Chapter 244: Why did you run away? (1)


    Hugo was surprised by the sudden notification.


    [A god of the Pantheon in the Divine world is aiming for the empty seat among the twelve Zodiacs.]


    [It is aiming for the Taurus’s Seat of power]


    …


    [It is aiming for the Cancer’s Seat of power.]


    [It is aiming for the Capricorn’s Seat of power.]


    ‘What the hell is this?’


    Hugo was taken aback.


    When he turned his head, Chun Sungjae and Puffin looked surprised as well. They seemed to have heard the notification, too.


    Of course, their reaction to it waspletely different.


    “Uncle is the best. Uncle is the best. Uncle is the best. Uncle is the best. Uncle is the best. Uncle is the best. Please let me record Uncle’s voice. Please let me record Uncle’s voice! I like Uncle so much!”


    “Ah… It’s Lee Gun-nim’s voice again.”


    Unlike Hugo, these two had heard the voice of Lee Gun.


    “I still can’t get used to the kind tone of his voice…”


    “I don’t care. Just let me be able to record that voice. Let me be able to record it. Let me be able to record it. Let me be able to record it. Let me be able to record it. Let me be able to record it!!”


    Chun Sungjae wailed as he turned on the recording function of his phone. However, it was useless.


    Puffin sounded a bit sullen as he said, “Is it possible to mute this voice? This never happened when I was in the Leo temple— Kuh-huhk!!”


    He immediately got a kick from Chun Sungjae.


    “Mute? How can you say such a ludicrous statement as a disciple of the Serpent Bearer?” Chun Sungjae imed that Puffin’s faith had fallen again and quickly reyed the music file. “Hurry up and raise your faith, Muffin!! Hurry!”


    “Ahhhk! I have had enough of Lee Gun-nim’s hymn! Even if the heavenly Yooha-nim sang it, I’ve had enough!”


    Faith wasn’t a permanent thing. It was like a rtionship, which deteriorated without any interaction. Faith could fall, and this could lead to a revolt. Furthermore, a disciple might develop a skill that could be harmful to their Zodiac.


    While disciples gave great power to the Zodiacs, they could also be poison if mismanaged. They were a double-edged sword. Therefore, the management of faith was a must!


    “Here! Listen to it!!! If you don’t like my sister’s version, you can hear mine!”


    “Ahhhk! Help me!”


    Hugo looked appalled by the strong management style of his son. It was also rted to him being able to see the faith of his son and Puffin with his eyes.


    [Chun Sungjae’s Serpent Bearer Faith: 330%]


    [Puffin’s Serpent Bearer Faith: 90%]


    Puffin’s faith had been forced to go up to 100% when he had entered the Serpent Bearer temple. And thanks to Sungjae’s persistent management of his disciples, Puffin’s faith normally hovered around 90%.


    On the other hand…


    ‘I have no words when ites to my son. His faith is 300%.’


    Hugo was worried because a faith of that magnitude meant Sungjae might give his life for Lee Gun. Besides that, Hugo was also covetous of the song sung by his daughter. So he wanted his son’s phone.


    [You have rented the “Steal Information” skill from the Scorpio temple.]


    [It’s a VIP rank. You can steal the target’s (Chun Sungjae’s phone) data (Photos: 647,898. Videos: 1 TB. Audio Files: 240GB) whenever you want.]


    Hugo flinched at the incredible amount of data. He tried to narrow it down to the data rted to Lee Gun.


    [Lee Gun-rted data (Photos: 647,897. Videos: 1TB. Audio Files: 240GB)]


    “….”


    Everything except one picture was rted to Gun??? Moreover, what was this other photo? Well, it wasn’t important right now.


    “Doesn’t the Pantheon refer to the Divine world, Saint-nim?”


    “!”


    Hugo became sober at Lee Jaewon’s words.


    As the name implied, Pantheon was a temple where tens of thousands of gods lived. The divine world was a ce where the twelve Zodiacs and other varieties of gods existed.


    Anyway, the divine world was connected to various dimensions and also to the earth.


    When humanity had made connections with the twelve Zodiacs, it enjoyed the benefit of receiving protection from the Zodiacs.


    ‘ording to Gun, one can’t reach that ce unless one reaches divinity.’


    Within humanity, his friend was the only one able to go there right now.


    What were the nameless gods from that ce aiming for?


    “Aren’t the Seats of power referring to the thrones of the twelve Zodiacs?”


    Hugo nodded at Puffin’s question. “Yes. Above all else, Gun needs it if he wants a merger. It’ll allow him to bring the power of the other temples into the temple of the Serpent Bearer.”


    “!”


    Lee Gun already possessed the Seats of power for the Taurus temple and the Aquarius temple. He had yet to acquire the Seats of power for the Cancer temple and the Capricorn temple.


    Without finding their Seats of power, Lee Gun couldn’t use the data he had acquired. The reason was simple.


    [The destruction of the Zodiacs has created vacant seats. Skills from these temples are currently “unavable.”]


