They were surprised to hear a familiar voice. The voice belonged to none other than Chun Yooha. It made them wonder where the voice was coming from.
- You said she's a cruel woman who doesn't bleed or cry. I think you should reconsider that a bit.
Lee Gun’s and Kevin’s eyes turned round.
Chun Yooha’s voice came from the phone in Hugo’s hand. It seemed Hugo had received a call from his daughter, and she had been hearing Kevin’s story.
Hugo tilted his head in puzzlement. “Yooha? Were you talking about the Scorpio Saint right now?”
- Yes.
“What do you mean, we should reconsider how we think about her? You’ve never met the Scorpio Saint before.”
- I have met her.
Lee Gun flinched in surprise.
“You met her? That woman?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Hugo turned pale. It was as if he wanted to reach in through the phone. “Yooha!! You had the nerve to do that!”
His reaction was understandable. The Scorpio Saint should have been an enemy of Chun Yooha’s! She was fighting the Leo Saint for supremacy of the north!
Moreover, Yooha was an S-rank. The fact that a high-rank disciple met an enemy Zodiac Saint meant only two things!
‘Either death or changing allegiance! Those are the only two options!’
Instead of killing a hundred lowly disciples, killing one high-rank disciple or a disciple with high faith was more beneficial. High-rank disciples immediately translated to the power of one’s Zodiac.
Therefore, the Zodiac Saints recruited or killed any disciples they ran across who were over the A-rank.
Hugo’s heart had skipped a beat, but his daughter spoke as if she were talking about the weather.
- I met her at the Scorpio Saint’s forest when I went to her holy ground
“What? Scorpio Saint’s forest?” For some odd reason, Hugo foamed at the mouth. He almost fainted when he heard the name.
Kevin looked like a chill had run up his back.
Even the Zodiac Saints had reacted in such a way for a reason.
“You were lucky to make it back out alive from the forest!”
That was right. The Scorpio Saint’s forest, which Chun Yooha spoke of, lay within the Scorpio Saint’s holy ground. Nicknamed the death forests, it was a group of forests full of traps. These forests were located in the north.
That woman ruled over territories in Northern Europe, Russia, Canada, etc. Currently, she was pushing southward past the Netherlands as she fought with the Virgo Saint. In North America, she fought with the Leo Saint at the northern border of the US.
Anyway, the Scorpio Saint specialized in traps and assassination, and she had made the forest a giant trap that devours disciples. It was her nest. No one had come out of her forest alive.
“You act as if rules don’t apply to you. There is a reason we don’t send our disciples there. I doubt the Leo Saint would send his underlings there.”
“Right! Why did you go to such a dangerous place, Yooha?”
- The Scorpio Saint contacted my temple. She said she was willing to sell Uncle’s holy item.
“!”
Lee Gun’s eyes turned round at the mention of his name.
Flames almost appeared in Hugo’s mouth as he raged. “That bone-obsessed punk!”
He understood why the Leo Saint might covet Lee Gun’s holy item, but he had sent someone else’s daughter to complete that task. “I should’ve known when he kidnapped someone else’s daughter to his side!”
The Leo Saint had taken Chun Yooha ten years ago when she hadn’t developed any abilities!
Hugo thought about attacking the Leo Saint, but Chun Yooha’s words stopped him.
- Ah! Someone else gave the order. Anyway, the information turned out to be fake in the end.
“…!”
Fake information! The two Saints furrowed their brows. Why?
The Zodiac Saints constantly schemed to undercut the power of their peers. One method to do so was to decrease the number of disciples another Saint possessed.
A Zodiac’s power varied depending on the quantity and quality of its disciples. This was an enormous factor when the forces of each Zodiac fought each other. Moreover, as per a rumor, the first-ranked Zodiac Saint received something special.
That meant this fake information was fed to send rival disciples into a trap. It was a plan to kill them. However, the Leo temple being duped wasn’t the important information.
- We almost died when we fell into a trap, but the Scorpio Saint saved us.
“!”
- On top of that, she even returned Uncle’s holy item. Ah! I put it in Dad’s pocket before I left.
“!”
Surprised, Hugo put his hand into his pocket. His hand closed around a small box. Hugo handed the box to Lee Gun.
Lee Gun laughed when he opened the box.
[Wooden Fountain Pen That Cannot Write Lies]
It really was his item. Lee Gun had made this item from the nose of a Fable-type monster. The item was a mutant, like the slime and Heaven's Punishment.
‘Of course, only I know its abilities.’
- Anyway, she wanted me to return the item to you, Uncle.
“Is that so?” When Lee Gun touched the fountain pen, he heard a voice.
[The trace of a secretary remains.]
Lee Gun furrowed his brows. ‘Secretary…’ It was the subject of his last trial.
<Trial of Intelligence>
[Find a Secretary (0/1)]
- You need a record writer who’ll record the Serpent Bearer’s achievements.
