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Chapter 202
[Warning. The army of Abundance has revealed itself.]
Hugo and Guisoon were surprised by this sight. Around fifty monsters had appeared across the river. Their faces looked familiar.
‘They are the ones we saw when we went looking for Sophie…!’
This surprised Hugo and Guisoon.
‘How did they get there?’
Yes, they were looking across the Hangang river. The army of Abundance had appeared in front of the new holy ground of the Archer Saint.
[Archer Saint’s 2nd Holy Ground]
- Hangang Park (Diameter: 2 km)
Until now, Lee Gun’s Tower had been the only holy ground for the Sagittarius temple. However, it was different now. Becoming an affiliate under Lee Gun might have influenced that.
As their level rose, the Sagittarius temple was able to expand its territory and had designated a new, holy ground. And now, enemies had appeared in their new holy ground!
Taken aback, Hugo quickly brought out his bow. “Shit! How were the monsters able to invade my holy ground?”
A holy ground was the house of a Zodiac. The holy ground of a Zodiac was much stronger than domes created by Constructs. There was no way any monster could show up in a holy ground unscathed. That was the reason for Hugo’s surprise.
On the other hand, Lee Gun clicked his tongue as if he found it all pathetic. “That’s why I said to put this holy ground under me. You’re an affiliate, yet you refused it for no reason.”
“Fuck off!”
The Sagittarius temple was under Lee Gun as an affiliate. As the head temple, the Serpent Bearer’s temple could manage all the holy grounds of the Sagittarius temple.
However, Hugo was adamant about turning down that offer. The fact that his house’s living room had gotten stolen was enough.
He asked, “What is the Zodiac doing that the monsters were able to enter our holy ground…!”
[The Sagittarius is feeling a great deal of sorrow and anxiety.]
[He isn’t in the frame of mind to manage its holy grounds.]
[He says to hand over the rights to the holy ground to the Serpent Bearer.]
“Really! Damn god!!” In the end, the furious Hugo created a powerful arrow. The reason was that the monsters in the sky were trying to direct a strange power toward the city.
[Life’s “Harvest” Desired by Abundance]
Nobody knew what this power was, but it was an ominous energy.
Hugo knew that he couldn’t let this power manifest. Therefore, he quickly activated his royal skill despite knowing it would cause some damage.
Pahng!
The powerful sun arrow flew across the sky toward the other side of the river.
Pahng!!!
Flying like a laser, the red arrow detonated on the neck of an airborne monster.
Kwahng!!
“Kee-ehhhhhhk!”
“…!!”
However, the monster didn’t die easily. Its body was undamaged.
Hugo’s face turned pale from shock.
‘No way. The royal skill didn’t work against it…?!’
In the last invasion, he had almost left a burn mark!
When Hugo became flustered, Lee Gun tsk-tsked. “Stop this nonsense! Just take my power, and use it as you wish. You won’t be able to do anything by yourself.”
Those words hurt Hugo’s pride, and he became angry. However, he soon did as told. If he lured the monsters to this side, Lee Gun could go wild on them.
When Hugo gathered up his magical energy, a green light surged forth! The red light infused with the green light as the arrow flew across the river. Then, a large explosion occurred!
Kwahng!!!
“Huh-huhk!” Faced with the enormous gale, the Secretary grabbed the streetlight.
Koo-goo-goohng!
The monsters, which had looked impenetrable in the sky, fell alongside the explosion. They couldn’t even scream. Their remains fell toward the river!
It was an incredibly destructive power. The Secretary’s jaws almost became unhinged as it fell open.
Lee Gun smirked as if he was satisfied. “See? You just needed one shot.”
“Damn it!” Hugo felt a thrill when he saw the unimaginable power, yet at the same time, he was frustrated. The reason was Lee Gun’s ridicule.
“Did you see it? Stop being stubborn. Take and use my power. Then hand the new holy ground to me.”
“I’m fine.”
“Why do you hate using my power so much?”
“What do you mean, why? I don’t want to sell my soul to you!”
Hugo squinted as he pulled back on the bow. Although he said those words, if he were being honest, it wasn’t about his pride.
‘Does he not know that a Zodiac Saint draws a huge amount of magical energy?’
In this system, the Zodiacs took on the burden. The Virgo temple and the Aquarius temple had already moved under Lee Gun as affiliates. Hugo couldn’t take Lee Gun’s magical energy, too.
In the last fight against the Cancer, Lee Gun had fallen over from being overburdened. Hugo didn’t want to see Lee Gun in such a state again.
‘Well, I just have to give him EXP until he grows enough, but…’
As the Zodiac grew, the number of forces that it could lead grew as well.
On the other hand, he didn’t possess 100% faith, so would it matter if he sent the EXP? Wouldn’t he draw more magical energy than he contributed?
The Secretary seemed to have read Hugo’s worry. This angered her, and she was about to tell Hugo the truth. But…
Flash!
[You have achieved a condition.]
[A new page has been created in the Serpent Bearer’s bible.]
Guisoon became surprised at the sudden voice. She then opened her notepad. When she saw the content, her face turned pale as if she had seen a ghost.
[Page of Hugo Otis]
Then, she suddenly screamed as she pulled at her hair. “Noooooo!!!”
Aside from the pages of Chun Sungjae and Chun Yooha, Hugo’s page had appeared too.
The Secretary had a mental breakdown. This was supposed to be impossible.
‘A page cannot form unless one has the blood of the Secretary flowing within oneself!’
