Murderous intent appeared in Lee Gun’s eyes.

‘Time.’

The man opposite him looked to be in his twenties. If Jean-Louis was a dirty blonde, this one had light blonde hair.

On the outside, he looked like a normal human. In fact, he looked like a butler serving the rich people gathered here. However, Lee Gun was sure of it.

‘I felt it within the Devil’s Tower.’

In the basement of the broken tower, he had felt the energy of Time, when he had killed the monarch of Space-Time. Time was the owner of the tower. That wasn’t all.

‘He’s the one who tortured me in that tower.’

Of course, the actual torture and experimentation were carried out by a general of Time, but Lee Gun knew who was pulling the strings. This was why he could recognize Time no matter what appearance the latter had on.

As to prove this, his 13th Sense automatically activated, and he clearly saw it.

‘Monster.’

The color of light emanating from that man was clearly red. Moreover, there was a reason it was called a monarch. The wicked red light was shaped like an enormous monster.

Lee Gun gazed at the crowd with a menacing look in his eyes. The crowd, including Hugo and Stevens, was taken aback by his killing intent.

“What is wrong, Lee Gun-nim?”

“Gun?”

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed. “Why is that bastard here?”

When Lee Gun accurately pointed out Time, Pisces smirked. The crowd looked to be in an awkward spot.

“Ah. I get why you’re angry, but please don’t get angry at him”

“Don’t get angry at him?”

They had a monarch in their midst. What nonsense was this?

“They look similar, but he’s Jean-Louis’s younger brother.”

“...??!”

Hugo and Steven were surprised.

“Jean-Louis’s younger brother?!”

It was something that they had never heard before, but they were surprised when they checked the man’s face. The man looked eerily similar to Jean-Louis. Their hair color and age differed, but they almost looked like the same person.

The crowd laughed in response.

“Ah. They are twin brothers. He has been a member of this society from the start, and he has been a patron to the temples.”

“He had no choice but to support even the criminal temple, but...”

“When he learned what his older brother did to Lee Gun-nim, he immediately cut the connection with him.”

“To pay for his older brother’s sins, he says he’ll actively support the Serpent Bearer temple...”

“What fucking nonsense!” Lee Gun immediately brought out Heaven’s Punishment.

“L-Lee Gun-nim?!”

“How dare a monster invade human territory?” Lee Gun disappeared and reappeared in front of Time.

Heaven’s Punishment ruthlessly sent Time’s head flying. Red blood erupted from the man’s neck, and the inside of the palace turned into a scene of chaos.

“Ahhhhhhk!”

“Valen-nim!”

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Pisces stood up. “Look! Lee Gun is the type of person to kill someone innocent!”

“!”

“Lee Gun doesn’t care about the safety of humans. I bet he’ll try to kill the last remaining Zodiac. When he gets rid of me, he’ll monopolize the Temple system!”

This caused a disturbance amongst the reporters.

“Send this news out!”

“Everyone stop!!”

Stevens’s shout almost burst their eardrums. The reporters clasped their ears. It was the Leo temple’s Roar skill.

“The one who doesn’t care about the safety of humans is— Kuhk!”

Stevens’s head was suddenly sent flying. A water monster had surged up from the floor and bitten his head off.

“Stevens!” The surprised Hugo quickly took out his bow.

Kwah-jeek!!!

“Huhk...!”

The water snake that had surged up from the floor pierced through Hugo’s heart.

Hugo vomited blood as he fell over. Angry at this sight, Lee Gun used Area of Effect Super Regeneration as he appeared in front of Pisces. “Son of a bitch!”

However...

“...!!!”

As soon as he met eyes with Pisces, he lost his power and fell over.

[Warning. The power of the original owner is being stolen.]

Lee Gun ground his teeth. He was barely able to prop himself up when he became surprised.

‘Super Regeneration is...’

The magical energy of the serpent wasn’t working against Hugo and Stevens. Stevens still had his head cut off, and Hugo’s body had lost enough blood to create a pool on the floor.

The smell of death brushed against him. Deathly pale, Lee Gun called out for Hugo. “Taeksoo!”

However, the fallen Hugo couldn’t answer back. At that moment, someone stepped on Lee Gun’s head.

Kwah-jeek!

It was Pisces. “You and your predecessor and the predecessors before that all died at my hands.”

“...!!” Lee Gun’s eyes shook.

At that moment...

Woosh!

“!!”

