Chapter 131

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 131: Complete S-Rank (1)

[Please spare me.]

Odin appeared on the screen.

He was on his knees, begging.

Seeing that, he seemed to have regained his senses…

[Please, at least spare Asgard from destruction.]

Judging by his attitude, he didn’t seem to realize that I had already used the penalty.

Oh-ho.

This might be useful.

"I'll hear you out first. What exactly happened?"

[Haa…]

Odin let out a deep sigh before he began speaking.

[Zeus used an unknown power to subdue all the gods of the other divine realms, except for me and Asgard.]

"What? How exactly did he do that?"

[I’m not sure. I only know that it's somehow related to the power of Chaos, but the exact method eludes me.]

"Is this also the work of that Smiling Devil?"

"Keh-heh. Who knows…"

Hades shrugged, pretending he didn’t know.

Damn guy.

He won’t share any information but is happy to eavesdrop.

"Hey. If you're just going to listen, then get lost."

"Keh-heh, but this is my domain. Since you’ve entertained me today, I’ll grant that request as a special favor."

With that, Hades bowed deeply to me.

"I'll propose a mutually beneficial business deal next time. See you then."

As he disappeared, Odin continued speaking.

[Zeus made me a rather generous offer—a treaty of alliance between Olympus and Asgard. The contract would establish equal standing for both realms, ensuring that if one became the Creator, the other would enjoy the same status.]

"Zeus made such an offer?"

[He initiated the discussion, and Loki handled the negotiations. Loki and Hermes fiercely debated, and eventually, Zeus just told Hermes to accept all of Asgard’s conditions, leading to the alliance being sealed.]

That’s unexpected.

Didn’t Zeus intentionally push Asgard into accepting SP Exchange penalties to cut them off?

That alliance contract with Asgard must have become a shackle for him now…

Back then, though, he was the one who proposed it.

[Zeus seemed to be in a hurry. That’s probably why he agreed to such terms for the alliance.]

[Regardless, if I hadn't accepted his offer, Asgard might have been sealed away as well. So, I agreed. I decided to follow his infinite regression plan while searching for a way out.]

"Hmm…"

[At first, I was suspicious of his motives, but Zeus was simply obsessed with gathering SP. I, too, did my best to extract as much SP as possible while Asgard ruled over Earth.]

"You didn't even properly buff the humans; you just focused on squeezing SP out of them."

[Why buff them when the world was going to regress anyway? Besides, to defeat Zeus, I couldn't afford to waste SP carelessly. Many years passed… and Zeus barely took any action. Meanwhile, I moved with full force to accumulate SP.]

Odin had assumed that the gap between him and Zeus had somewhat narrowed.

But that was a terrible misunderstanding.

[Kim Jiho. After you appeared, Zeus contacted me.]

"After I showed up?"

[Yes. To be precise, after he failed to turn you into an angel. Zeus contacted me, saying he had something to discuss about soul awakeners. We met on the planet Kalvine.]

Knowing how powerful Zeus was, Odin had gone fully prepared.

But it was pointless.

Zeus utterly overpowered him.

[He was too strong. I’d say he wasn’t even EX-rank anymore at that point.]

"So, what happened?"

[I was subdued in an instant, and after that… my memories are blank. From that moment on, I was just his puppet. Sigh… I never expected him to max out his SP Exchange loan and dump the debt on me…]

Odin sighed deeply.

Seeing the hulking old man shrinking his shoulders and hanging his head made him look pitiful.

His elderly appearance only amplified that effect.

But still, he had debts to pay.

"Fine, let’s say you were a puppet. But you still need to repay your principal and interest."

[Ugh… The debt is too massive.]

"Oh, come on. The SP Exchange wouldn’t lend unless it was repayable. We’re not some shady loan sharks—we’re a system-recognized, first-tier financial institution. You’re not planning to weasel out of it just by kneeling, are you?"

[That’s not my intention… But with the gods being freed, our SP income has dropped significantly. Paying 5 trillion with interest is excessive.]

