[You have completely awakened as a god.]

A shape made out of light stood up as an enormous amount of light emanated from him.

At this sight, Aries’s eyes went wide.

[This isn’t normal magical energy.]

[What is this alien magical energy?]

The magical energy Lee Gun was emitting seemed like a problem.

Lee Gun already had Divine status, but after molting, he showed magical energy that surprised even the gods.

‘In terms of scope, it’s like the energy of the Great Spirit-rank beings, who’re much stronger.’

The Great Spirits were gods that exceeded the twelve Zodiacs and led a large army of gods. If one had to make a comparison, the twelve Zodiacs led the solar system, while the Great Spirits led the universe; they were a large force.

However, the outer gods also felt a special magical energy that they couldn’t sense from beings like the Great Spirits.

‘He’s strong.’

[That bastard isn’t a normal god.]

[It’s a devilish power! He’s a mutant!]

Then, a symbol appeared around Lee Gun’s left eye, giving rise to a commotion.

[That symbol...!]

When Lee Gun reappeared, his appearance and presence were quite different. He still had his black hair and flashing red eyes. However, he no longer smelled like a human, and the divine power made his body much stronger and sturdier. He also looked much more handsome than before.

The shadowy outer gods were perturbed by his appearance.

[That scent... He smells like the Creation tribe!]

[Creation tribe?]

[They are the original owners of the authority of the thirteen Zodiacs, and they made the Seats of power!]

[That can’t be! They are the beings that the Zodiacs treasure the most! There would have already been a ruckus if they were still alive!]

[You know what kind of existence they were!]

[They went missing overnight.]

[Yeah. It was said that the tribe disappeared after being cursed.]

[The twelve Zodiacs said that.]

The outer gods murmuring amongst themselves angered Aries. This was a troubling topic that should have never surfaced.

Aries glared at Lee Gun.

[Your awakening will change nothing.]

Aries grated its teeth, then extended its hands. Accompanying a light, an enormous door appeared behind Aries!

Koo-goo-goong!

The door was as tall as a 100-story building.

Lee Gun furrowed his brows. This was the power of Aries. It was the highest-ranked version of the crate skill that Lee Gun had stolen from Yang Wei in the past!

[Heavenly God’s Storehouse (SSS)]

The storehouse had multiple floors. Each floor allowed the user to take out different abilities.

From what Lee Gun knew, the first floor was the Multiply Storeroom! This was the prototype of the crate that Lee Gun had stolen from Yang Wei. If one put in a weapon here, the place produced the same weapon. If one put a Construct within, the same Construct came out.

It was a power that suited the Zodiac of wealth

[Heavenly God’s Storehouse, 1st floor]

The enormous door opened, and a great many Constructs emerged from it. Moreover, they weren’t normal Constructs.

“They are...!”

Kevin and Hailey flinched. It was to be expected since the Constructs of the Virgo temple were amongst these Constructs. It also included the Constructs of the Sagittarius temple and the Leo temple.

[Battle type Constructs, which have been multiplied within the Storehouse, are rushing out.]

When the Constructs appeared, Kevin got angry, realizing they all looked the same. “You’re a pig of a Zodiac! I was wondering why the envoy I sent never came back. You captured the envoy there, and you’ve been multiplying it!”

It made sense. The Aries temple always coveted the forces of the battle-type temples. That was why Yang Wei diverted Constructs for his Zodiac and had them imprisoned in the storeroom.

The problem was that these Zodiac Saints’ Constructs weren’t the only ones.

[Miny (Berserk) was multiplied by a hundred.]

“!” Lee Gun furrowed his brows when he saw familiar faces in the sky. Why was it there, and why did it multiply like cockroaches?

‘Miny and Piggy Bank did go missing.’

He had sent them after the general of the unknown civilization, and they had gone missing. This was why he had sent Red Eye after them, yet even Yong Yong had failed to find them. It had brooded.

‘I guess they were over there.’

Lee Gun remembered the sullen Yong Yong, who had come back with pieces of clothes belonging to his Constructs.

