abcnovels
Chapter 99: I'll Take Your Seat (1)
Chapter 99: I'll Take Your Seat (1)
Chapter 99: I’ll Take Your Seat (1)
[Is this three-second cut of the Leo Saint real?]
[I saw it live. It’s real!]
[Was it a performance? Did they predetermine the result? What kind of acting is this?]
[?? Idiot. Why would the Leo Saint get crushed like that if they were acting?]
[If they do two more performances like this, he’ll be pulverized.]
[I guess you’re right;;;]
[Does that mean he really lost to Lee Gun in an instant???]
The result of the match spread around the world in no time. After all, the whole world had focused on this match. The match had been broadcast live on TV, but all the popular analysts and BJs were also on standby to talk about the fight.
Analysis of high-rank disciples’ abilities and achievements were highly profitable. The world even had national analysts that provided their service as a profession. It was an important class of profession when it came to stopping the invasion of the unknown civilization.
Moreover, the highest rank of disciples that they could analyze were the Saints.
Of course, a new breed of disciples called the <Ten Stars> was considered the strongest humanity could offer. However, these ten couldn’t be compared to the original awakened beings. The Zodiac Saints, in some ways, were symbolic leaders of the world.
This match had been a golden opportunity for everyone to analyze the thirteenth Saint. They could see what kind of Saint he was. The fight was even a popular topic amongst the generals.
“The Leo Saint will win in the end.”
“That’s right. Although the Leo Saint looks like an idiot who can use only strength, he uses a lot of underhanded tactics.”
“Tsk! Poor Lee Gun! He is being used for marketing.”
All the disciples who had returned from raids had gathered around their TVs in groups of twos and threes. However, what they saw was unexpected.
– My god! Lee Gun just needed a single blow to put down the Leo Saint!
– Ah! Wait a moment! What happened in the match twenty-three years ago?
The generals who outwardly showed no interest had been watching the match from the corners of their eyes. The outcome of the fight had shocked them as they took possession of the PC.
“What the hell? He’s knocked out? It took one blow from Lee Gun?!”
“Are you sure this isn’t some prank show?”
“I thought the Leo Saint was the war god?!”
The shocking end to the fight stunned the whole world.
Of course, the Leo disciples felt their souls leave their bodies. They had expected their Saint to repeat the legendary fight.
Lee Gun, who had hit the world on the back of its head, looked unconcerned by their reactions.
He nonchalantly laughed. Moreover, what he talked about frightened the Leo disciples. “Did you not hear me?”
“!”
“Who wants to become my disciple? Raise your hand.”
Taken aback, the Leo disciples looked at each other. Half of them couldn’t comprehend what Lee Gun was talking about; the other half was baffled.
Lee Gun was asking if anyone wanted to become his disciple!
‘Is he trying to convert us?’
‘He’s doing it in this situation?’
‘He put Saint-nim in this state, yet he’s asking us that question?’
The disciples wanted to ask if he was joking, but they had a feeling that he wasn’t.
‘I… I don’t think he’s joking.’
A wicked light appeared in Lee Gun’s eyes. Sure enough…
“I’ll change the question. Who doesn’t want to become my disciple?” Lee Gun laughed as he asked that, but the Leo disciples could only open and close their mouths in silence.
The image of Lee Gun sending Stevens flying with one blow was still fresh in their minds.
If they said no, they had a feeling that they would suffer the same fate as the Leo Saint. At that moment…
“You… You dare do that to Saint-nim!” A spirited recruit ran toward Lee Gun.
The high-rank Leo disciples, who were off to the side, turned pale.
“That idiot!”
“Hey!”
The senior members quickly tried to stop the young recruit, but it was useless.
“This is revenge for our Saint-nim!”
Lee Gun laughed as if he found the man’s action cute. “You don’t want to join? Alright.”
He moved his finger as if he had given up.
The exuberant recruit, who had rushed forward, realized his mistake.
