Chapter 109
Translator: uly
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Divine Recruitment Offers
The representatives gathered to free the hostages.
Olympus, Zeus.
Asgard, Odin.
Eden, Michael.
Pandemonium, Lucifer.
The constellations who had come here as representatives took their places before those affiliated with their respective groups, and I looked at them and spoke.
"Hold on, I have a question first."
Odin raised one hand and spoke.
A composed demeanor unlike when he first arrived here.
And his remaining single eye held no particular malice toward me.
Zeus, who had come with Odin, was clearly displeased with me, making the contrast even starker.
"Have you decided which group to join?"
[Is that relevant to this matter?]
"Of course. If you haven't decided yet, come to our Asgard."
A recruitment offer at this timing?
As I looked at Odin with a bewildered expression, he lifted his head confidently and let out a leisurely smile.
As expected of a constellation called a sage.
Even in this situation, he's thinking up ways to turn it to his advantage—his mind works in extraordinary ways.
"That old man's..."
"I can't just sit here and listen to that."
"How despicably sly."
And naturally, there were those who reacted against Odin's words.
Representatively, Zeus who came with Odin, and Satan who was captured as a hostage along with Michael.
"Come to Asgard. Then I'll grant you the blessing of Yggdrasil and a chance to challenge the Well of Wisdom."
At those words, I naturally recalled information about Odin and the Well of Wisdom.
The Well of Wisdom. Also known as Mimir's Well.
Odin had drunk from it by offering one of his eyes as payment, gaining mastery over all wisdom.
'But he's still wearing an eyepatch.'
Even if he used recovery methods, perhaps they had no effect, or maybe recovering it would cause the power gained from the well to vanish?
Offering one eye for great power—it's certainly appealing, but it doesn't particularly draw me in.
'Moreover, it's not even letting me drink from the well outright, just giving me a chance to challenge it.'
Typical of Odin, trying to toy with a person... no, an imoogi with such a tiny verbal trick.
And the others quickly pouring out words, fearing I might be swayed by Odin's offer.
"Ahem, then Olympus will let you eat ambrosia and drink nectar."
"For someone who flaunts the grand title of King of the Gods, that's awfully stingy."
"Shut up, old man."
Ambrosia and nectar.
Aren't those the food and drink of the gods?
Oh, and for reference, the ambrosia here isn't Jijiyong's elixir.
This is a whole different dimension, so it's the real ambrosia that the gods eat, not the elixir recreated from restoring Jijiyong's Amrita.
'But it seems weaker than Odin's offer.'
The fact that Zeus didn't immediately counter but just told him to shut up confirms that the Well of Wisdom surpasses the gods' food and drink.
Then why is Zeus even bidding?
Maybe he thinks this imoogi's eyes light up at the thought of me eating it?
"And if you want, we can give you beautiful beauties as well."
"Typical Olympus, always resorting to dirty tricks."
"Shut your mouth!"
Yeah, that doesn't sway me.
After all, aren't Aphrodite and Freyja the most beautiful among beauties?
I glanced at the two of them, shook my head, and turned to Michael.
"We will offer the Flute of the Heavenly Realm along with the Fruit of Good and Evil."
[Flute of the Heavenly Realm?]
"Yes. If you play the flute, guardian angels of the heavenly realm will appear to provide aid. Their power is meager compared to constellations, but it would be a great help to a non-constellation climber."
[Hoo.]
This one's no pushover either.
If Odin and Zeus offered something for me, Michael prepared a gift for the climber I cherish.
If it were other constellations, they might scream, "Why care for a climber? We're short on elixirs for ourselves!"
But I'm different from those constellations.
Did she already grasp that about me right after arriving here?
'Or maybe Sandalphon told her separately.'
It's not that long ago, but he would've watched Isoha's footage by my side.
A gift for Isoha, not me! I like this very much.
It's definitely more memorable and appealing than the previous two.
"We're not particularly asking for anything from you; we'll just give you the Horn of Evil in exchange for releasing our representative."
"Hold on, Lucifer. Giving up on a comrade? Absolutely not!"
"But we don't have anything to offer."
Pandemonium seems divided in opinion.
The actual leader held hostage, Satan, wants me, while Lucifer, who came as a temporary representative to rescue him, shows little interest.
'No, but saying they have nothing to give? Is it because it's a waste?'
"We may not have as much as the others, but we absolutely can't give up!"
Ah. They're just flat broke.
My evaluation of Satan dropped a bit.
Still, among the hostages, he's the only one who fully escaped the black chains' effects unscathed, and the Pandemonium he leads is a penniless group?
"In that case!"
Whoosh.
And right then.
