CH 156

Chapter 156 - I am a Zodiac Saint too (1)

The unknown civilization was commencing a second invasion. The nightmare from twenty years ago was being recreated as the monsters surged out from the black zone.

No! This was beyond a repeat.

“Kuh-huhk! Our attacks don’t work! Their defense is too high!”

“Help!”

The places that suffered the most were Asia and America, the northern hemisphere.

“Huh-uhk! The dome has been pierced!”

“Those crazy bastards!”

“Block them! We must defend the first dome with our lives!”

After Red Eye’s death, the monsters hadn’t launched a full-fledged attack like this in the past twenty years. In truth, the monsters had lost the ability to move as a group after the Devil’s Tower was cleared.

Was it because the commander that directed them was gone? The monsters had returned to their territories, and they would occasionally attack some cities. Aside from that, they hadn’t been too big of a problem.

This had allowed humanity to build their domes, and the humans had focused on defensive warfare for the past twenty years.

However, an invasion had occurred now after twenty years!

Kwah-jee-jeek!

Kwahng!

The domes were layered over several hundred kilometers, yet they were destroyed in order. Finally, the first dome came under threat as well.

Moreover, strange beings had attacked various governments, driving humanity into fear.

“Huh-uhk… Prime minister!!”

“My god! An S-rank general was decapitated with a single blow!”

[Humans dared covet our territory, and it will cost you dearly.]

The American and the European politicians had lost their heads. The territory affiliated with the Virgo Saint and the Leo Saint had been feverishly trying to recover humanity’s land over the years.

The only saving grace right now was the fact that the southern hemisphere had yet to be invaded. However, all of humanity despaired when they looked at the sky.

“That helmet…”

“I’m sure of it! He’s the one that appeared twenty-five years ago to demand us to give up our sovereignty and territory…”

That man was the one in charge of conducting the invasion. Only he had appeared, yet his presence was enough to drive human society into a panic.

‘Humans will be captured as prisoners again.’

It felt like a deja vu. At that time, the humans that didn’t want to be dragged away by their government had run away to the mountains and seas.

It was like looking at a scene from the past. This was especially true of the observatory that could watch the monster invasion in totality. They were in deep despair.

‘Humanity is doomed.’

They couldn’t reveal this to the outsiders, but the Zodiac Saints were incapable of killing these monsters.

No one could speak. Basically, they had been experiencing short-lived happiness for the past twenty years.

However, this sentiment lasted only for a short time.

“Uh, uh? The monsters are disappearing!”

“What?”

The observatory employees, who had been watching the monitors, reacted in surprise. 

Their monitors displayed all the territories under humanity. On those monitors, the dots that represented monsters were disappearing steadily. The largest dot, which represented the helmeted man, was gone too!

“What is going on?”

At that moment…

“We received a call from the Leo temple!! The enemy commander has been taken care of!”

“!?”

“He has been taken care of?”

A piece of news caught their attention. People cheered.

“We are saved!!!”

“The calamity has been taken care of! The seven-billion population is saved!”

It was before the people found out about the truth, so they cheered.

“As expected of the Leo Saint! We should’ve known since he was the one to kill Red Eye!”

“No! He didn’t kill the commander. They said it was Lee Gun…!!”

“What?”

“The one to defeat the commander was Lee Gun! The other Zodiac Saints couldn’t even get close to the commander!”

“What?!”

“That isn’t all! They said Lee Gun tamed Red Eye! He’s also killing the monsters at a terrifying speed!”

“?!”

What the hell was he talking about? Everyone was shocked. They were having a hard time believing all that. 

Right now, they still didn’t know what was exactly occurring in the US. They didn’t know that Stevens had admitted Lee Gun had killed Red Eye, and they didn’t know he had lost his arm.

They were also unaware of the Libra Saint and the Taurus Saint attacking Hugo’s holy ground. Finally, they didn’t know about Lee Gun taking Red Eye prisoner by beating it to an inch of its life.

All of it had happened in such a short amount of time that the news couldn’t spread around the world. However, that wasn’t the only shocking thing.

“Prime minister! This is bad!”

“What is it!”

“The star of a Zodiac Saint has disappeared from the planetarium!”

“!?”

Planetarium! It was like a registry for the disciples. The disciples were represented as stars, and their brightness and sizes varied depending on their ranks. Moreover, the Zodiac Saints were the brightest stars.

“The Archer Saint’s star has disappeared from the planetarium!”

Everyone froze. Of course, they knew what the disappearance of a star meant.

“Are you saying Hugo-nim passed away?”

“N-No! Hugo-nim reappeared under the Serpent Bearer…”

Everyone’s eyes turned round.

