Boom!

The ground shook. Then, Hugo, who was still at Lee Gun’s workshop, felt as if he were suffocated. He felt as if something had grabbed his hands and feet and was dragging him to the center of the earth in an instant. It was an enormous power.

This surprised him.

‘This feeling...’

It was the same feeling he had sensed when the unknown civilization had invaded once again. This powerful sensation was felt when the helmeted man had invaded and declared war on humanity.

Of course, it wasn’t the energy of the helmeted general. The helmeted general had been absurdly powerful, but Hugo had felt a presence that had been monitoring the helmeted general from the background. That presence had felt very far away, and it had never revealed itself.

However, their Zodiacs and Hailey spoke about these beings. Monarchs were the heads of the enemy forces.

Like they had temples on this side, the other side had something called the Hordes. They were an existence that could dominate the Zodiacs.

And Hugo could sense the monarch-rank energy right now. Moreover, it wasn’t a simple presence like before.

‘It came to this land.’

This was a creepy feeling where one felt like one’s soul and innards were being sucked out through a straw. This was why Hugo felt fear.

He could sense that the energy wasn’t coming from a nearby place. It was far away on a continent across the ocean. And just looking in that direction elicited disgust. It was a bizarre feeling.

Hugo suddenly had an understanding. “That is why Gun went away!”

Lee Gun had disappeared toward the location of this power. When it came to monsters, he was quick like a shark that smelled blood in the water.

[The Sagittarius despairs.]

[One second would have been enough. He should have healed him before leaving. The Sagittarius is in pain.]

Hugo got angry when he saw his master despair and drop to the ground. “Damn it! You damn god! Please!”

Why were all the Zodiacs, Lee Gun included, like this?

‘If the disciples find out what the gods are like, the faith will plunge.’

Did they not realize how much work the disciples had to put in to keep them deified?

It didn’t matter in the end.

Hugo looked at the Sagittarius, who was surrounded by flames, and angrily said, “I’ll tell Gun to make you a wig! Please don’t do this!”

[The Sagittarius says it’s useless. He is sad.]

[The Serpent Bearer is the god of calamity that ruthlessly killed hundreds of millions of its children.]

“Damn it! Really?” Hugo was about to say something else.

Flash!

“!”

However, a red light suddenly flashed in front of his eyes.

[Your attack has increased.]

[Your defense has increased.]

[Your speed has increased.]

[You have received 14 buffs.]

Hugo was surprised.

‘This cheapskate god gave so many buffs?’

Moreover, the Zodiac normally gave Hugo useless skills like Sing Well. And these were all pure battle skills.

Seeing his Zodiac Saint’s surprised gaze, the Sagittarius tried to look cool. It stood up.

[He doesn’t want you to go, but he knows you will go where Lee Gun went.]

[The Sagittarius does not want you to die, so it has given you various things.]

[He warns in a dashing manner, saying the decomposing left hand shouldn’t be used.]

A troubled expression appeared on Hugo’s face as he looked at his Zodiac, who was trying to act cool.

‘As expected, he needs a wig.’

He was the god of the sun, and the sunlight was being reflected on his bald head. Hugo had a hard time looking at the Zodiac with his eyes open. Unaware of this, the Sagittarius continued to act dashing as he warned Hugo.

[He says a monarch lives next to the divine world.]

[The monarchs are the kings of the hordes, and even the Zodiacs have a tough time handling them.]

[He says this is why you shouldn’t go...]

Hugo told the Sagittarius to put on a wig as he turned around. He was about to move when he received a call from his subordinate.

Hugo immediately answered the call. “Hey, Jaewon. Did you locate the exact source?”

Lee Jaewon was capable of reading the flow of magical energy from the monsters. He could read even human emotions from the flow, so it was easy for him to find where the boss was.

Hugo used to drag Lee Jaewon around twenty years ago for a reason. He had done it despite Lee Jaewon basically being a civilian at the time.

– Yes. I have sent it to you, Saint-nim. I’m heading there right now. However, Goat is already there.

“Goat? That’s great. Gun will be going to him soon.”

Lee Gun was the type of person to boldly charge through the front door. He tried to bait the enemies to attack only him. It was how he minimized casualties.

“Tell him to support Gun instead of me...”

– I had the same thought, but I couldn’t contact him. I’m pretty sure he is with Sungjae and Yooha—

“!”

Lee Jaewon was about to finish his words when...

Kwahng!

The sound of the phone falling rang alongside the loud noise.

“Jaewon!” Hugo hadn’t even heard a scream. Only a dreadful silence passed through the phone. Then, a sound came from his badge.

[Lee Jaewon’s sign of life has disappeared.]

“...!” Hugo’s steps became desperate.

* * *

Chun Sungjae and Chun Yooha turned their heads in shock.

“Goat!”

Goat had crashed into a building and fallen to the ground. That wasn’t the only surprising part.

“Goat!”

A copious amount of blood leaked out of Goat’s limp body.

In a rarity, even Carly was taken aback.

‘His organs are damaged...!’

Goat was an SS-rank disciple like them. He was one of the ten stars. An attack by a red-rank monster could merely scratch his body. Moreover, his body’s stats were high. Amongst the Ten Stars, his Defense stat was considered to be SS+. He was considered to be at the top.

Therefore, his bleeding so profusely meant that this was out of the ordinary.

At a glance, they could see his wounds weren’t the ordinary kind. They could see what looked like innards falling out of his stomach.

“Sungjae!” Intending to be the bait, Yooha summoned her spear.

Chun Sungjae was about to use Teleport to bring Goat to him.

Boom!

“...!”

However, both the siblings froze when they felt the killing intent. They felt as if the killing intent was pressing down on their bodies, and they couldn’t use their skills.

