167 – The Craftsman’s Promise – 6

It felt as if all the heat in the world was concentrating on a single point at the tip of the hammer.

No, it actually was.

It was absorbing everything, including the heat of the eye that was the target of the strike!

—How dare you try to extort my power, I shall hand down divine punish— Aaargh!

The moment the precisely swung hammer struck the exact center of the eye.

Along with an immense amount of heat flowing into Gi-jun through the hammer—the eye, having lost a massive amount of heat, froze just like that.

—I thought it would burn it hot, but it’s the exact opposite of what I thought?

—Kiiiii…!

It was not just the body that was frozen.

Having been stripped of its mind, soul, and the source of its energy, its very existential composition was warped, causing it to literally halt.

Naturally, having even lost the power to float, the giant eye began to fall.

Gi-jun quickly pursued it, stepping on the footholds of light that Lucy created in the air as he ran through the void.

However, just as Gi-jun was about to swing the hammer with the momentum to finish off the false god, he realized that the heat being absorbed into him was escaping in another direction.

Toward Ur, who was connected to him.

—Kiit?! Hiss!

It was not a phenomenon that Ur had particularly intended.

However, the power the bastard possessed had originally belonged to Ur.

Now that it was separated from the bastard by the authority of the divine hammer, which even extorted the very source of heat, it was only natural for that power to return to its owner.

—The spirit contracted with you has found the path to return to its origin. The level of the Fire Spirit Arts(U) skill has increased by 12, reaching level 62. A faint divinity dwells in the flames handled by the spirit.

—The spirit contracted with you has found the path to return to its origin. The level of the Fire Spirit Arts(U) skill has increased by 12, reaching level 62. A faint divinity dwells in the flames handled by the spirit.

—Kiiii…

Even though he had reclaimed at least a part of the power stolen by those who betrayed him, Ur’s state of mind seemed complicated.

It was no wonder, since Ur had not even had his memories intact since the day he was wounded and fell asleep.

Yet he had suddenly run into a bastard who possessed his own power and ended up fighting him out of the blue.

And that, too, to stop the boundlessly ugly injustice that the bastard was committing.

“Should we keep him alive and listen to what he has to say, Ur?”

—Kit.

However, the fellow shook his head as if there was no need to even ponder over Gi-jun’s words.

—Kii, kiiit.

“Right… You are my contracted spirit, Ur. That is all that matters.”

—Sharing a touching exchange is nice, but wouldn’t it be better to break that eye first?

Although the Divine Hammer was an exceptionally powerful skill, that eye was also a monster that had accumulated power for over hundreds of years based on the strength it had stolen from Ur.

It was impossible to strip away all of its heat in a single strike.

Of course, that was only until the moment the bastard shook off the frost covering its thick eyelid and tried to rise into the sky again, only for Lucy to swiftly extend hundreds of chains of light to hold it down.

—What a… foolish… thing to do…!

The bastard shouted, pulling out all of the heat that had been slumbering deep within its body to break the chains binding its entire form.

However, having suffered direct hits from the Silver Moon Wave followed by the Divine Hammer, the power the bastard could exert was Legendary rank at best.

Even at the same Legendary rank, it could not break all of Lucy’s chains, which were always stronger than others of the same class.

—Even if you get your power back, do you think you can handle it now…! You, whose soul is already torn to shreds and whose vessel is damaged!

—My contractor and I already fixed that, but you didn’t know, did you?

By the time the chains were almost entirely broken by the bastard’s struggles, Lucy, who had completed an even more massive binding spell by receiving Gi-jun’s spiritual power, spoke as if to tease the bastard and raised one hand.

A corner of the sky, which had been covered in lava clouds, was forcibly cleared by her power, and the sunlight pouring down from beyond transformed entirely into spears of light, piercing through the bastard’s entire body!

Lucy’s ability had been amazing from the start, but this was a technique that far surpassed the scale of any spirit arts she had shown so far.

It was as if… the heavens themselves were executing a divine punishment of their own accord!

—Urgh?! This is…! W-Wait, you are?

It seemed that although the bastard knew of Ur’s existence, it had not anticipated Lucy.

As if not even noticing the presence of Gi-jun approaching with Vulcan’s Hammer in hand, the bastard spoke in a trembling voice.

—How are you here right now, I mean, surely, the seal——.

—My prince came to find me.

This guy seemed to know not only about Ur, but also about the ones who had sealed Lucy.

Actually, when Lucy first met Ur, there had been a slight hint that the two of them had known of each other’s existence from before, but…

‘No, it is not an important matter right now.’

Even if he interrogated this guy, there was no way he would be able to hear a proper answer.

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders and raised the hammer.

—W-Wait! I will cooperate!

