At first, it was just a casual remark.
“As expected, Igeon is alive.”
And those words made Cheon Seong-jae’s heart pound.
But.
“Still, without Igeon, the number one sanctuary is just a bunch of idiots who can’t do a thing.”
With that, the State Guest Banquet Hall of the Blue House turned deadly in an instant.
And all eyes were fixed on one place.
Not just the reporters, but even the nation’s high officials. Even the sanctuary masters, invited as honored guests, had murder in their eyes.
But regardless, the muscular man who had spoken just laughed.
“What, am I wrong? The one who couldn’t even catch a single little spider over there.”
The atmosphere grew even more hostile. Eventually, the person next to him couldn’t bear it and tried to give him a warning.
“Leo Sanctuary Master. Please…!”
The Blue House staff were frantic.
And for good reason—today’s gathering was an assembly of all of Korea’s top sanctuaries down to the lower-ranking ones.
Twice a year.
It was a critical national event, where the Blue House hosted the sanctuaries as honored guests for a conference.
And each country’s top sanctuaries were the twelve directly managed by the Saints themselves. They were never on good terms to begin with.
So if they weren’t careful with their words, a war-grade bloodbath could erupt in an instant.
But whether he didn’t know that or was doing it on purpose,
the Leo Sanctuary Master of Korea grinned toward someone.
“Why? They say Igeon ended up catching the Spider Queen of Bucheon too. Couldn’t even finish the job after letting her slip in Manchuria. And yet those guys are supposed to be our country’s number one sanctuary? I wonder.”
At that, the Gemini Sanctuary Master turned his head in disgust, and Cheon Seong-jae looked on anxiously.
But the brawny man just kept playing the fool.
“So how did Igeon catch the Spider Queen? Was it really skill worthy of heroic tales?”
That was when a loud crack rang out—the sound of a cup shattering.
People held their breath, as if they knew this was coming.
And sure enough.
“Why are you bringing up Igeon here?”
“That’s right, stop talking about Igeon at once!”
When even the Gemini sanctuary members bristled, the Leo Sanctuary Master smirked.
“Why? Igeon is Korea’s greatest hero. What’s the problem with saying he caught the Spider Queen instead of Gemini? What, the cowardly Aries lot had to cling to Igeon’s legs from the start.”
At that boisterous laugh, now even the Aries sanctuary members were grinding their teeth.
This was blatant mockery.
“Looks like Leo wants to brag about being a combat Divine Seat. You couldn’t have caught the Spider Queen in Manchuria either!”
“But no matter how you compare, you can’t compare him to Igeon…!”
Igeon was without a doubt a hero worthy of respect, but even so, he wasn’t someone you should measure yourself against.
As proof of that discontent, the well-dressed man who’d broken his cup let out a scornful laugh.
“You must have been too absorbed in the heroic tales of Igeon’s youth.”
Choe Seong-hyeok. He was the Korea Sanctuary Master of Gemini, renowned as a magic Divine Seat.
Simultaneously ranked second in Korea, the Leo Sanctuary Master laughed.
“What’s the matter, haven’t you seen that famous video of Igeon’s Russian campaign?”
“Hah, haven’t you heard the story? That was only possible because he received buffs from the Twelve Saints. They say the Saints even made all his weapons and holy relics. And with that level of buffs, we could perform far better than that.”
“Selling study talismans to be ranked first, yet so confident.”
At those words, violent magic energy surged around the Gemini Sanctuary Master.
Crash!
The table where the Leo Sanctuary Master was sitting split in two.
The Gemini Sanctuary Master smiled smugly.
“About that Spider Queen that reappeared at the mart. There were residual sealing effects, and our brave S-rank sanctuary member captured it in a mutual-kill…”
“I heard your member couldn’t do anything, ran away, and got completely devoured? And that Igeon caught it. That kid who was there.”
In the end, the Gemini Sanctuary Master’s brow twitched.
But.
“You keep dragging Igeon up because of the eyewitness accounts and the collapse of the Tower of Evil, but get a grip. Monsters and awakened ones are far stronger now than they were back then.”
“True. No matter how strong he was, comparing him to twenty years ago with its brute-force methods is laughable.”
Eventually, the argument that Igeon wasn’t even worth discussing, that he was just a Tower of Evil dropout, continued. President Yun let out a low sigh.
‘In my view, Igeon would be far stronger.’
Sitting in the far corner, he couldn’t help but sigh.
He had never once forgotten the time Igeon saved his life during his younger days.
Back then, Igeon’s skill as he tore apart monsters was overwhelming.
Certainly, there were many top-tier star-class awakened out there, but compared to his aura…
But the proud awakened of today would never acknowledge Igeon.
It was the same during subjugation operations.
‘You hand them the manual Igeon created, and they laugh at it as outdated.’
Was it because twenty years had passed? Or because of evaluations that seemed manipulated by someone?
Public perception of Igeon was sharply divided.
‘Unless you saw it with your own eyes, you can’t believe in his abilities.’
Even he had spoken of Igeon, but without evidence, no one believed him.
Anyway, for these reasons and more, the general consensus of Igeon was that he was merely an unremarkable awakened who fell behind before catching the Red Eye.
President Yun found that deeply regrettable.
So when the Tower of Evil collapsed, his heart fluttered, thinking it might be the return of his longed-for hero.
‘But there’s no way that could be.’
In truth, no one gathered here believed he had come back alive.
If you brought up the Tower of Evil, you became a laughingstock.
‘In any case, the political climate is grim.’
Monsters were increasing around the Korean peninsula, and the Divine Seats contracted with neighboring countries were demanding colonial rule under the pretext of a mandate.
