Hugo ground his teeth. Confusion had appeared behind him. However, the power that the monarch gave off was on a different level than before.

‘Did he make some kind of deal with Time?’

Time had taken Confusion back last time, and Time was also the one who had trapped him within a human body.

It was reasonable to assume that Time would be able to release some of that power.

Hugo immediately activated his magical energy. “Koo-oohk...!”

However, as if a hole had been closed, he couldn’t use his magical energy. The reason was simple.

‘That bastard...!’

It was the same as when Confusion had killed Hugo’s subordinates. Confusion had cut off Hugo’s connection to his Zodiac. That wasn’t all.

“You better drop any hope of receiving outside help.”

The monarch’s power surrounded the region. It was the power of confusion acting as a barrier! Of course, it wasn’t a normal barrier.

“Alright. We just have to repair that intersection over there, and we’re done!”

“There will be a meeting tomorrow. We’ll get to see Lee Gun-nim in real life!”

It was in the middle of downtown. The repair job was in full swing, so a lot of disciples were moving about.

The civilians didn’t realize that Hugo was there.

“We are fortunate since Lee Gun-nim took care of the calamities.”

“Isn’t he basically the only Zodiac who we should serve?”

“I’m sure the other temples will move under the Serpent Bearer temple. I’m sure that’s what will happen tomorrow.”

“We just have to get rid of the two monarchs. The idea of us reclaiming our lands is no longer a far-fetched dream!”

It wasn’t just that they didn’t notice Hugo. People walked past him as if he were a hologram or a ghost. They also walked through him.

Hugo gnashed his teeth.

‘Did he erase my existence from the world?’

He soon laughed in derision.

‘Everyone will quickly realize what happened if they can’t contact me.’

Therefore, Hugo took out his bow, but his face soon froze.

“Kyaa! Hugo-nim! Please sign this!”

“...?!!”

A double was not far away from himself. What did that imply?

As expected, Confusion grinned at the deathly pale Hugo. “That’s your dummy. With it, no one will realize you’re in danger.”

“Bastard!”

No one would realize what was happening to Hugo, even if he was killed right now. However, a voice rang at that moment.

[The notification says to trust the Serpent Bearer.]

Why the hell did he expect his trust? Hugo said in his mind, “Fuck off unless you’re talking about Gun! If you have time to do this, contact the others!”

[The notification says that would be impossible.]

[In the first place, Hugo Otis is destined to die this year.]

“What did you just say!?”

[It doesn’t matter if it was the last cycle or the cycle before that. By the year 2025, Time will have eaten all the Zodiac Saints.]

“...!” Hugo bit his tongue.

Lee Gun had told him this after seeing Time’s past. Time kept returning to the past, and it always ended up in Time consuming all Zodiac Saints and Zodiacs. He would become the great monarch en route to destroying humanity.

[Hugo Otis always dies in the most trivial manner.]

[In the 187th cycle, Hugo Otis died when he was walking down the street. He fell through a manhole.]

[In the 197th cycle, he was eating tteokbokki[1] when he choked on it and died.]

[In the 198th cycle, he died while taking a dump.]

[Anyway, Hugo Otis always dies in the most trivial manner/]

“Damn it! You don’t have to tell me such things!!” Hugo became angry.

‘Like father, like son. Both of them are the same in having the ability to upset me!’

“If I think about it, Gun’s cheat-like abilities are all thanks to genetics? He was born in a cradle of gold?”

[The notification feels offended. His son is not like him. His son is nothing compared to him.]

Was this person telling the truth? Moreover, this Zodiac felt oddly similar to Sagittarius. It was as if they were brothers.

‘Are all Zodiacs stubborn like this?’

As though it had read his thoughts, the notification became upset.

[The notification grumbles that his son’s fighting ability is superior compared to his.]

[Moreover, his genetics is set up in a way where his manufacturing ability and fighting ability couldn’t be transferred to Lee Gun.]

Hugo furrowed his brows at those words.

‘Gun being a human means this person had a relationship with a human.’

In the previous timelines, the Serpent Bearer temple had never appeared in front of humanity. This made sense since the Serpent Bearer temple was able to appear in front of humanity only when Yeonwoo passed on her Divine status to Lee Gun.

In the previous timelines, Yeonwoo had been killed by Time before she could do any of that.

