Lee Gun, as well as everyone, was surprised by the face that had appeared.

“Jaewon!”

Hugo was also surprised by the man who had appeared from the summoning circle. Moreover…

“That person is….”

“Isn’t that Heiji?”

Lee Jaewon wasn’t the only one summoned. He was accompanied by Gemini Saint Heiji.

Lee Gun tilted his head in puzzlement. “Why the hell is she over there?”

She was Chun Sungjae’s old boss, a magician who used to be Lee Gun’s sworn enemy.

When Lee Gun had gotten rid of Pisces, he wanted to test the power of Oblivion and Confusion, so he had kept Heiji as a subordinate. Well, that wasn’t important right now.

“She was captured by the angels too?”

“All the existing Zodiac Saints were defeated by the new Zodiac Saints in some form or other.”

They had all gone missing, so their disciples were anxiously searching for them.

On the other hand, Hailey looked oddly guarded when Heiji made an appearance. She furrowed her fine brows. “It’s best if you don’t get close to Heiji.”

“?”

Lee Gun blinked at her unexpected words. He looked at Hailey. “Didn’t you guys bury her inside the Alps?”

“!”

Hailey flinched.

Lee Gun had gone through the trouble of turning Heiji into an ally using the power of Oblivion. Since they had purposefully buried Heiji, Lee Gun’s Constructs had to spend a lot of effort to look for the Gemini Saint.

“You buried her because you said the power of Oblivion didn’t work against her, right?”

Hailey flinched once again. She didn’t have the heart to say it; she had buried Heiji because Heiji dared covet Lee Gun. The Scorpio Saint could only sweat.

Lee Gun clicked his tongue. “I had to use Confusion on her too.”

“…!’

He hadn’t thought Hailey would bury Heiji without reason, so he had assumed Oblivion had failed on the Gemini Saint. This was why he had used Confusion’s power on her.

He didn’t care if Heiji attacked him, but it would be a problem if she held ill will toward the people around him.

Hailey sweated even more. 

Oblivious to this, Lee Gun vigilantly looked at Heiji. “Well, it seems that the effect of Confusion has already been broken.”

There was a reason Heiji was a Zodiac Saint. 

Lee Gun looked at Heiji using the Gaze of a God and saw that the effects of Confusion were gone.

It meant Heiji’s vicious temper, which had made Hailey bury her, had returned! Moreover, such a woman was standing with Jaewon?

“Did she join the side of the angels? Is she keeping Jaewon as a hostage?”

Lee Gun growled as he lifted Heaven’s Punishment. 

In contrast, Heiji blanched at the sight of him. “W-Why are you here?”

“Don’t change the damn subject. You stood by the Zodiacs while you betrayed me. Now you’re trying the same thing while you stick to the angels?”

“W-What?!” Dumbfounded, Heiji looked at Lee Gun. With an aggrieved expression, she quickly rushed toward Lee Gun and whispered, “I’m trying to get rid of Eden from the inside! I’m trying to protect you since you are the Zodiac of the earth!”

“You’re trying to trick me again. Why would you protect me? Did you get shot in the head?”

“That is…!”

Heiji was about to say something when Hailey’s eyes flashed. She got between the two. “She’s the enemy. She’s a cheat. She’s wicked. There is no reason to listen to her.”

“?!”

Heiji looked at Hailey, baffled. Hailey narrowed her brows a bit as she looked back at Heiji. 

Hailey knew Heiji had an interest in Lee Gun as a woman twenty years ago. She didn’t know what happened later, but the two had become sworn enemies. What about now?

‘I’m sure of it. Oblivion made her forget why they became sworn enemies.’

Hailey had no idea why the two had fought or what event precipitated their bad relationship. 

Now that Heiji’s bad memories of Lee Gun were gone, Hailey was sure Heiji’s interest in Lee Gun would resurface!

While both of them were Zodiac Saints, Heiji had always been bold. She was a woman who knew no shame! In fact, that woman had once tried to pounce on Lee Gun!

This was why Hailey felt she had to be like a brick wall in blocking Heiji from doing something very bold!

Yeonwoo’s brows also started to furrow as she sensed something similar to Hailey. 

“Well, it’s fine. I just have to take back Jaewon.”

“!”

Lee Gun raised Heaven’s Punishment toward Heiji as if he was telling her to not interfere. “Sungjae. I’ll take care of that woman. You take care of the angels.”

“Yes.”