Pahng!!
A voice rang out as if a firecracker had gone off in the stadium. Flying through the air like a bullet, the recruit hit the wall. Then, he slumped to the ground as if his soul had left his body.
The disciples didn’t even see Lee Gun’s fist. In fact, it wasn’t a punch.
“Fuck… What the hell was that?”
Normally, they never lost their composure, but even they had to curse this time. Lee Gun hadn’t used his fist; he had used his finger!
‘He flicked his finger?’
This meant Lee Gun didn’t even need to take out his weapon for the normal disciples.
“That finger flick had enough power to kill!”
Lee Gun sighed after sending his opponent flying. This was the first time he had used the finger flick ever since using it on Sungjae. Since the recruit was acting cute, Lee Gun had wanted to go easy on him, so he had used the finger flick. But…
‘Tsk! My power has gone up too much.’
After his body’s upgrade, he was still having a hard time controlling his power. Well, he didn’t really care if he could control his strength or not. Why?
[You have acquired rare potential data.]
[<Triumphant General>]
[Effect: You must win your fight. (Satisfy Condition)]
As he had thought, he had received the data he wanted. ‘As expected of a battle-type Saint.’
The Leo Saint was a battle-type Saint like Hugo and Kevin, but he was completely different from them.
Expected of a psycho, the Virgo Saint possessed clingy skills like “I’ll never die alone.” Hugo was impotent in close-range battles, so he constantly gave up data on cowardly skills like “Observing in Secret.”
In comparison, the fierce Leo Saint was a paradise of pure battle data! Basically, it didn’t matter if Lee Gun could acquire another disciple or not. Coming here had been pure profit for him.
“Let me ask again.”
“…?!”
“Who doesn’t want to become my disciple?” This time, Lee Gun lifted his fist. “I don’t mind if you guys say no.”
Lee Gun’s bright smile sent chills running up the Leo disciples’ spines. What kind of missionary work was this?
‘Even the most diabolical Saints don’t make direct threats like this!’
When Lee Gun moved closer to them, the disciples yelled out in surprise.
“Excuse me! We have to move our Saint-nim!”
“Yes. I see! So you guys don’t want to become my disciples?”
“That is not what we—”
Bbah-gahk!
The jubilant Lee Gun gathered data under the guise of recruiting disciples.
* * *
At that moment…
“What? The fight between Lee Gun and the Leo Saint has already started?”
“Yes… It started and ended at the same time… I guess you can say the fight has already started.”
The Virgo Saint Kevin got furious at the stadium employee’s reply.
“You lucky son of a bitch! You’re a mere cat, yet you got to fight Lee Gun! I didn’t even get to fight him!” Kevin still had been unable to find Stevens’ waiting room. He had been thinking about getting rid of Stevens to get in the ring.
Kevin glared at the arena. “You cowardly cat! You were afraid of me finding you, so you made the stadium into a maze!” Kevin claimed a maze spell had been placed over the stadium.
The stadium employees kept their mouths shut, but they knew the truth.
‘The waiting room is in the opposite direction.’
The Virgo Saint was famous amongst the disciples for being directionally challenged. The stadium employees worried that if left alone, Kevin would be lost forever.
Therefore, they carefully said to him, “Excuse me. If you don’t mind, I can guide you to the arena stage where the two of them are fighting.”
“Do you think I’m a kid? I can find the arena stage by myself.” The angry Kevin pivoted toward a new direction.
The employees started to sweat again.
‘He is going toward the exit!’
“Excuse me, Kevin-nim!”
“I said don’t follow me!”
In the whole universe, only he existed. Ignoring his surroundings, Kevin walked forward. Suddenly…
“What? Don’t treat Saint-nim? Let him die?”
“!”
An unfamiliar voice was coming from an isolated hallway.
The employee, who had been chasing after Kevin, was surprised. “Kevin-nim! You’re heading towards the Leo Saint’s training room— Aht!”
