“Kneel.”
Boom!
Hearing the voice, Silvia fell to her knees without realizing it.
Cold sweat appeared on her back. She didn’t plan on getting on her knees. However, the look in Hailey’s eyes and the sound of her voice were overwhelming. There was no way Silvia could stay standing upright.
It was also why she was flustered more than ever before.
‘There is no way I should feel fear no matter who it is…!’
Gnashing her teeth, she tried to get to her feet.
“Your ability to learn is completely lacking.”
“Kuh-huhk!!”
Hailey’s presence and spirit were overwhelming, and it made Silvia unconsciously lower her head. She felt as if a giant was pressing down on her from above, making her tremble.
‘This is crazy!’
Of course, Hailey hadn’t done anything. It was simply the spirit of the magical energy, but it wasn’t normal magical energy.
‘Monarch rank…!’
Silvia was barely able to raise her head to check.
Hailey was emanating menacing magical energy. Of course, other humans’ eyes couldn’t pick it up, but Silvia had borrowed a small amount of power from the monsters. It was different for her.
After acquiring the power, Silvia considered herself to be in the Saint rank.
‘What the hell…! That woman….’
Monsters felt overwhelming fear when faced with beings above their rank. They were much more sensitive than wild animals. Therefore, Silvia borrowing the power of the monsters had turned against her.
Silvia could feel Hailey’s power more vividly, and it made her body shake. Her head dipped lower.
On the other hand, Hailey looked pissed off. “How can you use that power?”
“!”
Silvia had just used the power of Time. This pointed to only one thing.
‘Time is directly involved now.’
Until now, Time was a wanderer who merely roamed around. So why now?
Moreover, he was oddly obsessed with the Serpent Bearer, the thirteenth seat. Of course, it was only recently that Hailey had learned Time was obsessed with the Serpent Bearer from a long time ago.
‘I found out about it when Lee Gun asked me to investigate the regenerated Devil’s Tower.’
She had realized it when she looked at the records left by the Tower’s admin. However, that wasn’t important right now.
‘Lee Gun is in danger.’
Hailey’s eyes turned fierce as she asked, “Speak. Who gave you that power?”
The tormented Silvia grinned. “Really? You’re the leader of the temple of thieves. It seems you used your trifling abilities to steal and use the power of the unknown civilization.”
“!”
“Of course, I have a countermeasure to deal with you.”
Then…
Flash!
As a light flashed, Silvia’s magical energy suddenly underwent a violent amplification.
Kwahng!
“Hailey-nim!”
The Ten Stars were taken aback by this power. Silvia’s power was on a different level than before!
“What the hell is that power? Koohk!”
“Her magical energy has amplified!”
At this point, Silvia’s power had reached the Saint rank! They were having a hard time accepting it.
‘How does she have so much power? It isn’t as if her Zodiac has descended!’
They didn’t even have the time to be surprised. Enormous fishes surged up from the ground.
“Huhk!”
A transparent fish swallowed Hailey, and something surprising happened.
“Hailey-nim!”
After the transparent fish swallowed her, Hailey returned to being her younger self.
[A Frog cannot remember when it was a tadpole!]
It was a skill that turned back the time of its target’s body. Hailey’s age had been reverted to a time before she had made a contract with Scorpio. She couldn’t use any of her skills.
“Ha ha ha! One is out with this!”
The transparent fishes then attacked the other Ten Stars, and they were rapid.
“Noona! Goat!”
In a flash, everyone turned into children. One was five years old, and the other was eight. Chun Sungjae activated his magic, but the power of Time was tricky. Sungjae had turned into a three-year-old child.
“Ahhhk!”
They had returned to an age before Sungjae had become a disciple of the Serpent Bearer. They had become normal humans.
As if to make things worse, Chun Sungjae turned even younger. He turned into a baby.
“Ssung-jjae!”
“Ah-boo!!”
The now six-year-old Chun Yooha quickly hugged her baby brother in her arms.
“You!”
Silvia laughed as if they deserved it. The almighty Ten Stars and Zodiac Saints had turned into babies, and they were crying. She loved it.
“You guys always show off, yet you can’t use your abilities now, right? Don’t worry! I’ll put you guys in the Alps. You’ll cry out for your mother and father. You will ask for food as you starve to death.”
