At this time, Hailey’s Constructs were on the first floor of the Devil’s Tower.

[My god. What the hell…]

[This makes no sense!]

They were having a hard time believing the sight before them. 

These beings that were categorized as Constructs used to be generals for the unknown civilization. In the past, they had received a mission to assassinate a Zodiac Saint. However, when they had discovered Hailey within the human encampment, they had betrayed the unknown civilization. Over twenty years had passed since then.

That was why these beings considered themselves experts when it came to the abilities of human awakened beings.

[I… Is this really the doings of a human?]

[I’m not sure. It doesn’t feel right to treat Lee Gun as a human, right?]

They looked at the monsters that had been turned into mush. Of course, these beings were monsters too, but they weren’t compatriots. Having betrayed the other side, they were enemies of the unknown civilization.

However…

[T-This is horrifying…!]

Although they were looking at their enemies, they almost felt sorry! The corpses looked like a field filled with scrambled eggs!

Some monsters had bones and leather that had to be extracted. Those considered useless had been turned into crushed porridge.

Lee Gun had done a perfect cleanup where the monsters wouldn’t be able to leave the tower even if they regenerated.

With such damage, there was no way the monsters could move.

In truth, the monsters had tried to return to their original forms after getting turned into porridge. They did so after receiving power from the tower.

[Ooh-uhhhh… Help. It hurts.]

[I can’t turn my body back to what it was…!]

Their original forms were so damaged that the tower didn’t detect them as living creatures. 

Hailey’s Constructs couldn’t understand one thing. If Lee Gun’s goal was a cleanup, burning the bodies would have been enough.

[Why did he commit such a horrific act?]

The Constructs looked away.

[He said… if he burned them, he won’t be able to kill them again.]

[W-What? He can’t kill them again??]

[Lee Gun wants to fix the tower, and he wants to use it as a spot where his disciples can level up. He’ll use Super Regeneration on the ones he killed, and… it’ll be a field where infinite EXP can be harvested…]

Hailey’s Constructs yelled out in fright.

[Princessssss!!!! That bastard is too dangerous!!!]

[You must not get close to that thing of evil!!]

[You must refrain from liking— Kuhk!!!]

“Shut up! W-Who said I like him!”

One of the Constructs fell over after a knife hit him.

It was Hailey. She had been coming up from the basement, her face now red all over.

[Princess! Did you finish the investigation Lee Gun-nim requested?]

“Yes.”

Hailey had come to the Devil’s Tower after receiving a request from Lee Gun. It was to be expected since Lee Gun wanted his enemies to suffer the same fate as him.

This became apparent when the Zodiac Saints asked him about Jean-Louis.

- So? What are you going to do with Jean Louis?

Lee Gun answered by asking them instead.

- What do you think I’d do?

He let out a meaningful laugh instead of answering. It was a laugh filled with danger.

Afterward, Hailey had come to the tower to decipher the tower’s records for him.

“It seems that the monarch of Time is aiming for Lee Gun.”

[What?! Time?]

“Yes.”

The revelation surprised the Constructs. Amongst the monarchs, Time occupied the seat of the great monarch.

‘Moreover, that bastard has a connection to Princess…!’

‘He’ll try to kill the Princess.’

After deciphering the records of the unknown civilization, Hailey looked worried. The problem was the enemy Lee Gun and Chun Sungjae had defeated within the tower. “Unfortunately, he’s with the monarch of Fertility. They are warlike.”

[!]

The unknown civilization was organized into three large levels. Level 1 was the “Million(Many).”

They were the ones who appeared in human territories. These were the monsters between the Green zone rank and Red zone rank. In other words, they were grunts.

Level 2 contained the general ranks and above. They were in the camp of the monarchs. The lowest of them was in the Black zone rank.

‘In the past twenty years, the camp of the monarchs never moved directly.’

The most direct action they took was using Red Eye, their pet. However, things would be different now.

‘The monarch ranks will invade.’

Well, it didn’t matter. 

When Hailey meticulously checked the data, her subordinate became mad.

[You are the princess. Aren’t you putting in too much work for an enemy temple?]

[Moreover, you asked nothing for your work! At the very least, you should have extracted a cost!]

Hailey scoffed. “What would I ask for from Lee Gun?”

She cleared her throat when she thought about Lee Gun. “I-I get to talk to him through this commission. That’s enough of a payment for me.”

Her underlings expressed their frustration.

[No! You shouldn’t be like that, Princess! If you like him, you should get closer to him!]

