Tuhk!
Silvia almost screamed. She hadn’t felt anyone’s presence, nor had she heard any sound; she didn’t even sense the presence of magical energy! Therefore, she wondered who had grabbed her shoulder.
However, when she turned her head, a scream escaped her mouth.
“What are you talking about?”
‘Chun Yooha!’
That’s right. The one who had sneakily grabbed her shoulder was none other than Chun Yooha. Chun Yooha, like Silvia, was also one of the <Ten Stars>, the ten SS-rank awakened beings considered the strongest amongst humanity.
Of course, Chun Yooha was the only S-rank amongst the group.
‘She doesn’t know her place.’
How dare an S-rank gain a seat amongst the strongest mankind had to offer!
‘She was lucky to get chosen by the Leo.’
The Zodiacs had chosen each member of the Ten Stars. They had chosen these humans, who were considered the strongest amongst their temples, and nominated them to this position.
However, the Leo had chosen Chun Yooha as one of the Ten Stars out of the blue. The Leo did this despite its temple having an SS-rank awakened being.
Many people made fun of Chun Yooha, saying she was nominated just because she was the only woman in the Leo temple.
However, that didn’t matter right now. Silvia was worried about something else. ‘Did she hear my conversation right now?’
Silvia soon went into denial. The topic of her conversation had been assassinating Lee Gun. She wasn’t airheaded enough to talk about such dangerous stuff out in the open. Therefore, Silvia had activated a passive magic that prevented sound from leaking out.
‘Yes. Even if she heard something, all the key words would have been silenced.’
This was a special magic spell belonging to the Pisces. “Underwater Conversation!” Like what happened underwater, no sound would be transmitted if this skill was activated.
‘Yes! There is no way she heard it…’
“What? You will take care of Lee Gun today?”
‘Fuck! She heard it!’
Chun Yooha’s words shocked Silvia, but the shock didn’t last long. Silvia screamed. “Kyahhhk!”
Chun Yooha was trying to crush her shoulder.
The frightened Silvia grabbed Chun Yooha’s arm. “Hey! Let me go! I’m a weak magician! If you exert too much strength, you’ll really break my bones! You’re a wild horse that only knows about strength! You brute— Kyahhk!”
Chun Yooha didn’t even pretend to hear the woman. Red lightning crackled around her face. Normally, she would have ignored this arrogant member of the Ten Stars; she would have walked past Silvia. However, since Silvia had spoken about her uncle and mentioned that silly plot, it had become a different story!
Pah-jeek!
“Kyahhk!”
Lightning sparked.
The flustered Silvia engaged her defensive magic.
The skill Water Wave turned air into water. The water formed into a wall that could neutralize most attack skills.
However, Silvia realized her mistake when her power clashed with Chun Yooha’s. Her power dealt with water, and Chun Yooha’s dealt with lightning. Silvia didn’t mind the other Ten Stars, but she had always been incompatible with Chun Yooha.
As expected…
Pah-jee-jeek!
The electricity flowed toward her through the water.
“Koo-oohk!!”
Silvia’s face scrunched up in pain. She glared at Chun Yooha. ‘I thought I would be fine because this bitch is a rank lower than me…’
Desperate, Silvia tried to break free from Chun Yooha’s hand. However, her opponent wasn’t one to miss this opportunity.
“Huh-uhk!”
Chun Yooha’s hand fiercely flew toward Silvia. She had used an innate lunge skill, Crimson Lightning!
Using electricity, Chun Yooha accelerated. She could almost reach the speed of light!
This frightened Silvia, and she desperately used her transformation magic. She turned into a fly. As expected of a Pisces disciple talented at transformation, Silvia’s transformation speed was incredibly quick.
The fly instantly escaped from Chun Yooha’s grasp.
Boo-oooooohng!
The fly quickly flew out the window. If she went up into the sky, Chun Yooha wouldn’t be able to follow her.
“Hmmph! She’s a muscle-brained idiot who only knows about strength! There is no way—”
Suddenly…
Kwahng!!
An incredible lightning bolt flashed in the sky.
After taking a direct hit from the red lightning, Silvia became unsteady in the air and her wings started to burn.
“Kyahhhhhhk!”
Her transformation got undone at the same time, and she fell! She fell from five stories high!
Boom!
An incredible sound rang out. Having instantly flattened the fly, Chun Yooha dusted her hands off.