Kevin placed a finger on the employee’s mouth. Then, he soundlessly walked toward the direction the voice was coming from. Frost Walk! Even Lee Gun acknowledged Kevin’s skill in hiding his presence.
After hiding himself, Kevin furrowed his brows as he looked at someone. ‘The Leo Saint’s SS-rank disciple.’
The man in front of him was the deputy Saint. If Kevin remembered correctly, the man’s name was Oliver.
Kevin was sure Oliver was the one who had his spot in the Ten Stars snatched away by Chun Yooha.
Oliver was talking with his subordinate right now. “He’s degrading himself by pining after Lee Gun’s crappy items. As if to make things worse, he lost to Lee Gun this time. Is he really suited to be the head of the Leo temple?”
“But…”
“It doesn’t matter who we promote, but we need a generational shift. It would have been great if Lee Gun had killed him, but it doesn’t matter.”
“…!”
“Tell this to the reporters. Saint-nim suffered acute blood loss from the wounds Lee Gun inflicted on him. Tell them that he passed away.”
“Are you saying you want to turn Lee Gun into a murderer?”
Then…
“You guys are full of shit.”
“!”
“Who are you!”
The Virgo Saint sneered at their foolishness. “How dare you push your sins off to someone else?”
Oliver and his subordinate unsheathed their blades.
“I’ll get rid of him!”
This made Kevin let out a harsh laugh. “Get rid of me? You guys will get rid of me?”
“Hmph! We heard about the war within the Virgo temple! Due to that, the faith toward the Virgo Saint has hit rock bottom. You also lost an arm. Do you really think we’ll be afraid of you?”
A Saint, who had lost his power, had shown up by himself. Kevin, a Saint of a different Zodiac, was now a fodder that they could kill! It was a golden opportunity that would allow them to increase their Contribution to their temple!
As expected, the high-rank Leo disciple fiercely rushed forward. “Become an offering to the Leo!”
The corners of the Virgo Saint’s mouth creepily curved up. “You guys aren’t even Lee Gun. How dare you!”
They felt a chill. It was like encountering a wraith. This was the special look that could be seen only when the Virgo Saint was fighting. At the same time, a sound cut through the air.
Poo-oohk!
The sword was instantly unsheathed, and its blade dug into the Leo disciple’s neck.
“Kuh-huhk…!”
This was done with pinpoint accuracy and ruthlessness. The Virgo Saint possessed wraith-like eyes as he danced with his blade.
Kwah-jeek!
The situation was like a banquet of red droplets. They sprayed into the air. However, Kevin’s dance wasn’t at an end.
Poo-oohk!
His sword moved like a flash of lightning as it made a hole through Oliver’s neck.
“Kuh-huhk!”
The blade pierced up through the palate and exited through the back of the man’s head. Kevin ruthlessly twisted his blade.
Bbah-doo-doohk!
The Virgo Saint was rumored to be the cruelest Saint or, at the very least, in contention in being the second cruelest.
Kevin said, “How dare you look down on the saints! You don’t even deserve your abilities.”
Of course, he didn’t care if the Leo Saint died by his subordinate’s hands or not. In fact, Kevin had thought about killing the Leo Saint for getting on his nerves. The thing that made him angry was the plot to place the blame of the Leo Saint’s death on Lee Gun. Why?
‘I killed off the rumors to the best of my abilities. It’ll be troublesome if they start ballooning again.’
This had happened after Lee Gun had died. Rumors had been running rampant. Like Hugo, Kevin had tried to kill off those rumors. Of course, he hadn’t done it from start to finish.
Kevin started ten years ago when Hugo had to move away from anything related to Lee Gun. However, Kevin had ended his work when Lee Gun’s unearthed fighting video had overtaken his own fighting video in terms of popularity to take the number one spot.
At the time, Kevin had wondered who had started all those foul rumors.
