It was crazy! Frey cursed. The noble blood of a Zodiac was flowing in front of his eyes. Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two drops.
Poo-hahk!!!
The amount of blood gushing out could create a lake.
Frey ground his teeth as he looked at the Chun siblings.
‘How dare mere humans do this to a Zodiac…!!’
When they had installed the Temple System, the thing that the Zodiacs had prioritized was themselves.
– All humans must revere the gods. Humans may not hurt the gods.
Since humans received blessings from them, the Zodiacs had considered this basic decorum that the humans had to maintain.
That was why all the disciples were trained to put the Zodiacs as a priority, which applied even if it was a Zodiac that the disciples didn’t serve.
[Pain Revival]
[Wound Revival]
[Death]
[Super Regeneration]
[Ahhhhhhk!!]
Frey vomited blood as the attacks from the members of the Serpent Bearer temple continued to hit him.
His body was surrounded by a blue light, and he kept shedding flesh and losing blood.
Feeling humiliated, Frey glared at the Chun siblings with a murderous look.
[Do you have no respect for a god? Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?]
“Whatever.”
Frey screamed when Wound Revival was used once again.
[Ooh-hahhhk!]
When faced with that power, Frey glared at the Chun siblings with a venomous look in his eyes.
‘They have gotten stronger.’
The siblings now had enough power to threaten even a Zodiac, and Frey soon figured out why.
‘Shit. It’s because they acquired the Nameless Land.’
The Nameless Land was the holy ground of the old Serpent Bearer temple, and it was a land that the Zodiacs of Magic had sold to the monarchs.
‘This is why the overall power of the Serpent Bearer temple has increased.’
Lee Gun had awakened the power of the original owner and recovered the holy ground.
However, this wasn’t the reason Frey was having a hard time against the Chun siblings. Frey was a god. He just needed to extract and destroy the souls of mere humans.
‘While Lee Gun might be almighty, there is no way he’ll be able to revive souls that have been destroyed.’
[Gemini cannot use the Soul Extraction ability.]
[You have forgotten how to use that ability.]
‘Shit! Damn Pisces!’
Yes. They were the ones to summon Oblivion. Calling in a monarch to a specific coordinate was difficult but doable.
To handle the enormous amount of energy, however, they had to use Primordial Power.
Of course, this would have been impossible if it was a normal monarch, but Oblivion was a monster that didn’t think in logical terms.
While they successfully summoned Oblivion, this didn’t change the fact that it was a monarch.
‘Of course, there are risks.’
Oblivion was a calamity that not even gods and monarchs wanted to approach. Just being near it would make a god forget about their own existence.
If the summoners were unlucky, they could get influenced by its power. And that exact scenario had happened with Frey.
‘Damn it! I forgot how it feels to use my power…!’
Frey was a magician. He was capable of using all kinds of spells, but he seemed to have received a punishment for using Oblivion. He had forgotten how to use his abilities.
If he had to make an easy comparison, it was like forgetting how to walk or use his hands.
It was unclear as to whether Chun Sungjae had realized what was going on or if he had heard something about Frey. He laughed as he kept his distance from the Zodiac. “You haven’t used your abilities for some time, Zodiac-nim. I wonder why?”
“…!!!”
“Did you perhaps forget how to use your magic like an idiot, thanks to Oblivion?”
Frey gritted his teeth.
[Insolent fools. There is no way that would happen!]
“Is that so?” Chun Sungjae laughed as he flicked his finger. Then, symbols made out of brown light appeared in the air. “This is a spell you guys like to use frequently. There is no way you’ll fail to recognize this, right?”
The flustered Frey started to sweat.
‘Damn it!’
It seemed to be a simple word, just by seeing the length of it. However, Frey had really forgotten the content.
What would happen if others found out that a Zodiac couldn’t use his power?
But Frey then laughed. He had forgotten the content, but at the very least, he still had his knowledge.
‘Since they are brown letters, it must be a curse-type spell! Something of that length and arranged in that fashion must be…’
[Hmmph. That is a curse magic spell that corrodes the bone. It’s an SS-rank—]
Chun Sungjae burst out laughing. “You can come here now, Noona. This asshole can’t use his spells. He probably forgot it because of Oblivion.”
[?!]
“SS-rank curse spell? How funny! I just changed the arrangement of Uncle’s signature, yet you called it a curse spell?”
[…!!!]
Frey had to curse.
‘Damn Pisces!!’
In truth, the Zodiac did expect such risks when they had decided to use Oblivion. Pisces was supposed to use her Talents to get rid of that risk.
‘I’m sure of it. She got rid of only her risk.’
It seemed Pisces wanted to get rid of Gemini here. Moreover, she chose a humiliating way to kill him! He would get killed by human hands!
