Chapter 378 - Master! (2)
The dumbfounded Lee Gun and Hugo looked at the group in front of them.
The ones to greet them were a group of around three people, with their ages varying greatly.
One of them was a girl who looked to be in middle school, and another was a man who looked to be in his thirties. However, their appearances weren’t what was important right now.
‘Zodiac Saints?’
Hugo had also never seen them before. Dismayed, he whispered to Lee Gun, “Gun, they are humans…right?”
Lee Gun snorted. Hugo was asking that because these newcomers were emitting weird energy. He had immediately sensed this energy since he had felt several of their presence in the Divine world. The scent of the gods was thick around them. No, the entire earth smelled like them.
[Master, I smell Eden from various locations.]
The voice of a Construct came from Lee Gun’s shadow.
Hugo’s eyebrows rose. “They aren’t humans?”
“They are humans, but they possess Divine power.”
“Then…!”
“They are Construct rank. It means they already reached Divine rank, like you.”
“Then the gods of Eden changed into them…!”
“I’m not so sure. The Zodiac Saints look like humans. I can be sure only if I crack them open.”
Crack them open? What did Lee Gun plan to do?
Hugo was about to give Lee Gun a questioning look when the Zodiac Saints came closer.
“Anyway, it’s an honor to meet Lee Gun-nim.”
“We are none other than the—.”
Kwahng!!!!
Lee Gun didn’t let them finish. He let his fist fly. The young man standing in the very front was sent flying. Just the sound itself could make one wonder if the young man had survived the hit.
The crowd, who had gathered around when they saw Lee Gun, screamed.
“Kyahhhhk!!”
“Lee Gun-nim!!!”
Hugo was also shocked. He glanced around to see if any paparazzi or reporters had witnessed this scene. Then, he yelled, “Gun!!! The newspaper company is nearby… Damn it! Let’s hear what they have to say…!”
They could get the lay of the land only if they heard what the so-called Zodiac Saints had to say.
Lee Gun merely cracked his knuckles. “Yes. I listened to them for three seconds.”
Hugo massaged his forehead. Yes, it was better than sending someone flying after one second. When it came to Lee Gun, he had made great strides.
‘Still, we have to find out who they are before we blast them!’
At the very least, they had to find out what was going on in the world.
The ones who had been about to introduce themselves were struck dumb. They looked at Lee Gun.
The government employees had come rushing at once when they heard the rumor about Lee Gun. They were shocked and dismayed as they ran up to Lee Gun.
“Ah. He’s over there!”
“Lee Gun-nim!!!”
Lee Gun had appeared after a six-month absence. Some might wonder if he was a fake Lee Gun, but the oracle given by the observatory was never wrong.
- A massive power is heading toward here.
- That is the power of Lee Gun-nim. There is no mistaking it!
Around half a year ago, Secretary Guisoon had put up an SNS post that hinted at Lee Gun’s death(?). The news had turned the world up on its head, but it had lasted only a moment. The world had soon learned that he had moved to a different dimension.
Moreover, the observatory became aware of Lee Gun’s and Hugo’s return about an hour ago, when Lee Gun had used the ability of Time twenty years in the future.
This was why the government employees had come out to greet him. They looked nervous as they spoke to Lee Gun.
“Lee Gun-nim, please don’t make the mistake of thinking they are your enemies! They are not!”
“They are only here to greet…”
Lee Gun didn’t care. He kept twisting his head as if he was stretching. “Is that so? They came to greet me, yet they didn’t bring out the bells and whistle?”
“What?!”
“You said they are here to greet me. Then they should have brought out the red carpet and a private plane.”
The government employees started to sweat. When Lee Gun had gotten rid of the Pisces, the scene of him shedding tears(?) had been shown on TV. It had fooled the world into thinking he had a soft personality, but that charade didn’t last long.
‘There is no way his temper went anywhere.’
The civilians were taken aback.
‘As expected of Lee Gun….’
‘He hits first and asks questions later….’
This almost made it unlikely that he was a fake.
On the other hand, Lee Gun snorted as he glared at the group who had come to greet him. “Whatever. Why are you guys pretending to be Zodiac Saints?”
“!”
The three people, who had been sticking together, broke out from their shock. They immediately lowered their heads.
“We aren’t pretending to be Zodiac Saints. We are the new Zodiac Saints.”
