“Did you stab me?” The deep, lingering voice sounded torn up. It was to be expected.

Lee Gun understood the others didn’t like him for hunting alone. So, he was satisfied with cutting off their arms and legs. However, it was a completely different story for the bastard who had stabbed him in the back.

As if to prove this sentiment, the light in Lee Gun’s eyes changed. The tone of his voice became completely different, filled with murderous intent, rage, and coldness. Moreover, he became terrifying.

The Chun siblings and Hahn Jimin froze when they heard the voice. There was a hint of a smile in Lee Gun’s voice; it couldn’t be mistaken. Yet, they felt as if a knife was cutting through their ears, and chills ran up their spines. Lee Gun still sounded familiar to them, yet he was also like a stranger.

However, the Saints were different. Yang Wei’s soul hid within the bag. Hugo stiffened with his arms crossed. All the Zodiac Saints were familiar with this version of Lee Gun.

Hugo was Lee Gun’s best friend, but even he became antsy as he looked at the front door. In truth, he just wanted to run away. When Lee Gun’s voice changed like that, even he had a hard time handling his friend. He would be lucky not to get stabbed from standing too close to Lee Gun. And that wasn’t all.

‘Somehow, his temper has gotten much much worse than before.’ 

No, it would have been weirder if Lee Gun remained unchanged after being trapped within the tower. Lee Gun was hiding a world of pain in his heart.

Heiji was especially uncomfortable. She bit her lips. As his nemesis, she knew this version of Lee Gun better than anyone else. She knew he was tough to handle when he got like this. “Stab you? What nonsense— Kuh-huhk!”

Heiji’s mind turned faint. She could see blood from a short distance away. Lee Gun was stabbing her body with the blade. With the severing of her connection to her god, her defense blessing had disappeared.

Lee Gun extracted the blade and flicked the blood.

“Kuhk!”

The empty body convulsed. It was still alive, still taking damage. Heiji’s soul felt the impact of this.

“Hoo-oohk…!”

What she experienced wasn’t physical pain, but more like a nauseous feeling. She was about to tell him to stop, but Lee Gun had already swung his arm.

Poohk!

“Kuh-huhk!”

Lee Gun let out a savage laugh toward Heiji. “I’m not a patient man. If I drag this blade across the throat, it’s game over.”

Lee Gun was about to extract the blade once again when Heiji screamed. “W-Wait a moment!”

At this rate, her body would really die from blood loss. It was already close to a state of no return. She asked again, “Stab you? What do you mean— Kuhk!”

Lee Gun laughed. “Don't act ignorant. After I killed Red Eye, I had to take this out of my back. Why do you think I fell into the trap?”

“…!”

The memory of that moment made Lee Gun grind his teeth. Of course, the pain didn’t come from betrayal. He didn’t have a close relationship with the others in the first place, so he didn’t feel such emotions. Lee Gun was just pissed off that he had been trapped within an infinite-reset tower as a test subject. It made him feel violated. 

Of course, he had also gained a massive amount of EXP for clearing the tower. He had acquired the abilities of the Serpent Bearer.

He said, “Once you put someone in such a trap, you should be ready to pay the piper. Right?”

“…!” Heiji felt as if her heart was shriveling. Her reaction was understandable. The item that had appeared at Cheongwadae was the Gemini Saint’s item. Heiji immediately picked up on what Lee Gun was referring to. “It wasn’t me! I had no idea a blade was the reason you fell into the trap in the first place— Kuh-huhk!”

Lee Gun laughed as if to say she should keep talking.

Heiji felt aggrieved. “Yes! Kuhk… I… I gave the order to the chief presidential secretary. I’m the one who caused the explosion in Cheongwadae! I placed the explosion spell on the blade! However, I really didn’t stab you!”

“What about the symbol on the blade held by the chief presidential secretary? Why did it have the same symbol as the blade that stabbed me?”

Even Hugo’s god didn't recognize the symbol. Moreover, the Sagittarius had reared back in disgust as soon as Hugo had shown it the symbol.

[Put that dirty thing away.]

Basically, this was a symbol that put a god on its guard.

“Your puppet possessed that symbol. There is no way you’ll say you know nothing about it, right?” Lee Gun asked.

“I swear! I don't know about that symbol. In fact, the explosion at Cheongwadae occurred way too early. I think someone else interfered.”

Lee Gun laughed in derision. “In the end, you’re admitting to your incompetence? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Lee Gun kept provoking her, but Heiji couldn’t raise her head from the humiliation she felt. However, she had to be patient. She had to endure any humiliation he could dish out. She had to negotiate well so that she could return to her body.

Suddenly, she said, “I have a hunch regarding that symbol.”

