Chapter 133 - Don't Touch What is Mine (3)
A blinding light exploded forth from Lee Gun’s fist. This wasn’t a normal power. It was a monstrous power that rivaled the Zodiacs of the battle-type Saints.
Lee Gun’s power was strong like steel as he destroyed Giselle’s face.
Puh-guhk!
It sounded like an egg breaking open.
Kevin and Hugo couldn’t close their mouths. Giselle’s face was nowhere to be seen. The powerful magical energy of the Serpent Bearer had destroyed her face.
In the end, the only thing left was Giselle’s neck. After losing her head, the Libra Saint fell over as she lost strength.
Boom!
At the same time, a scream came from a window of the Archer Saint’s building.
“Ahhk!”
“I-Isn’t that the Libra Saint?”
The voice was coming from the third floor. The ones there were Suh Yeorin and Suh Jihoon. These siblings were in charge of defending and repairing the building’s interior.
When the Taurus Saint had stopped attacking the holy ground, they had stuck their heads out the window. However, the corpse of the Libra Saint had shocked them.
“That’s her robe! I’m sure of it!”
Each Zodiac Saint possessed iconic holy items. The best example was the Leo Saint’s golden armor. It was famous for appearing when the Leo Saint went into his battle mode.
The clothes Giselle wore were similarly famous.
It was also why Hugo couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The Libra Saint didn’t move an inch after Lee Gun obliterated her head.
‘Is she really dead?’
Kevin had the same thought as he stood frozen.
In terms of physical defense, the Libra Saint was more outstanding than the Taurus Saint. She hadn’t budged an inch even when she had faced the physically-strongest Zodiac Saints. And that wasn’t all.
‘She’s a Zodiac Saint with divine protection around her.’
Even if one had powerful strength, destroying a Zodiac Saint’s body like a tomato should have been impossible.
In a fight between Zodiac Saints, the most one could expect was a critical wound. However, this was different.
Lee Gun had destroyed the vessel.
Therefore, Kevin quickly approached Giselle. He wanted to check if she was dead or alive. However, when he touched the corpse with his hand, his brows furrowed.
Of course, he felt no heartbeat. He also didn’t feel the magical energy of the Libra. It being there would’ve meant she was alive.
“She is dead.”
Hugo was surprised. “That woman is dead? No way!”
“She really is. She is dead.”
At that moment…
“There’s no way she’s dead! That’s a clone!”
“!”
The one venting his anger was the Taurus Saint. After taking that hit from Lee Gun, the Taurus Saint had fainted. It was just now that he had crawled out of the hole.
He was in such a rough shape that even looking at him with open eyes was hard. It seemed he was resilient in keeping his life like a cockroach; after all, he was a defensive-type Zodiac Saint.
Anyway, the Taurus Saint huffed as he glared at Lee Gun and Kevin. “That woman is close to the Crab Saint. Do you not realize what that means?”
Of course, they knew what that implied.
The Crab Saint’s specialty was splitting himself. How could Giselle not take advantage of that skill?
“Of course, that’s a clone!”
Lee Gun looked at Hugo as if he found this detestable. “Hey, Taeksoo.”
Seeing the look in his friend’s eyes, Hugo called forth a flame. Burning the body with the sun god’s flame could tell if that was a clone or not.
‘If that’s a real corpse, there will be ashes from the bone. If it’s a clone, the Crab Saint’s carapace will appear.’
Finally, the Sagittarius’s flame engulfed the corpse.
“…!!”
Aside from Lee Gun, everyone was surprised. The Taurus Saint just despaired.
The flame had burned, leaving behind the ashes from human bones.
They could conclude only one thing.
“Is… Is she really dead?”
The Taurus Saint looked like he was going to collapse in front of the remains. “That makes no sense. For what reason did I go under her?”
Lee Gun cackled when the Taurus Saint gnashed his teeth. “An idiot did something idiotic!”
“!”
The Taurus Saint looked at Lee Gun as if he wanted to kill the man.
