Chapter 58: Even the Absolute Being Is a First-Time Dad
Absolute One Is Also New to Fatherhood - Episode 58
The moment Kang-jun stepped through the gate, the scenery before him shifted in an instant.
[You have entered the gate Coiling Serpent in the Clouds.]
His gaze immediately fixed on the distant landscape.
"A mountain?"
Thick mist blanketed the surroundings, and amidst it, countless massive boulders lay scattered. Further in the distance, a towering peak—Mount Tai—loomed so high it seemed to pierce the heavens.
That was the place.
From the direction of that mountain, someone was unmistakably calling to him—flaunting an overwhelming surge of divine energy as if deliberately announcing their presence.
Ding—!
A crisp notification chimed loudly in his ears, followed by another system message.
[Your authority, Mythos Inscription, has been activated!]
[The Creator God has begun inscribing your myth!]
Kang-jun frowned slightly and muttered under his breath.
"Mythos Inscription...?"
At the same time, an indistinct noise reached his ears.
Tap, tap, tap...
It sounded like something—or someone—furiously hammering away.
Then, a story began whispering into his mind.
「Having slain the three sisters who governed the fate of Yggdrasil, the one who ascended as a god—■■■—finally arrived at the lair of the slumbering serpent.」
「The ancient giants, who had long guarded the sleeping serpent, rose to oppose him...」
「And so, ■■■ began to strike down the ancient giants one by one, clearing the path to reach the serpent.」
Kang-jun had experienced something similar before—back when he killed the three sisters who governed Yggdrasil's fate.
Just like then, a vague, myth-like narrative—yet undeniably about him—now buzzed in his ears.
[The ancient giants awaken.]
As if on cue, the figures crouched within the thick mist began to rise one by one.
The "boulders" he had seen earlier.
Perhaps due to the fog, they had appeared as mere rocks—but now, it was clear they were the ancient giants mentioned in the so-called myth.
"So I'm supposed to fight these giants...?"
Kang-jun started piecing together the implications of the "myth" the system had shown him.
Everything was unfolding exactly as the myth described.
Just as the story foretold, the giants had emerged en masse, their murderous intent palpable as they lumbered toward him.
Instinctively, Kang-jun understood—he was being guided to act according to the myth's script.
Even without concrete proof, he knew this myth would inevitably come to pass.
BOOM, BOOM, THUD—!
In an instant, the ancient giants—each towering over even the largest buildings—surrounded him.
[Your title, The One Whom All Giants Fear, has taken effect.]
[The ancient giants feel terror in your presence.]
[The cowering giants' physical abilities have been slightly reduced.]
This was the effect of the title he had earned back at the Calamity-grade gate near Sillim Station, where he slew the Frost Giant Hrímþurs.
"For creatures so massive, they're surprisingly timid."
As Kang-jun murmured a low incantation, hundreds of coffins burst from the ground, their lids creaking open—
"Krrrk..."
"Keeegh..."
"Krrrk..."
From within, a ghastly Legion of the Dead emerged, their eerie cries filling the air as they shambled forward.
Skeleton warriors, clad in dark armor and wielding razor-sharp blades, took the vanguard—
While skeletal mages, draped in black robes, supported from the rear with their magic.
Their eyes burned with a sinister crimson glow as they fearlessly charged the ancient giants.
"GRAAAAAAH—!"
Though the giants swatted them aside like autumn leaves with every swing of their fists or stomp of their feet—
"Krrrk..."
"Keeegh..."
No matter how many times they were shattered, the undead simply reformed and lunged again, relentless.
Slowly but surely, the Legion whittled away at the giants' stamina—
And from a distance, Kang-jun watched before finally unleashing the finishing blow.
"Dark Spear."
Dozens of spears, as if carved from darkness itself, materialized behind him.
With a flick of his wrist, they shot forth like a black storm—
SWOOSH—!
In an instant, one of the giants was skewered from all sides, resembling a grotesque pincushion.
"Ghhh...k...!"
The moment the giant collapsed, Kang-jun stretched out his hand—
WHOOSH—!
