Boom! Boom!
The vast desert of Australia, the Great Sandy.
The sanctuary of Capricorn, a holy land for tens of thousands of craftsmen, ______ was in an uproar.
“Ugh! What’s going on all of a sudden!”
“Emergency!”
There was a bombardment coming from somewhere in the sky.
It was a beam of light like a laser.
The shells raining down from the night sky came one after another, as if intent on destroying ______.
Boom! Boom!
Because of that, the craftsmen who were practically residents here scattered in panic.
“It’s an attack!”
“The dome’s been shattered!”
They clung to the shaking buildings. At the same time, the craftsmen gritted their teeth, watching the lights shining in the sky.
“Is it an aerial monster?!”
“No! It’s not a monster!”
“What?! Then what is it!”
“Well... this power... it’s almost like a god’s…!”
“What? You’re saying it’s a god?!”
At last, from the reports of his subordinates, one of Capricorn’s top craftsmen—
Chris furrowed his brow.
He was the third-in-command of Capricorn, serving Saint Sergeyevich and the Ten-Star Taylor, and he specialized in sacred artifacts.
Moreover, not long ago he had been one of the star craftsmen who had a crafting duel against Yi Geon alongside Taylor.
At the same time, standing guard over the sanctuary in place of Taylor, who had gone to ask Yi Geon to become his master, Chris scowled.
‘Damn it, not a monster, but a god attacking humanity’s workshop?’
The 12 Zodiacs had made several absolute agreements, after all.
And one of those agreements was precisely the
Put simply, it was a pact never to attack places that had a tremendous impact on humanity’s survival.
No matter how unavoidably the 12 Zodiacs’ interests varied, at their core they existed to protect humanity’s survival.
‘And ______ is where every kind of weapon and equipment for the survival of all mankind is produced!’
If ______ were breached, humanity would be doomed.
And yet, who would attack it?
“What are you doing! Raise your weapons!”
“Right! We can’t just let them destroy the very place where we’re to welcome Yi Geon-nim!”
That was exactly it.
Half of the craftsmen had fallen head over heels for Yi Geon at first sight, and had been clamoring to set up ______ here and bring Yi Geon in place of the missing Capricorn Saint.
As if on cue.
“Woooah! Yi Geon-nim is the great god of creation! Do you think we could entrust the sacred crafting seat to some mage or warrior?!”
“Exactly! Enthrone Yi Geon-nim as our Saint!”
Chris also raised his voice toward the enemies entering the tower.
“Protect the sanctuary that will welcome Yi Geon-nim!!”
But to Chris’s cry, the conservative craftsmen swore.
“Hey! Chris! A craftsman of the Genius Workshop, so quit with the bizarre agitating!”
“The Saint has vanished, the Ten-Star who should take responsibility for the Zodiac is smitten by some Yi Geon, and now you, the third-in-command, are at it too—this is unacceptable!”
“Right! We’ve heard that this Yi Geon is outstanding, but in the end he’s just making a few weapons well with clever tricks!”
“The Capricorn Saint built both Drachma and this tower! Don’t you dare compare him to a human!”
In the end, at their grumbling, Chris pulled out an awl.
“Shut it! Just defend it! The Saint’s power hasn’t been severed yet!”
“Right! Don’t treat us like nothing just because we’re not combat classes!”
Indeed, they weren’t people who could fight even monsters for nothing.
Enemies were flung out of the tower one after another.
Boom!!
But then.
Crash!
“Cough!”
Their weapons shattered mercilessly.
At the same time, ghosts pushed their heads through the broken windows and swarmed inside.
“Cough!”
The inside of the tower instantly turned into a hellscape reeking of blood.
“Aaaagh! What are these bastards!”
“Are they attendant gods?”
“No! They’re different from attendant gods! Aaagh!”
Inside was chaos in an instant.
And the enemy numbers steadily grew.
In the end, as the craftsmen were dragged out by the enemies, Chris ground his teeth, and the other craftsmen trembled in terror.
“Damn it, see! It’s all over!”
“Yeah! ‘Enthrone Yi Geon as Saint’ my foot! What can that guy even do!”
“Because they were spouting nonsense from the start…!”
But that very moment.
Creaaaaak!
“!!”