If he passed this final trial, he could raise his EXP. Death Instinct could be used again. He would acquire the Serpent Bearer’s unique Construct and unique Divine Holy Item.
‘Anyway, I have four days left to complete the trial.’
Around that time, the penalty on his body would be lifted as well. With that in mind, why would the Scorpio Saint hand him an item that had a connection to the last trial?
‘It’s suspicious.’
The fact that she saved Yooha and returned his item wouldn’t give her brownie points. Lee Gun couldn’t let his guard down.
Kevin also looked skeptical. “That woman has a tie to the unknown civilization.”
“!”
It seemed Kevin had been suspicious about Lee Gun’s death. “I investigated that woman five years ago. I saw her talking to a monster from the unknown civilization.”
“!”
“Also, she tried to kill you twenty years ago by poisoning your food.”
Hugo snorted. “You poisoned his food, too.”
“What?” Kevin looked at Hugo as if Hugo were talking nonsense.
When his friend looked to him for more information, Hugo sighed and said to Lee Gun, “At the time, your senses were dead. Don’t worry! I threw away all the food he poisoned…”
“Archer Saint! It was all your doing!”
“?!”
Kevin grabbed Hugo by his collar. “You threw away all the restorative herbal medicines I put in his food!”
“?!”
“I was wondering why Lee Gun’s body wasn’t improving no matter how much I fed him those medicines!”
“…?!”
“Do you realize how much money I spent on that! I invested so much so that I could fight Lee Gun again!” The angry Virgo Saint shook Hugo.
Lee Gun was baffled. He had wondered why his food was always different from what he ordered. ‘Of course, my body wouldn’t have healed with just herbal medicines.’
However, this development was interesting. According to his annoyance rating system, the Virgo Saint was on the fishbone rank. This rank was more annoying than the parasite rank and the waste rank.
The Virgo Saint had a screw loose, but he didn’t like to be deceitful. He didn’t expect anything back when he saved people. In essence, he wasn’t an evil person. That was why Lee Gun didn’t hate his guts.
The Virgo Saint always said he wanted to kill him, but he had never attacked him cheaply and deceitfully. Lee Gun had just never entertained Kevin because the latter was just annoying. However, in terms of abilities, Kevin was someone Lee Gun acknowledged, like Hugo.
Anyway, Lee Gun had always thought the Virgo Saint hated him, yet he now learned that Kevin had fed him herbal medicines.
The Virgo Saint was steaming as he spoke. “Wee, it is fine! The important part is that the Scorpio Saint also tampered with your food. Instead of herbal medicine, she put poison in there.”
“The Scorpio Saint used poison?”
“I didn’t investigate it, but she specializes in poison. It’s obvious that she tried to poison you. Of course, I noticed this, so I swapped your food whenever she did it.”
Kevin looked proud of what he had done. It was as if he wanted Lee Gun to acknowledge his good deed, but Lee Gun ignored him. Lee Gun turned around without any regret.
“Gun?”
“It’s fine. Follow me.”
Hugo was quick to pick up on Lee Gun’s destination. “Do you plan on seeing the Scorpio Saint? Are you sure about that?”
Lee Gun looked at his fountain pen as he laughed. “I’ll use this on the Scorpio Saint. That’ll end this debate.”
“What? Isn’t that some item you put in storage?”
Lee Gun grinned instead of answering. ‘It’s a useful item that makes the other person write the truth.’
He rarely used this item because it consumed a lot of his magical energy. Moreover, he had to fill it up with special ink before he could use it.
When Lee Gun started to move, Hugo glared at Kevin. “What about this asshole?”
“We take him with us.”
“What?!”
Kevin’s face brightened a bit. “Lee Gun! You finally plan on fighting me!”
Lee Gun picked at his nose. “Yes, yes! I’ll fight you. Follow me.”
As he spoke those words, Lee Gun patted Kevin’s back. Kevin was happy because he thought Lee Gun was finally acknowledging him.
Hugo’s face scrunched up at this sight. He knew why Lee Gun was using that hand. As if to prove his point, Lee Gun grinned as he moved.
- Dad.
Hugo was surprised by his daughter’s voice. He had forgotten that he was still on call with her. “Ah! Right! Yooha! Why did you call me? Do you want to know the password to the badge you took? It’s your—”
- I already know. It’s my birthday. I had a question about the tracking ability, but it’s fine now.
“What?”
- I found him.
“Find? Who did you find? Yooha?”
At that moment, the sound of an explosion came from the phone.
Boom!
Hugo was taken aback.
“Yooha! Yooha?!”
However, the call had already ended.
* * *
- Yooha! Yooha?!
Beep!
After ending the call to her father, Chun Yooha looked at the sight in front of her. A twenty-story building lay before her. It was a large hospital. Chun Yooha could see the families of patients crying as they were on the phone.
