Chapter 48: He Acts like Lee Gun (2)

At that moment in time, Hugo was visiting the Cheongwadae.

The president and dozens of high-ranking officials had gathered in the meeting room, all frozen in place. Not a single laugh could be heard. Even Hugo had become an afterthought. 

The chief secretary of the president looked on with his mouth open. His jaw looked like it was about to unhinge.

[You filthy scums!]

[This is crazy! Call the cops!]

[You wanna die!]

[Sunbae-nim! Help us!]

[Die!]

Hugo was silent. The officials of the Cheongwadae had turned into stone. They were seeing an unbelievable sight on the TV.

[Are you seeing this! A young man suddenly crashed the press conference— Kyaa!]

The top story around the world today was going to be the Saintess’s press conference. The press conference had been scheduled with short notice, but no one minded that. Everyone had tuned in to watch the press conference on the TV.

It was a given since the person conducting the press conference was the Saintess, the Saint with the most disciples around the world.

Moreover, the press conference was about Lee Gun. So, of course, the members of the Korean government wanted to watch it.

When numerous government officials had asked if it was ok for them to watch the press conference, Hugo had readily agreed to it. He was also curious about the press conference.

The Cheongwadae had received bribes from the Gemini Saint in the past; they had discreetly sold out his friend Lee Gun. Even if one said that it was the past administration, the current one had discreetly buried all positive stories about Lee Gun.

Hugo wasn’t there because he liked the government officials. He usually wouldn’t have agreed to their requests, but he was neutral about this. ‘I wonder what kind of an expression the Aquarius Saintess will have on her face as she speaks.’

Hugo planned to push the fake Lee Gun to the forefront. This had all started with an order from Lee Gun, but Hugo had agreed that the plan was a good one. So, he had cooperated with Lee Gun.

He had been introducing the Slime Lee Gun as the real Lee Gun to the Cheongwadae when—

[You fucking scums!]

“…”

[Yes! Are you seeing what I’m seeing! It is Lee Gun! Lee Gun is back after twenty years!]

[His appearance and age have changed, but he’s Lee Gun!]

[After a twenty-year hiatus, Lee Gun is causing mayhem at the press conference!]

The politicians, who had been watching the screen, took discreet glances toward Hugo.

Crunch!

The sound of Hugo breaking the screen of his phone rang out. “That idiot…”

The high-ranking official standing next to Hugo trembled when he heard the latter’s cold voice.

Hugo didn’t pay attention to anyone as he glared at the TV. On the screen, Lee Gun was having a blast as he grabbed the necks of gossip columnists.

The Archer Saint inevitably let out a scary amount of magical energy. ‘He’s the one who said he’ll kick my ass if his identity gets revealed… And he has the audacity to act that way in front of the camera?’

Hugo was already having a hard time dealing with the Slime Lee Gun. When the politicians had become surprised by the Slime Lee Gun, the slime wanted to show them that its owner was amazing. It had suddenly pulled out a pillar of the Cheongwadae and thrown it into the air to impress the politicians.

Just keeping up the pretense was killing Hugo, and here, Lee Gun was basically spitting on his efforts! Lee Gun was causing a big mess!

Of course, that wasn’t important right now. ‘There is no way he doesn’t know that he’s being broadcast live on TV!’

Since the press conference was a live broadcast, Lee Gun’s swears and curses were being streamed to the world.

The anchors became excited when they saw how Lee Gun behaved, but Hugo felt like dying. As if to make things worse, the Slime Lee Gun cheered on its owner.

At that point, the high-ranking officials of the Cheongwadae turned to look at Hugo.

“Excuse me…”

Everyone nervously looked at Hugo. They wondered if this man was trying to swindle them.

“It seems Lee Gun appeared at the press conference… That means this person is…”

Everyone turned to look at the Slime Lee Gun.

Hugo let out a bright smile. “What are you talking about? The other one is a fake.”

“What?”

“The one on the TV is the fake. Please don’t be deceived. Arrest him.”

‘Is he for real?’

