Chapter 165 - Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth (1)

Jean-Louis became surprised by the figure that came into view.

‘A woman?’

However, his surprise lasted only a moment. Then, he groaned.

Kwang!

A powerful silver light had swept over him.

“Koo-oohk!”

His opponent held up her thumb and drew a diagonal line across the air. It was a simple gesture, yet the vast land of the US was split open.

Zzuh-uhng!

That was just the beginning.

Apart from splitting the ground, the beam of silver light destroyed the stony mountains that rose atop the wasteland.

The attack was powerful enough to split a country in half. If she wanted, she could very well blast away the entire continent.

Jean-Louis had barely dodged the attack. He could only laugh in such a precarious situation.

‘If I didn’t use the Demigod state, I would have died instantly.’

Only one being could use so much power in this world!

Jean-Louis burst out laughing as he looked at Kevin. “It’s an honor. I never expected to meet the most beautiful amongst the twelve Zodiacs.”

Yes, the one in front of his eyes was the Virgo. Of course, she had borrowed her Zodiac Saint’s body to descend here. This was different from the time when the Leo had descended and when Lee Gun had used 100% of his power. Her surroundings didn’t get destroyed.

Still, a Zodiac was a Zodiac. Her mere presence was overpowering.

Jean-Louis looked at Kevin as if this was unexpected. ‘I always wondered why he never let his Zodiac descend.’

He muttered, “I can understand why he doesn’t like to use the Descent technique.”

The goddess acted as if his words weren’t worth hearing. She once again drew a line in the air.

Kwahng!!!

“Koo-oohk!”

Jean-Louis did his best to open up some distance with the Virgo. With a Zodiac’s descent, he was in a very dangerous situation.

‘It wasn’t that he was incapable of using the Zodiac descent technique. He just didn’t use it.’

Jean-Louis had always considered this odd. Amongst the Zodiac Saints, Kevin was one of the few who could use the Demigod state, the ultimate skill for a Zodiac Saint. Yet, he insisted on using only his swordsmanship. It had always been odd.

Jean-Louis had just assumed Kevin didn’t like borrowing power from his Zodiac. He thought Kevin had confidence in his skill.

‘I never knew a Zodiac could change the shape of the vessel.’

In other words, the Virgo could change her Zodiac Saint’s body to her liking once she entered it. The body would reflect her image as a goddess.

‘There is no way a goddess like the Virgo would descend into a male body.’

Right now, Kevin’s white-blond hair had lengthened, and he was emitting a blinding aura. However, Jean-Louis was impressed for a different reason.

‘In terms of looks, he can rival the Scorpio Saint.’

It was almost too bad that Kevin was born as a man. Jean-Louis almost made a joke that Kevin could steal all the disciples from Giselle in this form. It might be possible for him to become the number one Zodiac Saint.

‘Ah! Is that why the Virgo kidnapped him before he lost his virginity?’

She had forcefully made him a virgin eunuch.

Jean-Louis looked at Kevin with pity.

It seemed Kevin was going nuts inside. He was threatening to kill the descended goddess unless she left his body. And the goddess’s pout was directed at Kevin.

[It has been a while since I’ve visited him, yet this child truly hates me.]

This was understandable.

If Jean-Louis’s Zodiac descended and changed his body as it pleased, he would have left his temple.

Jean-Louis once again looked at Kevin with pity, but that didn’t matter right now.

‘I didn’t expect that to be with him.’

Jean-Louis glared at the slime on top of Kevin’s shoulder. It clapped its hands when it saw the beauty.

Yes, this slime was Lee Gun’s holy item and manufacturing tool. It had tagged along with Kevin.

It was the reason the green light had appeared whenever Lee Gun’s name was mentioned. The slime had just been reacting positively because it liked hearing its owner’s name.

Jean-Louis realized why Kevin had both arms.

‘That thing brought him the prosthetic arm.’

Kevin’s right arm looked the same as the one Stevens had received recently.

It seemed Lee Gun had planned on giving the left arm to Stevens and the right arm to Kevin. And after delivering the prosthetic arm, the slime had clung to Kevin.

‘This is Lee Gun’s strategy.’

It was unexpected. The arm was understandable since it was a prosthetic. However, it had recovered Kevin’s pierced heart.

‘This recovery speed is out of the realm of humans.’

This wasn’t a rental skill either. Without Lee Gun here, this level of regeneration should have been impossible.

This was why Jean-Louis glared at the goddess. “What kind of contract did you make with the Serpent Bearer? What did you do with him?”

As if she couldn’t be bothered talking to an inferior creature, the goddess raised her finger once again.

