That was how it happened.
The place Lee Geon left Steven and headed was none other than northern Seoul.
And then.
"Seongjae, wake up now."
"...Mmph?"
At the same time, Cheon Seongjae, who had been slung over Lee Geon's shoulder like a sack of rice, lifted his head.
Abruptly knocked out and kidnapped by Lee Geon, Cheon Seongjae looked around in utter confusion.
"Uncle? Where are we?"
"The Devil's Tower."
"Aha, I thought it was... What?!?!"
Upon spotting the tower before him, Cheon Seongjae screamed.
"Why are we here!"
It was exactly as he said.
After knocking Cheon Seongjae out, Lee Geon had brought him straight to the Devil's Tower.
And whether Cheon Seongjae was panicking or not, Lee Geon walked him right up to the tower's entrance.
"I heard that after I came out, the expedition that went in to explore this place encountered some unidentified monster."
"!"
"They say I definitely killed them all, yet the monster is still alive—interesting enough, but I have something to check first."
"Check?"
"To find out who stabbed me here."
"!"
Startled, Cheon Seongjae stared at Lee Geon.
"Th-then why am I...!"
"Why do you think? Our Seongjae said he wanted to get out of S-rank quickly, didn't he? Even an hour ago, you were sniffling after the sisters beat you up, right?"
"!"
At those words, Cheon Seongjae realized he'd messed up.
Had it been about an hour ago?
'Listen up! I'm going to be uncle's Saint!'
Cheon Seongjae had issued a provocation to his wide-eyed sisters.
'You know what? I can even use the Demigod Arts that only Saints can use! But you sisters can't do anything like that! So I'll be the one to serve uncle!'
'Hah.'
With a scoff, Cheon Seongjae had been beaten up and sent flying by his sisters.
They were telling him that an S-rank had no business butting in.
Of course, S-rank was still a Squad Leader level—a commander class—yet before the SS-ranks, he was nothing more than a worm.
'Requests to become uncle's Saint are pouring in from all over the world as it is...!'
At this rate, he might truly lose the Saint position.
And that was when Lee Geon had shown up as he was sniffling.
'Our Seongjae, you want to grow stronger quickly?'
'Yes! Just like you, uncle!'
'Really? Like me? Then you'd do whatever it takes?'
'Yes! No matter what!'
But Cheon Seongjae should have known better then.
That he must not say just anything in front of his uncle!
And sure enough, now kidnapped!
"Well then, our Seongjae. Surely you can clear something like the Devil's Tower on your own, right?"
"Huh?! Wh-what do you...!"
"What do you think I mean."
No sooner had the words fallen than Cheon Seongjae was hurled inside the tower.
"Aaaaaaah! Unnncle!"
At his nephew's scream, Lee Geon dusted off his hands.
Of course, the Devil's Tower had been destroyed when he came out.
It hadn't completely collapsed, but the entrance was breached and the upper floors had crumbled, leaving it in ruins.
But.
Boom!
"Aaahk!"
The Devil's Tower he returned to was certainly pulsing with demonic energy.
'I definitely didn't feel it before, but there really is something inside here.'
Indeed, the expedition teams who had entered this place had reportedly been kidnapped by something unidentified and gone missing.
And the few survivors were said to have raised a huge fuss, claiming that Lee Geon, having endured 20 years in such a place, must be insane.
Just as he was wondering what the deal was, that moment came.
[The tower holds the power of Ophiuchus]
[The tower reacts to the power of Ophiuchus]
[Warning. The aura of a Monarch is felt in the tower's basement]
At those words, Lee Geon smiled with interest.
'A Monarch in the tower's basement?'
As it happened, wasn't this also the place where Yang Wei, whom he had sent to the Monarch, had vanished?
'If it's a Monarch, there might be a connection.'
The day he had awakened as the thirteenth.
The one who had laid hands on his family.
Indeed, the smell he had sensed from the helmeted man had come from this place.
And if that, and his being trapped in the Devil's Tower, were related to these bastards.
'I'll wipe them all out.'
But then it happened.
"Aaack! U-uncle!!"
At his nephew's scream, Lee Geon hurried deeper into the first floor.
Cheon Seongjae was deep inside the first floor.
And.
"The monster corpses are moving...!"
Roughly a thousand of them, maybe.
Cheon Seongjae was surrounded by an undead legion of monster corpses.
But seeing that legion, Lee Geon furrowed his brow.
It couldn't be helped.
"What the. Judging by the wounds, these are all monsters I killed."
"Really?! You mean uncle killed all these?!"
Cheon Seongjae covered his mouth in awe, but Lee Geon tilted his head at the groaning, moving legion.
"They look like zombies, but it's strange... I definitely killed them all before coming out. Why are they moving?"
That wasn't all.
