In truth, more than half the reason they’d come to like Igeon was because of Dad.
Ever since they were little, they’d grown up hearing those vivid tales of heroism.
Even their older sister, who after Mom disappeared had stepped up as the head of the family more decisively than anyone, would get that childlike sparkle in her eyes only when talking about Igeon.
Of course, in his own case, the decisive blow had been something Dad said after Mom’s incident.
‘If it had been Geon, things would’ve been different.’
Maybe he was disappointed that Dad had knelt to the enemy, even if it was for their sake.
Maybe it was frustrating how Dad had held back without a single word of protest to the enemy.
He’d realized that the Dad who he thought could do anything was just a person like them, and as he grew distant from the father who didn’t believe his words, that one remark in particular stuck in his heart.
If Igeon had truly been alive, would the situation have been different?
Could they have saved the two people who had no choice but to die because of him?
And then, a single video of Igeon completely won them over.
[Hey! Are you crazy? If you go in now, you’ll really die!]
[I’ll shoot if you move! Come out of there!]
[I said open up before I shove your brat in first!]
That courage and sense of justice(?!)!
Well, as a righteous hero he certainly had huge issues, but Igeon was on a whole different level from those merchant-like bastards.
Of course, as for his older sister, he didn’t know the exact reason she’d become a fan of Igeon.
She’d always been the type to not talk about herself much.
Rather than her own stories, she was the type to listen to and try to resolve stories about him and Dad.
And anyway, between a brother and sister, would you really want to know all the inner details like lovers?
At school, in the Holy Order, they all praised his sister as a once-in-a-century beauty, but well—
He was at the stage where after seeing a swimsuit photo and going “Wow, she’s amazing!” he’d realize it was his sister’s face and do a blanket kick in embarrassment.
Anyway, even for that sister of his, her reason for liking Uncle was probably not too different from his own.
The uncle they actually met with their own eyes was awesome.
And now, at this very moment.
Boom!!!
A tremendous light poured down from above Cheon Yuha’s head.
It was a green-blue light.
Others shunned it as an ominous light of disaster, but he was certain.
‘Uncle!’
And as that light poured onto his sister, Cheon Seongjae inwardly cheered.
It was exactly like when it had happened to him.
Surely Igeon was lending his sister power.
During the propagation mission, Igeon had lent items or power once or twice.
Of course, whether one could use that to accomplish the mission was a question of the Apostle’s ability.
Sure enough.
[Using the Constellation’s contribution, the power of Ophiuchus has been activated]
[Those belonging to Ophiuchus can exert their full power in its vicinity]
Cheon Yuha’s heart trembled at Igeon’s voice, once again reaching her ears.
And that moment.
Boom!!!
Along with the voice, a gigantic serpent of light shot up above Cheon Yuha’s head.
The colossal light serpent viciously tightened its coils around the necks of the giant lion and black tiger.
Crunch!!!
A tremendous roar echoed across the plain.
It seemed less like the descent of a Divine Being and more like the power of the Constellation manifested.
In a way, it was utilizing the contributions accumulated to the Constellation.
Cheon Yuha didn’t miss that chance.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Cheon Yuha leaped up and rode the serpent high.
Then as she imbued her spear with powerful magic, red lightning flared up.
Crack!
As if a red ray drew a straight line across the sky.
Piercing Light!!!
Cheon Yuha’s attack pierced through Oliver’s torso.
Heaven and earth shook with the tremendous sound.
Boom-boom-boom!
It was incredible power.
[Propagation Mission 60% achieved]
The attack didn’t end there.
Flashes continued from the sky, raining down on Leo as well.
Piercing Light! Piercing Light!
[Propagation Mission 80% achieved]
Cheon Seongjae marveled at the sight. No matter what fighting had occurred, his sister was truly amazing.
Of course, Cheon Seongjae wasn’t staying idle either.
[Finish it before I get there]
At Igeon’s voice, Cheon Seongjae hurriedly teleported away.
And where he appeared was on top of the lion’s head!
[!]
At the same time, Cheon Seongjae summoned something from midair with teleportation.
[Sword of Ilnam]
[Sword of Inam]
[Sword of Samnam]
Those were the treasured weapons of the subordinate gods he had fought!
Spoils that made his flight from those subordinate gods worthwhile.
He’d secretly cast a spell so he could snatch them at any time.