    [You have to find the Seats of power for a merger, or you can bring them in as affiliates. Only then will the skills be reusable.]


    There were several reasons the remaining Seats of power had to be recovered for, but…


    “The Ten Star of the Cancer temple ran away with it, so my sister went looking for it. I have no idea what is going on with the Capricorn temple.”


    Hugo nodded.


    “Normally, the Zodiacs have it, but the Capricorn is gone now. I have no idea how to find the Seat of power…”


    “Ah! That’s in our holy ground.”


    “?!”


    Hugo almost screamed when he heard the voice next to him. The one next to him was the head of the Capricorn temple, Taylor, who had arrived here in an attempt to be Lee Gun’s student.


    Hugo shouted, “When did you guyse in?”


    “Ah! The door was open. Anyway, this is a serious situation. We nned on giving the Capricorn’s Seat of power to Lee Gun-nim.”


    “What? Why?!”


    “What do you mean, why? If we give it to Lee Gun-nim, he might ept us as his students.”


    “…?!”


    This bastard knew Lee Gun’s personality, so it seemed he had prepared a bribe…! While Hugo thought Taylor was quite meticulous, he also looked worried.


    ‘This is going to be troublesome.’


    It had to do with the future that Hugo had seen not too long ago.


    [Delphi Oracle (SS)]


    He had seen Lee Gun surrounded by beings wearing strange masks, and Lee Gun’s appearance started to change in odd ways. Lee Gun’s appearance had taken a serious turn as his skin came off… He looked abnormal.


    ‘Something is going to happen to Gun. I’m sure of it.’


    He had no choice but to be worried. Then there were the words spoken by the Sagittarius.


    – There is no way the other gods will stand by and watch when there are vacancies in the temples.


    Basically, powerful beings that wanted to be Zodiacs would gather like mad. Even now, the gods were gathering.


    Since his friend possessed numerous Seats of power, he would be in danger. However, something was odd about this.


    ‘It’s too early.’


    The Sagittarius said it’d take several years at the very least. So what had happened?


    The Sagittarius seemed to be thinking along the same line, and he spoke.


    [The Sagittariusins. This has to do with the Serpent Bearer. He’s asking why you aren’t moving quickly.]


    [The Sagittarius says the Serpent Bearer is busy making his wig. Since strength is your only virtue, he says his servant should move quickly. He jeers.]


    [The Sagittarius says he raised your sry by ten thousand won. He’s angry that you are too slow…]


    In the end, Hugo took out a tiny dagger.


    His son, Puffin, and Lee Jaewon became surprised when Hugo tried to unsheathe the dagger. It was the Serpent Bearer’s badge, which Hugo had receivedst time.


    “S-Saint-nim? You will be transferred to the Serpent Bearer temple if you unsheathe it…”


    “D-Dad?”


    “Pass this message along to Gun, Sungjae. My Zodiac said he wants to merge the Sagittarius temple, too.”


    “What?!”


    “My Zodiac also wants to be dismantled, so he could be made into my bow. Deliver that.”


    [?!!]


    Hugo moved as he left behind his despairing Zodiac.


    * * *


    Around that time, she was inside the hotel located on the forty-fifth floor of the World Workshop.


    “Sigh! I showed an unsightly part of me for the past two days.” Hailey despaired as she returned to her room.


    For the past two days, she had alternated between being on cloud nine and living in the depths of despair.


    She had finally gotten an invitation for dinner from Lee Gun, yet she hadn’t been able to eat. She had shown an unseemly side of her.


    She showed something unsightly at the restaurant for the first time. Then, she showed something unsightly for the second time in the hotel room. The second incident had happened around dawn.


    ‘It’s quite unsettled out there.’


    ‘It’s to be expected. Lee Gun-nim won against the Capricorn temple’s Genius Workshop.’


    Hailey had woken up from her unconsciousness soon. After getting up, she had gone to look for her subordinates. She moved to finish her other unfinished businesses.


    She had to track down the Time monarch, whom Lee Gun was looking for. Her subordinates kept saying it would be dangerous for her if she moved closer to the unknown civilization. However, she was confident she could find that bastard if she did so.


    ‘I have the same blood flowing within me, so I can smell it.’


    She wanted the downfall of the unknown civilization.


    Anyway, Hailey had been delighted to hear about Lee Gun’s exploits that had taken ce while she had been unconscious.


    ‘The power of the Capricorn temple would be of great help to him.’


    She had returned to the room at dawn. She had taken a bath, and she had been about to go to sleep when she noticed it.


    ‘Why is Lee Gun here?’


    Lee Gun was sleeping in her bed, wearing only his underwear!


    Did he sense her presence, or did he notice his nket was gone? When Lee Gun had opened his eyes, she had met his gaze and fainted once again.


    Of course, it didn’t take her long to figure out why Lee Gun was sleeping in her room.


    * * *


    Back to the present.


    Hailey nced at the main instigator behind that event.


