[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 235: Oath Seizure (3)

“Damn… I owe my life to Hera.”

I can’t believe Hera died in my place.

Just ten minutes ago, she was glaring at me with murderous eyes.

What is it about admin privileges that makes someone willing to die for them?

The letters of the oath remained where she had disappeared.

The red letters flashed once, then slowly lost their light and vanished into the air.

[Krrrrrrgh…!]

Is the penalty of the oath finally activating properly?

Zeus's lightning rapidly weakens.

The power of the black thunder that blanketed Mars feels like it’s draining away.

[Soul God…! I swear I’ll kill you. How dare you… Hera!]

“You're the one who killed her, so why the hell are you blaming me?”

[Hera… Hera!]

The black thunder continued to fade.

Zeus doesn’t try to attack me again—he just kept calling out Hera’s name.

Seriously, since when did he care so much about his wife?

[Soul God… I’ll never forget this. I will destroy everything you hold dear…]

And with that sinking voice, Zeus's lightning disappeared.

“Why don’t you just kill me now, huh?”

[…]

“Out of strength?”

He didn’t respond to my provocation and vanished.

At the same time, I felt the disappearance of Zeus's power that had covered Mars.

“The oath must be activating properly.”

The Oath of Olympus.

It binds the fate of every god in one divine realm, so the penalty is immense.

According to what I saw in admin mode, if fully activated, the penalty Zeus receives is ‘obliteration.’

But that only applies if it’s the real Zeus, so it probably won’t go that far.

In any case, I’ve achieved my goal, so it’s time to leave Mars.

Just as I was about to collect the divine seal stones, Hephaestus's voice came through.

[Mother… I can’t believe Mother is gone like this…]

He's completely in shock.

It wasn’t what I intended, but I do feel a bit sorry.

[Soul God. Is there no way… to bring Mother back? I never imagined this would happen…]

“That’s impossible. Zeus’s attack was too strong.”

If there were even a fragment of Hera’s soul, I’d try to retrieve it…

But Zeus’s attack was so fierce, not even a speck remained.

Even in the admin space…

– Goddess Hera has been completely obliterated.

It confirmed she was completely gone.

[Soul God… I will never forgive you…!]

[Hah. Pathetic. You saw Zeus kill her with your own eyes, and you’re blaming him? I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were blind. Who really killed Hera?]

[Get out of this.]

[And even if the Soul God had killed Hera, what’s wrong with that? She and Zeus tried to save themselves at the expense of the other Olympian gods! Your mother betrayed her own children!]

[Lady Hera—no, Hera—betrayed us. And in the end, she died by Zeus’s hand. You shouldn’t be blaming the Soul God.]

As Hephaestus vented his resentment at me, Aphrodite scolded him.

Athena also spoke coldly.

[I… I can’t believe it!]

[You saw and heard the same things, but still can’t believe it? That’s why people call you dumb.]

Hephaestus and Aphrodite start bickering.

“Ugh, noisy. I’m heading back.”

I took the divine seal stones and returned to the Spirit Realm.

At the park my father is constructing, I laid down the seal stones, and Athena asked me a question.

[What do you plan to do now?]

“I need to observe how the Oath of Olympus fully activates.”

[Then… if Zeus’s remnants truly disappear, would you consider using us, the sealed Olympian gods?]

Athena cautiously offered her proposal.

[If the Oath of Olympus was fully triggered, even Zeus will suffer a serious blow. Maybe not right now, but if his power fades from us Olympian deities, we could assist you, Soul God.]

[Athena! How can you suggest cooperating with the Soul God?!]

[Then you can stay sealed forever, Hephaestus.]

“So, you’re asking to be unsealed, huh?”

The seal stones of the Olympian deities.

I can barely sense Zeus’s power now, but…

It still feels too early to release them.

Besides, even if I did, I don’t see much use for them.

“All right. Once Zeus’s power is completely gone, I’ll consider it. There might still be traces left in you.”

[Thank you.]

“And before getting rid of Zeus, I’ll need Apostle Contracts. Think of it as basic insurance.”

[Apostle… Yes, of course. That’s only right.]

Athena readily agreed.

The other deities seem to agree as well—except Dionysus, who stayed silent, and Hephaestus, who kept throwing a fit.

“Stay here for now.”

The Olympian deities…

Honestly, in terms of combat power, they’re useless.

Even if several SSS-rankers joined now, they’d barely make a dent in my fight with Zeus.

Now that the Oath of Olympus has activated, I doubt I’ll get more intel out of them.

If I need them later, I’ll release them then.

“I wonder if Zeus’s power has weakened?”

As I left the sealed stones in a corner of the garden, I checked Earth’s situation.

Zeus’s power had taken over Mars in an instant.

My true body nearly died—it was that close—before he suddenly withdrew.

If it weren’t for the oath, he wouldn’t have backed off with his enemy right in front of him.

So I was hoping his power on Earth had weakened too…

But what I saw was the exact opposite.

A deep darkness was spreading uncontrollably.

It had begun in Greece.

What had once expanded slowly, devouring millions of humans, now surged without restraint.

People died instantly upon touching the darkness, their souls sucked away.

The fake souls I’d implanted continued to pour into Zeus’s massive, indiscernible soul-body.

Inside that void…

[Die. Die. Die.]

Only the voice of death echoed.

Even as the absorbed souls broke down into SP…

Even as the endless SP filled Zeus’s incomprehensibly vast soul-body…

Only death was imprinted upon the souls.

[Die. Die. Die.]

Before I knew it, the number of absorbed souls exceeded hundreds of millions.

From Italy to the west, to Saudi Arabia in the east.

Zeus’s darkness spread like a catastrophe.

