WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 12 of The God of High School, "FOX/GOD," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The God of High School just went from a martial arts tournament to a race to stop the apocalypse. Gone are the pressures of part-time jobs and progressing to the next round for the anime's teen cast. In their place: impending doom, either from an angry God bearing down on them from the heavens, or the batch of nuclear missiles launched to stop Him by the United States government in Episode 12. Or both.
In the midst of all this, the whereabouts of the all-important Key only adds to the chaos. Until this episode, the Key -- something that can stop humanity from prevailing against God -- belonged to the Nine-Tailed Fox, a being that dwells within Park Ilpyo and poses a threat to God. However, when Ilpyo is given a thorough beatdown by Taek Jegal, Jegal becomes the item's new host. And considering Jegal's monstrous "might is right" attitude, the teal-haired bully gaining even more power is about the last thing Mori and the others need right now.
As this episode reveals, Jegal's habit of victimizing 'lesser' foes is caused, in part, by being groomed by a cutthroat adoptive father. A wealthy businessman, the older man wanted a strong heir, teaching Jegal such pearls of wisdom as: "The defeated seek a reason for their own defeat, but winners do nothing. They have faith in their own victory from the beginning." It's no surprise, given this background, that Jegal has been concealing a second charyeok to his megalodon, simply called Greed. This stronger ability manifests itself after Ilpyo goes feral on his rival outside of the hospital where Jegal killed Jeon Jugok. As well as separate, demonic entities at Jegal's beck-and-call, Greed also gives Jegal's body a second, toothy stomach on his abdomen and stains his eyes blood red.
Upon defeating Ilpyo's Nine-Tailed Fox form, the Key is released from his body, creating a mad rush among the competing forces nearby to claim it. Eventually, it's Jin Mori who gets a hold of it. This is when Park Mujin, who has been keeping God at bay, decides to intervene: teleporting Mori, Ilpyo and the other fighters as far away from the center of the action as possible. A combination of Han Daewi's newly acquired charyeok -- healing water -- and Mori's chi-blocking nurse Ilpyo back to consciousness. They wonder if Jegal was also teleported with them. They needn't wonder for too long.
Ilpyo tells Mori to keep the Key, begging him to not let Jegal take it from him. Unfortunately, Mori fails to keep his promise to his surrogate big brother. When he comes across the beaten bodies of Daewi and Mira, he knows Jegal will be his toughest opponent yet -- and he's not wrong. Their furiously-paced fight is interrupted, however, by the unexpected arrival of God's defeated body, felled by a combination of magic and redirected nukes, courtesy of Jugok's vengeful grandfather. The celestial body crashing to Earth, as well as a booming mushroom cloud, cause a considerable distraction. Catching Mori off-guard, Jegal's Greed ensnares the taekwondo user's body and retrieves the Key from him.
Feeding the Key to his charyeok mouth has a very peculiar effect on Jegal's already compromised physiology: he appears to go through a literal rebirth, brought back to infant form and then accelerated into an adult again. Wings grow from between his shoulder blades, horns from his head and his teal hair turns bright white. He might be almost angelic if he didn't open his mouth: "You losers will die." And so, with the apocalypse paused, a far more close-quarters battle lies ahead.
