physical body, leaving the heavenly world, and being defeated by Agares to become a player’s subordinate, it didn’t mean his personality from the past had disappeared. Also, Hades was one of the few that Brahm had been friendly with since they both hated the heavenly world.

Hades waved his hand on his throne to calm his subordinates down. Then, he rested his chin in his hand and smirked. “My generals are still on edge from the battle. I hope you understand.”

“I do.”

“Good. It’s been a while, Brahma. You’ve come in a hilarious state.” Although it appeared like he was laughing at Brahm, Brahm knew that Hades was only being his usual cynical self. Like Brahm, he’d always viewed the world coldly.

However, Brahm had gotten even sharper despite his softness to Sesha, and he only shrugged. “Yes, I’m in a rather pathetic state…but it’s fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yes. I feel free now that I’ve gotten rid of all those annoying things.”

Hades’s eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to discover something. Then, he snorted when a smile spread across Brahm’s face. “You used to be a psycho who shouted at Shiva all the time; I can’t get used to this side of you.”

“Why don’t you get rid of your heavy burden, too? You’re too hard-working, not like your brothers who only wreak havoc.”

“Thanks, but I’d like it if you didn’t say meaningless things.”

Brahm clucked his tongue. Truthfully, he didn’t think that Hades would abandon his responsibilities either. They were too important. The responsibility that accompanied being the oldest god of Olympus, the obligation to stop the Titans and Giants, and the trustworthiness to rule over the Beyond properly—these had made Hades who he was today. ‘But they’re slowly consuming him.’

Anyone who bore such heavy burdens would crumble at the difficulty of stopping the rebellion of the Titans and Giants, no matter how strong he was. ‘But he didn’t ask Olympus for help, and he even kept it a secret from his wife, Persephone. Is there something else going on?’ Brahm thought to himself, but he didn’t ask Hades.

Although gods and demons were tied to their societies, they made choices for themselves. It would be disrespectful to ask Hades why he made his decision. Besides, Brahm was more interested in making Kynee and finding clues about Cha Jeong-woo. There was no need to do more work than necessary.

“Where did you send Master?” He was still connected to Yeon-woo, but the connection was so faint that he couldn’t see Yeon-woo’s precise location. Even if he spoke to him, his message wouldn’t be delivered because of interference.

“Hearing the word ‘Master’ from Brahma. Ha! It’s worth living all this time to see this.”

“Don’t try to change the subject. Where is he?”

Hades pointed to the ground.

Brahm frowned. “Underground?”

“In prison.”

“What…?!”

“He dared to break the ceasefire.”

Brahm gripped his forehead. It seemed like his master had caused another incident. When he looked around, he saw that the faces of Hades’ subordinates were grim, but they weren’t hostile. They mostly looked uncomfortable and uncertain, but a few seemed relieved. “Seems like our master found another clever way to cause chaos.”

“Pretty clever. He got Astraeus.”

This time, Brahm was surprised. The others were clueless since they didn’t know who Astraeus was.

“Cain…killed a god.”

It was considered a legendary feat by players, and there were rumors that Allforone on the seventy-seventh floor had the ability to do it. However, Yeon-woo had managed to pull it off?

“She’s puny for a Titan, but…that’s still incredible. Hahaha!” Brahm laughed, saying Yeon-woo was qualified to be his master. The expressions of Kahn and the others grew strange.

Finally, Brahm smiled coldly and wet his lips. A type of magic message dug into Hades’ ear. 『The secret of levels could leak into the lower world; are you OK with that?』

Hades snorted. He responded by speaking, “Do you think I won’t be able to handle it? Those who can’t are just fools.”

The subordinates and players looked at him with questioning eyes, not knowing what he was talking about.

“You’re the same as ever. You don’t change easily. Fine. Then, back to what we were talking about.” Brahm smiled again then asked seriously, “What’s our master doing below?” Had he already begun to create Kynee?

“I don’t know.”

“What…?”

“He was the one who said he wanted to be stuck down there.” Hades thought of how Yeon-woo had walked past his shocked soldiers and spoken to him confidently: “I’ve committed a crime, so I’ll accept my punishment. Please lock me up.”

From what he’d seen, Yeon-woo wasn’t the kind to surrender that easily, and it was clear that he had something planned. What was he trying to do this time? Hades was unaware that a smirk had appeared on his face. For the first time in his dreary life in Tartarus, something had appeared to stimulate him.

* * *

In the underground prison, there was the sound of crunching.

[The awakening of the Demonic Divine Draconic Body is nearly complete. The formation has commenced.]

Yeon-woo was rebuilding his body as he withstood immense pain.