Suddenly…
“Kyahhhhhk!!!”
Black flames surged upward from Silvia’s body. Those trapped by the flames moved under the table.
Silvia’s screams rang everywhere!
“Ahhhhhhk!”
The fierce flames sloughed off her skin. After the skin was taken off, the fan started to melt. The shocked Silvia shouted, “Who did it?”
It wasn’t the arrow of the Sagittarius temple. The only ones capable of using a fire of this caliber were Taylor, who was a master craftsman, and Chun Sungjae. However, both of them were powerless right now. Moreover, Hailey, the biggest dark horse, was incapable of using her power too.
‘So what had happened…!’
“Foolish! Of all the time you could pick, you rewound it to this point.”
“…!”
Silvia became frightened when she turned her head. The one letting out the blackish-red fire was none other than Hailey.
That wasn’t all. When Hailey made a hand gesture, her three-year-old self turned into her eight-year-old self.
Silvia was gripped with fear.
‘What the hell? I thought she would have no power once she lost the power of Scorpio?!’
Hailey had signed a contract with her Zodiac in her late teens. She shouldn’t be able to use the power of her Zodiac during her early childhood!
‘How is she using that power?’
The eyes of the young Hailey flashed as if she was mocking Silvia. “I never told you this before.”
“…!”
“During my childhood, I was the thirteenth knight of the monarchs. I was the general for the Red Monarch.”
“?!!”
Yes. The blackish-red flames surrounding Hailey were her original power. She had been skilled enough to become the general of a monarch at a young age. Of course, she had been ostracized despite that and called the gutter rat princess during her childhood.
Hailey had gone to battlefields without even knowing why she was doing so. This was why she didn’t have many memories that she remembered from that time. Of course, this had nothing to do with the invasion by the unknown civilization.
Hailey’s flame powers had been sealed when Time had killed her mother, the Red Monarch. Time had sealed her power and said.
– That’ll only get in my way. Use my power.
No one had been able to release that seal because of the commandment of Time. Even Hailey couldn’t.
When Giselle recognized Hailey, she had mockingly laughed.
– Oh my! Your power is so weak that I didn’t realize you were the bloody princess.
And of all the time to send her back to, Silvia had sent her back to a time before her power was sealed.
“You merely acquired a single speck in the dust of time, yet you’re acting like a god.”
As soon as Hailey spoke, Silvia screamed.
The blackish-red flame burned Silvia’s eyes. “Ahhhk!! My eyes!!!”
“Still, you were quite handy in using that power against Lee Gun’s disciples.”
“Ahhhk!”
The flame encircled Silvia. Everyone screamed when they saw the flame.
Accompanying the screams, Silvia vomited blood as she fell to the ground. “Ahhk, ahhhk! Help me! Super Regeneration! Use Super Regeneration on me!”
Silvia’s hands floundered as she desperately reached out to the Chun siblings.
However, the baby Chun Sungjae threw a shot glass as if to tell her to buzz off. “Ah-booboo! Boo-boo-boo!! (Hurry up and return me to normal!) Ah-baba-boo-boo! (I cannot even be a fanboy of Uncle like this!)”
In the first place, he couldn’t accept something.
‘How is her life force so tenacious?’
Did it have to do with her magical energy being amplified to the Saint rank?
‘What is the principle behind it?’
However, that question was soon answered. The phone in Sungjae’s pocket started ringing. Sungjae used his sausage-like fingers to check who it was. He immediately answered it.
– Ahhhk! Sungjae! This is bad!
“Ahh-boob-boo (Jimin)??”
It was Hahn Jimin, Sungjae’s roommate. He had been sent on reconnaissance with the Archer disciples. Despite being a C-rank awakened being, Jimin had shown signs of growth. Moreover, he was highly skilled in reading magical energy.
He was the first one to realize the unique smell of a god from Sungjae’s uncle. This was why he had been sent along on the mission. Sungjae had thought Jimin would be of help to them.
“Ah-ooh-boo-boo-boo-bboo-ah?! (What’s wrong? What’s going on?)”
– Sungjae? Is anyone there? I was able to enter the Alps maze! Something is here! It might be a monarch—
– I’ll tear you apart, Lee Gun!
– Ahhhk!
