[You have the power of the Serpent Bearer!] 

[The holy item has transformed according to its owner’s power!]

The transformation was surprising; the plain steel carving knife turned black.

[You have given it a special characteristic as its owner!] 

[Serpent Bearer’s Special Characteristic: <Serpent Eater>]

[Serpent Bearer’s Special Characteristic: <Finder of Death>]

[Serpent Bearer’s Special Characteristic: <Reviver of the Dead>]

The toy-like carving knife again changed its size. It became large and long enough to rival a greatsword. This made it clear that the item's size varied depending on the quantity of magical energy its owner possessed.

The Slime happily and recklessly tried to expand itself to the limits, but Lee Gun beat it up. He saw a snake engraved along the blade.

[The Serpent Eater's characteristic gives any item the critical damage attribute!]

[The item is also imbued with innate sharpness!]

[All items can be used for the hunt!] 

[Basic damage has been increased!]

The slime was a Maker’s tool. However, the Divine special characteristic had given it an offensive ability. That wasn’t all.

[The 13th Sense (F) has been activated!] 

[You can now see the Path of Death!]

As Lee Gun lifted the large carving knife, something amazing happened to his vision.

‘…!’ He could see some regions of the Pixiu’s body emanating with black light. These regions weren’t vital spots, so he wondered what the light was highlighting. ‘Shall I test it out?’

Lee Gun started to move, surprising Hugo.

“Gun!” Hugo became desperate. Lee Gun was indeed strong, but his power came with risks. In truth, Lee Gun had entered his prime one and a half years after he was known as the thirteenth superhuman. The raid in Russia and all of his legendary clips had been filmed during that period. 

Hugo had met Lee Gun at the peak of the latter's prime. Therefore, he was keenly aware of what had happened after Lee Gun had gone past his prime. The twelve Zodiac Saints had kept getting stronger while Lee Gun’s body had been deteriorating. Of course, Lee Gun covered for the decline with experience and a genius battle sense. However, his reaction speed, stamina, vision, hearing, senses, etc, all had deteriorated.

Hugo’s heart had almost stopped twenty years ago, at the time when the raid at Red Eye’s tower had yet to happen. While walking on a crosswalk, Lee Gun had failed to see a car hurtling toward him. He was considered the most powerful human in this world, yet a car had almost hit him. It showed how messed up his senses had been at the time. That was the reason Hugo had been so adamant that Lee Gun shouldn’t go into the Devil’s Tower.

‘All I got for my effort was him eating my fried chicken leg and wings.’ Hugo had no idea how Lee Gun had returned alive. On the surface, Lee Gun looked fine, but Hugo couldn't shake his worry. ‘There’s no way his body is fine.’

Moreover, Lee Gun's opponent wasn’t a normal monster.

‘Construct.’ Of course, Pixiu wasn’t a construct of a battle-type Zodiac. So, its fighting ability wasn't the best. However, a construct, even if it wasn’t high in rank, would always be dangerous. Fighting them was much more difficult than battling high-rank monsters. Killing them was also impossible. Considering all that, Hugo was tense. He called out his auxiliary bow, which seemed to be made out of light.

‘I wonder if we will be able to escape this holy ground.’ As he thought about it, suddenly...

Lee Gun stepped forward. Hugo didn’t even have the time to stop his friend as the latter rushed the Pixiu. The Pixiu looked like a fat tiger, but it was a real dragon. The dreadful dragon revealed its teeth.

Boom!

Its chubby, red front paw aimed for Lee Gun.

“Gun!”

The Pixiu's front paw was bigger than a house, and it ruthlessly crashed down at Lee Gun. Hugo ran forward in surprise. He quickly called for the healing water skill he had rented from the Aquarius. “That's why you shouldn't fight in that condition—”

He had yet to finish his words when...

“What about my condition?”

“…!” Hugo almost screamed. Lee Gun had blocked the Pixiu's large paw with his arm. Lee Gun glared at the Pixiu as if he found the construct's paw a bit heavy. “You didn’t even bother trimming your claws before attacking me, you fat pig.”

