Chun Yooha’s vision suddenly changed. She was in space. Something appeared in front of her. However, what she saw was different from what her brother saw.
Before her, was a dying serpent.
‘That is…!’
Various unknown gods had surrounded a serpent emitting light. Some of them had humanoid appearances, some monstrous; these several hundred gods took on a variety of appearances.
And currently, they were killing the enormous serpent. They were stabbing it with spears and burning it with fire. The sight was too horrible to look at.
The serpent, which had its mouth open, looked to be in great pain as it died. It kept opening and closing its mouth as if it were trying to say something. However, the spear stabbing its body ruthlessly stole its voice.
The serpent let out a keening cry as if it was sad.
When Chun Yooha heard the mournful sound, she unconsciously extended her hand, wanting to save the serpent.
Pah-jeek!
‘!’
However, it seemed the event wasn’t really happening in front of her. Chun Yooha’s hands passed through the gods’ bodies.
How long did that go on?
The tortured serpent seemed to have passed away. It no longer moved. Then, it disappeared as it turned into ashes.
This surprised Chun Yooha.
‘What’s this? This is very different from what Sungjae saw.’
This space was the Zodiac’s “Imaginative Space.” According to Sungjae’s account, her uncle should’ve appeared in the form of a serpent.
However, the sense of oddness lasted only a moment.
“Koohk!”
The being inside her arm became unruly.
[Let me fight! Let me fight!]
Was it because the Imaginative Space was filled with Lee Gun’s power? The malignant spirit sealed in her arm violently moved.
Chun Yooha had to grind her teeth as she grabbed her arm. ‘It reacted to Uncle’s energy the last time too…!’
Her arm acted like a wild cat that had caught the scent of catnip. It had gone crazy. Moreover, this place was the space that belonged to the Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac. Other Zodiacs’ powers couldn’t enter this place.
Therefore, the seal placed by the Pisces on her arm had loosened. This was a golden opportunity for the sealed evil god to break out of her arm!
Something started to appear from Chun Yooha’s arm.
“!”
It looked like a black spirit. Even though it was sealed, the power it showed was enough to swallow up Chun Yooha!
The flustered Chun Yooha quickly tried to press down on her arm. But the seal failed to control it, and the head of the monster revealed itself.
[Hurry! Let’s fight— Kuhk!]
However, the exposed head received a hit. It retreated into Chun Yooha’s arm.
“!”
The thing that had hit it was none other than a serpent’s tail.
[Why the hell is that asshole intruding on this?]
“!”
The surprised Chun Yooha turned her head and saw the eyes of a serpent. She trembled without realizing it.
Just one eye was several hundred times bigger than her, and so, she couldn’t see the being’s overall shape.
This surprised her even more.
‘It’s different in size than what Sungjae had described.’
[Do you accept the Serp—]
“Yes! I accept!”
[…]
Yooha didn’t even feel the need to hear all the words of blessing. The direct answer surprised the being asking the question.
When the silence lasted, Chun Yooha said, “Uncle?”
[Yes.]
Suddenly…
Flash!
An incredible light erupted beneath Chun Yooha’s feet. She then saw something familiar within the light.
‘Jongno district.’
However, it wasn’t the downtown area of Seoul that she knew. The buildings supposed to have vanished in this era were still there.
‘The Deoksugung palace is still there.’ That wasn’t all. ‘The department store…!’
That was a famous department store located in Jongno. This store had been destroyed alongside the birth of the thirteenth awakened being.
‘This is what happened when Uncle awakened.’
It was now called the invasion of Seoul. This name was reinforced by what she saw next to the buildings.
[Kee-ehhhhhk!!!]
Monsters were flying through the air and clinging to the buildings. According to the textbooks, it was one of the worst events at that time.
Above all else, this Invasion of Seoul was the legendary event everyone knew about since Lee Gun had awakened during it. Before this, everyone had thought only twelve awakened beings existed. The thirteenth had appeared for the first time in the invasion.
As if to prove this point, the fallen department store emitted a light. The light was green and shaped like a snake.
Something surprising happened.
Koo-goo-goohng!
It seemed as if a nuke had gone off. With the department as the epicenter, the green light spread.
When the light swept them, the monsters screamed and died the next instant. The power was unbelievably strong.
This sight made Chun Yooha think about her childhood.
She had been around six years old then. Her father had been drunk. He had sat her on his lap and told her something.
[Gun’s body became more and more damaged the more he used his abilities. That’s why I believe he was at his strongest when he first awakened. When I met him, his body was already a mess, yet he was still that strong.]
At the time, she hadn’t understood what her father meant, but it was as her father had said.
This wasn’t the power of a human. This event had been described as if Zodiacs had descended on Seoul to save this city.
However, Chun Yooha saw everything within the blinding light. She saw the face of Lee Gun returning to the department store after killing the monsters.
Was it the price of using that power? His face and body were horribly disfigured. Although she couldn’t see it clearly, she was sure of something. As people cheered the death of the monsters, Lee Gun was soundlessly shedding tears. He looked like a person who had lost something precious.
