Chapter 8
Arrogant Bastard (3)
"This whole ridiculous plan? You went along with it.
Guilty."
BOOM!!
Osiris was blasted through the air.
His magnificent ornaments were torn apart and scattered.
Finally—
Anubis.
As though the authority of the god of death meant nothing, Ju-Heon smashed his mask with a single punch.
The golden funeral mask shattered, and the divine form dispersed.
But they were still Divine-Grade Relics.
They immediately began restoring themselves.
[That won't be enough to kill gods, you know♥]
"Next...
You dared bare your fangs at your master.
Guilty."
"...!"
This time—
Set.
The moment Ju-Heon raised his hand, the very air seemed to warp.
Without even being able to resist, Set was slammed into the ground.
Realizing something from the host's words, Ju-Heon clicked his tongue.
[The execution of gods cannot be stopped♥]
[Now then, let's resume the execution—]
But Ju-Heon took out the Majesty Ring and summoned the Three-Legged Crow.
"Crow! Bring out the relic we found yesterday!"
The crow's shadowy wings spread.
Space itself tore open.
From the deep black rift emerged...
a gigantic wolf fang.
Yet it wasn't merely a bone.
The instant Ju-Heon grasped it,
the fang transformed into a razor-sharp dagger made to sever the necks of gods.
Just as Isis stole the true name of the sun god Ra and took his power,
this relic stole the names of gods—
and with them,
their power.
To think I'd actually have to use this relic...
At last,
the Fang that carved away true names let out a howl.
Its first target—
Set,
God of Storms.
The moment Ju-Heon swung the fang,
space split apart.
A black inscription branded itself across Set's body.
"...No...
This is...!"
A True Name materialized in midair,
forcibly written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
[Isis's Fang (SS Grade - Divine Grade / Consumable Relic) (10/10)]
Setekh (The Chaotic One)
As though slashing the air with his knife,
Ju-Heon cut straight through the name floating before him.
Set tried to flee.
The fang flashed once more.
"**True Name.
Seal.**"
CRACK!!
Set's entire body convulsed.
His arm melted away first.
His divine authority vanished.
The storm died.
"Your name...
no longer holds power here."
Osiris's trembling shadow twisted.
He threw back his head,
trying to scream.
More accurately—
he wanted to scream.
But even sound itself had been sealed.
His mouth disappeared.
The light vanished from his eyes.
His body withered into blackness.
Then—
Ju-Heon turned to Osiris.
"Gods are nothing more than illusions clinging to a single name."
Asar (King of the Dead)
Finally—
Anubis.
Judge of the Dead.
Ju-Heon slowly approached him.
"You already know, don't you?"
CRACK!
Ju-Heon spoke quietly.
"You're going to say your own name."
At last—
before a single relic,
all three gods began disappearing.
Ju-Heon took a slow breath,
looking down at the fang in his hand.
Anubis's eyes twisted desperately.
He resisted.
The fang pierced him anyway.
His own voice was forcibly dragged out of him.
[Isis's Fang (SS Grade - Divine Grade / Consumable Relic) (7/10)]
Inpu (Master of the Tombs)
The relic's lifespan continued decreasing as payment for carving away True Names.
"The moment your names are spoken...
you become weaker."
Their True Names floated in the air...
then split apart.
Anubis's body shattered into countless fragments.
The authority of death dispersed into empty air.
Ju-Heon slowly walked past the place where the three gods had vanished.
"You...
just die."
"The fact that I learned your names...
was the moment your end was decided.
And finally—"
After brushing off his hands,
Ju-Heon's eyes flashed coldly.
His gaze shifted toward the person standing beside him.
Yoo Jaeha.
"You wore my subordinate's face...
and pulled this cheap little stunt."
Gripping a fragment of the shattered guillotine blade,
Ju-Heon swung it.
Some of the audience tried to scream—
then fell silent.
No blood splattered.
Instead,
the body slowly melted.
Like a chocolate figure dissolving in the heat.
Something emerged from inside.
A man wearing a business suit.
Round glasses.
Ju-Heon's eyes narrowed.
"So...
you're the damned host."
Clap.
The man quietly applauded.
Yoo Jaeha's head fell off.
"Correct."
He was the true mastermind behind this entire show.
At the same time,
the audience...
the execution platform...
everything...
began melting away.
That was right.
Even the audience and the scaffold had all been nothing more than a relic-created stage.
Surprisingly,
the man's face was identical to Ju-Heon's personal restoration expert,
Yoo Jaeha.
"Hah...
Guess experience really does matter.
You figured out immediately that it was fake."
[The Nameless Majesty reveals his true appearance.]
[Majesty of Forgery]
[Warning: Relic User possessing extremely powerful energy detected.]
Ju-Heon looked at him with utter disdain.
"You had the nerve to unseal my relic,
transform into Irene,
and steal my relics?"
"I simply wanted to test the Majesty of this world."
He wore a perfectly tailored brown suit.
Round glasses.
Neatly combed hair.
A faint smile resting on his lips.
Yet that smile felt...
too perfect.
He looked exactly like the carefree errand boy Yoo Jaeha Ju-Heon had always known...
yet he gave off a completely different, unsettling presence.
That vicious expression, in particular,
reminded Ju-Heon of none other than the King of Swindlers—
Yoo Jaeha's previous life before Ju-Heon's regression.
