Chapter 662: I'm Trying to Terminate My Contract with the Goddess, but She's Obsessed[R-18] (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 662: I'm Trying to Terminate My Contract with the Goddess, but She's Obsessed[R-18] (8)
‘Was I thinking about this all wrong…?’
Verdandi’s advice to look back on my soul. Until now, I’d only taken it as a suggestion to reflect on my actions. And as the system itself began showing strange symptoms, I deliberately suppressed my every move.
But… what if the meaning of her words was something else entirely?
The thought that my soul itself might have developed a flaw, or been corrupted, suddenly crossed my mind. But I was still in the dark about how to interpret Verdandi’s words.
‘Even if I talk to Verdandi, she probably can’t tell me directly.’
If she were to say something that crossed that line, it would deal a fatal blow to her essence as a god. I knew what had happened to her in the original story when she did something similar for the protagonist, and it was something I never wanted to see happen.
This was a problem I had to solve myself.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Freya was still cupping her cheek, glaring at me with unconcealed hostility.
I looked at her and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.
“What are you staring at, you cunt bitch?”
In an instant, the air in the entire hall turned ice-cold.
“Oh my…!”
Startled, Verdandi covered her mouth with both hands.
Freya’s face twisted in a mixture of rage, bewilderment, and humiliation. Her lips trembled.
“You… you…!”
I leisurely raised my hand and gave her the middle finger.
At that moment, all the surrounding gods and contractors stared at me with frozen expressions. No matter how powerful a god was, the contractors participating in this survival game and their patron gods were granted absolute protection. There was a rule that no one could touch them recklessly, which was why I could act so brazenly.
‘I’ll be in danger if I get eliminated from the survival game, but…’
It wasn’t like I was going to be eliminated anyway. As long as I won, the winner, along with the second and third-place finishers, would automatically advance to the international tournament.
In other words, as long as I followed a few rules, no one would dare touch me until the world tournament was over.
I was safe for at least a few years.
‘As for what happens after that… well, my future self will figure it out.’
Of course, that didn’t mean I was completely safe. A system of duels existed here. If a duel was officially arranged, it could be used as a pretext to legally kill or cripple even a survival game participant.
And I had a reason for acting so recklessly.
Just then, a male god shot forward from among the crowd of deities. His whole body trembled as he radiated palpable killing intent.
“You bastard! How dare a mere human insult Lady Freya—!”
I glanced at him dismissively.
“Shut up, you bastard.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the male god’s face turned beet red.
“What… what did you say…!”
Just as he was about to charge, huffing and puffing, Freya stopped him with a single gesture.
“That’s enough, Lord Baek-gye. This is my affair. It’s not for you to interfere.”
‘Baek-gye… so he’s a Warlord God.’
Baek-gye’s face was still full of discontent, his fists trembling.
“But—”
“Lord Baek-gye, are you perhaps ignoring me?”
At Freya’s firm words, he gritted his teeth and finally stepped back.
Freya turned her gaze back to me. A provocative smile played on her lips as she stared at me with an inscrutable expression.
“Hoo-hoo, you’re truly something else. This is the first time I’ve seen a human act so openly insane. I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”
“Are you going to challenge me to a duel? I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Not unless you want to lose the contractor you raised with that cunt of yours.”
Freya’s smile faltered slightly. But she quickly regained her composure and looked around the hall.
“Hehe… very well. Let’s see how long that confidence of yours lasts. Who would be a good arbiter for our duel?”
Instantly, the male gods in the hall shot their hands up, clamoring to volunteer. But cutting through the commotion, a goddess with neat, green hair walked forward.
“I’ll do it. As one of the organizers, you can trust me, right?”
A firm voice, sharp features. It was Jacheongbi, a native Korean god.
“Oh my, if it’s you, Lady Jacheongbi, then you’re more than trustworthy. I’m counting on you.”
At Freya’s gesture, a gate opened in mid-air, and a giant man appeared.
“Hm, Lady Freya. Why have you summoned me so suddenly?”
“Gram, I need you to duel an insolent human.”