At the sound as if heaven and earth were crying out, the craftsmen all shuddered.
“Wh-what is this sound!”
At the same time, the people who looked out the window couldn’t help but foam at the mouth.
Even the gods who’d invaded were aghast.
It was as if the land of the immortals had parted the clouds and was descending.
Something familiar was coming down from atop the clouds.
“I-is that...!”
What came down was like a dangling chain accessory, reminiscent of a ship’s anchor.
And long pillars.
[Ddungddungi (formerly Drachma) (EX)]
“Aagh! Crazy! That’s Drachma! The one Yi Geon took!”
That was it.
It was the Drachma that Yi Geon had summoned.
But.
“I-its appearance has changed?”
“Wh-what in the world…!”
And ______ was an object created by the Capricorn Saint, then completed by the addition of their own hands.
There was no way they wouldn’t recognize it even if its appearance changed.
“He clearly took it to remodel, right?”
“Yes…!”
But the reason the craftsmen nearly dislocated their jaws wasn’t simply because of its changed appearance.
“That’s absurd. How did its size get so huge?!”
It was exactly that.
The new Drachma descending from the sky looked just like a gigantic battleship with no end in sight!
Ruuuumble!
It was a size that could entirely blanket the wide desert.
Of course, the ______ that the Saints managed long ago wasn’t small, but back then, it was about the size of an amusement park.
How to put it… like a circular piece of land with all sorts of buildings embedded in it?
But now it was different.
Ruuuumble!
The elongated shape was a sky-vessel that looked ready to cleave heaven and earth and break into a run!
And that wasn’t all.
“Cra-crazy, did he even change the material of Drachma while remodeling it?”
Since they had always maintained Drachma themselves, they couldn’t possibly not know its structure.
That’s why the craftsmen couldn’t help being horrified.
“What! It used to be just soil back then! Don’t tell me he clad it in iron?!”
“Iron? There’s no way that’s iron! Can’t you see?”
“Then what is it? Where on earth did such fine minerals come from…?”
But soon, the craftsmen who verified something foamed at the mouth.
“Aaaagh!! That’s the Cancer Saint!”
“That insane Yi Geon! He used the Cancer Saint as material!”
“Wh-what did you say?!”
“Madman! Yi Geon created a new Drachma!”
In the end, the craftsmen who had disparaged Yi Geon couldn’t shut their mouths, and Chris laughed.
“What? Who said he’s limited to weapons?”
“W-well…”
“From the start, he’s someone who made a weapon from a Leo Saint’s fang. Something like this is a piece of cake for him.”
“What?! The Leo Saint, you say?!”
“Whoa, and looking at that, Drachma’s attack power must be incredible.”
“What? Attack power on a floating fortress? What nonsense are you…”
No sooner had those words finished than a flash erupted from Drachma’s direction.
And then, a roaring blast echoed!
Boom!!!
It was a sound like a missile being launched.
At the same time, the craftsmen who examined Drachma were appalled.
They couldn’t help but be.
“What! It looked like a battleship, and you actually equipped Drachma with weapons?!”
Cannons that hadn’t existed before had materialized on Drachma.
There was no doubt that every material obtained so far had been packed in.
And another beam cannon fired from Drachma!
Boom!
The energy of the Saints accumulated in Drachma combined with Yi Geon’s magic power and exploded upon the enemies.
Bam! Bang!
[This one is very pleased]
[This one devours other weapons and grows]
Black tentacles sprouted from the cannons mounted along Drachma’s perimeter.
Then, the tentacles slithered in through the broken windows and devoured the weapons of the shattered Capricorn Saint’s relics.
At that, the once small cannon grew slightly larger, and fired again!
Boom!
[Serpent Bearer’s experience points increase]
[Serpent Bearer’s fame increases]
[Not much remains until Level 30]
Thanks to that, the unidentified minions that had swarmed the tower were swept away.
The Capricorn worshipers just gaped.
“Wait, that’s our weapon…!”
“Did it have that kind of power?”
“…More to the point, Drachma’s… purpose has changed too much, hasn’t it?”
But it was too early to be marveling.
“Kyaa! Yi Geon-nim jumped from the tower!”
“He jumped to Drachma!”
“!”
Perhaps he had summoned it for this very purpose.
