“You're really good at babbling nonsense.”
Sophie instantly trembled. Hugo was surprised as well. Sophie couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t turn her head, but she was sure of it.
‘Lee Gun.’
The voice was different, and it sounded a bit younger. However, feeling someone’s spirit was possible. And that spirit was what used to make her shake in fear in the past.
The flustered Sophie was about to turn her head.
“Huh-uhk!” Someone pulled at her hair, shocking her.
Hugo’s mouth fell open.
Lee Gun didn't pay attention to their reactions. He just pulled harder on her hair as if he wanted to pull it all out. Letting out a scornful laugh, he said, “I waited to see how far you’ll take it, but looks like you really have no filter.”
“Wait a moment. Let go...” Sophie grabbed at her hair. She was barely able to turn her head. She wanted to confirm what this crazy bastard looked like.
“Oohp?!”
However, Lee Gun pushed something into her mouth. The next moment, Sophie unconsciously swallowed it.
‘What did you just—’
It happened at that moment.
“Wait a moment… Kyahhk!”
Lee Gun nonchalantly headed toward somewhere with Sophie in tow. Sophie quickly tried to ask for help, but the Archer Saint shut her mouth. Hugo even went as far as to take off his suit jacket to cover her face.
“Oohp, ooh-oohp!”
At this point, they weren’t heroes; they were human traffickers.
The group soon entered a reception room near the suite.
“It’s fine. You can get that off her face.”
Finally, the jacket over Sophie’s face was lifted.
Sophie finally encountered the man and started swearing at him. “What kind of a crazy bastard does this to the Saintess!”
Suddenly, she blinked in surprise. She had seen the man who was in front of her at the appraisal house. He was much more handsome up close. This was why Sophie got confused. ‘W-Who is this guy? Why did a stranger act this way toward me?'
Ooh-doo-doohk!
“Whatever. Let’s start this off by hitting you a couple of times.”
“…!” The man had such a vicious smile that a chill ran up her spine. Sophie could only grit her teeth even as she shook from fear. She was one of the twelve Zodiac Saints. This man should be bowing to her, yet he was treating her like this.
The power of the Aquarius rose.
[Churning Blood Chalice(S)]
This skill made her opponent’s blood flow backward. It was a killing skill of the Aquarius Saint. However, fireworks erupted behind Sophie’s eyes.
Bbuh-uhk!
“Kuh-huhk!”
It was a fist. She had taken a hit to her stomach. She was in so much pain that she wanted to throw up. Sophie almost lost consciousness. To make matters worse, her defensive skill had been shattered.
“Huhk!” Sophie was sent flying to the ground. She couldn’t even scream.
Displaying a bright smile, Lee Gun said, “It has been dozens of years. I hit you because I was so happy to see you.”
Sophie glared at the man. ‘You…’
She was sure of it now. At first, she had thought he was a simple kidnapper who served the Archer Saint. However, it seemed that wasn’t the case. Sophie had worn a robe that looked normal but was a holy item of the Aquarius.
Moreover, it had a unique attribute bestowed by the god of Aquarius to his Saint. Any weapon that would touch the robe would melt away. This was especially true if it was one's bare hand instead of weapons.
However, the hand of the man in front of her surprised Sophie.
‘Regeneration?’ His hand was regenerating at incredible speed. Even a Saint didn’t have such an ability! That wasn’t all. ‘Poison doesn’t work on him.’
Sophie had also rented a defensive skill from the Scorpio Saint, but it hadn’t worked at all. This skill spread a fatal poison into her surroundings when she screamed. ‘The poison is powerful enough for an instant kill. It just has to touch the skin.’ It was a skill that was always activated.
Lee Gun laughed.
[Hundred Poison Resistance (F) has been activated]
[The wicked poison trying to pierce your skin has been neutralized.]
<Hundred Poison Resistance (F)>
- Your body has suffered from many poisons, and the poisons are part of your body. Poisons will no longer work against you.
- Specific abnormal poisons will always be neutralized. (Limited to your body)
- Certain poisons can be consumed to acquire Data.
It didn’t take long for Sophie to become flustered.
Had he been hiding it until now?
A nightmarish magical energy wave appeared around the man. It was the green magical energy that Sophie had witnessed at the appraisal house. However, something scared her even more.
“You surprised me.” It was Hugo’s reaction. “How long were you there?”
“What do you mean how long? I was there until I couldn’t stand the stench of a divorcee.”
“What the... Divorcee… I never said anything about that!” The Archer Saint was known for being prickly, yet he was friendly with the young man. “Whatever, Gun. Hurry up and finish what you have to do. It’d be a pain if other people come in here.”
Sophie screamed. She forgot about the pain from the uppercut to her stomach. “What… w-what did you just say? G...Gun?”
Lee Gun laughed as he approached Sophie. “Are you dead? Or are you stupid? I said it has been a while, didn’t I?” After he squatted to Sophie’s level, the corner of his mouth lifted sharply. “Bed-wetter.”