However, Lee Gun sneered while dusting off his hands. “Why the hell would you eat the ass of a different Zodiac? That’s why you had your power taken by that woman, idiot.”
An odd look appeared in Hugo’s eyes. “The Taurus Saint had his power stolen? By Giselle?”
“That isn’t all. He had his contribution stolen too.”
The Taurus Saint sounded baffled.
“It seems you know nothing since you aren’t a Zodiac Saint! Contribution is something given to a Zodiac.”
“That’s right, Gun. Even if the Taurus Saint was under Giselle, there’s no way his contribution would head toward another Zodiac Saint…”
“Yes! There’s no way that would happen, but this assumes your opponent is human.”
Silence descended upon them. What did he just say?
“We are assuming our opponent is human?”
Their faces froze.
“Wait a moment. What… What the hell do you mean?”
At that moment, an enraged voice rang out.
[I never expected you to notice to that extent.]
“?!”
An ominous smoke appeared above Giselle’s corpse. Surprisingly, it was a spirit.
The nude woman glared at Lee Gun.
[A mere mutant dares to destroy my body?]
She sounded like she wanted to rip Lee Gun into pieces. It was clear that this was Giselle’s voice. However, the more frightening part was the identity of this spirit.
“Z-Zodiac?!”
The Taurus Saint fell to the ground.
As Zodiac Saints, there was no way they would fail to recognize the energy of a Zodiac.
The number varied depending on the Zodiac Saint, but the Zodiac Saints had always met the Zodiacs in the inner world. Zodiacs were like Constructs in that they were both in the divine rank. However, their powers were clearly different. The energy coming from them felt oppressive.
Hugo had no idea what was going on. He shook as he looked at his friend.
Lee Gun looked askance at his reaction. “Why are you surprised like an idiot? Close your mouth!”
“Why am I surprised… Hey!!”
“What? You should’ve realized it as soon as she revived Red Eye.”
“…?!”
“Even if that woman is supposed to be the Zodiac Saint of equivalent exchange, do you think that was something a human could pull off?”
“?!”
No way!
Lee Gun once again released Death Instinct as he let out a frightening laugh. “Yes. This Zodiac Saint isn’t human. She’s a Zodiac pretending to be one.”
“She’s pretending to be human? Since when!”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if the owner of that body was her Zodiac Saint or not. At the very least, she became that thing over there before we entered the Devil’s Tower.”
“?!”
They were in a state of shock.
Why would a Zodiac pose as one of the twelve Zodiac Saints? Nevertheless, the reasoning didn’t matter.
Realizing the implication of Lee Gun’s words, the Taurus Saint was frightened. ‘If Giselle really was a Zodiac…’
This method could have been used to steal his contribution. It was true that the Taurus’s power had become weaker. At the time, the Taurus Saint had thought this was because he had lost disciples to the Libra Saint.
[I should have killed the mutant in the beginning.]
A terrifying light exploded forth from Giselle’s body. At the same time, a gate emitting yellow light opened in the sky.
The Zodiac Saints froze when something came out of it.
‘They are…!’
Constructs had appeared out of the gate. However, that wasn’t the only reason for the Zodiac Saints’ surprise.
[The Four Royal Guardian Gods]
These Constructs were on a different level than the low-level gods that normally protected the holy grounds. In short, they were the highest-ranked amongst the eighty-eight Constructs.
They would react to their owner’s intention to blow up this region. It wouldn’t just be the Archer Saint’s holy ground. The region would include the entirety of Korea, which was Lee Gun’s base. The Zodiac Saints might die too.
‘Shit! We have to get rid of it before they are fully summoned.’
The three Zodiac Saints desperately made the signs of their Zodiacs. This wasn’t a common sight. It was as if the three Zodiac Saints had promised to do this at the same time. Every one of them got on their knee and clasped their hands together.
“Oh, king of the great scorching heat. Please accept the call from your servant!”
