Red Eye! Everyone felt a different emotion when they had first seen it.
It represented fear to some; for others, it was despair. Some would see it as the end of humanity.
In Hugo’s perspective, Red Eye was a thief.
The incident had taken place twenty-one years ago.
At the time, both Hugo and Lee Gun were twenty-four years old. Accompanying them as a porter was the then-seventeen-year-old Lee Jaewon.
“Idiot! How many years has it been since we’ve started killing monsters? How are you still unable to kill that properly?”
“It isn’t like that!”
The two of them had gone to Africa for mercenary work. They were killing monsters when, due to a mistake, they got surrounded by monsters.
Therefore, Lee Gun berated Hugo. “Don’t tell anyone that you learned how to fight from me. It’s embarrassing!”
“No! Something was a bit off today! They usually act independently, yet they suddenly formed a group today!”
“Are you trying to get smart with your teacher because you became a bit stronger? Whatever! Give me three thousand pushups.”
“That isn’t it!”
“Five thousand!”
“Damn it!” In the end, Hugo fumed as he did five thousand pushups.
“What do you think, Jaeyun? Aren’t his excuses unseemly?”
“It is Jaewon!”
“Anyway, don’t become such an ungainly adult like him, Joohun.”
“You’re slowly saying names that have nothing to do with me!” Lee Jaewon sniffed as he boiled ramen on the burner.
At that moment, a monster suddenly and soundlessly appeared beside them. They couldn’t even sense its presence.
[Gohhhhhhhh!]
“Gun!”
The bowl of ramen that Lee Gun had been eating from flew into the air. The monster had attacked them. It was an incredible one.
Koo-goo-goo-goohng!
Africa’s hard plain shook. The animals freely running around ran away in fright.
An enormous shadow covered the vast land of Africa, as if it was giving a warning that it would swallow all the lands of humanity. Of course, that wasn’t all.
When the group turned around, they realized the bowl of ramen that Lee Gun had dropped was gone.
Was it hungry because it had just been born? The monster had disappeared after eating Lee Gun’s ramen.
This was the first time Red Eye had made an appearance and revealed itself in front of humanity. Of course, at this rare moment, even Lee Gun had been flustered.
It seemed he had instinctively felt the difference between Red Eye and the other monsters. Lee Gun’s face never hardened in front of any monster, yet it had hardened at that rare moment.
At that time, Hugo had been unaware of this, but when he thought back on it, his friend had felt something at that very moment.
‘This monster will cause the downfall of humanity.’
Lee Gun’s intuition was proven right. Afterward, the monsters that had been individualistic started moving as a group. An army drove toward the lands of humanity.
Lee Gun had seen the destruction of humanity from the monster, but Hugo was different. He had felt as if something he treasured had been stolen. In truth, his thoughts were also correct. Red Eye had stolen his friend.
* * *
Twenty years had passed since that incident! Hugo was in Korea right now. As for how he got here from Hawaii…
“You crazy bastard! You want to go kill it again?” the surprised Hugo asked.
Red Eye showing up once again was already unbelievable, yet Lee Gun wanted to go kill it by himself?
In the end, Hugo grabbed the back of his neck and offered his service as support. However, it only led to Lee Gun berating him and chasing him out. “Don’t give me that nonsense! You should go back to Korea to protect your holy ground.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry! I’ll go check up on Yooha.”
“Yooha is a concern, but…” Hugo was frustrated. Of course, he was worried about his daughter, but he had taught her well. He taught her strategies and skills that she could use to run away from danger.
Moreover, Yooha had a sensible and level-headed personality. She could differentiate what was within her ability or not.
‘She isn’t someone who can’t tell the difference in power and would recklessly attack an enemy.’
On the other hand, Lee Gun was the complete opposite. ‘He’s a masochist.’
Lee Gun was at the height of recklessness. Of course, he was competent enough to back up his recklessness, and this recklessness allowed him to create miracles.
However, Hugo had sent off Lee Gun like this twenty years ago, and the man hadn’t returned. It wasn’t as if Hugo didn’t believe in his friend, but trauma was a scary thing.
Unclear if he was aware of this or not, Lee Gun said, “It’s fine. If you have trouble defending your holy ground, call me! I can get there immediately.”
“No! I’m not saying that because— What?
“Wait a moment! You won’t be able to come immediately. You can’t teleport to a holy ground.”
“It says I can.”
‘What??? How?”
“What do you mean, how? The first place I occupied was your liv—”
“Liv… What?”
For some odd reason, Lee Gun feigned ignorance. Well, it didn’t matter.
