Divine Realm.
A towering and massive stone pillar.
At the very top, a god was perched.
This being, who looked like an ordinary human man, recalled the words he had just heard from a human with a blank expression.
He was born a god, never having been disregarded by anything.
– Next time, face me directly.
– If not, I’ll consider you a coward hiding in the Divine Realm.
The corners of the man’s mouth lifted.
“What an interesting fellow.”
If he seemed like a usual fool, he might have felt angry instead.
However, he appeared utterly mad, so anger didn’t even cross his mind.
The man with striking red eyes had black hair.
Leviathan.
He definitely remembered having such a fellow under his command.
A sea monster, perhaps.
But he had been ignoring it.
It felt like an event from thousands of years ago.
Of course, gods didn’t suffer from memory loss or similar ailments.
As he rummaged through his memories, everything came flooding back.
Regardless, the demigod he had subjugated was dead, so he felt the need to find out who had done it.
The man recalled why he had granted divine power to someone who wielded considerable strength in that Intermediate World.
“The War of the Gods.”
Gods were gods, so they were bored.
War was impossible.
Disputes were impossible.
Unable to stand that boredom, the Eight Evil Gods emerged.
And this man was one of them.
What the Eight Evil Gods sought was growth.
Ironically, it was the kind of growth achieved by those humans they deemed primitive.
To grow like humans, that’s why the Eight Evil Gods instigated the [War of the Gods] and killed other gods.
Living life in the Divine Realm, complacently.
It felt unbearably meaningless and dull.
Growth and struggle were necessary. Thus, he decided to kill a few other gods to escape his tedious life in the Divine Realm.
The simple reason he empowered Leviathan, who was making a decent fuss in the Intermediate World, and oppressed the merfolk and other sea tribes was to lower the divine rank of the god he had eradicated, [God of Purification – Sequelus].
The man, [God of War and Struggle – Barbatos], and Sequelus, whom he had killed, were both first-tier gods.
Aside from the ancient gods whose current whereabouts were unknown and who had transcended ranks, they were the most magnificent gods.
Gods referred to the totality of power and influence as ‘divine rank.’
The upper hand among gods with equal power could be shifted by ‘influence.’
The influence they exerted over this world.
Sequelus was quite a significant god in terms of influence.
He greatly encompassed and supported the merfolk and forest tribes in the Intermediate World.
Barbatos wanted to create a stir in his bland life as a god.
He wanted to.
But he didn’t want to leave any possibility of defeat. So, in order to lower the status of the gods, he granted divine power to a few sea monsters fighting against the merfolk and other races.
Starting with Leviathan, the one who was originally the strongest.
He created an army of sea monsters.
And then he crushed the merfolk world that had been so closely named “Atlantis,” which Seculus had painstakingly built.
After clearly bringing down Seculus’s divine status,
From a god’s perspective, he tore Seculus apart.
With fists and kicks imbued with divine power.
Fighting God.
The reason why Barbatos, the god of war and struggle, is called a fighting god among the gods is that he absorbed all the martial arts that were believed to belong exclusively to humans.
Martial arts.
From birth, Barbatos was a god filled with interest and ambition towards various martial arts and weapons.
He had no intention of shedding his human form to efficiently use martial arts.
Just as Barbatos was pondering the need to check on the one who had dared to speak of manners to him,
Chaeeaeaeng!!
A bell rang from below.
It signified that another god was visiting his territory.
Barbatos lowered his head and opened his mouth again.
“Wait.”
Barbatos slowly stepped down from the towering pillar of stone.
Whuaaaaaaak!
Barbatos’s divine form passed through the pillars and the mist, landing on the ground.
Kuuung!
Slowly raising his body, Barbatos gazed at the massive crow that appeared before him.
Malphas.
The god who was the first to recognize that Incrinew among the Eight Evil Gods was dead, and he had sent a nun from his organization, Piggero, to confirm the existence of Duke Yuma.
“What brings you here, Malphas?”
The enormous black crow opened its beak.
“Barbatos, there’s someone you need to know about.”
Malphas was in quite a tense state.
Gods generally have little interest in the Intermediate World.
They are only slightly interested in the humans and races that spend their time expanding their divine statuses.
And they are not particularly interested in each other either.
The class to which these two belonged, the [Eight Evil Gods], held the highest divine statuses in the current divine realm and were even less concerned about it.
Though it has now become the Seven Evil Gods,
Even that didn’t garner much attention from the gods belonging to the Eight Evil Gods.
All gods belonging to the Eight Evil Gods had killed at least one god of the same rank.
Thus, the gap in divine status between the other first-rank gods in the divine realm and the [Eight Evil Gods] was immense.
There was a significant gap.
God above God.
It could be said that it’s quite plausible.