At that moment…

Shweek!

“!!”

An arrow violently flew toward Sungjae. The one to shoot the arrow was Lee Jaewon!

Lee Gun looked at him in surprise. The magical energy infused into Lee Jaewon’s arrow was Heiji’s.

Sagittarius had become human, so the Archer disciples couldn’t use their magical energy. It seemed this was why he was borrowing power from Heiji, but…

‘Jaewon attacked Sungjae?’

“Did he become brainwashed after being taken by the angels?”

However, Lee Jaewon said something very unexpected. “Lee Gun-nim! You shouldn’t stay next to that person!”

“???”

“If you stay near him, you’ll be in danger!”

Lee Gun was dumbfounded. “Hey, Jaewon. You must not recognize him because he’s all grown. He’s Sungjae.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say! I’m not the one being controlled! Young Master is the one being controlled!”

What the hell?

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting…”

“The angels planned to let Young Master acquire the Demonic Sect Leader Divine status! It was done to offer Lee Gun-nim as a tribute to the Great Spirit of Eden! The civilians merely acted like they were converted! Lee Gun-nim, you will be in danger if you stay next to him!”

As if he had heard nonsense, Lee Gun turned to look at Chun Sungjae.

On the other hand, Chun Sungjae became angry. “There’s no way that is true! Jaewon Hyung is the one who was brainwashed! It should be obvious since he’s in league with the Gemini Saint! Moreover, Eden summoned you!”

“To regain the souls of Young Master and Hugo-nim, we just pretended to be on their side!”

Lee Gun’s eyes twinkled. “Is that so? Taeksoo’s soul is here?”

“Yes!”

Then, Lee Jaewon attacked the angels who had summoned them.

Pahng!

‘!’

Taken aback, the angels mounted a counterattack.

The two parties clashed against each other, creating enormous pressure and sending the nearby angels and residents flying.

“Koo-oohk!”

It seemed he had planned on using the wind pressure to send Chun Sungjae flying too, but Sungjae ground his teeth as he activated his defensive magic. “Uncle! Something’s wrong with Jaewon Hyung!”

“Lee Gun-nim! Don’t fall for it!“

At this point, Hugo was surprised too.

“Gun? Did you check their faith?”

“Both of them are over 100%, but faith is a useless indicator if they are brainwashed.”

“!”

Faith was something that existed deep within one’s soul. It didn’t matter if an outsider had brainwashed or manipulated the mind of a person. It was rare for one’s faith to change.

‘It doesn’t change unless one defects.’

If the faith was low, the probability of one defecting was high. However, above 100% faith, one was a fanatic. No ordinary brainwashing would work against them.

‘Those with faith of over 100% will lay down their lives if their god orders them to die.’

Basically, it was impossible to tell if mental manipulation and brainwashing had happened by looking at the quantity of faith.

Hugo felt conflicted. “Who’s telling the truth? Is it my son or Jaewon??”

“Uncle! Of course, Jaewon Hyung is brainwashed, so he’s trying to play both sides against us!”

“Lee Gun-nim! Don’t fall for it! Do you really think he could do missionary work within the base of the enemies?!”

Hugo was sweating. “Who is telling the truth?”

It was rare to see both Yeonwoo and Hailey taken aback.

“I can feel Hugo’s energy, but there is a certain logic to Jaewon’s words.”

“But I think Sungjae is capable of converting that many disciples.”

When the two of them seemed confused, Lee Gun gestured with his hand. “Ok. I understand. Both of you come here. I’ll sort this out.”

Chung Sungjae and Lee Jaewon immediately approached him.

“I swear on the heavens. I am not in league with Eden!’

“I swear too!”

“Yes. Don’t worry! I have a method that will sort this out.”

“What method— Kuhk!!!”

Lee Gun grabbed their heads and slammed them against each other.

Kwahng!!

He added his power behind the move, and it sounded as if heaven and earth were splitting.

Finally, Lee Jaewon and Chun Sungjae fell unconscious and hit the ground.

Hugo felt himself sweating. “You said you were going to sort them out? Were both of them brainwashed?”

“I have no idea. Who cares?” Annoyed, Lee Gun brushed off his hands. 

Hugo was at a loss for words.

‘Since he can’t tell the difference, he hurt both of them.’

“It’s fine. Hurry up and carry them. Why are you just staring?”

“?!”

The son was unconscious, and the father was being berated by Lee Gun.

