The bowstring slipped, and as the bow warped, Hugo let out a scream.
“Uwaah?!”
Hugo’s face went pale.
Crash!
A tremendous event had occurred. The bow, imbued with the fierce light of the sun, shattered powerlessly.
Because of that, everyone present was aghast.
‘Th-the imperial sacred treasure!’
It was no mere imperial sacred treasure; even the parts disintegrating were as striking as sunlight.
But what good was that?
“Ack!”
At the sight of the dismantled bow, Hugo’s mind went blank.
‘Wait, what the—! What is this!’
He couldn’t fathom why a bow he’d been using perfectly had suddenly fallen apart.
And there was no way he could.
‘There’s no way something Geon fixed would break!’
He knew Geon’s skill better than anyone.
Uncharacteristically meticulous, Geon took immense pride in his work.
Wasn’t he the type to fly into a rage if you broke something of his?
So the bow itself couldn’t be the problem.
In that case!
‘Damn it. Did I channel too much power because it’s an imperial sacred treasure!’
With the sacred treasure, even a Saint could exert 100% of their power.
Getting carried away and pulling up his strength must have been the issue.
Thus, only one thought filled Hugo’s mind.
‘I’m dead. Geon’s going to kill me.’
No, more than that.
“Die! Divine Archer!”
He was about to be killed by this guy right now!
Sure enough, the moment the bow shattered, Taurus was charging at him like a madman.
Rumble!
Like a bull in a bullring that had just seen a red cloth!
“If you had meekly surrendered, I’d have valued your ability and taken you as an ally. But you’re just begging me to send you off.”
“Oh, come on?!”
Normally rational and cool-headed, Taurus’s eyes were utterly changed as he unleashed his power.
A frenzied gaze that couldn’t endure without destroying everything!
Booooom!
A brown light surged from Taurus’s transforming eyes.
And wherever he passed was left ruined and smashed.
It was tremendous power.
And his speed was terrifyingly fast!
‘Damn!’
Hugo frantically fled the spot.
Swish!
With an archer’s characteristic nimble movements, he scaled a high wall.
At the same time, he lightly perched on the outdoor air conditioner unit on the third floor of the Sagittarius temple building.
But.
Bang!!!
“!!?”
The charging Taurus’s fist slammed into the wall of the Sagittarius sanctuary building.
Crack, craaack!
“Dammit! Do you know how much this building costs?!”
Cracks spidered across the five-story building, outer windows shattered, and pillars shook.
And then.
Boom!
The outer wall of the Sagittarius sanctuary crumbled entirely.
With an earsplitting noise, the outdoor unit Hugo had been perched on fell too.
“Hell!”
Hugo, who’d urgently landed on a traffic light, spat curses.
“That muscle-brained idiot is the worst!”
A third of the Sagittarius building was collapsing completely.
[Part of the Sanctuary has been destroyed]
[Diverting the Constellation God’s power entirely to defense and restoration]
Hugo could only click his tongue as the sanctuary, which had withstood attacks from monsters, crumbled.
‘As expected of the Top 3 Battle Constellations.’
Taurus was always among the top three in combat ability.
First, the Golden Warrior faction, masters of all weapons.
Second, the Magic Knights, who draw out special powers through restrictions and vows.
Third, the Vajra Indestructible Warrior faction, charging based on absolute defense.
Well, Sagittarius was also a Battle Constellation.
As the absolute precision hunter, it ought to be called the Fourth Battle Constellation, but at the bottom, barely.
‘Anyway, Taurus is a pain.’
Among the Battle Constellations, Leo relied heavily on weapons, making them obsessed with Geon; break their weapons and you could see a way to win. But Taurus was different.
‘Their bodies themselves are weapons.’
Most of Taurus were pure muscle types who didn’t use weapons.
After all, hadn’t this one shattered his imperial sacred treasure with just those brutish arms?
And sure enough.
Crack!!