Hugo brazenly laughed. His face indicated that he didn’t care about his best friend. “The real Lee Gun is over here. Please don’t be fooled—

“Ahhk! Oohp!” Hugo almost screamed.

The Slime, which had been cheering on its owner, suddenly attempted to eat the president.

‘Please don’t eat anything strange!’ After making the slime sit back down, the alarmed Hugo looked at his surroundings.

As expected, everyone was looking at him as if he were trying to scam them. Ignoring that, the Archer Saint said, “Anyway, I’m going to assume the government will return Lee Gun’s account to the rightful owner.”

“Yes. We will do so…”

At that moment…

[Clink! Clink!]

[Kyahhk! What is happening…!]

The reporter screamed as the screen went blank. The live feed was severed. Something had occurred at the press conference.

Unrest rose amongst the politicians, but Hugo had a good idea about what had happened. ‘Since Gun decided to reveal himself, there is no way they’ll roll over quietly.’

Today, the whole world had seen Lee Gun’s mockery and abusive language toward the Zodiac Saints. The information about Red Eye had gotten out there too. Stopping Lee Gun at this point would do nothing about that, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. 

Suddenly…

A knife was pointed toward Hugo’s and the president’s necks. The one doing this was the chief secretary, who had been with them all this while. By the look in his eyes, it seemed he was being controlled.

Hugo wondered who was behind this, but it didn’t take long for him to sense it. ‘The Gemini Saint’s magical energy.’

Japan’s Gemini Saint had bought a large portion of the Korean government. After the nightmare in Seoul, the southern portion of Seoul had become the temporary residence of the Korean government, and essentially, a playpen for the Gemini Saint.

This made Hugo bite his tongue. He remembered what Lee Gun had said while they were coming up with this plan.

– Right. When you arrive at the Cheongwadae, you have to destroy all odd objects.

– What nonsense are you spouting?

– Mmm. I’m pretty sure that woman won’t kill you. Maybe!

– ???

At the time, Hugo had no idea what Lee Gun was talking about. Now, he knew for sure. ‘That bastard…’

As if sabotaging his plan wasn’t enough, Lee Gun had knowingly sent Hugo into a trap.

‘I was wondering why he equipped me with so many of his holy items. No wonder!’ Hugo swallowed his anger. He understood why Lee Gun had done what he had done. The Gemini Saint’s attack magic was powerful. Even the two of them would have to dodge it. However, this didn’t mean they would shake in fear from a trap of this caliber.

‘It seems they are looking down on me too much.’ A trap of this caliber was used against a Saint.

Sure enough…

Bbuhk!

In a flash, Hugo bent the chief secretary’s arm and took the knife. He moved so fast that his movement was barely visible to the naked eye.

The Archer Saint chopped down on the back of his flustered foe’s neck. He was going to emit his magical energy when he caught sight of something.

‘!’ The light in Hugo’s eyes changed. The reason was the knife he had just taken away.

‘That symbol…’ Hugo was sure of it. Devil’s Tower! The blade that had stabbed Lee Gun in the tower had the same symbol engraved on it.

However, Hugo’s surprise lasted only a moment.

“!”

He felt a powerful surge of the Gemini Saint’s magical energy from the knife, and the knife blew up.

Kwahng!

The explosion was so powerful that it resembled nuclear fission.

* * *

At that moment somewhere else…

Suh-guhk!

The Crab Saint’s head was sent flying high into the sky.

“…!”

Lee Gun had severed Jean-Louis’s head with the blade of his hand. 

This was one of the Crab Saint’s skills called <Cleaver>. The skill could give an edge to body parts and items. Lee Gun had used his magical energy to execute this skill.

[You’ve used the Crab Saint’s data]

[Crab Saint’s Divine Attribute <Cleaver> (3/4)]

Lee Gun had gathered the data when he had drop-kicked the Crab Saint.

[The extracted data is unstable. The <Cleaver> is destroyed.]

When the Crab Saint’s head was lopped off, the zombie-like movements of the crowd stopped.

“What the hell? What just happened…”

Most of the reporters and the disciples returned to their normal states. The light in their eyes returned to normal.

