The helmeted man already knew about Lee Gun. His monarch had been looking for the human who had killed Red Eye. Then there had been the stories they had heard through Giselle.
It had happened not too long after the Devil’s Tower was destroyed.
[What? A human escaped from the Devil’s Tower?]
The helmeted man furrowed his brows when he heard his subordinate.
[Wasn’t one of the thirteen generals in charge of looking after that tower?]
[Yes. It seems the tower’s general got killed by the human. From what we could sense, the human seems to have awakened as a Zodiac….]
His monarch had shown interest in those words. Amongst the monarchs, the power of the Zodiacs was excellent food.
Therefore, the helmeted man had become interested in Lee Gun too.
[Our monarch will like it if I capture him.]
[Are you sure it’ll be ok, general? We don’t know how much divine status he has.]
[That is correct. The fact that he was able to heal means his divine status might be powerful. He might be stronger than a general…]
However, a woman laughed at those words.
“Lee Gun is stronger than a general? That is ridiculous.”
It was Giselle, who had joined the unknown civilization. She was speaking through a proxy, but it was clear that she got in a terrible mood when talking about Lee Gun.
“Do not treat him as someone on par with the Zodiacs. This is why I should’ve killed the Archer Saint, who deified Lee Gun.”
Deification was a scary thing. The memory of a dead person could be glorified, and those memories remained in the hearts of people for the rest of their lives.
When Lee Gun had died, some people had thought of him as a god. This was the reason he had awakened to his divine power. Anyway, he became more powerful, the more he was worshiped as a god. Giselle was sure that Hugo had a large part in Lee Gun’s deification. However, that was all there was to it.
“Him being able to regenerate is surprising, but I’ve seen him fight. That is why I know.”
[!]
“He was influenced by deification, and his body gained divine nature. Still, his power is on the same level as that of twenty years ago. No, he is below the power that he possessed in his prime,” Giselle said with certainty.
“It’s beyond not reaching his prime. For him, facing off against monarchs and generals would be impossible. You don’t have to worry about him.” She smirked.
“Lee Gun is merely a baby snake right now. Anyone can crush him at this stage.”
At that time, Giselle had been sure of herself, and if they were nervous, she volunteered to go kill Lee Gun.
* * *
Back to the present.
Kwahk!
The helmeted man and his monarch, each got an ominous feeling.
‘This power is…?’
* * *
In truth, he had been continuously getting the signal.
[A small penalty has been placed on you because of your body’s complete reformation!]
[Penalty: 50% Reduction in Physical Ability]
(Remaining Time: 1,032hrs)
…
[Penalty: 50% Reduction in Physical Ability]
(Remaining Time: 27hrs 54m 11s)]
Lee Gun had started receiving these signals from the beginning, around the time he had left the tower. Through the penalty notification window, he would continuously receive updates.
Moreover, the end of the penalty weirdly coincided with the second invasion by the unknown civilization as if he had received this power to stop the unknown civilization’s invasion. It was as if his power was purposefully sealed until they showed up. The time had overlapped.
Of course, it could be a coincidence as well. In the first place, the penalty hadn’t been much of a hindrance in his fights.
‘I just have to stall a little bit until the penalty ends.’
Lee Gun had also extracted ingredients from the Leo. The only remaining problem was that the enemy invaders were stronger than he had thought. It made him wonder if humanity would really end.
This was especially true of the power of the monarch rank, who had descended. The power was beyond imaginable. It made him want to cuss.
Nightmare!
When that power had pierced through his body, Lee Gun had seen something swear-worthy. It had taken him back to twenty years ago, when he had awakened as the thirteenth.
“Do you really like those twelve awakened beings?”
“Yes. They are amazing. They said they’ll put their lives on the line to save humanity. Even if it is just words, I’m thankful. Yesterday, I gathered some money, so I can support them.”
“Support them? It’s only 50,000 won. You shouldn’t gather money by skipping your meals.”
“You like the twelve awakened beings too, Gun.”
“Of course, I do. The twelve awakened beings are the strongest among humanity.”
It was that person’s birthday. Lee Gun had decided to treat the person to dinner at the department store. However, a monster invasion had suddenly occurred from nowhere, and many people had died.
[Warning! The monarch’s power is showing you “The event that you least want to see.”]
“I think some people are still there. Should we head out right now?”
“It’s fine. The more we drag this out, the more the Korean government gets desperate. They’ll raise more money. Tell them there’s no one here.”
“Should you be saying that right now?”
“It’s fine. One is deaf, and the other one is dead.”
“I guess there’s no hope for the other floors too.”
[Warning! You are being shown a memory that you least want to see.]
[Your mental state is shaken.]
[Your divine status is decreasing.]
[Divine Status: 29%]
“Even they cannot kill the monsters that are appearing here. In fact, they didn’t want to come here in the first place. They turned down the request. Ignore it.”
“Did you see, Gun? We’ll be fine. They went to call the twelve. They will surely come here.”
The monarch was using the nightmare to show Lee Gun a memory that the man least wanted to see. The last thing Lee Gun saw was that person’s face being eaten by a monster, the person that had been comforting him until the end.
Lee Gun shook. He knew this was a nightmare he was being shown through a skill, and it enraged him. Then, he grabbed the arm of the being causing this nonsense. Suddenly…
[The penalty has been removed.]
Along with the notification, a light emanated from Lee Gun’s body.
