“This is crazy…!”

The archangels cursed under their breaths as they met eyes with the beasts.

Standing before them were the Cluders!

The angels were surprised. Although this location looked similar in appearance, it wasn’t their colony.

The young man next to Michael noticed where this was and immediately said, “Michael! From the looks of them, we seem to be inside the territory of the monarchs!”

“Even a blind man can see that, idiot!” Michael quickly summoned his sword. “What are you looking at, idiots? Let’s head back right now!!”

They desperately moved toward the gate and caught sight of the ten thousand angels who had followed them.

Poo-hahk!!

“Kahhk!!!”

Poo-hahk!”

“Ahhk!”

“Kuh-huhk!”

As if they were offended that the angels had the audacity to try to head back, the monsters instantly went for the throat of the angels.

Many of these monsters looked like beasts on all fours; some even looked like insects and octopuses.

“M-Michael-nim… Ahhk!!”

The angels were bitten and dragged away by their necks, their arms ripped off and their stomachs ripped open. 

The angels had been crowded around the gate, and it instantly turned into a scene of pandemonium.

Michael ground his teeth as he quickly stabbed his sword into the ground and put up a barrier. “Kill the ones inside the barrier!”

Flash!

While the monsters could no longer get close to them, they were small fries. But one being there was important.

[Look who it is. It’s the high and mighty ancient birds and their sparrows.]

“…!”

It was none other than a monarch.

The angels glared at the being when they felt an energy from it that could rival a Great Spirit.

‘They are the damn gluttonous pirates.’

They used their words, appearances, scents, and traps. By any means necessary, they lured and violated the souls and bodies of their prey. They were terrors.

[Did you guys come on your own so that we can eat you?]

“Shut up! You guys are mere insects who only think about eating and playing around, so how dare you…!”

They were stupid and vulgar looters, yet they dared to challenge gods with deep history.

Michael glared at them, but restrained himself. If they fought against the monster, the angels were the only ones who would suffer.

“What are you doing?! Open the gate again!”

“We cannot return, Michael. The gate is closed.”

“What?”

“The ark isn’t responding to us. Someone might have meddled with it.”

Michael expressed his annoyance. “Which psychotic bastard is responsible for this…!”

Michael swore toward the heavens since he realized who the culprit was. “This is why I wanted to burn all the snakes in the Divine world!!”

It had to be the doing of Lee Gun. He must have messed with the address of the teleport to screw over Eden. The archangel was sure of it.

However, this also raised a question. Something was off.

‘The only ones who can manipulate the ark are the Great Spirits and the ones given permission to use it—the archangels.’

However, Michael soon clicked his tongue. “Whatever. We’ll get rid of these green monarchs, then move.”

Koo-goo-goohng!

“!”

Suddenly, the ground started to shake.

The monarch, who was located in the innermost location, started to move.

‘…!’

The monster with the enormous body started to shrink and walked out as a silver-haired man.

Michael and Raphael started to sweat when they saw him.

‘That bastard is…!’

Each monarch was beautiful. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to compare them to the god of beauty.

They were like insect-eating plants. They maintained a flamboyant appearance as they played with their prey.

Of course, those monarchs were no threat to Michael, who was in the same rank as the Great Spirit.

‘Isn’t he Wind of the “first generation”…!’

The monarchs ranged from the first generation to the third generation.

The ones who had invaded the earth were considered the youngest monarchs. This included Time, Confusion, Negligence, Abyss, and Abundance.

They weren’t weak, but Michael existed since the primordial days. He was there when the Divine world was being built. He was one of the elders.

While the monarchs were powerful, the ones born several hundred years ago were cubs. Michael wasn’t someone who would fall to such beings.

‘However, the first-generation monarchs were the ones to tear apart the Primordial god.’

In other words, they were unimaginably powerful.

[This is great timing. The clever Time died, so I was having a hard time caring for the young ones. Ancient birds like you guys will make great nutrition.]

“…!!”

[Since all the baby monarchs died, we plan on growing a new batch.]

