Hugo screamed.
It was only natural.
[Yuha: Uncle, can I take your last name too? (emoticon)]
The phone Igeon held out clearly bore Yuha's name.
It was a message that had just arrived minutes ago.
She'd even used an emoticon—something she'd never send to her own father even if he begged.
At the same moment, Hugo realized.
'Said someone would become a saint-divine!'
Suddenly declaring Igeon unnecessary—hadn't it seemed strange from the moment he gave up? Yuha was joining the Serpent Bearer Constellation?
Finally, Hugo grabbed Igeon by the collar.
"You bastard!! Taking my wife and son wasn't enough?!"
How dare he try to take his one remaining daughter too, Hugo raged.
Of course, strictly speaking, Cheon Jiu was merely an ordinary saint placed under the Serpent Bearer Constellation. She was still firmly serving the Archer Constellation's interests, but that didn't seem to matter to Hugo.
"Accepted her? So you accepted her into the Serpent Bearer?!"
"Well, no reason to refuse, right? Just looking at Yuha's abilities, she's already saint-divine level."
"Aaaaarggghhh!!!"
Hugo, demanding to know how he could, shook Igeon by the collar.
"What kind of twisted mind makes you try to turn someone else's daughter into a saint-divine just because your own brat won't do it?!"
Though Hugo himself had never been a saint-divine... well, anything was fine.
"Yuha's already an excellent saint-divine."
"Argh!"
Hugo raged, shouting that he would join the Serpent Bearer himself immediately. Perhaps his heart was driven by the thought that if his daughter was to be made a saint-divine, he would become one in her place.
Eventually, the Archer Constellation's youngest saints had to intervene to calm him down.
"Lord Constellation! It's true Yuha is strong, but she's still S-rank! Making her a saint-divine is too much!"
"That's right! She must first reach at least SS-rank!"
Though unofficial, all saint-divine ranks are SS-rank or higher.
"And seeing how the Serpent Bearer's god-saint granted regeneration skills even to another constellation like ours, isn't the Serpent Bearer's god-saint a cool and admirable figure? Following them wouldn't be so bad..."
Seo Jihun, the youngest saint of the Archer Constellation, got smacked.
Well, even Hugo thought the Serpent Bearer's god-saint seemed like a cool person. And a person like that would be respectable, unlike some others. But still, no.
"It's still not allowed!"
The problem wasn't the Serpent Bearer's god-saint. Right now, since Yuha belonged to the Lion Constellation, she had few opportunities to cross paths with Igeon. But once she was in the Serpent Bearer, wouldn't they see each other every single day?
And besides.
"The moment Yuha sees Igeon, she'll be sed... sedu..."
"Lord Constellation!"
The Archer saints caught Hugo as he collapsed from skyrocketing blood pressure.
"Then I'd rather just do it myself!"
"Lord Constellation!!!"
And at this spectacle, Igeon laughed.
'As expected, the effect is enormous.'
Of course, the claim that Yuha had become his saint was a complete lie.
That was it. Igeon had committed fraud against Hugo. Of course, it wasn't 100% a lie. Why? Because Yuha had used a coin.
[Cheon Yuha has accepted proselytization]
[Proselytization mission begins]
However, compared to Seongjae's case, the mission was considerably more demanding.
[Mission: Defeat a saint-divine rank]
[Provided, Archer Constellation is excluded (Reason: too easy)]
In Seongjae's case, hadn't it simply required annihilating the enemy before his eyes?
'Well, the harder the conditions, the greater the awakening reward.'
It was actually a good thing.
And though he was a bit worried, with Yuha, she'd resolve it quickly.
Why?
'She can just catch that cat bastard right there, right?'
Especially since all its legs had been chopped off.
Perhaps that was why it had been eaten by Red Eye and its arm severed by Giselle.
In fact, the proselytization mission's progress was considerable.
[Cheon Yuha, proselytization mission 20% achieved]
The 20% divinity must have come from that.
In Seongjae's case, perhaps due to the Fairy King's appearance, it had ended so swiftly that divinity never entered during the mission.
'Even with an arm severed, a saint-divine is still a saint-divine.'
Well, whatever.
Igeon looked at Hugo magnanimously.
"Anyway, you don't need to join us. Just become our affiliate. If not, I'll take over your entire holy territory."
"Nmmmaaargghhh!!!"
Was he asking what kind of dog's nonsense this was when the building was already made into his own?
"Enough! At least return our building to normal!!! Remove the secret designation as your holy territory!"
"Ah, why!"
"Otherwise we're really cutting ties!!!"
"Tch!"
Still, perhaps unwilling to cut ties with his best friend, Igeon looked at the 63-story Demon King Castle building.
