“This!!!”
A familiar voice rang out.
It was the Leo Saint.
And at that shout, Igeon turned his head.
Turning, he saw Steven, looking utterly wrecked.
His once magnificent armor was completely destroyed, leaving only traces, and his torn clothes were soaked in blood, stained in patches.
At a glance, it was clear he’d been through hell.
Of course, his originally muscular, solid build made it less obvious, but to Igeon it was glaringly apparent.
[God’s Gaze is activated]
Not that he needed it; Igeon could see his condition clearly anyway.
Just from walking, a few bones were broken. How damaged his organs were.
He could tell from his breathing and movements.
He hadn’t practically lived in the Tower for nothing.
But that guy was something else. He must have had a rough time falling from the Drakma.
‘That tenacity never goes anywhere.’
Was it admirable? He’d thrown him from 16,000 feet with genuine intent to kill.
‘Can’t deny the holy constellations’ buff.’
Thanks to some capable constellations, the Leo Saint had grown stronger, whoever they were.
Twenty years ago, he would have died and then some from that fall.
And just then, the Leo Saint strode forward.
“Good. You were alive before I could kill you, Igeon.”
“Saint Lord!”
His face was flushed with killing intent.
[The power of the Beast Lord is felt]
Golden mana flowed out along with surging bloodlust.
So much so that the nearby constellation members of the other seats recoiled in surprise.
A prickling murderous intent.
He wasn’t one of the Great Northern Constellation’s saints for nothing.
The constellation members tensed up sharply, but the reaction of Leo’s own constellation members was different.
“Ah! Saint Lord! Please, refrain!”
Pale faces.
The higher-ranked Leo constellation members desperately tried to stop their lord.
“Please, just stay still, please!”
“Don’t pick a fight with Igeon again, for no reason!”
“?!”
At that cry, Leo’s head turned menacingly, and the other constellation members flinched.
What were they saying?
But the Leo Constellation captains were deadly serious.
Of course, they weren’t disregarding Steven. The Leo Saint was the strongest warrior of Leo.
And they knew why Steven was so fixated on Igeon.
‘Igeon can’t use the Holy God’s power.’
They didn’t know twenty years ago, but when the constellation system was introduced and awakeners became common, the whole world caught on.
‘Igeon is a mutant awakener not chosen by a god.’
A normal awakener, different from the 12 Saints, the apostles of the gods.
‘Just a superhuman imitating the apostles.’
Nevertheless, Igeon used many peculiar abilities.
Of course, the world dismissed Igeon’s skills as knock-offs, mutations, or cheap tricks.
But to the 12 Divine Constellations, he was peculiar nonetheless.
Rare-seeming techniques.
Anyway, the grass is always greener on the other side.
‘The Saint Lord must be desperately seeking ways to break through his limits.’
They thought he was exploring another hero in his own way.
But this incident made one thing clear.
‘We must never get close or entangled with anything like Igeon!’
‘That mighty person even went skydiving in the most absurd way!’
Though they trusted their lord, there was no guarantee something similar wouldn’t happen again.
‘He might do something beyond imagination again.’
That’s why the Leo Constellation members were frantic.
“Saint Lord! Please, let’s return to the holy ground first!”
“You must not confront Igeon!”
“You look fine, but you must be exhausted!”
“Yes! You must go back and heal your body first!”
Leo was dumbfounded.
Why were these guys acting like this? But that wasn’t what mattered now.
“Igeon! Make my weapon too!”
“!”
At that shout, Igeon’s expression was a sight to behold.
What the hell was this idiot blathering about?
But Leo, unperturbed, pointed at the bones.
“That item, I won the bid. So use that to make my weapon first.”
Igeon was flabbergasted. The sheer audacity made his blood boil as a bonus.
“Does this want to become a leather sofa?”
Igeon grimly drew his sword.
But Leo was dead serious.
“You’re our exclusive repairer. Naturally, the Saints come first. How dare you insolen— kuhack!”
Leo couldn’t finish his sentence. The swaggering Leo got kicked in the face again and went flying.