At the same time, someone stepped forward.
He's far stronger than that guy.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha let out a faint chuckle.
He was on an entirely different level from any of the other King-Grade Relic Users who had competed in the Relic Competition until now.
There was no way the Yoo Jaeha Ju-Heon knew could have pulled off a fake spectacle on this scale.
The aura of power surrounding him was completely different.
No...
To begin with—
"Even so... I didn't think you'd cut down a comrade wearing your teammate's face without the slightest hesitation."
"What exactly are you, Yoo Jaeha?"
The man simply shrugged exaggeratedly.
"So you were surprised there was another Gungnir. You made that one too, didn't you?"
"Well, yes."
"There's only one of every relic in every world."
"I'm not the Yoo Jaeha you know."
He casually shrugged again.
If anything, that only made him more dangerous.
Ju-Heon fell silent for a brief moment.
'He can create Divine-Grade Relics?'
"...What?"
Instead of answering, the man raised his left hand.
Ju-Heon's eyes followed it.
The ring on his finger...
It wasn't a fake.
"...The Majesty Ring?"
"Well, since you've cleared Hard Mode, I'll tell you the answer."
"I'm the Majesty from another timeline."
"You want to travel to another world to find your daughter, don't you?"
"I can help you."
The ring was the Mark of the Ruler—
a symbol that, in this world where one ruled over divine relics, should exist only once.
But his next words froze Ju-Heon's thoughts.
"Why would you have..."
"Because that isn't your ring."
"...!"
"You've already figured it out."
"You're not the only Majesty."
"!"
"However..."
"You'll have to obey my orders."
"..."
Ju-Heon remained silent.
...Wait.
Who exactly does this bastard think he's talking to?
The team members all cried out at once.
Standing before them was undeniably Yoo Jaeha.
But...
there was another Yoo Jaeha standing beside him.
"I'm the Majesty from another world."
The real Yoo Jaeha looked completely dumbfounded.
"...What the hell? My doppelgänger?!"
"H-Hey, cut the crap already! The Captain's the Majesty, so what kind of nonsense are you—"
Yoo Jaeha's mouth hung open.
"Captain!
What the hell did you do this time?!"
Majesty Yoo Jaeha completely ignored him and looked up at the peaceful sky.
Ju-Heon casually lowered the towel from around his neck and raised an eyebrow.
Yeah.
That's my subordinate.
The other Yoo Jaeha quietly spoke.
"I'm jealous."
"Your world is still intact."
"My world was destroyed by the gods."
"...What?"
"Anyway, you should thank me."
"I stole the Egyptian relics before their seals could completely break."
"Before their seals broke...?"
"How naïve."
"What do you think happens once Chief Divine-Grade Relics become completely free?"
Ju-Heon stared at him, suddenly realizing something.
"Don't tell me...
you're the one who released Zeus's seal?"
"What else would happen?"
"The world would be destroyed."
After all...
Zeus already viewed humanity as nothing more than ants.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha shrugged.
"Of course not."
"Zeus was released by the relics that took your daughter."
"I was trying to stop them from fully breaking the seal."
"In short—
the release of Divine-Grade Relics is merely the first stage of their 'Human Extinction Scenario.'"
"!"
So that's why his aura was lingering on Zeus...
Seeing everyone's questioning expressions, the man with eyes as cold as the abyss let out a quiet laugh.
"That's merely the first step."
Thinking about it...
if Divine-Grade Relics were completely unleashed without anyone controlling them...
the world's fate would indeed be unimaginable.
But...
was he saying he had actually prevented that?
"If I hadn't intervened,
Zeus and the others would've completely broken free and destroyed your world."
Even Ilya, who had been about to charge him, was slammed to the ground as though crushed by an overwhelming pressure.
The terrifying aura shook the entire hideout.
After saying that,
Majesty Yoo Jaeha casually tossed over the Egyptian Divine-Grade Relics.
The real Yoo Jaeha hurriedly caught them, letting out a disbelieving laugh.
'Dominion...!'
"You're awfully full of yourself for someone who stole them."
"And whatever happened to your world, if it got destroyed despite you calling yourself Majesty...
I guess your Dominion wasn't good enough."
The force that subdued relics was crushing even human consciousness itself.
That was why it was so shocking.
Not good enough, my ass...!
Before Yoo Jaeha could even finish speaking—
"...What is this...?"
"That's Dominion on the Captain's level!"
"Ghk...!"
The real Yoo Jaeha clutched his throat and collapsed.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha merely smiled as if telling him not to bother resisting.
"How could Ability Users from such an underdeveloped world possibly endure this?"
"You planning to release your Dominion or not?"
His mocking gaze shifted toward Ju-Heon.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha's eyes widened.
"The same goes for you, Majesty."
"You haven't even fully awakened yet."
"How long do you think you can withstand this pressure—"
(To be continued)
But Majesty Yoo Jaeha stopped speaking.
Because Ju-Heon alone remained standing completely unaffected.
In fact...
he simply looked irritated.
"Hey."
"You bastard."
A cold blue light blazed from Ju-Heon's eyes.
"You gonna release your Dominion..."
"...or not?"
Majesty Yoo Jaeha's eyes widened.