Grab!
Selvia, whose shoulder was grabbed, almost screamed.
Because she hadn't felt any presence at all.
Not the sound of approach, nor even a hint of magical energy!
Who the hell is it? She wondered, but the moment she turned her head, Selvia almost screamed.
"What are you talking about?"
'Cheon Yuha!'
Indeed.
The one who grabbed her shoulder was none other than Cheon Yuha.
The same Ten Stars as herself. And the new so-called strongest of humanity, the ten SS-ranks.
Though, among them, Cheon Yuha was the only S-rank.
'You insolent wretch.'
How dare an S-rank like her meddle among the strongest of humanity.
'Just because you got lucky and were chosen by the Leo Constellation God.'
The Ten Stars were each chosen by the Constellation Gods. They selected the strongest who met their criteria from their own divine thrones.
And in the case of the Leo Constellation God, out of nowhere, they raised Cheon Yuha to the Ten Stars.
Despite there being an SS-rank in Leo.
So some mocked her, saying she got in because she was the only female in Leo.
But now, there was something more concerning than that.
'No way. Did she hear our conversation just now?'
But Selvia soon denied it.
No matter what, they were talking about the assassination of Igeon.
There's no way they'd thoughtlessly babble about such a dangerous thing just anywhere.
Naturally, she had a magic that prevented sound from leaking out as a passive.
'Right. Even if she heard, all the important words would have sounded like silence.'
That was the Pisces' trait magic.
Just like sound doesn't travel well underwater.
'Right. There's no way that wretch could've heard...'
"What? 'We'll deal with Igeon without fail today'?"
Oh, damn it, she heard everything!
But Selvia's shock was brief; she screamed.
"Kyaaak!"
Because Cheon Yuha tried to crush Selvia's shoulder.
Terrified, Selvia grabbed Cheon Yuha's arm.
"Hey! Let go of this! I'm a fragile mage! If you use force, my bones will really break! You wild horse who only knows brute strength, how dare you be so vulga... Kyaaak!"
But Cheon Yuha didn't even pretend to listen.
On the contrary, red lightning flickered from Cheon Yuha's face.
Of course, normally she would have ignored such arrogant Ten Stars.
But if the talk was about her uncle, the story changed.
Especially if that talk was a petty conspiracy!
As expected.
Crackle!
"Kyaaak!"
Lightning sparked, and at the same time, the flustered Selvia deployed a defensive magic.
[Water Wave]
With the skill, the air layer turned into water. Formed like a wall, the water dissolved most offensive skills.
But the moment their powers clashed, Selvia realized her mistake.
After all, she was water, and Cheon Yuha was lightning. Even without considering the other Ten Stars, her compatibility with Cheon Yuha was terrible from the start.
As expected!
Bzzt!
Electricity surged through the water.
"Ugh!!"
Selvia's face contorted in pain. She glared at Cheon Yuha.
'Even so, I thought it'd be okay because this wench was low-rank...!'
Flustered, Selvia tried to shake off Cheon Yuha's hand. But Cheon Yuha wasn't about to let go.
"H-Heok!"
Cheon Yuha's hand shot out fiercely.
That was her unique skill, a thrusting attack!
[Red Flash]
Cheon Yuha's speed, which drew on electricity to boost bodily speed, was truly light speed!
Fearing this, the desperate Selvia cast a transformation spell.
"!"
What she transformed into was none other than a fly.
As a Pisces who was a master of transformation, her transformation speed was incredible.
The fly instantly escaped from Cheon Yuha's grasp.
Buzz!
The fly hurriedly flew out the window. If it went into the sky, Cheon Yuha couldn't chase her anyway.
"Hah, that muscle-headed wench who only knows brute force! Even so..."
But at that very moment.
Boom!!
A tremendous lightning bolt flashed towards the sky.
And Selvia, struck directly by the red lightning, staggered. Her wings were burning from the red lightning.
"Kyaaak!"
At the same time, the transformation broke and Selvia fell from the fifth floor.
Thud!!
A huge sound echoed on the ground.
Having instantly sent a fly to its grave, Cheon Yuha brushed off her hands.