    The man was grinding his teeth in front of her. “Why are you being like this? I gave him the wrong key, so I admit my fault. However, why do I have to wear this as a result?”


    It was Kevin. His eyes twitched as a picture of Lee Gun was ced on the back of his head.


    Hailey, who walked behind Kevin, cleared her throat as her face turned red.


    “I-It is nothing. I just want you to stay like this for a moment.”


    She seemed to be training little by little. At this rate, she would be able to enter a building Lee Gun had visited before.


    It’d allow her to not be flustered, no matter what happened. Of course, there was a reason she wanted to get along with Lee Gun.


    ‘Since I am from the other side, I’ll have to disappear with them.’


    However, she was thinking about the immediate future where she would have to fight with Lee Gun. When that happened, she couldn’t be a burden.


    This was why her monster subordinates, whockedmon sense, told her that they were willing to mimic Lee Gun. However, she had cut them down.


    “Anyway, you and Hugo are the only ones amongst the twelve Zodiac Saints who are simr in size to Lee Gun, and Hugo is busy right now.”


    “Are you saying I’m not busy?”


    “You have a debt to pay…”


    Kwahng!


    One of the nearby front windows broke.


    Crash!


    They immediately put up their guards as they brought out their weapons.


    “This isn’t natural. We are under attack!”


    Kevin furrowed his brows when he heard Hailey’s words.


    “The dome around the tower was broken. Is it a ck zone rank monster?”


    “No, it isn’t a monster. It’s a god.”


    “God? Is it a Construct?”


    At that moment, Lee Gun appeared behind them. “No, it isn’t a Construct. It’s a Divine-rank being.”


    “!!”


    Lee Gun, who had arge bundle slung over his shoulder,ughed. The bundle held all the defensive holy items that he had made.


    Since this ce had expensive ingredients, he had been busy making holy items by stealing the ingredients.


    [Since you made numerous holy items, the EXP of Life has risen.]


    [Currently, Life is at stage 3.]


    [You can use a new Life skill: Creation]


    [Warning! The outer gods are trying to acquire the empty seats of the twelve Zodiacs possessed by the Serpent Bearer.]


    At the same time, Lee Gunughed as he looked at the stars that could be seen through the window. They were the culprits who had attacked this ce.


    Hailey and Kevin were taken aback when they realized who had staged the attack.


    ‘The outer gods!’


    “Shit! They are here to take the Seat of power inside the holy ground!”


    “They n on stealing the Seat of power to be the new Zodiac!”


    “The twelve Zodiacs are high-rank divinities that all gods covet…!”


    The fact that the Serpent Bearer was trying to consume all of them was monstrous.


    However, Lee Gunughed in derision. “No. They are here with me in mind.”


    Kevin was puzzled. “What? They aren’t the twelve Zodiacs, so how did they locate you?”


    The outer gods were located in a region that was far from the divine world. There was no way they would know what was going on here. They had no reason to target Lee Gun.


    Lee Gunughed as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I know why this is happening.”


    “What?”


    Lee Gun’s eyes shed. It was far away from here, but Lee Gun could feel it.


    ‘The one that went away first came back.’


    Yes, there was a Zodiac that couldn’t be found even when he tried to track it down. It was the Aries, whose presence couldn’t even be felt.


    This Zodiac had hidden so well that not a hint of its presence could be found. That was also the reason the Zodiacs and the Zodiac Saints made fun of it.


    It was also why Yang Wei had be Lee Gun’s first victim.


    ‘When the Cancer was killed, all the others appeared except one.’


    However, Lee Gun could faintly feel its energy. It was one of the culprits that had allied itself with Giselle to push him into the tower twenty-four years ago.


    It was the presence of the bastard who had sold the information about the Serpent Bearer to the unknown civilization!


    ‘I was wondering where it went after abandoning its Zodiac Saint.’


    There was no mistaking it. As soon as it recognized Lee Gun, it had run away and returned, leading the outer gods here.


    Since Lee Gun’s enemies were being eliminated one by one, the Aries knew it was a target, and it was scared.


    Therefore, it had brought allies.


    ‘Moreover, it’s said that one’s divinity and reputation rise just from sitting in the seat of the twelve Zodiacs.’


    Some gods had power, yet no reputation. Others were trying to build their army. The outer gods were like mad hyenas as their eyes shed.


    An empty Temple was good bait.


    [The enemies are aiming for the Serpent Bearer.]


    [The Aries is aiming for the Serpent Bearer.]


    But Lee Gun didn’t care since he had been looking for Aries. He had questions he wanted to ask.


    ‘This is good.’


    Soon, he blew a whistle, surprising Kevin and Hailey.


    Lee Gun had summoned something. Then, he jumped down from the tower of the World Workshop.


    “Lee Gun?!”


    “It’s fine. Just get me some Coca-c.”


    “What?!”


    “Coke goes best withmb kebab.”


    Kevin spoke out in protest. “What the hell are you talking about? Beer goes best withmb kebab, idiot!”