“Oh.” 

When Lee Gun looked interested, Heiji knew she had him. ‘Lee Gun wants information.’ If she leveraged this well she could get out of this situation.

She continued, “Yes. I have a lot of information you’re unaware of. That is why— Kuh-huhk!” Heiji felt her mind shake once again. Lee Gun had stabbed her leg.

Hugo flinched as he tried to move his kids away from the scene. However, his two children didn’t listen to him.

Heiji heard Lee Gun’s laughter as she felt her mind get close to breaking. The man said, “It seems you’re under a great misunderstanding.”

“…!”

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed as he pushed the blade further into the leg. “You aren’t in a position to barter with me.”

“…!”

“Don’t be mistaken. It isn't that I’m unable to kill you. I’m just choosing to spare your life for now.”

Heiji’s consciousness was starting to fade. Lee Gun extracted the blade again.

Poo-ahk!

With a twisted smile on his lips, he shook the blood off the blade. “Now that you know who is on the top, I’ll ask you for the last time.”

“…!”

“Did you stab me?”

She had no chance of winning. Heiji decided to be truthful. “I didn’t—”

Poohk!

“Kuh-huhk!”

“Did you stab me?”

“Kuh-huhk— I didn’t—.”

Poohk!

“Huh-uhk!”

“It really wasn’t you?” Lee Gun asked again.

“I really didn’t—”

Poohk!

“That’s odd! I’m pretty sure you were the one who stabbed me.”

“Kyahkkk!”

At this point, Hugo was sweating. He had forgotten about it. This was normal for the two of them.

After being stabbed all over her body, Heiji couldn’t stand it anymore. She yelled, “You just want it to be me!”

“Of course!”

‘This bastard!’ 

In the end, Hugo couldn’t stand it anymore. He spoke up. “Gun! What if it wasn’t just one person who stabbed you? Everyone could have been accomplices.”

“!”

Hugo looked at Heiji in disapproval. Of course, his suspicion was logical.

Hugo had been aggrieved by the fact that he had been unable to witness his friend’s death. Moreover, for the past twenty years, he had been treated as an outsider because he hadn’t been inside the tower.

The Archer Saint had also tried to correct factual errors, but everyone said he was siding with his friend. Everyone buried him by saying he was trying to take his friend’s assets for himself.

“How could they not be all accomplices? How could they all steal your achievements without being in on it?”

These words only made Lee Gun laugh. “There’s only one person that stabbed me.” Yes, there was a chance that all of them had dropped him into the trap, but that probability was low. 

Moreover, Lee Gun knew he was correct. He remembered the reactions of the Zodiac Saints when he had fallen into the trap. Everyone had looked truly shocked. Even his nemesis Heiji was shocked to the core at the unexpected development. It was to be expected. 

They hated Lee Gun, but they treasured their lives more. Although they hated to admit it, even escaping the tower would be difficult without Lee Gun. So why would they kill Lee Gun in such a situation?

‘It makes no sense.’

In reality, the Zodiac Saints had almost died escaping the tower. They hadn’t even thought about saving Lee Gun. In fact, they had also bickered with each other, blaming them for not being able to grab the falling Lee Gun.

Of course, they only found stability when they exited the tower.

‘Hurray! The twelve Zodiacs killed Red Eye!’

It was also true that they had been giddy when the reporters had shouted those words.

Lee Gun laughed. “Even if only one person stabbed me, they are all the same.”

So, he planned on putting the screws on all the Saints. He just had a special service for the one who had trapped him.

‘I think the culprit has a connection to the unknown civilization.’

How could that person know about the trap in the tower? How did this person know how to trigger the trap? Moreover, the tower was home to one of the leaders of the unknown civilization; it was the den of Red Eye. There was no way a human could have such intimate knowledge about the tower.

‘Then there was the last guard I killed in the tower.’ That monster had kept resetting the tower, treating Lee Gun like a lab rat. 

It had been an officer of a high rank in the unknown civilization, yet it had spoken these words in the trap, “You are amazing. I was told someone useful will be sent here. Your colleague sent a human that’s beyond imagination.”

At the time, Lee Gun had been in too much pain to pay attention to those words, but when he looked back on it, the choice of words was odd. It was as if someone amongst the Zodiac Saints had a secret meeting with the unknown civilization.

‘The one who pushed me into the trap might have betrayed humanity.’ This was why Lee Gun couldn’t simply kill everyone. It wasn’t enough. He had to find the culprit and confirm his conjecture.

Therefore, Lee Gun raised his blade once again in front of Heiji.

“The symbol…!”

He heard a desperate shout. Lee Gun turned. ‘It seems she has finally learned her lesson.’

