‘Green?’
Jean-Louis found it offensive that Kevin was emitting a soft green light. Green symbolized Lee Gun. As the Virgo’s representative, Kevin should be letting out a silver light. So why was it green?
Of course, Jean-Louis had a guess.
‘I heard the Archer Saint tried to become Lee Gun’s Zodiac Saint but then changed his mind.’
Although that was an absurd idea, Hugo was a hopeless Lee Gun fanatic. The Crab Saint wondered if Kevin was the same way.
The green light soon disappeared, and Jean-Louis furrowed his brows.
‘Did I see it wrong?’
Well, that didn’t matter. The Crab Saint looked very displeased at the Virgo Saint being here. This was to be expected.
“Do you know this? Giselle is my client, and your actions have put me in a very rough spot.”
Kevin had joined Lee Gun’s side and disrupted the Crab Saint’s plans. Due to this, Giselle had tortured the Crab Saint in all kinds of ways.
Of course, although the Cancer temple was weaker than the Libra temple, it didn’t mean that she broke him. He was a Zodiac Saint. His position was to be the servant of the Zodiacs. Therefore, he treated her according to her status.
It didn’t mean the experience hadn’t been unpleasant for him.
“This is why I told myself that if I come across you, I’ll make your face look like Lee Gun’s old face.”
“Hmph. Lee Gun’s face? In the end, you brought it on yourself. You conspired with those who tried to kill Lee Gun.”
“!”
Suddenly…
Jean-Louis’s expression was a sight to behold. The green light had suddenly emanated from Kevin.
‘It seems to be a reaction to me talking about Lee Gun.’
“I’m done talking about such things.”
Kevin then raised his royal holy item, and fierce cold winds surged into the air.
[Northern Wind of January]
The skill surprised Jean-Louis.
Doo-doo-doohk!
It looked like a tornado. The tornado that surged into the air had a diameter in kilometers.
‘!’
The pillar darkened the sky and called forth an enormous calamity of ice.
Hwee-ohhhhhh!
The ice storm instantly turned the desert into a tundra.
Jean-Louis had no choice but to return to his normal self. To avoid detection, he had been traveling as a general of the Cancer temple. But if he held the appearance of an S-rank disciple, he wouldn’t be able to block this attack.
After revealing his true self, Jean-Louis immediately used his ability.
[Sucking Star(SSS)]
His eyes emitted a dark brown light. This light sucked in all the Virgo Saint’s power. It looked like a black hole.
Finally, the power of the two Zodiac Saints clashed.
Kwah-gwa-gwahng!
The ice storm continued to get fiercer despite it getting sucked in. Jean-Louis laughed.
‘This is to be expected from the second-ranked Zodiac Saint.’
Of course, besides this, Kevin was also attacking as hard as he could.
Kevin ground his teeth as he looked at the Crab Saint, who was in front of him.
‘They are always chomping at the bits to get rid of Lee Gun.’
The Virgo Saint had been one of them, but he just didn’t like the fact that Lee Gun kept taking first place away from him. He didn’t hate Lee Gun enough to kill him. On the contrary, he thought of Lee Gun as someone humanity needed.
The others were different. It included the Taurus Saint, the Capricorn Saint, the Aries Saint, the Aquarius Saint, the Pisces Saint, and the Gemini Saint. They were the ones who looked at Lee Gun as if he were a thorn in their sides.
True, Lee Gun had a horrible personality. Them hating him was understandable, but Kevin never expected them to try to kill Lee Gun in such a cheap manner.
Anyway, Kevin was determined to catch the culprit who had killed Lee Gun. Kevin hated Lee Gun, but at the same time, he looked up to him. Therefore, he had gone after the most suspicious one.
If Kevin were being honest, he had been suspicious of Hugo and the Scorpio Saint for the past twenty years. Nevertheless, he had been way off the mark, and it couldn’t be helped now.
The two Saints were fighting a strength contest when…
‘!’
The Virgo Saint flinched.
While he was using his power, Jean-Louis had suddenly appeared in front of him. There were ten of them!
‘Cloning!’
The ten Jean-Louis laughed as they took out their daggers.
[Hero Killing Star (SS)]
– Royal holy item
– In a single moment, your opponent will be driven toward complete death. The effectiveness of the weapon increases as the opponent possesses more achievements.
Jean-Louis was known as the crime coordinator, so on the surface, he looked like he had nothing to do with battles.
However, he could lead the criminal disciples as their head for a reason. In terms of dirty skills like assassination, he was better than Kevin!
“Koohk!”
The ten Jean-Louis threatened Kevin from all directions.
‘…!’
Kevin was the strongest of humanity in terms of sword skill. An attack of this caliber could be countered by sensing their presence.
“As expected, the loss of your arm is too big to overcome.”
‘Oh no.’
A blunt object came crashing down on Kevin’s right temple.
Bah-gahk!
“Koo-oohk!”
