Chapter 172 – Tiamat's Demon Beast

While the three-way battle in Shanghai was unfolding.

A battle was also taking place in London.

―Krrrrrrrr!

Tiamat had been dragged to a higher dimension along with Alter for the Apostle Duel, but as if she had known this would happen, she had already completed other arrangements.

Right after she disappeared and Lee Hanseong also turned his attention away from London.

From the Great Rift that still remained in that place, the demon beasts Tiamat had birthed in the myth to slaughter the gods came through.

The dragon with two horns, forelegs, and wings, ‘Bashmu’.

The dragon with a lion’s head, four legs, and wings, ‘Ushumgallu’.

The chimera dragon mixed with snake, lion, and bird, ‘Mushmahhu’.

The dragon whose head and torso were a venomous snake, with two horns above its eyes and a scorpion’s tail, ‘Mushhushshu’.

The half-human, half-beast with a lion’s head, human body, and bird’s feet, ‘Ugallu’.

The half-human, half-beast with a human head and dog’s body, ‘Uridimmu’.

The being with a human head, beast’s torso, scorpion tail, and wings, ‘Girgirtabli’.

The dragon shrouded in a Ferocious Storm, its form not visible, ‘Umu Dabrutu’.

The mermaid with a human upper body and fish lower body, ‘Kululu’.

The half-human, half-beast with a human upper body, ox lower body, and ox horns and ears, ‘Kusarikku’.

And the colossal dragon ‘Labbu’.

A total of eleven 11-Star True Divine Being rank demon beasts.

“The Heavenly Stem Sealing Array designed for Apostles can’t stop the demon beasts that came through!”

The Polaris Guild Master who designed the Heavenly Stem Sealing Array warned.

The formation prepared to bind Tiamat had a limitation: to produce output effective even against an Apostle, it could only be applied to a single entity.

However, the other Ten Great Guild Masters did not consider that a major problem.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. We can hold one with the formation, and for the remaining ten, we can each summon the 11-Star Divine Spirits we contracted with to deal with them…”

The calculation was that while they couldn’t move to maintain the sealing array, by employing Divine Spirits independently through summoning, they could fight the demon beasts while maintaining the array.

But Tiamat had already predicted even that calculation of theirs.

Clank!

Their attempt to summon Divine Spirits fails.

“…The summoning is blocked?”

“It’s not just summoning. Everything about drawing power from contracted Spirits is blocked.”

“The Law itself has changed.”

Before entering the Apostle Duel, Tiamat had immediately used the Authority of the Wheel Constellation to modify Earth’s Laws.

The fundamental Law of Spirit Contracts that allowed them to contract with Spirits had disappeared.

It hadn’t completely vanished.

If it had, they would have already been unable to withstand the void and become Void Gods.

It was merely that the connection linking them to the Spirits belonging to the Constellations was sealed, like a switch had been turned off.

“All we can use are the Stigmas and Authorities we obtained directly.”

It was a situation no different from losing most of the privileges as Awakened, such as Spirit Overlay, Treasure Body, and Spirit Unification.

In this state, they could no longer take Tiamat’s eleven beasts lightly.

Each one possessed the Authority of [God Slayer] to kill gods, and it was not easy to confront these demon beasts, which achieved Legend resonance by sharing the same myth, using only the power of their True Bodies.

“Maintaining the sealing array will be impossible.”

“Then, what should we do?”

In any case, once the battle began, the Heavenly Stem Sealing Array binding the first dragon demon to appear, Bashmu, would inevitably have to be released.

If that happened, even if the Ten Great Guild Masters each faced one of the ten demon beasts, one would be left free.

That meant an existence no different from a god would move to destroy London without any hindrance.

And it wasn’t just London that was in danger.

If the freed demon beast started interfering in the one-on-one fights between the Ten Great Guild Masters and the other demon beasts, the Guild Masters would die one after another like dominoes.

“What a fine day to die.”

“Don’t say such unlucky things and just prepare to fight.”

The expressions of the Ten Great Guild Masters, having grasped the situation, darkened.

Nevertheless, they did not avoid the fight or run away, but instead began to take on the rampaging demon beasts one by one.

Their will to buy time, even a little, even if they died here, was evident.

Unfortunately, Lee Hanseong was unaware of their situation at that time.

He was busy progressing Rian’s Authority Bloom to resolve the three-way battle in Shanghai.

However, it wasn’t that there were no 11-Star Awakened who could come to London’s aid.

Flash!

Park Jincheol, who had made Earth’s entire atmosphere his eyes through the Authority [Solar Wind], sensed London’s crisis and came to support at the speed of lightning (approximately 100,000 km/s) using Hwanin’s Heavenly Authority.

