Lee Gun realized there was something within his hand. When he opened his hand, his eyes widened.
He saw a small doll. It was a very plain doll, yet Hugo was surprised when he approached Lee Gun. Lee Gun’s face held a complicated expression as he looked at the doll. Hugo had never seen this expression from him.
Lee Gun wasn’t shedding tears, but his eyes looked incredibly sad.
Hugo couldn’t approach him. For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t say anything to Lee Gun. And so, he kept silent, acting as if he hadn’t seen anything. He was about to turn his head when…
[Wow! Jackpot! This is an amazing item!]
“??!!!”
The genial Yang Wei approached Lee Gun. Then he kept hovering around Lee Gun as if he couldn’t read the room.
[Amazing. This is a treasure of the Divine world! If you sell this to the Divine world, you might be able to buy a floor in the Divine world. Hyung! Hyung! Where did you get this?]
“Ahhhk!” Hugo screamed. That insensitive sheep pig!
He quickly ran forward to grab Yang Wei. “He’s talking nonsense. Don’t pay attention to him, Gun. Put your heart to rest— Huhk!”
Mesmerized, Yang Wei continued gazing at the doll.
[As expected, it is similar to the treasure of the Divine world that I saw!]
“!”
Hugo was surprised. He wondered how Yang Wei knew this when he had lost his memories.
Still, Hugo flinched when he heard that the doll was a treasure of the Divine world. It was to be expected since the small doll was clearly made by Lee Gun.
Hugo naturally recognized the shape and the method used to make such an item. It all pointed toward Lee Gun.
‘By the looks of it, it’s a voodoo doll.’
The doll looked completely unrelated to the Divine world.
“Anyway, that ugly voodoo doll is—”
“I made it a long time ago. It was made in the image of Yeonwoo.”
“Poo-hahk!!”
Hugo almost choked. Flustered, he tried to walk on eggshells around Lee Gun. “Y-Yes! When we were young, making ugly things was popular! Yes! That’s right! You made it really well! I bet Miss Yeonwoo was happy!”
“…”
Hugo was sweating buckets.
On the other hand, Lee Gun merely looked at the doll in a sentimental way. It was unimaginably ugly and bizarre that it made one doubt Lee Gun had made it.
[Wow! If a slave was able to keep it, it must be something that she treasured.]
“!” Hugo’s eyes turned round.
‘Yes. Miss Yeonwoo was a slave.’
It didn’t make sense that a slave would be able to keep something. That wouldn’t be allowed. So, her being able to keep it in her possession meant that it had been dear to her, something that she didn’t want to lose no matter what.
It was like how war heroes kept things like medals, favorite horses, or weapons. The doll was an item of that magnitude.
‘That meant she treasured it.’
It also made Lee Gun more melancholic. This was the first and last thing that he had done for Yeonwoo.
“At the time, I had been so busy that I wasn’t able to do anything for her.”
“Gun.”
“If I knew she would like it, I would have made it better.”
“Gun…”
In the end, Lee Gun put away the doll in his pocket and indicated that he was ok. “Don’t worry about it! This is nothing.”
Hugo was silent.
‘There’s no way he is fine.’
It was to be expected.
‘Lee Gun already knows. He knows he can’t revive Miss Yeonwoo.’
She had been eaten by Oblivion. Oblivion was an existence that could erase even gods.
‘No god can revive a soul that was annihilated. It’s impossible!’
This was what Sagittarius had told Hugo. If only the body had died, some avenues might have been available to pursue. However, nothing could be done if the soul died alongside the body. That was why Hugo had received a warning that he had to be cautious around monsters that could kill the soul.
That wasn’t all.
‘Locating the whereabouts of Time and Oblivion isn’t easy.’
Oblivion could remove any memory about itself from the minds of bystanders and even the space that it occupied. Time was a vagabond that wandered around the past and future.
Even Hailey would have a hard time finding them. This was why a part of Lee Gun already knew it.
‘If the soul is gone, Miss Yeonwoo can’t be revived.’
Flash!
“!!”
At that moment, the item that was thought to be a simple keepsake emitted a light.
[The power of the new owner has made the item undergo molting.]
The ugly doll’s exterior shed away, and a clean glass doll made an appearance. Moreover, it emanated a significant power now.
[The power of the Serpent Handler, the original owner of the Serpent Bearer’s temple, has been applied.]
Yang Wei screamed as if he had expected this.
[Look! I’m sure of it! It’s a treasure of the Divine world!]
Hugo kicked Yang Wei for being noisy. The problem wasn’t that the doll’s appearance had changed.
“It’s letting out a light!”
