Why was he acting so suspiciously?

Lee Gun’s expression was a sight to behold as he looked at Hugo. Hugo had never acted like this before. For some odd reason, Hugo was trembling as he looked at him.

‘Why the hell is he acting this way?’

In fact, Hugo was unable to meet his eyes. He looked afraid of being in the same place as him.

Naturally, sparks flew from Lee Gun’s eyes. His best friend looked like he had a guilty conscience and was especially afraid of him.

‘Did he eat Michael?’

Hadn’t the Red Monarch said this would happen? She had said Hugo’s instincts and memories would surface. She had also said it would cause great danger to the gods and humanity. 

No one needed to tell Lee Gun who had been here.

‘Great Spirit-rank angel.’

Moreover, only two out of the five Archangels were left. And Raphael had been killed, so that left only one!

‘It’s Michael.’

That bastard’s corpse was missing, and Hugo was shaking in front of Le Gun’s presence. It meant…

“Hey, did you…” Lee Gun wanted to ask if Hugo had eaten the angel because his instinct as a monarch surfaced. 

However, it was as if Hugo had already made up his mind about what was going to be said. 

“No!! I’m not a monarch!!!” he screamed, knowing that Lee Gun thought of him as a monarch.

‘I’m sure of it! He thinks I’m a monster!’

Clank!

“!!”

Lee Gun summoned the menacing Heaven’s Punishment, making Hugo scream. “Whether or not that is true, I just have to test something out.”

Hugo turned pale from fright. He was sure of it. Lee Gun didn’t care if he was a friend or not. Lee Gun wanted to rip him apart and kill him immediately after finding out his identity! There was no mistaking it!

‘Of course, I can understand why he wants to!’

Although the gods had been involved, the monarchs were the reason his family had been ruthlessly killed. Lee Gun had suffered pain and humiliation for twenty years because of the monarchs!

In other words, Lee Gun wouldn’t be satisfied even if he killed all the Cluders! So, he would naturally lose his mind since a Cluder had been by his side!

‘Shit! I should have denied it!’

Lee Jaewon also became pale from fright when he saw the look in Lee Gun’s eyes. He quickly grabbed Lee Gun. “You can’t, L-Lee Gun-nim!”

Lee Gun glared at him. “Whatever! What did you guys do here?”

“What? That’s… Hugo-nim and I are cleaning this place.”

Lee Gun contemptuously laughed. “Clean? You guys killed an angel here. Are you guys erasing the evidence?”

“!!”

Hugo and Lee Jaewon were surprised. They felt their heart sink.

‘We hid the energy so that we wouldn’t be found out…!’

It seemed the mighty Lee Gun couldn’t be fooled.

Lee Gun furrowed his brow. “Why are you hiding it?”

“That is…!”

When Hugo hesitated, Lee Gun clicked his tongue. 

Seeing this, Lee Jaewon became desperate. He quickly lowered his head and shouted, “I’m sorry! Lee Gun-nim, we thought that if you found out about Hugo-nim, you would try to kill him!!!”

Still holding Heaven’s Punishment, Lee Gun furrowed his brow as if he was insulted. “I won’t kill him, idiot. Why would I do that?”

“Lee Gun-nim, your words and actions don't match right now! Ahhk!”

Heaven’s Punishment fell in front of Hugo.

Kwah-jeek!

Hugo was barely able to dodge it. His face turned pale as he froze.

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed as he told Hugo to stop dodging like a mouse. “Don’t move, idiot. I’m just testing out if I can keep you by my side or not.”

Hugo soundlessly screamed when the ax blade was lifted high into the air. 

See! Lee Gun was really trying to kill him!

* * *

- What? Why is Hailey your cat?

Yeonwoo recalled the incident with Lee Gun. In truth, she had been curious about this part for a while.

She knew Hailey was one of the thirteen Zodiacs and his comrade. However, Lee Gun didn’t look at Hailey as a simple colleague.

Moreover, Yeonwoo had witnessed it at times even in the Divine world. Lee Gun treasured Hailey, and he had referred to her as his cat. This confused Yeonwoo. If she were being honest, it made her feel uneasy!

This was why Yeonwoo decided to be direct. She had asked Lee Gun about Hailey, and he had told her an unexpected story.

- Do you remember when we were students? When I left the orphanage first to live on my own? Do you remember the cat that I had?

