This chair was an exquisite and stylish throne.

At a glance, it looked transparent like ice, but it was letting out a subdued light. The identity of who had sculpted it was unknown, but it didn’t look like an item of this world.

Hugo became sure of something.

‘It is a Seat of power.’

Was it because it hadn’t been released yet? The chair was smaller than the one Sagittarius possessed, but it obviously was a Seat of power. It was a special holy item possessed only by the 13 Zodiacs, a treasure that signified the ownership of a temple.

Of course, countless temples existed around the world, but only the 12 Zodiacs used the Seats of power as a symbol of ownership.

The rest used rings, keys, jewels, swords, and other varieties of items as symbols of their ownership. 

These items were like children’s toys compared to the Seats of power with all their functions. They merely provided buffs that allowed one to raise one’s power.

The Seats of power, on the other hand, chose their owners. They were the only ones that allowed a Zodiac to grow through the disciple system.

However, that wasn’t important right now.

‘Why is this here?’

At a glance, Lee Gun could sense the magical energy of the Serpent Bearer from the chair. Moreover, the person in front of him had said to deliver this chair to the Serpent Bearer. That meant…

“Is this perhaps the Serpent Bearer’s Seat of power?”

Yeonwoo looked at Hugo as if he was asking something obvious and nodded.

Hugo’s face froze. “Really? This is the Serpent Bearer’s Seat of Power?”

Nod!

“Really…?”

Nod, nod!

“Really????”

Yeonwoo tilted her head in puzzlement. She was asking him what was wrong.

Hugo screamed as if he felt aggrieved. “Damn it! I got sucked into this place for some random chair?!!”

The item he had protected and got sucked into the trap for was the “Armchair that’s good for the back.”

Hugo clutched at his face. “Gun!! That bitch!!”

He had been sure that, that chair was the Serpent Bearer’s Seat of power since Gun had made the call himself!

“Why the hell would he place a trap over something that isn’t a Seat of power?!”

Without that misunderstanding, he wouldn’t be going through all this trouble!

In fact, Hugo was embarrassed. It was pathetic that he had tried to defend that chair with his life. On the other hand, he could meet this person because he had come here.

Hugo glanced at Yeonwoo, then turned to the Seat of power. After his brief mental breakdown was over, he was puzzled. “Why is this here?”

When the woman before him heard that, she looked a bit sad. She extended her hand to tap Hugo’s forehead.

Hugo screamed. A strange sight unfolded in front of his eyes. It looked like a scene from the past.

‘This is the inside of a department store.’

It was probably twenty-four years ago.

As a fire was swallowing up the store, a man approached Hugo.

- I had a hard time finding you.

However, this man wasn’t human. Although it looked human, it resembled Jean-Louis. In reality, it was a monster and not a normal one.

‘Monarch!’

This monster was unlike Abundance, who had entered a human’s body. It was letting out an extremely dangerous energy.

Moreover, this being was the one that had appeared in the future that Hugo’s skill had shown him.

‘It’s the one that made an appearance after Yooha and Sungjae were killed. It destroyed my temple.’

Soon, the being’s underling spoke to it.

- Oh, Time. We found her.

Hugo’s eyes flashed.

‘Time? That bastard is time?’

This monarch was the main culprit responsible for what had happened to the thirteenth.

‘It’s the owner of the Devil’s Tower, and it’s the one that carried out experiments on Gun there.’

Hugo ground his teeth as his friend had suffered a lot in that place.

‘He suffered so much that he startled just from me bumping into him.’

That wasn’t important right now.

- I need the power of Cycle that the thirteenth possesses. It seems you can’t use that power, so I want you to take out your Seat of power.

- !

- If I take possession of the Seat of Power, I could probably become the thirteenth Zodiac.

Hugo assumed this was Yeonwoo’s vantage point. Yeonwoo shook her head from side to side when she heard Time’s words.

Her limbs had been torn apart. Since she was a normal human, she couldn’t use her power.

Time laughed at her.

