Yoon Siwoo trembled. He couldn’t help it. The one in front of his eyes wasn’t a monster, but a human.
This human was a rangy man with sharp and well-defined facial features. Moreover, his thick head of hair was disheveled as if he had just woken up. His eyes looked oddly sleepy. However, this made him look fierce, giving him the appearance of a beast that had just woken up.
Yes, the one who had appeared within Yoon Siwoo’s summoning circle was none other than Lee Gun.
Yoo Siwoo unconsciously fell to the ground. ‘This is nuts!’
He was questioning why Lee Gun would come out of the summoning circle.
Regardless of how Yoon Siwoo reacted, Lee Gun crossed his arms as he looked down at this young man. “What the hell is this?”
As if he was annoyed by what he saw, Lee Gun looked at his surroundings in irritation. “I was surprised because my perspective had changed. If you wanted to summon me, you should’ve committed to it. What the hell is this? This is the same hospital, and it seems we’re on the same floor?”
In fact, the outside structure made it clear that he was in the next room.
“Why the hell would you use summoning magic if you’re going to do this? This has made my mood worse!”
“No, I…”
I wasn’t trying to call you! The flustered Yoon Siwoo could only gawk as he snagged his badge. However, the hologram and the voice coming from the badge shocked him.
[Success!]
[You have made an equivalent exchange. You have successfully summoned a Disaster-class monster!]
Yoon Siwoo couldn’t speak. How the hell is this a success? ‘The person I least want to come out has appeared!’
Suddenly…
“Ah-ha! By the looks of it, you must’ve used the Libra’s Equivalent Exchange, right?”
“!?”
Amused, Lee Gun looked at the young man in front of him. It seemed Lee Gun had come to the conclusion by the design of the badge and the voice coming from it. He also realized why he had been summoned.
Yoon Siwoo had paid a price, and he was summoned.
“I wonder what price you paid for me to come out.”
“Huh-uhk! Wait a—”
Lee Gun snatched away the badge from Yoon Siwoo’s hands.
“No!”
He injected his magical energy into the Libra’s badge. Then…
Kwah-jee-jeek!
Accompanying a green light, a crack appeared on the badge. Something surprising happened next.
[Error while… Transmitting… Gwehhhk!]
The badge changed shape. It transformed into a parrot.
This badge was a Construct. The Libra Saint’s badges were all made out of Constructs. Lee Gun had acquired this information when he disassembled the items belonging to Pelio, the prince who had betrayed Kevin within the Virgo Saint’s holy ground.
Lee Gun laughed as he squeezed the neck of the parrot. “Spit it out! I want you to give me the price he paid to summon me.”
The Construct let out a sharp magical energy.
[Shut up! You’re a god of calamity! How dare you—]
Lee Gun’s hand was faster.
[Gwehhk!]
He twisted the parrot’s neck. Then, the parrot emanated a yellow light.
‘!’
This surprised Yoon Siwoo, but Lee Gun just laughed.
‘I got it before the cost was transferred to the Zodiac.’
While the Libra’s Constructs had been morphed into badges, they could assess and transfer the price paid to the Zodiac. They acted as a transmitter.
‘It takes a little bit of time for the price paid to reach the Zodiac.’
The Constructs stored the price a disciple paid until they could send it to the Zodiac.
And as expected…
[Gwehhhhhhhhk!]
Emitting light, the parrot spat out something. It was an item that could fit into his palm.
[The servant of the Absolute Order brought out an item of the Serpent Bearer.]
As if he had expected this, Lee Gun snatched away the item. “This is why I was summoned.”
That item was a necklace made with red gems. In the past, Lee Gun had created this holy item using a monster’s parts.
‘Since it’s my holy item, I guess the price paid was in the ballpark.’
Lee Gun wouldn’t have moved past his holy item without doing anything. Moreover, this item was a “decent item” in his eyes.
‘I don’t know how the Libra Saint’s system works, but a pretty decent price was paid.’ Of course, that wasn’t important right now.
“So, why were you trying to summon a monster inside the hospital? Who are you?”
“No! That is—”
“Whatever. In the end, you summoned me, so you deserve to be hit at least once.”
“W-What?!”
At that moment…
“Gun!!!”
“Uncle!!”
Slam!
Familiar voices rang out as the door to the empty hospital room was opened. Hugo and Chun Sungjae charged in, their faces deathly pale.