Of course, for some strange reason, it was odd that Aries, who had relentlessly demanded money every single day, had gone completely silent.
Ultimately, the president, recalling Igeon’s past, sighed.
‘If only that hero were really alive. But there’s no way that could be.’
It was just then.
“We have a major situation!”
“!”
A Blue House staff member rushed inside the banquet hall.
“Check the news right now!”
“What, what’s happening?”
“I-It’s Igeon!”
* * *
Meanwhile, at that same time.
“Hey. Oh Taek-su.”
“No autographs.”
The immediate, razor-sharp retort made Igeon chuckle dryly.
“That’s not what I…”
“No autographs.”
In the end, Hugo got smacked once.
“Not autographs, you idiot. Why the hell is your ranking like this?”
“What? Ranking? What ranking?”
Without answering, Igeon thrust out his phone.
And whatever Hugo saw, his expression instantly froze.
[Korea Federation Sanctuary (Divine Seat) Rankings]
1st Ssang-ah Sanctuary (Gemini direct management)
2nd Silver Lion (Leo direct management)
3rd Golden Fleece (Aries direct management)
…
[World Federation Sanctuary (Divine Seat) Rankings]
1st Cheonpyeong (Libra direct management)
2nd Gwanghwi (Virgo direct management)
…
For some reason, Hugo averted his gaze, and Igeon’s eyes blazed like a predator’s.
“In all the time I’ve been here, I’ve only seen two members of your sanctuary. So I did think it was weird.”
“No, listen, Igeon. First, just let me ex…”
“Why isn’t the Sagittarius Divine Seat even in the domestic rankings, let alone the global ones? Why is its rank lower than some weird amateurs who aren’t even a directly-managed sanctuary?”
At that murderous smile, Hugo’s face screamed that the moment he’d dreaded had come.
And sure enough.
“Why is the guy I personally trained below those other bastards? You little shit!”
Igeon was practically spewing fire from his mouth.
And he had every right to be furious, because he had personally given Hugo combat training and developed multiple Divine Seat skills for him.
But now.
“Someone who should obviously be above everyone else—why isn’t he even in the rankings? Why the hell is he behind that damned Leo? Do you wanna die? Ah, my pride is wounded!”
Faced with this suddenly explosive temper, Hugo could only sweat bullets.
“F-First, just listen. Those rankings combine the number of sanctuary members, total assets, and various other criteria…”
But Igeon wasn’t listening in the slightest.
“Tsk, with a father that incompetent, no wonder the kids run away from home.”
“I said it’s not running away!”
Igeon scoffed, throwing a punch into the air.
“Anyway, isn’t your son supposed to be an awakened? You’re a Saint, so why is he in another Divine Seat’s sanctuary?”
At that, Hugo could say nothing, just sulked and glared at Igeon.
The reason?
‘Because of you.’
Hugo glowered at Igeon, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“Can’t you just stop?!”
Yelling, Hugo pointed angrily at the mosquitoes buzzing all around them.
But ignoring him, Igeon grinned as he lit a candle.
And then aimed an uppercut at thin air!
Smack! Smack!
[Divine Seat experience increased]
[Divine Seat experience increased]
[Divine Seat experience increased]
“Oh, as expected, totally sweet.”
Chuckling with satisfaction, his eyes fell on the incense stick burning suspiciously. And around it, the creatures lying dead and silent were none other than mosquito-type monsters.
B-grade
- While lit, attracts insects of various levels.
- Caution: Must be used in an open area.
- Indoor use may wreck the house.
Having crafted this holy relic for home training, Igeon giggled.
He had made it while wondering how to level up even when at home. It was a modification of a relic he had seen in the boy’s house.
And the effect was perfect.
Igeon had turned Hugo’s entire sanctuary into a graveyard of mosquito carcasses (?). Pummeling the monsters flying in was a great way to earn experience and warm up.
Finally, as the flame died out, Igeon flicked the lighter again.
“Alright, one more ti…”
At last, Hugo’s veins popped. “Hey! Stop it! Are you trying to turn my house into a mosquito farm?!”
“Tch.”
Shaking the mosquito corpses off his laptop, Hugo ground his teeth.
‘I really ought to kick him out.’
“Anyway, for now, let’s handle Yang Wei as having fled.”
“What?”
At Hugo’s suggestion, Igeon tilted his head. What was he talking about? But Hugo was dead serious.
‘If Igeon causes any more trouble, it’ll be a nightmare.’
From turning the Aries sanctuary into a wreck the moment he got back to dealing with a Saint…
Did he even know how long it would take just to clean all that up?
Of course, if you added smaller things like the vending machine vandalism, the list grew even longer, but Hugo, unaware of that, just flashed his eyes.
“The fact that they don’t know you’re alive is a good opportunity. Getting ready and striking them from behind could be more advantageous.”
That was true.
Naturally, it didn’t suit his friend’s personality, but…
“So just stay quiet for a few days. Only until I clean things up. Understood?”
Then Igeon, eyeing the slime perched on his head, said,
“Hmm, sorry about that.”
“Why. What now.”
“About that… I’ve already caused trouble.”
“Oh yeah? Well, that’s just like y… What?! What kind of trouble?!”
Igeon grinned impishly.
* * *
The world was in an uproar.
Before the broadcasting stations could even prepare special programs, news articles exploded.
And no wonder.
The unique handwriting penned by Igeon. The incident unfolding right after the Tower of Evil collapsed.
As if sending it only to a broadcasting station wasn’t enough, the words had been scattered to newspaper offices all across the world.
It stirred a commotion far greater than the collapse of the Tower of Evil.
Alongside this breaking news, the world was shaking.
(Continued in the next chapter)