- I knew you wouldn’t take it out easily. I’ll just have to convince you to take it out.

Hugo was surprised as he heard the terrifying laughter. A familiar face was summoned next to Time.

‘Gun!’

It was Lee Gun in his youth. However, he looked the same as his current self. The only difference between this version of Lee Gun and his current self was that he looked kind back then, almost angelic.

Time laughed

- You acted as if you came here alone, but this man is a part of your party, right?

- …!!

The owner of the viewpoint was flustered. She desperately tried to take back Lee Gun. However, Time just grinned as it gestured with its hand.

At the gesture, an eye-less fog monster swallowed Lee Gun. It was Oblivion.

However, Oblivion immediately spat Lee Gun back out. For some odd reason, Oblivion was in pain after swallowing Lee Gun. 

However, this didn’t change the dangerous situation. The owner of the viewpoint despaired, while Time laughed in satisfaction.

- Hand it over. Give me the thirteenth’s Seat of power.

At this moment, the owner of the viewpoint laughed. She didn’t have the slightest intention of handing over the owner’s item to the monarch. And since she couldn’t use her abilities, she seemed to have come up with a different way of solving this problem.

An incredible light surged forth. Accompanying the light, the dying Lee Gun came back to life. However, the owner of the viewpoint lost her ability after saving Lee Gun. She fell into Tartarus.

The recollection ended there.

Hugo took a deep breath as he opened his eyes. The woman in front of him had moved her hand away.

Hugo immediately realized what had happened. “You were the one who awakened Gun?”

It wasn’t just a simple awakening.

‘She handed over her power.’

Yeonwoo, whom Lee Gun had spoken about, was the thirteenth Zodiac. She hadn’t simply handed over her power.

‘She handed over her entire Divine status.’

In other words, she had transferred the power of a god. The reason was simple. She wanted to save Lee Gun.

‘She hadn’t awakened yet, so she hadn’t been able to use the power of the Serpent Bearer.’

Since she possessed Divine status, she didn’t die easily after having her limbs torn apart. However, she couldn’t manifest the skill that allowed her to heal someone else. And if she had left Lee Gun like that, he would have died within minutes.

‘That was why she passed her Divine status to him.’

The Serpent Bearer had the power of Life. Just having the Divine status allowed it to recover to a certain degree. 

On the other hand, handing over one’s Divine status was problematic. Normally, one had to go through the official succession process. However, Yeonwoo had been the thirteenth Zodiac, who had yet to awaken. So she didn’t have the qualification to do so.

‘That was why she made a contract with the Divine world.’

Zodiacs borrowed and used the great Primordial Power. With it, passing along the Divine status was possible.

However, Primordial Power didn’t transfer the Divine status for free.

‘As a price for transferring the Divine status, she became a slave.’

It seemed the method of awakening herself to revive Lee Gun from the dead wasn’t possible. The reason behind it was unknown. However, if it had been possible, she wouldn’t have handed over her Divine status.

Anyway, it was probably the reason Yeonwoo was in this place.

Yeonwoo seemed to have read Hugo’s expression. She shook her head as she laughed.

[I could have paid the price of handing over the Divine status in Talents. The problem was the Seat of power.]

When the Divine status was passed on, the Seat of power had to be handed over too. However, Yeonwoo knew Lee Gun couldn’t take the Seat of power. At the time, the Serpent Bearer hadn’t been whole.

So, to protect Lee Gun, she had lost her Divine status. However, Time had been insistent on stealing away the Seat of power.

At that moment, Yeonwoo had thought of a way through which she would be able to protect the Serpent Bearer’s Seat of power.

‘I have to go to a place where no one can come after me.’

[Monarchs and Zodiacs can’t enter Tartarus unless they become slaves. They can’t track me down either.]

In addition, she needed temporary power. This power had to be equivalent to the Divine status that she had lost.

That was why she had made another contract with Primordial Power, and the price she paid was for her to become a slave in her afterlife.

She asked for a power that would allow her to protect the Seat of power here until the time was right.

