Game of Divine Thrones

Chapter 229: The Arctic Sea Monster 1

“Ha-Choo!”

They were in the northern waters where icebergs floated about.

Helena shivered atop the ship’s deck and sneezed, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Seeing her shiver, Roan approached Woohyuk, who was looking at their surroundings through a telescope, and whispered,

“Master, she’s about to die because of the cold. Why don’t you take her to the captain’s room and keep her warm…”

Bam!

Woohyuk’s fist struck Roan, who keeled over and started rolling around on the deck.

Then Drake, who was next to Woohyuk, clicked his tongue in disgust before stating,

“There’s nothing that little can’t say. Well, I guess I’m not the best person to be saying this since my speech was pretty rough when I was young, too.”

“He’s a gluttony homunculus. From the time he was born, he was obsessed with all kinds of desires, so his self-control is virtually non-existent.”

Thus, only by continuing to discipline Roan could Woohyuk prevent him from going overboard.

Helena nodded in agreement and said,

“That’s right. He’s also lustful because he’s a homunculus made by the Wind God. He hasn’t even gone through puberty yet.”

“Don’t ignore me because of my young appearance, filthy Saintess! If it weren’t for Master, someone like you would become my sex slave…”

Bam!

This time, Helena swiftly kicked Roan’s side.

As Roan fell down onto the deck floor while foaming at the mouth, Woohyuk needled Helena,

“You’re pretty violent for a Saintess.”

“Shut up. I’m usually a well-mannered lady.”

“Well-mannered in what way? Who said that?” Woohyuk continued.

“… Just… shut up.”

Helena quickly turned her head and frowned.

At that time, Triton climbed onto the deck and gave his scouting report to Woohyuk,

“Master, I don’t see any ships around here. No threatening monsters were found in the vicinity, either.”

“Good job, Triton. But what about the food?”

“… Here it is.”

Triton pulled vigorously on the string he was holding in his hand.

Then, a net that had been straddling the outside of the hull followed upwards along the railing and fell onto the deck.

Thud!

A wide variety of seafood gushed out of the open net.

At sea, Triton was responsible for procuring the party’s food.

Woohyuk didn’t pay attention to Triton’s gloomy expression and turned to look at Drake instead.

“As always, thank you, Drake.”

“Har-Har! You can look forward to it!”

The legendary black pirate ship was equipped with the best equipment, including cooking equipment.

Onboard was a ghost sailor who was a chef when he was alive.

Helena glanced at Woohyuk as Drake hummed a pirate song and made his way down the deck.

“Why are you going to the northern seas? Considering the situation, wouldn’t it be better to go straight to the Aizu Kingdom?”

“I guess it wasn’t written in the prophecy. There’s a hidden tool there that can restore the Nag Hammadi Chronicles.”

The Nag Hammadi was one of the three ancient documents linked to the Epic Quest.

It also contained the secret knowledge of the gods. The damaged portion of the Nag Hammadi Chronicle was about the Einherjar.

‘The Seven Gods had always been afraid of Ragnarok.’

The twilight period of the Gods’ reign began when the demons invaded the heavens.

The invasion was foreseen by the Goddess of Fate long before it happened, and the gods had met many times to find a way to survive.

One of the solutions was to select superior individuals from the lower races and use them as a stop-gap barrier against the demons.

One of those stop-gaps were the warriors called Einherjar.

In short, one of the ruins related to the Einherjar was located in the Northern Seas.

Helena looked curiously at Woohyuk after hearing his explanation.

“It’s interesting to hear that such a place exists in the Northern Seas. Our Etheria Rodinus has been there many times, but we haven’t found anything of note.”

“That seems likely. The ruins are completely concealed externally,” Woohyuk explained.

The gods couldn’t manage their secret places poorly.

In principle, the only people who could enter these secret places were celestial beings, like Valkyries, or the Einherjar themselves.

However, the current Woohyuk could destroy the security system set up by the gods by using his demonic powers.

‘If it’s regarding the Einherjar’s ruins, I already know of it well.’

In the past, he had completely restored the Nag Hammadi Chronicles and completed the Epic Quest related to it.

Therefore, this time, it was possible to take some shortcuts without going through the quest process in order.

For Woohyuk, who wanted to reduce time and wasted effort, it was desirable to visit the Northern Seas while going on to his next destination.

“The Einherjar… I used to hear about their stories in Valhalla from time to time. I wonder if they’re still training there,” Triton wondered aloud.

“Probably so, Triton. They were promised a chance to be resurrected after Ragnarok in exchange for being the exclusive warriors for the gods.”

Regardless of how heroes reached their end, if the gods permitted, the heroes’ bodies could be restored to their original state.

Thus, the restored bodies were then moved to heaven through the dimensional transmission device located in the Northern Sea.

Afterward, the Einherjar were given an area on the lower tiers of Valhalla.

It was the Valkyries, who were called the maiden of the battlefield, who were in charge of such work.

“Then the tool you’re looking for is that dimensional transport? It seems like you’ve already made plans to invade the heavens,” Triton asked in surprise.

“No, all I want is a soul stone that’s located there.”

In order for the spirit bodies of the lower races to be safe in the celestial world, they had to sign contracts with the gods using soul stones.

In other words, the soul stone was a medium that could be used to communicate with the gods.

With it, Woohyuk could restore the Chronicle and restore the completed list of Einherjar warriors, which would start the Epic Quest.

