Called the world’s strongest shield, Ivan possessed the strongest body that nothing could pierce through. And this so-called strongest body had been pierced by a bare fist. Moreover, it was done by a simple mutant who did not have any backing from a god!

Kwah-jeek!

The mutant smirked as he said, “Don’t go around saying you are the shield. It’s embarrassing. Your body is like glass!”

Those words were incredibly humiliating and insulting to Ivan.

Hugo was unable to pick up his jaw off the floor.

‘His body was fine even after being kicked and stomped on by monsters...!’

There was a reason Ivan always mocked the Leo Saint.

- Hey, wild beast. You broke your weapon again? This is why you’re a useless idiot who can’t fight when you lose your weapon.

- What? Do you believe I’m unable to fight without a weapon? You want to settle this right now?

The two greatest fighters routinely fought each other to see who would break first.

However, it didn’t matter if the opponent was Stevens, who boasted savage destructive power, or the magician Heiji, who was as destructive as weapons of war; they couldn’t even leave a scratch on Ivan’s body.

All of them inwardly acknowledged Ivan as their leader.

“My god! That damn body of the stone buddha was destroyed! As expected of the thirteenth...!!” Hugo wailed in joy.

Normally, Ivan would have lashed out at Hugo and told him to shut his mouth. However, he didn’t even have the presence of mind to go after Hugo.

‘What the hell is he...!!’

Ivan had no interest in the thirteenth. Since the thirteenth wasn’t a Zodiac Saint, Lee Gun had been beneath Ivan’s notice.

‘What the hell is this power?’

Ivan ground his teeth.

‘None of the Zodiac Saints were able to scratch my body!’

He had been confident in the fact that his body was his weapon. This was why he was enraged. He was about to call for his Zodiac to descend into him!

Puhk!!

“Koohk!”

However, something hit Ivan in the back of his head. The pain was akin to being hit by a toy hammer.

Ivan became angry when he realized who it was. “Did you really just attack me?”

Hugo was letting out a cold sweat after kicking Ivan.

‘As expected, my attack doesn’t work against him at all...!’

It had been an attack containing all of his power.

Ivan grabbed Hugo by the neck and slammed him into the ground.

“Kuh-huhk!”

Ivan was so strong that the ground cratered. The shock caused a crater that was five meters deep! Impressed by his own destructive power, Ivan laughed in satisfaction.

Lee Gun snorted. Thanks to Hugo, he had found an opening. “Don’t worry! I’ll get rid of both of you like the good teammates that you are.”

A surprised Hugo quickly got out of the crater and clung to Lee Gun. “Ahhhk! Teacher! You can’t kill him!”

Lee Gun had been heading toward Ivan, but this surprised him. Hugo keeping up with his speed in a fight was out of his expectations! However, his surprise lasted only a moment.

Lee Gun kicked Hugo. “Don’t get in my way! I thought you didn’t like him because he’s all about money! Are you covering for him because he’s your comrade?”

It seemed Hugo had his reasons as he kept clinging to Lee Gun. “Damn it! Yes! His personality sucks! He is a douche! I do hate him, but without the Zodiac Saints, humanity will die! They’ll die to the monsters!”

?”

Dumbfounded, Lee Gun looked at Hugo. “I’ll kill the monsters.”

“It’s impossible to do it alone! You aren’t a god!”

“Alright.”

When Lee Gun looked as if he was conceding the point, Hugo’s face brightened.

“Then...!”

“I’ll kill you first.”

“Ahhhk!!”

Lee Gun brought Heaven’s Punishment down toward Hugo. Hugo dodged like a squirrel, but Lee Gun’s power hit the floor.

Koo-goo-goohng!

“Huhk!”

The floor cracked, and Hugo fell into the hole.

“Ahhhhhhhh...!”

He fell a distance of at least a hundred meters, letting out Tarzan-like screams.

Ivan felt a chill run up his spine.

‘What kind of power does this crazy bastard possess...!’

