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Chapter 139: Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac Saint (1)
Chapter 139: Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac Saint (1)
Chapter 139: Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac Saint (1)
Chun Yooha approached the armless Leo Saint.
This pleased Stevens. At the end of the day, Yooha was an important fighting force for the Leo temple. “Yes, Yooha. Very good! Help me get up.”
To be precise, he was asking to borrow her power. To a battle-type Saint like him, losing his arms was devastating. He was in the same boat as the Virgo Saint.
However, the Leo Saint’s situation was a bit different. The Leo temple was the temple of the Beasts. Their disciples could change parts of their bodies into beast forms. They were savage beasts capable of using immense power.
This could happen because of the contract that allowed a beast to parasitically live within the body.
If Stevens played his cards right, he could create prosthetics that could replace his arms. How?
‘The beast living within me can be transformed into an arm, and I can just attach it.’
Of course, the beast contracted to Stevens was his Zodiac. The Zodiac could be changed into a usable arm, but…
“There is no way a mighty Zodiac would transform into an artificial arm for me.”
This meant it would be best if he could get another beast aside from the Zodiac to transform into an artificial arm. Moreover, he needed a high-rank beast fit for being the arm of a Zodiac Saint.
If the beast’s rank was too low, it wouldn’t be able to withstand the Zodiac Saint’s magical energy; it would fall off.
Although its identity was unknown, the beast living within Yooha’s arms was of the highest rank.
‘It’s in the divine beast rank, which rivals the Zodiacs.’
Like the fairies of the Gemini temple, the parasitic beasts had ranks.
[Divine Beast rank]: Highest rank, Beast of Deadly Sins, Dangerous
[Predator rank]: High rank, battle type
[Beast rank]: Mid rank, battle type
[Herbivore rank]: Low rank, Unique ability
Most of the general-rank disciples had predator-rank beasts. This meant their attack power was high.
The Divine Beast rank had appeared only once or twice in the past. They were very rare, fantastic beasts. Stevens was sure that the one living within Chun Yooha’s arms was a Divine Beast rank. It was also the reason he had kidnapped(?) Chun Yooha.
“If I use the power of the beast within her arms, I can easily make a prosthetic arm.”
Of course, the beast within Chun Yooha’s arms was something from the unknown civilization. Yooha couldn’t extract it, but she should be able to separate a portion of her power to create the prosthetic arm. She had gone through manipulation training to be able to do so.
“The temple will give you ample rewards. Until I can find new arms, I want you to borrow—”
Suddenly…
Chuhk!
“?!”
Instead of giving an answer, she aimed her spear at his neck.
Stevens became confused when his life was suddenly threatened. “Yooha??”
He had no idea what was going on, but Chun Yooha nonchalantly said, “I would like to continue the talk we had earlier.”
“W-What? The talk we had earlier?”
“I’m going to leave the Leo temple. All the long-term missions under my name are finished. I have no contractual obligation anymore.”
“No!”
Yooha had indeed come to his room to talk before Red Eye had shown up. She seemed to be continuing that conversation. However, it wasn’t the time to have that conversation.
“Do you not realize the state of our temple right now? Also, you won’t be allowed to leave. Our Zodiac won’t allow it.”
“Zodiac?”
“Yes. Do you realize how much the Leo… Before we have that conversation, why are you lifting your spear against me? Did you assume I wouldn’t listen to you if you didn’t do so?”
He wasn’t that big of an asshole. However, Chun Yooha’s black eyes twinkled as she said, “Ah! I’m doing this for a different reason.”
“Different reason??”
As soon as those words rang, Chun Yooha heard Lee Gun’s voice again in her ears.
[Your Missionary mission has started.]
[If you complete the relevant mission, you will become a disciple of the Serpent Bearer.]
[Mission: Defeat a Saint rank]
[Archer Saint is an exception (Reason: It is too easy)]
Chun Yooha’s eyes flashed. She instantly infused magical energy into her spear! The spear turned into light and came flying between Stevens’s legs.
Boom!!!
“Ahhk!!”
Stevens was shocked when he had lost his most important body part. The disciples next to him were even more shocked. They became speechless when they heard Chun Yooha’s respectful words.
“I’m sorry, Saint-nim! Thank you for everything!”
“??!”
“You cheated me a lot in the past, but I’ll consider us even now. I purposely skipped commissions too.”
“What?! Yooha!! Let’s speak after you put that down…”
The terrifying attacks coming from one of the Ten Stars continued. The vicious attack poured down from the sky.
Boom! Boom!
