The Novel’s Villain

61. First Greetings (2)

Jin-woo couldn’t help but shake his head. He greeted them for the first time in a way that would allow them to understand his intentions clearly, but they put up a surprisingly strong resistance.

He threw Achilles away, sending him tumbling across the ground until he crashed against his fellow warriors. He staggered up.

Jin-woo looked at him with the Magic Eye of Information, discovering he had fairly solid durability and excellent regeneration. Still, he already made sure the damage he received had already surpassed his limits.

Abilities that made one seem invincible among humans were quite common in Jin-woo’s world, after all.

‘He’s as sturdy as steel at best.’

Beam swords should be enough to cut through him with ease. Moreover, compared to demigods like him, the ordinary warriors’ ranks were significantly lower.

Perhaps feeling a sense of direness, Athena and Ares’ soldiers combined forces and surrounded Jin-woo, creating a circle around him.

They prayed to their gods.

“Athena, give me strength.”

[Fearing the Great Emperor, Athena listens to their prayers but hesitates. In the end, she decides to turn a blind eye to their pleas.]

She did her part properly, so he decided to cut her some slack.

“Ares! Protect us!”

[Ares grants them power, increasing their strength’s rank by one level.]

On the other hand, Ares had to go to hell.

Jin-woo looked at his warriors, including well-known heroes like Achilles, Hector, and Agamemnon. They weren’t anywhere near Hercules, but their ranks were still quite high.

‘An eye for an eye.’

He decided to make them pay tenfold through the same method: abduction.

The corners of his lips curved into a smile as he contacted Prof. Kim Dae-jin in the underworld.

“I’m sending useful test subjects to you, but lock them up for now.”

[Alright.]

Hercules was a great addition to their manpower, but managing the underworld was constantly becoming harder. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to provide him with hero-class workers.

All the warriors here were already Jin-woo’s anyway, considering death meant being sent to the underworld. It wouldn’t matter that much if he hastened that process.

[Ah! Lee Jae-mi is broadcasting on Olympus.]

“Huh?”

He immediately opened it.

Bread Jam was surrounded by goddesses, seemingly wanting to pull him apart, but he didn’t seem to be in a crisis.

‘Should I just leave it alone?’ Jin-woo momentarily considered it, but he made a promise to return him to his original form.

Jin-woo waved his hand and opened the portal to the underworld, surrounded by black swirling steam.

It looked more like a monster than a portal.

He took one step forward, and everyone backed away immediately.

Having recovered from his damages, Achilles raised his sword and ran towards him. Through his leadership, his fellow combatants found the courage to charge in as well.

Their actions were that of heroes in front of a monster. If he were a beast from the myths, they would’ve stood a chance.

Unfortunately, their opponent was the Great Emperor.

Achilles, equipped with a decently ranked weapon and armor forged by Hephaestus, made his way to Jin-woo and tried to slash him.

Tuk!

However, he dodged his attack with ease and tapped his shoulder lightly, causing his sword and armor to drop onto the ground.

“Huh?”

Achilles got pushed forward into the black portal.

“One down.”

The other warriors stopped abruptly, staring at the scene blankly. From their perspective, the black vortex in front of them just devoured him.

They weren’t completely wrong.

‘I should only send C rank or higher.’

Jin-woo began his task in earnest, throwing all the worthwhile heroes into the portal. Hector and Agamemnon also disappeared into it, leaving nothing behind but their equipment. They prayed earnestly to their god, only for their efforts to be in vain.

“R-retreat!”

“Run!”

With all the famous heroes now abducted, the remaining soldiers escaped, leaving the battlefield empty. Jin-woo looked around, finding only corpses, armors, and weapons around him. Fights like this were frequent before he came, which led to the underworld becoming crowded.

Back then, they’d have to take a short break in the Tower of Hades before being reincarnated into the World of Gods again, but he had completely changed that system.

The warriors of this realm were no longer special.

“Olympus…” He muttered, looking at the mountain that reached beyond the skies, its height making it difficult to discern its shape from below.

Jin-woo moved to its foot, which had many states built around it. They all bore the same names as those he learned from Earth, but their sizes, scales, and ends differed. None of them had been truly destroyed.

Each city had huge statues of the gods and gigantic temples dedicated to them. Combined with the majesty of the distant sea, they created quite an elegant view. The sun chariot staggering up into the sky, causing it to glow in the evening, only made it look even more beautiful.

‘This is great.’

He liked the serene ambiance it exuded.

If not for what happened, he would’ve toured this place for a few days.

Jin-woo felt his heart loosen a little.

‘I also gained more high-quality servants…’

Once he had resolved the issue with Bread Jam, it wouldn’t be bad to build a good relationship here since it would also help manage the underworld. Of course, his main objective would be to remove the damage compensation.

