âWe are surrounded. Everyone, raise your weapons.â
Haileyâs words shocked everyone. The next moment, a terrifying sound rang out on the walls and the door.
Kwahng!
â!â
A gruesome scream reverberated in the air outside.
[Keek!]
[Kee-ee-eek!]
It was the scorpions moving supplies to Lee Gunâs holy ground.
The sound of the slaughter surprised Haileyâs loyal subjects.
[Princess!]
However, they didnât have time to be flustered.
Boom!!!
A fierce magical energy was trying to destroy the door and walls. Therefore, Hailey quickly used her ability.
[Dance of the Black Moonlit Light - Decrease Discernment]
When she used it, black magical energy covered Lee Gunâs house. This was black magic. The ability erased the presence of her allies, and the enemies registered them as objects.
Since this wasnât her holy ground, Hailey didnât want to cause too much of a disturbance. However, their opponents might not allow that.
âWe donât have time. The Black zone monsters will rush to this place.â
Haileyâs words shocked the Secretary.
âBlack zone monsters.â
The Black zone was at the heart of the unknown civilization. It was the farthest place from human territory.
Naturally, many people monitored the region. The disciples were at least that competent.
The movement of the unknown civilization would have raised an alarm, and their progress would have been reported in real-time.
That was why the Secretary was baffled.
âThe observation tower of each country should haveâŚâ
âIt must be the Libra.â
â!â
Hailey swept her long hair back. A black light flashed, and her silk dress changed into her battle robe.
âThe Libra must have identified a route with lax surveillance. She must have sold that information.â
If that was so, the unknown civilization could easily infiltrate human cities. They wouldnât have to fight the annoying human disciples. They could directly attack the human nests. This was a more convenient method. What would happen afterward was also clear.
âIn return, the Libra must have put up a stipulation that her holy ground wonât be touched.â
This shocked everyone.
Chun Jiwoo asked a question as if she was having a hard time accepting this. âWould the other Zodiacs allow that? There is no way they would stand still!â
How could the Zodiacs agree to a plan where their disciples would be killed?
Haileyâs loyal subjects grated their teeth.
[Some Zodiacs agree with the Libraâs position.]
Of course, there were others besides the Zodiacs who wanted to protect their disciples.
This move would cause a lot of human casualties, but an opportunity like this was the best time to steal disciples. In front of extreme fear, humans would lose the ability for rational thoughts and good judgment.
[Some always benefit during a war.]
Everyoneâs mouth fell open as if they couldnât believe all that.
Hailey furrowed her brows.
âIn the first place, the Zodiacs had a united front in the fact that Lee Gun had to be killed.â
It wasnât all the Zodiacs, but seeing them join forces with each other wasnât out of the ordinary.
Of course, she wasnât sure why they had wanted to kill Lee Gun. Her Zodiac had framed it in this way.
[The thirteenth will always be called the god of calamity no matter which side he appears from.]
These words meant this being was a threat to both the unknown civilization and the Zodiacs.
At the time, Hailey had tried to prevent Lee Gunâs death, but she had failed.
Hailey raised her voice. âHurry up and rent the teleport skill!â
In response, Chun Jiwoo immediately took out the prototype badge Lee Gun had made.
[Poison Compound Death Item]
It was a blade that looked like an ornamental knife. Having created it as an experiment, Lee Gun had given the item to Chun Jiwoo.
It was merely a prototype, yet the patterns Lee Gun had engraved on it were sophisticated.
The snake eye engraved on the badge flashed.
[Will you like to use the stored rental skill?]
[You can use , , and .]
[Since itâs a prototype, its durability is low.]
[8/8]
Chun Jiwoo flinched in surprise. Due to its durability, she could use it only a few times. Since the item was a prototype, Lee Gun had told her to just throw it out after using it. However, how could Chun Jiwoo do that to an item made by Lee Gun-nim?
Chun Jiwoo put away the badge that looked like a blade. Instead, she took out her husbandâs badge.
After activating the skill, she immediately yelled, âHurry, Hailey-nim!â
HoweverâŚ
Crash!
Puhng! Puhng! Puhng!
The badge in her hand was destroyed. The rental skill, which had been activated, had its connection severed. That wasnât all.
Haileyâs weapon and the badges on the Secretary and Haileyâs loyal subjects were also destroyed.
âOur weaponsâŚ!â
The only things untouched were Lee Gunâs badge and the fountain pen, which she kept hidden.
At that momentâŚ
Boom!!
The door to Lee Gunâs house was breached, and monsters emitting black light entered the house.
Their first target was Hailey, the strongest. However, her loyal subjects stepped in front of her.
[Princess!]
[How dare you come here! You dare step into the holy ground of the sacred serpent with those dirty feet!]
â!â
The loyal subjects of the Scorpio Saint tried to use their skills, but the eyes of the phantom swordsmen flashed.
â!!â
The phantom swordsmen instantly disappeared, then reappeared in front of the Scorpio Saintâs loyal subjects.
Boom!!
Decapitated, the loyal subjects fell.
ââŚ!!â
They died before they could use their skills.
The Secretary almost collapsed to the ground. âThe Constructs were killed with one blowâŚ!!â
He was having a hard time believing it. Haileyâs loyal subjects were Constructs of the Scorpio Saint. They were in the divine rank, and they possessed power on par with the Zodiac Saints.
Despite all that, they had been killed without being able to use their skills even once!
Haileyâs loyal subjects werenât weak.
âShe said they are the Black zone rankâŚ!!â
These monsters were on a completely different level than Red rank.
âIf they come in droves, humanity will fall.â
Hailey seemed to have somewhat known this would happen. She angrily summoned her royal holy item, a sword.