He was suddenly sent flying. At the same time, the blood spurting from Stevens’s neck went back into place, and his head was reattached. The fallen Hugo got back up again. It was as if time was flowing backward.

“Weren’t you looking for this, Lee Gun?”

“I thought Time had it. Why does a god have it?”

Lee Gun was surprised to hear the words of Hugo, who was next to him. When Lee Gun looked at his surroundings, he realized what had happened.

‘The time was rewound to the past.’

He had returned to the time when they had just entered the palace.

“Gun? What’s wrong?”

“!”

Lee Gun quickly turned his gaze at Hugo’s question. His gaze landed on the Time monarch, whom he had discovered earlier.

When he met eyes with him, Time laughed. At the same time, Lee Gun heard a voice.

[Did you see it?]

“...!”

[Do you still wish to decapitate me?]

Lee Gun was surprised, but Hugo looked at him as if something was off. “Gun? Why are you zoning out like that?”

“You can’t hear his voice?”

“Whose voice?”

“....”

It seemed only he could hear that voice. Time continued.

[What you saw right now is the future that’ll happen. You might have come here with high spirits, but all futures lead to the death of the Serpent Bearer. It doesn’t matter how much you struggle.]

“...!!”

[You cannot win against Pisces. You will die unless you can weaken the power of this Zodiac.]

Lee Gun laughed in contempt. It seemed Time had shown him one of the possible futures.

[Let’s make a deal. Do you want to die at Pisces’s hand, or would you like to join hands with me?]

Lee Gun snorted.

[Well? What will you do?]

Lee Gun grinned at those words.

* * *

While Lee Gun was meeting Time...

“We’ll aim for the bladder of Pisces.”

The Chun siblings were making plans to hit the Pisces temple. They arrived at the Alps, which was in northern Italy.

They didn’t know how long they could last against a Zodiac, but they knew Pisces had killed the previous Serpent Bearer.

‘Of course, she’ll be a danger to Uncle too.’

The original owners had died without being able to do anything. There was nothing that said Lee Gun couldn’t suffer the same fate. This was why they tried to come at this from a different angle.

It allowed them to come up with Operation Get Rid of Pisces’s bladder.

It was why they had come to the Alps; it contained a facility that was important to the Pisces temple.

‘Pisces’s greatest trap spell is placed here.’

‘If I had to make a comparison, this mountain is an enormous maze that traps intruders.’

Why was it placed in the Alps? It was right on the border of France, the territory of the Virgo temple. This was a place where the Pisces temple and the Virgo temple fought their contentious battles.

This was why Pisces had used the spirit of the mountain range to create an enormous trap spell.

Pisces drained the life energy of anyone trapped within the mountain. That had become a source of power for the Pisces temple. It was a terrifying prison.

‘If we don’t get caught by the trap, it’s a field full of food.’

The enormous maze was full of prisoners captured by the Pisces temple. These prisoners weren’t killed, just thrown in here on purpose. They were used as nourishment for Pisces. If this place were destroyed, it would deal a big blow to the Pisces temple.

That wasn’t all.

‘Since we acquired Oblivion and the Gemini temple’s Distortion ability, we can turn enemies into allies.’

They had come to this for multiple reasons.

“What business does the Serpent Bearer temple have here?”

That’s right. Someone from the Pisces temple had appeared in front of them. Moreover, she wasn’t a normal person.

‘Silvia.’

Silvia was Pisces’s right arm and also one of the Ten Stars, like Carly. She was an SS-rank magician. In recent times, she had been robbed by Lee Gun and also by Chun Yooha. She had been robbed in many ways. This was why she had raised her guard toward the Chun siblings.

“I’m speechless. Are you looking down on the Pisces temple so much that you brought these brats?”

“...!”

The Archer disciples were captured behind Silvia. They were the youngest disciples, and they were also fans of Lee Gun. The disciples were trapped in square water prisons, and it seemed they were in pain since they couldn’t breathe.

Chun Sungjae ground his teeth.

‘The reconnaissance team was caught.’

‘It seems the reconnaissance team was discovered first.’

The Chun siblings furrowed their brows as they looked at the captured Archer disciples.

‘To not get found out, we carried out a covert operation with the Virgo temple..’

Since they would be hitting the East of France, they had asked the Virgo temple to attack from the South of France toward Spain.

Since that place was a part of Pisces’s holy ground, they had expected all the troops to gather in that direction. Moreover, they had confirmed the location of their enemies using the skill of the Sagittarius temple.