Yet, the page had been created. It basically meant…
‘C-Could it be? A page can be added if your faith is high?’
The Secretary sank to the ground. The basic requirement needed to enter the temple of the Serpent Bearer was to be a fanatic. It meant this was the worst thing that could happen.
‘What if all the disciples get a page?’
For example, the entry of a thousand disciples meant the same number of bible pages…
The Secretary became pale from fright. She screamed. Of course, it wasn’t a simple problem of numbers. When it came to the fanatic disciples, she had no idea what they would write.
‘I’ll have to modify all the thousand…’
Moreover, the Secretary felt incredible pain whenever she used the “Modify” ability on the bible. Therefore, her having a mental breakdown was understandable.
‘I’ll burn it.’
She just had to hide the fact that the bible had a new page.
‘I'll act as if it never happened in the first place.'
At that moment…
“You take good care of the newly created page, alright?”
“?!!”
The Secretary froze when she heard Lee Gun’s voice.
Lee Gun then instantly disappeared.
Kwahng!
He reappeared on top of the corpse of a monster floating on the river! He used the corpse as a launching pad and jumped into the sky.
Boom!
This would be simpler if Sungjae were here since the latter could use teleport. But it didn’t matter.
Tuhng!
Lee Gun landed on top of a monster’s back.
The monster birds in the sky tried to converge on him, and the riders riding on their backs became angry.
[Who are you affiliated with?]
Those monsters seemed to think Lee Gun was another monster from the unknown civilization. Their thoughts were understandable.
After Lee Gun had used the “Star of Darkness” to blind the eyes of the divine world, the Constructs had started following him like crazy, so he had hidden his power.
Was that the reason? The monsters couldn’t tell human faces apart that well, so they didn’t recognize him.
[From what I can see of your abilities, you don't seem to be a human. It seems you’re the one that was sent to the Secretary under the general’s order.]
[You dare interfere with the general’s mission instead of getting rid of the Archer Saint!]
“General’s mission?”
[That’s right. He was ordered to bring back the corpse of the Serpent Bearer.]
[It seems things went well. Where did you hide the dead body of the Serpent Bearer?]
[Hurry up and tell us. We have to hurry up and report to the general, who has gone to the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground.]
“Serpent Bearer’s corpse?” Lee Gun’s black eyes immediately flashed red. Then, the power of the Serpent Bearer suddenly appeared!
Koo-goo-goong!
Accompanying the thunderous sound, green and black lights surged forth. The faces of the riders turned pale from fright.
Lee Gun smirked. “Are you looking for me?”
[…!!!?]
As his eyes flashed with a menacing look, screams rang out in the sky.
***
Around that time.
[Are you unable to contact him?]
Lee Gun’s second holy ground in Hawaii!
The general of Abundance stood atop the ocean, where it had a good view of the island. It furrowed its brows. This monster had the head of a goat, and it had chased Kevin and Carly to this place. The Virgo Constructs had moved the two here.
Lee Gun’s holy ground exhibited the Super Regeneration property, so bringing Kevin here to treat him was an obvious measure.
The general knew their whereabouts, yet it remained still atop the ocean. The reason was simple.
‘It is an incredible power.’
In front of it was a small island and a small temple. However, the green power surrounding the island was unimaginable. The power had a regenerative ability that could recover everything. Just that sight made the general feel gleeful.
‘This is pretty good for a young Zodiac.’
There was a reason the “Time Monarch” had its eyes on this human for the past dozen years.
‘It doesn’t matter. My master will have him in the end.’
[We’ve received the news!]
Suddenly, three pigeons flew down toward the general’s head. They spoke.
[The Serpent Bearer’s secretary said the Serpent Bearer was eliminated using his bible!]
[She says you can enter the holy ground without fear!]
[Yes. It went well. From what I’ve heard, a weapon made by the Serpent Bearer is in there.]
[Yes. It’s a weapon that killed a Zodiac.]
The half-monster, half-beast laughed as it immediately used a suspicious power.
[Transformation!]
The general changed into a common pigeon, like his subordinates. After erasing the scent of a monster, the general immediately infiltrated the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground.
Boom!
The barrier of the holy ground didn’t pick up the fact that the general had infiltrated. So, the general didn’t have to wait to infiltrate the holy ground. Yet, it had waited until its underlings had contacted it. There was only one reason.
‘We do not possess the Serpent Bearer’s data.’
They had already stolen the data of the other Zodiacs. That was why they had been able to send a subordinate into the Archer Saint’s holy ground.
With the data in hand, any attack from the Sagittarius temple wouldn’t work against the general’s subordinates. But this wasn’t true for the Serpent Bearer.
Therefore, they had to make sure the Serpent Bearer couldn’t show up in the first place.
‘Also, there is no downside to being cautious since he’s capable of killing the Zodiacs.’
The general quickly moved to the heart of the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground. Its underlings laughed.
[As expected, the holy ground’s traps didn’t activate.]
[They must have bagged the Serpent Bearer.]
When they arrived at the center of the holy ground…
[We found them! They are the servants of the Virgo!]
“!!”
The Virgo Constructs were shocked when they discovered the birds flying toward them. They unsheathed their blades.
[Baby snake-nim’s holy ground has been breached!]
[What?! Stop them!]
As if to say the Constructs were too late, the general emanated its murderous intent, but…
[Those who step onto the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground will all suffer divine— Damn it! You dare step onto our uncle’s holy ground? You guys can all die!]
Light exploded forth. It was a trap.
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