Lee Gun furrowed his brows when he saw them. They gave off an unpleasant feeling, like ghosts. Most of them looked like human shadows, but all their faces looked odd. It was to be expected.

‘Masks.’

They were all wearing odd-looking masks. One of the masks had fur on it. Another one had a piece of fabric that made it look like a habit that a nun wore.

Most of these outer gods had worn white masks, but each mask had a different expression on it. Some had solemn expressions, while some looked like they were screaming. These were expressions that could be seen in Munch’s “The Scream.” Bestial and demonic expressions could be seen too.

There really were a thousand looks! The outer gods’ faces were covered by masks, so their expressions couldn’t be read. However, there was one certainty.

‘Greedy bastards.’

Lee Gun could feel their ambition through his skin.

[Is that the serpent?]

[I heard it was newly born this time around.]

They acted as if they were noble and aloof. However, they were filled with greed and desire.

All of them unleashed divine magical energy at the same time.

Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwahng!

They surged into the sky, accompanied by the magical energy.

[Warning! After one minute, the tracking power will impact.]

It was a dense attack that didn’t allow him to run away. The power even started circling in the sky as if it was making sure it wouldn’t miss.

At a glance, one could tell the attack had significant offensive power. If it weren’t blocked, everyone would die.

‘It hasn’t been long since I made Drachma a holy ground. There isn’t enough magical energy gathered to use the holy ground defense skill.’

Therefore, Lee Gun planned to test out Taurus’s defensive power. However...

[You still cannot use the power of Taurus that you swallowed.]

[To make it usable, the relevant power has to go through a Transfer process so that it can become the Serpent Bearer’s skill.]

[Power Transfer is an act that changes the laws of the universe. You need a power greater than Temple energy. You need the Primordial Power.]

[You require a price (Talent) to use Primordial Power.]

Lee Gun furrowed his brows.

It was something the Virgo had told him about. Primordial Power was a power that exceeded the Zodiacs. It was like the magical energy of the universe.

In other words, the Constructs borrowed power from the Zodiacs, and the Zodiacs borrowed the Primordial Power. It was how the system was structured. However, that wasn’t important right now.

[You are short on the Talent needed for Transfer.]

[Current Talent of the Serpent Bearer’s Temple: 100]

[Required Talent: 10,000]

Lee Gun had no idea what the ten thousand Talent entailed. This meant that he couldn’t use Taurus’s defense ability, which Red Eye loved.

‘I have no choice.’

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Lee Gun immediately took off his uncomfortable gray jacket.

However, when he tried to immediately activate his Super Regeneration, Kevin screamed at him. “You perverted bastard! Even you shouldn’t take that head-on! Super Regeneration is only possible if there are any parts left!”

“What do you want me to do? I don’t have defensive skills.”

The Serpent Bearer temple was the only one amongst the thirteen Zodiac temples with zero defensive skills.

Was it because he enjoyed the pain? No matter how many skills he unlocked, not a single pure defensive skill had come out. In other words, his temple was like a “be hit and get revived like a zombie” temple.

He had swallowed a defense-type temple in the Taurus temple because he simply wanted his cute niece and nephew to be safe.

“Ah, whatever. It’s annoying to think about it. I’ll just charge from the front.”

“Really!!!” Kevin clutched at his head as he screamed. He wondered how Hugo was able to raid with someone as haphazard as Lee Gun.

“Koohk!”

“Look out!”

When lights resembling comets fell from the sky, Hailey extended her fists. Her fists moved as if to switch locations!

[Item Switch (SS)]

– The location of the object you have and the object you want switches.

The Scorpio temple was the temple of thieves. Switching attacks for her was effortless. If the conditions were right, she could switch even human souls!

With her skill, the meteor falling from the sky was swapped out with what looked to be shiny metals.

This surprised Kevin, and he reflexively sent his sword energy flying!

Splash! Splash!

“Ahhk! What the hell is this?”

Black liquid was falling from the sky.

“This is all coke!”

These were the items that Hailey had prepared for Lee Gun, ten thousand Coca-Cola cans! It was like watching rain made out of coke.

Hailey had put these items in the Scorpio temple’s dimensional pocket. Since she had swapped them with her skill, the attack sent by the gods would have exploded within the dimensional pocket.

Of course, it would cause significant damage to the assets of the Scorpio temple, but she didn’t care if Lee Gun was unhurt.

In the end, Lee Gun jumped down from Drachma.

Kevin, who was drenched in coke, yelled at Hailey, “If you planned on doing this, you should have said something earlier!”

Hailey clicked her tongue as she looked at the Virgo Saint. “I never expected him to block the outer gods’ attacks in such a brutish manner. Listen to me, Kevin. The way you use your power will cause damage to Lee Gun—”

At that moment, a section of Drachma exploded.

