Chapter 194

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 194: Establishing the Divine Realm (1)

“Kim Jiho… What did you do? What’s that orb? I just contacted the pantheons…”

“Wait a second.”

Artemis asked me a question.

The remaining condition for SSS-rank also appeared... but I didn’t look at it for now.

Because the situation wasn’t over yet.

“Father, where are you?”

I had created a hundred soul orbs, but none bore any distinct trace of my father’s soul.

The soul-obliteration orb was empty, and I couldn’t see his soul in any of the orbs.

Michael...

Did he trick us again?

I calmed my mind and examined the soul orbs again.

Before, I had focused on extracting the souls, but now that they were inside the soul orbs, I could inspect them in more detail.

Using my enhanced authority to focus…

Soon, I found a clue.

“They’re divided into ten pieces.”

My father’s soul had been fragmented into ten soul orbs.

Previously, the fragments were buried among the others, making them hard to identify, but now I could tell.

If I could extract the fragments from those ten orbs and fuse them…

Would it be possible to resurrect him?

But as I continued to study the structure, I instinctively realized—

Not yet. I’m not capable of it at my current level.

Fused fragmented souls into a complete one.

If I apply the principles of soul fusion… it might be doable.

But there’s a risk of failure.

I can’t guarantee success with my current rank.

“Inventory.”

For now… I’ll store them.

Once I ascend to the status of a true god, it should be possible.

As I neatly stored the soul fragments in my inventory, my attention was drawn to a soul fragment from Apollo off to the side.

Last time I saw it, it had 10% of its seal released…

What about now?

[Apollo’s Soul Fragment – 50% Seal Released]

50%?

It’s risen quite a bit, huh.

Maybe because I absorbed Baldr’s Authority of Light.

Hades once offered to buy it for 10 billion SP.

I didn’t plan to sell it just to motivate Artemis, but with the situation going the way it is…

Who knows when it might be useful.

I’ll keep it stored for now.

Closing the inventory, I checked the rank-up condition message.

[Condition for Ascension to True God]

-Establish a divine realm.

-Daily SP income of 1 billion on a main planet.

-Internalization of soul-based skills. ✓ Completed.

Establishing a divine realm—something I was planning to do anyway.

If it’s needed for ascension, then I welcome it.

But the daily SP income of 1 billion…

That’s not feasible just yet.

Currently, I’m earning just over 400 million SP from soul mediation on Earth.

I need to more than double that.

But this isn’t something I can solve immediately...

“Artemis, you said you contacted the other pantheons? What did they say?”

“Yeah. The Christian pantheon didn’t respond at all, probably due to the chaos caused by Michael’s betrayal. That includes Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam.”

Those three religions combined cover nearly half of the world’s population.

A massive force has been lost…

“The remaining pantheons are the Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, and ours.”

“Only those?”

“The system only sustains divine realms that have active believers. You’d be surprised how many pantheons have already fallen. I’ve heard the Taoist one is barely hanging on due to a lack of believers.”

Even Taoism?

That narrows the viable pantheons down to three.

“So, did you contact them?”

“Yeah. All reported no major problems for now.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. That’s based on reports from Asgardian gods stationed in each realm.”

Let’s summarize the situation.

When Apollo died, Ares quickly made a deal with Michael.

He offered to allow the transfer of Earth’s believers to the new Eden created by Yahweh.

Michael accepted.

Then he manipulated Baldr into forging the Sword of Destruction, Laevateinn.

He empowered it and launched an attack on Asgard, aiming to annihilate it.

If I hadn’t intervened, Asgard’s gods might’ve been crushed by the sword’s pressure.

Thanks to my Sun Authority countering that pressure, we were able to mount an effective defense.

“Right. You played a big role. We were able to get this far because you neutralized that overwhelming force.”

“But Michael’s final words linger with me. He said he was buying time… What was he trying to achieve?”

“They didn’t invade Earth. The other pantheons are intact. So what were they doing with that time? Kim Jiho, can you open Okeanos’s map?”

At Loki’s request, I pulled up the map.

On it, the only movement visible was the Black Thunder Legion advancing toward Asgard. No other activity was seen.

“Nothing unusual. Just the Black Thunder Legion continuously invading Asgard.”

“Really? I can’t make sense of their strategy.”

“Hm… Let’s ask someone who was on the inside.”

I summoned Odysseus from the Apostle’s Garden.

His body had regenerated up to the upper torso.

He blinked and looked around.

“My Lord… What is this situation?”

I briefly summarized what had happened with Laevateinn.

After listening carefully, Odysseus spoke seriously.

“Do you know why the God of Souls is feared most?”

“What is it?”

“A prolonged war.”

A long-term war…

“While the God of Souls can generate SP continuously, Olympus is burning through their stored SP under Zeus’s protection.”

“Right. You mentioned your SP was stolen too.”

“And now that Apollo—one of Olympus’s strongest—has fallen to your rising power… they feared giving you more time.”

“That’s why Ares went all-in on this operation, even handing over interests to Michael. I don’t believe he’ll stop here.”

“Neither do I. Come to think of it, Ares once ordered us to gather intel on the other pantheons. His next target might be one of them.”

The other pantheons.

Asgard is already under attack, so the remaining ones are Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.

Those three must be prepared.

Leaving their defense solely to Asgard's gods won’t be enough.

Just in case…

“Loki. With Laevateinn gone, you can hold off the Black Thunder, right?”

“Hm… Our forces are a bit shaky. If you’re not there, we can’t use soul energy emission. That’ll make it tough to repel the Black Thunder.”