Gram, one of Freya’s contractors, was a character from the original story.
Active in Europe, he was depicted as one of the strongest fighters in the source material.
The overwhelming aura emanating from his body made the hall feel heavy in an instant.
Freya smiled coldly.
“If you beg for forgiveness right now, I might just let you off. What do you say?”
“That’s not going to happen. There’s no way I’d lose to a pet of yours.”
“A pet, you say… what an audacious one you are.”
Gram’s voice was low and heavy. Like a tremor rumbling from deep underground, a vibration spread through the hall.
I slowly sized him up.
He was well over two meters tall, his entire body covered in solid muscle. He wore a helmet and clothes that looked like black armor, and a deep scar ran across his left eye. At a glance, he was different from anyone I had faced so far.
The weaker participants around us were already breaking out in a cold sweat and backing away.
Just then, Jacheongbi stepped forward.
“Alright, I will now explain the rules of the duel.”
As she raised her hand, green letters materialized in the air one by one.
[Duel Rules]
1. The duel continues until death or surrender.
2. No outside interference is permitted.
3. The winner may make one demand of the loser.
4. The participants are solely responsible for all consequences that occur during the duel.
“Do both sides agree?”
Freya nodded leisurely.
“Of course, I agree. Gram, you’re fine with this, right?”
“Yes, Lady Freya.”
Jacheongbi’s gaze shifted to me.
“Jin Seo-yun, do you also agree?”
“I agree.”
“Good.”
With a wave of Jacheongbi’s hand, the floor in the center of the hall began to glow, and a massive circular arena rose from it.
“Both combatants, enter the arena.”
I slowly walked into the arena. Gram, too, took heavy steps from the opposite side. The arena floor vibrated with his every move.
A translucent wall rose around the perimeter, creating a sealed space completely separated from the hall.
‘Meaning no one can interfere in here.’
“Go, Seo-yun!”
Verdandi’s voice came from behind me. I glanced back and gave her a wave.
When I turned my gaze forward again, Gram was reaching his hand into the air. In an instant, a colossal greatsword took shape in his grasp.
The blade alone looked to be at least two meters long. Red patterns on the black metal writhed as if they were alive.
‘So that’s a divine sword… the Breaker.’
A weapon forged by a god. A mere touch from it would shatter most other weapons in an instant.
I didn’t bother drawing a sword. It wasn’t because I was being careless. It was because any sword I had now would obviously be destroyed if it clashed with that weapon.
‘And it doesn’t seem like I need a weapon anyway.’
“You’re not drawing a weapon?”
“That’s right.”
“How arrogant… to think you’d fight me bare-handed.”
Jacheongbi raised her hand high.
“Are both sides ready?”
I nodded. Gram raised his sword.
“Then—”
The moment Jacheongbi’s hand fell,
“Begin!”
CRASH—!
The moment she shouted, we moved simultaneously.
Gram and I charged toward each other at full speed, heading for the center of the arena.
His massive frame thundered across the ground as he approached. With the greatsword held high above his head, he looked like a berserker on a battlefield.
“Die!”
Gram’s greatsword swung down like a thunderclap. The red patterns on the blade flashed like lightning, and the pressure from the swing crashed down like a storm. The sound of the air being torn apart assaulted my ears.
But the greatsword only cut through empty air. To be precise, it cut through my afterimage.
Gram’s eyes widened. The greatsword plunged deep into the arena floor.
A massive crack formed on the floor, sending fragments flying in all directions. A shockwave spread out in a circle, kicking up a cloud of dust.
I had already moved to his side. Gram quickly tried to pull his greatsword out. His muscles bulged as he retrieved the sword with incredible strength. But before he could fully extract it, my arm moved first.
Swish—
“……!”
Gram’s pupils trembled. He instinctively swung his elbow to knock me away.
But it was too late.
Right now, in this moment, I could have killed him.
But I didn’t.
‘I have to show them. Show them what happens when they mess with me and Verdandi.’
This was a warning.
‘Since I’ve decided to go all out, I’m going to do it properly.’