This was possible because the range of the Law of Spirit Contracts that Tiamat had altered was only near the Mediums, the eleven beasts.

Of course, the moment he entered the London area, Park Jincheol also became unable to use the power of Hwanin and other Spirits, but that was fine.

“I’m here!”

The expressions of the Ten Great Guild Masters brightened at the appearance of Park Jincheol, who flew towards the free demon beast wreathed in Solar Wind.

“Could it be, Park Jincheol?”

“You were alive? It seems you reached the 11th Star while you were missing.”

“I don’t know how you came at just the right time, but thank you for coming!”

Now the numbers of 11-Star beings were matched.

Tiamat’s eleven beasts, the Ten Great Guild Masters, and Park Jincheol.

The moment an 11 vs. 11 battle began.

* * *

‘Now is finally my time to shine.’

Though he didn’t show it, Park Jincheol had been accumulating unspeakable dissatisfaction since returning to Earth from the Otherworld.

First, during the Apostle Duel that took place inside the True Body of the Sun Constellation, he couldn’t fight Luke Meyer as he wished and was left out, having to leave the rear to Lee Hanseong’s Spirit, Pheidippides.

Then, when the Apostle Duel ended with Pheidippides’ victory and he returned to reality.

While cheering for Pheidippides and peeking at the Apostle Duel, he fell into a Samadhi State from the enlightenment he gained, and during that time, he learned that Lee Hanseong had dealt with Luke Meyer, who had undergone Divine Fall to the 11th Star. That was another blow.

The grudge he had held since the Otherworld remained in a state of incomplete combustion, sticking to his heart like black tar.

‘It’s not that I’m unhappy Luke Meyer was dealt with. It’s just regrettable that I couldn’t contribute any help to it.’

He didn’t like the situation where the opponent he had targeted had fallen without any relation to him.

However, since it was difficult to complain about it to Lee Hanseong, his son’s friend and Guild Master, for the sake of face, Park Jincheol forcibly turned his eyes elsewhere.

Wasn’t it a situation where Apostles from the Otherworld were invading?

Thanks to the enlightenment gained from the Apostle Duel, it became possible to make Earth’s entire atmosphere his eyes through the Authority of Solar Wind, so there were many places to turn his attention.

‘Currently, there are five cities invaded by Apostles.’

But he didn’t need to step in elsewhere either.

Lee Hanseong had already sent the appropriate people.

Los Angeles had Pheidippides, who became the Apostle of the Sun Constellation.

New York had his son, Jin Yuseong, who was Divinely Possessed by the Apostle of the Golden Constellation.

São Paulo had Yu Sehee, who was Divinely Possessed by the Apostle of the Brilliance Constellation.

Shanghai had Park Seongcheol, who was wearing a Transcendent Divine Artifact that allowed him to be Divinely Possessed by the Apostle of the Darkness Constellation.

Adam Kadmon, who was supposed to emerge from Sydney, hadn’t appeared yet, so the only place Park Jincheol was immediately needed was actually here in London.

‘My son and his friends are fighting. It wouldn’t be cool if their dad couldn’t do anything.’

Thinking that, Park Jincheol found a demon beast against which he could have an Attribute Advantage, and swapped the demon beast he was facing with the Guild Master who was fighting it.

“…Hey! I’ll take care of that one, you take this one.”

“Understood.”

The demon beast Park Jincheol newly chose was Ugallu, whose name meant ‘Colossal Storm Beast’.

The God-Slaying Storm his opponent unleashed was merely an Inferior Version of the Solar Wind he possessed.

Whoooooosh!

As the storm and Solar Wind clashed, the flow of the storm was being incorporated into the Solar Wind.

Moreover, Ugallu’s resistance was weaker than expected.

―Kyaaaa! Marduk!

Ugallu roared, calling the name of some god who controlled storms.

Upon hearing Marduk’s name, the related myth naturally flowed into his mind.

As told in the Enuma Elish, when Marduk went to kill Tiamat, he easily subdued the storm demon beasts Ugallu and Ushumgallu with the Authority of Climate.

The myth of Marduk subduing Ugallu was superimposed onto Park Jincheol, helping him subdue Ugallu.

Here, subduing didn’t mean killing, but rather controlling the opponent as one wished.

When Marduk killed Tiamat, he inflated Tiamat like a balloon with the breath of Ugallu and Ushumgallu, then shot a fire arrow to burst and kill her.

Until this myth exhausted its power, Ugallu was no different from being tamed by Park Jincheol.

“The next opponent is decided.”