But it was right then.
"Kugh!"
Intense pain struck, and Igeon clutched his eyes. It was the area said to have been upgraded after absorbing Giselle's power.
And as Igeon staggered, clutching his right eye, everyone was startled.
"Geon, what's wrong! What's happening!"
"No, it's fine. I'm used to it."
It was similar to the effect that had appeared last time during the Trial of Strength. Back then, his arm had upgraded and brought muscle pain, too.
Simultaneously, something began appearing before his eyes.
[Oh? You mean Igeon is going to the Demon's Tower?]
[That mutant?]
"...!"
It was a vision, just like a hologram.
Translucent figures passed through Hugo and Kevin, moving chaotically.
And that was definitely Giselle's memory. Since it had happened earlier, too.
But it was right at that moment.
"!!"
Thud!
The scenery changed. The 73-story Archer Constellation building disappeared, and the surrounding environment completely transformed.
What appeared was none other than a sacred altar.
Simultaneously, Igeon cried out in pain.
But his body wouldn't move. It felt as if he had been possessed by something somewhere.
'Damn. What is this.'
However, Igeon soon realized what he had possessed.
'Hands.'
They were a man's hands. But they wouldn't move. It was a corpse, half-dead.
At the same time, Igeon realized he was lying upon an altar.
'It's definitely a feeling of the Scales Constellation's holy territory.'
It must be Giselle's memory. What had been visible as holograms must have shifted into a possession-style experience.
But that wasn't the problem right now.
[Igeon will die in three days' time. Definitively, in that Demon's Tower.]
'!'
Unfamiliar figures were seated near the altar. And the moment he realized their identities, Igeon gritted his teeth.
'God-saints!'
That was it. The ones gathered and seated in the Scales Constellation's holy territory were none other than the god-saints.
Though he hadn't encountered all god-saints directly, this smell, this aura of god-saints that only he could feel—it was unmistakably them.
Though he couldn't check how many there were since he couldn't turn his head.
Anyway, gathering as spirit bodies in Giselle's private domain without even borrowing physical bodies—were they holding some kind of crucial meeting?
Soon, Giselle spoke.
[As planned, we will kill Igeon there. I assume there are no objections?]
[Indeed. That mutant should have been eliminated long ago.]
These bastards. So even the god-saints were involved in the plot to kill him?
[Still, Scales. Will you be alright? Even for a god, entering the Demon's Tower directly is too dangerous.]
[Correct. That place is the nest of one of the Four Great Calamities they raise. Where the power of an Unknown Civilization Sovereign reaches, even a god-saint can die there. Too dangerous a place.]
At those words, Giselle smiled.
The Unknown Civilizations were their enemies.
But.
[That's precisely why it's the perfect space to dispose of this Igeon.]
[!]
[Red Eye is strong. We shall use one of the Four Great Calamities to perfectly erase the 13th existence.]
[Indeed, only power on par with the Sovereigns could possibly erase the 13th.]
"!"
Igeon furrowed his brow.
So the god-saints had already known that Giselle was a god-saint?
'Well, seems she hid it from her own saints.'
But it was right then.
[The opponent is a master monster hunter. No matter how much Red Eye is one of the Four Great Calamities they raise, since it's a monster, it seems it might be caught by Igeon.]
"...!"
At the voice heard from afar, Igeon seemed somewhat shocked. Because there, in a brownish-blonde suit, stood Hugo.
But he wasn't Igeon's friend.
'The Scorching God-Sage of the Archer Constellation.'
The Sacred Archer God-Saint had possessed his saint's body. In fact, the eye color alone was different.
'Gold.'
Hugo's eyes were originally green. And when a god-saint descends, the saint remembers nothing of that interval.
Well, that didn't matter.
If this memory was truly Giselle's memory from 20 years ago, then—had that bastard actually been involved in the plan? Had he participated in the plot to kill him?
'No, considering he even prophesied to Taek-su that I would die, that doesn't seem likely.'
In fact, unlike the other god-saints, his expression was deeply reluctant.
[He's a man who'll die soon anyway, with his body in such poor condition. It doesn't seem necessary to devise an entire scheme.]
At the Sun God's words, the other god-saints grew furious.
[The birth of the Calamity God must be prevented.]
[How can one who surely knows the meaning of the 13th be so indifferent!]
And it was just as Igeon was trying to examine the faces of the god-saints gathered here in detail.
Rummmble!
"!"
The scenery shifted yet again.
This time, it changed from the altar to the bathhouse of the Scales Constellation's holy territory.
And he seemed to have possessed the body of Giselle as she bathed.
Simultaneously, Igeon could see the tablet PC Giselle was watching.