In the case of Malphas, there was considerable wariness towards the human ‘Yuma,’ who had obliterated such a God above God.
However, most of the Eight Evil Gods did not share this sentiment. They thought little of the now-extinct Incrinew.
They believed that it was merely a lowly creature among the Eight Evil Gods, possessing only one power of innate superiority.
Even if that creature was dead, there was no way they could perish. They thought that they were different from that inferior being who had joined late in their assault.
‘They would think so.’
Therefore, from Malphas’s perspective, he had no choice but to step in himself to seek their assistance. To be precise, he required a blade to strike at that creature first.
Thus, he had come to find Barbatos, the third strongest among the [Eight Evil Gods].
“The one who killed Incrinew was the human named Yuma. I don’t yet know exactly how he did it.”
Barbatos narrowed his eyes.
“Right, you said Incrinew was killed by a human. Not a non-human, but a human. That was surprising.”
Barbatos conjured a handful of light and cast it into the air.
Swoosh!
The dazzling light suddenly transformed into a mirror.
Within that mirror reflected the exact visage of Yuma, whom he had just seen through the eyes of the recently deceased [Leviathan].
“Is that guy him?”
The colossal crow-shaped god, Malphas, widened his dark pupils.
“…Yeah. Barbatos. I didn’t expect you to know this guy.”
“This guy just killed the demigod-level beast I had subjugated to lower its divine status for the food during the Divine Realm War. Just now.”
Barbatos sensed that his interest in Yuma had intensified slightly.
Malphas furrowed his brow.
“Is it coincidence? Or are those on the side of good providing full support to this human in order to kill us?”
At Malphas’s words, Barbatos slowly shook his head.
“If they were going to provide support, they would likely back elves or Join Tribe members with the potential to become demigods. Why would they waste support on a human with clear limits?”
He continued, “Are you really that foolish enough to believe that you are the only existence through which a human could reach God?”
“There’s no way that could be true. I know that it was possible only when the gods were bearing human children back in those times.”
Malphas sweated a bit under Barbatos’s scrutiny. Unlike himself, who was close to the bottom in terms of power among the Eight Evil Gods, Barbatos contended for the top ranks.
However, in Malphas’s eyes, that human, Yuma, was a being that warranted caution.
“Malphas.”
Barbatos’s crimson eyes locked onto Malphas.
He faced the situation head-on.
“You seem to want me to kill that guy for you. Were you too scared to do it yourself?”
Malphas felt a cold sweat dripping down his back.
‘This bastard, when did he become so smart? He only ever had martial arts in his head.’
Malphas felt the need to change the subject.
“That can’t be the case, Barbatos. Ah, you probably haven’t heard yet. The second-tier god, Lokmenton, might ascend to the first tier.”
Barbatos showed quite a bit of interest in Malphas’s words.
“That scholar? How?”
It wasn’t easy for a god of scholarly pursuits to climb to the first tier. Not without unlocking some extraordinary divine powers.
“He has apparently awakened powers related to time.”
“Let’s hear more about that.”
Malphas elaborated on the powers that the god of wisdom and magic, Lokmenton, had awakened.
Barbatos listened intently, savoring every word.
And after hearing the whole explanation, he slowly opened his mouth.
“That’s a very nice power.”
Malphas nodded in agreement.
“Right? I was surprised too.”
“I’ll have to take it for myself.”
Barbatos’s crimson eyes glimmered with insatiable greed as he said that.
“Huh?”
“I’ll kill that guy, take his power. And you can go kill that human you’re wary of.”
Malphas gaped at Barbatos, who had suddenly declared a divine murder.
Like a crow’s beak.
Barbatos continued.
“Imagine if I possessed that power instead of that scholar. What being, what god, could stop me?”
The crow swallowed hard.
There was no denying it.
What Barbatos was saying was undeniably true.
*
Yuma returned to the island with the Mullen Tribe, engaging in various conversations.
Most of his dialogue partners were the king of the Mullen Tribe, Yeerkur.
Yeerkur nodded while shaking his long white hair, listening to Yuma’s words.
“You want us to lend a hand against the great ominous cloud that will strike in four months?”
Yuma nodded.
“That’s right.”
“If something is indeed coming in four months, I will, of course, help by putting the honor of the Mullen Tribe on the line. Yuma.”
“Thank you.”
Originally, the purpose was to prepare against the demonic army.
With the solid alliance formed, the primary goal had been achieved.
‘And Cloney’s growth potential has become even more limitless.’
Being able to channel natural elements into magic was akin to paving a new unique realm as a mage.
As Yuma organized his thoughts, he stroked the white mane of the gigantic silver seahorse.
Soon, the island of the Mullen Tribe began to come into view.
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