When Lee Gun had suddenly disappeared, they had quickly looked for his presence.
Hugo was relieved to find Lee Gun. After that, he queried his friend, “What happened? There is no way you would’ve used teleportation magic. Why are you here?”
“Ah! This bastard summoned me.”
“…?”
Hugo and Chun Sungjae headed toward the same place. Their gazes reached a man in his early twenties. The young man unceremoniously sat on his butt in front of Lee Gun.
It shocked the two of them. Chun Sungjae’s and Hugo’s faces crumpled.
“Yoon Siwoo!”
“Why is that bastard here?”
Lee Gun furrowed his brows. Their reactions were severe. “What? I thought he was a small fry. Do you guys know him well?”
When Lee Gun’s voice turned a bit treacherous, Yoon Siwoo rolled his eyes in surprise.
At the same time, Hugo discreetly glanced at his son. Then, he spoke as if he was troubled. “He was the high-schooler caught up in the incident ten years ago!”
“Incident ten years ago?”
Chun Sungjae yelled, “He’s the reason Mom got eaten by the monster! He and his brother were the ones to summon the toad!”
“!”
“They had slipped out after placing all the blame on Dad”
Lee Gun’s eyes turned round.
Hugo looked at his son in shock. “How did you know about that?”
Chun Sungjae pounded his chest as if he was frustrated. “How else would I know? I saw those bastards summon the monster! That’s how I know!”
“?!”
Hugo was dumbfounded. “You were only five.”
Chun Sungjae looked at his father as if the Archer Saint were lacking. “Who cares if I was five years old? Isn’t that the age where kids remember conversations?”
“Most kids don’t!”
“Anyway, I saw it at that time. I tried to go up on the stands in the court as a witness, but you didn’t believe me, Dad.”
“No, that is—”
“When I tried to speak up, you told the police that I was imagining things because I was a kid.”
Hugo started to sweat. He never expected his son to remember all of that. Of course, his children had been taken hostages, so he had to bow his head to the Libra Saint. Hugo had no choice at the time, but that didn’t matter right now.
Chun Sungjae glared at Yoon Siwoo. “He ripped apart my book in the library and made fun of Uncle. Now he dares to summon Uncle?”
“What? That’s not true! I didn’t plan on summoning this bastard… Fuck! Why did he come out instead of a monster?”
In the end, Yoon Siwoo ground his teeth and stood up. He immediately tried to use his magic, but…
“Kuh-huhk!”
An explosion happened! Yoon Siwoo’s face became ragged as he was sent flying backward. The one to do this was Chun Sungjae.
“Are you playing with us? You summoned Uncle when you were trying to summon a monster? You should stop spouting such nonsense.”
Lee Gun clicked his tongue. “No. He did try to summon a monster.”
“What?!”
Chun Sungjae was surprised, but Lee Gun just waved the item Yoon Siwoo had paid as a price to summon him, the red-jeweled necklace.
Hugo screamed. “No way! That’s…”
Chun Sungjae tilted his head in puzzlement due to this reaction.
Hugo looked at the item as if he couldn’t believe it was here. “That’s the item you made within the Devil’s Tower! You used the crystal of a monster’s heart!”
“?!”
Yes, the red crystal was an item Lee Gun had made within the Devil’s Tower.
“I’m pretty sure you made it when you told me to exit the tower!”
It wasn’t some special holy item. One of the monsters in the Devil’s Tower had been powerful, and Lee Gun had thought he could make at least SS-rank items using the monster. That was why he had created this crystal.
‘All the monsters inside the Devil’s Tower were Red-rank or above.’
Lee Gun had created it as a temporary measure, so he could easily carry it.
When their group had set up base camps within the Devil’s Tower, Lee Gun had made this item while taking a breather. If he made a gem-like holy item, it could be easily used no matter which weapon he created at a later time.
In truth, the red gem was the heart of a direct subordinate under Red Eye.
“That damn woman probably stole it from my belongings after I fell into the trap.”
“!”
Hugo suddenly realized something.
“The price paid by the Libra Saint to summon monsters must be…”
“Yes. For the most part, she probably offered up monsters’ corpses. You also saw the unkillable monsters that appeared in the Virgo Saint’s holy ground. They were monsters that appeared only within the tower. She probably stole items from my belongings to summon them.”