“Pu… you restored the Nag Hammadi Chronicles once before, but you can’t remember the list of Einherjar warriors?” Helena snickered.

“No matter how smart I may be, it’s impossible to memorize hundreds of pages of names in order.”

Maybe a wizard at the level of Great Sage could do it.

However, Woohyuk’s memory wasn’t so good.

Helena folded her arms and leaned against the hull in a confident, relaxed manner. It seemed that she was confident in her memorization ability.

“We of Etheria Rodinus know the names of thousands of magic books from the Ark of Knowledge. By knowing these names from memory, we can tell which old documents were lost and need to be restored,”

Helena stated condescendingly.

“It must be nice to be smart. Too bad that intelligence hasn’t found a way to make you wise,” her brother, Ibn Rusud, quickly replied back.

“I beg your pardon? Why are you claiming that I’m unwise?”

Again, a never-ending argument between the two began.

At that time, Roan woke up, raised his body, and muttered,

“Ugh, the west wind… the west wind smells of rum."

“What is this guy saying?! If you want to drink so much, go ferment some barley and eat it!”

Helena looked angrily at the half-awakened Roan.

Meanwhile, Woohyuk, who was next to her, gazed west while creasing his brow and said,

“It smells like rum?”

“Ah, Master. I smell alcohol well. I’m sure the nearby pirates are warming up their bodies by drinking rum.”

Pirates.

Certainly, these shadowy types of outlaws operated in the Northern Seas.

However, Triton reported that there were no enemies in their vicinity.

Woohyuk fell into thought for a while and then called Drake,

“What are the main things pirates do in the Northern Sea at this time, Drake?”

“Hmm… secret illicit trade or slave transport? The northern waters are cold, and the climate is harsh during this time of year, so ships usually do not pass through these waters.”

“Then, it wouldn’t be good to reveal our location.”

He decided that it would be best to navigate the northern waters without causing an incident or accident.

As Woohyuk was unfolding the navigation map, a series of system messages suddenly covered his eyes.

[New update is added to the human world according to the arrangement of the gods.]

[This update is named Game of Divine Thrones.]

[Currently, four gods are seeking their successors, and all lower races except the demon race can challenge for these positions.]

[For more information, please check the quest information window.]

“… Game of Divine Thrones?”

Something completely unexpected happened.

Before reincarnating into this world, Woohyuk had spent 40 years trying to find a way to challenge for a Divine Throne seat. However, that arduous process was instantly shattered with the system message.

The situation was so ridiculous, that words didn’t come out from Woohyuk’s open mouth.

Helena couldn’t shut her mouth as well as she shared a similar feeling.

“W-What, what is this?! There was no mention of this at all in the Prophecies,” she stuttered.

“Is this the first update?” Woohyuk muttered to himself.

Before returning to this world, Woohyuk recalled reading a system message similar to this in his previous life.

According to the arrangements of the gods during that time, two updates would be made, sooner or later.

Details of the arrangements would be released on the day of the update.

However, instead of waiting for the updates, Woohyuk chose to go back to the past, to re-enter this world.

Anyway, as it was, this update should have come out at least 40 years after humanity was summoned.

It seems that the Creator’s intervention has begun in earnest, as Saintess Maria predicted.

‘Are we now entering into the main stage?’

Before his return, the conditions the Creator required weren’t met, so this blatant competition system never came to fruition.

Among those important requirements was Woohyuk himself.

He had to quickly find out about the Odyssey Plan, which was led by Rafael during his former life, so he could flexibly cope with future trials and crises.

While reading the quest information window, Woohyuk stared at Helena with a serious expression.

“Helena, why don’t you tell me all the contents of the Prophecy? As Maria said, the future will continue to change with the involvement of transcendental beings. From now on, it will be difficult for us to overcome their powers even if we join forces.”

“…”

Helena hesitated, looking worried.

However, after a while, she spoke with a face filled with determination,

“Alright. In fact, I was going to tell you all the prophecies someday anyway. I was just considering whether it was the right time.”

“I don’t think the Etheria Rodinus members will raise any objections to the timing.”

“Let’s go inside first. One has to be careful with these secret prophecies.”

Helena planned to use communication artifacts to inform Woohyuk about the contents of the Prophet.

Woohyuk nodded and grabbed Roan by the neck.

“Master, serious talk is best conducted when paired with alcohol. Also, if things flow well, that Saintess might get intoxicated first…”

Bam!

Roan, who was not able to grasp the situation, passed out after being struck in the stomach by Woohyuk.

Woohyuk carried Roan on his shoulder and checked the quest information window again.

[New Achievement]

Name: First step to challenge the Divine Thrones

Type: General

Content: Fight against one or more of the 72 Demon Kings alone and win. In the case of multiple attempts, it is disregarded, and success is recognized only when the opponent is sealed (currently 0).

Miscellaneous: If you defeat multiple Demon Kings, privileges and awards will be given according to the number of Demon Kings sealed.

‘Is this game meant as a check on the demonic camp?’

Based on the content of the quest, it seemed like he was included in the demon group.

In any case, Woohyuk was trying to challenge the demons and sit on the demon throne, so he was probably the figure the Creator was most wary of.

Regardless, the quest was given, so he had to pay more attention in sealing the 72 Demon King.

In the future, all the above-average warriors would start chasing after the demons.

Suddenly, feeling a headache coming on, Woohyuk walked to the captain’s room.