Yun Siu trembled.
It was only natural.
What stood before his eyes was no monster.
It was a human.
A tall, lean figure with sharp, distinct features. His unkempt hair was tousled as if he had just woken up.
His gaze seemed oddly drowsy, yet it was fierce like a beast just roused from slumber.
That was it.
What had appeared inside the summoning circle he had activated was none other than Yi Geon.
And so, Yun Siu collapsed onto his backside without even realizing it.
‘Th-this is insane…!’
His eyes screamed, *Why the hell is this bastard popping out of the summoning circle?*
But whether he screamed or not, Yi Geon looked down at Yun Siu with his arms crossed.
“What’s this supposed to be?”
The look in his eyes, as if he were utterly annoyed, was a sight to behold.
He glanced around, clearly irritated.
“I was startled because my vision suddenly shifted. If you wanted to summon me, you should’ve given me a heads-up. Seriously, what is this? Isn’t this a hospital? It looks like the same floor.”
Judging by the layout outside, it was even the room right next to where he had been.
“If you were going to do this, why use summoning magic and make a fuss? It’s pissing me off.”
“N-no, that’s not…!”
*I didn’t mean to summon you…!*
Panicked, Yun Siu stared blankly at his crest as if he had snatched it up.
But the hologram and voice emerging from the crest were nothing short of shocking.
[Success!]
[You have successfully exchanged a price to summon a Calamity-class monster!]
Yun Siu was now utterly speechless.
Success? What success?!
‘The one person who should never have appeared just showed up!’
And it was at that moment.
“Aha. Judging by the looks of it, you used the Balance’s Equivalent Exchange, didn’t you?”
“!?”
Yi Geon looked at Yun Siu with sudden interest. Had he figured it out just from the crest’s pattern and the voice?
He seemed to have now realized why he had been summoned.
Yun Siu had offered a price to summon him.
“Well, I don’t know what you offered as the price for me to appear.”
“H-Hurk! No, wait…!”
Yi Geon snatched the crest from Yun Siu’s hand.
“Ah, no!”
At the same time, Yi Geon channeled his demonic energy into the Balance’s crest.
And then.
*Crack!*
A blue-green light flared, and cracks spread across the crest.
Along with it, something astonishing happened.
[Transmission err… Gwaak!]
The crest’s form changed.
And the new form it took was none other than a parrot.
It was a servant deity.
The crests of the Balance Constellation were all made from servant deities.
That was information Yi Geon had already obtained when he dismantled the belongings of Perio, the prince who had betrayed Kevin in the Virgin Constellation’s sanctuary.
Yi Geon smiled and seized the parrot by the throat.
“Spit it out. The price used to summon me.”
At that, the servant deity sharply expelled demonic energy.
[Shut your mouth! You Calamity God bastard! How dare you…!]
But Yi Geon’s hand was faster.
[Gwaak!]
Yi Geon twisted the parrot’s neck.
Simultaneously, a yellow light burst from the parrot’s body.
‘!’
Yun Siu was startled, but Yi Geon simply smiled.
‘The price probably hasn’t been delivered to the Constellation God yet.’
The servant deity of the Balance Constellation transformed into a crest and also acted as a transmitter, gauging the price and delivering it to the Constellation God.
And.
‘It takes a bit of time before the price reaches the Constellation God.’
This was because the servant deities held onto it before sending it.
Sure enough.
[Gwaaaaak!]
The parrot emitted light and regurgitated something.
What it spat out was none other than a palm-sized object.
[The servant of the Absolute Order’s Constellation God has extracted an item belonging to Serpent Bearer]
Yi Geon snatched it up as if he had expected it.
“So that’s why I was summoned.”
What the parrot had coughed up was none other than a necklace with a red jewel.
And that was a sacred object Yi Geon had created in the past from a part of a monster.
‘Well, if it’s my sacred object, I suppose it roughly counts as a fair price.’
He himself would never simply ignore one of his own sacred objects.
Especially since this was an item he considered to be of decent quality.
‘I don’t know the specifics of the Balance Constellation’s system, but it’s not a bad price.’
Of course, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“So. Why were you trying to summon a monster in a hospital? Who are you?”
“N-no, that’s…!”
“Ah, forget it. Anyway, you summoned me. So take a hit.”
“Wh-what?!”
But it was right at that moment.
“Geon-ah!!!”
“Uncle!!”
*BANG!*
Along with familiar voices, the door to the empty hospital room burst open.