Tap tap!
Anyway, seeing them act high and mighty as SS-ranks when the skill gap wasn't that big was flabbergasting.
Whatever.
- Hey, what's going on?
Cheon Yuha glared at the phone Selvia had dropped.
And at the voice coming through, Cheon Yuha frowned.
- Hey?
The voice was altered, but there was no way Cheon Yuha wouldn't know who it was.
'Oliver.'
The Leo's SS-rank.
Above all, perhaps because he had his Ten Stars title stolen from him, he was desperate to kill her.
So much so that he would harass and try to kill her while avoiding Stephen's eye.
- That wench is the vice-captain? How unlucky.
But honestly, that didn't matter at all.
She could just ignore the curses and harassment directed at her.
After suffering character assassinations for ten years, it no longer hurt or even tickled.
But what?
'Assassinating uncle? Hunting Seongjae?'
She could take it herself, but for them to touch the people she cherished most...
At that, Cheon Yuha stomped on the phone.
Crunch!
The phone shattered to pieces, and Cheon Yuha gritted her teeth.
Of course, she was terribly worried about her younger sibling, but there was no need to worry about her uncle.
There was no way he'd be beaten by these scoundrels.
Only one thing bothered her...
- Don't worry. Even though Igeon is the 13th Holy One, he only has one Holy Disciple, which is a decisive weakness.
And she roughly guessed what that weakness was.
'Uncle only has one Holy Disciple right now.'
Hurried, Cheon Yuha quickly moved her steps.
* * *
But.
"What? Holy Disciples? It's fine. I've increased them to five now."
"......?!!"
Cheon Yuha froze at Igeon's words.
Indeed.
She had come to tell Igeon that he needed to increase his Holy Disciples.
Why?
Because a Divine Throne with few Holy Disciples couldn't protect the Holy Domain.
And.
'The Divine Throne is destroyed the moment the Holy Domain is completely annihilated.'
In other words, the collapse of the Divine Throne.
The Holy Domain was the place that maintained the existence of the Constellation God.
If that place disappeared, the Constellation God would naturally disappear as well.
And if the Constellation God disappeared, the Holy One and Holy Disciples would also be in danger.
And the minimum number of people needed to protect that Holy Domain was five.
The innermost center where the Constellation God stayed was guarded by the Holy One, and the remaining four boundaries in the east, west, south, and north were guarded by four others.
Gatekeepers were another important role different from Teaching Disciples or Missionary Disciples.
Therefore, usually, the four strongest in the Divine Throne were appointed as Gatekeeper Disciples.
Anyway, that was what she had come to tell him.
'Fi-five?'
When did he increase them that much?!
However, Igeon tilted his head as if asking what the problem was.
"Unlike that cowardly Sagittarius, there are plenty of useful guys. What's wrong? What's the matter?"
Cheon Yuha plopped down to the ground.
Apart from telling him, she had wanted to become Igeon's Holy Disciple.
'I wanted to be of some help to uncle...!'
And above all, there was the additional skill reward for the third Holy Disciple.
Of course, compared to the first disciple's skill, the second and third additional skills were negligible, but still!
'They're all skills for the Holy One...!'
The second disciple's additional skill was
But if five had already entered, she'd have to give up on the additional skills.
'Well, it's not like I wanted the skills for myself...'
It was the only way she could help Igeon, even a little.
Because Seongjae was a talented mage.
Moreover, her younger sibling was quick-witted and could learn various buff spells to help Igeon if they set their mind to it.
On the other hand, unlike her sibling, she only had combat ability. She was confident in killing monsters, but that wasn't directly helpful to Igeon.
'So I wanted to help with the additional skills at least...!'
Of course, it would be a lie to say there wasn't a tiny bit of selfishness too.
Maybe that's why.
"Uncle. Who are the second and third Holy Disciples?"
"Ah, those guys."
Following Igeon's finger, Cheon Yuha turned her head slightly.
At that moment, what met her gaze were none other than the captured Leo Holy Disciples by Igeon!
And the senior Leo Holy Disciples who met her eyes were terrified.
Because Cheon Yuha was their direct superior and the top of Leo.