Actually, Lee Geon had intended to use a tool here.
[An honor to give to Lee Geon-nim, Music Box (SS)]
- Can read the memories of a specific space (up to 50 years)
- Creator: Jinmyeong
It was a gift from his diehard appraiser fan. He planned to use it to see the face of the culprit who had pushed him into a trap.
'That guy can read the memories of objects and spaces.'
With this, he would be able to see the face of the one who had stabbed him that day...
'The tool couldn't be used.'
He had actually tried activating the tool upon entering the tower, but to no avail.
The reason was simple.
[It must be used in the space whose memories you wish to see]
That was it.
To confirm the face of the culprit who had pushed him, he needed to go to the 100th floor.
But coming here in person, he saw that he had smashed his way out far too recklessly, and the interior was in a much worse state than expected.
The stairs going up were all severed, making it impossible to ascend to the 100th floor.
Of course, when he tried to use a skill to regenerate the fortress, his silver was limited to living things.
'And if I use a repair-type skill, the poison energy is too strong for it to activate.'
In any case, he couldn't reach the 100th floor, so it seemed there would be no gain—
'I killed them, yet they're coming back to life?'
He wondered what was going on, but Lee Geon soon learned the reason.
Flash!
'!'
An item Lee Geon was carrying suddenly began to glow.
[Heart of the Tower Gatekeeper] (SS)
- Can restore the tower to its original state
'!'
It was an item that Giselle's children—Yun Taewoo, Yun Siwoo's party—had possessed. Originally, it had been a crystal stone of his own.
Simply put, it was the heart of the monsters he had hunted in the Devil's Tower.
And the moment that crystal activated, astonishingly, the fortress began regenerating.
[The nucleus contains the power of the Monarch of [Ophiuchus]]
[The power of [Ophiuchus] extends upward through the tower]
[The power of regression extends up to the 10th floor]
Seeing that familiar light, Lee Geon smiled with interest.
'Reset.'
So it seemed the tower's time was reverting to before he had so mindlessly smashed it to pieces.
[Through the nucleus's power, the tower has been restored up to the 10th floor]
[The tower's functions begin to partially recover]
[The tower's time has started running]
[Caution. The flow of time begins to differ from the outside]
Lee Geon smiled.
'At this rate, even if it takes time, I might be able to restore it all the way to the 100th floor.'
The same principle must apply to the monsters he had slain coming back to life.
Though perhaps, with only the nucleus of a gatekeeper-level power, a perfect reset was impossible.
'The monsters seem to have awakened in a half-dead state after I killed them.'
But if anything, that was perfect.
Just as he expected.
"Aaack! These bastards are attacking!"
At Cheon Seongjae's scream, Lee Geon grinned as if he'd been waiting for it.
"Seongjae. You'll do anything uncle says, won't you?"
"O-of course! Agh!"
"Then while uncle goes to take care of something for a bit, catch all of them."
"Yes! I-I will... Huh?!"
Cheon Seongjae froze.
For good reason—every corpse here was Red Zone grade or higher.
And normally, at most, you could handle up to ten Red Zone-grade monsters!
'No, that's not even the issue.'
This was no ordinary place. This was the Devil's Tower, which even the mightiest of humanity had entered in terror!
And now, out of the blue, a thousand of those things!
And all alone?!
That wasn't all.
"Hmm, yeah. I'll just go up to about the 10th floor and come back."
On top of that, it had grown by nine floors!
"D-Dad said! He said that with each higher floor, the difficulty skyrockets...!! And the numbers double!"
But regardless, Lee Geon smiled.
"Oh, that? It's nothing. I cleared 100 floors all by myself, so meh. 10 floors is only one-tenth of that. Easy, right?"
"...!?!"
Uncle and himself were not the same!
In the end, Cheon Seongjae looked at Lee Geon with tearful, pleading eyes, but well.
"Oh, and. Family Shield is forbidden here."
Cheon Seongjae let out a wail.
***
It was around then.
At the press conference in the United States. People were shocked by the scene before their eyes.
"Wh-what did you say?"
"You're saying it was Lee Geon who caught the Red Eye?"
"On top of that, the Saints actually just chickened out and fled at the sight of the Red Eye."
"And you're saying Lee Geon caught it alone?"
"That is correct."
People could not hide their astonishment as they watched Steven bow his head at a 90-degree angle.
With every word Steven uttered, they couldn't help but doubt their own ears.
"My god, what is going on."
"This is completely different from what we knew...!"
That's right.
Steven was exposing the lies of the Saints at the press conference.
Furthermore, the revelation that certain divine thrones had deliberately downplayed Lee Geon's abilities, and that the majority had condoned it, seemed to shock the audience.
"Therefore, as soon as a Saint proxy is appointed, I, Steven, will step down from this position and return to the ranks to serve humanity."