Heiji trembled. “I’ll tell you everything I know. Please stop stabbing me!” Unlike her usual calculating self, she admitted her defeat.

Lee Gun laughed in a domineering fashion. “You said it wrong.”

“What?”

“Respected Lee Gun-nim. I beg this of you! I’ll even lick your shoes!”

Heiji’s insides were boiling. She really wished he hadn’t come back out from the tower. Suppressing her emotions, she said, “If the symbol has an owner, the most likely suspects are the Saints in the west.”

“West?” Lee Gun asked.

“I’m talking about the Zodiac Saints who set up bases to the west.”

To make everything simple, the Saints had divided the world into the four cardinal directions. Heiji was talking about the Zodiac Saints who were in full control of the West.

The Zodiac Saints of the East had been crushed by Lee Gun. Lee Gun had defeated the Sheep Saint, the Archer Saint, and the Gemini Saint.

“The West is occupied by the Aquarius Saint and the Virgo Saint. However, the Virgo Saint is the dominant force. In recent days, the Pisces Saint and the Cancer Saint have moved into the west too.”

Hugo’s face slightly stiffened when a particular name was mentioned. His gaze headed toward his daughter’s arms.

Heiji continued, “It has to be either the Pisces Saint or the Virgo Saint. They are fighting a really brutal battle to determine who is number one or two amongst us.”

Lee Gun asked, “Why would you think they are related to the symbol?”

“I saw the battle between the Western Saints,” she answered.

“Oh.”

“I personally believe that the culprit is the Virgo Saint. The probability is high.”

“Why?”

“The Virgo Saint possesses <Heaven’s Punishment>!”

Heiji’s words left everyone surprised.

“Are you sure?!”

“Heaven’s Punishment?”

It was Lee Gun’s weapon, his constant companion and the weapon that had killed Red Eye.

‘I was wondering why I couldn’t find it no matter how much I searched.’ Lee Gun’s weapon had disappeared at the time of his death, and as per those words, the Virgo Saint had it.

‘It really is suspicious.’ This was a good development for Lee Gun. The SS rank Appraiser who was a huge fan of his was affiliated with the Virgo temple. ‘I left that sword with him so that he can appraise it. I wonder what he’ll say.’

Of course, the Appraiser’s words wouldn’t matter since Lee Gun was going to beat up all the Zodiac Saints.

When Heiji saw Lee Gun’s satisfied expression, she desperately yelled, “I told you all the information I know, so get me out of here! No, please stop the bleeding first!”

Lee Gun let out a bright smile. “Why would I?”

“Lee Gun!”

“You’re the perpetrator, so don’t act as if you’re the victim. Information is information. My desire to kill you is an entirely different topic.”

“…!”

Suddenly, Lee Gun’s laughing face changed. It was a rare expression, an expression of vigilance. That wasn’t all.

“!”

Hugo was also on guard. Only one person was laughing.

‘They are here!’ It was Heiji.

[A brutal energy is coming toward you.]

[The Constructs of the Two-faced god are approaching with stupendous force.]

Lee Gun straightened. ‘Familiars of the Gemini god.’ They were on a different rank than his Piggy Bank. ‘Attack type.’ 

It was unclear whether the Gemini god had sent them or Heiji had called for them. The only certainty was that they were enemies.

‘They are coming from the Gemini Saint’s holy ground’

The Constructs were familiars loyal to the Gemini. They wouldn’t forgive their god being hurt. Neither would they forgive their Saint being treated so poorly.

Heiji sounded happy as she yelled toward her unexpected rescuers, “The eighty-eight transcendent beings that protect the Gemini and the Yin & Yang palace! Please help me!”

Along with the voice, a light descended in front of Heiji.

Paht!

Yang Wei’s soul screamed as he hid when he felt the energy of the powerful Constructs.  He was a Saint of a different god, but he could recognize their energy. 

“Crazy! They are high-rank battle gods! This is nuts!”

The tense Chun Yooha called forth her weapon. Chun Sungjae turned pale when he realized their identity. The young man shouted, “Uncle! Hurry up and run away! Those gods are—”

Light exploded.

Three Constructs appeared and approached Lee Gun. This sight left Heiji ecstatic.

Lee Gun immediately held up his blade.

Boom!

The Constructs that looked like they were heading toward Lee Gun suddenly hid behind Hugo. It was as if they had followed after Hugo. They knelt behind the Archer Saint, clutching their heads.

Everyone’s eyes turned round. The Constructs’ next words were a spectacle to behold.

[Ah ah! We do not dare look at him!]

[Servant of the Archer! What are you doing! Hurry up and ask for Lee Gun-nim’s audience!]

‘What?’