“Ahhhk! Saint-nim!”
As if to make matters worse, she had used her full power from the beginning. After all, she knew what kind of opponent she was facing.
A magical energy that could be seen in the Red zone erupted from Yooha, making the Leo disciples turn pale from fright.
“Ahhhhk! Yooha! What the hell are you doing?”
Dumbfounded, Stevens dodged Chun Yooha’s attacks. Since he had lost both his arms, he couldn’t fight here. This flustered him as he angrily yelled, “Why are you being like this? Even if you want to leave our temple, this isn’t the way to do it!”
“I’m really sorry! However, I have no choice if I want to enter Uncle’s temple.”
“W-What?”
With the eyes of a hunter, Yooha raised her spear. “It’s a mission.”
The disciples had no idea what she was talking about, but Stevens cursed. Of course, he knew what that “Mission” meant.
‘Is it a Missionary mission?’
The reward was beyond imagination, but the corresponding risk was also huge. Therefore, neither the Zodiac Saints nor the Zodiacs chose to hand out the crazy Missionary missions. Stevens was sure this was what Yooha was referring to.
If one failed in completing the conditions for the Missionary mission, one would never get the chance to enter that temple again. Basically, it was a high-risk, high-reward move.
‘If a general-rank is accepted through the Missionary mission, the temple’s level rises significantly.’
The disciple carrying out the mission would also get a massive boost to their abilities through the reawakening. Anyone above the S-rank had reached the end of their growth stage. Without a Missionary mission, growing their abilities would be hard.
Despite the reward being sublime, the Leo Saint couldn’t believe this mission was given to a person of Chun Yooha’s rank.
‘She is one of the Ten Stars!’
If Yooha failed the mission, she could never enter Lee Gun’s temple again.
‘I knew he had guts, but this is too much!’
Did he have that much trust in Chun Yooha, or did he like high risk, high return bets? However, that wasn’t important right.
“Saint-nim, I’m really sorry that I am asking you of this as I’m heading out! But please lose to me once!”
Stevens realized the nature of the mission, so it was driving him nuts. “Hey! Those kinds of conditions shouldn’t be carried out!”
“That’s fine. It doesn’t say I have to kill you.”
“That’s not the problem— Ahhk!!”
Boom!!
Veins popped out on Stevens’s neck when he was ruthlessly attacked. It was because he couldn’t attack Chun Yooha right now. Him being armless was a problem, but in truth, that wasn’t important at all.
Even when armless, he was the leader of a battle-type temple. He could bring down an S-rank with his legs.
“Hey!!! You shouldn’t do this! I made a contract with your father, so I can’t physically harm you!”
“!”
When Chun Yooha, who had been on her guard until now, heard those words, the light in her eyes changed. “Ah! Is that so?”
She laughed as if she was relieved. “Thank you! I didn’t know about that.”
“…!!”
Chun Yooha took on a different stance.
Stevens turned pale as he realized he had made a mistake. ‘That’s an all-out attack stance.’
It seemed she had been nervous about fighting a Zodiac Saint, so she had been fighting a defensive battle. However, he had just told her that he couldn’t attack her, so now, she could solely focus on attacking him.
‘Shit! I made a mistake.’
Chun Yooha was strong. As an S-rank, her battle sense and abilities were on par with a Zodiac Saint’s senses. Moreover, she seemed to have received some hereditary abilities from her father; her attacks were accurate.
She was a talent too good to send to Lee Gun. In fact, even other temples coveted her.
“Hey! You shouldn’t look down on your superior! Do you really think you will be able to get rid of me?”
Chun Yooha’s eyes flashed. Of course, she knew her place, and she had never thought she would be able to win against a Zodiac Saint.
The twelve Zodiac Saints were heroes who had shared the battlefield with her uncle in the past. However, she wanted to transfer to her uncle’s temple, so such weak thoughts weren’t helpful at all.
In the first place, her uncle probably gave her this mission because he believed she could succeed. And if she couldn’t even clear one mission, she wasn’t qualified to become Lee Gun’s disciple.
“It won’t be a problem if I just defeat you, right?”
Too-gwahng!!!!
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
[You have accomplished 20% of the Missionary Mission.]
[Divine status has been delivered to the Zodiac.]
The speech pattern differed, but what she had heard was the voice of Lee Gun! This was what her brother was talking about.
After she had heard Lee Gun’s voice, Chun Yooha’s attack surged in power.
[Crimson Light]
Kwa-gwah-gwahng!
“Damn it!!” Stevens gnashed his teeth as he dodged the attack. For some reason, Chun Yooha’s attacks felt stronger than usual.
