Meanwhile, at the same time Igeon was in Belgium, in Canada.
It was the moment Yun Tae-u approached to kill Cheon Seong-jae's family.
"Idiot, don't bother."
...!
When Cheon Seong-jae stood with his back to the bed to protect I Jae-won and his mother.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but do you think those people will open their eyes? Even the Gemini or Aquarius gods can't do that."
Cheon Seong-jae, who had squeezed his eyes shut, couldn't help but startle.
Tight.
Someone had grabbed his hand.
It was unmistakably I Jae-won.
He, who was on a ventilator, had seized Cheon Seong-jae's hand.
...!
And at the faint grip he felt from that hand, Cheon Seong-jae nearly wept.
He could clearly feel his gaze.
He was muttering something, looking at him.
...!
But Yun Tae-u, who had no way of knowing that, drew closer. The skill Yun Tae-u used was quite noisy.
"Honestly, Sagittarius is the foolish one. Spending money for 10 years just to sustain life. Don't you think they should kill him humanely?"
But Cheon Seong-jae, who had heard I Jae-won's words clearly, bit his lip hard.
Yun Tae-u laughed, saying there was no hope, but Cheon Seong-jae had definitely heard it.
Seong-jae.
Are you hurt anywhere.
His blocked throat boiled up.
Already, 10 years ago.
I Jae-won reassured him until the end that their father would come, and was devoured by the monster in his place.
And now, waking after 10 years, the first words out of his mouth were concern for him.
Without even noticing that 10 years had passed.
Moreover, that day, he'd gone to that place because Cheon Seong-jae had said he wanted to see his mother, and got caught up in it.
So, unable to continue speaking, Cheon Seong-jae barely managed to swallow the lump in his throat.
That wasn't all.
'!'
His mother, Cheon Ji-u's fingers twitched momentarily.
At that, Cheon Seong-jae's hand tightened.
'I have to protect them.'
At that look in his eyes, Yun Tae-u let out a scoff.
At the same time, Yun Tae-u's fist flew into Cheon Seong-jae's face.
Crack!
The faces of the bound followers of Sagittarius went white as sheets.
"Seong-jae!"
There was no mistaking it. The sound of a skull cracking had just rung out.
With magic laced into his hand, it carried the impact of being struck by a truck, so it was only to be expected.
As proof, blood dripped from Cheon Seong-jae's head, nose, and mouth.
But it didn't end there.
Thwack!
Struck in the solar plexus, Cheon Seong-jae vomited up his insides.
"Ugh...!"
His ribs had shattered long ago. But ignoring that, Yun Tae-u smiled chillingly.
"You little shit. Daring to look up at your sun-like senior?"
Yun Tae-u's voice rang out, sounding excited.
"You chihuahua-like brat!"
Crack! Crack!
The kicks were clearly meant to kill. Already small-framed, Cheon Seong-jae was crushed everywhere he was hit.
"A whelp who's still wet behind the ears crawling up, still only A-rank!"
His head was split, his face mashed,
Crunch!
"You cripple!"
The floor was already stained with blood.
Finally, unable to bear it, the youngest of Sagittarius shouted.
"I'll give you Sagittarius's S-class holy artifact! So stop!"
But as if telling them to shut it, Yun Tae-u laughed.
"Shut it, you nameless shrines. This brat won't understand words. You have to beat him like a dog to come to his senses!"
At that sight, the followers of Sagittarius shuddered with rage.
'Indeed, the gap between A-rank and S-rank is too vast.'
No matter what Cheon Seong-jae tried, he could never defeat Yun Tae-u.
But then, at that moment.
Roll!
"!"
A coin rolled out from Cheon Seong-jae's body.
Yun Tae-u tilted his head.
"What's this?"
It seemed to be a holy artifact, but it was the aura of a completely unknown god.
Indeed, the pattern was something he'd never seen.
But as if it didn't matter, Yun Tae-u laughed.
And.
Thud!
"...Gah!"
Cheon Seong-jae suddenly coughed blood as his magical power drained out.
[Equivalent Exchange - Magic Absorption]
That was the skill of Libra, which transfers one's own pain and steals magical power.
And though he had barely received the god's magical power in the first place, Cheon Seong-jae, having even that stolen, vomited blood.
At that groan, Yun Tae-u laughed with delight.
"An A-rank brat's magic capacity is trash, too. Well, this coin's the same. It doesn't look like it was bought, and I don't know who the owner was, but that bastard was probably trash like you."
At those words, seeming angrier than ever, Cheon Seong-jae gritted his teeth.
He didn't care about himself, but he couldn't tolerate an insult to his uncle.
"You son of a bitch...!"
But as he was A-rank, he couldn't deal with this bastard.