Sophie unconsciously stuck to the wall when she heard that word. Only one person called her that. ‘N-No way!’
Lee Gun had the eyes of a snake as he laughed. “It has been a while, right?”
'Lee Gun!' Sophie shook as if she had seen a ghost. “Y-You… What happened to your face?”
She almost lost consciousness again. After a body blow, she had received a hit in the solar plexus. “Huhk…!”
“The second one was for treating me like a monstrous bastard.”
“Why…”
“This third hit is for swindling everyone by saying you were my healer.”
“Ahk!”
“This fourth one is for me having shown you my handsome face!”
Boom!
Lee Gun was unforgiving. Even the great Hugo had to click his tongue. However, he could understand why Lee Gun was acting that way. ‘Her constructs will appear if he doesn’t do that.’
Sophie had committed many wrongs against Lee Gun. There was no way Lee Gun could stay still, doing nothing. He was unforgiving to both men and women. It was a miracle that he had kept his temper in check for so long.
Sophie’s scream rang out. “What are you doing? Don’t just stand there and watch! Help me!”
The desperate Saintess called out for help toward Hugo.
“Hugo!”
Hugo, who had been watching everything from the sideline, criticized Lee Gun.
“Hey, Gun. You have to hit lower. The defense is higher below.”
“Bet.”
Sophie screamed. Then, she started to cuss out Hugo. “I’ll tell the Leo Saint what happened! Even your kids won’t be safe— Kuhk!”
Lee Gun grabbed Sophie’s face. Was it because she had threatened Hugo’s children?
He let out an angry laugh. “Ten additional blows for you for opening your useless mouth.”
“?!”
Bbah-gahk!
Lee Gun’s fist flew toward Sophie’s face. Even in the past, Lee Gun had treated Saints as if they weren’t humans.
Sophie shook as she looked at Lee Gun. She was close to falling unconscious. 'Why is he here? Why is his face like that?'
She couldn’t analyze her current situation, but she was sure of one thing. ‘He’s weaker than before.’
There was a reason she thought so. In the past, a single blow from Lee Gun would make her faint. Sophie could come up with only one reason behind this change. “You can't use the full extent of your power because my defensive holy items are too powerful. It seems even you can’t overcome the twenty-year gap...”
Lee Gun looked at her as if she were speaking nonsense. “What? If you're unconscious, you can’t feel the pain.”
“…!”
Bbah-gahk!
Sophie was beaten up once again. Hugo’s face turned pale when he heard the sounds of bones breaking. The Archer Saint had also taken a beating when he had first met up with Lee Gun. However, the sight in front of him confirmed something. ‘He was going easy on me because I’m his friend.’
It happened at that moment. Hugo was surprised by what he saw from Lee Gun.
‘His power... Is it a snake?'
The power emanating from Lee Gun increased a little bit as he laughed.
[Divinte Status 50%] (Recharging)
[When your Divine Status reaches 70%, a particular skill will be available for use.]
Lee Gun was using Pixiu to steal the Aquarius’s power. He had unleashed Pixiu, and the construct was joyfully sucking in the power and items owned by the disciple of the Aquarius temple. Pixiu had been very hungry, so it was aggressive.
All disciples were connected to their gods and received power from them. The higher one's rank was, the closer one was to one’s god.
‘Basically, I can steal the power of a god.’ Lee Gun laughed. ‘I can recharge my power using this method for now.’
Hugo looked at Lee Gun in surprise. While beating up Sophie, Lee Gun was texting with his other hand. Of course, he was being mindful so that Sophie couldn’t call forth her constructs. Still, it was a very dangerous thing to do.
This was why Hugo asked, “Who are you texting?”
“Ah! I’m trying to participate in the auction.”
“Participate in the auction?” Hugo was confused for a brief moment, but then he realized what Lee Gun was talking about. ‘Now that I think about it, they said one of his eight great holy items will be put up for auction…’
Lee Gun said, “I want to head toward the auction house. I think I know which item will be put up for auction. I want it.”
Hugo was taken aback. It was to be expected. This was the auction house Lee Gun was talking about. “Do you have an admission ticket? Drachma is the most prestigious auction house. Do you know how much an admission ticket costs….”
Lee Gun shook something in the air. It was none other than a ticket. He had taken it out of Sophie’s pocket. Of course, the Saintess had it since she planned on participating in the auction today.
Hugo sighed. “Let’s say that you can get in there. Do you have the money to win the bid?”
Lee Gun grinned. It seemed he had something in mind as he made a call. “Hey, Sungjae. I’ll be right there. Be sure to auction it off.”
For a brief moment, Hugo wondered if he had heard wrong. 'What a moment. What? Sungjae?' Hugo became anxious when he heard his son’s name. ‘It must be a coincidence, right?’