This guy.

Unbelievable.

Was he asking for a discount on the interest?

That’s his problem, not mine.

"Then sell off your assets and start repaying. Or do we need to send in the debt collectors? Hermes said burning Asgard down could net more than 5 trillion SP."

I refuse to let my—no, my SP—be stolen.

Since he still didn’t realize he had already used the penalty, I had to push hard.

Odin trembled violently at my words, then weakly responded.

[Ugh… Fine. I’ll pay it back…]

[Kim Jiho. Can’t you at least lower the interest a little? If we have to pay the full 10%, Asgard will go bankrupt.]

Loki pleaded with a desperate expression.

So this is what being a creditor feels like.

I couldn’t afford to let Asgard go bankrupt, but I wasn’t going to do this for free either.

"For free? No way."

[Of course not. We’ll offer you protection.]

"Protection?"

[Do you not realize how much Zeus loathes you? What will you do if the Olympus gods attack in a group?]

"Aren’t gods forbidden from descending recklessly? Because of the Chaos invasion?"

[That was before an EX-rank being appeared on Earth. The restriction follows the highest-ranked entity, meaning that lower and mid-tier gods can descend now.]

[And now that an EX-rank has emerged and infinite regression has stopped, Chaos has lost its justification for invading. Monsters might stop appearing altogether.]

No more dungeons?

I should ask Hades or Hercules about that later.

Hmm.

If dungeons stop appearing and gods start descending into the human world…

That could be dangerous.

Thinking back to when I fought Pollux, I had burned through a lot of SP.

If there had been just one more low-tier god back then, I might have died.

Having bodyguards might not be a bad idea.

"But didn’t you guys already blow all your SP on loans? You won’t have enough to fight."

[We’re still in an alliance with Olympus. Because of our pact, we can’t deal fatal attacks to each other. If we’re guarding you, we can at least act as meat shields.]

"What, you’re human shields now?"

[More or less. We’ve got someone perfect for that—Thor.]

"Alright. I’ll cut 1% off."

[Can’t you go a bit lower?]

"Want me to make it 0.5%?"

[Ugh, damn it…]

Loki scowled at Odin and let out a deep sigh.

[Fine. I’ll take the 1% reduction and be grateful. Hey, are you interested in women? I can set you up with a stunning beauty.]

"No thanks. I don’t trust you not to shape-shift into her."

[No, no, it’s Freya, the goddess of beauty. She rivals—no, she surpasses Aphrodite.]

"She’s married. No thanks."

[Come on, that means nothing to an immortal god! Just meet her. Her beauty is dazzling, and she’s very interested in you.]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"Not interested."

[Then what about the Valkyries? The entire Valkyrie legion is single.]

"I said no. Just focus on repaying the debt."

[Tsk. What a waste of your manhood…]

Loki grumbled.

For now, he agreed.

[I'll send Thor soon. He has the ability to summon Asgard’s legion, so he can protect you.]

"Alright."

[Then next time, I'll bring a better offer. Cut the interest down a bit more.]

With that, the communication was cut off.

Perhaps it was because they had seen Asgard burning, but they were acting incredibly submissive.

Not bad.

"Haa."

Today had been a whirlwind.

Captured by Odin, survived through an avatar exchange, Zeus reaching EX rank, trying to reshape the world to his will but failing due to a penalty...

Hmm.

Let’s sort this out.

The only remaining enemy force was Zeus and Olympus, while those trying to stop him included all the remaining divine realms, including Asgard.

Of course, Asgard seemed to still be trying to maintain a superficial alliance with Olympus.

Just to remain as a burden to Zeus.

I don’t know what kind of contract they made, but it’s fascinating that they’re still keeping this alliance despite the rift between them.

Well, that’s their business.

At this point, all we need to do is buy time for the freed gods to recover.

But that EX-rank Zeus is bothering me.

Even if his SP income has decreased and he can't use his power freely, he’s still an outlier god—there’s no telling what he might do.