Lee Gun turned to look at Heiji.

Heiji flinched when she saw the look in his eyes. She spoke as if to clear her conscience. “I-I did nothing. As proof, I brought Hugo’s soul with me.”

“You brought Taeksoo’s soul?”

When Lee Gun’s face got closer, Heiji’s face became slightly red as she said, “Yes. When I became conscious, I was in the den of the angels. I used this to my advantage to bring his soul. I had known about Hugo being sold at auction. I had overheard that his soul was ripped apart before he was sold.”

“You were kidnapped too?” Lee Gun tilted his head as if he found that odd.

‘The angels kidnapped the ones with high faith.’

Heiji had about 90% faith toward Gemini. She wasn’t someone the angels would covet.

Therefore, Lee Gun checked Heiji’s faith, but the results only increased his confusion.

[Serpent Bearer Faith 245%]

“???”

Her faith toward the Serpent Bearer temple was very high.

Lee Gun could merely blink.

‘What’s going on? I’m pretty sure Confusion’s effect on her was dismissed.’

Was she still under the Confusion skill without him knowing about it?

This made him suspicious. 

Lee Gun placed a finger on Hugo’s soul with anxiousness, an emotion he rarely showed.

“Are you sure you didn’t install a bomb on this?”

“Do you think I’m you?”

“I-I see.”

Heiji had brought out a marble letting out a subdued light.

The goddesses of fate had cut up Hugo’s soul, and this was one of the parts sold to the gods.

Hugo’s Divine status had been in Zeus’s palace. The useless human part of the souls was cut up into small pieces and sold. Unlike the Divine status, that part held Hugo’s memories and lifespan, the part that had been useless to Olympus.

‘This is the remaining 30%.’

It was something that Hugo should always have.

Lee Gun did a close assessment of the soul and handed it over to Hugo after confirming that the item was clean.

“Eat it. You will be able to recover your lifespan, memories, and power.”

When Lee Gun shoved it into Hugo’s mouth, Hugo was in pain.

“Oohp!”

Lee Gun and the slime were the same! It was to be expected since the slime was a creation of its master!

Would it kill them to do it in a more normal fashion?!

The fragmented soul passed through Hugo’s throat!

‘!’

Hugo became dazed.

[Pushover’s lifespan has returned to normal.]

[You have regained your lifespan.]

At the same time, Hugo saw something that he had never seen before in his life.

‘!’

They were the memories from his past life, which existed deep within his soul.

- Ahhk! Run!

- What the hell is he?

It was so long ago that it was called the time immemorial, a time when he had taken on a massive amount of Karmic debt.

- He is a monster that eats gods!

- Run!

- Shit! He’s too powerful! Our attacks don’t work against him!

Gods whom he had never seen before were running away. On the other hand, he was having fun killing these gods. He moved leisurely as he hunted them down.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

Poo-hahk!

Hugo had killed an unknown god and was joyously eating another. However, he shook when he saw the face of the god that he was eating. It was to be expected since the face looked very similar to Kevin’s.

‘Why is he here?’

Hugo was shocked, and he froze.

“…soo…! Hey! Oh Taeksoo!”

“!!”

Hugo became conscious when he heard Lee Gun’s voice.

Lee Gun asked, “Are you ok?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“Do you remember your son?”

When Lee Gun picked up the slumped Chun Sungjae, Hugo screamed. “Ahhhk! Sungjae!!!”

“Also, you promised to give thirty million won to each of us so that Sungjae can continue his fandom of me. Right?”

“Stop spouting nonsense!!!”

Lee Gun nodded. “Good. Your power and memories have returned.”

It was a very odd way to confirm that, but Lee Gun seemed oblivious to it. “Since I’ve found my nephew, let’s head back to the earth.”

“!”

At that moment, Lee Gun turned around. The fallen angels groaned, inwardly letting out sighs of relief.

‘Alright. He’s finally leaving.’

‘Let’s pretend to be unconscious.’

‘As soon as he leaves for the earth, we’ll inform our commander about this.’

If this news got into their commander’s ears, an all-out war would start.

‘Hurry up and go…’

“Hey.”

“!!!’

Lee Gun grabbed the angels by the hair and pulled up their heads. They dared pretend to be unconscious in front of him. “I have some questions for you guys.”

“…!!!”

“Of course, you’ll answer them, right?”

The angels shook when they saw Lee Gun’s glaring eyes.