‘Only the timeline with Lee Gun present is different.’

Of course, that wasn’t important right now.

“I’m sure even Lee Gun can’t revive a Divine-rank, but I’ll just make sure by ripping apart your soul.”

“!”

Confusion smirked as he approached Hugo. Due to his power, Hugo became unable to hear the thirteenth’s notification.

Boom!!

“!!”

At that moment, the magical energy of the Serpent Bearer surged forth within Hugo’s body, surprising Confusion.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

‘Their connection was severed, yet he can still use the magical energy of the Serpent Bearer temple?’

It didn’t matter if one was a human disciple or a Construct. Using one’s abilities was hard once the connection to one’s Zodiac’s power was severed.

Of course, there were the occasional exceptions. Some beings were talented.

‘It isn’t as if he received a Divine status amassed with internal force.’

Hugo Otis possessed a brand new Divine status, so there was no way it could be powerful. So what the hell was this?

Confusion gnashed his teeth as he continued to dodge the attack. He finally understood what was going on.

‘Is that bastard not receiving magical energy from the Serpent Bearer? Is he generating his own?!’

That made no sense. However, Confusion soon realized the reason.

‘Shit! He has 600% faith!!’

As Lee Gun grew the number of disciples under him, Hugo became worried about Lee Gun. A Zodiac had to distribute one’s magical energy to the disciples.

Hugo knew this would cause a great burden to Lee Gun. It was why he didn’t want to enter the Serpent Bearer temple in the first place.

‘Is that the reason he is generating his own magical energy...!’

Confusion had guessed correctly.

[Self-Powered Generator (SSS)]

– A skill born from the desire of not wanting to burden the Zodiac.

– Stamina is consumed to self-generate magical energy.

– The generated magical energy can be given to others.

– Possible to use only when faith is over 500%.

Confusion let out a forced laugh. Normally, disciples and gods developed new skills and abilities according to their disposition. This was also true for Hugo Otis, who received a new Divine status.

The problem was that he possessed a faith that was considered an anomaly even amongst the gods.

‘He’s an anomaly that possesses the most faith in the Divine world.’

The odds of something weird happening increased as faith increased. Moreover, that bastard was someone who had revived a person eaten by Oblivion!

Anything was possible!

“Koo-oohk!”

Confusion ground his teeth as he felt his magical energy drain. “That mutant is really doing this!”

The monarch glared at Hugo, realizing that the man was stealing his magical energy.

It seemed Hugo’s stamina couldn’t be used to self-generate magical energy, so Hugo was stealing magical energy from Confusion. The magical energy was being used for power generation!

In truth, the skill Self-Powered Generator (SSS) possessed another ability.

[Opponent’s magical energy can be taken and changed in your own magical energy.]

The opponent’s magical energy could also be used as a driving force to self-generate power.

This left Confusion dumbfounded.

‘It’s an ability that other Zodiacs would covet!’

Hugo laughed after he was able to steal the magical energy of a monarch. “That’s unexpected. My faith actually helped me!” Then, his eyes flashed as he was about to charge toward Confusion.

However, Confusion suddenly started laughing. “Yes. Let’s see you die from having that high faith.”

“...!”

Hugo immediately vomited blood. It wasn’t without reason.

‘It’s a curse.’

Confusion laughed as he approached Hugo. “Monarchs are the natural enemies of the gods. We eat them. Did you think I would be in a bind because you entered the divine rank?”

“...!”

Moreover, Confusion was a monarch that accompanied Time. He had experienced the past tens of thousands of times.

All kinds of techniques were made through experimentation.

“You’re merely a rookie.”

Hugo felt his head being pressed downward. An unseen power was pressing down on him. However, that wasn’t the problem.

“...!”

He couldn’t breathe and felt as if he were paralyzed from head to toe. This was one of the precious abilities that allowed Confusion to bring the gods to their knees.

“This single ability brought down all kinds of high-rank gods. You should feel honored since you forced me to use it on you.”

Hugo tried to glare at him as if to ask if he had lost his mind. However, he felt like dying from pain.

Confusion laughed sympathetically. “The more faith you possess, the more pain you will feel. The more power will be taken. High-rank Constructs with 90% faith begged for their lives in front of this skill. I can’t imagine what kind of pain you’re feeling with 600% faith.”

