“Virgo Saint!”
The blonde Kevin stood in the doorway. “I should’ve known when I saw her converse with the monsters.”
Hugo raised his guard and aimed his bow with a gulp. Kevin also raised his blade.
“What? Unknown civilization? Is that the reason you tried to kill Lee Gun? You guys thought you would be in danger if Lee Gun were alive.”
Hailey’s flustered loyal subjects yelled.
[No! Princess is on humanity’s side! She betrayed the other side twenty years ago! She did it for Lee Gun-nim!]
“!?”
Kevin’s eyes turned round when he heard the words. Lee Gun was the same.
Shocked, Hailey looked at her loyal subjects. Why were they talking about that right now?
The subordinates that had the appearance of scorpion-like aliens shouted as veins popped out on their necks.
[It has been a long time since Princess abandoned the other side!]
[That’s right! This happened twenty years ago! Princess fell for Lee—]
Soon, screams escaped from the mouths of these loyal subordinates.
[Huh-huhk!]
Flying through the air, Hailey’s terrifying blade pierced through their backs.
Kwah-jeek!
Black carapaces broke off from their backs. The subordinates cried out as if they felt aggrieved.
[Princess! Why are you being like this?]
[Do you plan on killing us?]
“Alright. If you say one more word, I’ll make that wish come true.”
With eyes full of rage, Hailey glared at her underlings. It looked as if she would kill them even if they merely opened and closed their mouths. Moreover, her face had turned red. She looked very nervous, nervous about whether Lee Gun had heard their words or not.
“If you understand what I’m saying, I want you guys to leave. I’ll take care of things here.”
Her loyal subject looked aggrieved.
[You must not do this! That unpleasant Virgo Saint has a bizarre understanding of what happened. He slandered you, Princess!]
[That’s right! We spoke up to protest Princess’ innocence…]
Her loyal subject raised their hands as if they were giving up, then they yelled at Lee Gun.
[Now you know! The Virgo Saint should shut his mouth! Listen to us, Lee Gun-nim!] [Princess is on humanity’s side! It’s to be expected since Princess likes— Ahhk!]
Another brutal attack flew toward her subordinates and struck them. The red-faced Hailey tried to decapitate her underlings.
“The ones who should keep their mouths shut are you guys! Do you really want me to cut your heads off so badly?” Hailey whispered. Her voice shook. She sounded angry and embarrassed.
Witnessing this, the Archer Saint sighed. He then looked at Kevin, who had entered the scene in a fierce manner.
The way Hugo looked at Kevin made it seem like he wanted to say even Kevin should have figured out what was going on.
However, Kevin looked dumbfounded. The Virgo Saint was known for not listening to others, but he wasn’t completely clueless. He understood what was going on.
Kevin had tried to kill the Scorpio Saint as soon as he saw her, but his blade had come to a stop as if to prove this point.
Yet, he was surprised. It was to be expected. “Are you saying I should trust the words of her monster underlings? This is ridiculous! She’s the one who poisoned Lee Gun’s lunch.”
What? Poison? The disciples were puzzled by Kevin’s words. Hugo realized his mistake.
Sure enough, Kevin’s blue eyes flashed. “Do you think I didn’t see you secretly put something in Lee Gun’s food? The Scorpio Saint is a darkness Saint on par with the Crab Saint. It’s easy for her to create a poison that would kill even a superhuman.”
Kevin’s accusation left Hailey flabbergasted. She replied, “I didn’t poison his food! You did!”
“What?”
“You were the one who always put weird stuff into Lee Gun’s food! Thankfully, I swapped it all out with restorative herb medicines!”
Kevin was dumbfounded. “What the hell is this woman talking about? You put the poison in, so I swapped it all out with restorative herb medicines!”
“I didn’t put poison in the food! You did!”
The two started bickering. They accused each other of poisoning Lee Gun. The disciples were in dismay.
‘Both are claiming they fed restorative herb medicines to Lee Gun-nim?’
The two Zodiac Saints looked like they were about to throttle each other as they raised their voices.
“Stop speaking nonsense, Kevin! You were always itching to kill Lee Gun! You’re the perennial second place!”
“What did you just say? You’re the sneaky one stealing glances at Lee Gun to assassinate him! You’re a sneaky woman!”
“Sneaky? Did you just say sneaky?”
In the end, both of them unsheathed their blades, trying to kill each other.
Hugo sighed as if he was exhausted. In some ways, these two were the reason Lee Gun’s body had lasted long enough to enter the Devil’s Tower.
It didn’t matter in the end.
“Congratulations! You can let Kevin babysit your kids.”
Once again, the Archer Saint received a kick from Lee Gun.
Furrowing his brows, Lee Gun said, “Hey! It isn’t important right now to find out who put the restorative herb medicine in my food.”
“Yes! The important part is the reason the Scorpio Saint threw away her own civilization to become a Saint. I was skeptical, but the reason behind it is quite shocking.”
At this point, it was almost like a confession. When Hugo glanced at him, Lee Gun nodded.
“I never expected a Zodiac to choose a non-human as a Zodiac Saint.”
Mmm? Hugo looked at Lee Gun as if he knew something was off.
Lee Gun didn’t pay attention to him as he just smirked. “It’s an unusually clever move for a Zodiac.”
That wasn’t his point. Hugo replied, “Gun! She betrayed the unknown civilization because of you. You’re the reason she became a Zodiac Saint.”
“I know. I heard it too. She did it because she probably didn’t want to fall behind me.”
“???” Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold. He whispered to Lee Gun. “Hey, she has liked you since that time!”
