Ch.22. The First Apostle

The moment I activated the Divine Eye to look down upon the material world for the first time.

‘………’

Faced with the vivid, exotic landscape that entered the Divine Eye—a strange vision that could see a full 360° despite being called an “eye”—I couldn’t close my gaping mouth.

This city, far vaster than one could imagine an ancient city to be, was surrounded by high, perfectly constructed walls that could hardly be described as the work of humans of this era—and indeed, they weren’t human creations at all.

Furthermore, the city was divided into eight districts based on massive cross-shaped main roads, with each district having differently colored roofs and distinct building designs, suggesting it was a planned city.

Each district housed a magnificent Greek-style marble temple dedicated to the god overseeing that area, and the atmosphere itself exuded a captivating ambience that seemed to perfectly embody the concept of a “fantasy Roman Empire.”

For a moment, I was enchanted by this “imperial” landscape that could never be expressed in mere pixel fragments, but that feeling was short-lived.

The Divine Eye showed not only the positive aspects but also the terrible duality lurking beneath the surface.

Red-light districts packed with people even in broad daylight,

Back-alley markets where drugs and slaves were just the basics, openly trading things like human flesh and body parts of sentient beings.

And most decisively, the bitter thirst for vengeance rising throughout the entire city.

‘…………tsk.’

This city had such a horrific underbelly that I nearly unleashed divine punishment, caught up in my instincts as a god and losing my composure.

But I struggled to maintain my calm.

There would be no meaning in delivering divine punishment now,

and if I made a mistake, I could be marked as an enemy by the gods of this city.

That could result in my main body being absorbed and destroyed, or some equally terrible fate.

So I decided to endure for the sake of a more perfect revenge,

and began moving my gaze around the city to find a suitable location to establish my cult.

The first place that caught my attention was the slum district—a location in this so-called Holy City where the desire for vengeance was particularly strong.

These slums, filling the space between the city walls and the central district, were extremely complex in structure with most buildings being irregularly constructed shacks,

covering about 30% of the city’s area with an enormous population,

and above all, the people there emanated an incredibly powerful desire for vengeance.

Thinking this would be the perfect environment,

I initially planned to select my first apostle there and establish my cult—

‘……..Ah.’

But when I confirmed that the slums were divided into three factions engaged in territorial disputes by cults/organizations belonging to the gods of crime from the Old Pantheon,

I had no choice but to abandon that idea.

Since the Old Pantheon’s way of thinking and behavior is close to that of gangsters,

if discovered, they would undoubtedly plunder my faith and force me to join the Old Pantheon, so it’s better not to be detected if possible.

The gods of the Old Pantheon, commonly called the Divine Race, may be weaker than other gods in terms of granting power, but they can interfere more easily with the material world,

making the Holy City, where gods in disguise often wander, close to a danger zone.

‘The Holy City……..should I give up on it?’

Just as I was reluctant to abandon a city with the best infrastructure and population,

‘Oh……?’

My eyes caught sight of a place where the desire for vengeance was dozens of times stronger than anywhere else.

Standing tall in the middle of what appeared to be an entertainment district, judging by the pink roofs of nearby buildings,

was a flat, thick cone-shaped building.

This building, which would maintain its original function for thousands of years even after the fall of this Holy City, all the way to the main timeline,

was the arena known as the Colosseum.

‘That place…?’

The aura of vengeance was probably emanating from the slave gladiators forced to live inside,

but amid the aura flowing throughout the entire city, the Colosseum particularly drew my attention.

‘With that level of vengeance……..what on earth?’

Because my senses were telling me that more than half of the intense desire for vengeance pouring from the Colosseum

was coming from just one person.

‘Perhaps, I should go there………..’

I had to give up on the slums anyway.

Thinking this might be fortunate, I immediately shifted my gaze to the interior of the Colosseum and moved toward the source of that vengeful desire—

‘Found it—wait. ……..Why is HE here?!’

The moment I discovered that the source of this vengeful desire was someone I never imagined meeting here.

I shouted with genuine surprise, completely forgetting about maintaining any divine dignity.

Despite wearing miserable gladiator attire and bearing an anguished expression unlike the majestic appearance I’d seen in illustrations,

I still recognized the name of this short reddish-brown-haired man.

His name was Bjorn “The Chosen” Wolfson.

After his tribe was massacred by the Rom Empire’s army, he was captured and lived as a slave until, for some reason, he received the blessings of numerous evil gods just before death and became an apostle of the gods,

eventually destroying the Rom Empire before dying himself due to the backlash of those blessings—a tragic tribal chieftain.