And finally, at Cheon Seongjae’s gesture, the summoned divine weapons vanished—
Crunch!!!!
The vanished weapons reappeared, piercing the necks of the monstrous lion and tiger.
[Keoheok!!!]
[Achievement earned]
[As an Apostle, inflicted massive damage on a Saint]
[15% of divine might is directed to the Divine Being]
Even for a battle Constellation, it was inevitable to take wounds from god-level weapons.
And then, at that moment.
Seizing that opening, Cheon Yuha’s finishing flash of light hammered down from the sky.
Piercing Light!!!!
With that, the divine energy surrounding Leo surged in attack.
“Ack!!”
Cheon Seongjae, struck directly by the tremendous energy, screamed as he flew far away.
“Kgh!”
Even in semi-divine form, was divine manifestation still divine manifestation?
Having taken that energy directly, Cheon Seongjae was in extreme pain.
[Learned about the skill of semi-divine manifestation]
Cheon Seongjae, who had tumbled head over heels, lifted the corner of his mouth.
He seemed to have realized something.
‘I’ve got a rough idea what kind of skill this is.’
This must have been the moment one of Cheon Seongjae’s traits, [Genius], activated.
And just as he was about to strike once more—
Boom!!!
“Kgh!”
Sharp ice burrowed into Cheon Seongjae’s shoulder.
It wasn’t ordinary ice. Unmelting ice that killed the blood vessels and skin tissue of his shoulder and arm.
And at the moment he wondered who it was—
“Have you completely lost it? Don’t you think now’s not the time to bother with that?”
Cheon Seongjae let out a hollow laugh as he saw the people standing before him.
Those blocking him numbered twenty in total.
The amusing part was that not only Gemini but also Aquarius had joined forces.
‘An alliance, huh.’
Aquarius was surely searching for Saint Sophie Mardi, who Uncle had flung somewhere.
With Gemini’s teleportation, they could scour even lands of unknown civilizations while reducing risk.
And Gemini?
Their objective was obvious.
Sure enough.
“We’ll kill you and take back the precious Fairy King you’ve stolen.”
Listening to the sound of his sister’s attacks, Cheon Seongjae sneered.
‘Looks like this Fairy King is unbelievably precious.’
Indeed, those appearing before him were all major players in the Holy Order.
And that wasn’t all.
‘They all have high contributions.’
Guys who could fill as much as 1% of the Divine Being’s divine might per achievement.
Normally, thousands had to earn achievements or pray just to barely raise 0.5%.
So one person being able to fill 1% was monstrous.
In other words, their aim was to eliminate him and offer that contribution to their Divine Being.
But Cheon Seongjae didn’t show it; rather, he tried to use an attack skill.
“Heh, I went and summoned your Saint when you couldn’t even call him out, and you repay kindness with enmity?”
That was meant as a provocation, but for some reason they laughed.
“Kid. You’d better not mess with us, got it?”
“?”
It was then, thinking these bastards had gone crazy, that Cheon Seongjae recoiled at something he saw.
He couldn’t help it.
“Mmph, mmph!!”
“?!”
They had his friend, the same age as him.
It was his roommate, Han Jimin.
And the look of ‘why is the friend who was supposed to send my luggage while I move to Igeon’s sanctuary here’ lasted only a moment.
‘Cancer!’
That was it.
The ones holding his friend were none other than Apostles of Cancer.
‘They’ve stooped to teaming up with criminal Constellations, of all things.’
And for criminal Constellations like them, abduction was nothing.
So Cheon Seongjae said:
“You think Gemini’s Saint will forgive this?”
“!”
That was right.
Right now, the Saint of Gemini wasn’t Heiji. The appearance was Heiji’s, but the contents were the Fairy King Reliquin whom Igeon had placed there.
And wasn’t that Reliquin Uncle’s underling?
“Didn’t the Saint of Gemini clearly give orders? Not to touch Igeon-nim’s side.”
At those words, the Apostles of Gemini had indeed been thrown into panic.
He’d even given orders not to pursue Cheon Seongjae himself.
“Didn’t you even sign Virgo’s covenant?”
That was exactly why Gemini’s pursuit, which should have come to assassinate him at any moment, had ceased.
But right then:
“You’re not trying to pull a fast one, are you, kid?”
“!”
They smiled menacingly.
