People couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The reason for their reactions was Lee Gun, who sent Min Sunghoon flying.

‘N…No way. That’s the F…Frost!”

“He was sent flying with one punch!?”

They had watched Min Sunghoon fly through the air like a cannonball.

In fact, Min Sunghoon continued to fly after he slammed into the spider. His body broke through the wall. He flew so far that he couldn’t be seen.

This was why everyone was shocked. This was especially true for the Hahn Jimin and the other awakened beings present. They couldn’t shut their mouths.

“No way. Isn’t he supposed to be the invincible S rank magician?”

Hahn Jimin was shocked, but Chun Sungjae just snorted.

“He isn’t the invincible S rank. He is dog shit that was just promoted.”

“What?”

A person like that dared to look down on Lee Gun-nim.

‘Die! Go to hell!’ Chun Sungjae, a Lee Gun fanatic, had a harsh look in his eyes. 

Hahn Jimin, who was more rational than his friend, couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. 

‘At the end of the day, an S-rank is an S-rank.’

The S-ranks were qualified to become generals, who were leaders in the temples. Of course, the civilians were F rank. 

The A rank was just below the S rank, but the difference was stark. Even if Min Sunghoon had just become S rank, the bodies of S-ranks were structured completely differently. They were like aliens.

As expected, the most shocked person was Min Sunghoon.

‘What the hell? Did he just send me flying?’

Moreover, he did it by breaking the divine ice? However, it didn’t take Frost long to have a realization. ‘He used a rental skill.’

Min Sunghoon couldn’t feel the divine energy from Lee Gun, so he assumed Lee Gun was a low rank disciple. It meant the skill had to be a VIP rank renta skill.

Even a normal civilian could rent a skill that rivaled the power of an S-rank if they paid an astronomical amount of money. One could rent a one-off skill. In reality, wealthy people used the rental skills to protect themselves. 

It was also possible to acquire the rental skill if one flattered the Zodiacs to gain favor and paid a cost for it.

Of course, Min Sunghoon had been caught off guard, but a skill with this much power must be the <Magician Killer> skill. It was a famous skill of the Leo temple.

‘They are a bad matchup for the Gemini temple.’ It didn’t matter. Min Sunghoon ground his teeth as he got up. ‘He should know his place. How dare he do that to an official disciple.’

 Lee Gun didn’t care if Min Sunghoon was glaring at him or not. He just laughed in satisfaction. 

‘I was able to break its counter thanks to him’

Yes, the spider used a special skill when it tried to eat its prey. In simple terms, the spider had used a counter that reflected attacks. 

When it raised its rear end, it was a sign that it was using the skill. If one wanted to break that counter, the attacker had to be hit in return.

Lee Gun didn’t want to get hit since pain sucked. Since Min Sunghoon looked like he could take a punch, Lee Gun had sent him flying toward the spider.. ‘It seems my juniors are quite durable.’ Lee Gun looked at Min Sunghoon with a cheeky smile.

[Min Sunghoon!]

[Awakened name (Baptized name): Someone who freezes even the mood]

[Someone who freezes the world]

[Effect: Ice specialization. Can freeze even fire.]

Personal Attributes

[Baseless Confidence: 30% Buff on Attack skills]

[Ankle Hold: Specialization of Immobilization Skill]

[Attribute user wants to hide]

[If I’m Good, It’s All Good: Steals magical energy from allies]

[Negative Words: Attracts calamity]

The information Lee Gun got was interesting, but he had work to do. He cracked his knuckles. 

On the other hand, the S-rank Min Sunghoon furrowed his brows as he gripped his dislocated shoulder as he glared at Lee Gun. 

‘Shit! He is dead meat.’

He drew the 工 shape in the air. The magical energy that he had received from his Zodiac moved in a powerful manner. It was the magical energy of the Gemini. 

‘I’ll kill you.’

It happened at that moment.

Kwahng!

“Kee-ehhhhhhk!”

“?!”

The spider, which had been sent flying after being hit with Min Sunghoon, got up in a violent manner.

As if it was annoyed by the person that had interrupted it, it charged toward Min Sunghoon. The flustered Min Sunghoon quickly used his spell.

    [Two-faced Restraint]

Kwah-gwah-gwahng

An incredible cold air swept over the spider.

As soon as the spider froze in place, Min Sunghoon snorted as if he was showing off. “That surprised me. A mere spider…!”

At that moment, the spider acted as though it felt nothing. It bashed through the ice.

Kwahng!

“?!”

This surprised Min Sunghoon. ‘My magic doesn’t work against it?!’

People screamed when ice fragments flew in all directions.

“Shit! Again!” The flustered Min Sunghoon once again gestured with his hand. He put more power into the skill. 

[Two-faced Restraint]

However…“Kee-ehhhhk!”

Crash! Crunch!

The attack failed once again.

“Shit! This shouldn’t be happening! Again!” He increased his connection to his Zodiac and increased the accuracy and damage of the skill. However, he failed again and again! When he used the skill for the tenth time, the spider became enraged. It wanted Min Sunghoon to stop, but he didn’t plan on giving up.

