“Oh. Is that so? The snake god is here?”

In Eden, Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army, smiled at the unexpected news. He was the one who had sent the angels to the earth.

Of course, he was merely registered as a Construct since Eden had only one god. It was their quirk.

When the head of Eden learned that Lee Gun had arrived on the earth, he coolly laughed.

“We have already invaded, so it matters not. We don’t have to pay attention to him.”

“However, the twelve Zodiacs… The Zodiacs of the earth have connections to Mahabharata, Olympus, Ennead, and Valhalla. They might try to intervene…”

While they had become independent, the twelve Zodiacs had belonged to the eight great forces.

Michael’s eyes flashed as he laughed. “No, that’s the reason they won’t be able to say anything. Do you realize how many bribes they took from Eden? They won’t dare.”

“…!”

“Of course, Mahabharata won’t do as we wish. However, Zodiacs steal each other’s colonies. That’s the rule.”

“!”

“Regardless, they aren’t ones to move when it comes to a small dimension.”

The Zodiacs of the Divine world were rulers who possessed territories, like feudal lords. They became stronger by possessing more quality territories. If others complained, the other Zodiacs could do the same thing.

“Instead of fighting the snake god in the Divine world, they should have stolen his territory first in a legitimate manner.”

“You’re correct, but I’m not sure the territory of a nameless god would help Eden…”

Michael laughed at his subordinate’s words. “The earth dimension was coveted by the monarchs. This was why the Zodiacs of earth developed the Faith and disciple system. In terms of offerings and faith generated, they are fantastic.”

A place like this was fit for their Great Spirit. They might be able to awaken their father from his deep sleep.

“Thankfully, Ennead trapped the owner of the earth inside the Dimensional Crack.”

He had never expected the rotten and cunning Great Spirit of Ennead to be of help to them.

‘Despite knowing our intentions, Ennead chose to trap the snake god inside the Dimensional Crack.’

Soon, Michael laughed. “It doesn’t matter. Carry on with our plan.”

“Then….”

They weren’t merely trying to steal the territory called the earth.

“The gods always need a battlefield.”

“!”

While the gods in the Divine world pretended to be aloof beings, they continued to slaughter each other until the smell of blood permeated from them.

However, none of them wanted to sully their own lands. They didn’t want to dispose of the corpses. No one was crazy enough to let others destroy their property. This was true for the colonies too.

‘A war shouldn’t be fought on your land. It should be fought on someone else’s land.’

“When the earth becomes connected to the Divine world and the other Dimensions, it’ll become the new battlefield for all the dimensional gods.”

Eden was merely the first one to place a post in this territory. That’s why the snake god should be thankful to them. Eden had made sure this isolated location would be a place of interest for the gods.

* * *

“So… My body was stored here?” Hugo looked into the room, dumbfounded. It was one of the larger rooms in the house, but Hugo became angry when he saw the state of the room. “Damn it! Why the hell was my study turned into a fan cave?”

This room used to belong to Hugo. It was a room where he conducted business as the Archer Saint.

“Ha ha ha. Since you weren’t here, Sungjae took it over…”

“He said his room was no longer enough…”

“When looking at how this house was built, he said this place had the best ambiance…”

This was true in terms of the wallpaper, cabinets, lighting, humidity, temperature, and interior design.

Hugo despaired; the room looked like a museum.

‘Should I be glad that he didn’t throw away my items?’

It seemed new product lines of Lee Gun had come out after Hugo’s death. There was a pile of items that he had never seen before.

Of course, the most problematic part was that not a single Hugo merchandise was there! He was the beloved father! Well, it didn’t matter.

“Why was my casket placed in this fanboy hangout?” Hugo pointed at his casket, which was placed in the corner.

When Lee Gun passed on what Hugo had said, Chun Jiwoo and Goat let out bright smiles. “We thought Lee Gun-nim would be able to protect you if you were placed here.”

“It was better than sticking you in the basement…”

“Young master Sungjae was generous enough to allow it.”

Hugo grabbed the back of his neck. Figurines were arranged on top of his casket as if they were defending it.

“Damn it! Why the hell was my casket placed here?”

“They told you why. This place was the safest.”

They had a point, but…!

“Damn it! Since he bought Gun’s limited edition items, he should have bought them for me too! How can he buy it for only himself!!”

Lee Gun ignored his friends as he headed toward the casket. “I'll return you to your body in no time. Just wait a bit—”

Lee Gun’s eyes turned round when he opened the casket. “What the hell? Where is he?”

Hugo’s body wasn’t inside the casket.

This surprised Goat and Chun Jiwoo.

“I checked while I was cleaning this place in the morning…!”

“I also checked every day…!”

Before he had departed for the Divine world, Lee Gun had used the data of Time to stop the time of Hugo’s body. It had been preserved, yet it was gone right now. They never expected this.