‘What happened?’

Silvia laughed when Chun Sungjae glared at her. “It seems you guys are underestimating Pisces.”

“!”

“We already realized what you guys were up to. We were well prepared.”

“Who cares? It’s just Silvia.”

“!”

Carly’s eyes flashed as she unsheathed her sword. Her eyes looked like that of a savage tiger. The Chun siblings and Goat flinched when they felt the terrifying magical energy emanate from Carly.

“Don’t get cute with me, Silvia. Have you forgotten who’s the strongest amongst the Ten Stars?”

There was confidence in her voice. She was confident in her skills and her fighting spirit.

‘If we take care of the Alps, Lee Gun-nim will be able to fight against Pisces.’

Moreover, everyone here except Chun Sungjae and the captured disciples was one of the Ten Stars. The Ten Stars were the ten strongest humans, and they were aides of the Zodiac Saints.

Carly was ranked number one amongst them! She held a one-handed double-edged tsurugi, which emitted light.

It seemed she hadn’t received Lee Gun’s body data for nothing. In a flash, the blade headed toward Silvia.

Goat and Taylor, who were watching from the side, had to admit it. Silvia was ranked in the bottom half of the Ten Stars.

‘There is no way Silvia can win against Carly.’

‘It’s game over now that Carly revealed herself...’

However...

“Hmmph.”

Blood splashed into the air as Silvia laughed.

“Carly!”

The one to bleed was Carly. It was her cheek. Moreover, her own blade had caused the wound on her cheek.

Carly looked taken aback as she looked at her broken blade.

“Now that I’ve destroyed your weapon, your head is next!” Silvia’s eyes flashed as she activated her spell. Her eyes changed into demon eyes as they let out an unimaginable beam of light.

“Koo-oohk!”

Carly quickly dodged, but it seemed she was still flustered by her blade being broken.

This time, Taylor expressed his surprise.

“Carly’s sword is a royal holy item! It isn’t something Silvia should be able to break— Koo-oohk!”

The blue beam of light ruthlessly flew toward them. At the same time, they had a realization.

“That’s the power of a monarch!”

They were sure of it. The power of the monarch could be felt within the magical energy of Silvia.

‘How can this be?’

While everyone was shocked, Silvia laughed. She had the eyes of a monster.

“You guys always act high and mighty. You guys always treat me like an idiot. However, you guys and the Serpent Bearer temple will come to an end. Our Zodiac will activate that spell to get rid of the Serpent Bearer!”

“That spell?”

“Yes. It’s the spell that killed the Serpent Bearer in the past! It’s the spell that killed the original owners!”

“!”

Chun Yooha immediately called out to her brother. “Sungjae!”

This meant he should quickly use the Return skill to reach Lee Gun.

“I guess it’s proper decorum toward a god to get rid of the Zodiac Saints before the Zodiac, right?”

Silvia emanated black magical energy, and a terrifying beam of light flew toward them.

“...!”

Chun Sungjae quickly used his defensive ability. Chun Yooha and Carly used the speed of light skill to stab Silvia.

The two of them had the absolute defense ability around them. They would be able to ignore the attack to charge forward.

‘The ability of the Taurus was acquired to defend against the magical powers.’

A magical attack could be blocked using the defensive ability that their uncle had evolved! The eyes of the two fighting demons flashed as they charged Silvia.

[Time flows backward.]

“...?!!!”

As Silvia laughed, the skill that they had used disappeared. The power of Time had reverted them to the point where they were about to activate their abilities.

Chun Sungjae, who had used the defensive ability, turned deathly pale.

‘No!’

He and the two women were truly defenseless at that moment!

“Shit...!”

The magic attack arrived right in front of them. They were about to clench their eyes shut when...

[Time Restoration]

“!!!”

A magic circle appeared on the floor, and something odd happened. The defensive ability that had disappeared returned, and the beam of light was unable to pierce through Chun Yooha and Carly. They were deflected.

It happened in a split second, and Chun Sungjae let out a sigh of relief. They immediately realized who had saved them.

“Hailey-nim...!”

Silvia looked back in surprise. It was as Chun Sungjae said. A black-haired beauty wearing black clothes was standing there.

Silvia flinched when she felt the cold killing intent from the woman.

Hailey’s terrifying monster eyes met Silvia’s eyes. “Kneel.”

Boom!

Hearing the voice, Silvia fell to her knees without realizing it.