Hailey became angry as if they were talking nonsense. “I’m already close enough to him!!”

[What do you mean? You can’t even look at his face!]

“It’s close! I can get as close as one meter to him! That’s close enough!”

Frustrated, they spoke out in anger.

[Princess!!! When human men and women get close, they do something else!]

“What?”

[Please listen closely! This is what human men and women do when they get close!]

They whispered to her.

Hailey calmly listened with no expression on her face. However, her face was getting redder as she listened to her underlings.

[Do you get it now, Princess! You have to do that to be considered close…!]

“T-That’s vulgar! You are talking about mating!”

[That’s right! That’s it! When males and females of the human species get close, they mate!]

[That is why Princess-nim and Lee Gun-nim should— Kuh-huhk!]

The underlings were sent flying once again. 

Just imagining it made her want to die. Hailey turned her head.

‘!’

Suddenly, something surprised her. She discovered a corpse that looked like Lee Gun.

* * *

Around that time…

Flash!

The incredible light was spreading throughout the workshop in Hawaii; the Cancer’s body was there. The few Constructs Lee Gun had were struggling as they brought it. 

Lee Gun stood in front of a burning flame with his shirt off, working on Heaven’s Punishment.

Ggahng! Ggahng!

First, he melted down the wreckage of Heaven’s Punishment using the sun’s flame; he wanted to upgrade the weapon’s body. 

He was also refining the Leo’s canine, which had pierced through the body of a god. Of course, since it was the tooth of a god, there was a limit to how much it could grind down.

Therefore, Lee Gun used God’s Tear(SSS), which the Sagittarius had given to him.

[God’s Tear can create ingredients from the body part of a god.]

When the rank of the god’s body was SSS and above, one needed this ingredient. It was like a meat tenderizer. As if to prove this, a change occurred to the ingredient.

[The part touched by the tear has softened. When touched twice, the location has turned into liquid.]

[The Creation Workshop skill can be used on it.]

[You have gained EXP.]

As expected of a divine body, the amount of power that emanated from the ingredients was no joke.

Lee Gun grinned.

‘If I finish this, it’ll become stronger than the existing Heaven’s Punishment.’

Lee Gun could make several weapons using those ingredients. He wondered if he should go extract more teeth from the Leo. 

Lee Gun suddenly furrowed his brows. He felt very good about upgrading the vessel. However…

[You have failed in material Super Regeneration]

[Super Regeneration is too low in level.]

[It is contaminated by the Star of Darkness. You need to purify it.]

Lee Gun had used the upgraded Super Regeneration(S).

He clicked his tongue. The target of his Super Regeneration skill was Heaven’s Punishment’s core. A core was the heart and framework of all holy items. If the core were fine, he would have been able to repair it several times. The core was especially important for holy items that possessed a sense of self.

Heaven’s Punishment’s core had shattered.

‘Even if I manage to upgrade it, it’ll be an empty shell without the core.’

The current incident had allowed him to upgrade his Super Regeneration skill, and Lee Gun could regenerate inanimate objects now.

‘However, the core was stained, so regenerating it will be difficult.’

In other words, a contaminant was stopping the regeneration. He had to “Purify” it.

‘The Purify skill is the Aquarius Saint’s unique skill.’

Of course, Lee Gun had used that skill before. When it came to extracting poison and contamination from monster ingredients, Purify was a must.

In the past, Lee Gun had borrowed it using money. But when he had beaten up Sophie, he had acquired a massive amount of Purify.

He had naturally been putting the data to good use, but it was close to running out now.

[Purify (SS) (Once)] X 4

That wasn’t all.

‘SSS-rank(Divine rank) contaminants cannot be purified using SS-rank data.’

Heaven’s Punishment had been broken by the Cancer. It needed a Zodiac rank purification. So, Lee Gun called out to his friend. “Hey, Oh Taeksoo!”

The one to be called was drawing a picture on the ground. “Gun’s servant… I’m Gun’s servant.”

Hugo seemed to be stunned at becoming an affiliate. He had worn a black sleeveless shirt, looking as if he had lost everything.

Hugo glanced at the tattoo on his left shoulder and kept letting out a deep sigh. “A serpent was added to the seal of the temple. I’m stuck now.”

Chun Sungjae seemed to be unaware of his father’s feelings. “Dad! This is amazing! The Sagittarius temple became an affiliate. All the spells I failed before work now! The Serpent Bearer has become stronger through the contribution given by the Sagittarius temple!”

“!”