Realizing the reason for this, the Chun siblings were shocked.

“Oh my! I sent the wrong one flying.”

The one who had sent Goat flying was standing behind them. In fact, they hadn’t noticed its movement at all.

“You’re so small that I hit an entirely different target.”

“...!”

They turned their heads at the same time. The sight left them shocked. The one they saw was Chun Jiwoo, their mother. They wondered what was going on, but they soon felt the menacing murderous intent.

‘...!!!’

That’s right. She wasn’t Chun Jiwoo.

‘It used its transformation ability to trick the dome. That is how it got in.’

A transformation ability of this caliber could be carried out only through the power of the Pisces.

Of course, that wasn’t odd at all. Just a while ago, the unknown civilization’s generals had used it to deceive and enter the barrier of the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground.

‘That means it must be on the side of Abundance...!’

And the situation was as they expected.

The being said, “I borrowed a body to grow my new generals. It seems I made the right choice in coming to the earth myself.”

Its eyes menacingly narrowed. They were the eyes of a beast. “The four of you will become nutrients for my generals.”

They became certain. It had come here aiming for them.

‘The one Uncle killed was the general.’

That meant...

‘Could it be a monarch?’

Taken aback, Sungjae monitored the barrier around him. “Teleport” and “Return” didn’t work within the barrier.

They were trapped within the barrier made by the monarch. As if to confirm this, a voice rang out.

[It is a world completely isolated from the outside. Not even a god cannot enter from outside.]

[One would have to destroy the barrier.]

They had guessed right. Even Lee Gun would be unable to enter this place.

‘!’

Chun Sungjae flinched. Killing intent!

“You will be dead like him. Just wait.”

Chun Jiwoo was about to raise her hand as she laughed when...

Kwahng!

“!”

An arrow planted itself at Chun Jiwoo’s feet.

When the being looked around in surprise, an angry voice rang not too far away.

“You didn’t kill me...!”

“Goat!”

The bloody Goat was clutching at his stomach as he got up. Moreover, a green light was circulating his body.

[You have received the blessing of the Serpent Bearer.]

[Super Regeneration(S) has been activated for the affiliate disciple.]

The Chun siblings let out sighs of relief.

On the other hand, Goat looked furious as the wound in his stomach healed slowly. “It dares to put on the face of Madam...!”

Was that the reason he had been defenseless as he was sent flying?

“...!!!”

Boom!

The three of them felt as if their heads were being pressed into the cement.

“Huhk...!”

They could barely lift their eyes to look at the monarch, and they felt as if their hearts were shriveling.

“The Super Regeneration ability always bothers me when I see it.”

The monarch’s face was devoid of emotion. There was neither any expression nor any warmth, only arrogance, contempt, and disgust.

The group faced the monarch’s power. Chun Sungjae had genius-level perception, so he could feel the power difference. Chun Yooha possessed the natural instinct of a wild animal, and she could feel it as well. Carly possessed Lee Gun’s DNA, so her senses were better than everyone.

They all realized it at the same time.

‘We’re going to die.’

That wasn’t all.

[You guys are mere food, yet you’re being very offensive.]

As the monarch laughed, heaven and earth started to shake.

[Abundance that harvests Life.]

Suddenly, screams erupted from their surroundings.

“Ahhk!”

“Kuh-huhk!”

It was a power that could extract souls.

[If I can’t kill you by injuring you, I just have to extract life itself.]

Souls appeared out of the mouths of everyone in the long strands.

When the monarch extended its hand, an enormous black scythe appeared in its hand!

The Abundance general had also used this technique, but the power was on a different level in a monarch’s hands. The range of the skill covered the entire city!

Kwah-jeek!

Souls instantly surged into the air.

The Abundance monarch was about to eat all of them, but...

[Serpent Eater (SS)]

[!]

A green light captured the souls heading toward the monarch. The one to grab the souls using the green light was Chun Sungjae.

“Koohk...!”

The other members of the Ten Stars had their souls extracted, but Sungjae was able to delay it with the help of the Fairy Monarch with him. Then there was the Serpent Eater skill.

Originally, this skill was a special attribute that couldn’t be changed into a skill even with the consent of a Zodiac. However, Chun Sungjae monitored Lee Gun 24/7. His obsession, combined with the Genius attribute, had made it possible.

Sungjae had joined his power with the Fairy King, and he was barely able to stop the souls from going to the monarch.

[The souls have been returned to where they came from.]

[Chun Sungjae has grabbed countless souls heading toward death.]

[The Divine status of Life has reacted to Chun Sungjae.]

Goat, Carly, and Chun Yooha coughed as they turned and raised their gazes at the same time.

This made the monarch laugh in contempt.

[You are mere food.]

When the monarch made a slight movement with its hand, Chun Sungjae was instantly caught in its hands.

“Huhk...!”

“Sungjae! Koohk!”

The monarch’s eyes flashed as it grabbed Sungjae’s head.

Just touching the human allowed the monarch to read his personal attributes. It assessed Chun Sungjae’s abilities in a flash.

[You possess a trash attribute. However, the ability will cause much harm to our side if left alone.]

The monarch was talking about Chun Sungjae’s Genius attribute, and its eyes flashed in contempt.

[I’ll have to kill you first.]

A black light surged, and Chun Sungjae’s soul got swallowed into the monarch’s mouth. Life instantly disappeared from Chun Sungjae’s eyes. His body slumped in death.

The monarch laughed.

[A Zodiac Saint’s soul is quite tasty.]

At that moment...

[The Serpent Bearer is approaching.]

Killing intent appeared in Chun Yooha’s eyes.

Koo-goo-goong!

Suddenly, a black light encircled her.

[You will awaken as the Zodiac Saint of Death.]