The ones who rushed in, looking deathly pale, were none other than Hugo and Cheon Seongjae.
It seemed that when Yi Geon had suddenly vanished, they had urgently followed his presence here.
And upon finding Yi Geon, Hugo asked with relief.
“What happened to you? There’s no way you used teleportation magic, so why are you here?”
“Ah. This bastard summoned me.”
“……?”
Hugo and Cheon Seongjae’s gazes turned to the same spot.
And what met their eyes was a man in his early twenties, sitting disgracefully on his rear in front of Yi Geon.
The moment they recognized the man looking at them in horror.
Hugo and Cheon Seongjae’s faces contorted.
“Yun Siu!”
“Why is that bastard here?”
At their reaction, Yi Geon frowned. Their responses were far from normal.
“What. I thought he was just some small fry. You know him?”
As his voice turned menacing, Yun Siu flinched and his eyes darted around.
Simultaneously, Hugo glanced at Cheon Seongjae and spoke with a troubled look.
“No. That bastard is the high schooler who got caught up in that incident ten years ago….”
“Caught up ten years ago?”
But Cheon Seongjae shouted.
“He’s the main culprit behind Mom getting eaten by a monster! Those bastards summoned that toad!”
“!”
“And they’re the bastards who pinned all the blame on Dad and got away scot-free.”
At those words, Yi Geon’s eyes widened, and Hugo looked at his son in shock.
“H-how do you know that…!”
Cheon Seongjae struck his chest as if frustrated.
“How do I know? I know because I saw those bastards summoning the monster with my own eyes!”
“?!”
Hugo looked utterly flabbergasted.
“You were five years old back then?”
Cheon Seongjae looked at his father with pity.
“Isn’t five the age when you remember what you did that day and even what conversations you had?”
“N-no, normally you don’t remember….”
“Anyway, I saw it back then. So I tried to testify in court, but Dad didn’t believe me.”
“…N-no.”
“On top of that, when I tried to speak up, you told the police I was just a kid seeing things.”
Hugo broke out in a cold sweat.
He hadn’t expected his son to remember even that.
Of course, back then, he had no choice but to bow to the Balance Constellation because the children were taken hostage.
But that didn’t matter now.
Cheon Seongjae glared at Yun Siu with his eyes wide.
“Anyway, this guy tears pages out of my books in the library and mocks Uncle. And now he dares to summon Uncle?”
“What? N-no! I wasn’t trying to summon this bastard…! Argh, why didn’t a monster appear, and why did this bastard show up instead!”
In the end, Yun Siu gritted his teeth and sprang to his feet.
At the same time, he tried to use magic.
*Ka-HAK!*
With an explosion, Yun Siu’s face was torn to shreds and he flew backward.
It was Cheon Seongjae.
“Are you kidding me? You tried to summon a monster, but Uncle got summoned instead? There’s a limit to bullshit.”
At that, Yi Geon clicked his tongue.
“No. He really was trying to summon a monster.”
“What?!”
Cheon Seongjae was surprised, but Yi Geon shook the price used to summon him.
It was the necklace with the red jewel.
Simultaneously, Hugo screamed at the sight of the necklace.
“You’re crazy, that thing!”
At Hugo’s scream, Cheon Seongjae tilted his head.
But Hugo’s eyes were asking why it was here.
“That’s the crystal from the monster heart you made in the Demon’s Tower!”
“?!”
It was true.
This red crystal was something Yi Geon had created inside the Demon’s Tower twenty years ago.
“I’m sure you were making it when you told me to get out of the tower…!”
Of course, it wasn’t a particularly special sacred object.
The monsters that had appeared in the Demon’s Tower all harbored immense power, and he figured that using them would produce items of at least SS-grade. So he had processed them into crystals.
‘The monsters from the Demon’s Tower were all Red-grade or higher.’
It was a temporary refinement to make them easy to carry around.
He had made them in his spare time while setting up a base camp and resting inside the Demon’s Tower.
If he turned them into jewel-type sacred objects, they could be easily utilized later no matter what weapon he crafted.
In fact, this red jewel was a heart extracted from the body of a direct subordinate of the Red Eye.
“After I fell into the trap, that damn woman must have stolen it from my luggage.”
“!”
Simultaneously, Hugo seemed to realize something.
“Then the prices the Balance Constellation used to summon monsters….”