And the fallen giant jerked back upright like a marionette, its movements unnaturally fluid.
"Grrruh..."
Now resurrected under Kang-jun's command, it turned—
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!
—and charged straight toward its former brethren.
From the distant mountaintop, the Giant with the Sewn-Shut Mouth observed the unfolding battle.
"To think this is the power of the one called ■■■..."
The being who had only recently ascended to godhood was single-handedly felling dozens of ancient giants.
THUD, THUD, THUD—!
And now, he was turning them into his own forces, sending them marching straight toward this very peak.
THUD, THUD, THUD—!
The giant's lips curled into an amused smile as he murmured in a soft, low voice.
"If a mere human can grow this strong simply by bearing that name..."
Though he was a god of Asgard, he was also one watched by his fellow deities—for reasons of his own.
His true name was Loki.
Despite being one of Asgard's own, he yearned for the ruin of his entire pantheon—
And he was certain that to achieve that end, he needed the name ■■■ now carried.
"If only that coward Odin and his lackeys hadn't been so suspicious of me... I'd have torn that human apart myself."
But with Odin and the other gods keeping close watch, he couldn't confront ■■■ directly.
Instead, he gently stroked the mountaintop beneath him and whispered:
"My son."
The entire mountain trembled faintly in response.
"Jörmungandr."
The mountain wasn't a mountain.
It was—
A serpent.
No matter how formidable the title ■■■ might be, its bearer was still a newborn god.
If Jörmungandr—one of the mightiest beings in all of Asgard—made his move...
Loki was certain that glorious name would soon be his.
Having felled the last of the giants and added them to his forces, Kang-jun pressed forward toward the "mountain."
Then—
The colossal peak in the distance, barely visible through the mist, twitched—as if alive.
"What the—?"
Before he could process it, another flurry of system messages appeared.
[The colossal serpent Jörmungandr has awakened.]
Kang-jun's frown deepened.
"A serpent?"
So that "mountain" had been a snake all along?
Just as the realization struck—
[Your authority, Mythos Inscription, has been activated!]
[The Creator God has begun inscribing your myth!]
The same ability triggered again, and another story whispered into his ears:
「The Giant with the Sewn-Shut Mouth, wishing to claim ■■■'s name, stroked the scales of his exiled son and spoke.」
「"Kill him. Bring me that name."」
「And so, the great serpent Jörmungandr uncoiled from his slumber—to bar ■■■'s path.」
Once again, the myth was guiding him.
This time, it wanted him to fight that mountain-sized snake.
Then, more messages appeared:
[Defeating the colossal serpent Jörmungandr will grant you a vast amount of narrative weight.]
[Your legend will spread far and wide, further solidifying your divinity.]
First, it urged him to fight—now, it dangled rewards.
But before he could ponder further—
The serpent moved.
Despite its gargantuan size, it closed the distance at an impossible speed.
"Fighting something that big is always such a pain..."
Kang-jun's mind flashed back to past battles against similarly massive foes.
He had fought a serpent before—one that might have dwarfed even this one.
"I wonder how he's doing..."
That serpent had vanished into the Abyss after its defeat—
But not before swearing eternal loyalty to him.
A thought struck him.
"Divine energy..."
For some reason, he felt that if he channeled his divinity into his words, he could reach that oath-bound serpent.
"O Serpent Who Devours Dimensions."
His voice resonated across the Abyss—
And suddenly, the sky above the gate split open.
CRACKLE—!
The one who had pledged loyalty in exchange for its life—
The Serpent Who Devours Dimensions had crossed the Abyss to answer his call.
As Kang-jun looked up—
"Hssssss..."
A massive serpent emerged from the rift, its forked tongue flicking out as its golden eyes gleamed.
Large enough to swallow even a mountain like Jörmungandr whole—
Its true name was Ouroboros.
Its gaze, a tangled mess of emotions, locked onto Kang-jun.
[Ouroboros has heeded your summons and descended upon this realm.]
[The Giant with the Sewn-Shut Mouth cannot conceal his bewilderment.]
[Ouroboros asks who your enemy is.]
Another cascade of system messages flooded Kang-jun's vision.