[Kyahhhk!]
A scream spread throughout the Leo Saint’s holy ground. The one screaming was none other than the Leo. There was an edge to its voice.
[Ahhhhk! Master!]
[All of Master’s teeth were pulled out! How can this be!]
[Look! The teeth aren’t the problem right now! Look at it! It became bald!!]
[All of its majestic mane…!]
The Constructs turned deathly pale when everything was ruthlessly taken from the Leo. Its awesome large fangs were the first to be extracted. Then its front teeth were all taken out. Moreover, even its majestic mane, which was sturdier than steel, was entirely shaved off.
However, Lee Gun still seemed unsatisfied.
Bbah-gahk!
[Kuh-huhk!]
He used Death’s Instinct, then stomped on the Leo’s cheek. The Zodiac’s molars started to wobble!
A fight between Zodiacs was like a natural disaster. The Constructs didn’t dare interfere. They could merely clutch at their face.
Despite how it looked, the Leo was a high-rank Zodiac!
[My god! Look at that young god, who has no fear!]
[Just a single fur is coveted by all the gods. It is that great…!]
As if it agreed with those statements, the Leo let out an intense power.
[Bastard! Snake bastard! Stop running around my body like a flea! Just stay still and get eaten by me!]
However, it was useless.
[Clump of Creation Clay has attacked the Leo.]
After turning into a bottle, the slime sprayed the powder once again. The powder was an item that Lee Gun had fed the slime beforehand!
As soon as the powder fell, the murderous Leo fell over once again.
Boom!
As if it were hopped up on drugs, the Leo started to rub its body against the ground.
Lee Gun’s eyes flashed.
Kwah-jeek!
[You have acquired the Leo’s Molar(SSS)]
The Constructs and Stevens had no choice but to scream.
[It says, “At the very least, leave enough teeth so that I can chew meat! Damn bully Zodiac!”]
When he saw the Zodiac act clumsily, a somber Stevens had an expression as if he had seen something he didn’t want to see. “What’s up with that powder?”
The disciples seemed surprised at Stevens’s words.
“Maybe, it’s catnip? Since it’s a feline-type Zodiac, it might be drunk on something like silvervine.”
“Of course, I know that!”
Stevens wasn’t really curious about the powder. “Do you really think we haven’t tried using catnip and silvervine?”
In truth, in the past, Stevens had done many things to soften the Leo’s anger.
The Constructs felt the same way as the Zodiac Saint.
[My god! We gave the Leo the snacks we squirreled away, yet it threw all away in contempt. How can that god…!]
Despite knowing he needed to stop his Zodiac from suffering such indignity, Stevens yelled, “Lee Gun! What did you use? It is catnip, right?”
Lee Gun nonchalantly replied as he watched the Leo rub against the ground, “That isn’t the only ingredient. However, I did my best to concentrate it a hundredfold before I mixed the powder.”
“…!”
Lee Gun had plenty of ingredients he could use to mix drugs. The Aquarius’s Chalice manufacturing room was full of it. Lee Gun always made and used his own drugs, so this was nothing to him.
Those words shocked everyone, but Lee Gun just shrugged it off. He held an enormous shear as he called for Stevens. “Hey, underling cat. It is struggling too much. Cutting its fur is difficult right now. Hold it down for a moment.”
Stevens looked baffled. The Leo’s fur was the softest in the world, yet it was strong enough to repel the blade of a Zodiac.
“You crazy….”
“You don’t like this bastard either. If you help me, I’ll make you an EX-rank weapon, too.”
“…!!” For a moment, Stevens flinched. His reason and emotions being shaken could be seen through his eyes.
His disciples reacted in fright.
“Saint-nim!!”
“Lee Gun-nim! This is a rule violation!”
The disciples grabbed Stevens, who was shaken.
“You just have to ask the Capricorn’s Genius Workshop to create a weapon!”
“That’s right! Despite being sticklers, I think the Genius Workshop will take orders from both Saint-nim and Lee Gun-nim…!”
Stevens snorted at those words. Genius Workshop, my ass! “He probably makes better weapons.”
“What?!”
“In the first place, he’s the one who created Heaven’s Punishment.”
“…!!!”
The Goat Saint Sebastian had kept arguing that his Zodiac had created Heaven’s Punishment. He had secretly spread this lie amongst his disciples.
Suddenly!
[Warning! The bible’s debuff placed on the Leo (Psalm of Sungjae: Page 50) has come to an end.]
[Warning! The Leo’s power will return.]