As always, he preferred peace.

He decided to try solving it through conversation, making him seem more erratic than he expected.

Jin-woo started climbing Olympus leisurely.

He walked through the stone steps, finding many temples on his way. His path stopped abruptly at the middle of the mountain, which only meant one thing.

From here on out, he’d traverse an area humans couldn’t reach.

‘A barrier?’

Jin-woo easily passed through it and continued his journey, immediately noticing the rapidly changing air currents. Dark clouds now surrounded him, pouring rain amid the strong gusts of wind.

It seemed even the best warriors couldn’t stand this trial. He proceeded onwards while appreciating the scenery, especially the emerald aurora and numerous stars scattered all over the sky.

Eventually, he reached the end of the brutal weather and found a field of white clouds. That signified he was near the peak of Mount Olympus, along with the temple so gigantic he could see it from a distance. It was quite a sight to behold, even more so when considering it was where the gods lived.

In an attempt to proceed into the temple, a sturdier barrier blocked his path. According to the Magic Eye of Information, all the gods of Olympus, including the ones that existed since the beginning, combined their powers to create it.

Deities that didn’t belong to Olympus couldn’t pass through it.

‘With enough time, I can break this down.’

But Jin-woo came to have a conversation.

He politely knocked on it.

Zzzzaaap! Boom!

A huge lightning bolt flew toward him from the sky. Turning his head ever so slightly to avoid it, it flashed past him and hit a huge statue at the base of Mount Olympus, causing it to explode. It also set fire to houses nearby.

“Zeus is angry!”

“Come on, make a sacrifice! Bring that girl!”

Hearing the humans’ shouts below, Jin-woo looked up, finding a huge man wrapped in lightning and several other figures standing beside him.

His mood, which had just become brighter, fell sharply. How could it not, when his polite knock was answered with a deadly bolt of electricity?

“Your greetings are extreme.”

“Go back, prisoner. You do not deserve to enter this sacred place.” The supreme god of Olympus looked down at him, his voice sounding like thunderclaps. Filled with so much majesty, it would’ve made anyone admire him. However, to Jin-woo, it was just a loud noise that hurt his ears.

‘Zeus…’

He was ranked SSS-, which was two levels lower than Jin-woo. However, the powerful weapon in his hand made up for that inadequacy.

The Great Emperor decided to let it go and be patient one more time.

“I’ve come to find my subordinate.”

“She’ll be given divinity and become a goddess. You should be honored. I’ll admit the underworld is now your realm! Go back to your territory!”

Instead of giving him back Bread Jam, he instead acknowledged his rule over the underworld.

Jin-woo’s eyebrows furrowed as his annoyance grew.

It didn’t matter if they acknowledged it or not. That realm was already his. More importantly, although he didn’t particularly care about Bread Jam that much, he was still part of the Sanctuary.

“Let me repeat it.”

Jin-woo’s voice turned into a growl.

“Give me the Astrafe, Triana, and my subordinate.”

With his mood turned sour, his demands soared. Now, he desired even the lightning bolt in Zeus’s hand, Astrafe. Made by Cyclops, it was strong enough for him to covet it.

[SSS] Astrafe

Said to have been made by Cyclops by softening an unidentified material, the weapon of Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus, is known as the source of all lightning together with Odin’s Gungnir. It raises all ranks by one level and releases lightning powerful enough to destroy immortal deities.

*[SSS] Ascension

Having this in one’s possession increases their divine status and rank.

*[SSS] Source of Lightning

Grants the ability to freely manipulate all forms of lightning.

*[SSS+] Demonic Power

It’s imbued with gems filled with condensed demonic energy.

Astrafe was truly powerful, making it worthy of being a supreme god’s weapon. That much should be as expected, considering it was made using the power of a demon in the World of Gods. The same was true of Poseidon’s Triana.

Jin-woo just gained a new goal.

‘I’ll have to collect them all.’

The deities grew silent for a moment, not expecting he’d blatantly state such ridiculous demands. They were some of the greatest gods in the World of Gods. There were also powerful ones in the north, but they couldn’t wander around like Jin-woo.

“Are you going to fight us? Wage war against all the gods of Olympus?”

“I’ll repeat myself one last time.”

Jin-woo’s eyes grew cold.

“Give me Astrafe, Triana, my subordinate, and the entire Mount Olympus.”

His requirements rose again, and he had no intention of forgiving them if they didn’t accept his conditions.

In his perspective, it was still a pretty peaceful demand, considering he didn’t even mandate them to become his slaves.

“You cheeky little…”

Poseidon stepped forward, lining up next to his brother, and raised his trident into the sky, summoning a catastrophic storm. Zeus then threw his lightning bolt, infusing it with electricity.