[My child is throwing a tantrum. I’ll have to kill you now.]

Taken aback, Jean-Louis snorted. “Are you sure you can do it? It is against the rule to mess with the Zodiac Saint of a different temple....”

[You’re the one who messed with my precious servant first.]

A cold look appeared in her eyes as she emitted a silver light.

Jean-Louis furrowed his brows.

‘Shit!’

The enormous explosion covered the desert; it was beyond imagination. When the smoke and the explosion dissipated, Jean-Louis’s corpse was revealed. Since the explosion had been so powerful, no flesh remained in the wreckage.

However, the Zodiac furrowed her brows when she looked at the corpse.

[He replicated himself to run away.]

This wasn’t a big deal since she couldn’t kill him in the first place.

‘The power of a normal Zodiac isn’t enough to eliminate them.’

Something like that would be impossible without a calamity-rank god.

The goddess’s eyes suddenly flashed.

[#$ㄴ#$*&$*&!!!]

She plugged her ear as if she found something to be noisy.

It was Kevin. He was swearing in a shrill voice, telling her to hurry up and get out of his body.

The Virgo’s cheeks puffed up at the barrage of swear words.

[Why does this child always have such a foul mouth?]

The goddess seemed hurt by Kevin’s treatment. Well, she did kidnap him when he was about to spend the night with his first girlfriend. She knew she had taken that a bit too far, but it couldn’t be helped.

‘I couldn’t let a Zodiac Saint candidate die.’

Kevin’s first girlfriend had been a monster that had attached itself to humans. If the Virgo had let him be, the monster would have eaten him.

At the time, the Virgo had been in the process of finding a Zodiac Saint, but a man couldn’t become the Virgo’s Zodiac Saint. So, she had planned on ignoring him. However...

‘The setup was too perfect.’

Kevin had been beautiful even per a Zodiac's standards. The Virgo didn’t think she could find a candidate more perfect than Kevin! Moreover, he was about to be eaten by a monster!

In the end, she swore. Why did he have to be male?

And thus, she made him her servant before he could consummate the deed. Then, she had cultivated him since he was pretty.

[Hurry up and get out! Get out before I tell Lee Gun that you drool while you steal glances at him!!!]

What the hell?

Kevin was the one who stalked Lee Gun saying he wanted to spar with him and kept watching videos of him! How dare he say that!

However, Kevin didn’t care as he screamed.

[Get out!]

In the end, the Zodiac grumbled as she forcefully canceled the descent.

When the silver light dissipated, Kevin returned to his normal self. After angrily panting, he glared in a direction. “Stop spying on me. Come out!”

A black shadow appeared in front of Kevin. It was Lee Jaewon, who seemed surprised. It was the first time he had seen the Virgo Saint use the Zodiac descent technique.

“I....”

“You saw nothing.”

“Why? You were incredibly strong. You should continue to use—”

“I won’t!!”

“I mean... You’ll be on par with Hailey-nim...”

“I won’t do it!!!” Kevin ground his teeth. “I really want to leave this temple! If not for this contract, I would have already...”

Lee Jaewon tried to hold in his laughter. It was understandable why Kevin wanted to leave his temple to become Lee Gun’s Zodiac Saint.

Soon, Lee Jaewon stopped teasing Kevin and finally cut to the chase. “I am glad you’re fine. Lee Gun-nim was worried.”

If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have told Lee Jaewon to check out this place.

Kevin’s face oddly turned dark at the mention of Lee Gun.

Lee Jaewon didn’t pick up on this as he checked the text message. “Lee Gun-nim says you can continue to use the prosthetic arm. You’ll have no problem in battles from now on...”

Unexpectedly, Kevin suddenly detached the prosthetic arm and gave it to Lee Jaewon.

Lee Jaewon’s eyes turned round. “Virgo Saint-nim?”

“I am not worthy of receiving this.”

“!”

Kevin stemmed the bleeding as he turned around, surprising Lee Jaewon. The Virgo Saint gritted his teeth when he remembered the Crab Saint’s words.

‘I’m second place.’

Lee Gun had finally said he would spar with him, but Kevin realized he wasn’t worthy of that.

Kevin wasn’t sure of that matter, but if Jean-Louis’s words were true, he owed Lee Gun an apology. No, an apology might not be enough.

Before he could do that, he had something else he needed to do.

[Demigod state]

Pah-jeek!

“!”

Silver light surged forth. It was an incredible amount of energy that couldn’t be seen normally. This power could decimate everything without leaving behind a single survivor.

Lee Jaewon flinched when he felt that power.

Kevin then unsheathed his royal holy item, the ice blade called Winter Frost, and said, “I’ll kill everyone who has invaded my holy ground.”