‘I can guess why she’s trying to get rid of me.’
Damn bitch!
However, Frey soon started laughing as if he had given up. Although he was pissed off at Pisces, who had backed out, he should have known this would happen once he messed with Oblivion. Oblivion was a being that one should never mess with.
Therefore, Frey laughed in a self-mocking manner as he closed his eyes.
‘Yes. My sister is dead. What is the point of continuing to live by myself?’
Frey let go of his murderous intent as he tried to give himself up.
[Kuh-huhk!]
Suddenly, Frey vomited blood. When he opened his eyes, he saw Chun Yooha stabbing him with Crimson Earth’s Judgment.
“Look here. You can’t do as you like and play out your last scene.”
[??!!]
“That’s right. You can’t disappear. Your sister disappeared without leaving anything behind. It means Uncle was unable to obtain any ingredients. Letting you go would be crazy.”
[??!!]
The Chun siblings gnashed their teeth. They already hated the Zodiacs. The reason was what the Cancer Saint Jean-Louis had said to their uncle.
The real culprits who tried to lock you up and kill you in the Devil’s Tower were the Zodiacs.
“As if trying to kill Uncle wasn’t enough, you tried to erase his existence.”
Lee Gun was their benefactor and practically family to them.
Seeing the siblings approach him, Frey ground his teeth.
‘Nothing good will come from being caught by them.’
Their eyes were devoid of sanity.
This was why Frey decided to run away no matter what. But…
“Oh! This is great. I never expected Oblivion to be helpful in this way.”
[…!!]
Frey was surprised by the voice he heard above his head. When he raised his head, he saw the gaze of someone even more insane than the Chun siblings.
“Uncle!”
The crazy bastard smirked as his red eyes flashed. “I’ve always wanted to dissect a body made out of magic. The fairies turned into jam whenever I messed with them. Thank you for letting me have your precious body!”
He brought down Heaven’s Punishment.
* * *
[Breaking news! Following the Cancer, Taurus, and Capricorn temples, the Gemini temple has fallen.]
[All the temples have been absorbed by Lee Gun, and it has caused a shockwave around the world.]
[In reality, it was a merger. Are people talking about him?]
[Yes. Lee Gun was the one who killed Red Eye, and he has saved the world before. Most people say he has the right to do so.]
[Some wonder if merging all the temples into one would be disadvantageous to fighting the unknown civilization.]
[That’s not all. Various sources say Lee Gun really possesses the power of a Zodiac. It means he either needs a suitable shrine or temple. It’ll allow the belief in the Zodiac to strengthen.]
[Uh? Shrine? That’s odd. Doesn’t Mr. Lee Gun already have a shrine in Korea?]
[Ah… Mr. Lee Gun burned that one to the ground.]
[What?! He burned it?!!]
[Yes… He said it was embarrassing. He said to build a special needs school or an orphanage instead…]
[N-Now that you mention it, Mr. Lee Gun received a massive amount of compensation from the Leo temple, and he diverted all that fund for disaster recovery.]
The news about Lee Gun’s temple merger spread quickly. A large-scale war had broken out, but Lee Gun had killed the heads of the temples. Then, he took their Seats of power. It was a merger in reality.
Moreover, Lee Gun was diligently taking the abilities of other gods through their Seats of power
Of course, an enormous number of Talents was needed for this, so he continued to replicate and sell his Constructs.
Moreover, the public reaction to the merger was quite good.
<If it is Lee Gun, we can trust him.>
<If it is Lee Gun, he’ll be able to take back all the lands of humanity>
Of course, one faction poured cold water over the positive reaction.
[Do not be fooled. Lee Gun is merging the temples for his own selfish reasons.]
It was the Pisces temple.
This surprised people.
[Selfish reasons?]
[Yes. Lee Gun brutally killed the Zodiacs who protected humanity. He could have taken them under him as affiliates, yet he chose to kill them. Do you know why he would do that?]
[Why?]
[He doesn’t know how to coexist with others, and he covets the abilities of the other temples. Battle-type temples cannot possess recovery skills. If he could take the skills of other temples, he would be peerless.]
[!]
[There is a reason the Zodiacs kept a balance. That man has broken it.]
[Also, we already warned Lee Gun. If he proceeds with the merger, the balance of the universe would be broken. In turn, it would threaten humanity. More monsters might invade. Listen to his answer about this subject.]
– Monsters? It’ll be great if more monsters invade the earth. In fact, the fear that would cause will make the faith go up.
[Did you listen to that voice? It is what Lee Gun said as he killed Gemini. One of the poor slaughtered fairies left it behind.]
[Anyway, the Pisces temple created the temple system, and we have been protecting the earth until now. We’ll use everything available to us to stop Lee Gun’s plans.]