“Damn bastard. I don’t care if you die or not.”
This was how Hugo used his return skill to arrive at his holy ground in Korea.
[The northwest of the Sagittarius’s holy ground is under attack.]
[Defense is being mounted against the invading monsters.]
Hugo heard the sound from the clock-shaped badge.
When he had used his return skill to come back, he had found his holy ground already under the monsters’ attack.
‘Monster birds!’ Hugo ground his teeth as he looked toward the sky. Of course, this wasn’t too bad.
[The holy ground’s self-defense skill has been activated.]
Fire arrows appeared in the holy ground to attack the crows. Hugo added his power to the defense.
[Solar Explosion]
Accompanied by his skill, the arrows flew toward the crows.
Kwah-gwah-gwah-gwahng!!!
An explosion erupted, and the enormous crows ruthlessly turned into lumps of flesh as they got dispersed.
After eliminating these monsters, Hugo immediately headed toward the entrance to his holy ground.
“!”
However, he suddenly came to a stop. His face was distorted. This was to be expected.
‘Why are they here?’
The one person he didn’t want to see the most was standing in front of the Archer Saint’s holy ground.
‘The Libra Saint.’
Yes! She was tall and had worn a clean white uniform. Moreover, her hair was bright blonde.
The one standing in front of the Archer Saint’s holy ground was none other than the Libra Saint Giselle.
Giselle was a charismatic, beautiful woman who could bring people to their knees using her gaze. Of course, she wasn’t someone who would step onto Lee Gun’s hand, so there was a high probability that this was a clone. However, that didn’t matter right now.
‘Why is that woman here?’
Giselle let out a lighthearted laugh when she saw Hugo’s expression. “Hugo, you should put on a more welcoming expression. I came out of my way to visit this small and old stall. It’s rude to look at me as if I’m a bug—”
An arrow came flying at her before she could end her sentence.
Kwahng!
An incredible explosion occurred. Hugo saw the Libra Saint’s Construct take his attack instead of her and fall to the ground.
Realizing that he had accurately aimed for her head, Giselle snorted. “It seems you don’t even want to exchange pleasantries. I’ll get to the point!”
She then tossed something.
Hugo scrunched up his brows. “What nonsense are you trying to pull again….”
However, the object that fell on the ground surprised him.
‘!?’
His reaction was understandable. Giselle had unexpectedly tossed an arm. Hugo didn’t need to ask whose arm it was.
‘Stevens!’
Yes, this muscular right arm belonged to the Leo Saint Stevens. The proof was the golden armor equipped on the arm, as well as the ring on the finger. It was the sole SS-rank holy item Stevens used.
‘There is no mistake. It’s his.’
Above all else, the Leo Saint’s magical energy could be strongly felt from the arm.
Hugo glared at Giselle.
However, Giselle just laughed. “It isn’t that big of a deal. I told him to come to my side, and he flashed a middle finger toward me. I planned on severing his finger, but this happened.”
“…!”
She continued while laughing, “Anyway, it all worked out. He’s the hero who killed Red Eye. It’ll be an honor for him to die at Red Eye’s hands.”
Hugo suddenly realized what had happened to the other Zodiac Saints.
‘She used this method to bring people to her side.’
Basically, Giselle had invaded each Zodiac Saint’s holy ground and asked them to choose. Choose whether they would stick with Lee Gun or her!
The Pisces saint, who stood next to the Libra Saint, couldn’t meet Hugo’s gaze.
“What do you want to do? I destroyed the other places, and this place is next,” the Libra Saint asked.
“…!” Hugo furrowed his brow.
Giselle’s eyes held a dangerous look. She was willing to destroy his holy ground as well as the surrounding regions.
This could be a bluff, but the Libra Saint was capable of doing it. If the weight was enough, she was someone scary enough to make the impossible possible. Of course, the Libra Saint wasn’t the only problem.
Boom!
Something fell again. Hugo cursed when he saw an item fall near his feet.
“You crazy…”
This object was a piece of Stevens’s head.
“You are next, Archer,” someone said in a deep voice.
‘Taurus…!’
The Taurus Saint stood behind him.
Dismayed, Hugo felt the murderous intent coming from the Taurus Saint. “Did you guys kill him?”
The Taurus Saint snorted. “Hmph! Don’t accuse us of being someone who kills their comrade. I picked it up only after Red Eye killed him.”
“…!”
“If you don’t join us, you will suffer the same fate. After Red Eye destroys the US, it’ll cross the Pacific Ocean. Where do you think its next destination will be?”
