[All of your EXP has been applied.]

[The stage of Death has increased.]

[Death is evolving to stage 4.]

[Warning! This is the stage right before the final stage.]

[Your time to choose is not far away.]

Chaotic black magical energy surged forth. Just being close to this magical energy generated enough pressure to give one trouble breathing! Even Hugo shook.

‘Death...!’

He was sure of it.

‘The Divine status of Death leveled up when it ate Pisces!’

After reaching the next stage, the Divine status of Death possessed unimaginable power.

Kwah-jeek! Kwah-jee-jeek!

“Koohk!”

“Gun!”

This power was like a black vortex! It had already been extraordinary when it was stage 3, and when it leveled up to the next stage, it started destroying everything in its surroundings.

[Warning! The power of Death is too powerful.]

[Everything in its surroundings is being changed into the status of Death.]

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The black vortex turned everything into ashes. This included the sofas everyone was sitting on and the table.

And the black magical energy needed to graze these items just by a bit!

Pah-jeek!

“!”

“My holy item!!”

The black gloves Stevens was wearing ceased to exist. That shocked him.

‘This is nuts! That’s an SS-rank item!’

Of course, he was well aware that an SS-rank holy item was useless in front of Lee Gun’s Divine power (SSS), but the destruction of the item wasn’t the problem. The problem was that a mere graze had destroyed the holy item.

Moreover, not even a trace of it was left, as if the item’s existence itself had been killed. What if the object this power touched were a living being instead of a holy item? Stevens started trembling.

‘I’ve never seen a power like that.’

That wasn’t all.

“My bow!”

Hugo had taken out his Bow made out of Fish to get Lee Gun to check on it, yet almost half of it was destroyed. The personality imbued within the bow was close to being erased. The bow cried out as if it was in pain.

[Bow made out of Fish is in excruciating pain.]

[The power of Death is trying to kill the consciousness of the Bow made out of Fish.]

Stevens was surprised by the sight. To save it, he quickly threw the bow out the window.

“Shit! An EX-rank weapon is going to be ruined!”

On the other hand, Hugo didn’t consider that important. “Gun!!”

He turned deathly pale when he saw Lee Gun. From the outside, it looked as if Lee Gun was swept up by a black power.

Seeing him was hard, yet Hugo was sure of it.

‘Gun’s body is changing!’

In reality, Lee Gun was in pain.

“Koohk!”

The skin on his arm was turning black, and his nails were getting longer and sharper like that of a monster. The power of Death was so strong that he couldn’t control it.

Hugo ground his teeth. He had an unfavorable opinion of Death. Of course, he acknowledged that the Zodiacs and the monarchs had been killed because of Death. It was that powerful.

‘However, that power threatens even its owner.’

In the past, Death had wrecked the body of Lee Gun. It was a dangerous power that endangered its owner the more it leveled up. That was why Hugo wished his friend would become the God of Life instead of the God of Death.

‘In the first place, if he became the God of Death, considering his temper, who would see him as a hero? He’s already a villain.’

Aside from that, Death seemed to eat away at Lee Gun’s lifespan. This was why Hugo hated that power.

Anyway, this power was surely trying to destroy Lee Gun’s body once again! So Hugo quickly tried to approach Lee Gun.

‘!’

However, he was surprised when he got close to Lee Gun.

‘What the hell? His body is fine?’

Of course, it wasn’t really fine, but it wasn’t like last time, when his muscles and bones had been crushed.

As if to show that, Lee Gun was laughing.

‘This is the benefit of going through the trouble of molting.’

In truth, he was bleeding from numerous locations, and his skin had peeled off. However, something of that magnitude was cute to him.

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed. “I get that you want to show off your power, but you should go to sleep for a bit now!”

He used his powerful willpower to press down on the power of Death.

Boom!

He suppressed it until the power didn’t radiate out of his body. And the strategy of using his willpower seemed effective.

Koo-goong!!

[Death is in pain.]

[Death is resisting its owner.]

The stages of the Divine status ended at stage 5. That was why the stage right before it was incredibly strong.