As a celebration of becoming a Zodiac Saint, Chun Sungjae had developed a skill. He yelled in delight, “Look! I have a moving figurine of Uncle! It can pat me on the head. Dad! Hurry up and fill up the contribution so that I can quickly make a thousand of them for my collection!”

In the end, Hugo clutched at his face. “Ah-oh! My Zodiac is the real enemy! I didn’t want to become like Kevin, yet I—

“Kuhk!”

Hugo screamed when a glass bottle flew toward him. Lee Gun had thrown it. “How long are you going to be like that? I told you I’ll make all your equipment in return.”

“No… This problem has to do with my feelings…”

“Whatever. Call forth your Zodiac. I have some work he could do for me.”

“What? He’s an affiliate under you. You don’t have to go through me. You can call for him yourself.”

“No. I can’t call him out.”

“What? Why?”

Why else?

[The bald Sagittarius has passed out.]

[The Sagittarius despairs, saying everything is dead.]

Lee Gun shook the empty God’s Tear(SSS) as he said, “I want you to give me the meat tenderizer your Zodiac gave me. This is an item of the Sagittarius temple, right? I used it all. Do you have more?”

“Ah! That isn’t ours. That came out of the Aquarius’s Chalice, the royal holy item of the Aquarius temple.”

“!”

Lee Gun’s eyes turned round. The Aquarius was….

‘She is one of the enemies that appeared when I killed the Cancer.’

It was a great development. He needed the Aquarius Saint’s divine rank Purify skill. However, he couldn’t forcefully drag out a Zodiac from the divine world.

‘The only way to call forth a Zodiac is to use the Zodiac Saint.’

Therefore, Lee Gun had stored the souls of the Zodiac Saints separately from their bodies. Revenge was revenge, but he also knew that the Zodiacs were connected to their Zodiac Saints. Depending on how he exploited this connection, he could screw over the Zodiacs through the Saints.

‘Anyway, I need the Aquarius’s royal holy item(Chalice) and Purify skill. I can’t revive Heaven’s Punishment without them.’

Lee Gun laughed like the devil. “I wonder where the bedwetter is right now”

Hugo smirked at those words. “Are you going to beat her up like the last time to summon her Zodiac? At the time, you met her at Drachma where Zodiacs can’t descend. That was why you were able to put her in that state. The Zodiacs won’t overlook your actions this time around.”

Moreover, Lee Gun had killed a Zodiac now. There was no way the Zodiacs would look at him in a good-natured manner.

Lee Gun smirked. “It doesn’t matter. You will be the one to find her, and I’m sure she’ll hand over the entire fortune of the Aquarius temple if you ask for it.”

“Me?? Why??”

“What do you mean why? She has liked you since a long time ago.”

Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold. He wondered what nonsense Lee Gun was spouting.

Lee Gun just smirked. “What? You didn’t know about it? Why do you think she hates me?”

“???!”

“Despite twenty years having gone by, her feelings seem to have developed further. She was so happy to see you at the auction that she didn’t know what to do with herself.”

Hugo’s consciousness flew out of the Andromeda galaxy. It couldn’t be. Sophie had insulted him, saying he had become a middle-aged man.

“Let’s put that aside for now. Can you find her? You threw her off from such a height!”

Lee Gun clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Are the search parties idiots? They still haven’t found her?”

“You do realize a normal person wouldn’t even think about throwing someone off from such a height, right?”

Lee Gun completely ignored him. “The bedwetter is also at fault. It’s only height. A month has passed since she fell. How can she not show up yet?”

“Damn it! Normally, a person won’t survive such an ordeal!” Hugo sighed.

‘It’s better that Gun is unable to locate Sophie.’

The mess from last time wouldn’t be repeated. For the most part, Lee Gun’s image had recovered; he was seen as a hero.

‘If he acts ruthlessly toward her on-air…’ Hugo blanched. ‘That should be avoided.’

She probably couldn’t be located, and their current situation was different from before.

“Anyway, we are customers of the Aquarius temple. I’ll use my money to order what you need. Give up on finding Sophie…”

At that moment…

- Please save me!

Hugo and Lee Gun were surprised to hear the familiar voice.

Lee Gun had turned on the TV while searching for Sophie’s whereabouts. The voice had come from the TV, and the news channel was showing a shocking report.

- Did you hear? This is a breaking story! The Saintess has reappeared as a prisoner of the unknown civilization!

- They demand one hundred million human prisoners in exchange for the safe passage of the Saintesss…

The screen showed the Red zone where Lee Gun was about to visit.

Lee Gun laughed as if he was baffled. Why was she there?