“I have a good idea of who the culprit is.” As the Virgo Saint spoke those words, the SS-rank Oliver’s appearance changed.
Flash!
His face melted away, and a symbol appeared on his neck. The symbol of the <Libra>!
This made Kevin scoff at the foolishness. ‘I wondered why I could easily get through the guard of someone on the same rank as the Ten Stars. ’
Yes, the person here wasn’t Oliver. It was someone else. Moreover, the tattoo on the neck was the “Saint Seal.” It was a mark that only the most-beloved disciples of the Zodiacs received.
All the Saints had a large mark somewhere on their bodies. The mark on the disciples the Zodiacs favored was smaller, but it was also somewhere on their bodies.
‘Is this her scheme to get rid of the Leo Saint?’ The Virgo Saint flicked the blood off his sword in annoyance.
He didn’t care if a Leo disciple killed Stevens or not. Kevin just needed to satisfy his grudge. “I’ll have to head towards the infirmary.”
Full of spirit, he quickly moved forward. However…
“You idiot! The infirmary isn’t in that direction!”
“!” Kevin turned toward the familiar voice. He saw Hugo and his subordinates.
Hugo acted as if he knew this would happen. He looked down at Kevin. “I heard my subordinates saw the Scorpio Saint and the Libra Saint nearby.”
“What?!”
The Libra Saint was enemies with Kevin and Hugo.
“The two of them are finally here to kill Lee Gun.”
[I have nothing to do with that!]
“!”
They suddenly heard a voice. The voice had come from the tattoo on the corpse of the man Kevin had killed. The voice mockingly spoke to the two Saints.
[Whom should I congratulate first? Your subordinate was in a coma for ten years, yet he’s moving in a lively manner. You’re amazing, Hugo. Or should I say you were just lucky? You were just the recipient of Lee Gun’s power.]
“…!”
Hugo’s face hardened when he recognized the voice. His reaction was expected. The voice belonged to the LIbra Saint, after all.
[Of course, your wife won’t be able to wake up so easily.]
They instantly became vigilant. Their opponent was considered the number-one Saint. Moreover, she was using a skill that allowed her to speak through a corpse.
‘I thought that was a skill that only her Zodiac could use.’
Of course, the Libra was oddly close to its Saint. This wasn’t out of the ordinary. Then there was the power they felt. It was clear that she had become much stronger in the past ten years.
In the end, Hugo snorted. “You were the one who made Pelio hire Gun to kill the monsters. What are you planning? Are you here to kill Gun once and for all?”
The Libra Saint sounded like a queen as she let out a high-handed laugh.
[Don’t impute my character like that. I’m just here to bet today. It was obvious that the idiot Leo would lose today.]
“Do you think I’ll believe that?”
[I’m not here to do anything.]
The woman let out a meaningful laugh.
[I’m…]
They didn’t even have time to ask what she meant.
Kwahng!
The stadium shook violently. Screams rang out next.
“Monsters!”
The two Saints saw monsters through the windows and were surprised. Their surprise was normal.
‘Rare-type!’
These monsters were the mysterious type of monsters on which no attacks worked. The same type of monsters had appeared before inside the Floating Castle Drachma.
‘Five of them this time!’
They had struggled to fight even one at Drachma. Moreover, these five monsters were much more overbearing than the ones from before.
‘They are stronger!’
At that moment…
Kwahng!
The wall next to the Saints crumbled as something hit it like a cannonball.
“?!”
It was a Leo disciple, who had flown through the air. The disciple was bleeding from his nose.
Everyone’s surprise lasted only a moment. The disciple they had been observing yelled, “Lee… Lee Gun-nim huzzah! I… I’ll join.”
“Alright. That’s one disciple.”
“…?!”
What the hell was going on?
They looked in the direction the disciple had flown from.
“What? I needed ingredients to make my badges. This is great!” Lee Gun’s snake eyes flashed.