The bastard finally uttered weak words, but even then, the target of his plea was Lucy, not Gi-jun or Ur.

However, Lucy snorted and said,

—Contractor, finish him off.

“Right. Ur, you still have room left for dessert, don’t you?”

—Kit.

—I was also betrayed! The ones holding Leta’s system right now are nothing but cowards who gave up the fight——.

—Boom!

The moment the hammer struck the very center of the bastard’s eyeball.

All the heat that composed the bastard poured in through the hammer.

It was the ‘Divine Flame,’ so terrible that it could have easily burned Gi-jun’s entire body to ashes.

However, it all flowed into Ur before it could harm Gi-jun.

—You have briefly harbored and endured the Divine Flame in your body. The Adamant(L) skill has reached level 50, and the Salutaris(L) skill has reached level 48.

—Through the fierce battle with an existence that revealed divinity, the Spirit of Light contracted with you has become able to draw out at least a part of her original power. The level of the Lucy(L) skill has increased by 10, reaching level 40.

—The Fire Spirit, who has recovered a part of its lost power, recalls a part of its brilliant past. The level of the Fire Spirit(U) skill has increased by 18, reaching level 80.

—You have briefly harbored and endured the Divine Flame in your body. The Adamant(L) skill has reached level 50, and the Salutaris(L) skill has reached level 48.

—Through the fierce battle with an existence that revealed divinity, the Spirit of Light contracted with you has become able to draw out at least a part of her original power. The level of the Lucy(L) skill has increased by 10, reaching level 40.

—The Fire Spirit, who has recovered a part of its lost power, recalls a part of its brilliant past. The level of the Fire Spirit(U) skill has increased by 18, reaching level 80.

A series of messages appeared along with the bastard’s vain end.

It was true that Ur had grown to a state where the Legendary rank was in sight in one breath after regaining his power, but the messages also proved that the technique Lucy had shown at the last moment was no simple spirit art either.

However, Gi-jun, who knew all too well that this was not the end, gently closed his eyes and welcomed the changes that would come to him.

—By hunting a false god who claimed the name of another god, you have obtained 1,500,000 points. All the gods who govern Leta will recognize your achievement and widely publicize this fact to the continent.

—You have achieved the secret objective of the sudden quest. By hunting the existence that worsened the overflow, the momentum of the overflow will contract infinitely! The quest rewards will increase significantly.

—Legendary achievement accomplished! Recognized as the proxy of a god, you have defeated a false god! Charm(L) has increased by 15. As an achievement reward, you have obtained 1,000,000 points. A positive modifier will be applied to all titles and skills you possess.

—You have obtained the Legendary-grade title [One Who Challenges God]. Due to the title’s effect, divine abilities will increase by 20%, and you will obtain the [Godslayer] effect when facing a deity.

—Your level has increased by 15, reaching 45! Strength(L) has increased by 15, Dexterity(L) by 9, Endurance(L) by 15, Light Mana(L) by 3, and Spiritual Power(L) by 3.

—The Moonlight Blood Fangs(L) skill has reached level 45, and the Slaughter(U) skill has reached level 20.

—You have obtained the Essence of Uralta(Epic).

—By hunting a false god who claimed the name of another god, you have obtained 1,500,000 points. All the gods who govern Leta will recognize your achievement and widely publicize this fact to the continent.

—You have achieved the secret objective of the sudden quest. By hunting the existence that worsened the overflow, the momentum of the overflow will contract infinitely! The quest rewards will increase significantly.

—Legendary achievement accomplished! Recognized as the proxy of a god, you have defeated a false god! Charm(L) has increased by 15. As an achievement reward, you have obtained 1,000,000 points. A positive modifier will be applied to all titles and skills you possess.

—You have obtained the Legendary-grade title [One Who Challenges God]. Due to the title’s effect, divine abilities will increase by 20%, and you will obtain the [Godslayer] effect when facing a deity.

—Your level has increased by 15, reaching 45! Strength(L) has increased by 15, Dexterity(L) by 9, Endurance(L) by 15, Light Mana(L) by 3, and Spiritual Power(L) by 3.

—The Moonlight Blood Fangs(L) skill has reached level 45, and the Slaughter(U) skill has reached level 20.

—You have obtained the Essence of Uralta(Epic).

“……Whew.”

He had not expected to catch a god when he had come to catch a divine beast, but the fruit of his labor was sweet indeed.

He had obtained more Leta points than when he had hunted the Lord of Thorns, and even ended up acquiring a new Legendary-grade title.

Not to mention that he had jumped 15 levels in an instant, even though leveling up had become much more difficult after reaching the Unique rank.

In truth, if Gi-jun had killed a proper, complete god, his level up would not have ended at just this.