[Master, did Eden perhaps take it…]

Lee Gun furrowed his brows at the Construct’s words. The probability was high.

Although Hugo was worse(?) than him, he was nonetheless a Zodiac Saint of a fighting-type temple. His body would be a fantastic weapon of war!

Lee Gun’s eyebrows were about to twitch when…

“Hey, hey! Hurry! They are already here!”

“I want to, but the holy ground’s security became stronger when Lee Gun returned.”

“!”

Lee Gun’s eyebrows rose when he heard the voices behind the curtain.

Pahk!

“Ahhhk!!”

When he pulled aside the curtain, he saw unexpected faces, and his eyes turned round. The others were also surprised.

Goat became angry when he saw them.

“Those bastards…!!”

“Ahhhk! It’s the Ten Star of the Sagittarius temple!!”

Young male disciples had passed through the wall behind the curtain, in an attempt to get away with the stolen Hugo’s body. If one looked at their age and the clothes that they were wearing, their identity could be narrowed down.

“What the hell? They are the disciples of the eunuch?”

They were none other than the disciples of the Virgo temple. Originally, the holy ground of the Virgo temple only contained women. This had always bothered Kevin. So he had taken in male children, who had yet to go through their puberty as pageboys. These children were orphans from the war, who had nowhere to go.

Why were they here….

“Do you guys want to die? How dare you try to steal Taeksoo’s body!”

When Lee Gun grabbed their heads in a rough manner, the young boys started crying.

“L-Let me go! Who cares if you are a god? We know you’re in league with Eden, and you will get rid of us! You will kill us like how Kevin-nim was killed!”

“What?”

“Kevin-nim’s disciples and Constructs were all transferred to the new Zodiac Saint— Kuh-huhk!”

“You’re being rude, brats.”

The young boys, who took a beating from Lee Gun, continued to speak as they cried.

“That terrible Zodiac Saint won against Kevin-nim using an underhanded method!!”

Lee Gun knew something was off when he heard this. He furrowed his brows. “Virgo saw this and did nothing?”

“How the hell should we know? Maybe she received compensation from Eden or something!”

“You guys should know more since you went to the Divine world— Kuh-huhk!”

In the end, the children took a hellish beating, and Lee Gun dragged Hugo's body like a sack of rice.

When Lee Gun crooked his finger, Hugo approached him.

“What do you want— Koohk!!”

Lee Gun ruthlessly kicked Hugo, shoving him into his body.

Bbah-gahk!!

The incredible pain made Hugo almost want to vomit blood. He cursed, “Bastard! Why don’t you go a bit easy…!”

At the same time, he heard a scream full of unshed tears.

“H-Hugo-nim!”

“Husband!”

“…!”

Hugo became surprised by the sound he heard from his surroundings. It seemed he had returned to his own body.

Tears welled up in Chun Jiwoo’s eyes, and she was the first to hug him.

When Hugo felt the warmth from her body, he felt his eyes turn red. He had returned to the arms of his family. He felt it for sure at that moment.

The married couple called each other by name, about to have a tearful reunion. 

Pleased at this sight, Hugo said, “I’m glad that we are spending quality time with each other, but we still have a problem to solve.”

“What?”

“You might not be able to have your fourth child.”

“Excuse me?!!”

“What?! It wasn’t fixed?!”

To be precise, it was because Hugo didn’t have all of his memories.

‘He’s still lacking the part of his soul containing his memories.’

Lee Gun had gathered around 70% of Hugo’s soul. The remaining 30% was missing. Of course, he had tried to meddle with the fate of the goddesses of fate, to extend Hugo’s life span, but it hadn’t worked.

[The fate of the goddesses of fate cannot be changed.]

[Currently, Pushover has a life expectancy of twelve years.]

The remaining 30% of Hugo’s soul contained most of his memories and lifespan. Lee Gun had to find it. It was a must.

‘I’m sure one of the factions that wanted Taeksoo has it.’

This meant he’d come across them at some point. Therefore, although it was an urgent problem, it wasn’t a priority right now.

“What happened to the other Zodiac Saints?”

“!”

Goat’s eyes turned round when he heard Lee Gun’s question.

With a savage look in his eyes, he said, “I don’t see Sungjae, Yooha, and Jaewon.”

“That is…!” Goat had no idea where to start the story. In the end, he just started to talk.

“Miss Yooha chased after you, Lee Gun-nim, and we haven’t seen her since. Sungjae…”

Goat lowered his head. “Not too long after the angels made their appearance, Sungjae disappeared like a whirlwind.”

“What? He’s missing?”

“Yes. Also, Jaewon Hyung-nim was…” Goat spoke with a serious expression on his face. “As Lee Gun-nim probably knows, the new Zodiac Saints had made their appearance, and it spurred Jaewon Hyung-nim to take the seat of the Archer Saint.”

“What? Jaewon did that?”