Michael and Raphael felt goosebumps break out when they matched eyes with him. Gods were tasty prey to the Cluders. The Cluders obsessed over them as food.

Flash!

The eyes of the second-generation monarchs, who had been assisting Wind in growing the baby monsters, flashed.

[Eat them.]

The sounds of bones being crushed rang out alongside the screams of the angels.

Kwang!

“Ahhhk!!”

Ooh-doo-doohk!!!

“That damn snake bastard!”

“Do you think we’ll let you do as you please— Kuhk!”

The monarchs ruthlessly bit into Michael.

Michael cursed as his arm was ripped away.

* * *

Lee Gun looked at the Zodiac Saints with an odd expression.

‘The Zodiac Saints aren’t supposed to be able to use their skills without the magical energy of the Zodiacs.’

It meant a god was providing them with power. An unknown presence was sending them power, and for some reason, it smelled similar to Hailey. Why would the energy smell similar to Hailey's?

However, something was more pressing at that moment.

Kwahng!!!

“Annihilate the Sagittarius temple! Annihilate the entire population! I’ll bring all of them in as disciples of the Serpent Bearer temple!”

“I’ll be the one to become the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer temple!”

“It seems I have to break their brainwashing first.” Lee Gun cracked his knuckles as he looked at Lee Jaewon and Chun Sungjae, who had lost their minds.

On the other hand, Hugo desperately grabbed his subordinate, who was trying to become the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer temple by getting rid of Sungjae. “Ahhk! Jaewon! Come to your senses! That’s Sungjae! Sungjae!”

“Hugo-nim also went to the Serpent Bearer temple by yourself!’

“W-What?”

“You probably didn’t care what happened to the Sagittarius temple!”

Hugo was hurt by those words. “Jaewon! You said you treasured the Sagittarius temple the most. You said you never even thought about leaving the Sagittarius temple… How can you say that? You and I protected the Sagittarius temple together….!”

“Bring down the Sagittarius temple!!!”

“?!”

“I’ll become the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer temple!!”

Hugo looked at Lee Jaewon as if he couldn’t believe those words.

Lee Jaewon shouted, “Lee Gun-nim never even offered me a chance! Not even once!”

“What? How about this? Do you want to become the Zodiac of the Sagittarius temple?”

“I won’t take the Sagittarius temple even if you give it to me!”

“What? Then you want to become the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer temple? If you win against Sungjae, I’ll give it to you.”

“I am so honored!!!”

When Lee Jaewon rushed forward, Hugo despaired. “It…It seems he really wanted to be the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer temple…”

Lee Jaewon had always laughed, saying why would he go to the Serpent Bearer temple. He always said the Sagittarius temple was the most important to him. It seemed that wasn’t true at all.

Lee Gun cracked his knuckles as he left behind Hugo, who was feeling a sense of betrayal.

“Jaewon Hyung…! Are you really going to hit me?” Chun Sungjae put on a sad face, making Lee Jaewon flinch.

At the end of the day, Lee Jaewon had helped raise Sungjae since he was a baby. So he hesitated.

Kwahng!!!

However, Chun Sungjae immediately kicked Lee Jaewon and sent him flying.

Chun Sungjae cheered, his earlier demeanor nowhere in sight. “Wow! This makes me the sole sect leader of the Serpent Bearer temple! No, I’m the pope! I’ll be the one to serve Uncle!”

Bbah-gahk!!

“Huh-huhk…!”

A light sliced through the air, and Sungjae skidded across the ground. Someone had kicked Chun Sungjae.

The eyes of Lee Gun and Hugo turned round when they saw a familiar face.

“Yooha?”

Yes, the newcomer was none other than Yooha, who had eaten a Divine status. However, they were surprised for an entirely different reason.

“That Divine status feels like…”

“Doesn’t it belong to Athena, whom we saw in the Divine world?”

“Is it fake?”

It didn’t matter if Hugo and Lee Gun’s Constructs were surprised or not. Yooha stepped on her brother. “Do you want a beating? I’m the pope. Also, who’s this good for nothing?”