[To do this, Pisces has descended to the earth.]
Lee Gun, who had been eating chicken, scoffed when he heard the voices coming from the pub’s TV.
“Hey! What the hell are they talking about?”
“What else? They’re saying that you are the demon king and that they are the virtuous heroes.”
“What’s your opinion about it?”
“Wow! They are correct. I completely agree with them.”
Lee Gun’s eyebrows twitched. “What did you just say?”
“They are correct. From my point of view, you are the villain— Kuh-huhk!!!”
He kicked Hugo. Lee Gun was angry for no other reason. “Those bastards used my voice without permission?”
The Pisces temple was the temple of transformation. It would be child’s play for someone from that temple to transform into Lee Gun and record that message.
“I won’t let them die a clean death.”
Stevens, who sat next to Lee Gun, shook when he saw murderous intent appear in Lee Gun’s eyes.
Stevens didn’t know why, but Lee Gun had called him here. The only thing that had been mentioned until now was that Lee Gun wanted to rescue someone using all the powers he had gathered.
“Are you sure about leaving them alone?”
“A couple of our kids became angry when they saw it. Several of them wanted to go there, but I told them to let it be. It’ll all end when I get rid of Pisces.”
“What?!”
Stevens was truly surprised. On the other hand, Lee Gun’s eyes flashed.
From Lee Gun’s point of view, Pisces was the most hated Zodiac. Pisces had falsely accused Yeonwoo of being the God of Calamity and fastidiously tracked her down to kill her. She was also the being that had called in Time and the other monarchs twenty-four years ago.
Of course, Lee Gun could go catch Pisces and reveal what the Zodiacs had done. However, he didn’t care about that too much.
‘Before I could take them out, she took all the Constructs from Gemini’s holy ground.’
That was why Gemini had been killed. However, taking them under Lee Gun’s eyes was impossible, so a transfer contract must have been made beforehand.
That wasn’t all.
‘She has her.’
Lee Gun could feel it through the TV. Pisces had something in her possession that emitted Yeonwoo’s light.
Therefore, Lee Gun looked at the Zodiac in contempt.
‘This bastard wants a direct conflict.’
Her coming out on TV, talking nonsense, was a simple last-ditch effort. She was showing Yeonwoo’s light to provoke Lee Gun.
‘Her goal is to lure me in.’
Pisces was a powerful Zodiac that had introduced the Temple system to the earth. She was a hikikomori, yet the most meticulous amongst the Zodiacs. She was also the one to kill the original owners using her abilities.
So her coming out in the open like this meant that she was planning something.
That was why Lee Gun had told his kids to not chase too deeply when they tried to charge out.
‘I’ll make her regret provoking me.’
Stevens discreetly tried to leave when he read Lee Gun’s expression. Lee Gun seemed to have called for him because he needed a battle-type temple to fight a magic-type temple. However, Stevens felt he would suffer some mishap if he got involved.
Therefore, he tried to leave without anyone noticing, yet Lee Gun grabbed him.
“Where are you going? I called you because I wanted to give you some chicken. Eat up.”
Stevens couldn’t believe what he had just heard. What did Lee Gun want to give him right now? Lee Gun wanted to give him something to eat. Moreover, it was meat. Lee Gun wanted to give him chicken?
Stevens froze.
‘Today is the day I die.’
Seeing Stevens’ expression, Hugo clicked his tongue. “I understand you want to feed him because you have plans for him.”
Stevens felt like he had heard his death sentence. “What? What do you plan on doing to me that you are giving me your chicken?”
Hugo ignored him. “Anyway, I don’t care what you eat, but are you sure about buying more? This is your ninetieth chicken. The owner of the restaurant is happy, but did you bring your card? I didn’t see you bring your wallet.”
For the sake of living, Stevens quickly looked for his wallet.
“It’s fine. I brought your card.”
“Ah! Is that so? That’s good… My card…. What? Have you lost your mind?!” Hugo screamed as he snatched away the card that Lee Gun had boastfully brought out.
“You really have lost your mind! Be honest with me! What did you buy with this?”
“Ten kilograms of pork belly.”
“Hey!”
“Who cares? You’re a huge fan of mine. You really like me, right? Your faith is 600%.”
“What?! 600%?!”
“Hey! What nonsense are you—”
“Am I wrong? Isn’t it 600%?”
“…” Hugo was at a loss for words as he looked into the mirror. Veins popped out on his neck from anger. He shouted. “Do you not realize fans create detractors? Do you not realize how scary that is!!!”
In the end, the angry Hugo was about to take away Lee Gun’s phone when…
“Are you Lee Gun-nim?”
“!”
A delivery man came looking for him with something in his hand.