“This bastard… why is he so fast!?”

My Earth main body deployed clones.

Hundreds of thousands of Kim Jiho clones moved into the Middle East and Europe.

Thanks to increased power, the clones reached their destinations quickly.

“What a mess.”

The darkness Zeus once wielded had felt orderly—now, it was utter chaos.

Back then, its cross-section had been clean and precise, but now the darkness spread in jagged, erratic bursts.

It felt like he was unleashing power without any control.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Astrape.”

I fired Zeus’s lightning lightly, partly as a warning.

Hundreds of thousands of versions of me simultaneously unleashed bolts of lightning.

Crackle crackle.

“Oh?”

Unlike before, the Authority of Banishment didn’t activate.

Hundreds of thousands of Astrape bolts shot into the darkness.

Had the Oath activation drained his power?

Staying on guard, I kept launching lightning.

Squirm. Squirm.

How far did it go?

Astrape struck something mushy and stopped.

Not only did it stop—it was absorbed, like a sponge, swallowing the god’s lightning.

The absorption was so fast that at this rate, even the clones would be sucked in.

“Cut the Astrape!”

I ordered the clones, but it was already too late.

Black energy flowed back along the white bolts of lightning.

Too late. Before the black thunder reaches—

“Self-destruct!”

I detonated the clones all at once.

Getting devoured felt like it would be a disaster.

Just before the black thunder could fully reach them, my clones exploded simultaneously.

The explosion seemed to clear Zeus’s darkness a little...

[Die. Die... Soul God? Soul God! Devour. Swallow alive. Show eternal hell!]

Zeus’s darkness spread even more madly.

Whoa.

This is seriously impossible to stop.

I sent clones again and again, but it was useless.

If I sent my real body on Earth, I might get devoured and just make Zeus stronger...

Before I knew it, his darkness had reached the Himalayas to the east and swallowed up Britain and Spain to the west.

After consuming billions of lives, it finally stopped moving.

“Wow... When he goes all out, he’s ridiculously strong.”

Even with the Olympus Oath activated, it’s still like this?

I scratched my head, clueless about how to deal with him.

I thought I’d bought some time, but things were only moving faster.

What should I do to overcome this?

[You must move faster.]

Then, I heard Zeus’s voice.

It was completely different from the chaotic murmurs I’d heard until now—calm and composed.

This...

“It’s coming from the implanted soul.”

The fake soul I had embedded while storing the human soul.

At first, Zeus had carefully absorbed them, but after the Olympus Oath was triggered, he focused solely on consuming souls without restraint.

Maybe because he absorbed so many souls...

At first, I couldn't sense anything about Zeus... but now, just faintly, I could.

Fragments of thoughts could be read.

[Hera...]

Anger. Regret. Remorse. Guilt.

So many emotions clashed within Zeus.

Huh?

This guy betrayed even the gods who followed him—why’s he like this?

[I killed you... with my own hands...]

While he digested and absorbed the souls, I kept trying to read him.

He should be planning ahead, but he kept thinking about Hera.

This reaction was unexpected.

Zeus, the god of the sky.

The king of the gods always carried a title.

Womanizer.

He seduced beautiful beings, human or divine, even sometimes boys.

He had a justification, of course.

To prevent the invasion of the giants—the Gigantomachy.

By spreading his seed, he’d produce heroes who could stop Olympus’s downfall.

But that was just an excuse.

Zeus was a womanizer, through and through.

His wife Hera lived her whole life watching his affairs.

That’s why the Hera I knew was the epitome of a nagging wife.

Didn’t she torment Hercules his whole life because he was Zeus’s illegitimate child?

In the stories of Greek heroes, Hera often played the role of the villain.

A fierce and jealous wife.

Though, in person, she was beautiful, befitting a goddess.

[I tried to save you... above all.]

But the emotions I felt from Zeus said otherwise.

He missed Hera.

He saw her as the most beautiful of all.

“This guy... He married her because she was the most beautiful to him.”

Zeus, the king of the gods, chose Hera as his wife.

Despite all the goddesses of beauty, even after Hera initially rejected him because of his womanizing, he kept pursuing her until she accepted.

[To lose you like this...]

Zeus’s sense of loss was palpable.

A deep void of despair and guilt.

So many emotions surged and faded.

How devastated was he?

[If this too is fate... then fine. I will stand alone. As the Absolute God.]

Zeus’s determination rose again.

He vowed to stand completely alone—as an Absolute God.

His resolve solidified once more.

After briefly falling into despair from losing his wife, he bounced back fast.

All those emotions were gone, replaced by ambition and determination.

This guy...

He’s truly betting everything on becoming the Absolute God.

[SP continues to drain from executing the Oath. I must take control of Earth before it's too late.]

[Find the Soul God. Tear him apart. No matter where he's hiding...]

Zeus’s hatred toward me became clear as he began formulating his plan.

I couldn’t read everything.

Only fragments of his thoughts leaked through.

[At this rate... ...time is...]

[Pause expansion for now...]

[Focus on Earth...]

Even those fragments were enough to grasp part of his plan.

[Penalty... SP is running low...]

[Chaos... observing.]

[Consume all humans...]

So the penalty drained his SP, and Chaos wouldn’t help him with that?

That’s why he was rushing to devour humanity.

As the absorbed SP began moving toward the outskirts of his darkness, his voice faded.

Should I be content with just this much information?

As I pondered that—

[Fuse with Earth.]

[Transform Earth into a Jupiter-type planet.]

[Then it ends.]

[No matter where the Soul God hides, I’ll drag him out.]

The final Authority of Chaos: Fusion.

His resolve to fuse had fully resounded.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]