“This is really concerning. Who knows what Zeus will do next…”

Elprian shared my concern.

“Even though his forces are isolated, he still shares the Soul Reaper skill, making him the most powerful. If he concentrates his power and attempts to take us down one by one, no divine realm will be able to withstand him. Kevrian has prevented the gods from descending so far due to his dealings with Chaos, but that’s no longer the case. If Olympus launches a full-scale invasion, even Hades will have no choice but to retreat.”

“I see.”

“I’ll contact Drakia and inform them of this situation. For now, we need to gather as much strength as possible. Mr. Kim Jiho, you must be exhausted from today—please rest here in this sanctuary.”

“Yes, understood. Thank you.”

Returning to the sanctuary Elprian had prepared, I checked my status window.

My remaining SP was in a miserable state.

Probably because of what happened with Odin—there wasn’t even a million left.

This isn’t good.

Keeping Soul Reaper at A-rank had been useful in dealing a blow to Zeus, but I can’t keep it at A forever.

Even a low-tier god like Pollux had given me trouble…

I need to raise Soul Reaper to S-rank and continue growing if I want to stand a chance against Olympus’s gods.

Though, what’s on my mind is whether the penalty will be removed.

As if reading my thoughts, a system message popped up.

[System penalties will remain even if the rank increases.]

It really feels like it’s reading my mind.

So, does that mean the penalty will continue to affect enemies if I maintain A-rank?

The system immediately responded.

[Only one penalty is applied per divine realm.]

It’s practically pushing me to rank up.

Fine.

I can’t stay at A-rank forever.

Let’s do this.

I opened my status window to check the conditions for ranking up.

All conditions were cleared.

Except for one—obtaining the Qualification of Divinity.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Last time, I got it by clearing a quest, but there’s no quest this time.

Should I ask Loki?

But then he might get suspicious about the penalty, so I decided to ask my father instead.

[The Qualification of Divinity?]

“Yes. Do you know anything about it?”

[You’ve already ascended to divinity, yet you still need that? Well, we can grant it to you.]

“Oh. Really?”

[Yes. But multiple gods need to recognize you for the Qualification of Divinity to be granted. I’ll ask the sealed gods. Since you were the one who freed them, they’ll gladly help.]

Great.

That condition is easily cleared.

[By the way, what exactly happened with Zeus? He displayed an incredible anomaly.]

“Oh, well, you see…”

After explaining everything, my father’s eyes glowed white.

What?

Is this Michael?

[Zeus… I had my suspicions about his authority, but he really reached EX-rank.]

“Are you Michael?”

[Yes. But thanks to your penalty, Zeus won’t be able to act recklessly. Still, if he gathers enough power, he might be able to display that anomaly again. After that lightning strike, our SP income has been decreasing by 1% each time.]

“How long has it been since that lightning strike?”

[Our situation is so dire… Not just us, but the other divine realms as well—we’re tracking our SP income by the second.]

Wow… This is the peak of poverty.

So, Zeus’s plan isn’t completely ineffective.

Stealing 1% at a time… It’s sheer luck he only did it once.

[I assume the lost 1% went to Zeus. If he keeps using his authority like this, we’ll be wiped out. We must officially declare Olympus as our enemy and form an alliance with Asgard.]

“Yes. Please also take care of the Qualification of Divinity. I’ll need it to fight them.”

[Understood. I’ll take care of it as soon as possible.]

With that, Michael’s presence disappeared.

So my father was back to normal.

“Father. Let’s keep an eye on the situation and contact each other if anything happens.”

[Alright.]

“But now that Michael is free, do you still need to remain as an avatar?”

[He says this form is still efficient. Plus, this place is literally heaven. I feel more fulfilled here than ever before.]

He clasped his hands in prayer.

This is so weird to see.

I’d like to bring him to Earth, but it’s too dangerous right now, so staying in heaven is probably for the best.

“Alright. Let me know when everything is ready.”

[Got it. It won’t take long.]

And so, three days later.

I finally obtained the Qualification of Divinity.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]