‘Looks like Aries’s Constructs were the culprits.’

It didn’t matter in the end.

[Master!]

A voice cried out within the Storeroom. There was no mistaking it. The voice belonged to Miny.

[Now that I heard your voice, I know you’re fine! Piggy Bank suddenly ran away, and I ended up like this chasing after it... I’m deeply ashamed!]

Lee Gun laughed at those words. Well, Piggy Bank (Pixiu) was originally affiliated with the Aries temple. They knew what it liked and drawing it out with bait was probably easy. However, that didn’t matter at all.

“Is Piggy Bank next to you?”

For some reason, Miny flinched.

[That is...!]

“?”

At that moment.

[The Miny clones are attacking!]

Lee Gun furrowed his brows as he held up Heaven’s Punishment. Miny was a high-rank Construct, so it was very strong. However, it was his Construct in the end.

‘I know their weakness.’

His eyes flashed, but unexpectedly, the hundred Miny clones didn’t even look at Lee Gun. They rushed past him.

“!”

They were headed toward Kevin and Hailey!

Lee Gun flinched.

Kwah-jeek!

“!”

A chain fell from the sky to encircle his body. It was a green chain. Then, the chain encircled Heaven’s Punishment.

[Heaven’s Punishment is in pain.]

Lee Gun tried to rip it off with his power, but the chain didn’t budge at all.

[Serpent Eater]

He had been caught by his own skill. Lee Gun wondered what was going on, so he looked up. The chain had appeared from the storeroom.

[The Storeroom has copied the skill of Piggy Bank (Pixiu).]

[Aries can use Serpent Eater.]

Lee Gun laughed in contempt.

‘I have several under me that can use Serpent Eater.’

One of them had been Piggy Pank, and he was sure the skill had been copied. Moreover, Aries was known as the Heavenly Emperor. It could read the information of all creatures.

It was a god that could sway destiny. Extracting and copying only the skill was easy for it.

Moreover, Pixiu used to be affiliated with Aries, so the Construct was much easier to read.

[How does it feel being caught by your own skill?]

Lee Gun laughed at these words. “It’s awesome. I didn’t realize my ability is this great.”

Aries’s eyebrows twitched when Lee Gun made the sarcastic remark.

Lee Gun put strength into his arms.

‘Pixiu’s level is still low, so its skills are not that powerful.’

Serpent Eater was a skill that could catch souls. This made it maddeningly painful, but he would be able to get out of this with no problem...

“!”

However, Lee Gun flinched again.

As if it had read the look in his eyes, Aries laughed.

[Did you really think I prepared only that?]

Aries then held out something, a cube.

[You probably can’t move at all.]

Because of the power of the cube, Lee Gun felt his power drain out.

‘Of course, it doesn’t mean I’ve become incapable of moving.’

However, when he looked at the cube, his eyes turned violent. It was a look never seen before.

Lee Gun knew that item very well. However, it was unclear whether Aries knew this or not.

[With this, the conditions are met.]

‘!’

[Merit & Demerit – Soul Judgment]

As if it was waiting for this moment, Aries used its power.

Boom!!

[Shit! That technique is...!]

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

[Master!]

It was an innate power of the Aries, the power of the temple of wealth. The skill allowed Aries to judge the soul of a living being. If one did many good deeds, wealth would be given to them. If evil deeds outweighed the good ones, the technique would unleash divine punishment!

Soul Judgement judged one’s worth. Neither god nor humans could avoid it.

“!”

The symbol of Aries appeared beneath Lee Gun’s feet, and the red light of Aries surged upward! Aries’s red light was different from the red light of Sagittarius. It was like the color of wine, dark red.

At the same time, figures started to appear; this was something only Aries could see. The number was a conversion that represented the worth of its opponent.

‘If a number comes up, I can turn my opponent according to wealth.’

It was one of the special abilities of Aries as the Zodiac of wealth.

