When Lee Gun was forcefully dragging out the Aquarius, the sixteen-year-old Chun Sungjae, the Serpent Bearer’s left Zodiac Saint, was trembling somewhere else.
The reason was the master craftsmen of the Capricorn temple in front of him.
“What? You want the ‘Heart of the Star’? Ha… Zodiac Saint-nim. No, Mr. Chun Sungjae. Do you really think you guys can handle a high-rank ingredient like that?”
“That’s right. One has to be at least Saint-rank to use such an ingredient inside the Maker temple.”
“From the list of ingredients you’re trying to acquire, I can tell you want to manufacture weapons and defensive gear.”
“An S-rank made by us cannot compare to the quality of an S-rank made by you. Why don’t you just make a custom order with us?”
When the Capricorn master craftsmen laughed in derision, Chun Sungjae exploded. “Shut up if you don’t know anything! We can make it much better than you! Just had it over, assholes!”
Yes, under Lee Gun’s order, Chun Sungjae had come to the World’s Workshop.
Located in the Great Sandy, Australia, this workshop was a place where the entire world’s equipment had been made since time immemorial. It was considered the mecca of humanity’s craftsmen.
Therefore, it was connected to the holy item exchange market, and base materials could be acquired here.
The place even had a farm, a quarry, and a slaughterhouse. Although uncommon, they even had by-products from monsters. For the most part, the Constructs residing here were the ones to make ingredients like lumber, oil, leather, etc.
That was why Chun Sungjae had come here to buy a couple of items his uncle was missing.
Lee Gun had sent him there on an errand! Of course, it was to make equipment. Along with the Zodiac saints, Lee Gun had also taken affiliate temples and Constructs under him.
Naturally, he had already acquired the most important high-rank ingredients, the ingredients that would make the backbone. These ingredients ranged from Red Eye’s parts to the body parts of the Cancer. Now, Lee Gun just needed the ancillary ingredients.
And so, Chun Sungjae was here to get ingredients like “Screw” and “Meat Tenderizer.”
“What? You want to make your own equipment? My god! Hey guys! Listen to this! I think the Serpent Bearer’s temple got a Maker Construct!”
“Really? Is it a Nordic dwarf? A Cyclops?”
“No way! We have all of them.”
“Ha ha ha. You are right.”
When the Capricorn disciples heard that the Serpent Bearer’s temple was going to make equipment themselves, the disciples dismissed Chun Sungjae.
Chun Sungjae realized he probably should have expected this response.
‘The world doesn’t know that Uncle is a Maker.’
No one would believe it in the first place.
‘He is a Maker with great fighting ability.’
Everyone assumed Lee Gun was a battle-type Saint!!
‘The battle-type temples are nothing compared to Uncle.’
Of course, this young man’s father cried foul, saying Lee Gun was a cheat and a hack.
Anyway, the Capricorn craftsmen had a reason to ignore Lee Gun. Rumors said that all the equipment Lee Gun used came from the Capricorn.
Moreover, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the Capricorn temple was in charge of equipping humanity. This was especially true for the “Genius Workshop,” which was directly managed by the Capricorn. That workshop had all the genius craftsmen, and ninety percent of them were Capricorn disciples.
‘Of course, they are beneath Uncle.’
It didn’t matter in the end. Chun Sungjae knew this since he had come to the production workshop tower some times as an errand for the SS-rank appraiser of the Virgo.
Therefore, many people here recognized him. Now that he was a Zodiac Saint, the Capricorn disciples looked at him differently.
Chun Sungjae was amazing; he was the first one to go from the A-rank to the SS-rank. Some disciples looked at him with hope, and some looked at him with envy.
“Zodiac Saint? Aren’t your specs worse than the other Zodiac Saints’?”
The craftsmen behind Chun Sungjae snickered in a good-natured way.
“That’s right. He’s a kid. He is too young to be the head of a temple. It is a bit more believable with Chun Yooha.”
“He’s smaller than his sister. We won’t be able to see his face if he stood amongst the other Zodiac Saints.”
“At this point, I think we can say that Lee Gun’s eyes are suspect.”