Drachma, which had been gradually descending to the ground, halted, and Yi Geon jumped up onto it.
The craftsmen who saw him raised their weapons.
“Yes! Yi Geon-nim plans to use Drachma to defeat the enemies!”
“Assist him!”
But then.
“Huh? Hold on!”
“!”
“Th-that item Yi Geon-nim is carrying on his shoulder! It can’t be...”
“Isn’t that the Capricorn Throne from this tower?!”
“What?!”
* * *
Above Drachma.
Kevin was staring at Yi Geon with an utterly flabbergasted expression.
It wasn’t so much because Drachma had transformed into a fortress, but because of the object Yi Geon had brought.
“You… when did you even get that thing…”
It was unmistakable.
What was protruding from Yi Geon’s bundle was unmistakably the throne of ______.
Of course, the chair had no legs, and even its backrest was gone, leaving only the round seat plate.
So it looked bizarre, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.
“How on earth did you bring that…”
“How? I just struck it with a hammer and took it. Why?”
“So that’s why it has no legs!”
“No, more than that, how did you even break the throne to take it? Even approaching it would’ve been impossible unless you’re a Saint…”
How indeed.
Yi Geon grinned as he pulled something out.
“I got these from the Saint, didn’t I?”
“!”
What he produced were none other than the red goat horn and the blueprint (durmagi).
“Since I had these, it mistook me for the Capricorn Saint.”
“!”
They were of the same crafting lineage, so it must have been even more confused.
“So I whacked its torso with my hammer as it was trying to go back to sleep.”
Thanks to that, the protective authority from the damaged throne tried to activate.
‘I snatched it with a skill.’
As expected, Yi Geon glanced at Hailey.
“I borrowed a skill from Scorpio. A VVIP treatment? Thanks.”
“……!!”
When Yi Geon smiled, Hailey blushed and turned her head away.
Still, maybe the prior practice had an effect, because this time she didn’t faint.
“Anyway, the gods won’t target that place anymore. What they’re after is this throne.”
Kevin’s eyes went round.
So that’s why this bastard did something as uncharacteristic as stealing.
“So it was to lure the enemies?”
That wasn’t all.
“Don’t tell me you summoned Drachma so it wouldn’t affect ordinary land?”
Kevin’s jaw dropped, but Yi Geon gave a smirk.
“That too, but I haven’t obtained the Capricorn Saint’s core yet.”
“!”
“It ran away before I could get the core.”
“Then tracking—!”
“I was about to, but apparently the Aries Saint took the Capricorn Saint.”
“What?!”
“And Yang Wei, whom we’d captured at our sanctuary, also bolted.”
“What?! How did Yang Wei…!”
Yi Geon laughed contemptuously.
“Why do you think. Looks like he scurried away risking his life because his Saint showed up. The contract’s already broken, but he’s probably trying to find his Saint to re-contract.”
At those words, Kevin and Hailey were about to demand why they’d let Yang Wei escape, but quickly saw Yi Geon’s expression and realized.
‘This bastard deliberately pretended not to see him run.’
And as if their guess was right, Yi Geon grinned viciously.
[Warning. Nameless outer gods are targeting the Saint seat of ______]
At that notification, Yi Geon disgustedly patted the ground of Drachma.
“Chase. It’s a place you know well.”
As if in answer, the gigantic Drachma hummed and began to move.
* * *
Meanwhile, around that time.
The master of Aries was gasping for breath.
Having been the first to notice the Snake Lord’s return, he had assessed the danger and fled.
‘If Yi Geon is alive, we are all finished.’
He had a deep connection to what they were trying to hide.
That was why the master of Aries, who had summoned outer gods in secret from the main gods, ground his teeth.
He was cursing the lords who hadn’t handled matters properly.
‘If they’d properly killed that snake bastard back then, this wouldn’t have happened!’
Because of that, they needlessly brought about the existence of the 13th Awakened, Yi Geon!
But what Aries truly feared wasn’t the power of that snake bastard that Yi Geon had obtained.
If it were just that, he wouldn’t have fled like a madman.
The reason for his flight was one thing.
‘The master of the snake.’
It was unmistakable.
‘That guy Yi Geon…’
And it was then.
Thud!
Someone appeared behind Aries.
(To be continued in the next episode)