Chapter 419

"Getting to the main point... What do you intend to talk about?"

Ssssss...

As Seong Jihan watched Pythia gather her power, he adjusted himself accordingly.

His fractured face and burning right arm.

The combined power of the void and the red energy was strengthening him, putting him in a combat-ready state.

"As expected, you are strong."

Flash!

As she activated her divine eye while observing Seong Jihan gather his power, Pythia continued speaking while trampling on Gilgamesh once again.

"You can't even compare to this guy."

"Comparing us itself is an insult."

"Indeed. Sorry about that. Instead, would you like to hear something interesting?"

"...What is it?"

"Do you know why the Blood clan carried out such prolific breeding?"

The reason the Blood clan used Gilgamesh to propagate a new breed of humanity.

Seong Jihan was well-aware of it.

"Wasn't it to infiltrate humanity with the Red Administrator?"

"How did you know? I intended to say that!"

"Because I have this."

As Seong Jihan pointed to his right arm, Pythia nodded understandingly.

The Red Administrator's hand.

With that, it was natural to be aware of the truth surrounding human origins.

[Didn't you learn that before from Yggdrasil's hints?]

'Just go along with it.'

[Got it.]

The Red Hand responded immediately to Seong Jihan's remark.

If it's this obedient, it shouldn't have asked in the first place.

While Seong Jihan was thinking that, Pythia continued.

"Then, this should be easy to understand. If humanity is the host for the Red Administrator... In the end, who do you think will be the Administrator?"

"No idea."

"It would naturally be Gilgamesh as the top priority. No matter how incompetent and greedy he is... He has sown the most seeds."

"Him?"

As Seong Jihan pointed downward with his finger.

Whoosh!

Gilgamesh lifted his head again, a mangled smile on his face.

"Ha, haha! Humans... were they truly the host of the Red Administrator? Those crazy bastards... I never knew!"

Gilgamesh had never understood why he alone was told to sow seeds up until now.

He realized it was to conceal the Red Administrator within humanity.

"Nevertheless... Even so, what she says makes sense. If indeed humanity becomes the Red Administrator, I would naturally take the central role!"

Modern humanity is descended from Gilgamesh.

Even while being subjugated by Pythia, Gilgamesh was certain of this and seemed pleased.

Crunch.

And Pythia, glaring disdainfully, stomped Gilgamesh down again.

"Mm...!"

"...Yes. I can't accept this man becoming the Red Administrator. So, I'll shatter the game board."

Flash.

Hearing about shattering the game board made the red eye embedded in Seong Jihan's right hand glimmer.

From it, a voice emerged.

[Incorrect.]

"...Did your hand just speak?"

[Correct. I spoke. The statement you made earlier is wrong. The Red Administrator will be the main body.]

"The main body? By that, do you mean... is it Seong Jihan?"

[Indeed. The stud has served its purpose.]

"How can I believe that?"

[A reproductive organ can't become the ruler of the body.]

"What... Did you just call me a reproductive organ!?"

Flaring up, Gilgamesh raised his head.

[What else is a seed-sowing organ if not a reproductive tool? You served your purpose by helping humanity flourish. you can't even produce kids anymore.]

At the words of the Red Hand, Gilgamesh flinched momentarily.

"That... That may be true, but... I fathered children here. If we restore the laboratory, I can have children again...!"

[Incorrect. You're sterile.]

"No, I'm not!!"

As the Red Hand said that, Gilgamesh became more hysterical than ever.

'...Being called sterile hit him harder than being subdued by Pythia.'

Crunch! Crunch!

"Get back in there. Seriously."

Pythia kept stomping on Gilgamesh as he crazily raised his head.

This time, his resistance was intense.

"I-I'm not sterile! It functions well! I just can't seem to conceive...! Yes, here in the laboratory, it will be possible again! I'll have descendants, my offsprings!"

[Impossible.]

"D-Damn it... Then, could I conceive if I became the Administrator?"

[The reproductive organ can't become the brain.]

"Is that so? Men do often entrust their brains to that part."

[Sexist comment.]