“He is a shorty….”
In the end, the forbidden words came out.
Chun Sungjae had been holding back up to this point, but now, killing intent appeared in his eyes. It was accompanied by an explosion in the forge’s fire!
Kwahng!!!!
“Ahhhhhk!”
“What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know! The fire in the forge suddenly went crazy! It caused the kiln to explode!”
Kwahng!
That was just the start.
“Ahhk! The magic sword has gone crazy because of the fire!”
“Ahhhk! The weapons are attacking… Kuhk!”
[Chun Sungjae has destroyed the Capricorn temple’s fire kiln.]
[Chun Sungjae has used a spell(Confusion) on a Capricorn Construct(Fire) with the kiln.]
[The Serpent Bearer’s temple has gained Contribution.]
[A new record has been engraved in the bible.]
The passersby near the workshop clicked their tongues when they saw this.
“What the hell? Did they lose control of a weapon? We shouldn’t use that place.”
“I guess the Capricorn temple isn’t much. I’ll go somewhere else.”
The flustered craftsmen tried to get things under control.
“Hey! What are you doing? Hurry up and calm it down!”
“Shit! The fire won’t calm down! I think a Confusion spell was cast on it!”
“What do you mean? Why is the Construct doing this?”
“Ahhhk! It’s melting all the weapons we made… Ahhk! Wait! What happened to the SS-rank ingredients that were here?”
Cool as a cucumber, Chun Sungjae stole all the ingredients his uncle wanted him to purchase. Then, he disappeared with them using Teleport and reappeared once again on the first floor.
Flash!
Chun Yooha and Goat, who had been waiting at the appointed place, were surprised to see Sungjae.
“Why did you return so quickly?”
“I thought the craftsmen would refuse to sell the ingredients. I thought the haggling would take a while…”
“Ah. It’s fine. I don’t need to do that. I just took them all.”
“!”
Sungjae’s hands were full of items. He seemed to have successfully bought the ingredients Lee Gun had ordered, but…
“Ahhhhk! The kiln on the fifty-ninth floor blew up!! The Capricorn’s kiln broke!”
“What?! How did the craftsmen manage the fire that such a thing happened?”
“I don’t know! Also, the SS-rank ingredients, including the Heart of the Star, are all gone!”
“What? Heart of the Star? That’s crazy! That ingredient is very hard to acquire! Isn’t it the incredibly rare ingredient that forms only five times in one year?”
“Yes! Do you realize how much that is?”
Goat sweated as he watched the craftsmen move quickly.
“Excuse me… Serpent Bearer Saint-nim? I’m pretty sure the item you’re holding in your hand is the Heart of the Star…”
“Uh! That’s right.”
“Y-You shouldn’t do that…”
“It’s fine. My Zodiac will forgive everything. Gun-men.”
Goat massaged his face.
As expected, the kiln going berserk on the fifty-ninth floor was Sungjae’s fault.
‘Like Zodiac, like Zodiac Saint…’
Chun Sungjae seemed furious. “Why did weirdos start messing with me as soon as I became the Zodiac Saint?”
“They mess with you, Saint-nim?”
“Yes. Everyone keeps asking if Uncle has a girlfriend! They want to know his taste in women! They are all trying to use me to get close to Uncle. If their motives were pure, I wouldn’t mind it. It’s obvious that they clearly want to use Uncle to their advantage. I’m a guy, yet they aren’t even prettier than me. How dare they covet him? I’ll never let them get close!”
Goat started to sweat. Was there a woman that could satisfy the standards of the two siblings?
Chun Sungjae continued his angry tirade. “They even brought a lollipop for me. They treated me like a little kid.”
“You are a little kid—”
“Ahhhhhk!!!!” Chun Sungjae raged.
It was to be expected. He was the Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer, yet he could feel the gazes of people making fun of him.
In fact, Stevens and Kevin had smirked at him a little too. They found Chun Sungjae cute.
“Is that so? You killed a general?”
“Lee Gun probably killed it for him. Yes. Watch diligently and learn.”
“Ah! I hope you get taller. We won’t be able to see you while fighting the monsters. You might get trampled by mistake.”