“Oh, great adamant god! Please give me the power of the adamant so that I can deal a heavy blow to the enemy that tricked us!”
“Oh, great goddess of the moon! Stop stealing glances at that man and quickly lend me your power!”
As those words reverberated in the air, a light emanated from each of their bodies.
[Each servant of the Zodiacs is borrowing divine power.]
Along with that voice, a gate opened in the sky.
Boom!
Koo-goo-goohng!
The ones to appear this time were the other eighty-eight Constructs. They were the gods the Zodiacs had sent here at the request of the Zodiac Saints.
The Zodiac Saints had to consume a massive amount of contribution, but it couldn’t be helped in this situation. Their opponents were gods, including a Zodiac. It wasn’t something they could cover with only their powers.
[Protect our master!]
The Constructs clashed against the other Constructs.
At the same time, the Libra’s Constructs yelled out in desperation.
[Guide our master to our holy ground!]
[Get her body!]
The Libra’s Constructs picked up the pieces of Giselle’s body. They were picking up parts that had yet to completely burn.
Moreover, Giselle was using the chaos to leisurely use her Return skill.
However…
[How dare you run away, you fraud!]
The Taurus Saint rushed Giselle. He looked different from his usual self.
‘!“
Hugo, who had been reloading his bow, flinched. ‘That’s the Demigod state!’
A Zodiac Saint could use a Zodiac’s power in three stages. The first of them was direct intervention, the second was possession, and the last was the Demigod state.
In the first stage, a Zodiac could imbue a body part of the Zodiac Saint with its power. The second stage was where the Zodiac borrowed the body of the Zodiac Saint, which allowed the Zodiac to descend into this world.
‘All Zodiac Saints can use the two stages.’
However, the final stage was different. Only the talented Zodiac Saints could use the Demigod state.
The difference between the second and the third stages was the amount of power one could use.
The second stage was the direct possession by a Zodiac. However, the human body had its limits, so only 50% of the Zodiac’s power could be used. Any more, and the human couldn’t withstand it.
But, the Demigod state, the third stage, was where the Zodiac Saint’s body was upgraded.
The Zodiac Saint changed into the form of the Zodiac, and this allowed them to use as close to 100% of the Zodiac’s power as possible.
This was basically imitating a god. One would become a copycat or a doppelganger of the Zodiac. For a brief time, this phenomenon allowed the Zodiac Saints to use divine power.
And right now, a bull emitting a massive amount of light tried to pierce Giselle.
[Die!]
Kwah-jee-jeek!
[Master!]
However…
[Huhk!]
The Taurus Saint became surprised after he pierced Giselle. Despite the bull’s enormous horn piercing through her body, Giselle laughed in a light-hearted manner.
The Taurus Saint had manifested his Zodiac’s power, so why wasn’t his attack working on Giselle?
[Why…]
Giselle contemptuously laughed.
[You’re foolish. Do you think an attack from a mere human will work on me?]
[!]
The monster bull froze.
As Giselle savagely laughed, a brutal magical energy erupted around her.
[Humans cannot attack me even if you call forth a monster bull.]
[Shit!]
[Die as you wallow in your foolishness.]
Giselle said with a sharp laugh.
“You really are putting on a show. You know you can’t attack either.”
“?!”
It was Lee Gun. Standing atop the roof of the Archer Saint’s holy ground, he spoke to the shocked Giselle. “Why are you so surprised? You can’t manifest your ability without a body. I don’t know whose it is, but you used that damned face to swindle everyone.”
[What?]
“If you could use your ability in that state, you would’ve already taken over the world.”
Giselle glared at him. At that moment, the Taurus Saint shouted in despair.
[That means we can’t attack each other?]
“Why would I be unable to attack?”
[What?]
At that moment, light exploded forth from Lee Gun’s body. Then a large green magic circle appeared at the heart of the Archer Saint’s holy ground.
[The Serpent Bearer’s awakened skill(SSS) has been used.]
[Gluttony(SSS)]