Park Jincheol’s gaze, having subdued Ugallu, turned towards where Ushumgallu was.

Thanks to Marduk’s myth, it was another demon beast he could easily subdue with Solar Wind.

Whoooooosh!

But this time, the opponent didn’t go down easily either.

―Do you think I’ll be defeated by Marduk again!

Perhaps having heard Ugallu’s cry and already being wary of Park Jincheol, Ushumgallu, the moment it sensed his approach, shook off the Guild Master it was fighting and headed towards where the other demon beasts were.

It was the direction where Bashmu and Mushmahhu, who possessed poison that could kill even gods, were located.

Sensing foreboding from that movement, the Ten Great Guild Masters and Park Jincheol tried to block the three beasts from joining, but they were a step too late.

Oooooong— Paaaat!

The Legend resonance centered on the three beasts intensified, and the three dragon demons achieved Trinity.

They merged into the form of a three-headed dragon with horns.

Realizing it was already too late to stop their Trinity, Park Jincheol changed his target.

There was one more demon beast shrouded in storm besides Ushumgallu.

Whoooong—

The moment Umu Dabrutu, whose name meant ‘Ferocious Storm’, was subdued by Solar Wind and temporarily came under Park Jincheol’s command.

Park Jincheol and the two beasts, bound by the commonality of wind, achieved Trinity just like their opponents.

With a slight difference, but by subduing two beasts, Park Jincheol, who had come a little closer to Marduk’s myth, saw a System Message appear before him.

[Keyword ‘Marduk’ has been unlocked.]

The unlocking of a new Identity that would raise his Authority to a level comparable to Apostle Rank.

The etymology of Marduk meant ‘son of the sun’, so it suited him well as a member of the Sun Constellation.

Following the unlocking of the Identity, another myth of Marduk flowed into his mind.

Marduk made Mushhushshu, whom he had defeated, his mount.

A connection bloomed between Mushhushshu, who was fighting nearby, and Park Jincheol.

A domination more powerful than when subduing the other two beasts tamed Mushhushshu.

―Aaaaah….

Losing hostility, its eyes darkening, Mushhushshu approached Park Jincheol and prostrated itself before him.

The moment Park Jincheol mounted Mushhushshu’s back.

[How dare!]

The enraged three-headed dragon spewed a breath of poison towards Park Jincheol.

Having achieved Trinity and half-stepping into Apostle Rank, it was poison at a level dangerous even for an Apostle, but Park Jincheol did not avoid it.

Because the moment he mounted Mushhushshu, he recalled another myth of Marduk.

Marduk, having taken the antidote of the healing goddess Gula, was immune to all poisons.

Especially since the poison of Bashmu and Mushmahhu was precisely the poison Marduk blocked without issue in this myth, the breath of poison based on it was even less effective.

Here, if he equated the three-headed dragon with Tiamat and defeated it in the way Marduk hunted Tiamat, he would be able to perfectly digest Marduk’s myth and Identity.

Whoooooosh!

Thinking so, Park Jincheol poured Solar Wind into the mouth of the three-headed dragon spewing breath.

Unable to even close its mouth, the three-headed dragon inflated like a balloon as wind filled its body.

Moments later, the six pupils of the three-headed dragon, having read the end coming to it, trembled violently.

Fwoooosh—

A fire arrow condensed from the heat of Solar Wind formed before Park Jincheol.

Its shape, coincidentally, resembled the Agneyastra that Luke Meyer mainly used.

Sssssssssssss!

The fired arrow then pierced the greatly inflated belly of the three-headed dragon.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

With a colossal explosion, the three-headed dragon met its death.

Since Marduk’s myth was reenacted, it was a true death from which even resurrection was impossible.

The remaining demon beasts also had the myth of their helpless defeat after Tiamat’s death forced upon them, and they met their deaths one by one at the hands of the Ten Great Guild Masters.

Eventually, the moment all remaining eleven beasts died, the final fragment of the Marduk myth was filled.

Marduk created a new world from Tiamat’s corpse.

The Law that Tiamat had changed to block Spirit Summoning collapsed, the previous Law returned, and the use of summoning and other privileges that had been blocked became possible again.

“The Law blocking summoning…?”

“So the demon beasts were the Mediums for the Law modification after all.”

Simultaneously, as Marduk’s Identity was completely digested, Park Jincheol was reborn as an Apostle-rank Divine Spirit at a level where four Divine Names were combined, like Ra-Horakhty.

Along with that, the Ten Great Guild Masters who had fought Tiamat’s eleven beasts were treated as Lesser Gods of the Marduk myth, and the contamination of Mirinae’s Primordial Chaos was a bonus.