Then, the head of Jean-Louis landed amongst the crowd.

Boom!

An ear-splitting scream rang out.

“Kyahhk! What the hell!”

“That’s a head!”

The Chun siblings looked at Lee Gun in surprise.

Surprisingly, the eyes of the nearby people started to change once again. However, this time, the generals, who had recovered their senses, were able to guard their minds.

“It’s the Crab Saint’s skill!”

“Find the caster!”

“Shit! The Crab Saint’s specialty is running away!”

“It’s almost impossible to find him!”

A crab retracting its eyes to hide was a common occurrence. Like a crab, the Crab Saint also had a basic Divine attribute called <Escape>. The Crab Saint was akin to the breeding ground of criminals. He created criminals instead of gathering them.

[The Dark Star has activated his power.]

“Koo-uhhhhh!”

Suddenly, the arms of the civilians turned into blades, then these people charged toward Lee Gun.

Lee Gun laughed as he extended his hand. He used a skill he had unlocked not too long ago.

[Get Hit Instead of Me (F)]

– A target will be summoned to become the noble shield of the <Serpent Bearer>.

– Condition: The enemies that you touched with your left hand the last will be summoned. (At most, you can retain the memories of three people. The oldest memory will be deposed when a new memory is added.)

Lee Gun activated the skill, and something shocking occurred.

[You have summoned your target.]

[Target <Lowly Black Star> has been summoned. ]

The voice could be heard as the people screamed. The Crab Saint had appeared in front of Lee Gun, shielding him from the crowd.

“What the hell! Didn’t his head get severed?”

“The headless body is over there…”

“Why is there another Saint?”

Jean-Louis received the attacks of the civilians. He bled as they stabbed him in the chest.

“Koohk!” The Crab Saint glared at Lee Gun.

Lee Gun just laughed in a light-hearted manner. “You’ve learned a lot of tricks since we saw each other.”

Everyone was shocked, but Lee Gun’s eyes laughed with contempt. “Your Cloning skill has gotten better in twenty years. You have gotten quite quick with it.”

As soon as he spoke that, Jean-Louis laughed. “I didn’t expect you to notice— Kuhk!”

“Don’t laugh, trash.” Lee Gun crushed the fallen Crab Saint’s head with his foot.

Yes, one of the Crab Saint’s Divine Skill was <Cloning>. With that skill, he could self-replicate like an amoeba.

Jean-Louis had used the skill to increase the number of himself like a pack of crabs. It was a special skill he used in conjunction with the Escape skill.

‘Two clones had infiltrated the press conference.’

Lee Gun had sent one flying with a dropkick and severed the head of the other one. The Leo Saint had then summoned another clone, which had branched out from the headless clone.

“Well, you won’t be able to create clones anymore once I destroy the core.”

Jean-Louis laughed. “Even the detection king, the Gemini Saint, can’t find the core. I’ll split before you…”

“Whatever, idiot.”

[13th Sense]

“…!”

Seeing a wicked smile appear on Lee Gun’s face, Jean- Louis felt fear. The cheeky smile on his face froze. Then, the Crab Saint’s scream rang out.

Lee Gun had stabbed his hand into the Crab Saint’s side. The next moment, he took something out from the body.

[The darkest star’s clone has suffered catastrophic damage.]

[You have acquired Data.]

[You have acquired Saint EXP]

Lee Gun was satisfied. This wasn’t like the fake clones that did nothing to the Crab Saint when destroyed without the core.

The Crab Saint could use one percent of his power to make a hundred clones. He could also use fifty percent of his power to split into two clones. Each clone contained a portion of his power, and all of that added up to a whole.

Of course, he also kept a portion of himself in his holy ground.

Lee Gun was able to find this out using “Gaze of a god.”

[Crab’s Core (Saint’s soul 33%! God’s soul 20%!)]

It wasn’t just the Saint’s power. The core contained the god’s power too. A twenty percent loss of the god’s power could cause significant damage.

As if to prove this point, the voice rang in Lee Gun’s mind.