For example, Hugo’s worth might be ten Talents. If Aries provided ten Talents, it could bring in Hugo as a slave. Basically, it could buy its opponent’s soul. Lee Gun was no exception.

Flash!

The outer gods were impressed by the light.

[I never expected to see that technique.]

[I remember a time when Aries took many gods as prisoners using that.]

In truth, some great Zodiac-rank gods other than the twelve Zodiacs had become the slave of Aries. The Aries temple had enough wealth to make such a thing possible. Seizing the target was hard, but once the skill was activated, it couldn’t be dodged.

[Even if he’s my opponent, we’re equals. I’ll pay the price with money and buy his soul.]

Its temple was overflowing with Talents that could be deposited. Aries was considered the most wealthy god in the divine world for a reason.

Finally, the worth of Lee Gun’s body came up, and light surged into the air. The outer gods and Constructs cheered.

[?!]

However, when Aries checked the worth of Lee Gun, its expression turned a bit odd.

* * *

Around that time...

“Ahhhk! This is nuts! Where am I?” Hugo was being chased. The space he was running through wasn’t the earth. And that was the least of his problems.

[You have been sent to Tartarus through the Serpent Bearer’s trap.]

“Hey, Lee Gun! You crazy bastard! What kind of trap did you place on the chair?”

Wasn’t Tartarus supposed to be hell? Moreover, it was one of the hells where beings were tortured!

Of course, Lee Gun didn’t know where the trap would be sending the attackers. The only thing he was sure of was that it would be a version of the divine world.

In fact, Hugo could feel Zodiac-rank energy from all directions, and that wasn’t all.

[Catch him!]

[Catch that bastard!]

“Ahhh! Stop chasing me!”

An army of beings with bizarre faces was chasing after him. At a glance, they numbered in the hundreds! Moreover, all these beings were of the divine rank.

“Shit! Stop coming at me!! Gun! You son of a bitch!”

The only thing Hugo was sure of was that he would die at this rate. Moreover, and if he died here, he would be fucked.

– Be careful, Taeksoo.

– What?

– Don’t die by chance. I possess the power of Life, but I can’t revive anything close to a human.

– What?!

– Since I developed the Revive ability, I tested it out. At most, I can revive an amoeba.

– What?! A single cell organism?!

– Anyway, it’s the end of the road if you die. I can’t save you. That’s why you have to make sure to never die.

That bastard sent him to hell after warning him not to die! Hugo was about to lose his mind. Moreover, the words spoken by the beings chasing him made it worse.

[You’re the disciple of that snake god that everyone is talking about, right?]

[Your faith toward the snake god is very high.]

He wasn’t a disciple of the snake god! “What are you talking about? I’m part of the Sagittarius temple?!”

[Sagittarius temple? Do not lie to us. How can that be when your faith in the snake god is like that?]

[We have to kill the liar.]

[I won’t be satisfied even if I beat the snake god to death. Since you have that much faith toward it, you must be the Zodiac Saint of the snake god. I’ll have to get my revenge by killing you.]

[No. I’ll make him my disciple.]

[No. Let’s just eat him. Let’s turn him into an eternal slave in this place.]

“I really am! I’m the Archer Saint!” Hugo was frustrated.

‘Shit! The others have more faith than me!’

Hugo had seen it clearly with the new ability he had developed. Although he couldn’t see his own faith, he could see others’.

His son’s faith was 330%, and Kevin’s was 200%. Since Hailey wasn’t a human, he couldn’t see her faith, but it was probably high.

‘Yooha’s faith was so high.’

Hugo got angry. Anyway, Hugo had made fun of the Virgo Saint the previous day, saying how could he be the Virgo Saint at this point.

Kevin’s faith was outstanding when compared to his, so why did this keep happening?

In the end, Hugo was forced into a corner, and his pursuers unsheathed their blades.

“You must be mistaken. If you can see faith, take a closer look. It isn’t—”

At that moment, Hugo caught sight of his reflection in the blade. His face froze.

[Hugo Otis]

[Sagittarius Faith: 50%]

[Serpent Bearer Faith: 500%]