- Ah! That… It was a female black cat, right?

Back then, Lee Gun had picked up an injured kitten. Yeonwoo remembered that he had raised the kitten as if she was the apple of his eye.

Could it be? Was it Hailey?

- She was hurt, so she involuntarily was sent back from the future. She arrived in front of our house. Moreover, she was in that form because she had lost her power.

- Then…!

- Afterward, she looked after us. She made sure we weren’t attacked by the monsters.

At this point, Yeonwoo had a realization. She understood why Hailey had become a Zodiac Saint despite being a Cluder.

‘It had to do with Gun.’

At the time, Lee Gun had been a normal human, and Hailey had continuously tried to protect him from the other Cluders. She had done it from a place where others couldn’t see.

However, Time and the monarchs had then attacked the earth in earnest, and Hailey had realized there was a limitation in protecting Lee Gun from the shadows.

In reality, Scorpio had approached Hailey when Hailey had found it harder to stay next to Lee Gun.

Of course, it was unclear if Lee Gun was aware of this, but Yeonwoo knew this to be true.

‘Gun is interested in Hailey.’

It had always been like this. Lee Gun had been a child who would get obsessed and attached to anything that was his.

This was why Yeonwoo felt a bit anxious.

‘Does he like Hailey?’

On the other hand, Yeonwoo had no idea what she was to him. She had been his closest friend and family until she had died, but…

‘He might just think of me as an older sister…’

Yeonwoo despaired. Of course, something else also worried her.

‘On that day, Gun was eaten by Oblivion.’

She was concerned about the day she had died. When Lee Gun had been eaten by Oblivion, all sorts of emotions had been eaten too.

Basically, Lee Gun had lost a couple of emotions, and the effects from that time still affected him. ‘It also might have to do with his desire for revenge…’

While it would break her heart, Yeonwoo didn’t care who he chose. She just wanted Lee Gun to return to the time when he had been full of emotions.

“Hey, Yeonwoo. I might have found Junwoo.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes. I’m pretty sure he is in Valhalla. I’ll get him back in short order.”

Lee Gun had laughed as he stroked her face.

Yeonwoo blushed when she remembered that scene.

‘As expected, I don’t want to lose him to someone else…’

At the end of the day, she wanted to go back to the days when she was able to live with Lee Gun. She would be happy if that happened.

The problem was that some beings were trying to get in the way of that.

‘The ones who want the Creators are closing in.’

In the past they had disappeared when they were unable to find Aslan’s body, but what if they were targeting Lee Gun now?

Yeonwoo’s gentle eyes turned sharp.

At that moment…

“Miss?”

“Miss Yeonwoo!”

“!”

Yeonwoo turned her head in surprise.

It was Chun Jiwoo, who held her third child next to Yeonwoo. “You don’t look so good, Miss Yeonwoo. Are you ok?”

They had exited the hospital and were heading home. The taxi held Jiwoo, Yooha, Yeonwoo, and Jiwoo’s father, and they were about to arrive home.

“Ah. Yes. I’m fine—”

Kwahng!!

“!!”

When the sound of an explosion could be heard from the house, everyone was surprised.

“What is going on…!”

They quickly went into the house and were surprised.

“Dad!”

“L…Lee Gun-nim?”

“Gun!”

They entered the house and looked at Hugo and Lee Gun in surprise.

Hugo and Lee Gun were fighting. To be precise, it was a one-sided fight. Hugo was screaming and being chased by Lee Gun.

It was unclear what had happened, but Lee Gun seemed angry at Hugo. “I said to stand still, asshole! Miss Jiwoo is here because you kept dodging!”

“Shut up! Wouldn’t you dodge too!! I might die!!”

“I’m not trying to kill you!”

“If you have a conscience, you’ll speak after you put away your weapon!”

At this point, Yooha and Chun Jiwoo carefully whispered to Lee Jaewon.

“Umm… What accident did he get into?”

“What did dad do wrong this time…?”

Accident…. It seemed no one was on Hugo’s side.

However, Lee Jaewon couldn’t tell them that Hugo was a Cluder and that Lee Gun was trying to test Hugo’s instinct.

‘If he’s faced with death, we’ll know if his humanity takes hold or the Cluder’s instinct takes hold…’

When Yooha and Chun Jiwoo approached them, Lee Gun unexpectedly stopped swinging Heaven’s Punishment. He glared at Hugo and said something unexpected. “You really have nothing to do with them.”