Of course, the loot being Epic-grade was also a tremendous thing, but the ‘byproducts’ of a complete god would have been even greater.

However, because he had taken away most of the power composing the bastard during the battle, the rewards had decreased.

Of course, since Ur had gained power thanks to that, Gi-jun had no complaints about it at all—but there was something else that caught his attention.

‘What is the Godslayer effect?’

—Gods are originally immortal. It’s a power that ignores that and allows you to truly kill a god. Ah, the one who just died wasn’t a complete god to begin with, and since its origin was taken back by Ur, it was easy to kill it.

Only then could he understand everything.

When the eye first showed itself, he had wondered what kind of guts it had to appear while risking danger, but the bastard had not expected that Gi-jun would actually be able to kill it, even if it knew he was strong.

Then, once its source of power was taken back by Ur and the danger of death arose, it had rapidly turned servile…

‘But wasn’t I just lucky here? Normally, to obtain the Godslayer ability, don’t you need to slay a god at least once?’

—That’s true. It feels like the system recognized that you are qualified because you have already slain a god.

‘It is a similar logic to needing to be equipped with gear that can only be obtained in a raid to actually run that raid…’

He understood that this title was extremely difficult to obtain.

However, even so, one thing became clear from this: the gods influenced the system, but they could never control it at will.

After all, was Godslayer not an extremely dangerous ability that could be applied to themselves as well?

If the gods could manipulate the system as they pleased, there was no way they would have let a summoned person acquire such an ability.

‘The relationship between the system and the gods, and… the identities of the gods involved in the continent of Leta are becoming more and more of a mystery.’

The fact that Ptah had willingly lent his power to Gi-jun was also along those lines.

Ever since completing the Grand Quest, Gi-jun had been treating the gods as potential adversaries—but now that he had hunted a false god, he truly could not tell anything anymore.

They were probably divided into various factions as well.

Judging by the words the eye had shouted before dying, it seemed there were even… ‘exiled’ gods who could not interfere with the system right now.

‘…Probably Lucy and Ur as well.’

To think he had contracted with only two spirits, and both of them were big shots that surpassed Gi-jun’s imagination.

But now, there was no turning back.

The existence of Lucy and Ur would gradually become known in the future, and Gi-jun, who was contracted with the two of them, would also be thrown right into the center of the commotion.

—Contractor, are you okay?

“Ah—— Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about future matters for a moment.”

Answering with a bitter smile to Lucy’s question, as she seemed to be walking on eggshells around him, Gi-jun checked Vulcan’s Hammer, which had lost its light, and put it in his inventory.

Even though he was not recognized as its master, the possession effect was still active, and he could feel his heat being amplified just by the divine artifact occupying space in his inventory.

“Anyway, I was saved thanks to Ptah this time.”

—Don’t trust the gods too much, contractor. Perhaps Ptah didn’t lend his power with pure intentions either.

“That is… true.”

He remembered the eye’s dying words.

‘The ones holding Leta’s system are nothing but cowards who gave up the fight——.’

“You aren’t a coward, right, Lucy?”

—O-Of course not. Not me, and not Ur either.

Did she realize his intention to cover everything up and move on with that single question? Lucy replied in a somewhat brighter voice.

—Of course, contractor as well.

“Right. …First, let’s wrap up the overflow quickly. And then we have to go hunt the divine beast too.”

Having finished organizing his thoughts, Gi-jun raised his head.

Whatever the gods were doing, his feet were currently planted on the ground.

Right now, it was time to do human work for humans.

* * *

[Eun-shin (Leta): Noona, I’m busy right now, so can I report later?]

[Ye-min (Leta): What’s going on?]

[Eun-shin (Leta): I’m running away after hitting the divine beast on the back of its head.]

[Ye-min (Leta): Wait, what?]

[Eun-shin (Leta): Lora-ssi is seriously incredible. She is Unique rank, but how does she show that kind of destructive power?]

[Ye-min (Leta): That nun?]

[Eun-shin (Leta): Yes. When I saw her clinging to Jun hyung’s shoulder and sucking blood last time, I wondered if it was a bit dangerous, but vampires are indeed strong.]

[Ye-min (Leta): Wait, that bitch clung to Oppa and did what?]

[Eun-shin (Leta): Since I only peeked, I’m not sure, but I think she was sucking his blood. At first, I was shocked because I thought they were kissing or something.]

[Ye-min (Leta): Shin-ah, tell me more about that in detail.]

[Eun-shin (Leta): Ah, it seems I’m about to get caught by the divine beast, so I don’t think I can send messages. I’ll tell you more details later. About the other people too…]

[Ye-min (Leta): Shin-ah, Shin-ah?! What else did the other women do, and how?!]