Plague Of Depravity (3)

Footstep, footstep, footstep, footstep.

The man walking was handsome enough that women would be unable to look away. Men with unusual tastes might feel the same.

But sadly, there was no one here.

No, there couldn’t be anyone — this was thousands of meters above the ground.

This was where Caelum, the lesser sky god who had appeared briefly before, stayed.

He nervously swept his sky-blue hair back and stared into the void.

“Ugh… ugh…”

A being still writhed alone in the empty room.

His eyes, as he looked at his representative, were bloodshot.

He had watched this ridiculous spectacle for two years. That damned representative was truly incapable of doing anything.

He would have preferred the representative to be somewhere busy, but the woman who was Aetas’s representative, who visited occasionally, had thoroughly isolated him from the outside.

A silence spell always flowed around the room, so not only could outside sounds not be heard inside, but sounds made inside did not carry out.

“Ugh… ugh…”

His tongue had been cut out, his limbs were so damaged that only a god could repair them, and his genitals had been severed.

The only thing he could still move was his neck upward.

But all Unos could do without a tongue was groan ‘ugh’ and roll his eyes.

Caelum took out a scroll and fiddled with it, then sighed deeply and angrily threw it into an extradimensional space.

“Still… wait… longer.”

The voice that came from Caelum was gloomy and chilling, like the wail of a restless soul from hell.

“Captain!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Bang!

“Knock!”

“Ah! That’s right.”

Naruan burst in, then hurriedly closed the door and went out, then knocked smartly.

When told her to come in, she stuck out her tongue and grinned as she entered.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah! That’s right! Captain, they’re here! They’re here!”

“What? Ah… have they arrived?”

“Yes, yes!”

I followed the excited Naruan, who bounced around, down to the reception room on the first floor.

When we entered the reception room, three new faces were there besides the existing members.

They were the ones — those who had been the backbone of the Rebound legion, who hated the ‘slave game’ called the Battlefield of the Gods more than anyone, and those I owed a debt of heart to.

Violentia and, at the moment when we were trapped in the final battle by Unos’s betrayal, the first to approach and ask me to live his life for him — the womanizer Hugo.

Now that the rival Unos was gone, the cheerful Simon who told Lee Hyo-ju to get along well with him.

Inex, who told me not to be consumed by pain over the legion members’ revenge and to just be happy.

Damn. My heart pounded crazily and my throat tightened so I couldn’t speak.

I clenched my fists until they threatened to crush and slowly, barely, sat down pretending nothing was wrong.

“…Welcome.”

I bowed politely.

I slowly bowed and raised my head again, filled with the favors they had shown me — gratitude, thanks, apologies, and guilt.

“…Ah, yes. I am… Hugo.”

“I’m Simon.”

“Inex.”

Silence forced itself to sit for a long while.

It was obvious Hugo and Simon were frustrated, mouths opening and closing as they watched nervously.

After a moment, Inex broke the silence with a calm question.

“Hmm… What is the reason you wanted to see us?”

“I plan to form a legion. I want you to join that legion.”

Inex showed no change and pondered again; Simon and Wigo, on the other hand, had their true feelings written across their faces.

Inex asked the question their expressions demanded.

“Why… me?”

“Are you underestimating yourself?”

Perhaps my question was unexpected by them. They looked at me with slightly surprised eyes, then shook their head and continued.

“No. It’s not that. My patron god is a lesser god and not very cooperative with me. And if someone could find exactly where I stay, they likely have some information of better ones too. In that case, couldn’t you find other strong representatives besides me?”

Hugo and Simon also nodded slightly at his words.

Who could casually say or express that they were weak? Especially a representative whose primary purpose was combat.

But the three of them did just that.

That meant they were prepared to survive and get through this damn ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

At least, from what I had seen of them, that’s what I thought.

“That’s why.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The first reason is that you know yourself well. You don’t think you’re superior like other representatives. The second reason, as you just said, is that your patron god is not cooperative.”

“…What?”

“Perhaps… your patron god is probably meeting someone right now.”

Even Inex, who had maintained a poker face until now, tilted his head in confusion at my words.

The goddesses of the Rebound legion, excluding Ludicer.

Genesis, goddess of life and birth.

She was once called the ‘blood-blossom’ among the gods, named for a flower that drank blood.

Mors, goddess of death.

Still true now, she had always been mad for battle; she would lazily snap opponents’ necks and was nicknamed the idle wolf, ‘Slow Wolf.’

Spatium, goddess of space.

No one had expected her to be the goddess of space, because whenever she opened her mouth to scheme, blood would inevitably flow — she was called ‘Red Tongue.’

Aetas, goddess of time. Unlike other gods, Aetas’s weapon was purely her fists.

Where her two slender fists passed, only crushed and burst corpses remained. Hence Aetas’s nickname, ‘Corpse Crusher.’

And simply Ister, who was merely Arun’s patron god.

The five goddesses surrounded the three lesser gods, creating a menacing atmosphere.

Known as hooligans in the world of gods, the four goddesses’ simultaneous appearance left the three suddenly summoned lesser gods frantically looking around and gauging the situation.

“So our Kim Han wants to take your representatives into the legion. But if you go around wagging your mouths here and there, it’s bad. So, sign here.”

Aetas, who gave off the exact vibe of a scary schoolyard’s staple bully if she just chewed gum.

“Um, uh… persecuting other gods during the Battlefield of the Gods can lead to annihilation.”

A god who stammered but asserted his will — a burly, muscular man, shirtless in the stereotypical macho look.

He was Brutum, the lesser beast god.

“Right. So this sister of yours! I’m talking peacefully with words, really. If not, do you think I’d be using words? My fists would have come out already.”