It was like dowsing rods. Whenever the doll was moved, it emitted light in a particular direction.
[It reacts to the souls of the Constructs contracted to the original owner of the Serpent Bearer’s temple.]
‘Original owner?’
[It is currently reacting to the soul of the being who had kept this item for a long time.]
Yang Wei spoke.
[It seems to be pointing to the location of the imprint’s soul.]
Hugo was surprised. “What? That thing is tracking down Miss Yeonwoo?”
That wasn’t all.
‘It giving reaction means Miss Yeonwoo’s soul is still safe!’
Lee Gun’s Constructs, who had been hiding within his shadow, spoke up.
[Since she was the previous thirteenth Zodiac, she might not perish so easily like a human.]
“What? Miss Yeonwoo? She was the thirteenth Zodiac?”
[I didn’t know that the thirteenth Zodiac was a woman, but she was famous for being the god of calamity]
“It means she’s alive, right?”
Lee Gun had also picked up on this. The light in his eyes was completely different from before. Although his eyes weren’t showing signs of giving up before, there was a huge difference between knowing something for sure or not.
Lee Gun laughed as he held the doll. “I’ll get rid of those bastards.”
Hugo’s eyes turned round when he saw the look in Lee Gun’s eyes. Ever since he had become acquainted with Lee Gun, he had never seen such life in Lee Gun’s eyes.
Koo-roo-roong!
Suddenly, the ground started to shake.
“What the hell! What’s going on?” Hugo was surprised.
The floor they were standing on started to collapse like sand.
Yang Wei screamed.
[Ahhk! If the floor collapses, we’ll fall below again!]
“What?!”
They had gone through a lot to climb out of the world of torture, yet they were about to fall into it again. All of them were wondering what was going on when a sound came from the sky.
[Warning! The sojourn given to the Serpent Bearer has come to an end.]
[The notification will be repeated once again. The sojourn given to the Serpent Bearer has come to an end.]
[You are currently located in between the Divine world and the boundary layer of the Divine world. You will be expelled.]
Hugo was surprised by the solemn notification. “Sojourn? What is it talking about?”
“What? It has already come to an end?”
“What sojourn?”
“Ah. It’s nothing. To find you, I bought a Divine world pass using Talents.”
“What?!”
“The cheapest one led to this place instead of the Divine world.… It can’t be helped since I used all my money to reach this place.”
Yang Wei looked flabbergasted.
[Divine World Pass? Have you lost your mind? That’s incredibly precious! It should be very expensive!]
Although Yang Wei had lost all his memories, any information regarding money had been ingrained in his body.
Hugo looked apologetic. “I’m sorry! You had to use Divine money for me. I know it’s really hard to gather Talents.…”
“It’s fine, since saving you was more important.”
“…!” The moved Hugo almost shed a tear.
It seemed Lee Gun had become kinder after meeting Yeonwoo.
‘His eyes always were venomous, yet they have softened…!’
“Thank you very much! It was my mistake for falling into the trap. You spent your entire fortune to save me!”
Lee Gun smirked as if Hugo was talking nonsense. “My entire fortune? Of course, I spent the entire fortune of the Sagittarius temple.”
“??!!!”
“Why would I spend my money when I’m saving you?”
“…” He went back on the idea that Lee Gun had become kinder.
“Return!” Lee Gun then placed a hand on his Seat of power as he lifted a black stone. It emitted a flash of light.
[You have used the Return Stone]
[Return Stone (SS)]
– It’s the holy item of the Scorpio temple. It transfers one toward the location of the Scorpio Saint.
“!!”
At that moment, Hugo saw another vision within the light. It seemed the Seat of power was showing him something once again.
– Did the creations execute the mad Creation tribe?
– No. The owner of the thirteenth Seat of power is still left!
It looked to be a very important scene. The scene depicted a man sitting on the thirteenth Seat of power.
Hugo flinched when he saw the man.
‘He looks like Gun.’
Of course, the man didn’t look identical to Lee Gun. Their outer appearances didn’t look the same at all.
‘Their magical energies feel very similar. It’s as if they are related.’
The vision lasted only a moment.
[We have to get out of here]
“!”
Was it thanks to moving between dimensions? Hugo lost consciousness as he appeared in the Nameless Land once again.
Kwang!
A powerful beam of light hit the Nameless Land, surprising Hailey and Kevin.
“Lee Gun!”
“Archer!”
When Hailey approached him, Lee Gun laughed. He had gone to the floor between the world of torture and the Divine world. Since it couldn’t technically be called the Divine world, it was much more dangerous for Lee Gun.