Tahk tahk!
Chun Yooha’s skill level wasn’t far off from that of an SS-rank, so she found it baffling that the SS-ranks put on airs around her.
In the end, it didn’t matter.
- Hey. What’s going on?
Chun Yooha glared at the phone Silvia had dropped. Her face scrunched up when she heard the voice coming from it.
- Hey?
The voice was disguised, but of course, Chun Yooha recognized who it belonged to.
‘Oliver.’
The SS-rank of the Leo temple! He was the one who had lost the title of a member of the Ten Stars to Chun Yooha. So he desperately wanted Chun Yooha dead.
Their situation was so bad that Oliver tormented and tried to kill Chun Yooha whenever the Leo Saint Stevens wasn’t looking.
‘A girl wants to become a general? That’s just bad luck.’
In truth, Chun Yooha didn’t care about what anyone said regarding her. She just ignored any curses and abuses directed toward her. Her character had been defamed for the past ten years, so it didn’t hurt anymore. Nothing of that sort could even tickle her.
But what did he just say?
‘He wants to assassinate Uncle? He wants to hunt down Sungjae?’
Chun Yooha could overlook any abuse directed at her, but Oliver was trying to hurt the people she treasured the most.
She stomped on the phone.
Kwah-jeek!
After destroying it, she ground her teeth. Although she was very worried about her brother, she had no reason to be worried about her uncle. There was no way he would lose to these people.
Thus, the only worry she had was…
- Please do not worry! Even if Lee Gun is the thirteenth Saint, he only has one disciple. He has a critical weakness.
Chun Yooha could guess what that weakness was. ‘Uncle has only one disciple.’
Desperate, Chun Yooha increased her pace.
* * *
However…
“What? Disciples? I’m fine now. I added five more.”
“…?”
Chun Yooha froze at Lee Gun’s reply. She had been trying to tell him that he had to increase the number of disciples he had. Why?
Protecting a Saint’s holy ground without disciples was impossible. Moreover…
‘A Saint would die if their holy ground gets completely destroyed.’
In other words, eradication of the holy ground meant the Saint’s destruction.
The Zodiac’s existence could be maintained only at the holy ground. If the holy ground was gone, the Zodiac would naturally go away. And if that happened, the Saint and the disciples of that Zodiac would be in danger.
Therefore, protecting the holy ground needed five people at the least. The Saint would remain at the heart of the holy ground, where the Zodiac resided. The other four would protect the cardinal points of the barrier. These four disciples would be called the <Gatekeeper Disciples>.
Gatekeeping was another important role aside from the educators and the missionaries. Therefore, the four strongest disciples were designated as the gatekeepers.
Chun Yooha had come here to tell her uncle about this, but…
‘F-Five?’ When the hell did the number grow that much?
On the other hand, Lee Gun tilted his head in puzzlement. He wondered why she would bring that up. “Unlike the wimpy Archer temple, I have a lot of useful candidates here. What is it? What’s wrong?”
Chun Yooha sank to the floor. She had wanted to use the information as an opportunity to become Lee Gun’s disciple.
‘I wanted to be of help to Uncle, even a bit…’
Above all else, the first three disciples received bonus skills.
Of course, the second and the third bonus skills couldn’t be compared to “Return(To the Saint),” the skill given to the first disciple.
However, Chun Yooha still wanted the others! ‘All of these skills are beneficial to the Saint!’
The second disciple received the bonus skill called “Return(To the holy ground),” while the third would get the bonus skill “Saint Summon”!
Lee Gun had already accepted five disciples. Chun Yooha would have to give up on the bonus skill.
‘Of course, it isn’t as if I coveted those skills, but….’ That had been the only way she could help Lee Gun even by a bit. Her feelings were understandable.
Her brother Sungjae was a talented magician. Moreover, he was smart. Therefore, he could come up with various buff spells if he wanted to help Lee Gun. However, she was different; she only knew how to fight.
Chun Yooha was confident in her skill to kill monsters, but she couldn’t directly help Lee Gun with her skill set.
‘That was why I wanted to help him using the bonus skill!’
Of course, it would be a lie if she said she didn’t have any selfish interest in wanting a bonus skill. She asked, “Uncle, who are your second and third disciples?”
“Ah! Them.”
Chun Yooha followed Lee Gun’s finger and discreetly turned her gaze. She looked straight into the eyes of the Leo disciples whom Lee Gun had captured!