Goat nodded. “Since they were trying to steal the seats of the Zodiac Saints, he thought I would be in danger as the temporary Zodiac Saint.”

In fact, the other Zodiac Saints had gone missing after suffering defeat at the hands of the new Zodiac Saints. Moreover, Lee Jaewon treasured the Archer disciples as if they were his young siblings.

“The seat of the Zodiac Saint was transferred to Jaewon Hyung-nim, and he fought against the new Zodiac Saints. Everything was going well. In fact, Jaewon Hyung-nim held the upper hand.”

It was a predictable outcome since Jaewon had learned his fighting techniques from Lee Gun and Hugo. He was their student.

However, things had taken an unexpected turn.

“During the fight, it was as if the spigot to his power was shut off. He couldn’t activate his magical energy or his skills…!”

“!!”

Lee Gun flinched as if he felt guilty. Hugo looked at Lee Gun with a doubtful expression.

“The magical energy of the Sagittarius was gone. In a flash, he became powerless. That’s why he lost… Koohk!”

Oh, no! Lee Gun started to sweat. He was sure of it.

‘It happened when I used Cycle to turn baldie into a human.’

A Zodiac provided power to his disciples, yet he had been turned into a human. As a disciple of the Sagittarius temple, Lee Jaewon’s abilities were sealed when Sagittarius underwent that.

Of all the times it could have happened, it had occurred during the fight, and Jaewon was unable to use his power.

‘The timing was….’

Hugo had the same realization, so he gave a side eye to Lee Gun.

Unaware of this, Goat lamented as he hit the ground. “Anyway, Jaewon Hyung-nim lost in such an unfair manner, and he was dragged away into the den of the angels…!”

He couldn’t be contacted. It was unclear as to whether he was alive or not.

Lee Gun felt a bit sorry. He scratched his cheek as he cleared his throat. “What about Yeonwoo? Do you know what happened to her?”

“She’s at the den of the enemies.”

Hugo became surprised when Chun Jiwoo spoke up.

“Was she captured…!!”

“No! She went there on her own.”

“!!”

“It seems she knew who we are fighting, so she went there to thrash them.”

Lee Gun nodded. “It’s fine if that’s what happened.”

Hugo was surprised by his reaction. “Are you sure you don’t have to intervene on behalf of Miss Yeonwoo?!”

“I have no plans of interfering. I’m not worried about her. In some ways, she is stronger than me.”

“What??”

Hugo was about to ask what he meant when Lee Gun spoke up.

“Let’s go find my Zodiac Saints first.”

Chun Jiwoo seemed worried as she whispered, “Excuse me, Lee Gun-nim. Miss Yeonwoo wanted me to tell you that our enemies are the angels, and they are very dangerous…”

His Constructs gulped as they whispered.

[Master, Eden is probably planning on awakening their Great Spirit.]

[They’ll be able to acquire a massive amount of tribute from the earth.]

[Moreover, the humans of the earth are uniquely vulnerable against Eden.]

[From what we’ve heard, they are even planning on laying hands on Pushover’s past life…]

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

Lee Gun laughed instead of giving an answer.

* * *

Around that time, in Asia…

“Hurry up and move! We have to move the goods of the earth to Eden using the Dimensional door!”

The angels of Eden were using their gate to send humans of the earth to colonies belonging to Eden. In other words, they planned on exporting manpower. It was to be expected since the earth was full of outstanding awakened beings.

The angels of Eden planned on sending the existing awakened beings to their colonies as laborers. The angels asked questions.

“Things are going smoothly, but is it ok for us to secretly take the earth first?”

“It’s a bit suspicious. That’s why we have to transport everything before Valhalla comes. This place will turn into a sea of fire.”

“A sea of fire?”

“Yes. The supreme commander is going to use Pushover to turn this place into a sea of fire. It’ll allow Valhalla to bring that plant.”

“Then we’ll have to hurry up and take all the meat on this bone.”

“Yes. I heard the quality of humans here is top-notch. I think they are called disciples.”

These two angels were in charge of exporting manpower. As watchmen, they were moving the selected humans.

Flash!

Suddenly, a light appeared from the Dimensional door, and a woman appeared before them.

The angels laughed, since it was a familiar energy.

“That’s the energy of the goddess of wisdom and war. Aren’t you Athena?”

“What the hell? I thought the gods of Olympus turned into humans and went to lift the curse. Did you already solve that problem and come here?”

“That’s great. We planned on calling for you guys—”

The angels were surprised when they saw the woman step out from the light.

“Y-You are—”

They didn’t even have time to be surprised. The figure surged into the sky, and her eyes flashed. In a blink of an eye, lightning fell from the sky.

Flash!

The head of the two angels burst open.

Poo-hahk!!!

The woman who had instantly killed the angels dusted off her hands.

“You bastards are begging for death.”

It was Yooha, who had eaten the Divine status of Athena.