Hugo’s vision, from atop the traffic light, went pitch black.
“Kuhuk!”
It felt like sparks bursting before his eyes.
A moment later, a sharp pain hit his solid stomach.
In a flash, Hugo was sent flying into the Sagittarius sanctuary building.
Bang!!
With monstrous force, he crashed through the opposite wall and fell to the ground.
Thud!
“Heuk…!!”
Hugo, fallen to the floor, vomited blood.
Reflexively, he touched his stomach.
‘Damn. I was under divine protection.’
His ribs were shattered, and his internal organs were completely mashed.
Just as Hugo was about to try fleeing elsewhere.
“Gurk!”
A sharp rebar flew from the sky and impaled his stomach.
Crunch!
The thick rebar pierced his stomach and jammed firmly into the earth.
Well, as a Saint-level, he wouldn’t die instantly from this unless his heart or head were destroyed.
But like this, he couldn’t even move.
‘Damn. The gap in Constellation size really is…!’
The opponent was the third-ranked Constellation with 300 million followers.
Then, Taurus, emitting brown lightning, approached with light blazing from his eyes.
Had he deliberately avoided the heart with that attack?
“Honestly, I was surprised thinking the sacred treasure was fixed, but as I thought, it wasn’t.”
“No…!”
It was fixed! It was fixed and then it broke again, that’s all!
And if he found out, my friend would go berserk!
‘Dammit! How do I explain this!’
Whatever, it didn’t matter.
“You brute of a calf. I’ll sue for damages, so get your money ready… Gurk!”
Taurus twisted the rebar piercing Hugo’s stomach and sneered.
“If I smash you so thoroughly you can’t even speak, will you betray Igeon and join us?”
“Screw off. I’d sooner pledge loyalty to a pigeon that shits on my house than join you guys.”
Having secretly hoped, Taurus’s eyebrow twitched.
“Yeah? Then there’s no helping it. I’ll just have to make Sagittarius’s new Saint one of ours.”
Finally, Taurus’s fist shot toward Hugo’s head.
Crunch!
But at that moment.
“Kuk?!”
A flash of light shot up above Hugo’s head.
Flash!
And at that flash, a groan burst from Taurus.
“Kuk!”
Taurus’s fist bounced back as if struck by a hammer.
“What the…!”
They were all startled by the immense killing intent. Even the Libra Saint, who’d been watching with interest, flinched.
But only for a moment, as a familiar voice came.
“Tch, playing so pathetically. Got nothing better to do than bully the weak?”
“!”
The one walking out of the alley was none other than Kevin of the Virgo Constellation.
At his appearance, both Taurus and Libra seemed flustered.
No wonder—it was unimaginable that he, of all people, would come to help Hugo.
In fact, Hugo himself had a dumbfounded look.
A face that said, why the hell is this bastard helping me?
But whether he liked it or not, Kevin sliced through the rebar impaling Hugo’s stomach with his sword.
Swish!
The rebar was cut like paper and scattered on the ground. Then Kevin tossed a healing potion and said.
“You presumptuously even got Igeon to repair your imperial sacred treasure, and now you break it like an idiot.”
“What?! N-no!”
“You stole Igeon’s time, and then you get beaten by a bull. The name of our Battle Constellations weeps, weeps.”
“What?!”
“Anyway, a worthless guy who can’t earn his keep. Don’t you ever call yourself Igeon’s partner constellation again.”
“What did you say!”
“Forget it and pick up your broken treasure. I’ll buy time.”
“!”
At his will to attack, Taurus frowned.
Virgo was the second-ranked Constellation.
In swordsmanship, he was strong enough to be called humanity’s strongest.
If he sided with Igeon, it would be quite a headache.
But soon Taurus sneered.
It was unmistakably because of the conspicuously empty sleeve.
“A swordsman who lost an arm and his full power dares to…”
But at that moment.
Whoosh!!!