Ivan almost couldn’t tell if Lee Gun was a human or a monster. Although the attack had missed its target, it had caused so much destruction.

Even if Lee Gun had purposefully been aiming for the ground, it shouldn’t be possible to create a crater several hundred meters deep.

Ivan didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice. He compared the crater he had made against the one created by Lee Gun. Then he gnashed his teeth. For the first time in his life, he felt humiliated. He was also scared.

Oblivious to this, Lee Gun dusted off his hands, having gotten rid of the annoying Hugo. “You are next.”

“!!”

“Well, I will spare you if you are worth sparing, like what that wheat-headed bastard said. However Lee Gun’s eyes flashed menacingly. “I’ll spare you only if you’re stronger than me.”

“!!!”

Was it because he was confident in his skill? Lee Gun tried to take off Ivan's head.

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!!”

However, Lee Gun’s eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly heard the Tarzan-like scream. The sound was coming from the bottom of the hundred-meter-deep sinkhole. Moreover, the voice was moving toward the surface!

“!”

Lee Gun’s mouth fell open. An enormous monster had appeared from the large hole, and it had Hugo in its mouth!

“Ahhhhk!! Teacher! Save me!”

???!”

The monster looked like a worm, and as soon as it came out, water erupted from the hole.

Kwahng!!!

The worm, which held Hugo in its mouth, ate him.

Kwah-jeek!

Ivan shook in fear.

‘That monster belongs to the Danger group!’

In this era, the monsters had yet to be categorized as belonging to zones. The Zodiac Saints had currently divided the monsters into groups of Caution - Evacuate - Flee - Danger.

Their success at killing monsters in the Danger group was less than 40%, so the Zodiac Saints had given up trying to kill them.

But why was such a monster here? Moreover, that wasn’t the most shocking part.

“Oh! This is awesome. I’ve been staying here for a month trying to chase it down. It came out on its own.”

“?!”

Ivan couldn’t believe his ears.

‘What? He chased it for a month?’

Why would he chase after a monster in the danger group??

Both Ivan and Lee Gun seemed to have forgotten about Hugo, who had been eaten by the monster.

As if he had been waiting for this moment, Lee Gun jumped with Heaven’s Punishment in hand, looking ecstatic. “I used all kinds of tricks to drag you out, yet you refused to come out!”

The mere presence of Hugo had made the monster immediately come out of hiding!

“He’s a great bait!”

Lee Gun swung Heaven’s Punishment and bisected the worm.

Kwak-jeek!

As if he were cutting open an eel, he cut open the worm from head to tail in one stroke.

Suh-guhk!!

Hugo, who had been stuck inside the worm’s gullet, was able to see light once again.

“Kuh-huhk...!”

Covered in sticky liquid, Hugo fell to the ground and writhed. Despite his current state, he seemed moved as he looked at Lee Gun. “My god! Teacher! You saved your student once again— Ahhhk!!”

Lee Gun used Hugo’s head as a stepping stone and launched himself into the air.

Koo-goo-goong!

It was because another worm had shot out of the same hole. This worm wasn’t brown like the other one. It was purple.

[Kee-ehhhhhk!]

Lee Gun furrowed his brows when he saw the differently colored monster.

‘I can’t use that one as a food ingredient.’

This worm possessed an extremely potent poison that could melt weapons. Moreover, it had an annoyingly hard exterior.

‘If I’m unlucky, my weapon will break.’

He was wondering what he should do when he saw Ivan.

Ivan seemed dumbfounded by what was going on, and he was exiting the building.

‘Damn it! He’s a psycho!’

On top of having stranger powers, Lee Gun had chased after a monster in the Danger group for a month. That was why Ivan decided it would be best if he avoided all of this mess.

‘I’ll just pretend I didn’t see him.’

Ivan hated everything about Lee Gun. Just talking with Lee Gun made him feel disgusted and dirty.