It was the Crab Saint’s elbow. Kevin’s head was rocked as he faltered. Jean-Louis continued his attack.
Poo-oohk!!
Numerous daggers stabbed Kevin’s body.
“Kuhk…!”
Of course, a normal blade couldn’t pierce through the blessing placed around a Zodiac Saint. However, the Cancer Saint’s royal holy item was a different story.
‘The Crab Saint’s blade eats divine power…’
The ten Jean-Louis, who had been dispersed, merged into one once again. It was like watching viscous oil move around.
Only one Jean-Louis was left in the end, and he stabbed Kevin’s stomach.
Jean-Louis laughed as he squeezed Kevin’s neck. “Who cares if you’re the strongest swordsman? Your primary arm is gone. You’re a toothless tiger.”
“Koohk!”
“I’m glad Lee Gun cut off your arm. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to break through your guard. But now…”
When Lee Gun’s name was mentioned, the green light appeared around Kevin again. However, it lasted only a moment. The Crab Saint laughed as he squeezed harder.
“You will be the next one to have his arm cut off by Lee Gun.”
Seeing Kevin’s glaring eyes, the Crab Saint let out a peculiar laugh.
“Me?”
“Of course. You were responsible for making Lee Gun rot inside the tower. Do you really expect to live after that?”
Jean-Louis suddenly burst out laughing. It was as if he couldn’t hold it back any longer. “What are you saying? You were the one who stabbed Lee Gun.”
“What?”
Kevin looked surprised, but the Crab Saint kept laughing. “It was hard to hold it in. You were the one to stab Lee Gun, yet you followed him as if you liked him. It was comedy itself.”
“What?”
“Do you really not know? You stabbed Lee Gun twenty years ago.”
Dumbfounded, Kevin infused his hand with magical energy. “Stop speaking with a forked tongue. What nonsense are you—”
“You don’t have any memory of what happened inside the Devil’s Tower, right?”
Kevin’s power-infused hand flinched. And this reaction provoked a sharp laugh from the Cancer Saint. Jean-Louis said, “I didn’t want the reputation of the twelve Zodiac Saints to suffer, so I kept my mouth shut. However, I saw it all that day.”
“…?”
“After Lee Gun killed Red Eye, you stabbed him in the back.”
“…!”
“Of course, your eyes had no consciousness. It looked as if something was controlling you…”
Kevin’s hand shook. The Crab Saint ignored him as he let out a light-hearted laugh. “The great Lee Gun was murdered. Did you think we wouldn’t have investigated the incident?”
Blood had already drained from Kevin’s face.
“I’m not sure, but the one behind the act must have been either the unknown civilization or a Zodiac. Only beings of that caliber can control a Zodiac Saint.”
“…!”
“However…” The Cancer Saint continued with a devious smirk. “It doesn’t matter whether you were controlled or not. In the end, it’s true that you stabbed him and sent him into the trap.”
Kevin’s expression froze. Of course, he wasn’t simply taking Jean-Louis’s words as truth.
The other thing was that after Lee Gun had left the Virgo Saint’s holy ground, one of Kevin’s disciples had told Kevin a strange story. That disciple was one of the Ten Stars under the Virgo temple. Named Jinmyung, he was an SS-rank appraiser, one of the two SS-rank disciples under the Virgo temple.
Jinmyung had a friendly relationship with Chun Sungjae, and he normally resided at the holy item exchange market. However, Kevin remembered the disciple well because Jinmyung was a Lee Gun fanboy.
Anyway, Jinmyung had approached Kevin at that time and asked, “Excuse me, Kevin-nim. Were you ever under a monster’s control magic inside the Devil’s Tower?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing. I just wanted to know if there was any illusory magic or control magic that made allies attack each other…”
“You saw something while appraising an item?”
“What? Ah. Yes! That is… I appraised the item from the Devil’s Tower that you asked me to investigate…”
“You probably saw wrong. In the first place, all the Zodiac Saints received protection from their Zodiacs. A Zodiac won’t stand by and do nothing if their Zodiac Saint is under control magic.”
His subordinate had spoken about this subject. Could it be?
The Crab Saint let out an understanding smile as he looked at Kevin’s shaking eyes. “Of course, a Zodiac wouldn’t standby and do nothing if its Zodiac Saint were being controlled. This means there exists a monarch that can hide its power from the Zodiac. Or it could very well be that the Zodiac was behind it.”
“…”
The Crab Saint let out a satisfied smile when he saw the expression on Kevin’s face. That face contained shock and self-hate. It looked as if Kevin’s pride had been hurt. All kinds of emotions crossed his face.
“There was no sense in talking about it. I purposefully didn’t say anything because I thought it would be too shocking for you. I hope your curiosity is satiated now.”
The Crab Saint then whispered to Kevin, “You now know who was responsible for stabbing Lee Gun.”
Kevin was so shocked that he lost grip of his sword. As a swordsman, he had never lost grip on his sword before this.