He was an extremely popular character due to his tragic past, noble motives, and cool design after awakening as an apostle of evil gods,

and his popularity was even higher because he killed those annoying gods of the Old Pantheon.

‘……..Ah, I see now!’

And right after seeing him,

I finally remembered why I had created a god of vengeance character and set my starting point in this era.

The reason was to recruit high-potential named characters who existed throughout this world,

including him, who had not yet been chosen as an evil god’s apostle.

Of course, among these named characters to be recruited, Bjorn was the most famous and absolutely essential.

His base specs were just those of a mid-tier warrior between rank 5 and 6 who had awakened his aura, but… Bjorn had an innate talent:

his vessel for containing divine blessings was abnormally vast.

Normally, even the strongest named NPCs couldn’t withstand becoming apostles of more than three gods without their bodies failing, but…

Bjorn was different.

Calamity, Plague, Pleasure, Conspiracy, Violence, Fear, and Despair.

He not only became an apostle of all seven major evil gods,

but also received blessings from dozens of other evil gods under them and still functioned normally.

The reason he eventually died was less due to the backlash of the blessings,

and more because he fought to a mutual destruction with Jupiter, the supreme god of the Old Pantheon.

So from my position, I absolutely had to recruit him—

《Fear not, for I have arrived.》

‘Who—”

So I boldly converted the accumulated vengeful desire into faith,

scraped together what faith I could, and descended to earth in a state where only Bjorn could perceive me.

“·············Huh?”

※ ※ ※

As I appeared before him, Bjorn momentarily froze, staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Understandably so, as my manifested form was completely different from what he would expect of a god.

Since gods in this era typically took human or animal forms,

I must have appeared quite alien compared to them, which explains his reaction.

A cross of equal length on top and bottom, as if molded from blood.

In the center of the cross was a pure white skull,

and behind this floating skull formation, a red halo radiated outward.

Anyone could tell at a glance that I wasn’t an ordinary living being,

and simultaneously, I certainly didn’t look like a conventional god….

But I wasn’t concerned about being recognized as a god or not.

The divine aura emanating from me in the form of a red halo

would be sufficient to make any mortal of the material world recognize me as a deity.

“Are you… a god?”

《Indeed. I am Ma-Duk, God of Vengeance. I have descended in response to your vengeful heart.》

To him, who had unconsciously fallen to his knees, overwhelmed by my aura,

I stated my divine name as per my setting and explained why I had descended.

But his reaction was somewhat strange.

“Now, NOW you appear… what do you expect to accomplish?!!!”

Bjorn shouted as if having a fit, then jumped to his feet and cried out loudly.

“I… whether you’re a god or not, it makes no difference to me! I no longer worship or trust any being called a god!”

‘……..Ah, is that it?’

According to the game’s lore, he was betrayed by his tribe’s deity.

When the Rom Empire’s army invaded, their tribal god not only failed to help his worshippers but joined the Old Pantheon instead,

and to make matters worse, even mocked his desperate followers who begged for help.

So that explains why he’s reacting so sensitively to me, who is clearly a god.

He probably thinks that I, as the God of Vengeance, am trying to recruit him because he’s consumed by vengeance after losing everything.

The resentment toward gods born from his tragic past and self-justification

was enough to momentarily override the charisma I was emanating, showing how deeply it had torn at his heart.

《Your thinking is mistaken.》

“What, what is mistaken!”

So now, I must convince him directly.

《I—Ma-Duk—am a god who was born from the coalescence of vengeful desires less than a day ago. I have no followers, and only you know my divine name.》

“……..So, so what?”

《However, my birth involved the vengeful desires of countless mortals in this world, including those of your tribespeople.》

“···········.”

《Therefore, I have descended before you for only one reason: to make you my apostle and destroy this corrupt, twisted false empire and the Old Pantheon.》

“········!!”

Though I was saying all this to persuade him,

I wasn’t exactly lying.

It was true that I was a fusion entity born from the concentration of vengeful desires centered on human souls,

and my reason for descending was indeed to become the agent of the empire and Old Pantheon’s downfall.

However, to him, my words would probably carry a different meaning.

Something like the will of his tribe members and dead family becoming part of a god,

appearing to help him?

“……..I offer myself to you, great Ma-Duk, God of Vengeance.”

Whatever the case, it seems my words were meaningful enough for him to place his last hope in me.