When Lee Gun tried to force all the power into his body, his body protested.

‘Shit! Suppressing it completely is impossible.’

The only choice left was to release the power. At the thought of that, Lee Gun became mad as he glared at the power.

“Get down!”

“!!!”

The shout surprised Stevens and Hugo, and they repositioned themselves.

Kwahng!!!

The black power flew over their heads.

If they had been late by even 0.1 seconds, their brains and other body parts would have ceased to exist. It was a dizzying moment!

At the same time, an enormous explosion erupted.

“Koo-oohk...!!!”

It was a power that wasn’t comparable to a strong gale. This incredible energy had almost sent the Saint-ranks flying. They clenched their eyes shut.

It was unclear as to how much time had passed.

“Hoo-ooh.”

Lee Gun took a deep breath as he opened his eyes. Hugo and Stevens were frozen in place.

“W-What the hell....”

Nothing was left in the place where Lee Gun had released the black power. The room’s walls and the nearby golden palace were all gone. The only evidence of a palace being there previously was the debris and the roof.

Lee Gun seemed to have directed the power toward the building he had known was empty. However...

“You crazy bastard!!”

“You should have said something sooner if you were going to release your power!”

Lee Gun had reduced his power, so it ended with this. However, it didn’t change that they had almost died.

On the other hand, Lee Gun picked at his ears as he healed his body with the power of Life. “I told you to get down. Wasn’t I really kind? I gave you a second to dodge.”

Hugo and Stevens pounded their chest at the mentioned “kind.” Of course, Lee Gun was much kinder than he was in the past, when he would have said nothing. They would have needed to dodge on their own!

Lee Gun was unperturbed as he brushed off his body. “This is a ritual I have to go through whenever the Divine status evolves. Isn’t it great that everything ended with the destruction of a single palace? I wasn’t giving it my 100%, so I thought it would be ok.”

It was a terrifying power even if one considered that.

“I guess it’s fine since no one was hurt. The only thing destroyed was an empty building.”

“Right?” Lee Gun turned around in a carefree manner.

On the other hand, it seemed he was at the doorstep of needing to choose between Life and Death.

“Anyway, let’s go look for the kids. We can go have something to eat...”

“Isn’t this the Virgo Saint’s holy ground?”

“!”

Dumbfounded, Stevens looked at the two men, who looked carefree. “The place you blew up is considered a treasure of the Virgo Saint’s holy ground...”

“....”

Lee Gun and Hugo became silent. They looked at the empty lot where the palace had disappeared without a trace. Since nothing of the original building was left, fixing it was impossible even if Lee Gun wanted to do it.

So Lee Gun said, “Hey. You guys saw nothing.”

Stevens was taken aback when he saw Lee Gun’s bright expression. “What! If it’s you, you can fix it!”

“Ah! I don’t want to. It’s really difficult to fix something without its original frame. It’s annoying and will take too long. Also, why do I have to restore something from the Virgo temple? Let’s just say monsters appeared.”

“Hey!!!”

[Ahhhk! What the hell happened here?!!]

It seemed a Construct shaped like a piece of cloth had witnessed the now-empty lot. It had come back with food that would be served with tea, and it screamed at the sight.

[What the hell happened? Our holy ground’s precious building is...!!!]

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed. He grabbed the Construct with force. “Hmmph. I know you have a lot of complaints in life, but you shouldn’t destroy the holy ground of your master, Construct.”

Suddenly branded as a criminal, the Construct was dumbfounded.

[What are you talking about?]

Lee Gun just smirked. “You hear me? You broke that.”

[What?!!]

“Tell your Zodiac Saint that the repair fee will be one hundred million dollars.”

[Damn you, Serpent god!!!!]

* * *

Around that time...

Kwahng!!!

“Ooh-ook!”

The Chun siblings, who had snuck into the vault of the Virgo Saint’s holy ground, were groaning. They each held onto their heads.

Until a moment ago, they had used the possession holy item to possess the slime.

“Oohk...! The possession was canceled!”

Accompanying a strange shock, their possession was forcefully canceled. At the same time, they had a realization.