Kwahng!

It was the lower section. The swapped attacks of the gods destroyed Drachma. Hailey wondered what was going on, and her eyes turned round.

[Princess! Please do not worry! We had moved all the coke!]

The monster Constructs of the Scorpio temple were within Hailey’s shadows. Their eyes twinkled.

[We had heard a rumor that you will be eating lamb kebab with Lee Gun-nim!]

[We wanted the two of you to eat it in comfort. That’s why we moved it to Lee Gun-nim’s room within Drachma!]

[Things turned out like this, but our storage room is safe thanks to what we did!]

Kevin smirked when he heard the voices that wanted Hailey to compliment them. “You’re the same as me! You damaged Lee Gun’s holy ground!”

Hailey despaired. She was ashamed to face Lee Gun.

[Princess! Hurry up and give us compliments!!]

Hailey’s eyes flashed as she unsheathed her sword. “I’ll kill you guys, then I’ll kill myself.”

[What?!!!]

However, the owner of the holy ground just smirked. “I’ll get to drink coke for a while.”

Lee Gun laughed as if the coke cans had come out at the right time. He imbued the cans with the power of Death and kicked them toward the gods.

Kwahng!!! Kwahng!!

It was very effective.

[Koo-oohk!]

Flying like missiles, the cans destroyed the mysterious lights emitted by the enemies.

This stunned the gods.

[That bastard is getting rid of the Divine Line.]

[A rookie like him knows how to do that?]

Lee Gun laughed.

Yes. Divine Line was an automated attack field. According to Sagittarius, it was a defensive technique that gods deployed.

– It’s an ability of the high-rank gods. It’s akin to an aura surrounding the body. If one approaches a certain distance, the line will automatically attack.

– !

The shapes were diverse: ellipse, cuboid, beast-shaped, lines, etc. Since this was the defense technique of the gods, no one could get close to them.

‘It is unknown what kind of power is imbued within it.’

If one was unlucky, the line would contain a power that turned the enemies into slaves.

Therefore, Sagittarius and Virgo had warned Lee Gun.

– As the Serpent Bearer, you should never fight the gods.

– Aside from the level difference, you cannot see the Divine Line. It is quite troublesome.

– You specialize as a close-range fighter. Unless they get close to you, you have no answer to their defensive technique.

Back to the present.

Kwahng!

When Lee Gun imbued the cans with Death and sent them flying, the gods were a bit taken aback. Of course, it wasn’t because of Lee Gun’s attack.

[Wait a moment. Can that bastard see the Divine Line?]

[Yes. He’s precise. He attacks by dodging them.]

[What? That makes no sense!]

Lee Gun smirked as he surged into the sky.

<13th Sense>

Yes, Lee Gun’s eyes could see the automated attack field placed by the gods. The lines were either shaped like a red fan or a red circle.

Lee Gun dodged them. However, as he was about to attack, the masked gods grinned.

[At the end of the day, it’s merely a baby serpent.]

As those words rang out, Lee Gun felt his body become hot.

‘!’

He felt like someone had lit a fire inside his stomach. Lee Gun immediately dodged into the air.

[Your abilities are surprising, but that’s all there is to them.]

“!”

At the same time, a concealed magic circle appeared on the ground.

Lee Gun vomited blood.

“Kuhk!”

Then, he heard a warning notification.

[Warning! With the current level of your body (29), you’re unable to resist the Divine Line.]

[Super Regeneration isn’t effective because of the level of your body.]

[The destruction of your body is faster than Super Regeneration.]

[You have to go through another molt to raise the rank of your body.]

Lee Gun’s body was being destroyed.

The gods approached Lee Gun as they watched it happen. It was as Sagittarius said. These gods avoided close-range fights, so they had kept their distance until now.

[We’ll take your core. You should just die as your divine status is destroyed.]

[The seat of the Serpent Bearer is ours!]

They got close to take out the heart from Lee Gun’s tattered body. However, Lee Gun grinned at that moment as if everything was going to plan. “I was wondering when you guys would get close, bastards.”

[!]

Their eyes looked haunted like the first time they found a monster.

[!]

The light in Lee Gun’s eyes surprised the gods. His eyes turned red as a golden-green light exploded forth. It wasn’t the power of Death that he normally used. It was the power of Life!

[Pain Revival]

Lee Gun had unexpectedly used Pain Revival on himself.

[!!!]

This surprised the gods.

[Stand back! We’ll get swept up in it!]

[No. He isn’t using it on us!]

Lee Gun had purposefully unleashed all the damage to his body, leaving the gods flabbergasted.

[What is that crazy bastard doing?]