The flying Leo crashed toward the cliff.
“Aaack! Saint Lord!”
Cheon Yuha, having once again blown away Leo’s face, was fuming.
The constellation captains froze.
“Cheon Yuha!”
“She, she did it again!”
Earlier, she’d blown a Saint’s face away during a live broadcast too!
“Do you know who you just kicked?!”
“A Saint! Do you really want to get dragged to a Divine Constellation trial?!”
At that, Cheon Yuha could have sworn. She should’ve kicked him where no one was watching.
‘I got carried away because he ignored Uncle.’
Her foot had moved on its own.
But Igeon smiled.
“Our Yuha, well done. I guess I don’t need to teach you the technique of booting Saints.”
“!”
At Igeon’s compliment, Cheon Yuha turned her head.
Was she recalling when the younger one got petted?
She looked at Igeon with great expectation, but Igeon looked back as if asking what she wanted.
“What’s wrong?”
Cheon Yuha quickly sulked.
It was because he wasn’t petting her.
But just then.
Thud!
The flying Leo climbed back up the cliff.
“Cheon Yuha, you really…! Just because I cut you slack as Hugo’s daughter!”
The constellation members were on edge at the Saint’s killing intent.
This situation was quite dangerous.
“Yuha! It’s not too late! Apologize quickly!”
Cheon Yuha made a dumbfounded expression.
“Why should I?”
“Why?!”
The captains were incredulous.
Until now, they’d held back because the Saint was a key combat asset, but he wouldn’t hold back anymore.
And it wasn’t just Leo Saint.
‘There’s no way that person will stay still.’
Leo’s SS-class.
To compare, the constellation’s general director and the supreme leader of the captains.
‘He already sees Cheon Yuha as a thorn in his side because she’s a woman.’
Being SS-class, his ability was on par with a Saint’s.
But he’d been pushed out of the Ten Saints because of Cheon Yuha, his immediate subordinate, and was grinding his teeth.
He stayed still only because the Saint personally brought Cheon Yuha into the constellation.
If this got out, he’d seize the chance to kill Cheon Yuha.
No, maybe he’d already arrived.
‘It’s been thirty minutes since the scene of kicking the Saint Lord aired.’
‘He might be nearby!’
The captains grew desperate. Whatever the SS-class thought, Cheon Yuha was a vital asset to Leo.
Furthermore, the one and only female of Leo!
They had to protect the flower that bloomed among the muscle jocks.
“Anyway, Yuha, hurry and apologize!”
“She’s getting cocky just because she’s Igeon’s fan!”
“At this rate, the Saint Lord will kill both you and Igeon!”
“Right. Monsters and Saints are different!”
“You caught the Heavenly’s leg, but it won’t work on the Saint Lo—.”
But just then.
Boom!
“Urk!”
With a loud crash, the constellation members screamed.
A vicious sword energy.
“Ah, forget it. You all, just come at me.”
“…!”
Igeon had drawn his sword. He was even beckoning with his finger.
“What’re you doing, you little kittens? Not coming in. I said all of you, come at me.”
“……!”
The Leo Constellation members doubted their ears.
What on earth was this person saying?
“C-come at you? You’re joking, right?”
“Not a joke.”
Igeon was grinning murderously.
In truth, the one most pissed off in this situation was him.
‘These damn cat bastards, really.’
They were running their mouths at his niece, telling her to apologize this and make weapons that, acting all high and mighty.
And the reason Leo could swagger like that was all thanks to his constellation members.
So what to do?
‘Just wipe out all those constellation members.’
Remove the ones propping him up, and that bastard will crawl on his own.
Isn’t there a saying that a stick is the cure for a mad dog?
But just then.
‘!’
Boom!
Suddenly, a mist erupted. The Leo Constellation members screamed.
“Urk…!”
“What suddenly… gasp!”
It was like a gas mist. The mist instantly engulfed the constellation members.
But that’s where the problem started.
“Wait! Kuhack!”
“Aaack!”
Screams echoed inside the mist.