‘Shit! I can’t even attack her because of that contract with the Archer Saint!’
He had done it on the day he had kidnapped Chun Yooha to the Leo temple. Hugo had suddenly barged into the Leo temple by himself and demanded a contract while threatening Stevens’s life.
Although Hugo didn’t like it, he had decided to ask for a contract that his daughter might need. He allowed Yooha to become the Leo Saint’s disciple in exchange for a contract that Stevens would never harm her.
It was a blood contract that was rarely done because one had to put one’s life as collateral. Stevens had merely wanted to use Yooha’s power, so he didn’t plan on harming her. Therefore, he agreed to the contract.
It was also better than an enraged Hugo causing severe harm to the Leo temple. After all, Hugo wasn’t that big of a pushover as a Zodiac Saint.
In return, the contract also stipulated that Hugo could never interfere in the matters of the Leo temple.
“Noona!! You’re doing great!! Just kill that bastard! Let’s give him as a tribute to Uncle!”
That little shrimp! After dodging Chun Yooha’s attack, Stevens let out a string of curse words.
Chun Sungjae’s eyes gleamed as he cheered on his sister. “Isn’t this amazing if he can’t attack Noona?! Cut off his head! He bad-mouthed Uncle! If you do this right, you might become a Saint rank!”
What he was suggesting wasn’t an impossibility. While Chun Yooha was carrying out her Missionary mission, Chun Sungjae had heard Lee Gun’s voice too.
[An additional open Serpent Bearer’s mission has been added.]
[“The Serpent Bearer has no Zodiac Saint.”]
[A Zodiac Saint that serves the Zodiac needs to be found.]
[Becoming a Zodiac Saint is possible for anyone at the SS-rank and above.]
[This applicable mission has been added to Chun Sungjae’s disciple mission.]
[Advance to SS rank(Saint rank).]
This made Chun Sungjae bring forth his magical energy.
The Leo disciples angrily reacted to Chun Sungjae’s spirit.
“Do you think a Zodiac Saint is some monster?”
“What? This doesn’t go against the stipulation set against the Leo Saint! This is for Uncle! I’ll help you!”
At that moment…
“We won’t let you do something that’ll benefit Lee Gun.”
“!!”
Other disciples stepped in front of Chun Sungjae.
“!”
The one to appear was the SS-rank Leo disciple Oliver. He had appeared along with the members of the Gemini temple.
The Gemini temple had decided to use the opportunity of teleporting Oliver to aim for Chun Sungjae’s life.
The eyes of the Gemini disciples flashed.
“We finally found you, Chun Sungjae.”
As for Oliver, he immediately attacked Chun Yooha.
Boom!
“!!”
Chun Yooha had to halt her attacks on Stevens.
The Leo disciples let out a sigh of relief.
“Oliver-nim! I’m glad you’re here! Please stop Yooha! She said she’ll leave our temple—”
“Why? That’s great! She can leave.”
“What?!”
“However, I won’t let that bitch kill a Zodiac Saint. I can’t stand for it.”
Stevens let out a cheeky laugh. “Yes! He might have a lot of complaints, but he’s loya—”
“I’ll be the one to kill the Leo Saint instead!”
“?!”
Oliver seemed to have seen a golden opportunity since Stevens was armless. He unsheathed his blade. He wanted to kill both Chun Yooha and Stevens. “I’d rather kill you than see you lose to that bitch.”
“Oliver!”
“It’s fine. ‘The winner inherits the loser’s power.’ This is the rule of the Leo temple. If I defeat Saint-nim, I’ll be able to inherit that power. You would’ve needed someone working in your stead until you could find a replacement for your arms. So please do not worry about it!”
“How dare you guys do this?” Sparks erupted in the Leo Saint’s eyes. Even if he had lost his arms, there should be words that should and shouldn’t be spoken. “You guys really think a Zodiac Saint is a pushover?”
Stevens let out a rough growl, and golden light erupted from his body.
[Demigod State]
No one at the scene could withstand the incredible amount of magical energy being generated.
Yooha and Oliver were also pushed back by that power.
However, at that moment, a wicked energy surged from Oliver’s body.
“!”
It surprised Chun Yooha and the other disciples.
‘That isn’t the energy of the Leo temple.’
In fact, it was closer to the energy of the unknown civilization.
The golden light of the lion clashed against the unknown black energy that was similar to a tiger. The wicked energy was also about to push back Yooha, but…
Boom!
A powerful green light descended on Chun Yooha’s head.