“We already know very well that he’s not the real Heiji-nim.”
“!”
“And Reliquin doesn’t matter anymore, whatever happens to him.”
“What?”
“Because the Divine Being of Gemini has already sent another Fairy King.”
“……!!!”
“Right about now, the new Fairy King should be on his way to rescue Heiji-nim.”
Damn it!
At that, Cheon Seongjae hastily traced Ophiuchus’s holy sign.
[Ouroboros (S)]
Just as Cheon Seongjae urgently tried to launch an attack, the Apostles of Cancer thrust Han Jimin forward.
When Cheon Seongjae hesitated, the Apostles launched their magic as if they’d been waiting.
Magic circles were inscribed in every direction surrounding Cheon Seongjae.
At the same time, a gate opened in the sky.
Boom-boom-boom!
Tearing through the heavens, fearsome attacks revealed themselves.
‘Damn it!’
They were filled with S-rank or higher magic that was hard to block even with ordinary defense skills.
In fact, his own ability told him so.
[activated]
[Requires SS-rank or higher defense]
And while someone of the Holy Order leader class might have one or two usable defense skills, well—
‘I don’t have any defense skill that can block that!’
Whether it was a weakness of Ophiuchus or just how things were, there was no defense skill among his new skills.
No, from the start his new baptismal name was .
True to that name, most of his awakened skills were attack magic.
And perhaps because of that, Igeon had made him defensive gear, but magic attacks of that level were quite dangerous.
The amount he could absorb varied in proportion to his own magic capacity.
As for using a rental skill—
‘Damn it, Taurus’s magic defense skill is crazy expensive!’
He had just transferred and hadn’t even received his pay. He had no money for skill rental from the start.
Teleporting required high concentration, so in this state of pain, if he used it he’d have no idea where he’d get thrown.
So all that remained were Ophiuchus’s common skills, but—
‘Damn it, was there even a defense skill among Ophiuchus’s common skills??’
But soon, having remembered something, Cheon Seongjae hastily drew the holy sign.
He didn’t remember clearly, but it was definitely in the Bible the scribe was compiling.
Something that looked like a defense skill among Ophiuchus’s common skills!
Just as he thought, Cheon Seongjae activated a certain skill.
[Take the hit for me]
He didn’t know what skill it was, but judging by the name it had to be a defense skill!
And that prediction was right.
[skill activated]
At the same time, green-blue light blanketed Cheon Seongjae. Then some black object covered his head.
And with that, the bombardment fell from the sky.
Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
The timing was perfect.
Crouched down, Cheon Seongjae groaned and lifted his head.
Thankfully, the defense skill’s power seemed to be SS-rank or higher.
All those countless blows were nullified as if in a lie.
But for some reason—
Those who had launched the attacks were staring at Cheon Seongjae with their mouths agape.
“Th-this crazy…!”
Wondering what was happening, Cheon Seongjae slightly lifted his head.
But he too soon couldn’t help but be shocked.
It was only natural.
“That little punk Geon just…!!”
What had been summoned above him was none other than Sagittarius’ Saint.
Hugo.
“D-Dad!!”
Hugo, who looked like he’d taken the attacks head-on, was twitching with his face contorted.
His hair was a mess as if hit by a bomb, and his clothes were in tatters here and there.
Thanks to that, the magicians who had launched the attacks were flustered.
“Wh-why is Sagittarius here….”
“N-no, but he took all those attacks and he’s fine?”
At those words, Hugo flared up.
“Do I look fine to you?! My hair, my clothes are ruined! Even my skin is singed!”
That’s what fine means!
In the end, just when they were wondering what was going on—
[Summoned an SS-rank shield appropriate to the situation, matched to the incoming attack]
[The summoned shield differs for each Apostle]
[Use it expediently according to the situation]
Cheon Seongjae broke into a sweat.
W-well, if it was Dad, his defense was certainly SS-rank or higher…!
And Hugo, who had been summoned by the same skill to serve as a shield by Igeon before, ground his teeth in fury.
Well, serving as his son’s shield was one thing. Weren’t they a father-son pair with an estranged relationship from the start?
Perhaps it was because of the saying that even if you protect your children, you protect yourself.
So from the beginning, Igeon must have designated him as the one responsible for Seongjae.
But still.
“You little punk, you could at least tell me before sending me!!”
(To be continued...)