The high-rank Leo disciples became frightened when they met eyes with Chun Yooha. She was their direct superior and one of the top figures in the Leo temple. Of course, they would shrink back if she looked at them with a gleam of anger in her eyes.
It seemed Lee Gun realized what Chun Yooha was thinking. He said, “They haven’t officially joined. Well, you could get rid of them if you want the bonus skill.”
“?!”
These words were like oil in the fire.
Hugo grabbed Lee Gun by the collar. He knew what Lee Gun meant. “Hey! I told you to keep your grubby hands off my children!”
Lee Gun ignored him and just picked at his ear. “Ah! Now that I think about it, they have to go through the entrance exam.”
Then, he nonchalantly looked at Chun Yooha. “Yooha, you’re strong, right? This is great! I want you to test them and see whether they are qualified. Test their battle ability.”
“?!”
Puffin and the other Leo disciples were surprised at first, then fright overtook them. They were already feeling aggrieved ever since Lee Gun had forcefully brought them here. And now, what did he just say? He wanted them to go through an entrance exam against one of the Ten Stars?
‘The Ten Stars are the next in line to the Saints. They are the strongest new crop of awakened beings that humanity has to offer!’
Despite their reactions, Lee Gun just grinned. “If you can’t gain Yooha’s acceptance, you guys can die by my hands.”
It was basically a death sentence!
‘What kind of temple is this?’
However, those Leo disciples soon let out sighs of relief. Why?
‘Deputy general Chun Yooha is a good person.’
Everyone focused on Chun Yooha’s outer beauty, but that wasn’t all there was to her. Although this deputy general was extremely skilled, she was kind enough to look after and teach the people under her. She was clumsy at expressing her feelings, but her heart was extremely kind.
‘Yes. There’s no way she’ll stand back and do nothing.’
‘Even if we undergo the entrance exam, she will go easy on us…’
Feeling relieved, they looked at Chun Yooha, but…
“…?!”
Chun Yooha’s eyes held a serious look. She had thought she would be of no use to her uncle. Therefore, when she realized she could be of help to him, it was like she had found her purpose again.
“Win against me! Then I’ll give my approval.”
What the hell?! ‘They just want us to die!’
On the other hand, Hugo didn’t care about all this. He was nervous and flustered at his daughter’s presence.
“Yooha? Why are you here? I thought you were at the hospital. What about your mom? What about Sungjae?”
Chun Yooha realized she had forgotten something. She replied, “Sungjae is in critical condition.”
“What?! Critical condition?”
Yooha realized her mistake when she saw her father’s expression. “Ah! It’ll be ok. He’s hurt, but he has developed this odd regeneration skill. He’ll be fine.”
“…!”
Called “Conditional Regeneration”, it was a divine attribute only a disciple of the Serpent Bearer could possess.
Of course, Chun Yooha had no idea what condition her brother had to fulfill. “He fainted because he had his magical energy stolen by a Construct. Before he fainted, however, he wanted me to hand this to Uncle as soon as possible.”
Chun Yooha put something in Lee Gun’s hand. The item surprised the two Saints present at the scene, Hugo and Kevin.
“Wait a moment. That’s…”
[Holy Ground Boundary Stone]
Lee Gun looked at Chun Yooha after receiving the gem.
“The Fairy Monarch who came along with Sungjae gave this to him. It’s a very rare and expensive item. Sungjae thought it would get stolen if he kept it…”
This item could defend the holy ground and the Zodiac’s chamber.
Kevin freaked out.
“It’s an SSS-rank item! Not even the Zodiacs have many items like that! I spent so much trying to acquire one…”
As expected of the Fairy Monarch, Elysion had given a gift to Chun Sungjae for joining Lee Gun’s temple, and the gift was on a different level. That wasn’t all.
“Ah! Before she went back to sleep, Mom also wanted me to deliver this item to Uncle!”
“!”
It was a thank you and a fan letter.
“She wanted to thank you in person, but she didn’t want to waste your time since you’re a busy person…”
These words made Hugo nervous. “What about me? Did she send anything to me?”
“Nothing.”
“Why would she send nothing!!”
“Uh. For Dad, she— Ah!”
Hugo didn’t even listen to his daughter. He just stole his wife’s letter from Yooha. Then…
[Dear Lee Gun-nim, whom I adore!]
The Archer Saint screamed in alien words.