Hugo felt like his head and body were about to break from the pain. He screamed. “Ahhk!”

Death was preferable to this pain.

Confusion laughed in satisfaction as he presented something to Hugo. “However, I’ll give you an opportunity.”

“!”

Confusion brought forth a strange gem. “If you use this, your faith will fall to 0%. You will be freed from all the pain.”

“...!”

Hugo ground his teeth. Confusion was acting benevolent, but Hugo knew that wasn’t the case.

‘This bastard is trying to harm the Zodiac.’

If a Construct betrayed the Zodiac, the backlash to the Zodiac was enormous. At 0% faith, it would be like planting a knife in the Zodiac’s back.

Just the mere act of turning a faith of 99% to 0% would put a Zodiac in critical condition. So what would happen to Lee Gun if a faith of 600% went to 0%?

Hugo couldn’t even imagine.

“It will allow you to escape the pain. You will be freed from it.”

“Fuck off! You have no intention of letting me free.”

Confusion laughed coldly. “Oops! You got me.”

Then, Confusion immediately pierced Hugo’s heart.

Poohk!!

As if to make things worse, he stabbed the same place as where the thirteenth had.

“Kuhk...!”

Hugo clenched his fists, feeling excruciating pain. Of course, he wasn’t afraid to die.

The thirteenth original owner had told him to trust the blessing of the Serpent Bearer. This was why Hugo was worried about Lee Gun instead of himself.

‘I’m pretty sure this bastard is trying to make Gun lose his mind after killing me.’

Confusion planned on aggravating Lee Gun’s anger to grow Death. He wanted to turn Lee Gun into the god of Death.

Hugo suddenly recalled something. It had happened around twenty years ago.

– You are an asshole, Lee Gun. I almost died, yet you weren’t even worried about me!!! How could you not even visit me at the hospital? Will you show concern and cry for me when I die?!

– What the hell? I’ll have a barbeque party at your funeral. Of course, I’ll be sure to collect the condolence money.

– Wow! What the hell do you consider your friend to be?

At the time, Hugo considered Lee Gun to be an asshole who didn’t care about his friend. However, Hugo had a wish right now. He wished he didn’t have any special meaning to Lee Gun.The reason was that Death was an ominous power from the beginning, and it was a power sought out by a monarch. There was no way it would be good for Lee Gun.

Poo-hahk!

Confusion pulled back the hand that pierced Hugo’s heart, and Hugo’s vision became blurry. This was beyond a simple death. He felt as if his soul was being ripped away, as though he was going to a place that he wouldn’t be able to return from.

At that moment, Hugo thought he saw the light of the Serpent Bearer while his consciousness faded away.

[You did well. Sleep for a bit.]

That was what he thought he had heard.

* * *

Lee Gun looked at the familiar object that fell out of the present box. He immediately realized this was the doing of a monarch.

With the words written inside the box and the evil energy infused within the body part that had fallen out, he knew it at once.

Chun Jiwoo fainted, and everyone started to scream.

At the same time, Lee Gun felt uncontrollable killing intent.

[You have awakened stage 6 of Death.]

[You have satisfied the requirement.]

[Cycle!]

Accompanying the notification, a never-before-seen chaotic magical energy surged forth.

Kwahng!!!

The black magical energy surged into the sky. The sky started to change as if it was portending a calamity.

Koo-goong!

After sending Chun Jiwoo the present, Confusion was monitoring the situation from nearby. He was happy as he laughed. “Ha ha ha! I was hopeful, but it really did go straight to stage 6! It is stage 6!”

Confusion was ecstatic at the current situation. Time had said Death stage 6 was too troublesome, so he should stick to the awakening stage. Confusion didn’t care about that.

‘It’s a power strong enough to make that bastard say such words.’

This meant it was a power that Time feared.

Confusion felt a thrill as he sensed the vast power stretch into the surroundings. “Ha ha ha!! This is a power superior to that of a great monarch! This will do! I’ll gladly use it! Kill all of humanity, God of calamity!”

Boom!

Confusion flinched when he heard the sound of a large object falling. At that moment, Confusion felt something. He had a feeling that something was wrong.

1. Tteokbokki, or simmered rice cake, is a popular Korean food made from small-sized long, white, and cylinder-shaped rice cakes called tteokmyeon or commonly tteokbokki-tteok. ☜