Nor could he become S-rank.
Why?
'Test results, frankly speaking, your talent's limit is C-rank.'
'!'
'It's not a matter of faith. Even with 100% faith, you can never reach S-rank. You simply don't have the talent.'
Hadn't the Korean shrine leader Choe Seong-hyeok and Heiji, who were in charge of his test, said exactly that?
'But our Gemini can at least raise you to A-rank.'
Anyway, it was good that he had reached A-rank.
'At this rate...!'
Not only could he not protect his family who had just woken, but he would be of no help to Igeon at all.
But then, at that moment.
[Congratulations. The Ophiuchus mission has begun.]
"!"
Startled, Cheon Seong-jae looked around. But the voice continued.
[Exterminate all enemies before you.]
[If you accept the mission, you will temporarily enter a provisional contract and receive the blessing of Ophiuchus.]
[Will you accept the mission? Yes, or say no? You're dead either way.]
Cheon Seong-jae was flustered.
That was only natural.
'Uncle?'
There was no mistaking it.
Though the tone was different from usual, it was definitely Igeon's voice.
But seeing those around him, it was a voice only he could hear.
And as he was bewildered, Yun Tae-u grabbed Cheon Seong-jae by the scruff of his neck.
"You brat, why are you smirking so obnoxiously? Still haven't come to your senses, huh!"
But the voice came again.
[Hey, you gonna take a beating and do the mission, or take a beating and not do the mission?]
Whether it was proselytizing or threatening, it didn't matter.
'I'll do it.'
Cheon Seong-jae smiled and grabbed Yun Tae-u's arm tight.
Feeling magical power from that hand, Yun Tae-u looked incredulous.
"Huh, this guy still has magic left? Well, I'll just eat it all up anyw..."
But then, at that moment.
"!?"
Yun Tae-u's face, who had been draining Cheon Seong-jae's magic, turned pale.
In that instant, the terror felt from the magical power.
'W-what is this!'
It was a truly horrific magical power.
But even more terrifying was that it wasn't Gemini's magic.
No, as far as he knew, no god possessed this kind of magic.
In the end, Yun Tae-u quickly retreated.
"Y-you bastard, whose god's magical power on earth...!"
But then, at that moment.
Slash!
"Aaah!"
A scream as if being torn apart resounded.
Blood dripped from one of Yun Tae-u's eyes.
It had been sliced by Cheon Seong-jae's spell.
"You brat!"
As Yun Tae-u glared, one of Cheon Seong-jae's arms was blown off.
Crunch!
"Gah!"
"Seong-jae!"
"You cripple! If you hadn't acted up, at least your limbs would've been inta..."
But Yun Tae-u couldn't finish his sentence.
Bang!
"Keheok!"
Yun Tae-u's arm swelled up and burst apart.
"Aaaah!"
Thud!
Even the watching followers recoiled in horror.
'Who on earth!'
But Yun Tae-u, lifting his head, was appalled.
[You have accepted Ophiuchus's mission.]
[The one-time contract begins.]
[Borrowing you magical power. You lose, you die.]
Along with Igeon's voice, Cheon Seong-jae clenched his fist.
[White Strike]
Following that hand movement, a powerful magic bullet shot toward Yun Tae-u.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Aaaah!"
The flying bullet spell struck a full 10 hits! 20 hits! 100 hits!
"Haah...!"
At the spectacle, the followers of Sagittarius gaped.
It had even destroyed the S-rank Yun Tae-u's body-protection spell.
"Se-Seong-jae, how...!"
But right at that moment.
"That's enough!"
The air distorted, and a group of mages appeared.
It was teleportation.
"Where is Yun Tae-u!"
They were none other than the Gemini shrine leaders and their subordinates.
Including Korean shrine leader Choe Seong-hyeok, they were 20 in total.
Their faces, having come to retrieve the grimoire Cheon Seong-jae had taken, were grim.
That was only natural.
'Cheon Seong-jae must have already had the grimoire stolen.'
They would practically be waging war with Yun Tae-u, the blood relative of Libra.
So it was natural to be tense, but...
"Yun Tae-..."
But soon, their eyes went round.
It couldn't be helped.
Boom!!!
Something covered in blood flew past them and slammed into the wall.
And upon realizing its identity, the mages recoiled.
"Y-Yun Tae-u?!"
Both arms burst, and parts of his body had exploded everywhere.
At that point, he was practically a corpse.
"W-what! Who did this to an S-rank mage...!"
But they soon realized the culprit.
"Sh-Shrine Leader! Th-there!"
In the direction their subordinates pointed, the shrine leaders were horrified.
"Ch-Cheon Seong-jae?"
Indeed.