Blood dripped down Lee Gun’s face. It was clear that the Pixiu's claws had cut him. The wound looked deep, but Hugo couldn’t believe his eyes.

Smoke emanated from the wound, and new skin appeared on it. How could Hugo not be shocked?

‘Wait a moment! This is the power of a Zodiac!’

Moreover, it was a healing-type ability. Only one of the twelve Zodiac Saints had that power. She was the saintess of healing under the Aquarius, and she also had the most disciples serving her. It was the ability of the cup-carrier.

‘When did he rent the Aquarius’ skill?’

The regeneration was frighteningly fast. However, Hugo found it odd. According to his memory, Aquarius couldn’t regenerate wounds that fast. Hugo's shock lasted only for a moment.

“Let’s cut your claws, bitch!”

The Pixiu's screams rang out in the room as a pissed Lee Gun swung his sword. However, he hadn’t cut the Pixiu's claws. He had cut off its whole front paw. The Pixiu cried as its body shook from pain.

This change of events surprised Hugo. ‘That movement...’

He was sure of it. Lee Gun's movements were so crisp that Hugo felt like he were watching someone cutting paper by dropping it on the edge of a blade.

‘This is like him in his prime.’ Hugo inwardly shook. He remembered Lee Gun's overwhelming power and presence when the two of them had first met. It had been so long that he had last seen that, so he wondered if he were seeing an illusion.

“You are annoying, bitch.” Lee Gun flicked the blood off his blade and kicked off the ground. He instantly appeared in the air and spun toward the Pixiu.

Ba-gahk! Ba-gahk! Ba-gahk!

The beast’s joints were severed. Blood fountained forth as the Pixiu lost its leg. Its enormous body fell to the ground.

Koohng!

Hugo looked at the outcome of the fight with a dumbfounded expression.

‘No way!’

He never expected to see such a type of movement with his eyes again. Moreover, these movements hadn't been used against any normal monster, but a construct!

‘He cut a leg.’

The Pixiu was fat, but it was a Construct nonetheless. 

Lee Gun clicked his tongue. ‘Tsk! Only one!’

As he expected, the penalty had suppressed his physical ability. After landing on the ground, Lee Gun was about to attack again.

“I can’t believe it, Gun. This is too much even for you.”

“?”

Hugo looked to be in a very bad mood as he approached Lee Gun. For some reason, Hugo was disgruntled. He looked oddly disappointed. Lee Gun wondered why Hugo was acting this way. Soon, Hugo started spouting nonsense, “How could you see the Aquarius Saint before me?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you rent a high-rank healing skill from the Aquarius Saint? I don’t think the Aquarius Saint had a skill of that caliber in the past, but it has been twenty years. It seems she leveled up her Zodiac. She does have the most disciples amongst the twelve Zodiac Saints. And here I was wondering how you had healed your body.”

Lee Gun was baffled when he saw the aggrieved look on Hugo’s face.

“Are you crazy? Why would I borrow a skill from that woman?”

Hugo’s expression became quite the sight. “Then, whose power is it?”

“It's mine!”

'Eh?' Hugo looked at Lee Gun in surprise. “What did you just say?” 

“It's my power, idiot.” 

“?!”

After losing a leg, the three-legged Pixiu growled and unleashed its power.

[Caution! The Pixiu is using its ability!]

[Your wealth was stolen!]

The Pixiu’s body turned red as it recovered all the holy items Lee Gun had stolen from the Sheep Saint. The items suddenly disappeared from his possession and reappeared in front of the Pixiu. The construct then swallowed all the items. When even the long carving knife in Lee Gun’s hand disappeared, he clicked his tongue.

“If you didn’t act out, you would've kept your life.”

Hugo tried to send his flames, but Lee Gun was faster. As the missing blade appeared in front of the Pixiu, he snatched it back.

Lee Gun liked this situation. The Pixiu could eat gold and gems. However, it couldn’t excrete. That meant...

‘It’s a piggy bank?’ Lee Gun smiled, while the Pixiu became flustered. As soon as he held his carving knife again, something amazing happened. Once again, a black focal point appeared in his vision. Lee Gun didn’t know what these points meant, but the focal point he saw right now was near the Pixiu's stomach.