‘Also, my Zodiac wants me to pay up.’

Although he had canceled it, he had tried to use a Royal skill. So his Zodiac was making a fuss.

[Give me alcohol and a beautiful woman.]

If he let things be, his god would go on a rampage.

‘I should notify that bastard’s existence to the government and make them bury him

“?!”

Ivan had been about to exit when Lee Gun grabbed his foot. The Taurus Saint didn’t even have time to cuss.

“Ahhhk!”

His head was basically plowing the ground as Lee Gun dragged him away.

Ivan yelled, “Crazy bastard!”

He planned on getting up and grabbing Lee Gun by the throat. However, he groaned the next moment.

“Kuhk!”

Lee Gun took the rope on Ivan’s waist and bound him with it.

‘!!’

The speed at which he made the knot made it clear that he was adept at this. “Great. Your body is sturdy enough to be used as a blunt weapon.”

Ivan almost vomited blood.

Bbah-gahk!!!

Lee Gun ran toward the worm and swung Ivan like a baseball bat.

There was a reason the Taurus Saint boasted about his sturdy body.

“Kuh-huhk...!!!”

Ivan, who had become a baseball bat, was able to pierce through the hard shell of the purple worm. He made contact with its flesh.

Poo-hahk!

This was possible only because Lee Gun had put his power behind the attack.

As the shell of the worm fell off, it emitted a liquid with an extremely foul smell—its poisonous blood.

When the poisonous blood touched Ivan, Ivan’s skin started to melt away. He was the Taurus Saint, known for having the highest defense. So his bone didn’t melt away. However, he had still suffered heavy damage.

Ivan almost lost consciousness as he remained stuck within the monster’s body.

Lee Gun didn’t care as he poured magical energy into his foot. He kicked the monster toward the sky as if it were a soccer ball!

Bbuhng!!

Lee Gun looked very satisfied as the monster and Ivan were both sent flying into the sky. “Good! I got rid of the bastards that’ll stink up the house.”

Lee Gun looked at the geothermal spring water and the first worm that he had killed with a satisfied expression.

With them, he could make something from the blueprints that he had stolen from the Capricorn temple. He would be able to make Furnace(S) and Treatment Bath(D).

Hugo, who was still here, looked at Lee Gun with twinkling eyes. “As expected, you’re amazing! I admire you, Teacher— Kuh-huhk!!!”

Hugo received a kick.

As if the pleased look on his face had never existed before, Lee Gun coldly swung the hand ax. “Don’t talk to me as if you’re close to me, bastard.”

!!!”

“Well, you seem different from the other one. You aren’t the type to commercialize your work,” Lee Gun then said.

“Uh... D-Did you understand what we were talking about?”

Lee Gun looked at Hugo with a displeased expression. He had traveled to many lands, so he was able to understand the gist of various languages.

“Anyway, I don't plan on taking on a student. If you don’t want to die, you can fuck off!”

When the hand ax flew toward him, Hugo screamed as he fell to the ground. He had no idea why Lee Gun hated the Zodiac Saints so much.

* * *

“Did you just say it was the thirteenth apostle?”

One of the four strongest superhumans, the Scorpio Saint Hailey, narrowed her fine brow. Of course, she had also heard that a strange mutant had appeared in Korea.

‘That was the attack where Time had taken his underlings.’

During then, she had gone to a different dimension, so she was late in finding out about the incident.

Of course, whenever Korea was mentioned, she could only think about the nameless young man.

Three years ago, a high school boy had put all his heart into healing an injured Hailey. Hailey’s face turned red when she thought about him.

In truth, she had hovered near him before becoming the Scorpio Saint. She had wanted to protect him, but at some point, she had lost track of the young man. She wondered where he was and whether he was alive or not. It made her worried.

‘Please be safe. I hope he is living a good life in a safe location.’

However, that wasn’t important right now.

“I’ll have to check him out.”

[Then...!]

“I’ll go myself to meet the thirteenth.”