“…!”
Hugo tilted his head in puzzlement. He could accept that Lee Gun’s item had fallen into the hands of the Libra Saint’s son, but… “Wait a moment. Why were you summoned when a monster’s corpse was paid as a price?”
Lee Gun picked at his ear and replied in an apathetic voice, “Who cares? My blood must have been mixed in with the crystal.”
“…!”
Well, it didn’t matter in the end.
“Let’s put that aside for now,” Lee Gun suddenly said.
“!”
Hugo shook as soon as he heard the voice. This was to be expected since Lee Gun’s voice had suddenly changed. And it wasn’t just his voice.
“I heard you guys say something interesting earlier.”
“…!!”
Lee Gun let out a murderous intent.
“What did you say? Toad summoning? Court?”
Crossing his arms, he coldly glared at Yoon Siwoo. “This bastard is the one who called it forth?”
“…!”
Yoon Siwoo felt a chill when he met Lee Gun’s eyes. The man who had just yawned in annoyance was nowhere to be seen. It almost made him wonder if this Lee Gun was an entirely different person.
Lee Gun menacingly approached Yoon Siwoo. “I heard that the sons of the Libra Saints were involved in that incident.”
“!”
“That means you’re the son of that woman?”
“No— Kuhk!”
Yoon Siwoo couldn't breathe. He was sure of it.
‘I’m going to die.’
He sank to the ground without realizing it.
Lee Gun ignored all that as he approached him. “You’re the one who tainted my friend’s good name.”
Yoon Siwoo was terrified.
“This is great! I wanted to find you guys when I heard the story from Taeksoo.”
“!!!”
“I’m glad you showed up on your own. I don’t have to go through the trouble of looking for you.”
The chilling smile made Yoon Siwoo scream.
“Shit!!” He suddenly stood up. At the same time, a yellow light flashed in his shoes.
The Crab Saint’s Escape skill! Yoon Siwoo ran at a speed that even the Zodiac Saints couldn’t match. After exiting the hospital room, he quickly used a spell.
[Equivalent Exchange]
[Construct Summon]
Finally, the bracelet he was wearing disappeared. A bird appeared along with a yellow light.
“Big Bro! Where are you, Big Bro?”
[Your big brother lost to Chun Sungjae. He is hiding in the hideout.]
“…!”
Yoon Siwoo had wondered why he didn’t see his big brother at the hospital. It seemed Yoon Taewoo had run away after losing to Chun Sungjae. That didn’t matter in the end.
‘I’ll be safe in the hideout.’
Yoon Siwoo was sure his big brother was preparing to mount a counterattack from there. So, Siwoo yelled at the Construct, “Summon me there! It’s my mother’s order!”
[Understood]
Yoon Siwoo’s body started turning into a yellow light. He was about to disappear.
Kwah-gwah-gwahng!!!
However, a fierce, cold wind suddenly attacked him.
The savage cold winds instantly froze the floor solid, Yoon Siwoo along with it.
“Huh-uhk!”
Yoon Siwoo felt like his flesh was being flayed by the cold winds.
Then, an elegant one-armed swordsman appeared on the other side. “You’re on the same side as those who made a mess within my holy ground.”
It was Kevin.
Yoon Siwoo grated his teeth. ‘When the hell did he appear?’ Then, he heard a more terrifying sound from behind him.
“That’s enough! Where is your big brother?”
“!”
It was Lee Gun. Yoon Siwoo sank to the ground.
Lee Gun had unsheathed his blade, and he looked like he wanted to cut Yoon Siwoo’s throat.
“Brothers should receive the same punishment. Where is your big brother?”
In the end, Yoon Siwoo yelled in fright, “I have no idea! My big brother disappeared when he lost to that bastard!”
“Really? I guess I’ll take my time to find him.” Lee Gun was about to move on when…
“He’s lying, Uncle.”
“!”
Chun Sungjae had followed them, his brows furrowed in contempt. For some odd reason, his eyes were emitting a golden light.
When he became a disciple of the Serpent Bearer, he had awakened to a new innate skill.
[Eyes of Discernment]
His eyes could distinguish between truths and lies.
“I know where this bastard’s big brother is.”
Lee Gun grinned. “Is that so?”
Lee Gun raised his blade. He had found a good present that he could send to the Libra Saint.
