Chapter 95: Even the Absolute Being Is a First-Time Dad
Absolute Dad 95
It was just one strike.
But a single strike imbued with sincerity.
That one blow shattered the helmet...
CRACK!
Susanoo felt his consciousness slipping away.
It was as if his spirit had left his body, floating adrift.
From between his slightly parted lips, instead of blood, living text spilled forth.
『 He is one of the Three Noble Children, the three most exalted deities within the Takamagahara Star Cluster... 』
『 A high-ranking god who wields the immense authority to command the sea and storms at will... 』
『 Leaving the star cluster, he sailed east on a vessel of mud and slew the eight-headed serpent... 』
These were the narratives he had built over countless years.
And now, he was sinking deeper into the abyss.
Amidst the drowning, the voices of other deities echoed in his mind.
"Even for you, facing '■■■' head-on now is nothing short of reckless!"
Pathetic fools...
"Rather, we should seek out other deities who share our cause and prepare thoroughly before confronting '■■■'—"
Cowards...
"If you fall to '■■■' and face annihilation, do you not think it would only bring sorrow to our mother?"
His elder sister, Amaterasu, who always preached caution as the foremost virtue of a god, hesitated until the moment was lost.
"I have no interest."
His elder brother, Tsukuyomi, was indifferent to all things from the start...
"Have you not considered how your annihilation would diminish the prestige of the Takamagahara Star Cluster—?"
Even his father, Izanagi, cared more for authority than his mother's grief...
"Then all the more reason."
Susanoo quickened his pace.
"I must act myself."
Clad in sturdy armor, his treasured sword Ame-no-Habakiri at his waist, he strode forth from the star cluster with unshakable dignity.
"I never liked that bastard to begin with."
The only one who stood by his side was neither sibling nor kin—but a once-mortal enemy, now his closest companion.
A serpent with eight heads.
Yamata-no-Orochi.
It flicked its tongue.
Sssssssss...
Susanoo was certain of victory.
"No matter how lofty his martial prowess, compared to mine—the most exalted war god of Takamagahara—"
Exhilarated, he added:
"Very well."
He saw this as a long-awaited adventure.
"Once we slay him, we shall divide the spoils. I shall claim his Epithet, and you—the serpent that serves him..."
Defeat was not even a consideration.
"Take for yourself the title of 'Strongest Serpent in the Worldview' from Ouroboros."
In the end, it was just one strike.
But...
What shattered was not just his helmet.
'I... might lose.'
His certainty of victory fractured.
Shattered beyond recognition.
Perhaps he could not win.
'If I fall here...'
Not only would his existence be erased—but all the narratives and achievements he had built over eons would be stripped away.
"You wretch—!"
Regaining his senses, Susanoo swung his hand downward.
The tides shifted violently, surging upward like a dragon's ascent.
WHOOSH—!
Susanoo rode the current, launching himself atop a sudden pillar of water and bursting back onto the surface—
Soaring high into the sky, he glared down at the sea below and roared:
"Come at me—!"
In response, Kang-jun erupted from the depths in a violent spray, charging toward Susanoo with relentless fury—
Their battle escalated to a speed beyond mortal sight, an exchange of blows so fierce it defied comprehension.
Susanoo thrust the tip of his blade like a spear, aiming straight for Kang-jun's throat—
But Kang-jun twisted his upper body at the last possible moment, evading before smoothly seizing Susanoo's wrist.
CRACK!
With an iron grip, he yanked Susanoo forward—
And drove his opposite fist straight into the god's face.
CRASH—!
That was the first exchange.
"How dare you—!"
Susanoo tore his wrist free, putting distance between them before flourishing his blade with deadly grace—
SWISH—!
Kang-jun dodged each slash by a hair's breadth, countering with a sharp strike to Susanoo's wrist—
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
From fists and feet—the fundamentals of combat—to elbows, knees, shoulders, even his forehead—
Every motion was a weapon. Every opening, exploited.
Second exchange. Third. Fourth...
Realizing close combat was futile—and that he was at a disadvantage—Susanoo disengaged with a furious leap backward.
"Tch...!"
He adjusted his grip on his sword—
And slashed a cross into the air.
"Okami-ryū Divine Punishment: First Secret Art."
The sea began to churn.
Clouds rumbled low.
The winds howled in fury.
"Calamity."
And then, disaster struck.
BOOOOOOM—!
The storm clouds above crackled with lightning, hurling down thunderbolts like a summer downpour—
WHOOSH—!
The sea surged upward, forming a tsunami the size of Mount Tai, barreling toward Kang-jun—
HOWL—!
