“Shit! The dome broke!”

“Call for the temples!”

“They’ve already been wiped out!”

“What?”

The world truly fell into a state of panic.

Since Red Eye, this was the first time the monsters had invaded humanity as a horde.

“We have nowhere to run! The monsters have us surrounded!”

“Monsters keep coming out of a strange gate!”

Disciples were dying en masse. The domes that were considered the safety barriers had fallen. The Zodiac Saints, who were symbols of humanity, had failed to become the beacons of hope. 

It was the worst-case scenario, and humanity despaired.

As humanity stared down the barrel of the gun, the humans were about to let go of their last sliver of hope.

Kwahng!!!

People screamed when green fire pillars erupted from the ground.

“Kyahhhhk!”

These enormous fire pillars were as big as a twenty-story building.

[Kneel To Uncle Or Else (S)]

The cosmos-destroying green conflagration swept through the flying monsters. The monsters became balls of fire as they crashed to the ground.

“Kee-ehhhhhhk!”

The deadly flame instantly melted their flesh. It melted bones and respiratory organs as if it were hydrochloric acid.

By the time the monsters reached the ground, their bodies were nowhere to be seen. Instead of burning, it seemed as if a powerful acid was dissolving them. It was like the flames were borrowing the power of poison. The flame was so hot.

Everyone’s mouth fell open at this sight.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this before.”

“It looks like magic… I’ve never seen that color though…”

Their surprise lasted only a moment.

“Uncle!”

The voice of that spell user rang out. At the same time, the sound of structures falling reverberated in the air.

Kwah-gwah-gwah-gwahng!

It was the sound of the gate’s pillars getting destroyed.

The powerful monsters passing through the pillars were crushed in droves. Some had their heads chopped off as they were about to exit the gate; they disappeared from existence.

A commotion erupted due to this.

“Who was it? Who did it?”

“Look over there!”

People cheered when they looked atop the pillar.

“It’s Lee Gun!”

“Lee Gun destroyed the tunnel that’s transporting the monsters!”

Several spots like this were all over the world, and Lee Gun had destroyed these strategic locations of their enemies.

His performance surprised everyone around the world. Of course, the news about Lee Gun destroying the gates wasn't the only reason for their surprise.

“Ahhhk! It is Red Eye!”

“W-Why is Lee Gun riding on top of Red Eye’s head?!”

“Did he get kidnapped?!”

Yes, the reason for the entire world’s shock was Red Eye, which Lee Gun was using like a personal vehicle.

[Lee Gun! “He is riding Red Eye!”]

[Eyewitness accounts are coming out one after another. It is shocking the entire world.]

[That really is the calamity humanity faced twenty years ago.]

The world screamed when they heard this unbelievable news. This was also true of the foreign reporters stationed in Korea.

“This is absurd! I get that it’s Lee Gun, but how can he ride around the scourge of mankind?”

“It is true. My senior from the US said so. Lee Gun is really riding Red Eye!”

“It’s probably a Construct that kinda looks like Red Eye! I’ll know for sure if I see it for myself!”

The sound was coming from the wasteland area north of Seoul. Normally, this place was sparsely populated since it was near the Devil’s Tower. However, it was a different story right now.

“Lee Gun is riding Red Eye? What nonsense are they spouting? I’m sure one of his fanboys sent a photoshopped picture.”

“Yes, let’s see it for ourselves. Isn’t Chun Sungjae near here?”

“Ah! He’s over there!”

The foreign reporters had rushed to the northern forest to see if the rumors were true. Most of them were reporters affiliated with the other temples; they couldn’t accept the truth.

They had heard the rumor that Lee Gun had stopped the invasion, and it made all of them jealous of Lee Gun.

Anyway, they wanted to find some way to debunk the news.

“I’m already dubious about the news that Lee Gun stopped the monsters. What is this about Red Eye?”

“If Lee Gun can ride it around, I’ll eat my hand.”

Chun Sungjae didn’t care that an agitated crowd was rushing toward him. He quickly made a call when he found what he was looking for.

“Uncle! I found it! I’ll summon it right now!”

[Alright. Prepare the plastic bag.]

Chun Sungjae immediately took out a plastic bag.

This confused the people there.

“Why did he suddenly take out a plastic bag?”

“I have no idea! Anyway, people were hallucinating when they saw Lee Gun ride Red Eye. Look! There is no Red Eye here…”

“Kee-ehhhhhhhk!!!”

“?!!”

Hearing a roar, people suddenly screamed.

A familiar monster had appeared in the sky. The reporters who had seen Red Eye in the past fell to the ground.

“It… It wasn’t a hallucination!!!”