“I don’t! Trust me! It’s for real! I swear on the heavens!”

“Alright.”

“…!”

As if that was enough, Lee Gun turned around nonchalantly. “Ah! I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”

It seemed he didn’t want to show the fight to Chun Jiwoo and the others.

When Lee Gun agreed to put an end to it, Hugo finally let out a sigh of relief. He was about to wipe his sweat when…

[Oh, Endless Change. Do you really have to carry out this strange act?]

“!!”

A fierce wind picked up, and an unfamiliar voice rang out.

The light in Lee Gun’s eyes changed when he felt that energy.

‘Monarch.’

It wasn’t a normal one. Something about this monarch was clearly different from the ones that had appeared on the earth until now.

As he thought that, Lee Gun reached out a hand toward a wavering shadow in front of him. He used his skill as soon as he grabbed the being.

[Pond Walk]

Lee Gun instantly moved along with his enemy. They reappeared within the holy ground of the Serpent Bearer temple in Hawaii, which housed Lee Gun’s workshop, where he created weapons.

Lee Gun had grabbed the enemy’s head to bring him here. He threw the enemy toward the ground.

Kwahng!!

The enemy didn’t even have the time to land as this all happened, and he feigned a laugh.

[I never expected you to not let me land at all.]

He had planned on blowing up Lee Gun’s house as soon as he landed. No, he was going to blow away Lee Gun tower.

[You read my intent just from me moving there and brought me here. I’m genuinely surprised. You move at great speed.]

Lee Gun’s eyes menacingly turned red. “Who are you?”

[I am Wind.]

“!”

A powerful wind arose alongside a cloud of dust. 

[Are you the one who got rid of Time, whom I put a lot of effort into raising?]

Lee Gun glared at the laughing silver-haired man, with his guard up. This monarch looked like a normal human, but Lee Gun knew it at a glance. He was an overwhelmingly powerful monster.

‘Is he a first-generation monarch?’

In terms of depth, range of ability, and power, he was clearly much stronger than the monarchs who had come to the earth.

Lee Gun activated his Divine status of Cycle as soon as he saw the monarch.

Wind also raised his guard. He clicked his tongue as if he wanted Lee Gun to stop.

[I’m not here to fight. I’m just here to find my brother.]

“Brother??”

[Yes, my brother Eternal—]

Someone attacked Wind before he could finish.

Kwahng!!!!

Wind snorted.

[As expected of my brother, your greeting is as rough as ever.]

The one to attack was Hugo, who had followed them.

Wind laughed, looking elated to see Hugo.

[I'm here to take you back, my brother.]

Lee Gun’s eyebrows twitched. “What? Brother?”

Until a moment ago, Hugo had said that he had no connections to the monsters. 

Feeling Lee Gun’s cold gaze, Hugo screamed, “No. It isn’t like that!”

[My brother! Why are you being like this? Have you already forgotten about me? We are brothers and comrades in arms. We’ve shared blood and soul.]

“Ah! You guys are brothers who shared blood and soul?”

Hugo turned pale from fright when Lee Gun took out Heaven’s Punishment. It seemed he planned on killing both of them.

Wind seemed oblivious to this; he merely clicked his tongue.

[What? Did you forget our promise? We promised to eat everything when we were awakened after tens of thousands of years. We’d eat the impudent gods and the humans. All of them.]

Lee Gun’s gaze turned much colder as he looked at the two of them.

When he sensed his own death, Hugo glared at Wind for saying something unnecessary. “Hey! Stop talking nonsense! Get the fuck out of here right now unless you want to die!!!”

[…?]

Wind looked at Hugo as if he didn’t understand why Hugo was acting this way.

[Do you not recognize me? I am your one and only brother. You even said I’m your only family— Oohp!]

“Ah. He’s your only family.” 

As soon as the menacing voice spoke, an immense power flew toward Wind and decapitated him.

The one to send the attack was Hugo, and he tried to gauge Lee Gun’s reaction. “Gun! He’s talking nonsense!! I’m not his brother! I’m not a monster! I’m really not a monarch!”

Lee Gun raised Heaven’s Punishment. “I see. He’s your only brother? No, he said that you guys are family? I’ll be sure to get rid of both of you. Don’t worry about your wife and kids. I’ll take good care of them.”

“?!!”

W…What the hell did he just say?