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
“You might be shocked since this is quite sudden. It’s quite understandable.”
“Since you have come back after six months, you might have not heard about it yet. However, the previous Zodiac Saints lost their rights to be Zodiac Saints.”
“What? They lost it?”
Lee Gun’s eyebrows rose a bit as if he was annoyed.
This made the new Zodiac Saints respond confidently.
“That’s right. While you vacate your seat, Lee Gun-nim, a new monster… No, a devil made an appearance. The previous Zodiac Saints could do nothing against it. They were helpless like the time they were against the unknown civilization. Humanity was under threat again.”
Lee Gun immediately realized what that meant. “Oh. However, you guys were able to get rid of it?”
“That is correct.”
“!”
The one to answer was the young man, who Lee Gun had sent flying. He had already gotten up, and he was walking toward Lee Gun. Blood was running down his forehead, but he didn’t seem bothered by it.
Hugo flinched.
‘He was hit by Gun, yet he’s fine?’
If one was strict about the definition, the young man wasn’t fine. He was bleeding. However, he was also able to talk nonchalantly.
‘He’s formidable.’
Hugo flinched again when he saw Lee Gun. It was rare for Lee Gun to show interest like this.
‘No. Gun wouldn’t be interested in the fake Zodiac Saints!!’
However, the worried Hugo was right in his presumption.
As if to prove that, Lee Gun’s eyes curved like the eyes of a fox. He had gone easy since he didn’t want the Zodiac Saint to die, yet the young man was able to move?
When Lee Gun looked at the Zodiac Saint in acknowledgment, Hugo became nervous. He was about to say something, but the Zodiac Saints smiled and spoke first.
“The previous Zodiac Saints were your enemies, Lee Gun-nim. After they trapped you in the tower, they lived a life of wealth and luxury. They were trash.”
“Yes. You’re right about that.”
“Gun???!!”
Hugo grabbed Lee Gun, but Lee Gun merely smirked as if he was not bothered by their words. “I left them alive only because of the monsters. I don’t care if anyone disparages them now.”
“!”
“So what did you do with the previous Zodiac Saints? Did you guys steal the thirteen seats?”
“We didn’t just steal them. We did it fair and square. There was a contest of strength in front of the countries and the people. We took those seats.”
“Oh. You guys fought?” Lee Gun let out a bright smile as he looked at the government employees and the civilians. “Really?”
The student’s face turned red as she spoke when Lee Gun looked at her. “Yes, yes! Also, they were…!”
Soon, the Zodiac Saint spoke.
“It’s as the people said. The thirteen Zodiac Saints, who had been swapped out, all lost to us.”
“Ah-ha! That means it is beneficial for all of us?”
“Yes, it is.”
“The snake god is the ruler and guardian of the earth. The new thirteen Zodiac Saints are here to protect the snake god.”
“This might be quite sudden and confusing. You might be suspicious of us, but we will do our very best to help…”
Lee Gun was cool about it. If things had really turned out like that, he didn’t really care.
“Alright. I’ll allow you guys to serve me.”
The Zodiac Saints’ expressions brightened.
“That means…!”
“Since I allowed it…”
“!”
“You guys can all die.”
As fierce Divine power emanated from his body, Lee Gun let out a bright smile.
* * *
[The Zodiac Saints are powerless against the devil! Will we truly be ok?]
[The Zodiac Saints lost to the newly awakened beings, who were detected to have SS-rank abilities!]
[We are the new thirteen Zodiac Saints, who received power from Eden. We are prepared to protect Lee Gun-nm.]
[They are the fake Zodiac Saints. They couldn’t face off against the monsters for twenty years because of their incompetence. They plotted against Lee Gun-nim, and they were unable to kill the fallen Zodiacs.]
[What have they done while Lee Gun-nim was gone?]
[They are trash.]
“Yes. They are good at speaking. They are indeed idiots.”
“Gun.”
At the Charles De Gaul airport in Paris, Lee Gun sat in the middle of downtown, waiting for someone while munching on a baguette.
He snorted as he watched the news, which was chronicled for the past six months. “What? I told these idiots to defend our home, yet they had their seats taken.”
In other words, the previous Zodiac Saints had undergone a change of generation after he had gone to search for Hugo.