“Shit! Again!”

“Get out of the way, you, you antifreeze asshole.” At that moment, Lee Gun appeared in the scene.

Ba-gahk!

“Kuh-huhk!” Min Sunghoon screamed as he fell over. Lee Gun had ruthlessly bashed his head with his fist. Min Sunghoon felt his skull ring and became dizzy. “Huh, huh-uhk…!”

Min Sunghoon was taken aback as he was hit once again. He looked toward Lee Gun.

Did he just get hit again?

At this point, even Chun Sungjae flinched.

The previous blow hadn’t happened when Min Sunghoon was in his battle mode. Chun Sungjae dismissed it as Min Sunghoon having his guard down. However, it was a different story now.

‘He drew the Divine Symbol.’

<Divine Symbol>

When an awakened being drew the Divine Symbol, it was a sign that they were ready for death. Basically, it signaled the start to a fight. It signified that one would gladly give up one’s life for one’s Zodiac.

In return, the User received a 100% blessing from their Zodiac once the battle started. If one had to make a comparison, the twelve temples of the Zodiacs were religious sects.

Each temple received different blessings. They received a variety of buffs like speed increase, barrier, attack increase, etc.

Moreover, the S-ranks had a high connection to the Zodiacs that provided them with power. Therefore, their basic defense was incredibly high. 

Something shocking happened again.

“I'm borrowing this for a moment, kid.”

“?” Chun Sungjae yelled when he saw Lee Gun shake something. ‘When the hell did he take that?’ 

Lee Gun was waving the dagger that had been sheathed on Sungjae’s waist a moment ago. It wasn’t the reason Chun Sungjae had yelled, however. “Hey! Wait! You can’t use a blade against it!”

He had seen instances where spider-type monsters had suffered significant damages. Whenever they were stabbed or cut, poison would erupt from the wounds. This poison was like hydrochloric acid.

“If you disturb the poison pouch, it can melt your body!”

Lee Gun swung the blade.

Chun Sungjae’s expression changed as Lee Gun sliced and diced the spider’s legs. “Uh? Why are you fine? I’m pretty sure you disturbed the poison pouch!”

Lee Gun chuckled when he saw the shock in Chun Sungjae’s eyes. ‘They don't have the know-how. That's why they are tripping up all of its defensive skills.’ Cutting up a spider without disturbing its poison pouch was child's play, and that wasn’t all. ‘I don’t use weapons shaped like this, but it's better than using frozen meat as a weapon.’

When he had been trapped inside the tower, Lee Gun had to fight without his arms. He used to rip apart and split open monsters like a beast.

‘Humans should use tools.’ Lee Gun’s eyes flashed.

[Caution! Gemini’s holy item is losing its light!] 

[The poison has reduced its durability!]

<Janus’ Greed! Rank A! (Gemini)>

[Feature: Summon a two-faced soldier (Rank A)]

Lee Gun clicked his tongue when he realized the short sword was unusable now. 'Well, it was like this even in the past. Those idiots don’t know how to make good items.’

There was a reason he had to provide them the items. Anyway, the item had been damaged so quickly that it would be impossible to use a hundred percent of one’s Divine power. One wouldn’t be able to use a skill either.

Lee Gun had thought about delaying looking for them, but... ‘As expected, I have to recover my items.’ It became his priority now. With a flash, he charged closer to the spider.

* * *

’No way’

Chun Sungjae was watching Lee Gun use his blade.

It was to be expected. This man’s movements were oddly similar to Lee Gun’s movements. Whenever Sungjae’s father was drunk, the man would cry and show him a legendary clip of Lee Gun. At a glance, it was a bizarre movement that looked like Lee Gun was pruning something. However, he was sure of it.

Instant Removal.

It was a technique that many awakened had tried and failed to copy.

This was why he was taken aback.

How long had it been since Lee Gun had swung his blade? 

“Ggeeeeeeeeek!” the spider finally screamed, and the crowd cheered.

“He killed it! He killed it!

“This man is better than the S-rank disciple, who is all talk!” 

A voice spoke alongside the cheer.

[You killed the calamity]

[You gained Zodiac EXP!] 

[You gained Zodiac EXP!] 

[You acquired the creature’s data!]

That wasn’t all.

After picking up the crystal, he laughed as he headed toward the child. He cut away the sturdy spider web. The crowd cheered.

“It’s the child!”

Lee Gun tossed away the spider webs that were falling away. Then, he patted the back of the frozen little girl, and she started crying. 

“My god! She is alive!”

The child’s mother was in tears as she expressed her joy. “Thank you! Thank you! Let me repay you! May I have your name!”

“Lee Gun Gonzales.”

“What?”

Lee Gun nonchalantly tossed the child toward the mother. He laughed since he had completed an assessment of his body. ‘Good! This is good enough.’