“?” Lee Gun looked at Hugo as if the man were speaking nonsense. “Are you an idiot? What kind of woman would like a face like that?”
“?!”
Kevin spoke up. “You’re quite naive, Lee Gun. The Zodiacs are on the side of humanity. Do you really think a Zodiac would choose a monster from the unknown civilization as its Saint?”
The baffled Hugo looked at Kevin. Kevin ignored him; his eyes flashed as he continued, “It’s obvious. That woman killed the real Zodiac Saint and usurped that role. She has probably been acting as a spy for all this time.”
“!”
Hugo was dumbfounded.
In the end, Hailey’s loyal subjects couldn’t hold back. They angrily yelled,
[You deserve to be beaten to death, Virgo Saint! Watch what you say!]
[The Scorpio really chose our princess!]
“!”
Kevin looked surprised. “Then what about the blades I found in your holy ground? They held the same emblem as the blade that stabbed Lee Gun.”
“That’s the emblem of the unknown civilization’s monarch.”
“!”
Hailey furrowed her brows as she explained, “It’s the Monarch’s Seal. Just the shape itself emits a terrible curse and poison. I confiscated only the ones that humans can’t withstand, whenever I encountered them. That seal is a special seal that contains the power of the monarch, so it can’t be destroyed.”
“…!”
This surprised everyone.
It seemed Hailey had removed the ominous seal that was going around amongst the monsters. These seals were like a deadly seed of a curse for humans.
“Most of them were seals with low power, so those were fine. However, some weapons were engraved with deadlier seals. I even found them amongst the disciples of the Libra temple.”
“!”
Suddenly, Lee Gun took out a knife stored near his chest. It was the replica of the blade that had pierced his back. “What about this? It was the blade that stabbed me that day.”
Hailey nodded as she received the blade Lee Gun tossed. It was a replica, so the seal was basic. However…
“I’m sure a deadlier seal was engraved on the blade that stabbed you. It would paralyze all your senses and leave a fatal wound.”
The corners of Lee Gun’s mouth rose as if all the puzzle pieces were in place. ‘That’s why I fell without feeling anything.’
Even if he was tired from killing Red Eye, it was odd that he couldn’t feel anything when he had been stabbed. Until now, he had assumed his body had been in such a rough state that he couldn’t feel the blade. But…
‘It was the seal.’
Chun Sungjae tilted his head in puzzlement as he looked at the seal from the side. This young man was quick on the update. His gaze headed toward the crying fountain pen inside Lee Gun’s pocket.
‘That seal is slightly different, but it looks similar to the seal engraved on Uncle’s fountain pen.’
The seal on the pen was a result of the Stamp skill Lee Gun had used for the first time. Chun Sungjae wondered if Lee Gun was using his seal in a similar fashion.
It didn’t matter in the end.
“Thank you!” Lee Gun laughed as he took back the blade from Hailey. “My curiosity was sated thanks to you!”
“…!”
At that moment, Hailey’s hand brushed Lee Gun’s. Strength left Hailey’s legs, and she sank to the floor.
[Princess!]
[Princess! Are you ok? Did he use any power?]
Hailey sat on the floor. She felt like dying from her heart pounding so hard. ‘L… Lee Gun laughed!’
That wasn’t all ‘I… I touched Lee Gun!’
Of course, there was no way it was a physically affectionate touch.
Hugo, who had been looking at Hailey, whispered to Lee Gun. “What are you going to do with Hailey?”
“What do you mean, what will I do?”
“Ah! You aren’t going to kill her?”
“Why would I?”
Hugo looked at Hailey, whose heart was about to burst. His brows furrowed in anxiety. “Why? Although she doesn’t seem like someone who’ll hurt you, she’s—”
“She’s a monster?”
“!”
Lee Gun cackled at Hugo’s guilty expression.
Hugo knew how much his friend hated the monsters. That was why he had asked that question. At the end of the day, Hailey was his benefactor. Hugo wouldn’t go against Lee Gun, but it was also true that he wanted to get through this without any trouble to Hailey.
Therefore, Lee Gun said, “I told you. She’s different from the monsters.”
“!”
“She might be mixed. I can sense the smell of a human coming from her.”
“…!!!”
Lee Gun knew that while he was gone, Hailey had saved his best friend from the toad. She had also provided a place that would look after his best friend’s wife. Lee Gun wasn’t ignorant enough to overlook such deeds and swing his ax. Above all else…
“The energy I feel from her is similar to the energy of the unknown civilization inside Yooha’s arms.”
“!” When Hugo heard Lee Gun’s whispered words, his expression was a sight to behold.
His friend was speaking facts, but Hugo’s gaze inquired how he knew about Yooha’s arms.
Lee Gun grinned. He had already realized something odd possessed Yooha’s arms. “Anyway, she might be the solution to that problem.”
Furthermore, it would be more beneficial to him if he had a connection to the unknown civilization. That wasn’t all.
Lee Gun said, “In the first place, she betrayed the unknown civilization because she was scared of me. I think it’s cute!”
Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold. No way, idiot! She didn’t betray them because she was afraid of you.
‘Shit. How can I correct his misunderstanding?’ No, it was true that she was scared of him. ‘However, she’s afraid in a different way.’
In truth, Hailey didn’t even dare to meet eyes with Lee Gun. However, that lasted for only a moment.
“I have something to tell you…!”
“!”
Hailey got up, albeit with difficulty, and quickly stopped Lee Gun. It seemed she had something very important to say. However, her gaze unexpectedly headed toward Hugo.
“Hugo! It’s about your wife.”