[Instead of giving pain to his enemies, he unleashed it on himself!]

[Won’t his divine status collapse at this point? Has he lost his mind?]

Lee Gun groaned as pain washed over his body.

It had started from when he had first killed a monster, and it had crossed the time when he went through tens of thousands of resets with the Devil’s Tower. It even included Abyss’s recent bite. It was all the pain that his body had suffered. Of course, he had released only 1% of it.

The gods knew what was going on just by looking at Lee Gun’s body, and they thought he had lost his mind. However, they soon flinched.

[Masochist Lv.3 attribute has been activated.]

[As you feel more pain, your fighting ability increases.]

[Your pleasure has increased.]

[Your fighting range has expanded.]

[You have acquired the awakening effect.]

[That’s...!]

Pain Revival was something only Lee Gun could use. It was a form of a stimulant drug.

Of course, this could mess him up if something even small went wrong. However, it was a self-buff that Lee Gun had used for 20 years! It was the reason he had been able to use his power without the blessing of a Zodiac.

After the buff activated, a black light surged forth.

[Death Instinct]

Boom!!!

It was completely different from when he had faced off against Abyss. After the buff was applied, the attack power of Death had become much stronger.

Everything Lee Gun had done before this was to set this up. It had all happened in an instant, and the gods realized their mistake. They tried to back off.

Kwahng!!!!

However, the next moment, the outer gods surrounding Lee Gun fell over.

The black power had been imbued within Heaven’s Punishment. It spun 360 degrees as it decapitated the nearby gods.

[The Frost Giant has fallen.]

[The Earth God has fallen.]

[The God that makes houses and fire has fallen.]

[The God of Tea has fallen.]

[You have gained EXP.]

At that moment, Lee Gun ruthlessly stabbed the gods with Heaven’s Punishment.

Kwah-jeek!

[Ahhhk!]

[Kuhk!]

[SSS rank / Ingredient Rank 2 / Legendary rank]

[SS rank / Ingredient Rank 2 / Rare rank]

[S rank / Ingredient Rank 3 / Hero rank]

[SSS rank / Ingredient Rank 2 / Legendary rank]

However, Lee Gun looked unsatisfied with the ingredients he had acquired. Since these were gods without temples, both strong and weak gods had gathered here.

‘Tsk! I was hopeful, but it really is a crapshoot.’

Lee Gun had furrowed his brows when...

[SSS rank / Ingredient rank 1 / Great Spirit Rank]

“!”

Lee Gun smirked when he saw the highest-ranked ingredient. Then, he turned to look at the gods in the back row.

The gods in the back row flinched when they saw the look in his eyes. They weren’t reacting in such a way because they had seen their fellow gods fall. Of course, that was surprising, but their current reactions had to do with the look in Lee Gun’s eyes and the feeling he was giving off!

His smile showed ecstasy, as if he enjoyed the pain!

[Crazy! Is he some kind of masochist...!]

[What are you talking about? That’s a sadist!]

However, that wasn’t important right now. That sensation...!

[It’s the original owner of the twelve Zodiac temples....!]

[That’s right. They are the mutant creation tribe that created everything!]

A shout caused a commotion amongst most of them, shocking them.

[Wait a moment! They are the original owners of the twelve Zodiac temples? Aren’t they the tribe that the gods treasured? I’m pretty sure all of them went missing...!]

[When they disappeared, the Capricorn and the other smiths took their place...]

[Is that a survivor?!]

The gods who had been standing at the back row laughed derisively.

[That’s nonsense. That isn’t possible.]

[The whole universe would have been in an uproar if there were a survivor!]

As if they didn’t want to speak such nonsense, the gods rushed forward.

Lee Gun quickly tried to defend himself.

Pah-jeek!

“!”

Hearing an ominous sound, he looked down at his hands. His plan had been successful, but his body’s level couldn’t keep up.

“...!”

The body, which had been attacked, started to shake.

Hailey and Kevin did a double-take as they watched him from Drachma. They were keeping the gods in check as they protected Capricorn’s Seat of power, which had been entrusted to them.

[Warning! Your body is breaking down.]

[Super Regeneration cannot keep up.]

In the end, Lee Gun’s body crumbled like that of a sculpture. His legs disappeared. His body crumbled. And in the end, his head fell.

“Lee Gun!!”

The two Zodiac Saints were about to head toward Lee Gun.

The sound of Aries laughing from somewhere rang out at this moment. This was the death of a god’s body.

[This is it! Hurry up and extract that bastard’s core.]

[With this, the Serpent Bearer is ours!!]

The outer gods laughed as they got closer.

Flash!

[An affiliate disciple with 500% faith has sent a massive amount of EXP.]

[You have reached Level 30.]

[You are undergoing your second molt.]