“Sungjae.”

Yooha seemed shocked since her brother was bigger than her.

“Gross! He wasn’t cute before, but he’s less cute now! Why did he grow so much?”

Chun Sungjae had grown into a figure that would be popular with the masses, but Yooha seemed to prefer her smaller brother.

“Yooha is here too. This is great!”

“!”

Vince’s eyes flashed as he had come here to become the new Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer.

“Lee Gun-nim! Let me fight Chun Yooha with the new seat on the line— Kuh-huhk!”

Lee Gun struck Vince’s head.

Kwahng!!!

It felt as if there was an earthquake as Vince fell to the ground. 

“I don’t need a dude.”

Blood flowed freely from Vince’s head, but Lee Gun ignored him. He looked at Yooha. “How did you acquire Athena’s Divine stats, Yooha?”

“Virgo told me how to conquer it.”

“Oh. Virgo did that?” Lee Gun laughed as if he was amused. Since she possessed the Divine status of a pillar god, she would be an incredible force for him.

“Should I give the Divine statuses of Zeus, Ares, or Hermes to Sungjae and Jaewon?”

“What about me?!”

“You already have one. You’re Hugo-rodite.”

“That’s… Damn it. I want a different one!” Hugo looked at him with an expectant gaze, yet Lee Gun completely ignored him.

He grabbed, then lifted the head of the fallen Vince. It might have to do with the appearance of Yooha. She possessed the Divine status of Athena, so Lee Gun could see something entirely different from Vince’s body.

[The goddess of wisdom and war Athena’s Divine status has influenced you. It has revealed the enemy’s scheme.]

It was a light that looked like a rope. This was similar to how a Zodiac was connected to one’s Zodiac Saint. The new Zodiac Saints seemed to be connected to someone who was sending them power.

‘I wonder who’s providing power to the new Zodiac Saints.’

They might be the reason the earth falls after twenty years. If he found out who his opponents were, he might be able to get rid of the brainwashing from Sungjae and Jaewon.

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed as he activated the Pond skill. A shadow surged up from the ground to encircle him.

He was following the rope connected to Vince and teleporting toward his opponent.

Flash!

Lee Gun arrived at an unknown location. He looked at his surroundings. It was as large as outer space, yet at the same time, it was an enclosed space.

Lee Gun flinched when he turned his head. 

‘That is…’

A beautiful woman was imprisoned in this space. The woman wasn’t a god or a human. However, that wasn't why Lee Gun was surprised.

‘Who is she? She looks like Hailey.’

Moreover, she was being guarded by gods who stole her power.

‘The ones guarding her… Eden and Ennead?’

Lee Gun smirked.

* * *

After Lee Gun had disappeared into Vince’s body, Hugo entered his home as he held onto the unconscious Sungjae and Jaewon.

His wife was close to giving birth, so she was resting inside. She had been piecing together a Lee Gun figurine with Yooha.

Since Hugo was waiting for Lee Gun to come back, he decided to go to his wife. Then…

Flash!!!

“!”

Light erupted from the ceiling, and something fell to the ground.

Koohng!

Hugo was surprised to see what they were.

“You!”

The fallen objects turned out to be bloodied angels! There were three of them.

It was unclear who had attacked them, but their wounds looked similar to the ones left behind by monsters.

“H-Huh-uhk!! We barely succeeded…!”

“Damn snake god! Where is he?”

“Raphael-nim! Please wake up!”

“Damn it! He was protecting us…!”

“Michael-nim is still there!”

At a glance, they looked to be high-rank angels.

Hugo approached them in surprise.

“That bastard is…!”

When the angels became guarded against Hugo, he furrowed his brows as he grabbed their arms.

He didn’t want them to enter his home while they smelled like blood.

“I’ll give you guys recovery potions. Just get out of my house—”

“Get off me, you dirty Cluder!”

“!”

The angel spurned Hugo’s hand, contemptuously looking at Hugo.

“How dare a dirty monarch shamelessly act like a human?”

“Right! Where is the snake god? Bring him here right now!”

What did they just say?