Kwah-jee-jeek!!
The Scorpio Saint raised her sword against the phantom swordsmen.
Gritting her teeth, Hailey clashed her sword against the sword swung by the phantom swordsmen.
Kwa-gwa-gwahng!!!
The resulting light was dazzling bright.
âAh!â
Chun Jiwoo, who had been behind Haileyâs Decrease Discernment barrier, reacted in surprise. The intruders that had entered the house after the initial breach were heading straight toward Lee Gunâs forge.
âThey are going for the weapons Lee Gun-nim made!â
Those intruders were approaching those weapons. One of the weapons, tied in the air by chains, was a spear. It was Chun Yoohaâs weapon.
Lee Gun had put a lot of effort into this item since it would become his nieceâs weapon. The intruders seemed to recognize its abilities.
Boom!!
The intruders approached the spear; their goal seemed to have been the weapons in the first place.
The red spear rattled in its chain as it whined. Even the useless items Lee Gun created would slowly gain self-awareness. The fact that this weapon possessed a sense of self was a given.
Nevertheless, this red spear was about to fall into the hands of the enemies. The next moment, howeverâŚ
âAh!!â
Chun Jiwoo rushed out from the barrier.
The Secretary reared back in fright. âHey! Youâll die if you leave this place! Come back!â
Ignoring him, Chun Jiwoo immediately pulled on a lever on the wall.
Kwahng!
This released the chains holding the spear in place.
Kwah-jeek!
Letters suddenly appeared in the air.
[The Serpent Bearerâs weapon chooses its owner. It will find its owner no matter where the owner is.]
The spear suddenly disappeared to some unknown location.
Chun Jiwoo had activated her abilities as a Secretary.
The other Secretary, who had been in the barrier with her, screamed. âAhhk! N-Neck! My neckââ
The price Chun Jiwoo had to pay for using the ability of a Secretary had been transferred to him.
This also made the phantom swordsmen look at her.
â!!â
One of them suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of Chun Jiwoo. The phantom swordsman raised its sword and tried to decapitate Chun Jiwoo!
Kwahng!!!
â!?â
However, something fell on top of its head, the feet of someone with their arms crossed.
The ground cracked as the feet crushed the phantom swordsman. Then a menacing voice rang out.
âHow dare you assholes try to steal from someone elseâs house!â
The owner of the Serpent Bearerâs temple had appeared.
* * *
At that moment, the enraged Stevens suffered from Chun Yoohaâs attacks.
[Hey, Yooha. Stop it!]
He couldnât attack Chun Yooha because of the contract he had made with Hugo. Moreover, they had lived under the same roof. There should be some camaraderie between them.
How could she attack him despite knowing the content of the contract? However, it wasnât just Chun Yooha. There was another problem.
[Oliver!]
The black tiger was emanating the energy of the unknown civilization.
âWhat the hell is this sensation?â
This power was similar yet completely different to the power of the Zodiacs. It wasnât the energy of the twelve Zodiacs. If framed that way, Lee Gun also possessed a power outside the twelve Zodiacs.
âWhile Lee Gun feels like an anomaly, he doesnât feel evil.â
Stevens didnât feel a feeling of dislike against Lee Gun, but Oliver was a different story. This SS-rank disciple's energy felt cold enough to freeze the blood. The energy was so terrible.
âIs it an evil god?â
Of course, that wasnât important right now.
[Chun Yooha!]
Oliverâs fierce energy headed toward Chun Yooha. It seemed the enormous black tiger would trample the small human.
Stevens furrowed his brows.
[Really!]
Just a glance made it clear that Oliver held hatred toward Chun Yooha and wanted to kill her. This was to be expected since Oliver had failed to become one of the Ten Stars because of her. He had been the general in charge of managing the Leo Temple, yet the Leo had chosen Yooha and that too despite her being an S-rank.
His pride wouldnât allow him to let go of his grudge
âKoohk!â
The fierce black lightning aimed for Chun Yoohaâs life.
However, Chun Yooha infused her spear with magical energy and deflected the attack.
Kwahng!
She was about to use her skill once again whenâŚ
âOohk!â
The black front paw tried to pin her.
Ggahk!
Chun Yooha barely blocked the paw trying to crush her. However, her opponent was too large and powerful.
Clank!!
â?!â
Chun Yoohaâs spear shattered. At the same time, she coughed up blood as Oliver pinned her by the stomach.
âKuh-huhk!â
Oliver laughed, watching Chun Yooha suffer in the pain.
[What did I say? Youâre no match for me.]
âKoohk! What the hell? You always lost to me!â
Her words made Oliver even angrier.
[Letâs see if you can spout more nonsense!]
Boom!
Chun Yooha gritted her teeth as blood flowed. âIf I only had my weapon, I wouldâŚâ
[Shit!]
Stevens couldnât standby and just look. He was about to help Chun Yooha, butâŚ
Shweeeek!!!
â!â
Something came flying toward her.
âThatâsâŚ!â
Unexpectedly, it was a spear.
Stevens could see at a glance that this was a weapon Lee Gun had made.
âWhy is that here?â
He didnât have the chance to be surprised.
Chun Yoohaâs hand grabbed the spear flying toward her.
Kwah-jeek!
A lightning bolt of an unbelievable size erupted forth. It was on a different level than the lightning she had been using up until now.
This made Oliver hesitate.
âGet your foot away from me.â
The spear infused with lightning flew high in the sky and radiated an incredible amount of light.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have completed Missionary: 100%]
[You have become a disciple of the Serpent Bearer.]
[A new page has been added to the Serpent Bearerâs bible.]
[You have acquired the qualification to become a Zodiac Saint.]
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