The date was very recent, just a few days ago.
The problem was the map—a divine artifact—she was staring at.
"In 65 hours, the Unknown Civilizations' grand counterattack will occur."
That was it.
Red Eye had been a kind of preview.
Indeed, the movements of the Unknown Civilizations were visible on the map she was watching.
She smiled.
"Use Red Eye to turn things into a wasteland once, then allow them to be invaded by the main force."
[An excellent thought, my lady. You will thoroughly crush humanity's hope.]
Well, since Igeon had already caught Red Eye, the world was likely in a festive mood, not despairing.
"Still, Red Eye is one of the Four Great Calamities. It's deeply regrettable we couldn't tame it. It would have been a sovereign-class power at least."
[How could one of the great disasters raised by the Sovereigns be tamed? Merely being able to use it is remarkable enough.]
[Though it's a pity we can't even regenerate it for long use.]
[If we had the missing Aquarian Saint, couldn't it be regenerated for longer use? Might it be wise to continue searching even now...]
At those words, Giselle laughed.
"Even the Aquarian God-Saint can't perform regeneration strong enough to resurrect the dead."
[In any case, since you, my lady, have already negotiated, our territories shall be safe, yes?]
"Yes. In 65 hours, it'll be quite a sight. Leaving Red Eye aside, the ones coming this time are sovereign-class—on a different tier entirely."
Sovereign-class? Just then.
'Kugh!'
With Giselle's laughter, Igeon's vision faded into a haze.
And after what felt like an indeterminate time...
"Geon!!"
"Gasp!"
Igeon's eyes shot open. And as if surfacing from water, he gasped for breath.
At the same time, a familiar voice rang above his head.
"Geon, are you okay? Are you conscious?"
"What... was I unconscious?"
"Yeah! Do you know how shocked I was?!"
"How long was I out?"
"...About a minute? Three minutes?"
"That so?"
It didn't seem like he'd been out long. But those who couldn't have known worried over Igeon.
"Are you really alright..."
But Igeon sprang to his feet. Everyone recoiled in surprise.
"Igeon-nim?! Where are you going!"
"The bastards are swarming."
"P-pardon? Swarming?"
Igeon checked his watch. Surely Red Eye was the appetizer; the true invasion by those so-called sovereign-classes was what actually mattered.
'It was exactly 65 hours before then...'
There were 23 hours left until the invasion.
'Less than a full day remains.'
Coincidentally or not, it aligned almost exactly with when his penalty would end.
He summoned his vassals. When Eldest, Second, and Third appeared, they were deeply moved.
[Master, you have finally called us!!!!]
[How could you leave us to that mere whelp!!! Never once calling for us...]
"Ah, quiet. First, go scout the place I'm about to point to and return."
[Pardon? Wh-where...]
Igeon pointed somewhere.
---
Meanwhile, 30 minutes earlier.
"Wow, you really caught Red Eye!"
"Absolutely on a whole different level...!"
USA. The places Red Eye had swept through were filled with saints whose jaws had dropped.
And the scene of Igeon taming Red Eye was a terrifying shock.
"Twenty years ago, the one who caught that calamity was Igeon too...!"
Cheon Yuha, too, stared vacantly at the spot where Red Eye had been. News articles were posting live updates about Igeon.
[Red Eye Reappears After 20 Years]
[Humanity's Calamity, Caught Again by Igeon]
[Saint-divines Unable to Even Lift a Finger]
[Red Eye Summoned by the Scales' Power?]
[Interest in Serpent Bearer Constellation Explodes]
But to Cheon Seongjae, Red Eye didn't even enter his sight.
"Noona!!! Look at this, look at this! Isn't Uncle insane?!"
Cheon Seongjae was showing his sister the photo of the Scales' face that Igeon had sent earlier. At the sight, ground into a bloody pulp, Cheon Yuha was appalled. Making the number one constellation look like this was unthinkable.
Meanwhile, Cheon Seongjae looked at the article his sister was reading and sobbed.
"Finally, the world recognizes Uncle's contributions!! I kept posting online that Uncle caught Red Eye, that Uncle caught it, but they totally ignored me! I even terrorized the Lion Constellation's order homepage and still got ignored!"
Simultaneously, the Lion saints looked tearfully at Cheon Seongjae.
"You were the one who terrorized it?!"
"Obviously! I kept saying it was the Lion Constellation who caught Red Eye, and you guys totally ignored my uncle!"
"Even so...!"
"You're dead. I'm going to sue for every single false rumor you've spread."
"N-no!"
Just as the saints' brawl was giving the Lion Constellation a headache...
"!"
Cheon Yuha approached the armless leader of the Lion Constellation.
(Continues in the next episode)