Whirlpools erupted across the battlefield, followed by gales so fierce they blinded the eyes.
"■■■!"
Susanoo had gone all out.
"Atone with your life for the disrespect you showed my mother, Izanami!"
As his voice echoed, the manifestations of disaster surged toward Kang-jun—
Susanoo himself charged atop a towering pillar of water, sword raised high.
The Hunters watching the battle paled, muttering in horror.
"G-God almighty..."
They were not just overwhelmed by Susanoo's divinity—but by the sheer might of nature itself bending to his will.
"Ah."
Kang-jun finally spoke.
"So you're that mute's son."
Then, he added:
"Here to avenge your mother's humiliation, are you?"
Kang-jun unleashed his own presence.
"You dared to speak of my flesh and blood?"
For the longest time, Kang-jun had loathed the word family.
Once, it had been a void in his heart.
Hearing it made his chest tighten, his mood turn sour.
Family...
Whispering it now, his murky childhood resurfaced.
A time he could never forget, no matter how many centuries passed.
After school, he would watch cartoons late into the night.
Ignoring fear, hunger, loneliness—
Waiting for his sister to come home.
"Kang-jun, you must be hungry?"
His only family often returned late at night.
In her hands, a paper bag with a burger.
Her clothes always smelled faintly of grease.
Sometimes, that fact made him unbearably sad—but he never showed it.
Perhaps that was why.
For the longest time, the word family brought to mind his sister's weary face.
The thick, clinging scent of cooking oil that clung to her...
The night she suddenly hugged him, sobbing, "We have to survive."
And so.
For years, Kang-jun thought of family as people who shared the same punishment in life.
"Dada."
A ticklish voice whispered in his ear.
Tiny lips, speaking in a chick-like murmur.
Skin as soft as down.
"Family..."
The texture of that word had changed.
"Family, huh..."
Now, it brought to mind a flurry of ticklish, contradictory things.
A bubbling stew.
Peals of laughter.
Tiny clothes and shoes.
The scent of fabric softener.
One day, without realizing it, the word family was no longer a void.
It was happiness.
Something to protect.
Kang-jun's everything.
Living text erupted from his body, swirling violently.
"I think I'll have to rip out that tongue of yours to settle this."
"You still don't know your place!"
"That tongue of yours will be what kills your mother."
Kang-jun smirked.
"Actually, I think I'll have you strangle her with it."
Enraged, Susanoo bellowed as he charged again.
"I'll carve you to pieces, then hunt down every last one of your kin and behead them—!"
His voice grew more frenzied.
"I'll stab my blade through their begging throats and scatter their corpses as fertilizer for the fields—!"
The two deities clashed—
BOOOOOOM—!
And the axis of the world trembled.
"Okami-ryū, Three Sacred Treasures: First Form."
Susanoo's blade trembled—
"Yasakani's Magatama!"
From the sky rained down daggers of freezing malice.
Kang-jun retreated to evade—
Only for Susanoo to close the distance instantly.
"Too busy running, are you?!"
His relentless swordplay pressed Kang-jun back, while thunder and tsunamis cut off his escape.
Yet—
Why?
Despite clearly cornering his foe, Susanoo felt an inexplicable unease.
A paper's breadth.
His enemy dodged every attack by that slimmest margin.
Just out of reach.
A gap no thicker than a sheet of paper—yet utterly insurmountable.
"Okami-ryū, Three Sacred Treasures: Third Form!"
Behind Susanoo, a massive mirror manifested—
And from it poured forth the vengeful spirits of warriors slain by his blade.
"Yata's Mirror!"
These were the souls of samurai who had fallen to him, bound to the mirror for centuries—
Nourished by his divine power, they were his most loyal servants.
"Slay him!"
As the spectral warriors lunged at Kang-jun like arrows—
"A paper's breadth, you say?"
Kang-jun's calm voice made Susanoo's eyes widen.
"You're right. It is a paper's breadth."
Then, Kang-jun murmured:
"Fold a sheet of paper ten times, and its thickness equals a man's palm."
This was something Crabsley had excitedly explained after reading a children's science book bought for Seol.
"My liege, it's truly astonishing!"
Kang-jun continued.
"Fold it forty-two times, and it reaches from the Earth to the Moon."
His divine power surged.
"Fifty-one folds, and it touches the Sun."
Kang-jun smiled.
"So yes, a sheet of paper is the perfect metaphor for the gap between us."
Then, infused with divine authority, he declared:
"Worship me."
In that moment—
The impossible happened.