At this, Steven, hanging from the cliff, shouted.
“What’s going on?!”
Igeon frowned. Because Leo’s once calm mana was surging.
Inside the mist. Thousands of mana signatures all at once.
[Warning. The beasts are rampaging]
[They have been forcibly mutated by a powerful virus]
Along with that warning, constellation members poured out of the mist.
“!”
But their state was bizarre.
“Euden!”
“No, don’t! Agh!”
They attacked their allies out of nowhere. And even their eyes had changed.
As if they’d become genuine beasts, they destroyed everything around them indiscriminately.
Boom!
But it didn’t end there.
“Graaah!”
Drooling, the constellation members started devouring the Heavenly’s leg corpses.
They even bit into their own comrades.
[Beasts are running amok]
[Mutated constellation members’ bodies begin to change]
At that sight, Igeon lowered his sword slightly, looking absurd.
“Have these guys actually gone crazy?”
And in that moment.
The Leo Constellation members, who had been attacking randomly, targeted Igeon.
“Grrrrrk!”
Igeon tried to kick them away casually, but a problem arose.
[Combined Skill]
[Lethal Self-Destruct]
Boom!
Constellation members holding each other’s hands were caught in the explosion.
“……!”
At this, Cheon Yuha frowned.
For good reason—that skill just now.
‘Capricorn’s!’
It was the scene when Capricorn usually exploded his belongings.
There was no time to think about the situation.
[Prisoner, Tochi is in distress]
Along with that warning, groaning sounds could be heard.
Igeon shifted his gaze.
Emerging from the slime, Capricorn was smiling.
* * *
Capricorn Sergeyevich was smiling.
‘Igeon. You’re mine.’
Twenty years ago.
When the Capricorn Holy God gave a final report that Igeon was dead.
Sergeyevich had been quite discouraged.
Because he coveted Igeon’s abilities.
The guy’s combat techniques.
The guy’s crafting abilities.
It was so regrettable that they vanished before he could steal them.
In fact, twenty years ago, he had intended to retrieve Igeon’s corpse and remodel it into his own crafted doll.
But.
‘Of all things, he fell into a trap and even his flesh disappeared.’
But now.
That Igeon was right in front of him.
Moreover, unlike twenty years ago, his body was extremely sturdy.
Of course, being trapped in the slime was quite bewildering, but it didn’t matter.
[Flame Armor S-rank]
-Protects the body from flames
-Gathers flame energy to attack enemies
He wasn’t the saint of the Crafting Constellation for nothing.
He’d stolen Igeon’s forging tools and made his own exclusive armaments.
With a single finger, he could summon pre-made items.
With that, he knocked out the monster in the slime’s stomach.
Indeed, items made using Igeon’s hammer were on a different level.
‘I can’t draw out the full abilities with my power.’
But for now, that was enough.
And dealing with the slime side was easy.
[Ammonia Bomb]
In reality, the slime was beside him, retching and groaning in agony.
It didn’t matter.
So he’d taken out an item he’d saved.
“No choice. I was going to use this later….”
It was a weapon prepared for a future Divine Constellation war.
A lethal weapon exclusively for Leo.
[Rabies Virus Gas]
Simply put, it utilized a rabies-like virus as a skill that drove people mad.
‘Maybe it’s better to call it mad cat disease.’
It didn’t work on constellation members of other seats.
Literally, a virus that only worked on Leo Constellation members.
He’d tested it a few times loaded into missiles; the effect was already verified.
And what differed from actual rabies was.
Whoosh!
Capricorn blew a small flute. Together with it, the Leo Constellation members shrouded in mist rushed at Igeon.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
It seemed the Leo Saint had fallen off the cliff because of Cheon Yuha and hadn’t inhaled the mist, but that didn’t matter.
‘Thousands of Leo Constellation members are mine.’
What’s more, their abilities had been upgraded by the virus.
“With this, Igeon too….”
But just then.
“Is that all you’ve prepared?”
Igeon was smiling.
(To be continued in the next episode)