After bringing them through teleportation, Chun Sungjae threw up into the plastic bag.

Chun Sungjae had used the monster Lee Gun had taken prisoner to find where the gates were. Then he had used the Return skill, the first bonus skill he had received as a disciple.

After using that skill to reach Lee Gun, he had used Teleport to bring back Lee Gun.

“Oohk. Red Eye is too heavy… Ooh-ehhk!” Chun Sungjae felt like dying.

The amount of nausea he felt increased as the distance became farther and the weight of the items became heavier.

The reporters that had come to speak ill of Lee Gun shook at the sight of Red Eye.

“L-Lee Gun jumped down from Red Eye!”

“That’s dangerous!”

Lee Gun swung Heaven’s Punishment toward the ground.

Kwahng!!!

An incredible beam of light descended from the sky to strike the ground. The ground split open, and the monsters tried to push through the hidden underground gate.

“Kee-ehhhhhhhhk!!”

They let out a violent roar as if they were reacting to the fact that a mere human had attacked them.

Red Eye roared back at them in contempt.

“Kee-ehhhhhhhk!!!”

[Yong Yong has used the <Domination> skill.]

[The monsters’ morale has plummeted.]

Lee Gun laughed when he saw the frightened monsters. “Good! You did well.”

When Lee Gun gave it a compliment, the happy Red Eye bowed its head. No matter how one looked at the situation, Lee Gun seemed to be training Red Eye like a pet. 

This made the reporters collapse to the ground. They could only open and close their mouths with no sound coming out.

At that moment, Lee Gun suddenly turned to look somewhere and laughed. “What is this? Aren’t you the low-level ahjussi that almost died going to work?”

“!”

Those words caused a commotion, and everyone freaked out. The reason was the person who had come out of the forest.

“Uh? Wait a minute! Isn’t he the president of Korea?”

“You’re right!”

Yes, President Yoon and his close staff members had appeared in front of Lee Gun. They were the ones that the Gemini temple had put under a contract of compulsion. They had been released not too long ago.

When the president heard Lee Gun had appeared, they had come to this location in haste.

It seemed Lee Gun’s assertion that he was close friends with the president wasn’t a lie. 

Lee Gun snorted as he looked at President Yoon. “The fact that you could become a congressman twenty years ago is fascinating. I was shocked to hear that you became the president recently.”

The staff members got frightened when Lee Gun approached them, but the president immediately bowed his head. 

This caused a stir, but the president had felt moved when he saw Lee Gun alive and well. He also looked apologetic. “I couldn’t locate Lee Gun-nim, so I decided to come here. I apologize! I’m also sorry for not being able to search the Devil’s Tower. In many ways, I am sorry…”

“Ah! It’s fine. You were under that crazy woman’s soul contract.”

In truth, the Gemini Saint had manipulated the Korean government’s leading members to raise her esteem in Korea.

In other words, the president’s and his family’s souls were put on the line to make a contract through coercion. Basically, the Gemini Saint had squeezed anyone she thought would interfere with her.

“I had Raeriqueen destroy all the contracts. Are there any adverse effects?”

“No! Thank you very much! I don’t know how I can repay—”

“Ah! I don’t care about that right now. I have a request though. I need your permission to do this.”

The president looked at Lee Gun. “Yes. Just say the word! If Lee Gun-nim wants it, anything in this country is yours….”

Pleased, Lee Gun glanced toward Red Eye. “I would like to grow that guy on land that you guys aren’t using.”

“What?”

“Of course, I’ll put it in an enclosure.”

“…?!”

Seeing the 150-meter-tall Red Eye roar, the humans started to sweat. The president was no exception.

“You… You want to grow that thing?”

In the end, the eyewitness accounts had been confirmed as true, and the news started to spread all over the world.

[Shocking! “Lee Gun took down Red Eye and the general that had appeared twenty years ago!”]

[Lee Gun stopped the reinvasion by the unknown civilization on his own.]

[“Lee Gun took care of the monsters that the Zodiac Saints gave up on killing.” They are Zodiac Saints in name only.]

[Red Eye has been tasked to defend Korea near the Devil’s Tower.]

Of course, that wasn’t the only news being spread.

Was it because Lee Gun’s bomb placed in Yang Wei had detonated successfully? The news that a monarch had taken damage also spread. The rumors of the victory flew around in no time.

It was all thanks to the Leo disciples who had been with Lee Gun.

[Lee Gun has dealt a blow to the unknown civilization.]

[It has been a long-cherished wish for the past twenty years. Will this be the chance to recover the lands of humanity?]

[Lee Gun is the center of attention.]

The news about Lee Gun turned the world on its head.