“Ah-booo(Jimin)!!!”
Chun Yooha furrowed her brows.
“I don’t know who it is, but a monarch was trapped within the Alps. The Pisces is draining its power.”
“If we don’t take care of that, Uncle will…”
“!”
At that moment, the royal holy items in Chun Sungjae’s and Chun Yooha’s possessions whined as they lost power, surprising the Chun siblings.
“Ah-boo-boob-boo-boo!!! (Something happened to Uncle!)”
Chun Sungjae wailed as he hit the floor with his hands.
When Goat checked his phone, an article shocked him.
“It’s the Pisces! Lee Gun-nim is already meeting Pisces in Spain.”
It seemed they had to hurry up and cut off the bladder of the Pisces.
“Ah-boo-boo! Ooh-boo-boo-boo-boo!!! (What should we do? Teleportation isn’t working. Also, it is too late to go to the Alps!)”
Silvia, who had been burned into ashes, read their confusion. She trembled as she spoke. “L-Lee Gun is destined to die at the hands of our Zodiac. Our Zodiac… If Pisces can steal and return with Lee Gun’s Super Regeneration ability… I… Kuhk!!”
Hailey pierced Silvia’s body. She then said to Sungjae, “It will be fine. You acquired the Possession ability from the Gemini.”
“!”
The Gemini temple was capable of handling souls.
All the magic-related abilities that Lee Gun had acquired by endlessly beating up Frey had been given to Sungjae. It was for temporary use until Lee Gun could grind up Gemini to make a holy item.
Anyway, one of the abilities that he had received at that time was Possession. Of course, the Gemini Saint had used it to possess a figurine, and she had suffered for doing so.
“If you possess your friend, you can deal with the monarch within the Alps.”
It would allow them to cut off the power of Pisces, who was using Neglect’s (Giselle) power. That wasn’t all.
“If it’s you, you can redirect the magical flow from Pisces to Lee Gun.”
“!”
Hailey then took out small gem crystals from her body.
[Crystals holding the power of Time!]
“Take one each. It’s the power lent out to the Ten Star by Pisces. It’ll be pivotal when facing off against Time.”
The power of the crystal returned everyone to their original form. This impressed everyone.
“Wow! This is very effective!”
“With this, we can make Uncle’s old items back into new!”
Chun Yooha slapped her brother. “When are you going to grow up? By the look of how much power is left within it, it can be used only a couple dozen times. It won’t last long. Just use it for defense.”
At that moment, staring at the holy item, Taylor spoke up. “Won’t we be able to see Lee Gun-nim in his childhood with this?”
Everyone became silent at once.
Then, Chun Sungjae’s eyes flashed as he used the Possession magic. The look in the others’ eyes had also changed as they quickly headed toward the Alps.
* * *
Around that time…
[Let’s make a deal. Do you want to die at Pisces’s hands, or would you like to join hands with me?]
Lee Gun snorted at the Time’s words.
[Well? What will you do?]
Lee Gun grinned at those words. “Fuck off!”
[!]
The eyes of Stevens and Hugo turned round when Lee Gun spoke beside them. They thought he was talking to himself.
On the other hand, Time laughed at the unexpected answer.
[You are turning me down?]
Lee Gun let out a mocking laugh in contempt. Then he glared at Time. “I said fuck off. In the first place, how can I trust your words?”
Lee Gun’s eyes flashed.
‘That was the future? There is no way what you showed me is the true future. It isn’t set in stone.’
To coax Lee Gun, Time might have shown him a fake future. This made Time laugh.
[Yes. Your future has only death. I wish you luck in escaping it.]
Lee Gun could no longer hear Time’s voice.
“Do you not hear what I’m saying?”
“!”
Pisces laughed as she shook the necklace that seemed to contain Yeonwoo’s soul. “I’ll say this. This isn’t a fake.”
Time had handed her the item. Pisces inwardly laughed.
‘Hurry up and attack me.’
Amongst the thirteen, Lee Gun had the worst temper. It wouldn’t be strange to see Lee Gun immediately charge at her. With his personality, Lee Gun would try to decapitate her.
At that point, Pisces would bring false charges on Lee Gun, and she would kill them all. She let out a triumphant laugh as she had that thought.
“?!”
However, Pisces couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Lee Gun.