“What? What are you saying? Are you saying the Serpent Bearer has two Zodiac Saints?”

“N-No. Lee Gun-nim is over there…”

Soon, they rushed into the planetarium, and their mouths fell open. Yes, what confronted them was an unimaginably large light. The light was large enough to overshadow the other temples. 

Moreover, it was larger than the Zodiac Saints, not even comparable.

This shocked them.

“What the hell is up with that size? Is it a Zodiac?”

“No! It is Lee Gun!”

“What?!”

Screams erupted from the observatory.

***

Around the time when the surprised people in the observatory searched for the god in the sky…

Poo-hahk!!

Lee Gun was having a great time killing the monsters. Of course, he wasn’t using his weapon. Instead of using the cracked Heaven’s Punishment, he used the wire to sever necks or smashed open the monsters’ heads with his fists.

If he got sick of doing that, he stole blades from the Leo disciples to stab the monsters. He even stole the Leo Saint’s royal holy item to destroy his enemies.

Poo-hahk!

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

When the helmeted man died, the monsters he had called forth ran about in confusion.

“Kee-ehhhk!”

With the command placed on them gone, the monsters indiscriminately attacked the disciples. It was an attack based on instinct. These instinctive attacks were rougher and more unpredictable. However, Lee Gun preferred this.

‘I’ve killed countless monsters like them inside the tower.’

There was a reason he had survived within the infinite reset tower with a single blade in his possession.

The tower monsters had rushed at him like packs of dogs, and he had killed them all. He even killed each floor’s administrators, which had considered him a form of entertainment. 

Moreover, only a month had passed since he had exited the tower after killing all of them. This meant his body moved before his thoughts. He was that sensitive to monsters’ presence. 

It wasn’t difficult for him to kill monsters according to his instincts. In fact, it was easier. Of course, he sometimes found himself surrounded by monsters, but that didn’t matter.

[Zodiac Descent]

As soon as Lee Gun activated his skill, green and black light surged out of him.

[You are drawing out power]

[“Black Ring that eats divine magical energy” cannot withstand this power. It screams as the power rebounds.]

[The control system has been released.]

An explosion occurred as the ring screamed.

Kwa-gwa-gwahng!

“Kee-ehhhhhk!!”

The monsters screamed as they exploded.

[Your penalty has been lifted. You can use 100% of your power.]

[Warning! If you use the power for a long time, your surroundings will get damaged.]

[Humans and the environment cannot survive in front of this power.]

As he got the notification, the nearby earth cracked, and the rocks disintegrated.

This fierce power swept across the monsters.

“Kee-ehhhhhk!”

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

The monsters turned into pieces of meat as they exploded.

Lee Gun looked at the dying monsters as if he found this interesting. Of course, the black zone monsters could sense the danger, so they didn’t charge toward Lee Gun. So, he couldn’t confirm it against them.

‘However, it has no problem against the red zone monsters.’

The monsters continued to explode as they got turned into chunks of meat. Of course, Lee Gun didn’t use this power for long.

Flick!

He crooked his finger, then the ring sniffled as it bounced back to Lee Gun. With a flash, the ring fit itself around Lee Gun’s middle finger. Then something surprising happened.

[Your power has been reined in.]

[The power of the ring has reined in your power to 50%.]

The light that resembled the descent of a calamity disappeared once again. The destruction of the surrounding area came to a stop, too.

The disciples collapsed to the ground when they saw this.

The Zodiacs of Kevin and Hugo were agitated.

[The Sagittarius says the ring is a cheat.]

[When a Zodiac descends, there is a penalty. This is why a Zodiac can’t descend at will. It says what you did was cheating.]

[The other Zodiacs are jealous. If they had that item, they could freely appear in front of the humans.]

[The Virgo shows interest in the Serpent Bearer.]

The Sagittarius made a big fuss. It asked Hugo to acquire the ring from Lee Gun, but Hugo ignored that.

“I didn't see anything. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it.” Hugo wrapped his hands around his face, denying reality.

When Lee Gun landed, the Leo disciples cheered. Before they knew it, they had started attaching an honorific to his name.

“I don’t know what technique you used, but it looks like a really good technique!”

“No. There is an unexpected downside to it.”

“What?”

“If I use this, the enemies get beaten too much into a pulp. I can’t use them as ingredients.”

“?!”

The disciples’ expressions were a sight to behold. Lee Gun seemed to be unhappy because he was unable to acquire any ingredients.

[When your power goes from 50% to 100%, the consumption of your magical energy increases by 50%.]

[If you want to maintain your powerful strength, you have to gather magical energy and the energy of your temple.]

[You need to refill your magical energy.]

It was to be expected. As one’s body became bigger, the energy consumption increased.