***

Hugo let out a sigh as he saw the news spreading. He was at a press conference room in the US. Of course, he was reacting to the news related to Lee Gun’s exploits.

[Hugo Otis has developed the Serpent Bearer’s power.]

[Is the Archer Saint leaving the Sagittarius temple?]

[The Archer Saint’s holy ground has turned into Lee Gun’s tower.]

[The Sagittarius temple seems to have moved under the umbrella of Lee Gun’s temple.]

Hugo looked like he wanted to die. Why were stories about him being spread like this?

Of course, the articles eventually issued a correction, but the Archer disciples spread across the globe were in an uproar. It was such a shocking piece of news. The high-ranking officers of the Sagittarius temple sent a flood of messages.

[Why? Why did you release the correction to the story, Saint-nim?]

[Do you realize how helpful it will be if we are affiliated with Lee Gun-nim!!!]

[That’s right! If we can convince Lee Gun-nim to publish a photo album with us, our temple will easily have enough money to cover five years’ worth of operating costs!!!]

Veins popped out on Hugo’s face. He had refused to leave the Sagittarius temple because of them, yet they were acting this way?

It didn’t matter for now.

‘Who was the one to stab Gun in the tower?’

The most likely suspect had been Kevin, but the culprit didn’t turn out to be him. Moreover, it wasn’t a problem that would end by finding that one person.

‘There is some bigger plan behind Gun’s death.’

Then there was the incident with the general of the unknown civilization. The general had received and used the power of the monarch, and it was reminiscent of a Zodiac Saint. This bothered Hugo.

‘It feels like the unknown civilization is using the same system as us.’

What was the reason for this? Soon, Hugo shook his head from side to side.

‘Gun said he’ll reclaim our land by kicking out the monarch. He said he’ll find the mastermind who orchestrated his stabbing.’

Since Lee Gun had restored his family, Hugo wanted to prioritize helping Lee Gun.

‘There is no future for humanity unless we drive out the unknown civilization.’

The poison of the unknown civilization was making the amount of land humans could live on scarcer.

‘Moreover, Gun is looking for something amongst the unknown civilization.’

At that moment…

[The Zodiac Saint contract with the Serpent Bearer has come to an end.]

[The Serpent Bearer’s blessing is done.]

“!”

Hugo’s provisional contract with Lee Gun ended, and the green light around his body disappeared.

The Sagittarius became happy when the original red energy started to appear around Hugo’s body.

[The Sagittarius says it knew this would happen.]

[The Sagittarius boasts its Zodiac Saint would never betray it.]

[It insists you complete the work you have failed to do until now.]

[It says there is a ton of make-up work to do.]

[It wants you to hurry up and bring it food.]

This angered Hugo.

Sssrng!

The Archer Saint took out the Serpent Bearer’s badge, which Lee Gun had given to him, and unsheathed the dagger halfway. The red energy surrounding Hugo shook as if it was despairing.

[The Sagittarius says it didn’t mean what it said.]

[You do not need to bring it food.]

[It will go find food for itself.]

[It asks, what do you want?]

[The Sagittarius’s treasures have descended.]

[Snack of the gods(SSS) has descended.]

[Beverage of the gods(SSS) has descended.]

[Zodiac’s Bed(SSS) has descended.]

[Zodiac’s Blanket(SSS) has descended.]

Hugo grinned when he saw the items pile up next to him.

‘This is still effective.’

At the same time, he wondered who would become Lee Gun’s Zodiac Saint.

‘If Gun weren’t the Zodiac, I wouldn’t have minded Yooha or Sungjae becoming the Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac Saint.’

There were some dubious parts about this, but it didn’t matter in the end.

‘Is he really thinking about picking Carly?’

For some odd reason, Hugo felt displeased when Lee Gun showed interest in other candidates. He grumbled.

“If he plans to choose her, I’d rather be his Zodiac Saint.”

Suddenly…

“It’s the Leo temple! The Leo Saint!”

Hugo stood up when he saw a familiar figure approaching him from far away.

“Are you going to the press conference? Are you going to reveal that Gun was the one who killed Red Eye, not you?”

“Yes. I plan on saying that we merely ran away from it.”

“The whole world will go crazy if you reveal that. Aren’t you afraid of the backlash that’ll come your way?”

Stevens started to sweat. In truth, he was afraid of how people would look at him, but he was more scared of Lee Gun. Lee Gun could toss him toward Red Eye.

At that moment, Stevens looked around. When he didn’t see Lee Gun, who had called him out here, he was puzzled.

“What the hell? Where is Lee Gun?”

“What? Where else?”

Stevens’s eyes turned round when Hugo answered the question.

“That’s crazy. Why did he go there?!”