Simply winning wasn’t enough. I had to crush him. Overwhelmingly, brutally, for all to see.
Only then would the other gods not dare to mess with Verdandi.
I reached out and grabbed Gram’s face.
I focused my internal energy into my hand. The energy boiling up from my dantian surged through my arm and into my palm.
And then, the internal energy, imbued with fire, erupted.
Sizzle—!
“Kugh!”
The skin on Gram’s face began to sizzle and burn.
He tried to move, to counterattack.
Still holding his face, I slammed it down with all my might.
SLAM!
Gram’s head was driven into the arena floor.
The floor cracked like a spiderweb, sending fragments flying everywhere.
“Kuhk!”
A groan escaped Gram.
But I didn’t stop.
I lifted him up again.
THUD!
And slammed him down again.
THUD!
And again.
THUD!
And again.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Like a machine, I precisely and repeatedly smashed Gram’s face into the floor.
The cracks in the floor grew deeper and wider.
“Keoheok! Kugh! Gugh!”
Gram’s screams grew fainter.
His face was already a bloody mess, beyond recognition. His nose was completely shattered, and several of his teeth were scattered on the ground.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The spectator stands fell into a dead silence.
The gods, the participants, everyone held their breath as they watched this one-sided assault.
“Is… is that a human?”
“Gram, the strongest in Europe… like this…”
“No way…”
“Verdandi’s contractor… was a monster like that?”
The murmurs grew louder.
Freya’s face was deathly pale.
“Gram…!”
For the last time, I roughly grabbed Gram’s face and lifted him. His body, no longer even reacting, hung limply in the air.
A bloody face, a shattered nose, a broken jaw. The man once called the strongest in Europe was now an unrecognizable wreck.
“It’s over.”
I gathered my internal energy and fire energy at my fingertips. It was time to burn him away completely, without leaving a single bone fragment behind.
The fire energy boiling from the depths of my dantian surged through my meridians to my fingertips.
WHOOOOOSH—!
Fierce flames engulfed Gram’s body.
“Aaaargh!”
Gram, who had lost consciousness, let out one final scream. But even that scream was soon swallowed by the flames.
In an instant, his flesh and bones were incinerated and vanished.
Scorching heat swept through the entire arena. The very air distorted, and heat hazes shimmered into existence.
A moment later.
Not a single trace of Gram remained in the arena.
I had completely annihilated him, not leaving even a single speck of ash.
Dusting off my hands, I looked around.
Every eye was fixed on me.
Fear.
Awe.
Wariness.
And… terror.
The participants were speechless, and even the gods had fallen silent.
I looked straight at Freya and said,
“Is this your strongest contractor?”
Freya’s lips trembled. Her face was pale, and her eyes shook with rage.
“You bastard…”
“To be called the strongest at this level, the standards in Europe must be pretty low.”
Freya’s face flushed red. It was an expression mixed with humiliation and fury.
But she couldn’t say a word.
According to the rules of the duel, the outcome was already decided.
Jacheongbi stepped forward.
“The duel is over.”
She declared in a cold voice.
“The winner is Jin Seo-yun.”
The translucent wall surrounding the arena began to slowly disappear.
I walked slowly out of the arena.
With every step I took, people backed away, clearing a path. No one dared to stand in my way.
They avoided me as if I were a plague carrier.
‘I should have done this from the start.’
It felt as if all the stress from the past few days had vanished.
Verdandi approached me cautiously.
“Seo-yun, you were so cool!”
Even after witnessing such a brutal scene, she was smiling brightly without any sign of being disturbed.
She usually had an innocent and gentle smile, but she was a god, after all.
To a god, the human distinction between good and evil was meaningless.
I stroked her head.
Verdandi beamed and held my hand tightly.
“You have soot on your hand, Seo-yun. Let me wipe it for you.”
She took a white handkerchief from her pocket and began to gently wipe the back of my hand.
A single ‘Clean’ spell would have gotten rid of it all, but I just watched her.
The handkerchief grew dirtier with black soot, but Verdandi didn’t seem to mind at all.
“All clean!”
“Thanks.”