“Hailey. Thanks to the skill placed on me, I arrived here without being harassed by the riffraffs. I also used the Return Stone.”
Hailey’s face turned red when he smiled. She quickly moved away from him. “A-anyway, I’m glad you are back unharmed. You should designate this place as the holy ground of the Serpent Bearer, then…”
At that moment…
“Ahhk! Why is he acting like this!” Kevin screamed because Yang Wei was clinging to him.
[Wow! You’re a crazy rich person! Your necktie, socks, and even your underwear are designer products! If I sell everything you have, I can become rich!]
“Hey! Archer! Why’s he like this? Get him away from me!”
Hugo looked sad. He spoke with self-pity as he looked at Kevin. “Ah… You should be a bit more understanding. He’s a little sick.”
“Sick?!”
“Yes. His mind is…”
“What?! What are you talking about? Ahhk! Let go! Stop trying to take off my clothes!”
Yang Wei acted out on his unhealthy appetite for money.
In the end, Kevin huffed in anger as he put back on the clothes that had been stripped from him. As he did so, he asked Hugo, “Whatever! Also, what’s up with the miserable expression on your face? ”
“What do you mean, why? The thought of doing mercenary work again…”
“Mercenary??”
“Gun said he spent all the Talents of the Sagittarius temple to buy the pass. That’s why Sagittarius is depressed, too. It’s obvious his entire wealth was used…”
Hailey tilted her head in puzzlement. “I don’t think he’s depressed for that reason. The cost was put in debt under the Aries.”
“?!”
Hugo glared at Lee Gun for tricking him. However, something was more important than that. “Wait a moment. Why is my Zodiac depressed then?”
Lee Gun burst out laughing. “Of course, he’s depressed since he had his Zodiac Saint stolen.”
“His Zodiac Saint was stolen… What? What nonsense are you talking about?”
Kevin looked dumbfounded at his reaction. “What the hell? You still haven’t noticed, Archer?”
“W-what?”
Lee Gun smirked as he butted in. “Hey! What skill did you think I used to drag you out of Tartarus?”
“What? I have no idea. What is it?”
“It’s the Zodiac exclusive skill, Zodiac Saint Summon.”
Hugo was surprised. This skill allowed his Zodiac to summon him wherever he was located, and Hugo would appear in front of Sagittarius.
“Hmph! What happened to my stingy Zodiac? He normally doesn’t use it since he doesn’t like it, as it expends too much Temple energy.”
“Well, it wasn’t as if he didn’t use it. He couldn’t.”
“What?”
“Why would I go there if your Zodiac was going to use the skill?”
Hugo was silent. It was as if his foreboding feeling had become reality.
“Congratulations on becoming a part of the Serpent Bearer temple!”
“…???!!”
The frozen Hugo started screaming. “What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean? The only skill that could save you from there was Zodiac Saint Summon. However, your faith toward Sagittarius was 50%.”
“!!”
“The minimum standard for a Zodiac has to be 90%, so Sagittarius couldn’t activate the skill. That’s why he requested me. He said it was ok to transfer you to the Serpent Bearer temple. He asked me to bring you out using my Zodiac Saint Summon skill. He said the only one that satisfied the faith requirement was the Serpent Bearer.”
The expression on Hugo’s face was a sight to behold.
“Your faith toward me was overflowing, so I didn’t even need to designate you as a Zodiac Saint. Anyway, you’re part of the Serpent Bearer temple. You’re officially my underling.”
“Wow! He has 90% faith?”
“Hey! Are you playing with me? There is no way—” Hugo’s face froze when he remembered something. “Hey! Stop joking! I’m a Zodiac Saint of a different temple. There’s no way I would be transferred so easily—”
At that moment, Hugo received a call. It was Goat.
– Saint-nim!! You finally picked up! It says I was automatically designated as the Zodiac Saint right now! What is it talking about?! Did something happen to you?!
“??!!”
Hugo desperately tried to activate the badge of the Sagittarius temple, but he couldn’t use it.
[A disciple of the Serpent Bearer temple cannot use the badge of the Sagittarius temple.]
“Ahhhk!!”
Lee Gun burst out laughing at Hugo, who was having a mental breakdown. “Don’t worry. I’m not that evil.”
“Then…!”
“I’ll return everything to normal when your faith toward Sagittarius exceeds your faith toward the Serpent Bearer.”
Hugo roared like a monster.
When Hugo turned around to leave, Kevin asked, “What are you doing, Archer? Lee Gun has something to say right now. Where are you going?”
“I’m toppling the Serpent Bearer temple! I’m going to lower my faith!”