“Yeah. The price items were mostly monster corpses. And you saw it in the Virgin Constellation’s sanctuary. Among the summoned monsters, the uneradicated species that only appeared in the tower were definitely summoned using items stolen from my luggage.”
“……!”
But at the same time, Hugo tilted his head in confusion.
Setting aside how an item that belonged to Yi Geon ended up with the Balance Constellation’s son.
“Wait. If a monster corpse was offered as a price, why were you summoned?”
Yi Geon nonchalantly picked his ear.
“How should I know? Maybe it’s because my blood is mixed into this crystal.”
“……!”
Well, it didn’t matter anyway.
“Enough of that.”
“!”
At the suddenly heard voice, Hugo trembled.
And for good reason—Yi Geon’s voice had abruptly changed.
No, it wasn’t just his voice.
Sure enough.
“You’ve been telling some interesting stories for a while now.”
“……!!”
Yi Geon was radiating killing intent.
“What? Summoned a toad? Courtroom?”
With his arms crossed, he glared fiercely at Yun Siu.
“So this bastard. He’s the one who summoned that thing?”
“………!”
Yun Siu, meeting his eyes, felt a chilling wave of goosebumps.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who had been yawning lazily just moments ago.
Simultaneously, Yi Geon approached Yun Siu with a murderous air.
“If it’s that incident, I definitely heard it was connected to the Balance Constellation’s son.”
“!”
“Then you’re that woman’s son?”
“N-no… *Hurk!*”
Yun Siu’s breath caught in his throat.
There was no doubt about it.
‘I’m dead.’
And so, Yun Siu collapsed onto the floor without realizing it.
But whether he did or not, Yi Geon kept approaching.
“And you’re the bastard who pinned the disgrace on my friend.”
Yun Siu was gripped by terror.
“Good timing. After hearing Taeksu’s story, I’ve been looking for you bastards.”
“!!!”
“You’ve saved me the trouble by showing up yourself.”
With a chilling smile, Yun Siu screamed.
“Damn it!!”
He sprang to his feet.
At the same time, a yellow light burst from his shoes. It was the Giant Crab Constellation’s escape skill.
With a speed capable of even shaking off a Saint’s eyes, Yun Siu escaped the hospital room.
And he frantically chanted a spell.
[Equivalent Exchange]
[Summon Servant Deity]
Finally, the bracelet Yun Siu wore vanished. A yellow light flickered, and a bird appeared.
“Hyung! Where is Hyung!”
[Elder Brother is hiding in that safehouse after being attacked by Cheon Seongjae]
“……!”
So the reason he couldn’t see his brother in the hospital was because Cheon Seongjae had attacked him and he’d fled?
But it didn’t matter.
‘That safehouse is secure.’
Surely his brother was also preparing a counterattack there.
That was why he shouted to the servant deity.
“Summon me there! It’s Mother’s order!”
[Understood]
It was the very moment Yun Siu’s body began to turn yellow and disappear.
*KWA-KWANG!!!*
A ferocious coldness assaulted Yun Siu.
The deadly cold instantly froze the floor and rigidly encased Yun Siu’s body in ice.
“Heo, heo-eok!”
A chill so sharp it felt like his flesh was being torn away.
Along with it, an elegant one-armed swordsman appeared from the opposite side.
“So, this is the same kind of bastard who ran wild in my sanctuary.”
It was Kevin.
Seeing him, Yun Siu gnashed his teeth.
‘This bastard, since when—!’
But an even more chilling voice came from behind.
“Forget that. Where’s your brother?”
“!”
It was Yi Geon. At his voice, Yun Siu slumped down.
Yi Geon had already drawn his sword.
He looked ready to slice Yun Siu’s throat.
“Brothers should be punished together. Where’s your brother?”
Finally, overcome with terror, he shouted.
“I-I don’t know! M-my brother disappeared after being attacked by that bastard…!”
“Yeah? Then I’ll just take my time finding him.”
Just as Yi Geon was about to let it slide casually.
“No, Uncle. That bastard is lying.”
“!”
Cheon Seongjae, who had followed, was frowning in disgust.
What was peculiar was that his eyes were glowing gold.
And that was Cheon Seongjae’s unique skill, newly awakened upon becoming the Serpent Bearer Constellation’s Holy One.
[Eye of Discernment]
An eye that distinguishes truth from falsehood. “That bastard knows where his brother is.”
Simultaneously, Yi Geon smirked.
“Yeah?”
He raised his sword.
He had just gotten a fine gift to throw at the Balance Constellation.
(To be continued)