“Lee Gun-nim!”
The Leo, who had been drunk on catnip, emitted a wild golden light.
[Snake bastard! I’ll kill you!]
[You lack Temple energy. You are unable to open your bible. (You need at least 50% Temple energy)]
[Currency: Serpent Bearer’s Temple energy > 11%]
[Warning! If Temple energy dips below 10%, the temple will cease to function.]
If Lee Gun wanted to fight against the monarchs, he had to test out his bible. So this result satisfied him.
‘Even if I fill the Temple energy to 100%, I can use the bible only ten times before it completely bottoms out.’
Of course, the amount of energy being used was dependent on the temple’s level and which Psalm from the bible was used.
Anyway, Lee Gun could no longer use the bible to eat away the Leo’s power, but that didn’t matter.
Kwah-jeek!
In the end, Lee Gun had left the fur on the face and the top of its feet. He gave the beast a summer cut that would be given to a dog. The rest of the fur was shaved in a refreshing manner.
[You have acquired Highest Quality Fur(SSS).]
[Temple EXP has risen.]
When he acquired the fur, Lee Gun spoke as if his business here was done. “Hey, underling cat. I’m done. Send it back home again.”
“What?!” Stevens was dumbfounded.
However, it seemed Lee Gun did have a shred of conscience as he handed over the Chalice. “Here. If you spray this on it, its fur, teeth, and nails will all grow back.”
Stevens was at a loss for words. “It seems you’re capable of feeling sorry? Are you going to clean up your mess?”
“I’m coming back in two weeks to extract all of it again. Spray on it well.”
“You plan on taking more!”
In the end, Stevens unsummoned the Leo, who was going on a rampage.
Despite being dragged away to the Divine world, the Leo raised its paw toward Lee Gun.
[Nasty baby snake bastard! Come here right now! I’ll eat you in one bite!]
Having acquired all the ingredients, Lee Gun used his Return skill to run away.
The Leo expressed its anger.
[Bastard! Where are you running away? Come to the Divine world right now! I’ll be determined to wait until you come up here!]
Stevens despaired when he saw that his holy ground had been razed to the ground again.
* * *
“Hmph! I see you harvested its mane and nails this time around.”
Lee Gun’s holy ground in Hawaii!
Hugo was dismayed to see the items stacked in front of him. These items that were filling up the workshop were all by-products from the Leo.
‘What sins did Steven’s master commit to deserve this?’
No, it was understandable in some ways. Heaven’s Punishment(EX) was made with the Leo’s fang, and just the sight of the weapon made Lee Gun covet more.
Moreover, the Chalice would make the Zodiac’s fur and teeth grow back sturdier. If one looked at the result, the Leo had benefited too.
On the other hand…
“You kidnapped disciples this time?” Hugo looked at the Leo disciples, who were shaking next to Lee Gun.
One of them Puffin. Lee Gun considered Puffin to have useful skills. So he had tried to bring him from the site where Stevens had lost in three seconds.
Aside from Puffin, this batch had a couple more useful high-rank disciples. They were the ones who wanted to enter Lee Gun’s temple in the past.
“Well, I have no idea if Sungjae will pass them or not. However, we need basic combatants.”
Hugo tilted his head in puzzlement. Lee Gun usually didn’t covet disciples. On the other hand, the ones he brought had the chance of reaching Saint rank. He had personally judged their abilities. It would allow him to grow his temple, and it would benefit Lee Gun greatly.
‘But why so suddenly??’
Moreover, why did he use the Leo as a source of ingredients? Hugo tilted his head in puzzlement.
‘Is it because he saw what happened twenty-four years ago through the general?’
Suddenly, Lee Gun looked at Hugo’s hand. “How’s your hand? Is it ok?”
“Ah! This?” Hugo looked at his bandaged left hand.
When the Divine status of Death had gone on a rampage, Hugo had grabbed Lee Gun’s shoulder. He had brushed against the power of Death. His hand had started to crumble away as the power of Death had tried to eat his left hand. Super Regeneration was used to heal it, but the hand had yet to fully heal.
Hugo just laughed. “Don’t worry about it! I was reckless and got hurt. Also, it won’t impede me from shooting my bow. Unlike you, I’m not left-handed.”
“I’m sorry, and thank you!”
For a moment, Hugo thought he had heard wrong. Did he just hear Lee Gun say sorry? The Archer Saint was shocked.
Lee Gun continued, “Anyway, thanks to you— What the hell are you doing?”