This was unexpected. If one went back and looked at the videos from that time, the world had celebrated Lee Gun’s awakening. Everyone was envious of the man who had obtained a power similar to the Zodiac Saints.
However, Chun Yooha didn’t have time to think through this oddity. As another light flashed, her vision dimmed.
“Huhk!”
How long had she lost consciousness? Chun Yooha opened her eyes.
[You have finished your baptism.]
[You have officially become the disciple of the Serpent Bearer.]
Chun Yooha had gone to the Imaginative Space standing up. She looked at her surroundings.
The nearby Leo disciples stood shell-shocked. After all, the green magical energy was circulating around her body. The blessing was done.
[You have received a baptized name.]
[Serpent’s Executioner!]
[You have developed new skills.]
[Your body’s stats have been readjusted.]
[Your stats have increased by a lot.]
[A massive amount of contribution has been sent to the Serpent Bearer.]
[You have acquired a reward for “Missionary.”]
Chun Yooha felt a change in her body. Her brother hadn’t said much about it, but she felt it for sure.
‘This power is different.’
The magical energy flowing through her was very powerful. Moreover, it was the energy that she could always feel from her uncle!
“Good! Your baptism is done.” Lee Gun laughed as he patted Yooha’s head.
Yooha was moved by the fact that this was the first time her uncle had patted her head. ‘Finally!’
Lee Gun had kept patting her brother’s head, which she had been jealous of.
However, Lee Gun mistook her expression. “Ah! I’m sorry! I’m treating you like a kid.”
Lee Gun tried to retract his hand, but Chun Yooha quickly grabbed his arm. This might be her last chance, so she wanted it to last a couple more seconds.
However, this didn’t last more than a second.
“!!”
When she touched his large hand, she felt something was off. Chun Yooha brought down Lee Gun’s hand in surprise.
After checking his hand, she reacted in shock. “Your hand! What happened?”
Lee Gun had activated his Super Regeneration skill, but his hand was a mess.
Yooha realized his right hand was in a worse shape. It seemed he had been purposefully keeping his right hand in his pocket because of this.
‘An exposed bone…!’
It served to only surprise her. She had never seen her uncle suffer this large an injury.
However, Lee Gun laughed as if it were nothing. “Ah! This? Don’t worry about it. It happened when I tried to catch some thieves.”
“Thieves?”
Lee Gun furrowed his brows. He was referring to the monsters that had invaded his holy ground. Well, he had killed them immediately.
‘They were from the black zone.’
Those monsters were tied to the Monarch ranks. In terms of stats, they were well beyond his calculations. They were well past the red zone monsters. That was why he had hurriedly come back to this place.
Lee Gun discreetly glanced toward Stevens.
Stevens was amongst the Leo disciples, who were wailing. He looked like death warmed over. “Ah! How am I supposed to report this to the Leo?”
“Saint-nim!”
Stevens was reacting as if someone had cut off his nose while his eyes were open. Of all the disciples that Lee Gun could take, he had taken their ace! She was someone their Zodiac favored so much that it had raised her to the ranks of the Ten Stars!
‘If the Leo finds out about this, he’ll be furious!’
The despairing Stevens had only one thing to say. “Let’s not awaken our Zodiac for the near future.”
“What?”
“Also, we should prepare a lot of meat”
“W-What?”
“It’d be great if there were bones, too.”
“What????!”
Suddenly, Stevens became vigilant, seeing Lee Gun walk toward him.
“Don’t come here!” Stevens immediately let out a murderous intent. “What? You took my arm, and you took Yooha. What more do you want? Do you plan on taking my head too?”
Lee Gun grinned. “No! I don’t need your head.”
“!”
For a moment, he relaxed. However, Stevens’ face hardened soon. What? My head?
Lee Gun let out an evil laugh. “I did come here thinking I should take your legs too, but I think I’m fine with not doing that.”
“What?”
Lee Gun did a light stretch to loosen his body. “I don’t think this is the time for me to take your legs.”
Stevens wondered what the man was talking about.
Lee Gun’s snake eyes flashed red. “In the first place, my business isn’t with you.”
“What? What are you….”
At that moment…
Boom!
The ground suddenly shook, and a deafening sound frightened the Leo disciples. Chun Yooha put up her guard.
Boom!!
It sounded as if heaven and earth were ringing.
Stevens let out a cold sweat. ‘Shit!’
His expression made it clear that he knew he was screwed. Suddenly, a golden light erupted from his body.
Kwa-gwah-gwahng!
Golden lightning crackled around him, and at the same time, the sky turned dark!
Koo-goo-goohng!
The flustered Stevens quickly took one knee.
Lee Gun smirked as he just waited in place. It was as if he had purposefully done the baptism for this purpose.
[The owner of the beast had its important offering stolen.]
[The owner of the beast is showing wild anger at having its precious disciple stolen.]
[The other owners are also shocked. They have excused themselves.]
[The owner who has just woken up from its sleep is descending toward the ground.]
[It is trying to kill the owner of the Serpent.]