Aetas smiled brightly as she spoke and clenched her fist, and the three gods lowered their heads weakly.

Yet, perhaps out of godly pride, they did not surrender easily.

“Why… are you making us do this…”

“Hey you, twig-clad bitch. You ignoring what I said?”

“Eh? No, no.”

“Then where did you hear what I said earlier, coming now and asking that as a question! Want to die?”

“No. It’s not that… it’s just… the reason…”

“Our Kim Han wants to take your representatives into the legion, but we don’t trust you!”

Aetas shouted, spitting and pounding her chest roughly.

Terrified by Aetas’s display was Fera, the lesser forest goddess. She waved her hands and vehemently denied it, trailing off.

“You bitch! Do you want the rest of your godly life to be turbulent? How about a joyful time travel with me?”

“Or we could go see hell together.”

“Or, to explore spatial mysteries, being trapped in infinite space might be nice.”

“Hmm… If you dislike that too, how about experiencing the birth of life with me and being buried in the hell of work?”

Even Ister, on the same side, shuddered at the four goddesses’ bizarre words — imagine how the three gods felt.

“Uh, where should I sign?”

The first to step forward to sign was Coronatos, the lesser god of agriculture and abundance.

“Oh, Coronatos! You may sit comfortably when you meet us from now on. Yes, I hereby specially permit you to cross your legs.”

“I, I will too.”

“I will as well.”

The ‘Covenant of Divine Words,’ once signed by the three gods, differed slightly from the prior pre-agreement that Rudiker and six other gods had signed.

Conversations exchanged between patron gods and their representatives are not disclosed or discussed with anyone except Rebound legion members and their patron gods.

They would assist representatives and Kim Han more actively than at any other time participating in the Battlefield of the Gods.

Hidden under Aetas’s prodding finger, the part not easily seen stated that they would actively cooperate with Kim Han.

In short, they had been tricked by Aetas while dazed.

But what could one really say to these gods?

These were the gods that even Heavenly Gods and Demon Gods would not recklessly challenge one-on-one.

There are many anecdotes about them, the most famous being from the age of chaos before the Battlefield of the Gods was established when gods fought gods.

Four of them had once raided a faction of gods who ignored the Creator’s command to stop fighting, utterly annihilating them and beheading the leader god.

Heavenly or Demon Gods raise their voices because many gods follow them, but asked to face any of these four one-on-one, others would flee — such is the authority and power of these four gods.

They are safe while the Battlefield of the Gods is in session, but that’s at most under a hundred years.

The moment it ends, they will torment lesser gods in ways beyond imagination.

“Good. Now we’re on the same side. Let’s go.”

“Huh? Um… Lady Aetas, where are you…”

“Where else? We should have a drink on a day like this. Let’s go.”

Smiling faintly at the three representatives who couldn’t keep up with the conversation, she continued.

“You needn’t worry about your patron gods. Once you enter the Garden of Gods this time, you’ll see their changed attitudes. The third reason is that you, like me, hate this damn gods’ ‘slave game’ called the Battlefield of the Gods.”

“What…!”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

The three representatives were startled simultaneously.

Inex’s eyes were filled with horror.

The other two glared at me as if asking how I knew, but Inex coldly and quickly assessed the situation.

Clang!!

Inex’s greatsword was suddenly placed right in front of my throat.

“How did you know…! Ugh!”

The moment Inex’s greatsword pointed at my throat, almost simultaneously someone responded —

“Sir, do you want to die? Pointing a sword at the captain?”

It was Naruan. She moved behind Inex and looped a huge sidearm radiating force around his neck as she spoke.

“Are you trying to tear your own throat out in a nightmare?”

Mae Young-ryeong emitted a dark aura.

“Tsk. Pathetic. To show murderous intent toward your companion with such pathetic skill.”

Hazel immediately began transforming the space around me into an entirely different space.

“Next, I’ll cut your neck off.”

Lee Hyo-ju, having cut Inex’s sword in half, warned in a voice dripping cold.

“Hey, sir. Want to freeze to death? Or be crushed to death? Or be minced?”

Finally, a spell manifested by Arun quickly filled the reception room.

I thought it was the natural result, but the representatives who watched the sequence with their own eyes were filled with bewilderment beyond shock.

To them it had happened in an instant — a very brief moment.

The moment Inex drew his greatsword — whoosh, hiss, clang, crack, grooooo — five representatives had weapons and spells bristling with deadly intent aimed at him.

“Stop.”

A voice filled with divine power spread, and Naruan, like a black cat, nimbly leapt to stand by my side. The others softened their intent and stood or sat back down.

Yet the look they gave Inex was razor-sharp.

“Inex, since I believe you’ll be in the same legion, a few pieces of advice: First, this kind of greatsword…”

“Huh?”

I lightly tapped the broad face of the blade with divine power, and the sword slipped from Inex’s hand and floated in the air.

I grasped the hilt of the sword that had left its master’s hand and continued speaking.

“They’re not very efficient in tight spaces. A short sword you carry for backup would have been more suitable. Second, this is a training period now, so you can’t inflict serious harm on each other, but after the training period, if you want to threaten an enemy for information, it’s better to break or cut something off first. For example, an arm or leg; for men, the genitals; for women, the chest tends to provoke the best reaction.”

As I spoke, I poured divine power into the greatsword, and though it was not a high-grade weapon, it writhed like dough under the strain.

“Third, if you meet another representative and they feel like an ordinary person with no power, there’s a 100% chance that person is embarrassingly stronger than you.”

Thud―!

The broad greatsword twitched and transformed into something like a longsword, clattering onto the table.

Inex and the other two representatives stared at me blankly, as if entranced.

That night, the Rebound legion recruited three new members.