Blood spurted from Taurus’s thick arm.
“Kuk!”
And in an instant, the muscular arm went limp.
The tendons of one arm had been severed.
Taurus glared behind him with bloodshot eyes.
In the blink of an eye, Virgo was behind him, smiling.
“If you’re going to babble, back it up with skill, you third-rate.”
“!”
“A guy beneath my feet chattering like he’s hot stuff.”
Taurus’s face twisted.
‘So second place really is second place.’
And then it happened.
“This works out.”
“!”
Libra, who’d been watching with interest, burst into laughter.
“I was planning to find him anyway; I can deal with two traitors at once right here.”
No sooner had the words fallen than a yellow light surged around Libra.
At that sight, both Hugo and Kevin’s mouths fell open.
No wonder, for a gate had opened in the sky.
Rumble rumble!
Subordinate gods poured out simultaneously!
At their majesty, Kevin and Hugo momentarily froze.
‘Dammit…! The 88 subordinates!’
Though not all were summoned, just the subordinates each lieutenant god called forth numbered in the hundreds.
And every single one was a god-level!
In this situation, Hugo looked at Libra, flustered.
‘Damn it, it wasn’t a doppelganger.’
He’d naturally thought it wasn’t the real woman entering Igeon’s land but a copy.
But seeing her use this ability, there was no doubt.
‘It’s the real culprit.’
Hugo gritted his teeth.
‘If it’s Libra herself, there’s no way to handle her.’
And on top of that, an army of subordinate gods.
When Hugo trembled, Kevin let out a hollow laugh.
“What are you shaking for? We just need to summon our own subordinates, that’s all.”
Hugo looked at him dumbfounded.
“Can’t you not use your power in Asia? Virgo’s followers are barely here.”
Kevin glared at Hugo as if asking what he meant.
“This is Sagittarius’s sanctuary. Naturally, we just summon Sagittarius’s subordinate gods…”
“Sorry. The sanctuary’s collapsed right now, so we can’t summon a single one. So you’ll have to handle all of that yourself.”
“?!”
Wh-what?
But whether Kevin was flustered or not, Hugo scoffed.
“And I don’t have my sacred treasure, so I can only use 40% of my power. Anyway, tank well.”
Hey, that’s too much!
Even if he came to help!
“Are you kidding? Hurry! Call Igeon and fix the sacred treasure!”
Hugo looked appalled.
“Dammit! Why would I call someone who’s holding off the Crimson Eyes! He’s busy! Forget it, you’re strong! Shut up and tank! I just need to protect our sanctuary!”
“Hey! You don’t want to call Igeon because you broke the bow!”
Right at that moment.
Rumble!
The summoned subordinate gods targeted Kevin and Hugo.
And Taurus charged, declaring he’d smash Virgo’s sacred treasure too.
But then.
Flash!
“!!”
With a colossal light, the subordinate gods began to vanish, swallowed by the radiance.
“Heok…!!”
The source of the surging light was none other than the Sagittarius sanctuary building!
[Heuk! Master!]
[Aaack!]
The subordinate gods caught in the light disappeared with screams.
Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight.
No wonder, for that light was the light of a Constellation God!
The powerful divine force caused the subordinate gods to lose strength and vanish.
Because it was another constellation’s sanctuary.
But the reason for their shock was different.
‘That’s not Sagittarius’s light!’
Indeed.
It was Sagittarius’s sanctuary, so the light of the Scorching Flame Constellation God should have erupted.
But the light now blazing was unmistakably a blue-green glow.
‘Ophiuchus!’
But surprise was short-lived, as Taurus screamed.
Crack!
Taurus, who’d been about to eliminate Hugo and smash Virgo’s sacred treasure, was mercilessly pummeled and sent flying.
Simultaneously, a voice rang out.
“You brats. What kind of mess are you making in my sanctuary?”
A familiar face dropped down before them.
(To be continued)