That wasn't all.
"Though it may be too late to ask for forgiveness, I will return all the wealth I have amassed to Lee Geon as an act of repentance."
The people who saw the documents Steven presented buzzed with commotion.
"This is insane! With this amount, you could buy a whole state, not just Alaska!"
"There are shares in global hotels and resorts too. Just how much is all this...!"
In the end, the reporters had only one thing to say.
"Y-you're not being threatened by Lee Geon, are you?!"
At that, Steven flinched, and Hugo pressed his fingers to his brow, thinking, Oh dear.
'Geon, manage your image a little!'
Well, it didn't matter either way.
His friend had been whispering something to Steven with a smile, so this must have been what he demanded.
'Tch, until now, Geon's was the smallest, shabbiest little shop, a poverty-stricken divine throne.'
There would have been no tributes, no god's money, nothing.
'So I was going to tease him for being an even poorer divine throne than us.'
But at this rate, with one blow, he was squashing them all.
Seeing the list of assets Steven was giving away, Hugo's eyes rolled furtively.
"Should I just flat-out transfer now...?"
At that, the star god of Leo visibly flinched.
But regardless, Steven continued as if the main point was just beginning.
"I have something important to say."
"!"
"Lee Geon is the true hero who saved humanity 20 years ago. Moreover, his skill surpassed that of the Twelve Saints. But the Twelve Saints, save for Sagittarius, were all blinded by self-interest and hid that fact."
The hall was greatly stirred.
"Are you sure you're okay with making that statement? Many might not agree...!"
"If they don't agree, they'll have to be made to agree. Most of them did use Lee Geon, after all."
At the look in his eyes, the reporters buzzed.
"Is that a declaration of war?!"
Well, that wasn't exactly wrong either.
And it was exactly what Lee Geon had wanted.
He continued.
"That is not all. It is said that 20 years ago, Lee Geon was betrayed by one of the Twelve Saints and could not escape the tower."
"Pardon?!"
"I, too, will gladly accept punishment for tarnishing Lee Geon's honor, but apart from that... The greatest hero humanity has longed for. Who among the Saints was it that tried to kill Lee Geon?"
The sound of the world turning upside down could be heard.
And around that time...
[Shocking: The True Hero Who Caught the Red Eye—Lee Geon?]
[Shocking Truth: Lee Geon Was Nearly Murdered in the Devil's Tower]
[Among the Twelve Saints, There Was an Actual Attempted Murderer Who Pushed Lee Geon Into a Trap!]
[As Nations Begin Searching for the Culprit]
[Eleven Saint Suspects: Who Tried to Steal Away Humanity's Hero?]
In the middle of a desert in the United States.
Cancer Saint, Zhang Rui, watched the broadcast of Steven's press conference and let out a dry laugh.
"In the end, that muscle-brain had to go and cause trouble."
That was it.
Zhang Rui had been on his own business while searching for Kali, who had gone AWOL from the holy order. Kali was an extremely important asset to them.
And that was when he had come across Steven's press conference.
So at that press conference, what was being said now?
Cancer let out a laugh.
Perhaps it had been when the Libra star god had told Steven to become his ally.
'I knew it when he flipped the middle finger at the star god back then.'
That Lee Geon was only up to no good.
Well, Lee Geon must have known Steven's tendencies and purposefully chosen him to make such a declaration of war.
Because of that bastard's words, the other Twelve Saints—all but Hugo—had become suspects, and the world had been splendidly turned on its head.
'So in the end, it's a declaration of all-out war between divine thrones.'
This was surely all a grand picture drawn by Lee Geon.
'If the situation worsens, even the star gods dealing with them won't stay still.'
At this rate, it was as clear as watching a fire that the faith the star gods valued more than life itself would plummet.
Sure enough, Cancer made a call somewhere.
"Publish a rebuttal article immediately. Even if it's true, say it's not. Whatever you do, it's all false."
But then it happened.
"Hah. False my ass."
"!"
The voice came from the sky.
And as someone landed before the Cancer Saint, Cancer furrowed his brow.
It couldn't be helped.
'Virgo...!'
It was none other than Kevin who had appeared before him.
He, too, had come after making a pact with Lee Geon, just like Steven.
But apart from that, it was also true that he wanted to deal with the culprit who had tried to kill Lee Geon.
"You're the ones who planned to kill Lee Geon, right?"
As Cancer tried to retort, Kevin raised his blade.
"No, you don't need to answer. The result will be the same anyway."
Cancer laughed as if dumbfounded.
"An armless cripple without even an arm, talking..."
He was about to say something more, but Zhang Rui suddenly narrowed his eyes.
Virgo's appearance was a bit off.
'Green?'
(To be continued in the next chapter)