There was Cheon Seong-jae, with glowing magic bullets floating in the air.
One arm had been severed, but it was unmistakably him.
So they could only be appalled.
"C-could Cheon Seong-jae have reduced Yun Tae-u to that state?"
"Hey! Does that make sense? Cheon Seong-jae is only A-rank at best! How could he handle a shrine leader-level..."
Even as they scoffed for a moment, they gasped.
Crunch! Crunch!
Mercilessly flying spike rocks pierced through Yun Tae-u's body.
At the scattering blood spatter, Choe Seong-hyeok and the other Gemini shrine leaders could only tremble.
The oppressive power of this magic, the offensive force of the skill.
It was clear.
'S-rank...!'
Indeed.
Their former subordinate Cheon Seong-jae was emanating power equal to their own!
Thus they were certain.
"Th-that bastard ranked up!"
"What?! Then he's S-rank?"
But they trembled.
It was an S-rank, but oddly felt like it might be superior to their own.
But there was something even more surprising.
[Faith toward Ophiuchus is extremely high. (300%)]
[As a bonus, you can use the Ophiuchus Bible 3 times during the mission.]
As if having heard something, Cheon Seong-jae flinched, looking at the air, then suddenly began to murmur something.
It was a strange number.
"0, 1, 2!"
And it was only a moment that they wondered what those numbers meant.
Boom!!
The Gemini mages fell to their knees all at once.
"Gah...!"
An unknown pressure crushed them.
At the same time, a bizarre sound was heard.
Though it was impossible to know what kind of dogshit noise this was, the force that forced the Gemini followers to kneel grew even stronger.
Rumble!
"Gah...! What on earth kind of skill is this!"
But that wasn't even the surprising part.
"Shrine Leader. This is strange! The magical power Seong-jae is using! It's not Gemini's magic!"
"?!"
Choe Seong-hyeok was also taken aback.
In truth, the magical power Cheon Seong-jae was using was not that of any of the 12 Zodiac gods.
But Choe Seong-hyeok knew that feeling well.
'This is what I felt from Igeon...!'
Indeed.
It was unmistakably that.
And what could it mean that Cheon Seong-jae was using someone else's magic instead of Gemini's?
Moreover, with Igeon being called the saint of the 13th shrine!
'Could it be a shrine transfer!'
In the end, Choe Seong-hyeok urgently shouted.
"Seong-jae! You're a good kid, right? Don't misunderstand. We're here for retrieval. Among the grimoires you took that belonged to Yun Tae-u, the saint's grimoire is..."
Boom!
Flames shot toward Choe Seong-hyeok's face. People panicked.
"Shrine Leader!"
"Cheon Seong-jae, you! What is the meaning...!"
But Cheon Seong-jae, who had been looking at his mirror-type emblem, murmured murderously.
"Why did you lie?"
"What?"
"You said my limit was A-rank."
Choe Seong-hyeok flinched.
Damn, so he really awakened to S-rank.
When you rank up, the awakener themselves knows best.
Because a difference in power arises.
Moreover, you can tell by looking at the emblem.
Since the emblem checks and shows the holder's rank in real time.
Sure enough, on the emblem Cheon Seong-jae looked at, the S-rank mark had appeared.
At this, Choe Seong-hyeok smiled brightly.
"I didn't know. Congratulations on becoming S-rank."
But Cheon Seong-jae furrowed his brow.
Now that he was in a provisional contract with Ophiuchus, Cheon Seong-jae had bloomed a special ability.
[Eyes of Lie Discernment]
So he could tell.
That the claim of not knowing, and even the congratulations, were all lies.
Sure enough.
Crash!
Cheon Seong-jae shattered the Gemini emblem he was holding.
"...!"
Realizing the meaning, the shrine leaders glared.
"Take it!"
"Quick, seize the grimoire!"
"He's S-rank, but just a chick who's barely awakened!"
They immediately entered battle mode.
[Soul Invocation]
That was the second personality of Gemini mages.
Depending on the awakener's talent, a spirit of all kinds was summoned.
Rumble!!
As they invoked, the color and expression of their eyes changed.
"Cheon Seong-jae can't even use Soul Invocation anyway!"
"He can't enter battle mode even as a mage!"
Even with the same magic, the power differed completely depending on whether Soul Invocation was active.
Moreover, the spirits of shrine leader-level were at minimum noble-class high spirits.
The power gap was significant.
In comparison, Cheon Seong-jae was a failure who couldn't summon a spirit.
Thanks to that, hadn't everyone scoffed?
'Cheon Seong-jae has no spirit.'
But then, at that moment.
[At last, you have become qualified to summon me.]
"?!"
Along with that voice, a blinding flash burst forth.
(Continued in next chapter)