"Ah, I'm sorry. It's just that Gilgamesh left me with too many scars."

Pythia bowed her head briefly.

Unlike the earlier smiling expression, she looked truly delighted at the thought of Gilgamesh being sterile.

"Well... If Seong Jihan were to become the Red Administrator, I wouldn't mind. He might be my offspring."

"Just like Gilgamesh wanted to be called 'Father', you want to be called 'Mother'?"

"Ugh, no. I don't wish to speak like him. And..."

Flash...!

A bright halo formed from light shone on Pythia's forehead.

"If you were my son, I wouldn't be able to kill you, correct?"

The eye formed of light, the divine eye, appeared.

At the same time.

Ice swords began to materialize one by one from the surrounding cold air.

* * *

"The divine eye and ice sword rain... So, you intend to fight to the end."

"I owe Martial God for saving me."

Seong Jihan nodded.

Whatever Martial God's ulterior motive was.

Having rescued her from the hell of giving birth to 7,342 children, she could indeed see it as grace.

'She subdued Gilgamesh, so I'll also have to go all out.'

With that thought, Seong Jihan set up his BattleTube channel to get his star buff.

-Oh, is he finally starting his Challenger game?

-Hmm... Doesn't look like the game map again.

-What's with those red eyes everywhere lol

-Wow... That woman's pretty.

-But she seems feisty. She's stomping on some old guy?

-I get uneasy if it's not in-game... -_-

Viewers quickly sensed the unusual atmosphere as soon as they logged into the broadcast, and were worried about what new trouble Seong Jihan had landed into.

Meanwhile, Pythia glanced at the air and smiled.

"You turned on the broadcast. I got a notification too."

"I need the buff. I can't afford to hold back against Eve who trampled Adam."

-Huh? Adam and Eve... For real?

-Eve's too good for that middle-aged man.

-But stomped or not, isn't it too much? The old guy's face got utterly wrecked...

-Does that mean this place is Eden? lol

-With all those eyes? What blasphemy.

As soon as Seong Jihan dropped his clue, the chat buzzed about the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, igniting the discussion regardless of the viewer's faith.

Meanwhile.

"Ah, stop calling me Eve! I don't want to be linked with this man."

Swoosh!

As Pythia extended her hand, the ice swords simultaneously fired at Seong Jihan.

It appeared to be a light attack to probe the opponent, but.

'Strong.'

It must have been the power of a Sovereign constellation at work.

Certainly, the might contained in the swords was formidable.

If Seong Jihan had faced these attacks before attaining the power of both void and red.

It would have been quite challenging to counter these attacks.

However.

"Hey, flame."

[Got it, main body.]

Fwoosh!

Seong Jihan's right arm blazed with red flames.

The mighty authority of the red, now even more powerful after grafting a red arm, possessed the ability to evaporate the ice swords into vapor instantly.

Sssss...

The ice swords vanished without being able to breach the wall of flames.

Seeing this, Pythia nodded.

"Your hand listens well."

"So far, yes."

"In this case, I am completely at a disadvantage concerning the power of fire..."

Fwoosh!

Pythia created a momentary white flame in her hand and extinguished it again.

"The sacred flame, taken from Sophia?"

"Yes. I retrieved it as it became necessary, but it won't work on you, will it?"

"Why not test it?"

"No need to test an inevitable result. Ah, this doesn't look good... The affinity is too poor. My ice can't penetrate your authority, and..."

With just a single probing attack sequence, Pythia perfectly analyzed the gap between her and Seong Jihan.

Her power was formidable, but completely outmatched by the authority of the red.

"I have no choice. Even as a sovereign constellation, I'll have to rely on this facility's power."

Clap!

As Pythia clapped her hands.

The dormant red eyes within the laboratory regained vitality.

Bzzz...

The eyes fired red lasers in unison.

The beams appeared as if they'd incinerate anything they touched.

Of course, the space surrounding Seong Jihan was entirely under his control, causing the beams to halt midway before reaching him.

'These lasers even push back the void-dominated space.'

Bzzzz...

The red lasers didn't stop entirely.

Slowly extending toward Seong Jihan's domain.