“Yes, Donghyun. Dad is awake now!”
“My god! This is a miracle!”
Then, Chun Yooha caught sight of the youngest member of the Archer temple.
“Yooha!” Sun Jihoon was looking out the window of a hallway on the tenth floor and waving.
Soon, Chun Yooha spotted someone else with him. Her brother was standing next to Suh Jihoon! Of course, Chun Sungjae quickly hid in fright when he spotted her.
‘I found you.’ Chun Yooha’s eyes flashed.
“Yooha! Over here!”
Chun Sungjae, who hid beneath the window, yelled at the man next to him. “Ah! Hyung! Stop calling out to my sister!”
“Why? You have to tell the good news to your family.”
“Ughh! It isn’t good news… No! I’m fine. Just say that I’m not here….”
“Yooha! Did you hear the big news? Sungjae became Lee Gun-nim’s disciple! In fact, he’s the first disciple of the thirteenth Saint! Sungjae is over here! Congratulate him!”
“Ahk!” Chun Sungjae almost swore in earnest.
There was no way his sister would come here to congratulate him! ‘She already sent me a message about what she would do to me!’
Chun Yooha had sent him a warning that she would kill him if he became Lee Gun’s disciple before her! She then came straight to this location! Of course, he knew what this meant!
‘If she catches me, I’m dead!’ In the end, the frightened Chun Sungjae stood up. He was ready to run. Although he was afraid, he was ok for now.
‘This is the tenth floor!’ He had time before his sister got here. ‘I have to run away before—’
However…
“Uh, uh, uh?” Suh Jihoon let out an odd scream.
Kwahng!!
The sound of the ground exploding rang out.
Chun Sungjae’s mouth fell open when he glanced outside the window. His reaction was understandable. Chun Yooha had appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.
‘She… she jumped!’ Chun Sungjae swore.
“Hey… This is the tenth floor!”
The youngest Archer disciple’s mouth fell to the ground.
This was a skill. Chun Yooha had created a simple repulsive force using her magic energy to jump.
“As expected of one of the Ten Stars…”
Yooha was the only S-rank amongst the Ten Stars. Yet, she was praised around the world as a deputy Saint.
Boom!
Chun Yooha had used the repulsive force of the magical energy to enter the tenth floor through the window.
Kwahng!
Chun Sungjae fell on his butt when he came face to face with his sister. “Hey! Have you lost your mind? We are in a hospital!
“Hey?”
Chun Yooha held a dagger. Since he was her brother, she didn’t take out her main weapon.
However, it was still a dangerous weapon capable of paralyzing someone!
“Noona! Stop! I’m a patient!”
“Nonsense! What do you mean—” Chun Yooha became surprised. Since her brother was wearing a coat, she hadn’t realized his right arm was gone.
Chun Yooha turned pale. She threw down her dagger and approached her brother. “What happened to your arm…”
At that moment, Chun Sungjae laughed.
[Bind]
“?!”
He grabbed his sister’s arm and placed a spell over her. Then, he ran away. When he tossed his jacket away, the arm, which Yooha had assumed to be severed, appeared once again.
‘Illusion magic…!’
“Haha! My arm was indeed severed, but I was able to reattach it thanks to Uncle’s ability! I bet you don’t know what abilities I got for being Uncle’s disciple! You will never know! The first Bonus skill is mine too!”
Bbah-jeek!
Red lightning sparked from Chun Yooha the next second, frightening Suh Jihoon.
Chun Sungjae yelled as he ran away, “Hmph! I’m an S-rank too! The same rank as you! I’m not afraid of you! I’m going to tell Uncle to not take you in as a discipl—”
Chun Sungjae was about to turn the corner when he ran into the wall. He screamed.
Kwahg!
“Ahk!”
The wall he had collided with crumbled to the ground. Was it because he had just awakened as an S rank?
His physical attributes had risen rapidly, and it seemed he still didn’t know how to fully control his body.
This made Suh Jihoon pinch the bridge of his nose. ‘He’s unable to control his magical energy because he was awakened!’
However, it was still a bit weird. This didn’t happen to regular disciples. Was it because he was a disciple to a particular strong Zodiac?
Since Lee Gun was a Saint, he was the subject of interest. However, all disciples, including the Saint, served the Zodiacs in the end.
‘What kind of god is the thirteenth Zodiac?’
The Sagittarius was the god of the sun. The Gemini was the goddess of magic. Aries was the god of weather. The rest of the Zodiacs each had their symbolic representation. What did the thirteenth Zodiac stand for?
At that moment, the pissed-off Chun Yooha summoned a spear. It was a weapon that she used to kill only monsters.
Suh Jihoon screamed. “Ahk! Yooha! This isn’t it!”
Suddenly…
“I’m glad you’re still energetic, Yooha.”
“!”
They heard a familiar voice in the hospital room.