Deeply moved, Hugo leaned against the wall as he massaged his face. “No. Don’t worry about it! It is like Sungjae and Yooha pinning a carnation on me. I feel a similar emotion.”
Lee Gun was baffled. It was to be expected.
[Faith of Hugo Otis has increased.]
[Faith of Hugo Otis has increased.]
Seeing this, Lee Gun said, “Taeksoo.”
“Yes, Gun. Speak more. I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
“I want to fix your hand, but it’ll be a bit too difficult right now.”
“!”
Of course, Lee Gun was telling the truth.
‘Super Regeneration was a skill under Life.’
And currently, Lee Gun’s Divine status of Death was higher than that of Life. That was why Hugo’s wound wasn’t fully healed.
Of course, the affiliate Zodiacs were amazed that the hand had healed that much. It was an incredible feat. They thought highly of Super Regeneration, but Lee Gun was unsatisfied.
‘I have to grow the Divine status of Life.’
If the Divine status of Life leveled up, he would be able to access skills categorized under Life. It would allow his skills like Super Regeneration to grow in power. He would be able to evolve them.
In reality, the skills under the category of Death had gotten more powerful when he had reached the second stage of the Divine status of Death.
Above all else, he had developed a new skill, “Reaper Summon.”
“It seems I’ll have to develop my Divine status of Life if I want to heal you fully.”
Having both Divine statuses developed when fighting the monarchs would also be preferable.
“To level up the Divine status of Life, I’ll have to make something of high quality.”
“You have to make something of high quality?”
“Yes. I need to do something related to life if I want to level up Life… Anyway, it reacts to my Manufacturing skill. I’ll probably be able to level up using that.”
“!”
Was this the reason he had briefly visited and returned from the Leo Saint’s holy ground? Good ingredients meant a higher probability of a higher rank item coming out. Moreover, it somewhat made sense why Manufacturing was related to life.
The items Lee Gun manufactured had a sense of self. A new life was born.
‘I can see why it is related to Life.’
Lee Gun continued, “Recently, the special rank that satisfied Life was formed when I made Heaven’s Punishment and the Prosthetic Arm.”
He had confirmed it when he saw his ability log, though he had no idea why these two weapons had influenced the Divine status of Life’s stage.
“Anyway, I plan on upgrading your weapons to the EX rank. I gathered a lot of ingredients that’ll allow me to do so.”
Hugo was moved. If Yooha had said she wanted to marry her dad, Hugo would have felt a similar emotion.
What Lee Gun was talking about was the EX rank!
Hugo had been jealous when he had seen Heaven’s Punishment, yet Lee Gun would make an EX-rank item for him too!
[Faith of Hugo Otis has increased by a massive amount.]
[Faith of Hugo Otis is increasing crazily.]
“That is why I want to ask you this. Do you want me to make you a prosthetic arm?”
The moved Hugo flinched.
Lee Gun’s eyes flashed as he grabbed Hugo’s shoulder. “If it is bothering you, I can change it right now.”
Spark flew from Hugo’s eyes when he realized what Lee Gun meant. “You shouldn’t joke about something like that!”
[Hatred of Hugo Otis has increased.]
[It is affecting Faith.]
Lee Gun laughed as if he was joking. “Anyway, I’ll fix your hand in no time. Don’t worry about it.”
Hugo said it was fine as he expressed his anger.
On the other hand, Lee Gun nodded when he checked Hugo’s faith. It was as he planned.
[Hugo Otis’s Faith: 450%]
‘Good! That’s the sweet spot.’
It wasn’t the sweet spot at all, but Lee Gun had a reason for doing this. High faith was advantageous to him, but at the same time, it also meant the disciple was willing to sacrifice their life for the Zodiac.
The increase in faith was good, but if it went up too much, Lee Gun wondered if the disciple would put the Zodiac over his family.
‘That can’t happen. He has a family.’
A Faith of that magnitude would be fine for his friend.
‘I think my Divine status of Life will increase if I make one more EX-rank.’
At that moment, as if it had heard Lee Gun’s conversation…
[The Sagittarius says it has a very good idea on how to raise the stage of Life.]
[The Sagittarius says wouldn’t Life increase if Lee Gun healed his two problems.]
Lee Gun snorted. Really?
Still, it was worth a try, so he was about to hand over the Chalice to Hugo, but…
Boom!
The ground suddenly started to shake.
[A monarch rank has revealed itself.]
At the same time, Lee Gun heard a notification.
[“Death” is trying to talk to you.]