He would also kill all the people who had tried to kill Lee Gun. Afterward, he would pay for his sins.

Kevin tossed something toward Lee Jaewon.

Lee Jaewon was surprised.

‘Zodiac Saint Seal!’

It was the holy item that oversaw a Zodiac Saint’s holy ground.

Jaewon could manage everything within the holy ground with this item. He could also take all the riches and power inside the holy ground. Therefore, he looked at Kevin in surprise.

“When I mop up the place, I want you to tell Lee Gun that he could have everything within my holy ground.”

Kevin didn’t think Lee Jaewon would betray Hugo or Lee Gun. Even if he decided to give it to Hugo as a member of the Sagittarius temple, Hugo would never betray Lee Gun.

Lee Jaewon was shocked. “He can have the entire holy ground? Do you plan on going under the Serpent Bearer as an affiliate?”

Kevin didn’t answer. The Zodiac Saint just moved.

* * *

Around that time...

“Family Shield!!”

“Damn it!!!”

The raid within the Devil’s Tower continued as before.

After Chun Sungjae received a buff in the form of Hugo, the numerous monsters were starting to dry up. Therefore, Chun Sungjae started attacking the fake Red Eye.

The fake Red Eye seemed to be an experiment made as a substitute for the real Red Eye. Since it was a fake, it was a bit smaller and had inferior abilities. However, this didn’t change the fact that it was Red Eye’s duplicate.

“Kee-ehhhhhk!!!”

When Red Eye roared, the large monsters rushed forward. They numbered a hundred. If Sungjae took into account the skill’s characteristics, stopping all the attacks would be hard even if he summoned his father.

[“Get Hit Instead of Me” has evolved.]

[Royal Family Shield]

[Effect: Rise of familial love]

[Once you activate this skill, an automatic summon will be in effect for 5 minutes. The summon will be actuated when danger is sensed.]

[The one summoned as a shield can also attack. (Once)]

[You can choose who to call.]

Chun Sungjae flinched. He could choose who to call? He thought about his immediate family.

‘Of course, Mom is off-limits.’ And if he summoned his sister, he would probably get beaten up.

“Fuck! Dad is the only one!!!”

The idea of getting closer to his father was gross, but Sungjae’s only option was his father. Moreover, the summoned person could attack once now, so both sides would gain from it! It was as expected!

“Royal Family Shield!”

An angry Hugo was summoned alongside the light.

“Chun Sungjae!!! You should just use the teleportation spell! How long will you not let me attack—”

“No, Dad! You can attack now! The skill has evolved!”

“What? Really!?”

Hugo wasn’t sure what was going on, but he would disappear each time he took a hit.

Therefore, his face brightened. The Archer Saint happily pulled back on the bow. If he could use his bow, he could kill the monsters with a single attack.

“Yes. This is revenge for earlier—”

[Warning! The summoned shield cannot use long-range attacks.]

“?!!!”

Hugo screamed as he swung his fist.

Kwahng!!!

“Kee-ehhhhhhhhhk!!!”

Was it thanks to Hugo’s support?

Chun Sungjae was eventually able to defeat the fake Red Eye, which had appeared on the first floor.

Koo-goo-goong!

[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]

[Contribution is being sent toward the Serpent Bearer.]

It was a fake made through an experiment and a failure. Its specs were much inferior to that of the real Red Eye. The original Red Eye was something only Lee Gun could face. It was beyond imagination.

However, the fake had an incredible effect as a change occurred to Chun Sungjae’s body.

[You have leveled up to S+ rank.]

“Awesome! I leveled up to S+ rank! Thank you, Dad! I love you!”

“Y-Yes. I’m glad I was of help.”

Hugo was panting. He was an archer, yet he had to kill the monsters with his bare fists. He was bent over. Thankfully, a combo attack counted as a single attack.

“Still, you are an S+! As expected, the SS rank wall is high. You killed so many, yet you became only an S+ rank.”

“Yes. However, it isn’t too far away. I’m satisfied with—”

Suddenly...

Kwahng!!!

Hugo was sent flying away.

“Dad!”

A woman had appeared in front of them.

[You must have no fear to cause trouble in Monarch-nim’s territory.]

Chun Sungjae trembled when he heard the voice. He was sure of it.

‘Black zone rank...!’

Unknown civilization! It was the thirteenth general.

* * *

At the same time...

[You can feel the energy of a monarch.]

Lee Gun had reached a room.

“Yes. This is the place.” He could feel the energy of the monarch from the other side of the door. “Let’s see your face.”

Lee Gun opened the door and entered the room.