Simultaneously.

Swish! Swish!

Ice swords rained down upon Seong Jihan.

Unlike the light probing attack from earlier, this time, they came at him with full force.

"How about this? It'll be hard to block, right?"

With the eye's laser beams and the ice swords working together.

Though the two did not mix, they systematically pressured Seong Jihan.

Regardless of the poor affinity of her power against Seong Jihan's, this level of coordinated attack...

'I'll have to summon the void as well.'

Sssss...

As a violet fog began to arise from Seong Jihan's cracked face.

Flash!

The Red Hand urgently spoke to him.

[Main body! No need for that. We've conquered half the space already.]

"...Already?"

[All Red authority belongs to the main body. This clan's laboratory cannot defy fate.]

"Really? Can you control those lasers too?"

[Naturally.]

Bzz...

At his words, the red lasers immediately changed direction.

The beams that were piercing toward Seong Jihan instantly incinerated the ice swords and pivoted toward Pythia.

She narrowly dodged them and spoke slowly.

"...An outsider seized mastery over this place in an instant. You might indeed become the Red Administrator."

"We'll have to wait and see."

Seong Jihan pressed his advantage, now turning the pressure back on Pythia.

The red eyes in the lab quickly began following his commands, firing lasers at Pythia.

Flash!

Her divine eye shone, narrowly dodging each attack.

"This is... The odds of winning are already gone. Really hurts my pride as a constellation!"

Pythia admitted defeat, even while her divine eye evaded the attacks by a hair's breadth.

Meanwhile.

"Those red lasers are good. I like them."

[Main body, I can do better. That's a lower version of ultimate Red authority, Total Annihilation.]

"Total Annihilation? You should've told me sooner."

[You didn't ask.]

"Tch. Valuable things should be offered voluntarily."

[...Got it.]

"Let's try it out."

Fwoosh...!

Obeying Seong Jihan's command, the Red Hand ignited.

As the red eye glimmered, channeling the stat of 'Red.'

Red:

Total Annihilation.

The red light filled the entire laboratory's front.

Soon, the world blazed.

The fire engulfed everything, even itself, consuming it all as it vanished.

-...This is a different level from those other laser eyes.

-Wow, it scorched everything in a straight line.

-So, this is the Administrator's hand?

Total Annihilation, which incinerated everything indiscriminately.

This level of power was probably second only to the Taiji Sword.

Of course.

[Stat Red decreased by 3.]

Using Total Annihilation cost stat points.

'It'll be useful against formidable opponents later.'

Satisfied with the overwhelming power of Total Annihilation, Seong Jihan looked ahead.

Pythia and Gilgamesh.

And the tree had all completely vanished from the front.

Was it too powerful?

"So Adam and Eve both perished like this..."

As Seong Jihan muttered.

"No, we're not dead yet?"

Fwooosh...

Ice formed in mid-air, revealing a slightly scorched Pythia.

And a completely charred Gilgamesh.

Judging by the looks of things, Gilgamesh had served as her shield.

"And how many times have I told you to stop calling me Eve?"

"So, Pythia. You dodged that, huh."

"Wouldn't have survived without the divine eye."

Seong Jihan looked at the glowing eye on Pythia's forehead.

The Divine eye.

While his sister's barely had any worthwhile functions, Pythia put it to good use.

"I really can't win against you... No matter how much I use the divine eye, I see no path to victory."

"Are you surrendering quietly, then?"

"Oh, you really intend to kill me? Don't you feel pity?"

"Pity... I do feel an ounce of human empathy... But I can't let you destroy humanity."

At Seong Jihan's words, Pythia smirked.

"I figured as much. I would have been disappointed if you had shown leniency. Mixing business with personal feelings is unwise."

"Really? Then prepare to die."

Just as Seong Jihan drew his sword.

Pythia smiled cryptically.

"But... Why do you think I have blabbered on about my tragic past to stretch for time?"

"..."

"It was all for this moment."

Crack!

Behind Pythia, space tore apart.

A massive hand emerged.

"Let's head to Tuseong. Martial God is waiting."