He was still under the fifty percent penalty, but this penalty acted on his regenerated body. Even then, his current power was on par with his past self. This made him wonder how strong he would be once the penalty disappeared.

Chun Sungjae quickly grabbed Lee Gun’s arm. Lee Gun wondered what it was this time. It seemed Chun Sungjae wanted to ask him something. “E-excuse me.”

“What”

Chun Sungjae’s face trembled as he was about to ask a question, but someone else cut in.

“You're the Lee Gun imposter, right?”

“!”

“I knew I saw your face somewhere.” Min Sunghoon smirked as he showed something on his phone. It was a composite sketch. “You're the Lee Gun wannabe who beat up one of our disciples and stole an S rank holy item, right? Also, you just executed a sword technique that was used in the great raid in Russia. I bet you copied it by watching the videos of the fight.”

Chun Sungjae looked at his superior in surprise. 

Min Sunghoon just laughed. Anyone who had watched the great raid of the thirteen original awakened beings knew about Lee Gun’s way of using his hands. “It was erased, but that legendary video had record views. I acknowledge it. Most of the top-rank disciples study that video in secret. It was a legendary raid, and Lee Gun's battle technique was peerless.”

Lee Gun picked at his ear. In truth, it wasn’t a battle technique. It was his grass-cutting technique. However, Min Sunghoon was unaware of this. He looked at Lee Gun as if he found his antics cute.

“I knew you were a wannabe, but it seems you put in a lot of effort into this. Your stance is pretty good. For a moment, I thought you really were Lee Gun.” Min Sunghoon immediately snorted after saying that. “Well, Lee Gun moves with more sharpness. He doesn’t look clumsy like you.”

Lee Gun was baffled by these words, and he laughed out loud. ‘Sharpness? Does he think I should put all my strength into killing a bug?' “Whatever!”

Min Sunghoon complimented the man in front of him, but at the next moment, his expression turned harsh. “Did you raise your physical attributes using the S rank holy item you stole from us?”

Chun Sungjae became surprised. It seemed the stolen S rank holy item of the Gemini Temple was a buff-type holy item.

“Since the holy item doesn’t have any requirements for its user, you can use it quite easily.”

The supernatural strength Lee Gun had shown here was only possible through the holy item's power. The item should have been the reason this man could send Min Sunghoon flying and kill the spider.

Chun Sungjae, who had been about to ask Lee Gun a question, became visibly sullen. He was smart, so he immediately realized the implication of Min Sunghoon’s words. There was no way his hero was still alive. He became crestfallen. 

Min Sunghoon unsheathed his knife and threatened Lee Gun with a frightening amount of magical energy. “Give it to me. I know you're hiding it.”

Lee Gun laughed as he took out something. “Are you talking about this?”

The object looked like a hand mirror. The light in Min Sunghoon’s eyes changed when he saw it. There was no mistaking that. It was the stolen S rank holy item. Min Sunghoon pointed his sword toward Lee Gun. “Give it to me now!”

“Alright. Take it.” Lee Gun acted as though he held no lingering attachments to the hand mirror. He tossed it. The surprised Min Sunghoon tried to grab the hand mirror.

Clank!

However, Lee Gun’s fist slammed the hand mirror, which was in the air, into Min Sunghoon and crushed his face.

“!?”

It happened in an instant.

[You have extracted your opponent's data!]

“Huhk!” Min Sunghoon had received a knockout blow. His world spun as he looked at Lee Gun, unable to comprehend the situation. 'He wasn't using the holy item of the Gemini, so how did he do it?'

On the other hand, Lee Gun tossed around the blue crystal as he laughed at Min Sunghoon’s foolishness. “S-rank holy item, my ass. That Gemini liar lied again.”

“…?”

If this item were that great, the rich kid who had smoked in the streets wouldn’t have lost so easily. That was why Lee Gun had said those words. “The Gemini Saint should train you guys better. She’s going to get reported if she deceives people too much.”

“What? How dare you insult the Zodiac Saint!” Min Sunghoon was about to get up in anger.

Lee Gun skillfully pointed the sword at Min Sunghoon’s neck. Min Sunghoon was a dead man if he moved. “I have two questions for you, junior.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Here’s my first question. Do you have any connection to the Sheep Saint?”

Min Sunghoon was taken aback. His temple worshiped the Gemini, so why was this man talking about Aries? 

Lee Gun laughed. There was a simple reason he had asked that question. For some reason, awakened beings were converging on this place. That wasn’t all.

‘A familiar energy is getting closer.’ 

Lee Gun was sure of it. He had felt the energy of one of the 12 Zodiac Saints. It was the Sheep Saint Yang Wei from China.

Lee Gun let out a very satisfied laugh. ‘It said I would find excellent luck if I stayed next to that kid.’

He had made a very good decision. Of course, it wasn’t just Yang Wei. The S-rank in front of him was part of his excellent luck. Why?

“This is my last question.” 

“!”

“This has been bothering me for some time.” Lee Gun’s snake eyes headed toward Min Sunghoon. “You! You have my item, right?”