At the same time, Hugo felt an odd power. ‘Is that magical energy?’ He sensed a type of energy he had never felt before. However, he was sure of one thing. ‘It's the power of a Zodiac.’

This realization confused Hugo even more. ‘What is it? I can’t feel a Zodiac behind it.’

Of course, he couldn’t sense a Zodiac’s presence if he was too far away. However, right now, he was in the radius where he should be able to feel the presence of the Zodiac. It should be even likelier since he was very close to Lee Gun. Moreover, Lee Gun wasn’t hiding his power, so Hugo should have recognized which of the twelve Zodiacs was giving him power.

All disciples received magical energy and skill from the Zodiacs. So, how was Lee Gun using a Divine skill when Hugo couldn’t even feel the presence of a Zodiac? 

‘How?’ Soon, Hugo came to an understanding. ‘He never borrowed the power from a Zodiac.’

Unlike the other Saints, Lee Gun had generated his own magical energy. His insatiable appetite was a side effect of it. Basically, for him, food turned into energy, then energy turned into magical energy.

The Pixiu’s cry rang out.

After landing, Lee Gun aimed his carving knife at the Pixiu’s stomach. “I’m running out of energy. I think it's time to break open the piggy bank.”

Lee Gun cut open the Pixiu’s stomach.

Poo-ahk!

Holy items started to pour out. Lee Gun grumbled since most of the items were consumable trash. However, Hugo thought differently since he saw high-rank medicines and barrier ingredients.

[You’ve captured a construct.]

[The power of the Sheep’s holy ground has become a bit weaker!] 

[User’s EXP has increased!]

The Pixiu lost consciousness when its stomach was cut open. Unlike monsters, killing a construct was hard. Suddenly, an unexpected message popped up in Lee Gun's mind.

    [Would you like to make Pixiu, the beast of wealth, your construct?]

Lee Gun’s eyes turned round. ‘Construct?’

He realized that Constructs always resided in the places of the twelve Zodiacs. Constructs had nothing to do with him, so he had never paid attention to them. He just knew that they were like slaves to the twelve Zodiacs. They were loyal creatures that acted better than humans.

‘I can command a construct?’ After thinking about it, Lee Gun asked Hugo a question. “Hey, Taeksoo! Can you order around a construct?” 

Lee Gun's question took Hugo by surprise. The Zodiacs had split the sky into twelve and commanded eighty-eight Constructs under them.

“I can’t. However, I've moved together with them before. Why...”

“If I make this beast my construct, wouldn’t it be like having a piggy bank?”

'What…?' Hugo was baffled. Of course, the Pixiu was more of a holy beast than a construct. This was why it could be tamed.

“Normally, Constructs range from SS rank to D rank. Anyway, don’t even think about taking what's mine.” Hugo was about to reach for his auxiliary bow inside the Pixiu’s stomach.

Flash!

“!?”

Something amazing happened when Lee Gun stroked the Pixiu. The Pixiu, which had been full of the Sheep’s energy, suddenly disappeared. It then reappeared after transforming into a form of energy that felt like Lee Gun’s.

[Pixiu (Low Rank) has become the Serpent Bearer’s construct.]

[Construct 1]

[You can name the construct!] 

[The Serpent Bearer’s power has influenced it. It has been imbued with Super Regeneration (Low Rank)!]

[The wound on its stomach is regenerating very slowly!]

“Piggy Bank should be a good enough name.”

[Pixiu (Low Rank) received the name Piggy Bank (Low Rank)!]

Soon, the Pixiu disappeared along with Hugo’s holy items. This left Hugo dumbfounded. ‘What the hell? What’s going on?’ However, he didn’t have the time to stay surprised. 

“The holy ground’s power has been weakened!” 

“Get the intruders!”

When the disciples of the Sheep rushed toward them, Hugo desperately yelled, “Gun, the disciples!” 

“Great! Take care of them.”

“Hey! Fuck! Give me back my bow!”

Lee Gun let out a mischievous smile. “Maybe, I’ll do it after I finish my business.”