“#$*&#*!”
Chun Sungjae had to grit his teeth because he had yet to reach 160 cm in height. “Height… Height….”
When others made fun of him, Chun Sungjae felt as if his uncle was being harmed in the process since he had chosen him as a Zodiac Saint. Of course, his height should not influence the temple, but at the end of the day, a Zodiac Saint was the face of the temple. Not everyone could become a Zodiac Saint.
Therefore, the young man said, “Goat! There is a medicine that can let me grow in height! I’ll acquire it from the Aquarius temple! If I have the miracle Chalice, I can grow by twenty centimeters!”
This made Goat sigh.
‘There is no need for him to fret like this.’
Others called the siblings young. Some said the brother and sister were inferior to the other Zodiac Saints. However, Yooha was strong, and while Sungjae might be young, he had the brain of an academic.
‘Moreover, he killed a general.’
Well, everyone would find out about it in due time. However, an angry Chun Sungjae seemed oblivious to this. He was about to head toward the Aquarius temple, but…
“!”
Chun Sungjae’s expression suddenly changed.
“What’s wrong, Sungjae?” Goat was about to ask Yooha what was going on, but she flinched too. Goat’s eyes turned round. “Why are you two acting that way?”
Chun Sungjae’s face had turned pale as if he had felt the death of Lee Gun.
“Saint-nim?”
“Uncle is gone.”
“What?”
“Uncle is gone from this world!”
* * *
Middle world!
Before one reached the divine world, one would encounter a crack in the dimension. Aside from a single administrator, no one could enter this secret space.
Flash!
The Aquarius had returned to its home. When the Zodiac entered the home, its surprised female servant ran toward it.
[Master! What happened? Your arm is severed…!]
The Aquarius ground its teeth. To escape the Serpent Eater skill, it had purposefully cut off its arm, and the damage was severe. An arm’s worth of divine status was gone.
[Chalice! Hurry up and bring the Healing Chalice!]
[Yes!]
A purple light emanated from the Aquarius.
Flash!
This light was a barrier. After the barrier activated, the Aquarius immediately entered a pond. Something surprising happened then.
Flash!
A light appeared from the severed arm as the wound started to heal.
The pond itself was made out of holy water, so of course, it possessed great healing ability. However, this didn’t mean the missing part regrew itself. The Aquarius was the healing Zodiac; it could not create from nothing.
This was the critical difference between this Zodiac and the Serpent Bearer. Of course, reattaching the arm would have been possible if the Zodiac had that severed arm…
‘There is no way I can retrieve the arm.’
It felt sick just thinking about Lee Gun. In the end, the Aquarius recovered its wound. Trembling, it lay on the sand bed near the pond.
[I am going to sleep for a bit. Bring me some tea.]
[Understood!]
The Aquarius could finally let out a bright smile as it lay down. This was the world of the gods. There was no way Lee Gun could follow him here.
Of course, other Zodiacs had yielded to Lee Gun, and they would try to help. However, no one could enter this place. Why?
Illusion! The reason was the magic barrier. It was like the object reflected on the water. It couldn’t be caught. With the power of the Chalice, no one could touch this place.
And what about the severed arm?
‘It’s fine. I’ll ask the Capricorn about an arm.’
What about the affairs of humans? The Aquarius had nothing to do with them. Since things had turned out like this, the Zodiac had no plans of going back out. It would hide in the middle world.
‘Yes. I’ll sleep for a hundred years before I wake up.’
If that didn’t work, it would wait 1000 years, 10,000 years, or more. It would endure until the end.
‘Haha. If I don’t leave this place, I won’t get entangled with the god of calamity.’
The Aquarius let out a relaxed laugh. It was lying down with its eyes closed when it felt a presence above its head. Feeling the soft hair tickle its forehead, the Aquarius chuckled.
[You’re fast. You already brought the tea—]
When the Aquarius cracked its eyes open, its heart almost exploded. The hair touching its forehead was the bangs of a man.!
The man grinned right above its eyes.
“I-Found-You.”
A scream rang out.