His reaction was understandable. Hugo was hell-bent on not allowing his children to meet Lee Gun. His daughter must never meet Lee Gun. His son to a lesser degree. ‘I’m not crazy enough to introduce that total fanboy to Lee Gun.’
That was why he became afraid for a brief moment that Lee Gun was about to meet up with his sun. However, he soon dismissed his worries. "Sungjae" was a common name. In fact, Hugo had someone working under him with the same name.
“Hey, Taeksoo. Why don’t you keep an eye on her? I still have to dish out 150 more blows, so keep her here for now.”
For some reason, the number had ballooned to 150, but that didn’t matter.
“I’ll look after her, but there is no way she—” Hugo was about to say there was no way she would stay there quietly.
Bbuh-uhk!
“Kyahhhhk!”
Lee Gun brought his foot down on Sophie, who was trying to call for help. Her phone rolled across the floor. Lee Gun had a good idea who she was going to ask for help. “You can run toward the other Saints. I don’t care.” Lee Gun’s eyes flashed in a terrifying manner. “However, you're dead if you make it boring.”
Sophie's body shook harder when she saw the madness in his eyes. She knew what he meant when he said those words.
“Also, it's best if you don’t go. I just remembered what I fed you.”
“…!” Sophie’s face froze. She remembered Lee Gun had fed her something before dragging her here. From what she knew of his personality, there was no way he fed her something normal.
As to prove that fact, Lee Gun showed his snake eyes and grinned. “From what I’ve heard, you have the most disciples and also the trust of the public. That’s good.”
It meant she was worth using. Her value was high. Sophie’s future was plain to see, so she yelled, “Why are you doing this! You can skip this step and just kill me— Kuhk!”
Lee Gun laughed as he roughly grabbed Sophie’s face. It was a very hateful laugh. “Who will believe me if I kill all the witnesses? Hmm?”
Lee Gun had never planned on simply killing the person who had stabbed him. He had to find the person and let them suffer for the same number of years. Also...
“I heard all of you benefited greatly from my work for the past twenty years. At the very least, you guys have to suffer the same pain that I suffered.”
“…!” Sophie shook from fear. Her fear was caused by the shape of the magical energy Lee Gun emitted.
‘Snake.’ There was only one conjecture that she could come up with. ‘There is another hidden god that used to be part of the Zodiacs.’
'Could it be? The snake that will provoke the twelve Zodiacs and swallow the world.’
Sophie was in a state of turmoil when it happened.
Bbah-gahk!
In the next breath, Lee Gun sent her flying. The blow had enough power to make a Saint senseless. At the same time, Lee Gun felt a strong power.
[You have inflicted massive damage to the Chalice Bearer’s disciple]
[The Serpent Bearer’s power connected to the disciple has weakened]
[You have acquired the Saint’s EXP]
[You have acquired special Data(Saint Rank)]
Lee Gun laughed as he dragged Sophie across the ground. His eyes, which were filled with madness, were quite the sight to see.
Also, someone sent a message to Sophie’s phone. It was a reporter. This made Lee Gun write something on Sophie’s back. Then, he threw her toward the emergency staircase like a sack.
Boom!
“When it's time, just throw that in the septic tank.”
“Throw her in that shit-can yourself, bastard.”
“I took everything that looked useful. Don’t worry about anything.”
He really was awful. Suddenly...
- The 387th Drachma Great Auction has started. The first item...
A system message rang out in the VIP room. Lee Gun’s movements became a bit more frantic when the message was announced. ‘Did it start?’
He had asked Sungjae to bid for the item he wanted, so he could be a little bit late... “Let’s meet up at the auction house.”
Lee Gun threw a teleportation token, which he had received from the guard, toward Hugo. It seemed the item inside the auction was important to Lee Gun. He disappeared toward the auction house.
Hugo went to pick up the unconscious Sophie. He had to clean things up.
Bul-kuhk!
“!”
Suddenly, the door to the emergency staircase opened, and someone exited out of it. Hugo’s face flinched when he saw that face.
An odd silence descended. The person who had come through the door looked shell-shocked. His mouth had fallen open. The Saintess had a bloody nose, and Hugo was dragging her body. It wasn’t a normal sight, so the reaction was understandable.
However, the problem was the identity of the person who had walked through the door.
“What are you doing?” It was none other than the Leo Saint.
Hugo’s face became distorted when he recognized who it was. ‘The Golden Lion.’
On the other hand, the Leo Saint found the situation to be absurd. He had been about to head to the auction house when he had noticed that Sophie was gone. He had come to look for her and sensed some energy from this direction.
“Let’s put aside that we haven’t seen each other for the past ten years. What happened to her?” The Leo Saint looked angry as he gazed at Sophie. “Did you do this?”
He was asking if Hugo had broken their agreement to attack one of the Zodiac Saints.
Hugo was conflicted. Should he tell the truth? Should he say Lee Gun had beat her up? Or should he say a monster had put her in this state?
After thinking about it for a moment, Hugo gave his answer.