The helmeted man flinched at the light. However, his reaction lasted only for a moment, then he smirked.
[It seems you’re trying to put up a fight as a Zodiac.]
The helmeted man had already received the rundown about Lee Gun from Giselle. He called forth his black magical energy and surrounded it around Lee Gun’s arm.
[Hmmph! At the end of the day, you’re a low-rank god. I’ll crush this lowly arm first—]
Before he could say anything else…
[Kuh-huhk!!!]
The helmeted man screamed.
Kevin and Stevens couldn’t believe their eyes when they heard the scream.
“What the hell…!”
The helmeted man’s arm was being crushed in front of their eyes.
Kwah-jeek!
Moreover, it was beyond being crushed. It looked like an emulsion of meat. Flesh and bone sloughed off as the arm was crushed.
The horrible pain made the helmeted man scream.
[Ahhhhk!]
Shocked, he glared down at Lee Gun.
[What kind of skill did you just use—]
The body of a general couldn’t be torn apart even if Red Eye bit it. Such a thing was more unlikely since the helmeted man was receiving power from his monarch!
However, the helmeted man didn’t even have the opportunity to speak.
Kwahng!!!
Accompanying a light, Lee Gun kicked him in the face. The helmeted man was sent flying, unable to even scream.
Boom!
The helmeted man’s vision started to get foggy.
[Kuh, kuh-huhk!]
His mouth was slightly ajar as he was having a hard time thinking straight. Moreover, half of his face had been blown off. If he hadn’t brought down his monarch’s magical energy, he might have lost his life.
‘What the hell is going on?’
His shocked self was barely able to keep himself conscious. He had no idea what was going on. However, he soon shook, the reason being the human approaching him.
[Huh-uhk…!]
Lee Gun! He was getting closer to his enemy, and his energy was completely different from before.
Kwahng!
The sound of heaven and earth shaking rang out, and the ground started to split. An enormous sphere of light surrounded Lee Gun! The green light and the black light merged as they surged into the sky.
[The penalty has been removed.]
[You can use 100% of your body’s power.]
The helmeted man froze. This was completely different from Death’s Instinct. It felt like a basic explosion of power, but calling it a simple explosion would be cute.
“Disaster!”
That was the only description that fit it.
‘His body is smaller than mine. It’s smaller than a monarch’s body.’
Overpowered! It was like looking at an enormous storm. No, even that was too cute of a description.
It was like being in front of a planet, and the helmeted man was the dust. It was as if he was in front of a planet containing several thousand storms. Each storm was large enough to cover the entire earth.
In fact, one of the disciples unconsciously spoke out loud when he saw Lee Gun. “Zodiac.”
No one could deny his words. This was also true of the Zodiac Saints, who had interacted the most with the Zodiacs.
‘This is crazy. That is the descent of a Zodiac.…!’
Kevin and Stevens were having a hard time believing their eyes. This was the feeling they had felt when they had met their Zodiacs for the first time.
Of course, it wasn’t like they didn’t have suspicions about this. Kevin was the first one to get wind of what was going on, and he knew it for sure when the Virgo’s Constructs had bent their knees toward Lee Gun in respect. Stevens had been feeling confused when he had heard the helmeted man speak earlier.
‘I never thought it would be possible.’
However, no one could deny it after seeing this sight. There was no doubt about it! That was a Zodiac! Moreover, it felt similar to the Leo when the Zodiac had personally descended to earth.
‘No, this feels more brutal…!’
This was why he was terrified. If one wanted to pick up a powerful item, the wielder had to be strong. This was true for the Zodiacs too.
To handle a powerful Zodiac, one needed powerful disciples. How talented must the disciple be to serve a Zodiac like that? Was it possible to keep up with that Zodiac?
The two Zodiac Saints felt chills run up their spines.
Moreover, the Zodiacs hadn’t reacted much to Lee Gun’s appearance up to this point. But now, they reacted in a big way.
[The twelve Zodiacs began to stir.]
[Aries shakes in fear.]
[A monarch is starting to show interest.]
[One of the monarchs who had been sleeping for a very long time has awoken because of the Serpent Bearer’s power.]
Kevin quickly turned his head. His gaze landed on none other than the unconscious Hugo and the Chun siblings.
The Virgo Saint quickly shook Hugo as he tried to bring him back to consciousness. “Wake up, Archer! That is your Zodiac! Do you still not believe it?”
Hugo, who had been watching a nightmare, groaned as he started to wake up.
At that moment.
[Don’t… don’t come any closer!]
He started backing away.
[Kuhk!]
Nevertheless, Lee Gun grabbed him by the neck. The script had been flipped. The helmeted man was taken aback as his mouth was slightly ajar.
[How… Kuh-huhk!]
While squeezing the helmeted man’s neck, Lee Gun slammed him toward the ground.
[Huh-huhk…!]
The monster with the snake eyes smirked.
[If I think about it, it was you. You’re the one who made the declaration of war saying humanity should give up their lands if they didn’t want to die.]
[…!!]
The helmeted man was surprised. These were the divine words of power.
At the same time, green light coalesced around Lee Gun’s right fist. It was as if he was violently taking out his anger on all the abuse that he had suffered!
Lee Gun let out a frightening smile.
[I’ll return those words right back at you guys.]
[Monarch…!]
Lee Gun’s fist flew toward the helmeted man.
Kwahng!!!
The green light exploded.