If she looked at them with those flashing eyes, they couldn't help but be scared.
But then, maybe Igeon read Cheon Yuha's mind.
"They're not officially initiated yet, so. If you want the additional skills, you can just deal with them."
"?!"
He really poured oil on the fire.
And at that, Hugo grabbed Igeon by the collar. Because there was no way he didn't know what Igeon's words meant.
"Hey! I told you not to touch my kids!"
But regardless, Igeon picked his ear.
"Ah. Come to think of it, I need to do an initiation test for them too."
Igeon looked at Cheon Yuha nonchalantly.
"Yuha, you're strong, right? Good. You test their qualification. The event is combat."
"?!"
The flustered Puffin and the Leo Holy Disciples were horrified.
No, they were already wronged by being dragged here forcibly, and what's this?
Take an initiation test against a Ten Star?!
'The Ten Stars are the new strongest of humanity, second only to the Holy Ones!'
But Igeon grinned.
"If you can't even be acknowledged by Yuha, then just die at my hands."
So he's basically telling them to die!
'What kind of Holy Order is this?!'
But they soon felt relieved.
Why?
'Vice-Captain Cheon Yuha is a good person.'
Others only focus on her beautiful appearance, but really.
Her skills are top tier. She consistently takes care of and teaches her juniors with kindness. She's not good at expressing emotions, but she's a very warm-hearted person.
'Right, there's no way she'd just let this slide.'
'Even if it's an initiation test, she'd go easy on us...'
So, they looked at Cheon Yuha with relief, but...
"......?!"
Cheon Yuha's eyes were unusual.
As if she thought she couldn't help her uncle, but now had found a way to be useful herself.
As expected.
"Beat me. Then I'll acknowledge you."
What?!
'That's just telling us to die!'
The Holy Disciples screamed, but Igeon just laughed while picking his ear.
'Well, to keep using my strength, I need to develop the Ophiuchus Divine Throne.'
First, he needed to behead the bastard who had trapped Libra and himself.
Besides, since there's a high chance they are traitors to humanity, he couldn't stand idle even more.
Therefore, he had to increase his Holy Disciples.
'Though the most urgent need right now is a Holy One.'
But at that moment, Hugo was flustered and in a panic.
"Hey, Yuha? How are you here? Weren't you in the hospital? Where's Mom? And Seongjae?"
Cheon Yuha snapped to attention.
"Seongjae is in critical condition."
"What?! Critical condition?"
The daughter winced at her father's expression.
"Ah, it's okay. He was injured, but he gained a strange regeneration skill, so he's fine."
"……!"
That was a Divine Throne trait only a Holy Disciple of Ophiuchus could have.
It was called
Of course, she didn't know what condition her sibling had met.
"And right now he's only unconscious because his mana was drained by the Subordinate God. But before he fainted, he told me to give this to Uncle urgently."
Cheon Yuha placed something into Igeon's hand.
Seeing the item, Kevin and Hugo were startled.
"Wait, could that be...!"
[Holy Domain Boundary Stone]
Igeon, receiving the gem, looked at Cheon Yuha.
"The Fairy Queen who came to Seongjae gave it. It's extremely rare and expensive, and Seongjae thought it might be taken if he kept it..."
It was an item that could protect the Holy Domain and the divine resting place.
As expected, Kevin was appalled.
"That's an SSS-grade item that even the Constellation Gods couldn't obtain! Do you know how hard it is to get that...!"
Indeed, the Fairy Queen.
The quality of the gift she brought as an initiation present was on a whole different level.
That wasn't all.
"Ah, and before Mom fell asleep again, she had something she absolutely wanted me to give Uncle..."
"!"
It was a thank-you letter and a fan letter.
"She said she'd greet you in person too, but since you're busy, she shouldn't take up your time..."
At this, Hugo couldn't sit still.
"What about me? She didn't send me anything?"
"No."
"Why not?!"
"Uh, Dad... Ah!"
Without listening, Hugo snatched his wife's letter.
And.
[To my beloved Igeon-nim]
Hugo screamed in an alien language.
(To be continued...)