Satan suddenly shot up from his seat, reached his hand toward the sky, and shouted.
The black chains? The moment Satan rose, they scattered like dust and vanished.
"The Lord of All Evil, this Satan, commands it!"
Ominous.
Satan's appearance looked utterly sinister and evil to everyone in this space, including me.
"What is that madman trying to do now!"
Everyone stared at Satan rigidly, but only Lucifer clicked his tongue and ground his teeth at his actions.
But while glaring, Lucifer didn't stop Satan's actions. No, more precisely, he didn't.
This was akin to affirming that Satan was Pandemonium's leader, and they would follow whatever decision he made.
"If you come to our Pandemonium! I shall grant you the seat of Wrath, next to mine!"
Satan declared.
If you join Pandemonium, I'll appoint you as the next leader.
"Granting the seat of Wrath? Does he think that's enough?"
"This is insane. How do we even compete with that."
"That wicked bastard!"
Naturally, the other representatives' faces were a sight to behold, as if they'd been hit by a bomb.
They'd been trying to entice me within the bounds of common sense, but then that side pulls out "We'll make you the next representative."
If facing Satan? They'd have to offer at least equivalent terms.
But can those three really do that?
[Satan, what do you mean by that?]
"Exactly as I said. Comrade, follow me and lead Pandemonium."
[Based on what of mine?]
But I don't understand.
What exactly about me prompted Satan to promise his own position?
I haven't been here long.
And I only met Satan a few hours ago.
"I can feel it. The pure and intense wrath dwelling within you. Of course, it's infinitely lacking compared to mine... but don't worry! I already thought of a way to nurture that wrath earlier."
Satan said that and extended his hand to me.
Take this hand and succeed me.
But I lightly shook my head at Satan's proposal.
[I prefer being alone.]
"What!"
"He's rejecting that offer?"
"He's mad."
Strangely, the others were more shocked than Satan at my words.
Well, anyone who isn't a freak like me would accept an offer to be Pandemonium's next leader.
"Hmm. I see."
[You're not surprised?]
"Haha! Just once. I can offer again next time, so why be surprised?"
[I'll reject it then too.]
"Then I'll offer again after that!"
Thud.
With that, Satan placed something before me.
Something resembling a sinister, pitch-black goat horn.
The payment Lucifer had mentioned earlier for releasing Satan. The Horn of Evil.
"Then we'll be on our way."
[Fine. I accept.]
"Haha, then, comrade! See you next time! Let's go, Lucifer!"
"Really, you have some explaining to do when we get back."
And so Satan and Lucifer departed.
I rejected the others' offers as well and sent them all back to their original places.
Maybe because I rejected Satan's first.
Surprisingly, they left without much fuss.
[Finally, some quiet.]
Noisy bunch. Don't come back!
With that, I sent all the payments obtained for freeing the hostages to Isoha as sponsorships.
Step. Step.
"Handing over the seat of Wrath. Was that imoogi that tempting?"
"Of course. The next Wrath to lead after me must be that comrade."
"But he rejected the offer. You're really planning to go back like you mentioned earlier?"
"Of course!"
This place was the gathering of all evil.
The deepest part of Pandemonium.
Satan sat on his throne and manipulated a massive screen.
"However, I need to adjust the timing a bit."
"Timing... Do you have some plan in mind?"
Well, as if Satan would just say it and be done.
His mind must already be filled with ways to make that imoogi accept the seat of Wrath.
"So, what's the method?"
"Lucifer. Look at that climber."
At Satan's words, Lucifer turned to the screen showing the climber, then tilted his head.
"What about her."
"Have some capable contractors kill that climber for us. Ah, of course, make sure it doesn't get traced back to Pandemonium, so be cautious."
"What?"
Suddenly ordering to kill a climber here?
A low-floor climber at that?
I couldn't comprehend it.
But Lucifer racked his sharp mind and, grasping the situation, instantly realized that climber was directly related to this incident.
For example.
"Is that climber the imoogi's contractor?"
"Doesn't seem like a contractor yet. Not like our amusing toys, but more like... a cherished pet he's particularly attached to."
An average answer to how constellations view climbers slipped from Satan's mouth.
"I think the reason the comrade rejected our offer is because of that climber."
"So, kill that climber to remove the reason for rejection?"
"And the pure wrath born from the death of a cherished pet is a bonus."
"...Even if he accepted the offer, you planned to kill that climber."
At Lucifer's words, Satan nodded with a bizarre smile.
"When there's the easiest way to draw out wrath, of course I'd use it. Would it use itself if I look away?"
No matter what choice was made, until wrath meeting Satan's standards arose, every climber he took interest in would die.