‘I can solve this problem by growing my temple.’

If his power kept destroying his surroundings, he couldn't live a normal life. Therefore, Lee Gun would have to remain at 50% of his power. He would only remove his ring under special circumstances.

‘It’ll be more useful if I can use it with Death’s Instinct..’

“Anyway, I want you guys to kill the remaining monsters. I’m almost out of magical energy.”

Then, Lee Gun discreetly glanced at Stevens.

Under that terrifying gaze, Stevens trembled. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah! A Zodiac Saint is ideal for me to take magical energy from.”

“Don’t take my magical energy! Put away your ax!”

As soon as those words fell, the remnant of the black zone rank monsters appeared before them. These monsters seem to have assessed that Lee Gun had consumed most of his magical energy.

Due to this, Chun Sungjae prepared his teleport spell. “If you need magical energy, would you like me to bring more Saint ranks?”

“Yes! The Scorpio Saint’s holy ground is nearby! Go get the Scorpio Saint! Don’t covet my magical ener—”

Lee Gun beat up Stevens. It seemed Lee Gun didn’t want Stevens to badmouth Hailey since she had helped him.

Soon, Chun Yooha got a rough estimate of the monsters. She said, “Even if it isn’t for magical energy, calling her here might not be a bad idea. The Scorpio Saint is strong, so she’ll be helpful to uncle…”

Hearing his sister, Chun Sungjae did a double-take. “I can bring her, but that might be a bit dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Ah! You did send me the SOS. Does it have something to do with her identity?”

“No! She’s aiming for Uncle’s body! Well, I do approve of her since she is a very beautiful lady, but…”

“W-What? Who is aiming for what?”

“Ah! I’m so jealous. If I were a woman, I would’ve already kidnapped Uncle by now!”

“?????”

Chun Yooha was taken aback. She tried to ask for the details, but her brother teleported away as if he didn’t care to explain.

At that moment…

Kwahng!!

After receiving magical energy from Lee Gun, the cold winds of the Virgo spread around. The monsters lying across the US were almost all gone.

“The number of remaining monsters is increasing! We have to destroy the gate from which the monsters are coming!”

“But it is located at…”

Lee Gun laughed when he heard the words of the Zodiac Saints. “That is why I sent the asshat.”

“!”

Lee Gun then took out a mirror.

[Voyeur Mirror(A)]

The mirror showed the point of view of a specific person. It was like watching through a camera. This mirror clearly showed Yang Wei’s point of view from his eyes.

Kevin was baffled. “When did you…”

“I made some changes when I regenerated that helmeted bastard.”

Both Stevens and Kevin furrowed their brows. It would be great if Yang Wei could pretend to be the helmeted man so that they could secretly gather info. However…

“Are you sure this is ok? Are you sure the enemies won’t realize who that pig is?”

“Since you regenerated that body, they might fall for it, but—”

Lee Gun was abrupt. “No. They’ll find out immediately. The unknown civilization isn’t that dumb.”

The two Saints were shocked; they looked at Lee Gun. It was to be expected.

“Do you realize how much the unknown civilization covets the Zodiacs’ and the Zodiac Saints’ bodies and souls?”

“That’s right. Since the high-rank disciples possess more power of the Zodiacs, the unknown civilization calls them special delicacies!”

At the end of the day, Yang Wei was a Zodiac Saint.

“As soon as his identity gets out, he’ll be eaten by the monarchs!”

Lee Gun let out an evil laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I sent him on purpose knowing that will happen.”

“?!!!”

“In fact, it would be bad if he isn’t found out. I want him to betray us.”

“?!”

Everyone was shocked. 

Ignoring their reactions, Lee Gun looked at the screen. A wicked smirk hung on his lips. “Hurry up and reveal your identity, asshat! I want you to be discovered by them, and you should act like your normal self by sticking with them!”

The Zodiac Saints and the disciples looked dismayed as they watched Lee Gun.

‘What a spiteful person.’

‘He didn’t plan on giving back the body in the first place.’

At this point, they were having a hard time identifying who was the villain. Then…

[Ahhhk!]

As Lee Gun expected, Yang Wei was found out.

The Zodiac Saints clicked their tongues at this sight. They had no idea what Lee Gun was planning to do, but…

‘If it’s Yang Wei, he will betray us.’

Yang Wei valued his own life above all else. However…

[Don’t look down on humanity!!]

“!”

[Humanity has pride! There is no way we will yield to the monarchs!]

“?!!”

[I will fight for humanity!!]

Shocking everyone, Yang Wei unexpectedly tried to fight the unknown civilization.

Lee Gun flicked his finger, and a vein popped out on his face. Does this pig want to die?