With their abilities combined, they created a scene that seemed to fuse heaven and earth.

Using his mana, Jin-woo summoned black streams, which then rose and swallowed up their offensive. It pushed the electricity it couldn’t get rid of under him, ultimately cutting his palm and making him bleed. Still, considering the intensity of their attack, he suffered minimal damage.

Jin-woo’s seemingly unharmed appearance surprised the two.

“Should I consider that as your declaration of war?” He said, causing Zeus to flinch.

Pushed back by the Great Emperor’s momentum and his self-esteem damaged, his behavior became rougher.

“That’s right, foreigner! I declare war upon you! It is time I reclaim the underworld and conquer your world as well. I shall use you and your underlings as nourishment for Olympus!”

Jin-woo shot a piercing glare at him.

Conquering his world would be no different from ruling over all of the Sanctuary’s servants, the Golden Women’s Association’s members, and his family.

He shouldn’t have crossed that line.

‘I feel hot.’

It was as if a switch in his head had been turned off, hardening and freezing his reason.

“You’ve gone too far.”

Since Zeus broke his attempts to establish a peaceful relationship, Jin-woo no longer felt the need to keep playing the good guy.

If war was what they desired, then war was what he’d provide.

‘I don’t have to be patient anymore.’

Jin-woo’s surroundings began to darken rapidly. Now that he thought about it, his power source was pure evil, considering he could absorb even demon fragments.

‘It’s evil…’

It wouldn’t be that detrimental for him to become the perfect evil god to the Olympians. In doing so, they’d grow to know him as the epitome of malevolence that could only be derived from myths.

Jin-woo released his powers. As he ruled the underworld and underwent the process of godhood, he absorbed the demon fragments. Now, he dived into the core of his soul once more.

It made him realize why the Emperor of Greed believed his words completely back then. Why, when he said his true name, an abnormal phenomenon that exhausted all of his mana occurred.

His soul itself was the incarnation of evil.

Within him awaited an extremely powerful ability, one strong enough to melt the demon fragments.

What would happen if he accepted his devilry, which he had been neglecting so far?

Filled with divine energy coming from the World of Gods, his strength soared upon unleashing the potential of his soul, which he had never touched before.

Since this place was strictly separated from the other dimensions, it didn’t matter if he ran rampant here. It wouldn’t have an impact on the other realms.

[The Great Emperor has released his Spirit Power, causing his soul’s ability to permeate.]

[An evil force has melted the Incarnation of Evil.]

The black air current swirling around Jin-woo began devouring space itself.

Zap! Crackle!

Zeus threw a lightning bolt at him, but not even his attacks could reach him. On the contrary, the light it emitted disappeared in futility.

[The Great Emperor has realized the source of his soul and has awakened to his true form.]

*[SSS++] Evil God

‘I am the destroyer of gods.’

Lee Jin-woo finally accepted his true form.

Integrating the god of music’s ability into his diabolic capabilities, he broke through the limitations of gods and emperors, reaching entirely new heights.

Now, all gods would fear him.

His vicinity darkened as black blades of winds hit Mount Olympus, causing it to tremble. Soon after, the barrier the gods created cracked.

Until now, the Emperor of Gold, the Incarnation of Evil, and the Power of Domination all had their own consciousness, causing him trouble since they turned a blind eye to his core, his origin.

But not anymore.

Every last bit of abilities he possessed had now been fused into his malevolent soul.

Zeus and Poseidon looked at him in great surprise. Ares trembled out of sheer fear of him.

Jin-woo raised his hand, accumulated stygian particles, and bombarded two of the three major gods with domineering mana, breaking their barrier completely.

They lifted their weapons, Astrafe and Triana, to block his onslaught, but they couldn’t deflect it. His attack shoved them backward until they crashed against their own home, destroying parts of it.

The barrier immediately repaired itself, their home clearly continuing its duty to protect them. Defeating Zeus and Poseidon wouldn’t be difficult for Jin-woo, but he deemed it unreasonable to face all of the Olympians in their own turf.

He stepped back for now, then touched Mount Olympus itself, turning the entire mountain black. Vines covered in sharp thorns then spewed out, all of them equipped with gigantic mouths that began to gnaw at this gigantic landmass.

“Consider it a gift from me,” Jin-woo uttered as he landed ever so casually at the foot of the mountain, creating a crater large enough to cause Zeus’s arrogantly large stone statue to collapse.

Their first meeting was the worst, considering they could’ve ended it peacefully had they not resulted in drastic measures. Nevertheless, he couldn’t care less if accomplishing his mission meant turning everything in this world into their most tragic forms.

After all, Jin-woo now had the power to do that.

And there were many monsters harboring hostility to the Olympians in this realm.