“Wasn’t that Death?”

“Yes. Uncle awakened toward the 4th stage.”

As proof, Chun Yooha’s magical energy of Death became stronger. It was also why she felt unsatisfied.

“Sungjae, you idiot. If you hadn’t spoken up, we could have watched Uncle while we possessed the slime.”

Now that their uncle had wised up to it, it would be almost impossible to possess the slime in the future.

When his sister called him an idiot, Chun Sungjae felt a surge of emotion. He pounded the ground with his fist. “Damn it, Noona! I’m sorry! Slime was the ideal candidate to possess!”

They pouted as they looked at the slime clone. It really was terrible.

“Slime even told us the best time to possess it.”

The slime’s official name was “Clump of Creation Clay.” Slime had watched the Chun siblings feel guilty at the prospect of using the possession holy item.

This was why it placated (?) the Chun siblings by saying they could possess its body if they wished to do so. It said Lee Gun wouldn’t notice if they used its body.

This was to be expected since the slime was the second mutant holy item Lee Gun had created after Heaven’s Punishment!

Lee Gun had been falling asleep when he had made it by mistake. Therefore, he had no idea which ingredients he had used to create the slime.

It was the only item whose structure Lee Gun didn’t know, so he had a hard time noticing its presence! It was the ideal candidate to possess! That was why...!

“You idiot! Uncle takes Lime into the bat house! They sleep together too!”

Chun Sungjae wailed when he heard his sister’s words. It was as if he was being charged with high treason. Of course, that wasn’t important right now.

“Shit! I can’t find Uncle’s molt!”

Yes. In truth, they had come to this place to find Lee Gun’s Molt, which Kevin had stolen.

‘How dare he take it without saying anything to Uncle?’

The molt that their uncle had sloughed off possessed incredible power. It was at least an EX-rank ingredient, and its existence was precious in itself.

So the Chun siblings had chased after their uncle’s energy and arrived at the vault. As expected from a rich temple, the vault here was the size of a mansion. It being plated with gold pissed the siblings off, but that wasn’t important at that moment.

‘Uncle’s molt should be here.’

They were in one of the several vaults within the Virgo Saint’s main palace. This one had the most sturdy and comprehensive defense, yet it was rendered completely useless in front of Chun Yooha’s Space skill!

Thanks to the skill, the siblings were able to pass through the walls to enter the vault in question!

“Damn it! This vault is filled with Uncle’s items. I can’t find the molt.”

Their bodies started shaking when they saw the items that filled the safe. These weren’t normal items.

“Wow! This was released ten years ago. It’s a limited edition figurine made with five luxury brands! They collaborated with a master craftsman, so several hundred million won of premium was added to the price!”

“Look at this! Aren’t these the gloves Uncle had worn during the raid in Russia?!”

“Look at that! It’s the original doodle that Uncle drew during that meeting during the 2004 Paris negotiation! It’s inside the picture shown in textbooks!”

“This is the raid map Uncle drew in 2003! It’s the one from Shanghai!”

“This is the earliest version of Uncle’s armor...!”

That’s right. The siblings had entered a vault dedicated to Lee Gun’s items. Everything within this vault was related to Lee Gun. These were premium and extremely rare items that all fans of Lee Gun knew about.

“The only remnants of these fantastical items are pictures within the textbooks! They were all here...!!”

“Shit! If you add everything up inside here, it’s worth tens of billions...!!!”

In the end, they couldn’t even touch the items in fear of contaminating it. While they were making a fuss...

“Noona!”

“!”

Chun Sungjae seemed to have discovered something. Yooha was surprised when she looked in the direction that her brother was pointing.

“What the hell? Why is there a hidden door within a vault?”

It was a vault with a vault, and they knew what this meant.

‘The more important and rarer items are in there, right?’

Their eyes flashed as they put their hands on the safe, but...

Beep beep beep beep!

When they touched the vault, the security system alarm started ringing! As the incredible, loud sound rang within the vault, they could sense the Constructs and Kevin running toward the vault. Of course, those two didn’t care about that.

Clank!

At that moment, the door to the vault opened.