And as if Jean-Louis had been waiting for this moment, he emitted magical energy.
[Zodiac Descent]
An incredible amount of chaotic dark brown magical energy rushed out of him. Then, he activated his skill. Feeling a sense of relief, he laughed.
‘Thankfully, the green light from before didn’t activate.’ Jean-Louis didn’t know what it was, but the light seemed ominous. ‘I have to kill him before the green light activates once more.’
As he had that thought, the star of darkness revealed itself. The enormous star of darkness could turn a mere Zodiac Saint into nothingness.
“I hope the next Virgo Sant isn’t a man.”
Finally, the star of darkness stabbed into the Virgo Saint’s chest.
Poo-oohk!
An enormous star was about to be turned into ashes.
* * *
Around that time, Lee Gun furrowed his brows as he heard a notification.
[The Serpent Bearer’s power that you sent outside has been activated.]
Lee Gun realized what the notification meant. ‘The thing I stuck onto him was activated.’
However, it wasn’t important right now.
“I found you.” The corners of Lee Gun’s lips turned up. He was currently inside the basement of the Devil’s Tower. Of course, all the paths leading toward the basement had been destroyed.
[The tower is being influenced by the Serpent Bearer’s power.]
[The tower is regenerating.]
Thanks to his power, the path leading to the basement of the tower was being regenerated. Of course, this was odd.
‘I’m pretty sure Super Regeneration works only on living beings.’ Did this mean his Super Regeneration expanded in scope as he leveled up? Well, it didn’t matter.
Lee Gun descended the stairs to reach the basement, arriving at the “Tower Manager’s Space.” There was only one reason Lee Gun was interested in this room.
[The Gate Keeper’s “Time” Core does not have sufficient power. It cannot restore all 100 floors.]
[The power of the “Time” Core is limited to fixing ten floors.]
[You need to find a different way.]
Yes, if he wanted to use the tool that he had rented, he had to go to the hundredth floor of the tower. But currently, it was impossible for him to do that. In the meantime, he had discovered this underground space.
‘If it’s the manager’s room, the memory of that day should remain here.’
The Tower’s manager was the one who had used Lee Gun as a test subject and spilled all kinds of information in the process.
‘He said there is a recording medium that acts as a CCTV.’
It was as he had expected.
“Bingo!” Lee Gun smirked when he entered the “Manager’s Room.” His gaze was fixed on the enormous crystal ball located at the center of the room.
[Memory Record of the Devil’s Tower]
– It is the record from the 1st floor to the 100th floor.
Only the Tower’s Manager could use the crystal ball, but it didn’t matter.
[Pocket Watch of Tower’s Manager(SS)]
– It is a royal totem possessed by one of the “13 Generals.”
Was it thanks to the item Lee Gun had acquired after killing the last monster here?
[The authentication of the Manager has been completed.]
[Which memory would you like to call forth?]
The crystal ball reacted as it spoke.
As expected, the crystal ball contained the tower’s records. It was like a CCTV as the record of each floor could be sorted by choosing dates.
‘With this, I don’t have to go through the trouble of visiting the hundredth floor.’
Lee Gun grinned. This crystal ball seemed to be much more useful than the tool the fanboy appraiser had lent to him. However…
“I can’t call forth the record.” He didn’t know the language of the unknown civilization. It seemed he would need Hailey’s help.
‘I’ll take it out with me.’
Lee Gun had felt it at an instinctual level. On that fateful day, he had felt malice from the hand that pushed him into the trap. The malice had been massive and beyond imagination.
‘I’ll use this to kill everyone who had a hand in my death.’
Of course, the crystal ball also had a password, so Hailey wouldn’t be able to activate it immediately.
Suddenly…
[There is no response. The last memory will be called forth.]
[Record of 1/7/2005]
[Confirmed 12 human intruders]
“!”
Lee Gun’s eyes turned round at the unexpected voice. This was to be expected since the mentioned date was the day they had raided the Devil’s Tower.
The twelve human intruders referred to them, and the crystal ball called forth familiar information.
[The Zodiac Contracts have been sensed from the intruders.]
[The information from the database has been used to confirm their identities.]
The familiar information was from twenty years ago, and it showed their faces. However, something was off.
‘What’s going on? Thirteen of us entered the Devil’s Tower.’
Until the ninetieth floor, all of them had been present in the party. Yet the voice said there were only twelve humans.
However, his question was answered in short order. Lee Gun flinched as the faces of the twelve humans appeared before him. This was to be expected.
‘The eunuch is missing!’
The memory spoke.
[Amongst the intruders, the contractor to the Virgo is unconfirmed.]
Lee Gun’s eyes turned round. ‘If the records are true…’
This meant Kevin had never entered the tower.
‘Basically, he isn’t the culprit.’
Things turning out this way meant…
Lee Gun was lost in his thoughts for a moment. But then, his eyes coldly flashed. “Ah! I know who the culprit is.”