“I should still create some avatars in the three divine realms. That way, I can jump over immediately if anything happens. I’ll leave my apostles to help defend, so contact the three realms and ask them to open the gates.”

“Right. We need to prepare for that too… Got it.”

While Loki made contact through communication, I looked around at our group.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Asgard’s elites were catching their breath and regrouping.

I spotted some high-ranking gods among them.

The Greater God Realms really are something else.

Even after absorbing so many lesser realms, I could only recruit two high-rank gods—but here, they’ve got plenty.

Ah!

The divine realm creation issue—I can finish that easily now.

“Odin, I have a request.”

“Hmm? Speak, O Soul God. For the favor you granted us, I will consider any proposal.”

“Lend me just two high-ranking gods as apostles.”

“Two high-rank gods… as apostles?”

Odin looked puzzled, so I explained about the divine realm creation.

He stroked his beard, then nodded readily.

“If it’s for something like that, we should help however we can. Hmm… Kim Jiho. Will they return after your divine realm is founded?”

“Well, if I still need five high-rank gods to maintain the realm, I’ll have to keep them until I find replacements. As my apostles, they’ll share some of my Soul God skills. If they fight for Asgard, they’ll be more powerful.”

“That’s right. I remember. Then… Thor and Freyja would be ideal. I’ll entrust them to you.”

“What? Me? Tch. Well, I suppose I must…”

“Me? Ah… Yes…”

The two gods didn’t seem too thrilled.

Just then, Artemis sent me a message.

[Those two have built a strong position within Asgard. If they’re no longer officially part of it, their standing will become awkward. They won’t get Faith SP anymore either.]

[Really? So, is the SP you get through soul mediation lower than Faith SP?]

[Nah, mediation is the best.]

[Then tell them your earnings.]

Artemis nodded and sent them her SP income via message.

Immediately, their expressions lit up.

“I shall take on this mission. For Asgard!”

“I look forward to working with you, Lord Kim Jiho. Hoho…”

Seriously… SP again?

Their attitudes changed just because of that?

As they eagerly agreed, Odin’s expression softened and he approached them.

“Then let us sever your affiliation with Asgard. I hope you return soon.”

“With this much SP… I might not want to come back…”

“…What? What did you say, Thor?”

“Ah, nothing, old man. Go ahead and cut it. Heh.”

Grinning ear to ear, Thor and Freyja were removed from Asgard’s roster.

Loki, watching all this with disbelief, said to me,

“Ha. What did you bribe them with, Kim Jiho?”

“SP. Just SP.”

“Hah… How much are you even paying them…? Maybe I should’ve gone instead.”

“You need to stay in Asgard and play the brains, remember?”

“Tch. A shame. Anyway, I’m still working on getting in touch with the three divine realms. It’ll take a bit. In the meantime… why don’t you check out that sword?”

Loki pointed to Laevateinn, which had been embedded in the Annihilation Sphere.

Now that the sphere had been destroyed, the sword floated in the air.

A faint white glow shimmered around it.

“Laevateinn technically belongs to Asgard, so it's a neutral divine weapon. But since Michael intervened in its creation, it also has traits of the Order faction. Didn’t you say you need a divine weapon with Order attributes?”

“Oh? That’s a good point.”

That makes sense.

I was thinking I’d have to destroy Poseidon’s trident, Triaina, but if this sword has Order attributes, it might do.

I approached Laevateinn and swung my Soul Sword.

Now, the soul energy manifests on its own without me even calling it out.

Stronger than before, the Soul Sword struck the greatsword directly.

Crackle. Sizzle.

White lightning flickered, then was absorbed straight into the Soul Sword.

[The Soul Sword is absorbing Laevateinn...]

[Laevateinn contains both Order and Neutral attributes.]

[Insufficient Order-aligned power. Please fulfill the Order alignment requirement.]

[Once met, the Soul Sword will upgrade to SSS-tier.]

[Abundant Neutral-aligned power detected. Soul Sword partially evolves.]

[The Soul Sword's power synchronizes with the user. You can now manifest full Soul Sword output from any part of your soul body.]

“Oh?”

I was a bit disappointed it didn’t upgrade to SSS-tier, but then a message popped up to cheer me up.

This is actually really useful.

Instead of relying on the Soul Sword itself for maximum output, my entire soul body can now channel its full power.

When fighting strong enemies, I always relied on the Soul Sword’s max power—now I can use my tendrils and other attacks more freely.

“It really had Order attributes?”

“Not quite, but it’s still a gain.”

Michael’s betrayal still stings, but…

At least I feel like I’ve become significantly stronger.

My soul-type skills are fully internalized, and now my soul body is fused with the Soul Sword’s power.

At this point, I’m confident I could take on any high-ranking god.

Even a whole-god like Ares.

“Kim Jiho. The contract terminations are complete.”

Odin approached me.

Thor and Freyja followed behind.

“I trust you, but for formality’s sake, would you be willing to seal the apostle contract through the system’s oath?”

“Of course. Once I recruit two more, I’ll bring them back even if they don’t want to leave.”

“Haha. Thank you. Then let’s proceed with the apostle contract.”

I finalized the oath through the system and officially made the two high-rank gods my apostles.

Brightly smiling, they seemed quite happy to join me—clearly impressed by whatever SP income Artemis had shown them.

Seriously… is it that good?

[High-rank god ‘Thor’ has become an apostle.]

[High-rank god ‘Freyja’ has become an apostle.]

[All conditions for founding a divine realm have been met.]

[Your Apostle’s Sanctuary is being upgraded to a Divine Realm.]

[Please select your Divine Realm type.]

[Translator - Night]

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