Hugo furrowed his brows. It clearly would be Korea.
As expected, the Taurus Saint laughed. “You’re part of the twelve Zodiac Saints. For the sake of our old friendship, we came here to give you an opportunity. Choose! Are you with Lee Gun or us?”
Suddenly…
Puhng!
Magical energy exploded forth from Hugo’s body, and a fierce flame erupted around him. This meant Hugo was going to use his full power.
The Taurus Saint sneered. “Don’t bother struggling. You might have been strong in the past, but you no longer have your royal holy item…”
“Fuck off! Who doesn’t have a royal holy item?”
A fierce explosion erupted.
The other Saints’ faces distorted when a familiar holy item appeared in the Archer Saint’s hand.
* * *
Around that time, the Leo Saint’s main palace in the US.
“Saint-nim!!”
The Leo disciples wailed at the state of their Saint.
“My god! How could this happen?”
“Shit! That damned Taurus bastard!”
“What about the Libra Saint?”
Surprised, Chun Yooha looked at Stevens.
All of it had happened instantly. With a swing of her hand, the Libra Saint had immediately sent Stevens’s right arm flying. At the same time, Red Eye had attacked the Leo Saint.
He died just like that.
The Leo disciples had to watch this with their eyes wide open. That was why they were shaking from anger.
“Saint-nim!”
“Shit! At this rate, the Leo temple will…”
Suddenly…
“That crazy bitch!”
“Saint-nim!!”
The surprised Leo disciples looked at Stevens.
Stevens groaned as he vomited blood.
“They did the unthinkable by reviving something that shouldn’t be revived?”
“Saint-nim! Are you ok!?”
“Of course, I’m not ok. Can’t you see?!” Stevens seemed to be in pain. He was having a hard time breathing.
The Leo Saint was a bloody mess, and both his arms were gone. It had looked like his head had been cut off, but the only severed parts of his body were his arms. The Libra Saint had taken one of them, and Red Eye had eaten the other.
Of course, his opponent had been Red Eye, so Stevens had been lucky to have kept his life.
‘Shit! We’ll be wiped out at this rate.’
Red Eye roared toward the sky as it destroyed the Leo Saint’s holy ground. It hadn’t headed toward the city, but that was only a matter of time.
The disciples who had encountered Red Eye for the first time lost their will to fight. They had never faced a monster like that.
In truth, it was mind-boggling that the Zodiac Saints had been able to kill this monster.
The disciples who had been trembling in fear spoke up.
“Saint-nim! Tell us how to kill it!”
“That’s right!”
Raggedly breathing, Stevens replied, “I keep saying this, but…”
“Yes?”
“Lee Gun killed Red Eye.”
“What?!”
The disciples were in a state of shock when…
[Gohhhhhhhh!]
Red Eye’s roar rang out, and the roof started to fall.
Koo-goo-goohng!
“Ahhhk!”
The disciples who had been protecting Stevens fell.
Red Eye let out a ferocious roar; it was about to swallow them all!
Shweek!
“!!”
At that moment, a young man with a small stature appeared in front of them.
“Uh, uh?!”
The disciples instantly disappeared in tune with the young man’s hand gesture.
Kwahng!
In the end, Red Eye didn’t get to eat anything, save for a mouthful of the roof.
It was unclear as to how long had passed. The disciples who had almost been eaten by Red Eye were confused. This was to be expected since their surroundings had completely changed.
“What the hell? It was a teleport?”
“This is the back garden!”
They were wondering what had happened when someone asked, “Are you ok?”
“I’m fin— Ooh-ehhhhhhk…!!!”
A young man beside them bent over as he threw up.
The Leo disciples were surprised to see the familiar face.
“Chun Sungjae!”
Chun Yooha, who had been teleported along with them, was also taken aback.
Her brother had appeared at the Leo’s holy ground in a flash and moved all of them at once. However, it seemed he wasn’t used to his teleport magic yet. Or maybe he had moved too many people at once.
Anyway, Chun Sungjae looked like he wanted to die from vertigo as he lay on the floor.
“Huhk! It is coming over here!”
The disciples shook as they got up.
Red Eye, which had been upset due to chewing on rock, had located Stevens and Chun Yooha. However…
Poo-gahk!!!
Red Eye, which had been gunning for them, suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
This surprised the disciples.
“At one go, that massive beast!”
Their mouths fell open.
Someone was standing atop the roof of the Leo Saint’s holy ground.
“Lee Gun!!”
Finally encountering Red Eye, he laughed in contempt.
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