Hugo’s mouth fell open when he heard the story.

‘This is why the Seat of power is here with this person.’

Yeonwoo spoke.

[Since the Zodiac of the Serpent Bearer’s temple has appeared, I have to give him the Seat of power. I just never found the opportunity to do so.]

Hugo flinched. Was this the reason he had been dragged into this place?

[No. It was a coincidence. I had no idea if you could even come here.]

“Really?” Hugo looked skeptical.

Yeonwoo laughed as she replied.

[I can trust Hugo-nim. Please deliver this to him for me.]

Hugo let out a sigh. “I’m sorry! You will have to hand it to him instead of me—”

At that moment…

[Ahhhhk! What the hell is this chair?]

“?!”

Yang Wei had crawled out of the river and instantly fallen for the Seat of power. He ran toward it. Since he had lost his memory, he had no idea what a Seat of power was, yet he hugged it.

[I don’t know what this is, but it is something incredible! I have to sell it right now!!!]

“Really!! It isn’t for sale!”

[What? Why isn’t it on sale? I don’t know who you are, but you’re dumb. I don’t know what this is, but I have to sell it right— Kuhk!]

Hugo beat down Yang Wei, who was trying to steal the Seat of power. “Sleep a little longer, bastard!”

When Hugo knocked down Yang Wei…

[Can you not hear me, Taeksoo?]

“!”

Lee Gun’s voice came from the sky once again. Hugo looked up in surprise, but Lee Gun’s power was severed soon.

Yeonwoo immediately realized what had happened.

[This place is so deep that a Zodiac cannot come here. We have to ascend to a place where the power of a Zodiac can reach us.]

Hearing that, Hugo quickly placed his hands on the Seat of power. The throne let out a light and transformed into a small cube. It moved into his pocket.

Taken aback, Hugo looked at Yeonwoo. “Let’s go up together. Gun probably found a way for us to escape this place.”

However…

[It’s a Seat of power!]

[My god! It’s a Seat of Power!]

“!!!”

Koo-goo-goong!

Did they smell the scent of the throne? The entirety of Tartarus—the black sky, the black land, and the black river—shook. Accompanying the incredible earthquake, a loud sound rang out.

[Hand over the Seat of Power!]

[It’s an empty Seat of Power!!!]

[With it, we can bring forth the power of a Zodiac!!!]

“!!”

It couldn’t be compared to before when the slave gods had appeared. The enemies before them right now were on a different level.

‘Shit!’

It wasn’t just slave gods from the floor of torture. The gods from the other floors had smelled the Seat of power, and the sound of them rushing toward Hugo reverberated everywhere.

Kwah-jeek!

A hand suddenly appeared below Hugo.

“Shit!”

Yeonwoo quickly gestured with her hand. As an incredible light flashed, the hand screamed. To protect the Seat of power, Yeonwoo had received Primordial Power.

[The condition of protecting the Seat of power has come to an end.]

[The condition has been satisfied. The contract has been finalized.]

[The power given to you on a contract basis will be recovered.]

[It will disappear in around one minute.]

Hugo was surprised by the voice coming from the sky. 

Yeonwoo laughed as she had expected this. From the beginning, she had planned on sending only Hugo and the Seat of power from here.

She knew she couldn’t leave this place, and she knew the gods wouldn’t stand back and let her send the throne into the outside world.

Therefore, Yeonwoo slapped Hugo’s arm, and Hugo’s body became airborne. She planned on sending him to the upper floors where Lee Gun’s power could reach him.

Then, Yeonwoo used the last of her powers to hold back the enemies. 

This surprised Hugo. “W-Wait a moment!”

There was no way he could leave behind Yeonwoo. He extended his hand. “No! We have to go together.!!”

“!”

Hugo managed to grab Yeonwoo’s arm, but he soon lost his grip.

‘No.’

However, when Hugo was about to be sent flying into the sky, an incredible light fell from the sky. The light surrounded two people. No, it surrounded three people.