Unknown outer gods had appeared on the earth, and they were dubbed as the devils. The power of the previous Zodiac Saints didn’t work against the devils. However, the newly appeared SS-rank Zodiac Saints had easily killed them. The reason was simple.
‘Angels are like a cheat code when dealing with devils.’
However, Lee Gun had no plans of coddling Hugo and the Zodiac Saints.
“All the new Zodiac Saints possess the power of Eden angels. In the first place, our skills were specialized to work against the unknown civilization, yet they want us to defeat the devils? Of course, they would have a hard time against them.”
“They shouldn’t have been pushed around to that extent.”
Before he had gone looking for Hugo, Lee Gun had given orders for the empty seats of the Zodiac Saints to be filled.
- It’s annoying to micromanage all the disciples. Just pick the strongest ones to be the Zodiac Saints since I’m the Zodiac.
Aside from the already established temples, Lee Gun had given orders to find Zodiac Saints for the Aries, Taurus, Cancer, and Libra temples.
This unfortunate event had occurred when this was happening. Moreover, the previous Zodiac Saints were missing.
‘They are either hiding, captured, or dead.’
At such a moment, the earth had received the protection of the angels, and a new twelve Zodiac system had formed.
Hugo sighed. “Eden thought this through. It wasn’t other gods. Naturally, the existence of angels would work well on the people of the earth.”
When the monsters and the twelve Zodiacs had appeared, the existing religions on earth had gotten weaker. However, the existence of Eden would hold great sway over the three great religions of the earth.
If Eden had slandered the hero of humanity in Lee Gun, humanity would have rejected them. Their current approach had struck the right note for humans to accept them.
“Is the Great Spirit of Eden the god from the bible?”
“I don’t think so.”
Of course, Lee Gun had something to check before he did anything. When he turned around, Hugo looked at him with an odd look in his eyes. “Gun. The airport terminal isn’t that way. You aren’t going to ride the plane?”
Lee Gun had caused a ruckus in downtown, and he had taken the car of a government employee for himself. Hugo assumed it was to go ride an airplane.
Lee Gun snorted. “Why would I ride something so slow?”
“What? Why did we come to the airport?”
“Why else?” Lee Gun smirked as he whistled.
Then, a violent earthquake hit the area, and something surprising happened.
Koo-goo-goo-goong!
“Ahhhhk!!!”
“It’s a monster!”
Screams rang out in the surroundings, and a familiar face appeared from the sky. A red being was flying toward them while wagging its tail.
Hugo’s face turned pale at the sight.
* * *
Hugo’s worry became reality. Red Eye had come to greet its owner, and they were riding it.
Hugo suffered from motion sickness as they arrived at a familiar location. It was the building of the Sagittarius temple, which was also considered Lee Gun’s home.
Lee Gun immediately looked for someone. “Miss Jiwoo!”
The sound of a dish being broken along with a familiar voice rang out. Then, a familiar face made an appearance.
“Lee Gun-nim!!” It was a surprised pregnant woman.
Goat and the young Archer disciple stood next to her. They had been helping Chun Jiwoo.
“Lee Gun-nim!!”
“My god! It really is Lee Gun-nim?”
Everyone was surprised since Lee Gun had appeared after six months. They asked why Lee Gun hadn’t picked up on any of their attempts to contact him, but in the end, they all let out sighs of relief.
“Miss Jiwoo, I brought Taeksoo as promised.”
Tears welled up in Chun Jiwoo’s eyes.
“Really? My husband is ok?”
Lee Gun laughed as he pointed next to him.
Hugo was also glad to see Chun Jiwoo. His memories weren’t whole, but of course, he could recognize his wife.
Soon, Hugo opened up his arms as he approached her. Chun Jiwoo quickly ran toward him.
However, they walked past each other.
Chun Jiwoo opened the door. She opened the closet. She opened the toilet cover, as she yelled, “Where are you, husband?”
“I’m not over there! Honey!! I’m here!”
Goat tilted his head in puzzlement at this scene. “Where is Hugo-nim?”
“He’s in front of you.”
“What?!”
Lee Gun laughed when they asked why they couldn’t see Hugo. “He became a god without a body. Humans can’t see him unless they concentrate.”
The married couple waved their arms through the empty air in yearning.
In the end, he looked at his surroundings.
“So where is his body, which was supposed to be stored here?”
“What?”
“I’ll return him to his body, then I’m going to cut down the angels.”