[A large fissure has appeared in the power of Dark Star’s owner.]

[The owner of the Dark Star is very flustered.]

[You can absorb the Dark Star.]

Lee Gun tossed the Crab Saint’s core in his hands while laughing. A core containing this much power could wipe out a country. He had acquired something amazing. “This is why you shouldn’t have loitered around here. Well, I’ll put your god’s power to good use.”

Blood erupted from Jean-Louis’s mouth while he laughed as well. Although he was laughing, it was evident that he was grinding his teeth. “What did you do in that tower before coming out?”

It was as if he couldn’t accept the truth. Lee Gun couldn’t be compared to himself from twenty years ago.

“I can feel the power of a god from you.”

Lee Gun laughed as if he couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. “Sure! Don’t talk nonsense. Get the fuck out of here.”

In the end, Jean- Louis said, “I don’t know what kind of power you acquired, but if you think I’m the only one who was interested in this press conference…”

“Whatever! The bus has already left the station. Everything has been broadcasted.” Lee Gun cut him off.

“Who do you think owns Korea right n—”

Bbah-gahk!

Lee Gun stepped on the Crab Saint’s head, and the head exploded. ‘As always, he talked too much.’

The people still at the plaza were shocked as they looked at Lee Gun.

Brrrrr!

“!” A ringtone suddenly rang. Lee Gun laughed as he answered the call. “What the hell? The pushover is still alive?”

[Hey!!!!]

He was speaking to Hugo. It seemed the Archer Saint had survived the attack from the Gemini Saint.

[You… It was live… Shit! Whatever!]

Hugo had a lot he wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. This wasn’t something worth getting stressed out about. Moreover, he had something more important to talk about.

[Hurry up and get out of there!]

“What?”

[The Gemini Saint destroyed her temporary residence. I think the explosion sent out a signal.]

“Signal?”

[A missile. After you died, the Sheep Saint… No. I don’t have time to explain this to you! A missile will fall there! Half the Korean peninsula will be destroyed!]

Lee Gun’s face turned sour. He turned to look at the Crab Saint’s corpse, whose eyes no longer moved. ‘Is that what that bastard was trying to tell me?’

The Crab Saint had said he wasn’t the only nervous one watching the press conference.

Lee Gun’s face crumpled. He was on extremely bad terms with the Gemini Saint. It seemed the Gemini Saint had gotten angry due to the press conference and decided to blow up the entire press conference hall.

“Shit! That crazy bastard sent a missile because this isn’t her country.”

The reporters also received this bad news, and a commotion erupted at the plaza.

“The <Guniea Pig> is really flying this way?”

“That’s crazy!”

The legendary Lee Gun had returned, and the Crab Saint had intruded into the press conference. These developments had shocked the reporters, but now, they were in a state of delirium.

The news spread everywhere in a flash, and the hundreds of thousands of people outside started to panic.

“Run!”

The generals were flustered. They were scared out of their wits.

Sophie also froze in place inside the ruined press conference hall. Her reaction was understandable. “Why won’t the teleportation spell work! What the hell!”

She couldn’t run away even if she wanted to. Teleportation was the Gemini Saint’s skill. Once the Gemini Saint enacted her plan, there was no way she would keep an escape route open. 

This was why Sophie’s hands shook. ‘The other Zodiac Saints plan to kill me too!’ She had been branded a traitor. And the others had decided to kill her alongside Lee Gun.

At that moment, seeing Lee Gun approach her, Sophie desperately grabbed at him. “What do you plan to do! The missile will destroy this small country in an instant!”

Lee Gun stared at Sophie. While that was going on, a desperate voice came through the phone.

[Are you listening to me? It’ll impact in five minutes! I’ll use my rented skill….]

“Ah! It’s fine. It’s fine.”

[What? What’s fine….]

Click!

After ending the call, Lee Gun brightly smiled and looked at Sophie. “Five minutes is plenty of time.”

Sophie froze when she saw his smile. ‘Wait a moment. Why is he smiling like that while looking at me?’